Funki Porcini @ NFT

Last night my friend, multi talented (video, music) artist,

Funki Porcini showed his new works at the National Film

Theater, Southbank, London.

First, B/W film was shown, which was a re-discovered, revived silent

Soviet-Russian film titled “My Grandmother” —–Funki put the

sound (today’s housy sounds) and made the film even more crazy.  😀

And showed some of his work, then the latest one

“Conservative Apocalypse”  (you better watch it)

He reviled some secrets behind, on frame by frame.

The end of the show, with a big applause, he was surrounded

by the audiences, or the questions, then we moved to the bar.

—– then I realized it was almost midnight.   Still it was quite

a worthwhile mind-boggling evening.

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Ox’cart and the Fate

I found a Buddhist story in a Japanese website, a collection of small episode which was said to be told by Lord Buddha = “There was an ox’cart carrying heavy goods. The ox, who draw the cart everyday fed up the work, got an idea, if there was no cart there couldn’t be any work.

So, on a bend of the road, ox sped-up and the last moment,he sway and made the cart smashed onto a rock.   As the cart was smashed broken, no more work on that day.  Then few days later, the owner brought a new cart made by heavy iron. So that, the ox had to draw even heavier lord”— in this episode

Lord Buddha taught that if anybody does silly things, it would boomerang back onto the next life. —– interesting story though,I don’t think this story was genuine at all even if it was in the Mahayana scripture.

—— The reason was

1) Lord Buddha wouldn’t have said “Next Life” since his stance was Anatoman (No- Atoman = No perpetual soul/self) therefore there couldn’t be Next Life.

2) I don’t believe that there could be a cart made-up by iron exists which was affordable to a man of ox’cart in India, 2500 years ago.

3) Of cause, ox isn’t such clever. (Sorry, Mr Ox.   😀 ) This story must be a fake by a script-writer of much much later period when the idea of Hindu = Atoman and their belief of Reincarnation was mixed up into Buddhism. Obviously, as the Buddhist’s Sanga (follower’s community) had

NO CAST system, the idea of Reincarnation was not existed there.

How do you think ?

Ensign Lens Portraits

At WW gathering in Greenwich, while testing Ensign’s Anastigmat

lens on Gordon’s 8mm cine camera, I did some portraits shots

of the people there.

100-year-old lens was stuck on a bellows, on Canon 5D Mk-III.

(150mm F7.7 lens, focusing on a bellows wasn’t very easy)

— still, the camera like this makes the people smile.

Mike and John

James, Gordon and Paul

Mike, Albert and Roman

The hands (what else ?) 

Those pictures were the clopped cemter image of the 3″x4″ of

the image size, the quality was good. (Just like most of the lens)

(But as the image of this lens was too ordinary, it has no point to

chose this lens while an ordinary lens gives full auto and F2.8. 

😀 )

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Ensign !

Oh my goodness, after 43 years, Britten leave the bunch of Europe.

—– After 43 years mean, a year before I came here, Brit joined EC.

It was just after the oil shock and the time Britten was in a doldrums. 

(Before North-sea Oil boom)

Still, something amazed me of this country then was that as the law 

was changed, the gay couple became eligible to have a council housing

like a married couple. (otherwise, single man was almost impossible

to get it in the priority queue = single mother, disabled, married with

children —- has higher priority) (Though, I didn’t know whether it

was due to the European regulation or trend of the human right issue)

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Ensign is a national flag on the (battle) ship, so it symbolize somewhat

patriotic though I’m not talking about the politics here —– but

an old camera called Ensign made by the Houghtons, England.

Ensign Anastigmat Lens 6″ (?) F7.7

( A fog on the photo above was caused by a fungi and no coated lens)

Yet this is just a mediocre old camera made around 1910s and the

lens was a common anastigmat lens.  Nothing special or remarkable.

(If the lens was giving visibly too distinctive image, no one would

buy such camera.   😀 )

My friend Gordon wanted to use this lens to shoot on his

8mm cine camera. (so, I was asked to modify it to C-mount fitting)

The camera got the same design of the then trendy (!) folding camera

of a quarter plate size (4″x3″ = its contact print would make a post card).

The photo above left showed yet another old camera of the same era,

which I have talked about before.

The name of the lens Anastigmat mean, Ana (non) Stigmat (optical

aberration showing  cross-shaped ghost image) and designed to

eliminate not only Stigmat but also the other aberrations as well.

 (only in the certain level — just able to produce good enough

image = like the photo on top)

Strangely this lens doesn’t say what focal length — still, the maximum

F-aperture seemed to be F7.7 and the diameter of the lens is about

19~20mm —> 20 x 7.7 = 150mm —– and the 150mm lens for 4″x3″ 

size will make about 45° angle of view = good for full length portrait shot

on 2m distance.

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To dismount the lens (together with shutter unit) it needs to use

caliper like tool from the back of the lens. (Photo above right)

Lens (and shutter together) was stacked on front of the bellows,

and 150mm lens for 35mm camera is a good telephoto lens.

—– but mind you, here only the center of the lens

= best part was used.

So, the image quality is not too bad other than the foggy halation

caused by the fungi.   But, neither the pleasing softness was there

— just an ordinary image.

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People might have a false dream toward the old lens which could

create an archaic nostalgic image though, most of them would

make just ordinary image  only with foggy halation, caused by the

non-coated surface reflection if not a fungi. 

Because the visible difference on the image was created by the

uncorrected aberration which has to be (more or less) corrected 

except the very old primitive design such as the Petzbarl lens of

the Dageleo type era.     And, even if the lens happen to have an

aberration, it’s not apparent on the cropped center of the image. 

In fact, the false impression of the nostalgic image was made by 

the low resolution of the old film / plate, it may not be replicated

on a modern DSLR.

(Old film’s latitude was much narrower = shadow details lost but

with the halation inside of film emulsion, edge of the dark part

was eaten and together with the halation on the lens surface

made the image looks rather soft = created the image like a copy

of an old cinema frame = this is the reality of nostalgic image.)

c.

(Dirty) Battle on the Net

With a stereotypical crèche, we are implanted a myth that we are

bombarded by too much information in the net environment. 

And we can find ANY info’ by just clicking. 

—– DO you believe this ? —– As a matter of fact I did too.  

So, as my tablet as a mobile photo book, I’ve been explaining to

the new friends what I’m doing and told them “If you are

interested in, just read the blog itself.  And to find my blog, the

easiest way is just google < yoshi, Zappa> you can see this fish-eye

photo of Zappa and the links to my blog on top of the google page”

= So far it was a good instruction — I thought till few weeks ago. 

Then I met the same man and he said “I couldn’t find your blog”

— ? ? ?   = We realized that, (as he was using a browser  MS’s

Internet Explorer and its search engine Bing) on IE  the information

related to Google were completely missing. 

= On Bing, you can NOT find any WordPress blog, such as a search

term, not only <yoshi, Zappa> even <yoshizen blog> NO information

of my blog coming up there at all. (even after 10th pages)

Since I don’t like bullying MS (with their monopoly), I’ve been using

Fire Fox from the start, therefore I was not aware this trouble. 

(You can test this easily = You see the Search box in the Tool Bar 

on top of screen.   When you move the Arrow there, The choice of 

Search Engine, Yahoo, Bing etc will appears = Try each of them

with the Same Search Term)  

Obviously, MS is so desperate when facing their fortune is

slipping away = try to destruct Google in any mean.

(They haven’t reached the Point “If you can’t beat, join them” yet.)

It’s an ugly battle going on.

(Incidentally, I found that to search through the browser Opera was

not recognized by the WordPress = the count of the reading of the post

was not appeared to the WP statistics. — I have no idea why.

= I noticed this, when a man told me that he has read through all the

“Photography post” which got enormous number — still, nothing

appeared on the WP stats count.    Then I found he was using Opera.)

(Later, I tested the Opera my self while downloading it to my PC and

found = its depend on the condition when it was downloaded = sometime

work, other time not — try download again and check the function)

= It seems, strange battle is also going on behind the scene.  😀

(There must be the heavy negotiation of license, money etc etc) 

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Prince William on Gay Magazine

After the discussion, HRH The Duke of Cambridge made the following statement:

“No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason and no one

should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured

in their lives. The young gay, lesbian and transgender individuals I met through

Attitude are truly brave to speak out and to give hope to people who are going

through terrible bullying right now. Their sense of strength and optimism should

give us all encouragement to stand up to bullying wherever we see it.

What I would say to any young person reading this who’s being bullied for their

sexuality: don’t put up with it – speak to a trusted adult, a friend, a teacher,

Childline, Diana Award or some other service and get the help you need.

You should be proud of the person you are and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Attitude editor Matthew Todd says: “During my time as editor of Attitude I have met

parents whose child has taken or lost their life after being bullied for being LGBT+

or just perceived to be LGBT. I am very happy that the future King of the

United Kingdom agrees this must stop and I would urge parents in particular to

raise their voices in their communities to ensure that every school protects

– really protects – all children.”

This issue of Attitude magazine went to press on Wednesday 8 June, just days

before the devastating shooting in Orlando which saw 49 LGBT+ people lose their lives.

Attitude sends our most heartfelt condolences to those affected by this atrocity.

Around the world, LGBT+ people experience hatred and violence every day.

Such violence does not exist in a vacuum but snowballs from intolerance and bullying

that begins in classrooms, too often comes from politicians or religious leaders and

is often not treated with respect by the media.

——————————————–

(You may see the original article here)

http://attitude.co.uk/making-history-prince-william-appears-on-the-cover-of-attitude/

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Being a photographer (or used to be) I have/had many friend who was

happened to be a gay.   Most of them were such as a hair stylist, designer

etc who was working in the creative industry —– but on the business,

(I mean photo shootings) no such things are the matter I neither care.

(Still I appreciate their gentle attitude and the care for the details.)

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I myself is a so-called straight = only had relation with opposite sex

but, almost 30 years I haven’t touched a woman (only a shake hand).

(I would say “Enough is enough, no more thanks” = fundamentally,

sexual relation was designed to be quite unfairly = pleasure, the woman

can get, is comparable to have a trouble to have 10 months pregnancy

 

and the child-birth.  In comparison, a man’s pleasure is to release a shot,

still receive a blame etc etc of trouble. = What is the point to have one.)

Though, in the society, “If a man doesn’t have a woman he must be a gay”

= It seems, the people couldn’t think the third way.

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When I was a regular of the Club, Fridge, Brixton, London where they

had “Escape from Samsara” every Friday — I was there for 5 and a half

years as I had free entry and the free drinks — since I was the best dancer.)

The club also had the gay-night = “Love Muscle” on Saturday night (but I

didn’t like the atmosphere = I stack to Samsara.)  Still time to time gay man

came to Samsara.  Though they are the very flashy people (wearing SM

string costume, exposing their bottom kind) I didn’t care at all, (it’s their

business, not mine)  When I was in the club (in fact in any club) I was there

for dancing, not for socializing, I didn’t speak with the cloud but only to staffs

(so, some of the people mistook me to an under-cover drug police, security,

even the real owner of the club !)  Then one night, a man with a SM costume

hugged me from behind and shake his thing onto me.  I twisted his arms 

and throw him out.  A member of the Samsara organizer, took the man inside

again saying “I’m a gay since I was 16” “I don’t care it’s your business”

“I have the exactly the same right, no to be harassed by the gay”  “OK, if you

don’t like I stop to come here — see what would happen”  — after I stop to

go Fridge club, strangely, every Friday was rainy, and the club floor became

empty.  6 months later Samsara bankrupted and a year later, Fridge was sold.

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So, I don’t care who ever, what so ever your sexual orientation kind = leave 

me alone and I’ll leave you alone = Don’t expect me to treat you special.

 

Everybody born with their own Karma = So, everybody is different — AND

while finding somewhat common, we ARE living together by the “Majority”

consensus = Minority IS always there. Behind of 51% Majority, 49% of almost

the same size of the Minority is there.  If the Minority is asking the same right,

what is the point to have the Democracy.  The system was designed and

working when each part was functioning in cohesion.  To keep in coherent,

the part or person has to compromise otherwise the system disintegrates.

It must be the headache, when the each part of the system behaving

differently (out of cohesion) still asking  the same right and the same

treatment of the perfectly functioning system. (System is in debt already

— still the person “speaking” friendly words while living above the system

looks nice — to the untrained eyes.)

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Fortune-line and the Bully

Many years ago, when one of my friend visited this country with

her friend’s daughter, I met them over a lunch. While having a

casual conversation such as the cultural shift in Japan, generation

gap kind of talking, I found a bit of odds in this young (yet over 25)

woman’s talk — I asked to see her palm.   Bang!

“Oh, what a stubborn woman!”   “Oh yes that’s who I am”

— My friend (my generation) said with surprise, “I didn’t noticed it.

You never behave in such a way” —– Probably before the senior,

young woman must behaved well, while

covering-up her hidden character which she must be well aware.

[]

The reason how I could see her true nature was, that she got

very strong so-called Fortune-line in the centre of her both palm.

—– Together with over 50 years of my own observations, what I

found about this line was, not necessary the success and the fortune,

still at least the urge of dominance and its assertion of own way was

quite prominent = simply, very bossy strong character.

In theory, this character could be an effective asset to push the

business or project to succeed but, the life is not such simple.

Want to dominate IS what the person WISH, though others to

accept it and to support, IS the another matter.

Whether the others follow and support the person should be clear

on the other lines, which was called Sun-line under the Ring finger.

One or two vertical lines started from the bottom of finger indicates

the person’s virtues respected by the others.

Without this respect, the dominance is just by the force (money,

position etc) therefore it was only superficial hence empty.

[]

Reading of line is always in relation to the other lines.

Between the Thumb and the Pointing finger, if the

Intelligence (Brain) line and the Life-line doesn’t start together,

the person got a different mind-set of what he/she was born to be

(= like believing to be other or want more.)   So that, when it happens

together with strong Fortune-line, it likely causes

the tension even trouble in the daily life.

(Try to dominate though, not necessary having such power or

influence let alone the leadership, yet still having a delusion or

dream of that “I can” — and harass the others who don’t follow

= is nothing but a trouble maker.)

[]

It is the remotest situation to my life, therefore far beyond my

imagination though, there was a news (time to time) that a young

mama committed suicide after receiving the harassment / bullying

from the mom’s group of a children’s nursery.

Living in the same area and taking the same aged children to the

nursery mean the moms are belong to about the same cluster,

more or less the same financial, social position (otherwise lives

much posh area and chose posh nursery or even having own

child-minder) = so, everybody is the same kind of “person” — yet

still, or because of that, somebody among the group try mount

the others and assert “I’m the boss”.

(It seems, the bullying among the children, mounting among the

social group, job front etc are almost the “Norm” in the human

society, regardless whether it is acceptable or not.)

[]

—-If anybody try to get rid of such Ego, Zen Buddhism could help

though, Zen couldn’t stop the others indulging the pleasure of bully.

It is the Irony = “Try better in Bully !” “Show you my power !” —–

So, when you encounter such situation, have look the palm of the Bully.

How rampant the Fortune-line is, and the Brain-line and the Life-line

were separated. = People behave as they were born to be.

That’s what the Karma meant = Parents, DNA, Family/Social

environment, Way of grown-up — but

NOT because the so-called previous life. (because, no such things exists)

= The palm lines were the reflection of how the Brain developed and

organized = and it was according to the DNA received from both parents.

(and the Fox-Gene’s rather chancy behaviour)

—– Human being is a fancy creature !

(though, I have not learnt of animal palm line yet =

Chimp might be having as fancy life as ours. = Bullying Chimp.  😀 )

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What Buddha taught ?

When we try to find what was the original teachings of

Lord Buddha  among the millions line of scripture, we have

to pay the most heavy attention to the personality of

Lord Buddha as an individual human being in his totality, while

chiselling out all the mixed-ups and the glorifying decorations.

(If the scripture had Hindu name, it is not Buddhism, or the 

story has supernatural magnificence it was just a fantasy.)

—– there could be a gradual change of his view and the opinion

still, there couldn’t be an utter contradiction from the same person.

Since he got his Enlightenment (with his own understanding of the

world) after he seceded from ascetic monks/Guru’s group (with a

disappointment and a lost hope to find a viable answer from them

and such ascetic approach) therefore his idea couldn’t be anything

like a transcendental oracle like fanatic words  (so-called

mumbo-jumbo) but  frank and down to the earth straight idea.

[]

Typically like Four Noble Truth, those very brunt and blatant words

were the words of cool realist.

If the person was a kind of salesman, he would have chosen much

sweeter words and even a misleading bait in it (such as a promise

of Heaven). But

Lord Buddha was not a spin-doctor but rather like a rational scientist,

he talked the facts and phenomena, not his speculation or fantasy —

its mean his teachings were not an idealistic Dogma but the wisdoms

based on the facts and the scientific observations.

= in this approach, he found the mechanism of Karma and able to see

the effect of the time in moment to moment flaw.    So that, to find 

the NO Perpetual Soul (Anatman) was a straight conclusion.

(That’s why in his Sangha, there was no Cast = curse from the past)

Those observations and the understandings needs no special filter to 

see = they are the common facts, and from those observations anybody

who acquired the right eyes can see and find the truth behind 

( 8 right ways meant this) and see the Enlightenment.   That was why,

Lord Buddha gave the last instruction on his death bed

“Don’t believe what was said but see/learn it yourself” = this word

clearly indicates that the teachings were not a Dogma to memorise

but the Direct Transmission =

wisdom which could be learned from the observation of Facts.

[]

And Lord Buddha’s observation went into deep inside of the

human psych = subconsciousness too.

He realised that we are able to see and know the subject

without us thinking it.  (So-called intuition) 

And he thought this is the Manifestation of the Dharma in us.

(We can walk without thinking how to walk — so,

WHO made us to walk ? = It must be the Dharma !

But being in our subconscious, even we know it’s there though

we can not see = It is there and/but It is not there.  (There must

be a big debate about “Self / Soul, the subject / who is thinking, =

the person who is thinking IS WHOM ?       Though, as

Lord Buddha took the stance that there is no Self / Atman = talking

this subject IS effectively a recognition of the existence of the Self =

So, how it was debated was very interesting but we may not know.

—– still from the Scripture we can see the description “Giving

without aware of giving IS the true giving” = we can guess what

was taught there then.  And from here, (if Self exists or not) the

debate extended —> Does Dharma exists or itself is Void ? ? ?

And in this context, an episode in the Agama sutra was the

story which gave us the most crucial insight.

= That was the true record of

Lord Buddha’s teachings.

___/\___

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Core of the Buddhism

Did Buddhism asked the followers to remember any special notion,

something like a rule of the “Preservation of Energy” in physics or

a special formula, or to do very peculiar practice ?   (Don’t mix-up

with a funny ritualistic practice of Tantra sect.

Or their magic Mantra (Dharani) which was claimed to have a

supernatural power. — They are noting to do with the teachings of

Lord Buddha.)

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—– Such as Four Noble Truth = they are only a bit deeper

understanding of the phenomena in our life general.

= After all, what the Buddhism telling us were the Awareness

toward our own existence.    Which is not far from our

common sense = Because all of us ARE existing more or less on

the same bases = Nobody was born to live for ever, nor born

with the wings to fly etc etc = nobody is superman, or

divine figure in flesh —– as no supernatural facts exists (other

than silly delusion or rumour) there couldn’t be any possibility

of the fantastic fabrication mixed into the Buddhism teachings.

(In deed, there are mountain of fancy stories = but they ARE

the fancy stories = nothing to do with the teachings.

— It’s a fun to see a fancy imagination of the people.)    😀

[]

Lord Buddha denied any idealistic notions as they are only

the delusions.  (Therefore he completely ignored to answer

(completely stop to talk the person is the same to kill him)

the questions about “after the life” or about the “universe”

which is neither exists nor possible to know.

—– Considering the both subjects are the easiest topics to tell a

fabrication or a fancy story (because, to counter prove its fancy

story is even harder — Try to prove there are Heaven and Hell.

Then try disprove them.   You will see it’s a waste of time = so that,

Lord Buddha completely ignored it. )

Probably the most important key to decipher Buddhism teachings

are in the story of Kisa Gotami (Running around the village) =

as a typical Upaya teaching, there was no verbal teaching but the

learning by the practice = Direct transmission to the subconscious.

= No lexical Notion/Idea or Thinking process.

And this phenomenon was also significant in this story.

—– Why it’s significant = because its phenomenon of

“Exists but Exists Not” character of the Subconsciousness

and this phenomenon is the core of the Voidness.

Dharma IS here or HERE all together IS the Dharma though,

since its detail is constantly changing moment to moment because

the Karma is active, it couldn’t be defined in one shape, still it IS

the Dharma.  = This “Exists yet Exists not” character is parallel to

our subconsciousness.  = And this IS what we ARE = and to

become aware this fact IS the Enlightenment.

(So, effectively it IS no difference to know who I AM = just

I am as I am. = That’s why, it is a Dog shit.)   😀

___/\___

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The same Meadow by 2 Element Toy Lens

Somewhat the same kind of photos again.

But with 2 Element Toy camera Lens.

This lens can make a bit more detailed image than Gaudy Lens.   🙂

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