Kong vs Godzilla

 Well, years back, if I can find this blog because, in all honesty, I do not think this will be a long-term project, I will remember that, in the month of January, we finally got a big monkey off our back. The monkey was orange-colored, and was a singularly malevolent figure who many adulated, despite his stupidity, narcissism, pettiness and violent streak. But there was another monkey that stayed with us, because there is a big blockbuster movie coming up, and because, I have to admit it, I am a fan of monster movies from a young age. It is the King Kong vs. Godzilla movie, due out in a few weeks.

I know, I know, I should be rereading Don Quixote, the Illiad and Faust, or more modern masters, such as Ursula K. LeGuin and Gene Wolfe, but yes, I was excited by this monster movie. The excitement seems to be shared by many.

Who will win? Will it be another overblown extravaganza with Treat Williams? What is the hold it has on our collective psyche? Well, I will always wonder about that for Trump, but all I know is that we are fascinated by the release of the ID, the center we all have of desires and urges and impulses that doesn't give a damn about anyone and anything else, it wants, craves, rants and destroys, just like the big monsters in this movie. The Trump fanatics, of course, are motivated by a sense of grievance and the so-called threat they see to white-dominance. I am not sure what fear or hope or obsession this upcoming blockbuster movie ties into except a sense that, maybe, that are lives are not as petty and routine and controlled as they seem to be by capitalism, and maybe, seeing monsters fight, although it is the quintessential example of formulaic spectacle filled to the brim with special effect for commercial intent, maybe, just maybe, it offers escape.

South Coast Botanic Garden

 And finally, a few nondescript black and white 4x5 photos from my trip to the South Coast Botanic Garden on January 22nd. They are nondescript, nothing to see here. It was clouding over towards the end of my visit so the light was not optimal, but I was determined to take a few 4x5 black and white photos.

A few photos from the Hidden Valley Reserve

 These are 4x5 black and white photos I took with Foma 100 film and a red filter on Monday, January 25th. I developed them on Tuesday and scanned them today, Wednesday. I am not happy about the white spots, I thought that leaving the negatives in the fix for five minutes would take care of that problem if, as Sergio says, those white spots are unexposed silver grains, but no, no luck this time. Now I am beginning to suspect the film, and would like to move to HP5+ in the future. I would like cleaner negatives. PS, it was raining that day so we had dramatic skies. 

The Arboretum in Winter

It is back to school, which means, back to Zoom sessions. I had my first two classes yesterday, and I will have two more tomorrow. I would like to say that it will be a breeze, but I know things will clog down in a few weeks and we'll be stumbling towards the finish line in May. However, it was nice to have the six week break after fall semester.

Today I had the day off, and I was debating what I could do. We are expecting rain for the next few days, for Thursday and Friday, so today was the day to do anything. I was originally planning on going to San Diego, to the botanic garden, but I just don't want to make that long drive. It seems like only yesterday, but I wanted to go back to the LA Arboretum in Arcadia. Memory tells me I was last there recently, but no, it was the end of October. Maybe it is because I feel I have seen most of what I can see there, but I have to take into account that the place changes with the seasons, and now, it would be winter as opposed to early fall. I think I really missed out on fall color, I saw some photos on the web where the plants (mostly trees) were spectacular in late November, and I had the misfortune of going in late October, when only one tree was changing color. But I went to plenty of other places, so I saw many things.

This time, the entrance was changed to a side gate. It was a little chilly today, but not too much, and the mountains have a fresh coat of snow. They were not visible from the garden, however, so I will make a note to myself, if I want to see the San Gabriel mountains as a backdrop to the plants and trees, I will have to go to the California Botanic Garden. You can't see them from the Arboretum.

The peacocks are quite tame, they wait for you to pass by them, and they walk in a haughty, regal, Melania Trump sort of way. I shot a few today with my Nikon DSLR. Yes, I took the DSLR, plus my Fuji GW690 and my cellphone. I shot a few hundred photos with the Nikon, intending as I do to pick a few and make a book. I also shot about four rolls of 120 film, three of infrared (one Rollei, two JCH Streetpan, one Fuji 400H0, and a few dozen cellphone photos.

All in all, things looked different and always photogenic. I am glad I went. The clouds did not interfere, and I think I will have some dramatic skies with the IR photos. I can't wait to see them, but not today, I do not have the energy to develop them today. Nor tomorrow, maybe on the weekend, because right now, I ate a carne asada burrito and all I want to do is lounge in bed like a decadent Roman senator. (I spent my time listening to the Teaching Company lectures on my CD player in my car as I was driving, the ones about the Greco-Roman Civilization.) 

Here are a few cellphone photos.

I finally saw the waterfall flowing! Finally, on my third trip! It is a beautiful little artificial waterfall. I love the tree to the side. If only we had had direct sunlight on this scene, but I get the sensation this does not happen.

South Coast Botanical Garden in IR

 Here are a few photos I developed from my trip to this garden on January 22nd. I exposed three rolls of JCH 400, using my infrared filter, and this time, I was more generous with exposure, not like last time at the UCR garden where I was so careless and I foolishly underexposed by several stops. I wrote about it a week or two ago.

This time, I went because we had clouds, and I wanted drama in the skies. Thankfully it didn't rain, not like today (Monday, January 25th), when we had intermittent showers and where I even saw a flash of lightning at the Hidden Valley Nature Center, which I visited quickly (in a flash myself). On that Friday, with that film, I exposed at f8, as I recall, with 1/30th shutter speed. That was two stops more than I gave my rolls at UCR a few weeks ago, and it made the difference! The negatives were beautiful. Plus, I gave them more time in fix, four and a half minutes as per Sergio's suggestion, to try to get rid of the spots that are actually silver grains. They were cleaner! I must remember, from now on, at least four minutes fix.

Also, I know that many of the images are not winners. I know that I have to choose my subjects and compositions more carefully. I need a structure or patterns of interest, not a mass of trees or undifferentiated shrubs. I can see the problem with a few of these images. It helps to have a structure or branch that gives the composition definition and contrast, so it doesn't all represent of mass of white spots. And, some trees do not reflect IR, especially the ones that don't have fresh leaves, so that is why they say winter is not necessarily the best time for infrared photography. I will remember, although I do have some shots here that please me immensely. Hopefully I can return to another beautiful location, the Huntington Library, and try some shots there as well. 

In reality, now I am very interested in obtaining a digital mirrorless camera that has been converted for IR. Right now, I am spending about $11 for a roll of JCH. In the not-so-long run, a dedicated digital IR camera will help save me money.

Now, to bed. I have to report to the chain gang tomorrow morning. It is called Zoom.

Back on the Chain Gang

 Well, my winter rest is over. It was not much of a rest, to be truthful. It was too full of stress and anxiety and sadness. I had family turmoil, with the death of my aunt as well as the sickness of other family members, I had the extreme stress of seeing Trump try to stage a coup, and finally, the stress of my own medical problems. I have postponed a few medical procedures and I have changed a few medicines, notably, different ones for my diabetes. Still, it was very exhausting. I am nervous for the two classes I have to Zoom-teach tomorrow, but they will be over in a flash. From 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., then I am done. Plus, as they say, only two preps this semester! Last semester I had four! I can do this.

Tried to take my mom to see if she could receive the Covid vaccine today at a Sav-On in Riverside. I had no luck. She is on the waiting list, but they told us that they will call if they have a dose available. They are keeping tight tabs on the supply, I understand, but the problem is that I just can't find an appointment for her on the websites. Not on the Riverside University Health system, where we are supposed to register for the mega-dosing events, nor on the private provides, such as Albertsons, Ralphs and, yes, Sav-On. We have been trying over and over during the past week and a half, since they were made available, but nothing. So, the best bet for now is to wait for a cancellation. I feel like my students who wish fervently for someone to drop their place in my class so that they can move up on the waiting list, but I am the one dashing their hopes. Thus are they doing to us.

I will post a few photos next. For now, thinking of the Pretenders' song from way, way back, from the late 70s and early 80s, when things were so much more innocent. Now, I look at myself in the mirror and I don't recognize myself. I have aged way too much. I wish I could say I have aged gracefully, but who am I kidding. 

Return to the South Coast Botanic Garden (part VII)

 I was getting ready to leave. The garden look very big on the map, but it is actually smaller. It was getting cold, though, and I gave myself a limited amount of time. I told myself I would leave by 2 p.m. to avoid the martyrdom of driving back home during rush hour. I ended up leaving at that time, but the martyrdom was waiting for me, and I didn't get back until after 4 p.m., but it wasn't so bad, I was listening to lectures on my audio CDs from the Teaching Company. The first, a lecture on classical travel modes in ancient Greece and Rome, and the second, a repetition of the lectures on writing and civilization. What is writing? It is pictorial language, that is the definition I should use. 

I didn't see everything I wanted to see, but I will return. I took about 100 cellphone photos, three 120 rolls of JCH in infrared mode, 6 4x5 slides with Fuji 100 film, and 4 4x5 photos with Foma 200 black and white film. Quite a trip.