Have a Great Weekend...

Well, I had wanted to get another post up this afternoon, but I'm having trouble securing permission to use the image I want to use. And I'm supposed to take the day off tomorrow, which will be no problem if the gentlemen who are supposed to be delivering my new (used) pool table this afternoon ever do show up. The original estimate was "sometime after noon," which could of course end up being next Wednesday I suppose. It's 4:30 now and hope is beginning to fade.

[UPDATE: Close to 5 p.m., three guys showed up...Larry Schwartz, who writes for Billiards Digest; ace table mechanic Jerimy Chambers, who has a 24-carat-gold reputation in the pool community; and Larry's friend John, a 40-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department and yet looks like he is that many years old. I ended up having a swell time...all three were great guys, and watching Jerimy work was as much of a treat as watching a master of any craft. The very best are really just so much better than the very good.

So: All is well. (I really do need to start a pool blog, so I can show you pictures of the installation and the result.)]

I've been struggling all week to construct an e-commerce portal for our sales. It's going well but needs (naturally) more work. Luckily I have the day off tomorrow, which will open up some time for that. It won't be very entertaining for you, unfortunately.

But in the meantime, treat yourself to this marvelous demonstration of musical thinking by an otherwise functionally impaired musician, Derek Paravicini. Brilliant and astonishing...and a passing commentary on the mysterious wonder of life.

Mike

Oh, and one more thing I wanted to share—an actual good example of shallow d-o-f. (I know what some pixel-peepers will be shouting..."But it's unsharp in the corners!!" Just kidding.)

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Bob Smith: "enjoy your weekend, hopefully truing up your 'new' pool table! I was a bouncer in a bar in Albuquerque for five years and got addicted to pool. That and ping-pong are two things I almost have to avoid or I get obsessed with playing. I'll be giving my 'new' Graflex Super Graphic a shakedown tomorrow. I'm hoping this lightens the load enough for hiking with a view camera.

"Thanks for the vid of Derek Paravicini. I had kind of a crap week....smiling now.

"People like Derek are amazing and inspiring.

"My 18-year-old nephew was considered gifted at age seven but got germinoma (germ cell cancer). It chose his brain as its home. After a five-year touch and go battle he was declared cancer free but his mental growth stopped at age seven and the effects of the treatment and the cancer left him with Tourette's-type symptoms, hormonal problems, and muscle spasms. Great caregivers along with family and friends worked with him the last six years and now he is able to do enough to be capable of performing simple day to day tasks. The kinds of things most people take for granted but just fill me with joy and awe when I see him do them. His mental age has progressed by several years but it will never catch up to his phycical age.When Alex is home from his school in Boston (learning self dependance and simple employment skills) he's a reminder to me that I really don't have much to b!+€# about.

"Oh yeah, he plays drums, is learning piano (slowly) and loves the Beatles so much that Make A Wish arranged for him to spend an afternoon with Ringo Starr. Ringo played on his drums for Alex and asked Alex to play for him. When Alex finished Ringo asked if he liked the drums. Alex's reply of 'HELL yeah' followed by his Tourette's-tweet he gives when excited was answered by Ringo with, 'they're all yours kid.'"

Mike replies: And now you just cheered me up, Bob. Thanks.

Comments

[Rowan]

Here in the uk, 'after noon' can, and often does, mean anywhere up to 7pm. Hope you have a great day off playing pool.

[Joe]

Mike:

"I've been struggling all week to construct an e-commerce portal for our sales. It's going well but needs (naturally) more work. Luckily I have the day off tomorrow, which will open up some time for that".

I believe "day off" means take a day off! Get away from the computer. Now! Pick up a camera instead. Better for your (mental) health.

Joe

[Hugh Smith]

And so when we become morose regarding our equipment, devices and captures, we should consider Derek.
Dammit! And I was all set for a bummer day!

[adamct]

Bob,

What an incredible story. Thanks for sharing! I've had to stay at work until 4am the past two days, and will probably have to do the same tonight, but you just put it all in perspective.

Best,
Adam

[Bob Smith]

We can both thank Alex and Derek for our cheerier moods this weekend. See ya!

[Robert Roaldi]

Terrific people everywhere, you just have to look.

[toto]

Not only is the shallow d-o-f photo unsharp in the corners, it has very weird and uneven vignetting.

[Ed]

Hey Mike, it's a photography blog. Pictures of the pool table installation are entirely on-topic.

[Roger Bradbury]

Mike

I thought you said that you didn't have enough room, so where is this green baize table going to live? : ]

Roger

[Hi Roger, Where there's a will there's a way. --Mike]

[paul in AZ]

Good for you.
The question of space reminds me of a friend's episode from years ago. Newlyweds, she was thrilled to get onto a quiz show where she won a pool table. BUT... they had no room in their apartment so had to rent storage space and then were hit by the IRS for tax on the table she won.
He was not thrilled.

[Herman Krieger]

I heard that hanging around pool rooms would lead to rack and ruin.

[Moose]

Although the original of the child image likely does have shallow DOF, it has been heavily manipulated on the face, especially the eyes.

No complaint, mind you, simply pointing out that expecting that there is some combination of lens and film/sensor that will give such a result 'out of the camera' would lead to considerable disappointment and/or frustration.

Whether it is the case here or not, it's not particularly difficult to process an original image with more DOF to look similar to this. It's even possible in some cases to take a super shallow DOF shot where the focal plane was slightly missed and move the apparent focal plane forward or back.

Manipulative Moose

[noam]

the DOF seems razor sharp and shalow yet the lights reflected in the eyes look very much in focus too. photoshop, i say...

[David H]

"I thought you said that you didn't have enough room, so where is this green baize table going to live? : ]
[Hi Roger, Where there's a will there's a way. --Mike]"

Give us a hint... Are you intending to sleep
on it ? ;-)

[MikeT]

What a joy that video presenting Derek was. And the photos were just as great with that shallow DOF. Many thanks for these Mike. Enjoy the pool games.

MikeT.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

You appear to have "slashdotted" Flickr :-).