I borrowed a rangefinder camera from a friend a couple of weeks ago. The camera is a Canonet QL17 G-III. I've gone through one roll on it and it's been fun to use so far. I had been using SLR cameras until now and the rangefinder is quite different in operation. The major difference being that the image viewed through the viewfinder is not the same as the one that is seen by the lens. In an SLR you see through the lens, so it's more of a WYSIWYG interface. Here are some of my impressions with using this camera.

• It's a little bizzare to see the lens through the viewfinder, but I got over that pretty soon.
• It is well known that rangefinders are quiet because they don't have a moving mirror. Even so, I was surprised by the quietness of the mechanism.
• The shutter priority operation threw me off for a while because I'm used to shooting with aperture priority. It makes me think in terms of time, while I'm used to thinking in terms of depth of field, or rather not thinking much in terms of either by setting the parameters once and not messing with it unless really needed.

It's been raining again for the last week, so I haven't had any chance to shoot more with this camera. Hopefully things will clear up next week!

I like reading, but unfortunately, I don't get much time to read for pleasure these days. Adding to that sorry state of affairs is the fact that I'm a slow reader. When I do read nowadays, it is more of non-fiction. On those rare occasions that I do read fiction, I love a good short story.

Apart from being concise, short stories stay focused and leave a lot to the imagination. They appeal to the minimalist in me. They build around a key idea or theme and my favorite kind have a twist or climax at the very end. An extreme and wonderful example is Ernest Hemmingway's six word story: "For sale: Baby shoes. Never used".

Here are some short stories that I came across on the internet in recent times. I think they are marvelous and recommend them to you, my imaginary readers. One for each of you three :-D

• The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Last Question by Isaac Asimov
• Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Meet Liz. She likes to travel. When she isn't traveling, she might be in Portland or Nepal. Right now she is in Asia where she is on assignment from Village Focus International. Through her words and photography she will bring to us a taste of the life in Cambodia as she documents the grassroots development efforts of village folk. She will put nuggets of it on her professional blog.

She has a wonderful spirit of adventure and discovery, coupled with courage, resolve and that elusive human quality that makes instant friends of strangers. As one of those erstwhile strangers, I wish her the very best in her endeavours.

https://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=845880604433234913&hl=en

An animation time-lapse movie of people coming into Stumptown Cafe in downtown Portland. I took a bunch of photos with the camera on the table and made a movie out of it. I like the effect but it’s mostly just an experimental first attempt.

Camera: Nikon D70s. Software: iMovie.

I got a promotional email from Netflix today. They would like me to forward an offer of a free month of service to my friends and family. A few months ago I would have sent it out to some people, but Netflix's service has gotten progressively worse in recent times. I'll continue to be a subscriber for a while to see how it goes, but there is no way that I'm recommending it to others at this time.

Wear them horizontally as shown in the picture. The bass sounds much better. They are more prone to slip out when used that way, but if you're not moving too much (just sitting, walking) they will be alright. I've been using them like that for months. It has come up in conversations a couple of times so I thought I'd blog it and share. Maybe it's already well known.

The other day, at the eleventh hour, I learnt that a nearby theater will be playing Stanley Kubrick's [A Clockwork Orange](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/). It is based on Anthony Burgess' book of the same name. It is one of my favorite movies and I had never seen it in a theater. So, off I went for a dose of the ultraviolence.

The theater manager informed us that it was the largest turnout in their current series of classic films. The print was an original one, scratches and all. There was even a bit of trouble with it towards the end, which caused a pause in the show. That brought on comments, the likes of which are only heard when the audience comprises fans of a cult classic.

There are many cool things about this movie. The dialogues are peppered with [Nadsat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadsat), which Burgess invented. Some things made sense only on repeat viewing. That is probably one of the hallmarks of a cult movie, I guess. The movie is beautiful to look at, with lovely locations and colorful costumes. The performances are superb. But the best part, in my opinion, is the music. Beethoven's 9th Symphony forms a part of the story and is partially heard in Wendy Carlos' electronic rendition.

See it. Again.

I don’t have a radio. On many occasions I’ve heard people say good things about NPR and so recently I’ve been listening to some of the podcasts offered by them. They are excellent programs and I thought I’d recommend a couple to anyone interested in listening in.

The first is All Songs Considered. It is hosted by Bob Boilen (sometimes in conversation with guests) and features newly available music from various artists. The selection is eclectic and I’ve found some great new artists from listening to the show.

The second is Science Friday. It is hosted by Ira Flatow. He discusses various current issues in science with guests who are prominent members of the scientific community. The conversations are interesting and introduce me to a larger scientific domain than what I’m used to hearing about in the computer science area.

They are both weekly shows, so it’s not that hard to keep up. Check them out!

 [One of](https://www.flickr.com/photos/samgrover/62085754/) my photos created using the Holgafy technique described [here](https://tricks.onigo.net/2005/11/04/2-minute-tricks-14-holgafy/) has been selected amongst [six photos](https://tricks.onigo.net/2006/02/12/holgafy-contest-vote/) as a finalist in the current contest. Thanks Kent! You can [cast your vote](https://2minutetricks.com) for the best photo ;-)

Kent publishes a video and audio podcast of interesting Photoshop techniques and tutorials every week. It's quality stuff and I recommend checking it out at that site after casting your vote.

[](https://flickr.com/photos/samgrover/sets/72057594048405929/) My cousin sent me some scans of old photos. She is the little one in the pictures. These are from 1986/7 and were taken at our house in New Delhi. We all used to live as a joint family, ten to fifteen people spanning three generations in one house. Anyway, the photos brought back memories and I wrote about each one of them on flickr. See the [photoset](https://flickr.com/photos/samgrover/sets/72057594048405929/).

Photo mosaic made with fd’s Flickr Toys.