[jules' pics] 5/27/2009 09:38:00 PM

long lens, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Cameras and lenses:
Most of the pictures on my blog are taken with a second hand Nikon D40 DSLR paired with a very new (in fact just released when I bought it) "Nikkor AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8 G" lens. In 35mm film format that's equivalent to a focal length of close to 50mm. The lens in the photo is the "Nikkor AF 135mm f/2 D DC", as I previously mentioned , lent to me by Lan. On the D40 it is equivalent to around 200mm and has only manual focus. Hence my crossed brows in the photo. It is certainly an interesting experiment, and a beautiful lens, but I think it is rather long for shooting Japan, a place where long views are rare, the lanes are full of twists and turns and everything, including people, are so close together.

Yesterday's photo was taken with another of Lan's lenses, "Nikkor AF 24mm f/2.8D". On the D40 that's just a bit wide-angle, around 35mm.

[This pic is taken by James with his Panasonic LX3.]

[jules' pics] 5/27/2009 12:32:00 AM

Koumyouji, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Our house in Kamakura.

Oh, OK.... it isn't... But it is one of the free to visit temples, and includes the best Zen dry garden I have found in Kamakura.

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/27/2009 12:32:00 AM

"Sprouting Inner"

Apologies to JT for stealing their picture, but they delete old stories rapidly and without a copy no-one will ever believe me when I say that someone in Japan recently won an award for designing underwear "modeled after the freshness of young cabbage":

Tea time

There is a reason for the confused posting as jules recently...I'm sharing her laptop, cos mine had a bit of a shower recently:

Oops! And what's worse, it was not just a cheap computer keyboard, but the keyboard of my fairly new Macbook Air. But apart from the shift key locking on, it seemed to recover ok, so hopefully it won't be too painful to fix.

Massive under-reporting of Swine Flu?

An interesting email jules received, I don't think I've met the person (maybe once or twice, but certainly not recently):

then... dare I say it... last weekend, I developed flu-like symptoms, so instead of finally seeing you all, I was laid up with a temperature and aches in places where I'd forgotten I had places! (I was not alone either - a number of other conference delegates also experienced the same thing - we deduced that the source was dodgy hotel air conditioning).

Um...if I developed "flu-like symptoms" a few days after a conference in Tokyo, and found that several other delegates had the same experience, I would deduce that it was....flu! Of course it *could* be the ordinary seasonal flu...but given that the new type is so easy to catch and generally mild, it would hardly be a surprise to find that that's what it was.

I also saw this on scienceblogs:

Thirty thousand people in Britain are likely to have been already infected by swine flu, one of the country's leading authorities has told The Independent on Sunday.

Of course, this implies that it is not very serious, and the WHO is desperately trying to pretend that there is no pandemic, even though its own rules make it quite clear that this status has actually been reached. If everyone agrees to look the other way and not do any testing they might be able to pretend it has simply died out.

[oops, this was posted by James]

[jules' pics] 5/24/2009 02:52:00 AM

galcon, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

James' imaginary universe.

[spying from the other side of the room with an awfully long lens lent to me by our very generous buddy, Lan Smith].

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/24/2009 02:52:00 AM

[jules' pics] 5/21/2009 07:19:00 PM

"Kamakura Alps", originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

mountain-side or beach-side?

[photograph taken with my iphone on the way to work this morning]

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/21/2009 07:19:00 PM

[jules' pics] 5/20/2009 10:54:00 PM

sushi, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

At least 50% of the enjoyment of Japanese food is in the presentation. The fact that it might taste better grilled with a little butter and garlic is entirely beside the point, James. This is why you should decide which restaurant to go to based on the wax models or photographs found at the entrance, while ignoring any delicious smells coming from nearby restaurants with less expensive models or photographs.

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/20/2009 10:54:00 PM

Ignobel research on disease transmission

Thanks to some Japanese schoolchildren, we now have some pretty impressive results on how to effectively spread the new 'flu:

1. Organise an inter-school sports competition. Volleyball is believed to be highly suitable. Probably other indoor sports would work here - research is still ongoing.
2. Get spectating pupils to blow up balloons by mouth - make sure they are generous with the saliva here. Get things nice and wet around the mouth of the balloon.
3. Release said balloons to fly around the hall liberally spattering spectators from the other schools.

Hey presto, a week later there should be cases popping up all over the prefecture.

For added benefit, it helps if the authorities focus all of their attention on the scary foreign disease threat, carefully screening all incomers before letting them off the plane and pressuring universities to cancel international conferences etc. As we all know, foreign is scary and dangerous! "None of the students had ever been abroad. So we never thought that this was the new virus."

Looking for a silver lining, at least the overseas travel bans (nothing nationally-sanctioned, but widely imposed by employers and schools) should be binned, as will be the airport quarantining.

Update:

O noes it's arrived in Tokyo! OMG!!11!!!!eleventy!! We're all going to die, or at least feel a little under the weather for a few days. Meanwhile, people are desperately lobbying the WHO to pretend that it isn't a pandemic (by their own definition, which it clearly satisfies).

[jules' pics] 5/19/2009 11:35:00 PM

sunset Kamakura beach, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Are you beach-side or mountain-side?

[It's what people ask when you say you are from Kamakura.]

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/19/2009 11:35:00 PM