Homemade Lens Cap

While walking in the town with my camera on my shoulder, I realized, I’ve dropped a lens hood

and a cap of my Fish-eye Lens.   Because of the fish-eye lens is protruding on its front, the

Lens cap is a special type.  To buy this type must cost more than £ 50 and may need to order.

—– any how, I didn’t even check the price. I know it is extortionately expensive.

I absolutely have no will to buy it.

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Since when the camera industry started, their business model is always the same. Like Kodak

and their Brawny camera, camera itself was sold cheap = can be sold even without profit.

The profit was made from the sale of film and its print making process. Polaroid did the same.

But what about the camera maker who is not selling the film. = While selling the camera itself

cheap, their profit came from the sale of accessories such as interchangeable lens, flash light

even a piece of plastic, such as a lens cap, so, the price is kept such high.

—– Many years ago, a boss of big camera company complained me “ We are effectively

making promotional incentive goods to sell the film. The more we work hard and sell more

attractive cameras which makes more people taking photo, it only creates the more profit to

the Film company, not for us 😦 ”

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Then, the Digital revolution completely changed the rules of the game.

Photography no longer need to use the film, hence both Kodak and Polaroid bankrupted.

(Fuji Film escaped this by investing digital imaging technology long before digital cameras

appeared, such as working with Xerox and bought Electronic Scanner’s maker, Crossfield,

then utilizing their film emulsion technology, they diversified, expanded even into forefront

of nano technology).

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Thanks to have, such as image-sensor manufacturer, like Toshiba, Sony next door, Japanese

Digital camera evolved very quick though I didn’t buy them until I was fully convinced

that the sensor reached to the level of a film camera. ( I’m not implying such as a

top grade DSLR reached as good as Film camera, but when I saw the sample photos of

Canon 5D, I found the photo showed a flaw of the lens, it’s mean the resolution

of the sensor was reached to the limit of average lens = good enough for average

use) —– So that I bought 5D Mk-2  for my first ever Digital Camera.

(I waited a full-frame DSLR for my collection of ultra-wide and fisheye lenses)

—– comparing the cost of film and its process, still it is cheap, and no need

to mention its convenience to use in the Internet environment.

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But coming down to a low-tech, just for a molded plastic lens cap, I wouldn’t pay a price of

hi-tech camera.   I’m an humble, or more precisely mean, poor person. (In principle 🙂 )

So, I decided to make it myself and went to Pound-shop to find the best suited material.

= basically, cap for Fish-eye lens is a pan-shaped shallow cap.  Only a matter is, its diameter.

On the photo right, what I found were a fancy color-changing light and moisturizing hand

cream (of its container, not the cream of cause 😀 )

Light housing has bayonet craw which somewhat fit to the lens front bayonet though, it was

made by Styrole Plastic, hence it may easily brake when it got impact. The cream jar was

made by Polypropylene, hence having certain flexibility to grip the lens top with right fiction.

So that, I’ve chosen to use cream jar. And for top lid, I found a junk Pendulum

of old clock 😉  = Cut the jar to a shallow ring and hot-glued the metal disc of pendulum.

Voilà, a lens cap which cost me only £1 —– still I need to work a bit more to prevent it

accidentally come off and lost again.

So, this is the finished product with some stitching work.  = Over the metal cap,

I cover it with chamois and the additional Velcro strap is to tether the cap

to the lens. 

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As I’ve been keep saying, this kind of DIY work is a game. = the more free minded

approach, it would be a fun.   (Not mention, it would save the cost too.

It’s far better to use the same money to a memory card kind) 😀 —– only remaining

headache is “ What to do with a moisturizing cream now kept in honey jar ?” I don’t take or

use any artificial things include the medicine on to my body, especially what can you expect

from £1 cream.—– Anyhow, sweet peach smelled, smooth skin Yoshizen may not be

anything near to sexy.  Yuck ! Ha ha ha 😀

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PS:   Strangely, I lost the Lens cap again, and I had to make yet another one.

—– As I don’t have anymore clock pendulum, instead I used a cap of pickles jar.

And in this time I got nice colored leather for a cover.   (Click the photo to enlarge and

see the hand stitch = it is a simple practice, hence good Buddhist’s practice of Mushin.  😀 )

Cap works, with a hint of vinegar smell, and if I press its center, it makes a click sound.  😀

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Brutal Nature = or is it just a Nature ?

They are the photos of a Dandelion seed magnified  x16 times (in length, on 36×24 screen)

the Lens used was the one I’ve hand-made to take May Fly Egg before (click the Link here).

———— (This photo is a comparison, taken by Pentax 20mm F4  Lens, in Revers with Extension Ring,

————  but to make a comparison, photo was trimmed to the same size = x16,  like the photo above. 

————  As it was able to stop down to F8 ,  Depth of Field was much deeper than Microscope Lens )

As often the case, it looks pretty and fragile though, nature do have sharp claw and poison.

= Disneylized  romanticized look is just a thin veneer ( still, it would inspire a child’s dream

” Like a Dandelion seed,  fly away in a wind and have a bloom somewhere in a new world” =

how romantic ! ) though = they also live in the same, or even harsher Samsara.  

(And they are really the Nemesis of a gardener   😀 ) —– Through the evolution, Dandelion

seed must have adopted this looks brutal barbed armor, against eaten by a bird.

And this photo was taken by Canon EF Macro F2.8 , at F2.8,  magnification was  x1.

And in comparison, this photo was taken by a lens, once regarded to be one of the best

Macro Lens, Tamron SP 90mm F2.5  at F2.5  with Extension Rings,  magnification was  x1.5.

( Because of this lens has some softness at F2.5, quite few photographer loved it for female

portrait, but I used this lens only for closeup work ) —– all those shots here are for the tests

of shallow focus and the soft image at the fully opened F aperture, since when I found an

Olympus 50mm Macro F2 lens has phenomenal off-focus “Boke” = I wanted to investigate.

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In photography, there are two opposite approaches to emphasize the subject = one is using

wide angle lens and close to the subject, hence make the subject over-sized.   😀

The another is, to use telephoto lens, and focus only to the subject. —– even though I like to

do [Man-watching] in distance, when I come to take photo, I don’t like sneak view. 

I like to have face to face, and communicate with the subject, or to commit to the situation. 

( This is the attitude of [Engagement] of the Existentialism and the  Mahayana Buddhism. ) 

—– As I started my photography taking photos of plants, insects = use smaller F-aperture

to get sharper image, deep depth of field was the norm. = I was not a man to use the lens with 

its F-aperture fully opened —– unless the situation demand, under a dim light.  🙂 )

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In the life, nothing is simple but having many contradicting facets.   Behind of loving care

of  Tiger mother to her cab, there are misery of a Deer family.   Even a fluffy dandelion seed

having such fierce face which I didn’t know until I gave a very close look.

We tend to makeup a convenient story from just one facet, in most of the case with our

ignorance, or even worse, with a sake of convenience to make the story nice and sweet.

So that, such as in the Eightfold Right Path of Buddhism = to make Right Speech needs to

have right knowledge and the understanding.   It’s  quite a tall order isn’t it.  

And with a crèche, we casually use an expression how gorgeous the spring blossoms are,

or glorious golden color of autumn trees and so on, but nature may not be there to

please mankind = Flower was there, waiting the insects, and we just happen to be there.

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To interpret the Nature in our sake is just our Ego, and romanticize it would be a delusion.

Who said, Mankind conquer the Nature ?  — We only found a bit of way to tamper it, that all.

They may not willfully Brutal against us, as they have no self or Ego, but the Mechanism.

This Mechanism contain us as its part, but they operates without recognize us.

—– and this System is what the Nature mean.   And this is the Dharma in Buddhism.

To see it beautiful or brutal is in our eyes, in fact it’s all in our Mind.  Nature is just there.

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Shallow Focus — Pan Focus (with tilting lens)

Some sharp eyed reader quizzed me, the photos of Dandelion seed are odd on previous post.

Very good eyes and the knowledge on photographic image !  —– So, I reveal the trick behind.

There is no such things [Lens Rivers Adapter for Canon EF lens].

But it is just a lens mount ring with a male filter thread on the other end.  That’s all.

If Canon is not selling,  make it ourself.   Why not  😀

Anyone can put two together with glue !   What’s the hands for ?  (not much brain needed ) 😀

But to make it,  I wouldn’t just glue together straight —– I glued them in 40 degree in angle !

(I wanted to make it 45 degree though, it was too much, and caused image-cut off = I had to

compromise though, the photo is using the image to the edge, quality became pretty low )

—– With this tilted lens, Focused field is 80 degree in angle to the camera = much easy to have

a light and able to creates Pan-Focus effect.  (Photo above, Left)

But, when it was tilted to the opposite angle,  focused field is perpendicular to the object, hence

it shows very shallow focus and exaggerated off-the-focus “Boke“.  (Photo above, Center)

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In fact, I’ve been using this Pan-Focus effect since I created Yoshi-Handy and Conica-Tilt

40 years ago, long before Canon TS lens. (You can see both cameras in an old post = Link here)

unlike this Tilted Revers Ring on 5D,  Conica Tilt gave a Pan-Focus from lens front to infinity.

———————- (Without the Lens lock pin, lens was secured by a crow inside, operated by the top-left round lever)

———————- (Incidentally, the Iris was automatically operated by a solenoid on the moment of shatter release)

To have a pan-focus to infinity in one shot, one side of the lens has to sink into the camera body,

so that, the camera front had to be Huck-sawed,  giving a margin of lens movement.

(See the inside detail in a photo right —– to do this kind of work = to prevent the camera

mechanism jammed by the metal dust, all the mechanism had to be removed

= it’s mean, camera had to be completely disassembled and made it to an empty shell).

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With this modification, lens can tilt 30 degree max, and one side of the lens is effectively

extended 18 mm = with such extension  to 15 or 16 mm lens meant, it is effectively

life-size macro !   (As I was an original member of  PCW (Personal Computer World Magazine,

until they were bought up by I.P.C) this tilting lens camera enabled to produce a photo 

“Foreground  is a CPU chip, and background is the computer company’s building, in one shot”)

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I’m planning to make yet another lens tilting camera using Canon 5D body (though, I have to

do its hack-saw work without disassembling the camera body   😀  )   May be I Just Do It. 

( It is a Zen in ACTION !   With open-minded way, there is no prohibition.  Only, Do the best  :-))

This is a photo of a Canon EOS Body.   Although this is the Body of EOS RT,  as most of the

camera designer in the same company are using the same layout of  the mechanism, even

using the same frame die-cast,  (since the position of Switch, lens-lock-pin are all same)

it wouldn’t be so different on 5D body.  = to modify the body to tilting-lens body only needs

to remove the metal frame marked between yellow stickers. ( —– in theory.   😀 )

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How shallow the Focus can be

This is yet another attempt to create  [Not necessary sharp nor pretty photos] and in here

they are the technical samples.

Lens used was Canon EF 28mm F2.8 but mounted on Canon 5D with Rivers Adapter.

As electronically there is  no connection to the body, F-aperture was fully opened  F 2.8.

And this is not purposely designed Macro Lens  (Macro Lens was designed to give the best

performance at  1/10  of Magnification ratio = if it was 50 mm lens, at the distance of 50 cm

to the object), with fully opened F-aperture, image quality is no way near to a sharp image.

With popular belief, you may be thinking that the Wide-angle lens has deeper depth of field. 

This is only true to the Object side, but not to the image side. 

Think, —– 50 mm lens needs to move 5 mm forward from infinity position to focus 50 cm

distance, but for 28 mm lens, from infinity to 28 cm object (at 1/10),  it needs only 2.8 mm shift. 

In other words, if lens was used in reverse direction, depth of field would be even shallower,

and the out-of-focus image, “Boke” would spread much wider, as you can see in the photos.

But, whether it has any significance to the photography is a matter of individual taste.  😀

The reason why I’m showing this is, this optical effect is a sanctuary in the photography,

away from a hand of Photoshop,  unless a photo was completely repainted pixel by pixel with

human brain.  Make a photo looks sharper is easy but very difficult to reproduce 3D “Boke”.

If anybody think otherwise, Please send me the Sample = Before and After, created by Photoshop.   😀

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Delusion or Common Sense

In a good sense, we human is a very creative people by which it had lead the

advancement of our civilization.

In the same time we are the most deluded creature on the earth.

What is common between creative and deluded is, its thinking process, think beyond the fact

which was known or widely accepted, or believe to be exist, or true.

Our cognition and its assessment of the fact are always following after the event or encounter.

To compensate this time-rug, our judgement is projecting time ahead.

In another word, speculative.

—– When you see a cockroach running on the floor, you wouldn’t hit the place where it WAS, but

look under the bed where it has disappeared. —– and put a cockroach trap expecting if it comes

again, the trap should catch it.

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Audiophile is the people who is the most speculative kind of people apart from the delivertive

or commodity trader 😀 —– of cause, they would say, it is not a speculation but

the fact of what their ears hear.   Here, fundamental speculation is that they are

believing their ears are correct. —– Once I was an audiophile (in meager scale 😀 ) hence,

I tested Audio-amp, Class A, B, AB etc with different transistor etc. ( On the end, I was convinced

that it would be fruitless attempt which never able to achieve the quality of live music = I decided to

listen the original sound at the original place where the recording was made = so, I came to Europe.)

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Time to time, people asking me to repair their audio amp.   In most of the case it was a kind,

a professional repairman has forsaken, such as a transistor had been exploded hence the name of

component was lost (and it would be too expensive to ask the maker to give a service, if they still

exist at all, but often not — in such case, analyze the circuit and find what to replace it best)

So, I have ample experiences to see the realities in the audio amp design = how far it is, from

the belief or deluded wishful thinking of the people buying it. = It is a fraud.

( Go too deep into the technical detail is not in an aim of this blog. So, I’ll show a point in a level of

secondary school common sense —– I think you can understand)

——————————————————————————————— (Photo right/ Yellow mark pointing burnt out track )

A photo above is said to be a car audio amp for sub-woofer speaker. Apparently, it was solidly built

hefty amp which is saying 500 W ! — Who believe it ? (obviously a man who bought it did )

To use an audio amp in the car, the power is a car battery which is 12 V.

Every body remember, the Ohm’s Law which I learned in the secondary school Physics, they are

few lines of very simple formula like as [ R x I = V, hence V/I = R and V/R = I ] V=Voltage,

R=Resistance, I=Current.   And in addition [ I x V = W ] W=Wat.

(In fact, it is more of the definition. The unit were defined as it is. = from 1 V source, the current

run through 1 Ohm wire was defined as 1 A —- I admire the scientist who measured then).

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As a car audio amp, the supply Voltage is 12 V.  = To out-put 500 W, the amp needs to draw

500/12 = 42.6 ( A  ampere ) —– though, a fuse fitted was mere 15 A.

Assuming, the amp was able to draw 15 A without blowing the fuse.  = 12 V x 15 A = 180 W.

—– within safer operation, it may not more than 150 W.   Then, to consider the efficiency of any

electric devises, they never be 100 %.   In a case of audio amp = every body knows, the amp is

getting quite hot = the power was wasted to make heat = and that was why this amp has such heavy

heat-sink and needed to make it so solid. But this amp is designed rather new Class G like design (but

without having additional power supply line) —– so, the out put power is 120 W  in its best.

—– still the person who was using this amp has been enjoying to be a proud owner

of what he believed to be 500 W car audio system.

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It is more like a religion.  It was out of school level common sense though, is it a matter for him ?

—– Like a people, believing so-called power of crystal with pretty happy feeling, “what is the truth”

may not be a matter for them.   Feeling happy might be more important. —– Is it ? ? ?

Pretty picture on a sham-doctor’s beauty potion might give better dream than the truth in reality.

After all, we human is a people living on the dream.   Even a placebo effect of false

belief still able to give some positive results.  What’s wrong to be deluded ? ? ?

The question is should I tell the truth what is the real power of this Amp ?

Keep him happy or make him wiser ?   (Good question ! )

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Humble Lens (?) for Canon Camera = Pinhole Photo / BGR Tri-Pinholes Photo

You might think the Photo here is yet another bloody Soft Focus lens.

It’s not by Soft Focus lens. —– In fact it was not even a lens at all.

——– ( Like latest  5D Mk-III,  5D Mk-II also has Light-leak or it might have caused by the internal reflection

———  on a shiny surface of a parts.   Canon can say, it is not in a normal use what camera was designed for)

This is a Pinhole Photograph on Hi-Tech DSLR —– ! ! !

You might be surprised —– or bemused ?

(End of this post, you can see  3-pinhole photo with BGR color-filter for each pinhole )

—————— ( Cutty Sark in Greenwich —– Hand held Pinhole camera, F250, 1/15th Second, ISO 3200 )

One of the best advantage of the Canon EOS cameras is, their Light-measuring

function works  without any lens attached on the body. = Light was

measured on the light actually came into the sensor, and the exposure value

was calculated on So-called Stop-down Metering.

In comparison, other cameras are guessing the exposure based on the

information came from the lens, mounted on the camera. Its mean, their

camera was designed to work only with a ROM memory hidden inside of the

lens which gives the information of lens ID, what is the current setting of

focal length on Zoom, F-aperture setting (in a case such as Nikon which allow

you to use an old manual lens) etc, with an assumption of the lens would

work accordingly.  (If the lens was F4 in full open, calculates how many stops

needs to close in this lighting condition.  Canon measure actual light instantly,

when F-aperture was closed, then select the shutter speed).

The reason why other manufacturers are using this design was, to prevent

the use of a lens other than their genuine products.

(The ID of lens would direct a correction program,  such as to brighten up

the corner-fall-off of the wide-angle lens).

——–  — ( Cutty Sark in Greenwich ) ——— ( There was a Cinema Film Shooting at Old Royal Naval College )

On the beginning, in order to cut into the Nikon dominated professional

camera market, Canon designed their camera even capable to use with

Nikon lens.   Hence, in the early 70th, they sold a lens mount adapter to use

for Nikon lens.  (Later, when they gained popularity and their confidence grow,

they stop to sell this adapter). 

The First Gulf war was the turning point for the choice of professional camera,

as most of Nikon were stopped to work, thanks to the microscopic sand dust in

the desert.  Only the camera kept working was the Canon. —– As a consequence,

News Photographers changed to Canon.

Still, the tradition to allow the use of Nikon lens was kept by Canon, since such

as special 2000 mm lens which was made only by Nikon, Canon has to make a

provision for News photographer to use such special lens on their Canon body.

= hence, camera was designed to functions with the lens which has no Canon

ROM memory.  In other words they can work with any lens. 

So that, their camera, even Digital SLR can give enough exposure function except

Tv and Program Mode. = still perfect on AV Mode and of course with

Manual Mode.

Above all, with DSLR, we can check the result on the spot, and change

manual setting or exposure compensation on Av.

( Or, change ISO setting further).

——————————————————- ( At Painted Hall, Greenwich )

So, there is no problem to use Canon with a reading glass, plastic flat lens

(Fresnel lens, which gives utterly unsharp image 😀 ) —– even with

Pin-hole, while leaving all the exposure control to the Camera !

= Just use AV mode and adjust exposure compensation.

(Though, Canon 5D gives only up to 30 seconds on AV Mode, if you need

longer exposure to make picture brighter = increase ISO to higher setting,

or change to Manual Mode.

And if you need to have very long long exposure to make all the moving

things disappear, use lower ISO or use dark ND filter together.

Unlike on color film, the adverse effect of UV light  (which causes blue cast),

doesn’t affect the color on Digital camera.  But never have a direct sun in

the image.  Without having any protective glass lens which blocks UV light,

it may damage the Image Sensor).

————————————————————— ( At Greenwich Town )

And, to do this kind of creative shooting, you need to pay attention to

[Good Common Sense] such as, to use View finder cover to block the

stray light from the back.  

And use good black paper for making Pin-hole, and make sure, pinhole

should be clean round hole with no paper floss messing on it.

And DO MAKE SURE, keep everything DUST FREE. 

Wash your hand before hand.

= a dust particle got onto the Image Sensor is very tricky to clean.

Your acute mindfulness was required.

——— ( Sake of photo, Pinhole was placed on EOS RT body )—– ( To make a perfect hole, it was made on a smaller

———————————————————————————————- piece of thin metal and attached in the center )

A paper with Pinhole, will be stacked on the lens mount of the body by a black

PVC tape to seal-off the stray light.

The Canon DSLR camera has the depth = Flange-back (Lens mount to Image

Sensor) 44 mm, therefore the field of view is the same as 44 mm lens. 

And if you use an Extension Ring and stick the pinhole further away from the

body, effectively it would give you telephoto images.

In the most of the case, (as a fine sawing needle has a diameter about 0.5 mm)

the size of this hole is equivalent of F90. (With a focal length of 44 mm lens,

if the diameter of the lens was 44 mm, it would give effective F-aperture F1,

hence, 44 /0.5 = 88 = about F90)

—– I’ve made it less than 0.2 mm = F250.  Instead to use a paper, I used thin

aluminium panel of a Drink Can, and pierced it with just a tip of the needle.

The smaller the hole, it would give sharper image though, the optical effect of

Diffraction will scatter the light, it can not give sharp image like an optical lens

anyway, but on the other hand, it gives pan-focus. 

(The hole doesn’t necessary in the center = You may put it far side and take

picture always one half, like top-end.  Or to put TWO, to make double images,

or one with color filter and so on, there are endless possibilities,

still cost nothing.  😀 )

—– (The samples of 3-PINHOLEs photos with each Red, Green and Blue filter)

—–

—– It would be a fun to play with a camera in open-minded way.

(Try it and find new play ground in photography  😉 )

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Anmochi = Rice Cake with Sweet Redbean Paste (make it in 10 min)

It was a bit of blunder  :-D　（いささかドジだったね 😀 ）

This Post should have appeared on the 3rd of March, a day of

the Hina-matsuri (ひな祭 ）

Girls Festival in Japan.

And its formal name Momo no Sekku (桃の節句) suggests,

it has to come with  Plum Blossoms, —– m m m, though,

there wasn’t a hint of blossom at all．

Then, few days ago, I found it in full bloom !!!

So, the belated Plum Blossom and the Anmochi’s photos here.  Mission accomplished !  😀 

To cook  Anmochi  in 10 minutes may misleading to some readers, since this cooking is an addition to the

previous post on January [ Cooking  Oshiruko ] ( the Link here) of which the boiled down Red Bean soup

had become to  Anko = Sweet Red bean Paste.  And the  Anko should come out freezer for this cooking  🙂

( To make  Anko from scratch, may need at least 4 hours —– still worthwhile to cook = try it. )

Provided, you have  Anko , to make  Anmochi  is really 10 minutes process ( with Micro-wave Cooker )

*** Put 4~5 spoon full Glutinous Rice powder into stone-ware noodle bowl ( Micro-wave  proof)

*** Add 4~5 spoons of water and stir well to make it to gluey staff (photo right = slowly dripping )

*** Cover the glue with Red bean Paste and heat it up in Micro-wave Cooker / Mid High = for 3 minutes.

===== Here, Anmochi  is ready to eat.  (careful !  the bowl is very hot.   And the Rice cake is stacked

to the bowl = you need to use a spoon to scrape it.  If you like even more rich taste, add a cream on it.

Looks not very pretty though, taste is unmistakably Anmochi = believe me  😀

Enjoy an eating.   Welcome Spring.

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Cooking Adzuki-beans and Make Oshiruko お汁粉

The culture of growing and eating beans in Japan was originated from China, such as

Soya-bean and its derivatives/ Soy-source, Soyabean-paste, include Aduki-beans.

Unlike western and some African cultures, eastern people doesn’t eat beans as their staple food and most

of the case, cook them as a kind of sweets or its basis.

(Inside of famous Chinese Moon Cake, you can see the heavy Adzuki-bean paste mixed with Walnut and the oil

which makes it even heavier or richer = to celebrate, the taste richer the better for them to feel rich  :-D)

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Many years ago, at the party held by Thai students, I cooked (supposedly) Japanese Sweet Dish of Oshiruko,

then Thais pointed out “Hey Yoshi, this is not Japanese, it’s our cooking”.

So that, when I visited their country I realized that almost identical cooking called in Chinese name,

Hon Tao Shui (紅豆水) was served every tea house, even a street corner which the Red-bean or Adzuki-beans

was cooked and made sweet soup with Rice-powder dumplings in (and often, some  ice-cube as well = which

we call [Koori-Adzuki] in Japan) And I noticed, the situation is the same wherever the Chinese people lives.

I guess, a lots of western people encountered a Japanese sweet [Yokan], Adzuki-bean Cake with rather revolting

feelings “Yack, What’s this”(since, westerners never expected to eat the bean other than in a savory taste =

same situation of easterners tasted a Green Tea or the Rice with added sugar) 😀

Not necessary in China, but in Japan, adzuki-bean is regarded to be an auspicious food, because of its

red color, especially when it was cooked with a combination of white, such as rice or rice-cake.

Hence, any festive occasions, Japanese cook [Sekihan]赤飯 (Red-colored rice = Glutinous rice with

Adzuki-beans) and [Oshiruko] = (Rice-cake in Adzuki-bean soup) simply because its got red and white  🙂

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Because of this, Japanese adzuki-bean got festive value.   It’s carry 3x more price, but pretty high quality.

—– though,  bean is the bean, it is more or less the same as ubiquitous Cowpeas  (top photo).

To make [Sekihan] it’s better to use Japanese bean but,  make Oshiruko can be done with poor-man’s choice.

To make Oshiruko for 4~5 people use 1.5 cup of bean and put it into 7” big pan, start with 2 cups of water

to boil. (Only a shortcoming to use cheap bean is, they got many stones and insect infested bean = you need to

sort them out, before start cooking)

And when the pan started to boil, drain the water and flush the bean with fresh water to clean it.  🙂

Then real cooking start with 4 cups of water. —–> While boiling, the water will disappear.

So, you have to put more water. ( You need to top-up the water 3~4 times and the bean increase the bulk 3 times

or more = till here you may need to boil 3~4 hours ! —– or, if you have slow-cooker it might be a better choice

for an overnight cooking)

When the bean was cooked and became soft, then put plenty brown sugar (rather annoying amount of almost 1kg !

—– this is what sweet meant   😀 )

Then, put 1/3 teaspoon of salt = never put too much,  and leave the pan to quietly boil another 1 hour.

And put Rice cake to boil yet another 2~5 minutes. (Rice Cake made out of Glutinous Rice powder in my-way

should be OK to boil longer but, a Japanese Rice Cake [Kiri-Mochi] 切り餅 which was made of  mixture of regular

rice powder, would be melt and disintegrates)

Then Oshiruko is ready to serve.

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—– I don’t think you have eaten up all the sweet Adzuki soup yet (may be another 5 portions still left) =

boil further to reduce it become sticky paste = it became to [Anko] and can be used to make many

other Japanese sweets, such as [An-Mochi], [Mizu-Yokan]

—– put this [Anko] onto a piece of bread ! = it’s not too bad.   😀

Heavy [Anko-paste] can last a week in a fridge, or it can be frozen for next time, if not till next New Year.  😀

—– So, I’ll put another post to make those [An-Mochi], [Mizu-Yokan] etc. near future.

Enjoy your sweet teeth 😀

—

Artist’s Party just went on and on and on —–

Last week-end there was an artist’s party which turned out to be pretty big fantastic party.

Artists though, it’s not a fine-art kind, Stage designer, Sound engineer, Film (video) maker, Photographer,

Graphic designer, Costume designer, DJ  etc etc, —— in certain extent, they are working craftsman.

Hence, talking are not abstract theory but more practical, technical kind which I like more.

As it was a party, my main aim was to have an enough exercise (generally called dancing)  with Jungle

or German base kind of music.  And I went there with Camera and my Rotating LED dancing costume.  😀

As the theme of the Party was the God, Goddess, kind  🙂  some had appeared with rather fancy attire

and a make up (and some had gone pretty far —– though, for the Stage, Film people it must be easy business.)

Whole house has been decorated with huge print out of Godly figure and the decorations.

Egyptian to Roman, even a Japanese mythical Goddess of Amateras  !

And of cause,  looks not necessary Godly figured folks as well —– ( So-called good earthly creatures  😀 )

A specially designed strange furniture (?) for the party was = like this in the photo. (You put name it)

Which can be climbed and parched on it = rather comfortable to sit on.

Where such imagination came from, and the effort to build this, from scratch,  just for a fun for

one night party ! —– This is the demonstration of an Italian extravaganza !

As in a guise of Venerable Holy Man Yoshizen  😀    I drunk orange juice.   (I brought Apple juice, since I hate Apple

though, it disappeared, hence I had to settle with orange ) —– was not a big issue though.

And so on —– so on.

Since the house literally having Audio engineer, DJ-in-residents, their set up was professional.

And the friends came to see and dance, expecting to have it in professional standard.  🙂

Good, good.  Excellent  🙂

And it went on and on and on —— till next morning.

This is what the Party should be.  And it was a terrific fun.

___/\___  ( It doesn’t contradict  Zen  😀  /  Far from it,  just giving a fun for hundred of the guests,

—————-pay so much effort and the work, and perfected it —– is nothing but the Zen.

—————-Believe me, as Yoshizen is saying so.   Ha ha ha  😀  )

—

Simple LIFE / Humble LIFE

Simple life —– well well well. I’m well aware that I’ve been using this word rather casually and often.

After all, Zen Buddhism is not what we talk or think, but practice.

So, in practice am I having simple life ? ? ? —- In one glance, it is untrue.

I’m doing too many things and being involved too many activities —– often not necessary they

are what I’ve intended.  They just happened and came to my hand.

But, this is the most important core teaching in the ZEN.

When I do anything I only do one thing ( at a time ) = because of I’m doing only one thing,

it is very simple.   Just Do It.

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Then Humble Life —– ?   This is definitely true on me.    Anyone can see it in distance.

May be indistinguishable from a vagrant.   Far remote of any concept of fashion, still strangely people says,

they can find me in the cloud easily since I’m looks always the same 😀

A secret behind of this, I’m buying the same cloths, some time many at once —– my signature attire of

white pullover, I got almost identical 5 of them.

When I buy underwear or socks kind, I buy many of them in one go, or after gave a close look and when

I found it is a good product, I go back to the shop and buy up many of them.

Like the socks, if they are all same made, I don’t need to have a trouble to find a matching pair 😀

After all, I’m lazy to think what to ware ( I don’t care the package, the matter is the contents ) —– if

the package is the same, I don’t need to think about when I put.   It’s true isn’t it ?

Laziness lead to the simplicity.     This is what the humble life become simple life. Ha ha ha. 😀

non

While having much enough to think about for a project or design, I wouldn’t like to spare the time to

mundane things —– sorry I wouldn’t pay much of attention to the room decoration.

Zen wouldn’t chase two rabbits, since we got only one life.   ( And we don’t wait to have another

life to finish the project —– as nobody ever did = nobody ever enlightened in the next life, 

since no such things ever exists in this world —– even Dalai Lama had to learn the Buddhism

from scratch = where all the wisdom supposed to be accumulated in his previous 13 lives ? )

So, Just Do It,  while it is in your hand.

___/\___

non