[Leica] walkabout

[richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard)]

I will probably ask the daughter to make this into a more viewable webpage 
with thumbnails and such tomorrow... As usual, comments and suggestions are 
always welcome.

** Walkabout ***
I post to the Leica User Group that I either need to sell some of lesser 
used equipments or one of my kidneys to pay for the recent purchases and 
someone asked me how much is the kidney ;_;. So perhaps my wife is worrying 
about that. <http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0174.jpg>

Of course we all know that 82.5% of all the photographs ever taken are of 
pets and children and that 57% of all statistical figures are made up. 
Nevertheless, here are two pictures of Kiva the Wonder Dog. Why is she a 
wonder dog? Well, she has PRK, a congenital disease that made her blind 
since 5 years ago 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0175.jpg>. As if that 
is not bad enough, 4 years ago, she broke a spinal disc and after the 
emergency surgery, the vet proclaimed that "she will probably never walk 
again." Does she let all these minor handicaps slow her down? No way. She 
can navigate by her other senses and after much work on her part with some 
help from us, she has been walking and running just fine. Thank You Very 
Much. <http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0178.jpg>

Honda has been demonstrating the world's first walking robot ASIMO around 
the country and we went to see it at Stanford. ASIMO stands for something 
or another that they made up, but even though they deny it, I am betting 
that they named it after Issac Asimov, the famed SF writer who invented the 
Three Laws of Robotics. Here it is walking side way 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0186.jpg>, backward 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0189.jpg>, even Hula 
dancing <http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0197.jpg>, 
and finally, walking up a stair 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0202.jpg>. Really 
quite a technological feet [sic. ha ha ].

 From the high tech to the low tech, what's a visit to Stanford without 
seeing the New Guinea wooden sculpture garden? They have two large wooden 
log drums <http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0218.jpg> 
that have these beautiful sound 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0219.jpg>. You can 
really feel the spirit of the place and be mesmerized by it 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0221.jpg>. Every time 
I go there, I find new creatures on the sculptures that I have not noticed 
before. Truly a magical experience.

What's the best way to round off the excursion but to visit the local 
photography store Keeble & Schucat. They have a good selection of Leicas, 
so I borrowed the 28 Elmarit and shot off a picture 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0224.jpg> and the 
daughter returned the favor 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0225.jpg>. Hmm... not 
bad. She can focus with a rangefinder! Perhaps I should save money and get 
her an M6 when she goes to college in a few years. K&S has a large 
selection of old equipments to drool about 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0226.jpg>. Look at 
the top shelves behind glass and you'd find medium, large, old and ancient 
camera equipments. Mr. Shucat himself is apparently quite a Leicaphile. 
Upstair in the darkroom equipment section (wonder how much longer it will 
last :-( ), there are a few cases of Leica "stuff" 
<http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/walkabout/EPSN0229.jpg>. I should 
have borrowed that 28mm lens for a better view, but they have screwmounts, 
the 'flexes, the Ms, even lens like the Hektor and Summarex. I even found a 
NOOKY (don't ask me what it is).


// richard <http://www.imagecraft.com/software> 
<http://www.imagecraft.com/software/FAQ.html>

// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, please 
use richard at imagecraft.com)