15th of August
In the old moon calender 15th August has always full moon. And this is the day when the last World War was ended. So, there was a memorial ceremony for the 3 million war dead attended by the Japanese Emperor and the Empress. (Photo above right)
And it is often the time when Japan has a visiting typhoon. (Photo left)
Seemingly Japan was no exception, thanks to the climate change and having an extreme hot summer as well, making a record 40.7 degree C at northern Japan, Yamagata.
Poor fellow Japanese. —— Thenks goodness, I’m away.
Hibiscus
When you hear the name Hibiscus, you may imagine a red flower in a travel brochure of tropical island. Yet still, a kind of flowers belong to Hibiscus group = in the Malvaceae family is amazingly common and flowering everywhere.
This is a Hollyhocks. (seems to be Althaea rosea)
—– incidentally, this plant is a sister of Marshmallow (Yes, that soft white sweets) = the sweets used to be made using a sap from the roots of the Marshmallow.
And this one seems Hibiscus synacus.
But this one seems to be a very different garden valiety though, still pretty like a Hibiscus.
And you may remember this small flower in a grass patch, like a weed desperately clinging to the ground. Still, this one belongs to the Hibiscus family.
It’s somewhat interesting to think about that what sort of the fate or history pushed this plant to cling and survived on a rather poor dry ground ? —– Was that only a niche she found ? (We all knows, life is hard — she must be a rather lucky one, as she has achieved to make a flower at least !) —– by the way, did you know that the Hibiscus plant is Cannivorous = in the night, their stigma catch and strangulates a small insct and suck their body fluid out. = That’s what I heard, but not know the truth.
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Scarlet Pimpernel (’19)
I might have put as many posts of Scarlet Pinpernel after Cherry flowers. = I got a soft spot to this flower since I was very young. Easy reading villain’s novels kind is quite popular among the Japanese young boys (along side the robot comics) so, they are from Maurice Leblanc’s Arsene Rupin to even Alexander Duma or Scarlet Pinpernel. Still, Until I came to the west, I never seen this flower. —– So, the first sudden encounter was rather shock to me, especially it was the most unexpected kind of the place like an unassumed corner of the grass patch.
The photos here, the left was taken by a homemade, so-called Yashica-Macro and the right was by NZ-B lens.
Scarlet Pinpernel is a strang flower. Even if I got their seeds (very tiny) they never germinates from its seeds. Neither they came out the same place next year. —– How they were planted there = who put the seeds there is totally in a mystery ?
And they are very sensitive to the weather / humedity = when it was hot and dry, they close their flowers. = to see, fully open flowers, you got to see them on the morning.
The size of this flower is about 7 mm, in other words, to take picture of this flower filling a ful-frame needs to have a magnification of x3~x5. The photo above, left was the homemade lens called NZ-B, covering infinity to x0.6 on the Nikon Z7 body. And the right was called Yashica-Macro, originated from a broken Yashica-Kyocera compact camera, (the lens barrel and a part of the lens were used) having a magnification of about x3. (The draw back of those homemade lens is, they can be used as a manual focus lens though, they don’t have iris = always fully open. = focused point is very shallow. —– don’t worry, I got number of ordinally macro lens as well. 😀 )
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NZ – B – lens
I wrote about NZ lens more than a year ago. Since then I haven’t go out with that lens often. Big bright lens is too big to carry in my pocket.
So, only the front element was recycled then. But, how about many other lenses ? In that 18~200 mm Nikon Zoom lens, there were 3 more groups of glasses were used. = When I tested, I found that the third group was fit to the purpose straight. = easy to make-up as a usable optics — I mean, for my purpose. (Left top is USM / Silentwave motor and the D was the diverging lens I used for an experiment “Retrofocus” as the front element.)
So, the third group glass together with its sliding barrel was just glued to the Nikon-Z mount ring. In this structure, the movement of the glass makes a focus from infinity to x0.6.
As you might have guest, this lens wouldn’t give any clear sharp image. = still, may suit for some subject. Wait and see. 😀 ( I’m serious)
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Sony lens myth (3)
Some time ago, I wrote about the strange behaviour of the Sony 30 mm F3.5 Macro lens when it was mounted on the other camera. (Sony lens moves their focus while the lens was not mounted on their Sony camera, = even without having connected to the power.
In fact, I’ve written about the Chinese made NEX-NZ lens mount adaptor, in a postscript in the Homemade NEX-NZ adaptor post.
While testing this Chinese adaptor with Sony / Zeiss 55 mm 1.8 lens on Nikon Z7 camera, I noticed that this lens behaves same as to 30 mm F3.5 lens.
Those 6 photos above are the continuous shot showing how this 55 mm lens moves its focus when the camera was aimed to the outside. The lens moves its focus from Close to infinity then to very close again, obstructing anybody’s attempt to use the lens anywhere else of the Sony camera.
—– It is quite natural that the camera Co, hate other made lens used on their camera, but why they need to block their lens used / tested on the another camera ? — Is that because the lens needed to be used with their own correction program such as Chromatic, Distortion correction built into their image procesor ?
As I wrote it before, the most interesting question is, what kind of device or mechanism made such function works. —– the focus motor might be a silent stepper motor kind (but it makes some noise) though, what sort of the power back-up system maks its function keep working, —– how it retains the power without having the trouble of re-charge ? ? ? ? — small battery or super capacitor kind ? (Sony didn’t give any answer for those inquiry. — and I haven’t disassembled and checked inside of the lens yet.)
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Mindfulness sleeping ?
I found a net post where someone talking about Mindfulness sleeping —– what ?
Mindfulness is a misconceived idea somewhat related to Zen Buddhism. As it was invented in the west, there was no equivalent Japanese notion let alone Chinese or Indian idea. ( Hindu or Tantric practice has something similar, as their belief stands on the existence of the Atman = Perpetual mind — Buddhism stands on the belief of No existence of Atman = Anatman, hence Mushin and No Reincarnation)
So, it is bizarre enough to say “Mindfulness”in the context of Zen. To talk Mindfulness Sleeping is utter nuts. Such a silly notion could obstruct the sleeping but never able to make the person fallen asleep. —– There seems to be several technics such as to imagine your whole body top to bottom and scanning down next by next. —– You might be familiar with counting a sheep jumping over the hedge. (One sheep, two sheep — thousand one sheep — 😀 ) If you have any thought in your mind, it would just distract you to fall asleep. You are wondering around its thinking all night.
When I got into the bed I’ll be asleep within a few minutes. But if got something to think about, I get up again and sit before the keyboard and start drafting the idea. Unless otherwise, I’ll be fallen asleep = You might say how ? —– When you got into the bed = What you see for the last moment. = It might be a tangled bedding fabric over the pillow, or it could be a side lamp next to the bed. —– Whatsoever none of them is worthwhile to think about. —– yet still, when you close your eyes, the image remained in your eyes while the color or brightness reversed. Such an image has no value or meaning at all, so, it wouldn’t bother your brain either. And its image would sink down or dissolved away. When the brain found nothing to do, you just fell asleep.
Zen would teach you, don’t be bothered by a silly idea. Just close your eyes, it is enough to make you asleep. (When all about Zen is “Void” or Mushin (Mind of No-mind) who invented such a silly idea “Mindfulness” to focus particular image or thinking.) 😀 (It seems that the tendency of the Hinduism which want to theorize everything, couldn’t accept “No answer / nothing” = that’s why Buddhism was so revolutionary.)
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My Dictionary
This is my English dictionary which I’ve been using for the past 60 years. My brother gave it to me when I passed the hi-school enrollment. —– Since then this one served for me to know the meaning of the word, and check spelling etc.
(I’m changing the cover after 18 years of use.)
(It seemed people surprised to find that me not having Oxford = What’s wrong ?) —– They surprised me not to take drug, no alchol, no TV, no smartphone, no smoke, no woman, even not gay, yet still eat meat = and disassemble expensive camera = what’s wrong. (it’s not your business ) =
If I follow the way of the other people, I didn’t need to come to the Zen !
Inside, a small note was left that I got it 1960 when I was 15 years old. (15 years old boy started to use it 60 years ago and after 60 years still using it exactry the same way. = this was the reason why people don’t argue with Zennist.) 😀
I don’t think I’m proud to use one dictionary for all through life. In fact, there was a time that I was using SONY electronic dictionary which was very useful and convenient though, as it was based on the mini-disc memory system, mechanical instability hindered its use. = when it works it was brilliant but the trouble was, it didn’t work when I needed the most. —– and on the end of its life, it left the last epitaph “Please insert the disc correctly”. = Maybe I should have tried to get another Electronic Dictionary but it didn’t happen (no Akihabara in London, and I was not using Amazon then. = So, that was what it should have been and has bee as it was. —– In compalison, people struggling to get new one unnecessarily)
(I guess, maybe other people are using app dictionary kind on smartphone but that was what I hate most = I hate Google spy on my mail, eBay trace my type, taste etc etc Why they don’t leave me alone ? —– For them, I’m only a subject to squeeze out a profit and for me, they are only a necessary evil)
And awhile ago, I got a Thesaurus from Lidl for a whopping £1.5, my writing got a great sophistication and the eloquence. ( Ha ha ha 😀 )
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Walkthrough south of Themes
Where ever, whatsoever, at least we can see the sky. Thanks goodness.
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German Realism
There was an almost ending exhibition tytled “Magic Realism” at the Tate Modern.
But I’m not guiding you or work as a catalog —– you better find them.
It seemed, there was only one Paul Klee = counter part of Joan Milo ?
(Only this photo was taken by 110 Pentax 24 mm lens)
(And like all other photos, this one was taken by a home made so-called ZM-2 lens)
Human history has two drastic experiments, one was the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which destroyed all the culture and killed a population of 40 million for the sake of Chiarman Mao’s greed for power. And the other was the Weimar German Republic till the birth of Nazis when all the “Idea” was developed and tested in Art as well.
All the human issue, wemen’s issue was also discussed and argued.
I don’t know why when those hidden desire was unleashed, why they become to grotesque Hentai Images. Was that the face of hidden reality ?
But the most cynical irony was, even the most well designed democratic system couldn’t save the burden and the poverty from the war reparations, and push the country to even more disastrous rise of the Nazis. After all, all those distorted faces showed their pain. They were not a happy people. This true reflection was what the Realism mean.
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G20 – Heavy Congestion of Power or Stagnation ?
I don’t think I do need to talk about the world situation, let alone G20 Summit though, I did pick up some images from Net. = The image on top seemed to show the heaviest stagnation of the power known today.
First day’s evening there was a party where the guests seeing the Osaka Castle behind, (You may find the familier faces there)
As the party attraction, a Kyogen (instead of Nho) was played alongside the piano music (played by a handicapped pianist) and some passages from the opera.
Then a party like party with “Eco” food and drink. —– Everything is in uneasy cohabitation. (At least, those top peoples who hate each other are still in the same table.)
Like a paradox in the LGBT = now people demanding that it should include the Q = queer/hentai = by the political correctness / ideologically, evrybody should be equal therefore even eating whele shouldn’t be anything wrong. And soon we may need to include the murderous psychopath as the same human kind —– and now, the world is sitting on the ticking time bombs = Coming huge default of the Deutsche Bank, the disintegration of China, huge volcano erruption, earthquake to Japan etc etc. —— everybody knows it but pretending not see it while baguely hoping, somebody else can deal with it. So, at G20 everybody asking others “Are you the one who know the answer ?” —– If the one did know the answer, didn’t come here.
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