Boiled Cucumber !

These days, the stall on the open market was filled with good flesh fruits.

So, my mouth was occupied by the Cherry, Strawberry, etc etc —– then

I realized that a cucumber has been in my fridge uneaten.  It was intended

for salad kind with tomato though, as the position of flesh food has been

taken over by those seasonal fruits, it has been forgotten and got old

more than a week and the skin was getting yellowish.   It is no longer suite

for flesh eating though it is a crime to throw the food away. 

So, I decided to cook it boiled !  

I don’t think I ever seen a cucumber was cooked boiled or fried still,

a sister of cucumber = bitter melon (bitter gourd) has been cooked in many 

different way and could even be in a Miso soup  —– why not cucumber.  

[]

I just peel the skin and cut to one-mouth size and boiled in a half depth of

water with added Dashi (mostly fish powder),  some  Soy-source and

few drip of West Indian hot chilly source, for about half an hour slow cook.  

This kind of cooking isn’t  far from boiled Daikon = I would say “Not too bad”.

—– Adding to this story, once before when I got hugely disappointing 

Honeydew melon (that yellow thing) which was not ripe nor sweet at all, 

instead to throw it to a bin, I peeled the hard skin and cut to 2″ size and

boiled it in the same way as above.  

Eating those as a snack or with boiled rice as a side-dish, the taste is

unmistakably Japanese, especially served with shaved Katsuo-bushi

(dried Bonito fish) like the photo above —– I would say, yummy.  🙂

We have rather hard programmed eating habit though, it could be easily

broken and try different way.  Why not !

(And it might save the planet in long run —– not mention the pocket.)  🙂

[]

PS : In a Blog like this, if I said something like “Know thanks (Kansha) to

the Dharma who provided us to keep living”,   “Be humble” or

“Feel compassion to the Cucumber who died for us to survive” it will

NOT be a Buddhist’s Blog.  It’s a sham =  nothing but a Marketing ploy,

same to a spin doctor who is telling the sweet words to sell dubious medicine.

When “So-called Buddhist” got a notion such as Buddhism, Charity, Compassion

etc etc, it is a brake down of Mushin, Ichijo, existence to be the Void.

(if it WAS there at all before)

Zen Buddhism is not for talking about but just DO and just BE.

= Just cook and eat.

 

[]

Tilting Macro Bellows — Field Test

Following the test like previous post of homemade bellows, I took it to the park.

Setup was either Micro Nikkor 55 mm or Tamron 90 mm Macro on the bellows

which was mounted on Canon 5D  Mk-III.   And the most of the shots were taken

while the lens was tilted up to 30 degree. (Nikkor 55 mm = up to 20 degree,

Tamron 90 mm = up to 30 degree —– before the corner cut-off starts.)  

And as no F-aperture control, all the photos were taken with

fully open F-aperture.  (And hand held.)

Photo above, Right photo, you may see something strange = why the back petal

was out of focus. —– Because the lens was tilted.

Those photos were the too conspicuous demonstration of the tilting effect.  😀

But those were a bit more subtle.

And above left photo was made with Pan-focus effect and

the right was with Shallow-focus effect.

Shallow focus with rather exaggerated out of focus Bokhe. 

With the Bellows extension, the lense can give even larger close-up.

There were a lots of Bees and Bumble Bees though, they were too busy.

This small black fly seemed to taking a rest.

This Hovering Fly — right 2 photos, she was in the air hovering.

(I needed at least F5.6, not fully open 2.5)

Looks quite  inconspicuous,  still this photo was benefited by the tilting effect.

—– Tilting the lens works well though, to have full benefit of it need to have it

from infinity, not just on the close-up = But to do it,

I need to make yet another Tilting SLR using DSLR body.   🙂

[]

Tilting Macro Bellows Test

These are the photos of the test shot of the Tilting Macro Bellows

which I’ve shown in this blog two posts ago.

[]

In photography,  Focused Plain is parallel to the Image Plain. = It’s mean if you 

want a photo of the wall painting, you have to aim a camera parallel to the wall.

(Ideally, the camera should be held at a half height of the wall and in the center,

provided the lens can cover wide enough for the whole wall.)   But when you want 

a photo of the carpet, you may not able to hold the camera right under the ceiling.

= Then you have to take a photo from one end of the room.  As the carpet stretching

end to end, to have the whole area in focus is not easy. = You have to use small

F-aperture and very slow shutter speed.—– Otherwise, use a camera which can tilt a

lens or use a lens called Tilt-shift Lens which may carry a price of £1500 or more.

——- Photo above Left is a modified camera “Conica-Tilt 2” and here with

——- Nikon PC-Nikkor 35 mm F2.8  

——- and the Right, this massive lens is Canon TS-E 24 mm F3.5   

When the lens was tilted 10 degree,  it can focus the object 20 degree out of parallel, in

other words, even if the camera was held parallel to the wall (90 degree to the  floor),

if the lens  was tilted 45 degree down, it gives a sharp focus of the floor, end to end.

( But very few lens can work while tilted 45 degree =due to limit of the image circle.)

Photo above, are the demonstration of  Tilting lens effects.  

Photo Left, the lens was dropped hence, Pan-focus effect was created.

But in the photo right, the same degree tilted lens was aimed to the same subject

“Upside down” (Lens was tilted upward) hence giving very shallow depth of focus.

The relation of the Subject – Lens – Camera was like this.  

Left for Pan-focus and the Right for Shallow-Focus effect. 

When the lens was tilted, focused plain is no longer parallel to the camera,

= like on this photo, as the lens was tilted left  20 degree, the focused plain

runs almost corner to corner.   So that, this kind of technique gives more 

choice of the focus control = which subject to be captured sharp.

(The photos here, Micro Nikkor 55 mm F3.5 was used on Canon 5D Mk-3

with F-aperture was set to fully open F3.5)

[]

Zen thinking — [Void] in the real life

After years or months I don’t remember still, I suddenly realized a significance

of the words in an episode in the Agama Sutra.

(= I described it in the post [Three times Buddha] )

[]

“Thinking without thinking” sound  Zen like approach you may think though,

it is nothing fancy at all = 90% of our thinking was actually done in this way.

With utter annoyance of the philosophers, this fact was revealed to the mankind

when a Brain Scanner was first introduced = after all, we, the most intelligent

creature on the planet is not necessary consciously carrying-out our

thinking process.  —– (We only conscious of it’s process after it was converted to

the lexical code on the last moment.)

The reality is, when we say “I think”, in fact, the most of the thinking has been

already done a moment ago without us noticing it.

 And in the almost all the case, so-called  “My Decision” was actually made

out of our conscious. 

So, “thinking without thinking” is in reality “thinking without noticing that

I was thinking” = we are in deed always keep thinking or our brain is always active

yet simply we are not aware of it.    So that, not only an obvious “work-out to solve

an arithmetic problem kind” of conscious thinking, even so-called meditation is

nothing but a practice of “latent thinking process”and often, our brain find a

connection, even an answer from completely unrelated matter. (Very creative !)

[]

There was not a significant issue I was facing, or even an important question =

therefore it was not “posted” in my mind = just there as one of the memory, yet,

a passage in the scripture was suddenly highlighted and gained the significance.

= A ha ! I found it’s here.

(Answer was always given when we are not intentionally seeking = When 

our mind was free — or in the state of Mushin or in the Void, suddenly

the connection was made.  —– some time in the bathroom.  😀 )

[]

Lord Buddha told the horse trainer “Stop speaking is the same to kill the person”

(Please read the post.) —– this is not just an action on the mouth, but the hole

mind-set = In the mind-set, the person became a landscape hence no longer

recognized as a person.    So, its existence is “Exists as not Exists” = this is

nothing but a state of “Void”. = In deed, this is the very core of what

Lord Buddha’s teaching was, and what all about the Zen Buddhism is.

To detach and free the Mind and see the Void and by freeing the mind,

it enables us to see the dynamism of Karma and the Dharma, hence enables

to live with Dharma moment to moment.

—– This is THE paradox, “By detaching the view and emotionally free from the

subject, thence the mind can see subject even more in it’s details”.

= Because, the mind is not stack in a small part of the subject or fixed view, but

it is seeing the subject in any point and from any angle.

= this is the very Clear Eyes to see the Truth.

And the way to gain the Enlightenment.

___/\___

[]

 

 

Tilting Macro Bellows

This is a photo of a hand made close-up accessory = Tilting Bellows, I made when

I was first year in my Uni’  and it was featured in a Japanese photo-magazine.  

On that time, I didn’t have proper Macro lens — I had Nikon F Photomic,  

24 mm F2.8  and 50 mm F2  that’s all.    And for the special close-up photo 

of the plant, I was using modified Mamiya Press (6×9 format).  

I made this mini bellows for use with 50 mm f2 lens and this combination

gave  1/5  to life size close-up.  —– Without doubt,  this must be the most 

rudimental, and cheap bellows ever designed !  

(You may see the extreme minimal way of the thinking in this design !) 

 = Lens rear cap was mounted on a L-shaped small aluminium panel and

 it was connected to a body cap with a kind of bellows made out of a plastic

sheet (it was a dark curtain).   Lens panel and the camera body were both

 mounted on a straight  camera bracket by means of  1/4″ screws  which 

allow the lens to be held up to 50 mm away from the body, and the front

panel (hence the lens) could be held in angle to the body, therefore 

tilting effect could be easily used as a focus control as well !

I’m certain I got the original somewhere though,  to use it with Canon EOS 5D,

the height of the lens is not the same and to use it with Nikon D810 would be

too awkward ( because of their setting of Non-CPU lens. )  —>  I decided to

make the same for  5D, but use with Nikon lens —– Nikon lens has manual

F-aperture ring and the flange-back is 1.5 mm longer than Canon. )  

Photos above shows the making process.  (I used the lens rear-cap again. )

Then, to make a bellows, this time I found a black leather in a flea-market.

—– Still, bag-bellows has to be designed and stitched in rather awkward way

though, it can be done anyway = only needs stitch, — by stitch.  😀

So, this is the finished product. (Though, I’m going to change the

body mount ring to black aluminium one.)  

Still, what all those works for,  was remained to be seen with the resulting photo.

This is the sample of the tilting effects. (55 mm Micro Nikkor,  20 degree tilt)

(Top photo shows Pan-focus effect.   Bottom photo is its reverse effect.)

If the junk material was available, the cost to make like this would be

as little as £5 if not nil.  🙂

———-

PS:   Good additional reading = [Shallow Focus — Pan-focus]

[]

 

Green Karenisque Photo

If the camera was shaken while the shutter was open = image get blurred.

Still, if the shutter duration was very short (fast shutter speed) and made

the length of blurr short and negligible,  we can accept it is sharp enough.

(So, when you shoot moving subject, use higher shutter speed = image was

not still though, our eyes may not able to see such detail and think it sharp.)

But when the image showed a lots of blurr, we see it different.  Intellectually it

wouldn’t make any sense as the subject though, we see it a kind of sign,

unknown symbol or illegible message. 

—– We just open our mind while abandoning to think what it IS. 

When you see a blurred photo like this, you might thought that the camera was

vigorously shaken or twisted.  Though, in reality, it was made by a small wobble

of the wrist when shutter button was pressed, that all.  If you put two rulers or

something straight from right hand side center of rotation to one streak of  light,

you may measure the radial angle of the movement. = It’s only about 3 degree !

(Still, it is a combination of the movement, the shutter speed and the lens

focal length. = if the shutter speed was longer and the lens (Zoom position) was 

longer, the brurr would be much more.)  

When I was in my Uni’  I had  free access to our Photo dark-room and able to do

all sorts of Photographic experiments.  And on top of this, I had access to the

engineering workshop of the Technology Dept’ not mention their skip was filled 

with discarded materials and the broken machines = I could make all sorts of

things, while using even big engineering machine.  

So, when I wanted to try blurring effect, I made a Camera Rotating Bracket  

which can rotates the camera at the center of the image and corners —–

then I realized that to make rotating blurr does not need to rotates the camera 

but just radially wobble the direction of the lens.  (It’s the same, to draw a circle,

you don’t need to rotates a pencil with caliper but just move a pencil circular.)

But shake the camera straight is a bit different from rotates.

How fast is depend on the shutter speed and the pattern of subject.

Just try and see the effect.   (And try again and again. )  

[]

Karenisque Flower Photo

Here again, those are the photos created, while the camera was shaken. 

Anyhow, as it was not for scientific, critical needs, photo or the visual image

doesn’t need to be sharp and clear. Hence, the Impressionist’s paintings

has been appreciated on the wall.

Photo above top was made by a bit of off focus,  

and the bottom photo was made by a shake.   🙂

You may not know that the photography can be a good exercise too !  😀

So on.  It’s a good twist Sir !

If you can’t attach Pinhole on your camera, still want to take other than

an ordinary sharp, well focused photo, why not try shake your camera.

They are THE Photographs too !  (Why not.    😀 )

[]

 

Szondi Test

Those few days, here my blog got sudden

spike of twice as much access. Apparently,

the visitors were coming to see the post

“Szondi Test”.

I don’t know why though, my guess was

that somebody might have talked about

the Szondi Test referring to my post,

somewhere on the SNS.

Though, as I don’t do any SNS (because of

No Face****, I can’t click “Like” and my Twitter accounts were  

created by somebody-else, I have No access) = I can’t check what’s going on there.

So, wondering, is there any talking going on ?  —> I Googled and

realized that now there are iPhone App, Android App of Szondi Test exists ! 

People are always interested in Self Psychological Profiling Test = It is a reflection of

strong Self conscious / Ego and in the same time yet another sign of rack of Confidence.

It is a funny paradox, the stronger the Ego, the Psychological Insecurity is even stronger.

(The trouble is, they don’t know who the Self is ! = therefore, interested in

Psychological Test.)   So, in reality, very few people has strong Ego with firm Confidence !

(save the case of utter idiot. 😀 )

[]

When Szondi Test was conducted under well controlled environment, and the person

having the test has no priory knowledge of “the Test” = test will show very accurate

assessment of the personality.   Though, as it is the test to chose the faces of Like and

Dislike, once the person become aware what kind of choice would make what result,

it would be easily biased with a pretense.

Originally, Szondi Test was designed based on the phenomenon that the person can

intuitively know the other person who got the same psychological tendency and

prefer the similar person.  (the words [Like] or [Kind] are typically showing this =

“We like similar kind” hence “Feather gathers” 🙂 )

[]

Whether it is a looks or an inner “Type” they are created by the Gene configuration.

We are seeing the most typical case over the Identical Twin = they are not only

looks the same but also having the same voice, same way of speaking etc etc —–

even the fate is often the same.

Interesting recent study shows that, the married couple, if both of them got the

same type of Gene configuration, is less likely separates or divorce.

And the most intriguing phenomenon must be the “Genetic Sexual Attraction” =

Brother and sister (often the twin) who has been separated on the birth, growing

up not knowing each other’s existence.   Then in a seer coincidence, encounter

each other, and fallen in love and get married without knowing that they were

in fact, a brother and a sister.

= The same type of Gene configuration strongly attract each other and we know it

intuitively.    (In the US, there is an organization of those hundreds of families.)

So does the Szondi Test, it is based on our intuitive sense to distinguish “Like Kind”, 

because our psychological type is also created by the Gene configuration.

[]

A funny question is, able to sense the other’s invisible Genetic Sign, why the person

couldn’t find who he (she) is ? = Because, the most of us couldn’t assess ourselves

without the Ego and the conscious thinking  (= wishful thinking or self-blame kind

and always try to justify otherwise make an excuse)

= that is where Buddhist’s approach comes in.

To judge the photos of the Szondi Test, there is no information hence, photos has to

be seen purely with intuition alone.

Same to this, to see “Who the Self is ?” the person has to see the self as if it was a

detached landscape.   (I mean, see the self as a visual image, not in a drama of

verbal description = relative position and the posture is more important than the

conversation which has taken place there then — then you may start to see the

pattern of “Who you are” among the thousand of memories.)

Some of the people strongly believe the Free Choice and the dominance of Nurture,

hence against the Determinism though, we all knew, often with almost an annoyance,

how we were caste by the birth = Gene.

We can easily copy or mimic others (as Nurture mean) and speak brah brah, though,

the posture when we try to act still reveal Who I am <— See This !

[]

Still we also know —– supposed to be the same Gene configuration (as it’s from the

same parents) though, how often the Brothers are so different and argue each other. 🙂

[]  

Photografica-Karenisque

Among the WordPress photo-bloggers, Karen of Draw and Shoot is a photographer

I’m following more than 3 years as she is the Photographer who can capture

the air beyond the image can tell. 

So, I want to learn from her a lot though, art is not a kind of faculty we can copy

but we have to born with, still, some of her technique such as intentionally blurr

the image or make it out of focus, could be  somewhat superficially mimicked.

—– anyhow, those are the first attempt to learn.  🙂

(Shaking thousand times, there could be a moment to discover a secret.  🙂 )

Of cause, even making identical image doesn’t mean able to create the same art.

(anyway, I don’t have the same woods or the river, not mention the same snow ! )

—– buying the same camera, in order to take same good photo like a famous

photographer — is a well repeated joke.    And using the same technique doesn’t

make same photo is “strangely” true !

[]  

Many years ago, I set-up the lighting and a model to teach portrait photo to the

students of  St. Martin’s.

While shooting, I found a tick on the model’s expression, so, I asked a student

“Hey give me the camera, let me click” and took a photo using her camera.  

I did twice of this during a session.  — When the film was developed and a contact

print was made, the other graphic student of  St. Martin pointed out those two

photos which I took, saying that they are looks different. (but not know why.)

The same lighting, the same model sitting on the same chair.  Camera and the

lens was the same and on the same film, still the differences were clearly visible.

= If the photographer couldn’t make such difference, better go to another 

profession.   And the art student who couldn’t distinguish the difference

among the shots, better change the school.  

[]

Unanswered Questions 無記

Without doubt, the biggest problem in Buddhism is that against some questions why

Lord Buddha didn’t give an answer.  

This is an issue known as “10 (or 14) Unanswered questions” which was known in Japan and China [無記] = Muki or Wu-ji. —– With seeing all those questions, it is obvious, no answer was given to the matter of [Infinite] [Eternal] kind, the time and the space of the Universe, and the matter related to [I] or [Self].

—- obviously, like us, a small mortals fussing about the infinite eternal Universe kind of imaginary matter IS utterly waste of the time.    (Especially when Einstein was not born yet. 😀 )

And the matter of I or Self is not existing = Who can give an answer for “Non-existent phantom” = this was the very fundamental stance of what

Lord Buddha taught, strangely you may think, it was not elucidated in the scripture. —– Why ? Because, such matter was not existing = how to elucidate the Self which is not exists. —– After all, there was no teachings of abstract nor imaginary idea = its mean there was no “Spiritual kind of concept” in the Buddhism.

[]In fact, this is the question even bigger than the “Unanswered Question”.

Lord Buddha denying the existence of the Self / Atman was his fundamental stance therefore, the “matter of the existence of the Self” itself was not existed = because,his own Self was not there. = When he couldn’t see his own Self, in his own mind, how he could guess other’s mind and analyze “so-called Self”. 

(It may sound complicated though, IT’S simple — for instance, you may suffer from Alien fever symptom from the space though, actually no such illness ever existed = it was your imagination.   In such situation, what is the point to discuss the matter — only the remedy is you to open the eyes and become aware that no such fever exist and symptom was own delusion !)

Lord Buddha’s teaching of No-Self couldn’t have even an explanation because the word to deny the Self is, “in effect” recognize the existence of the Self.  It sound strange though, this teachings of Selflessness was not necessary understood even by his closest attendance, Ananda (he was a cousin of Lord Buddha) as he kept asking why not answer.)

When ever a kind of explanation of No-Self appeared in the scripture, it was a kind of metaphor, such as to explain what is Real Giving = “Giving without having a conscious of “I’m giving” is the Real Giving”.    Or even worse, “Giving as not Giving” — You can not understand this by reading or by thinking —- but only by DOING.

(I’m sure, if you DO the giving million times, you will become an expert of giving to hand-out the money to a needy, food for a hungry, a rope for a man to hung without need to think ! ) Like the teachings through Tea-making — after 10, 20 years of practice, when the person fully mastered and able to make a perfect Tea, even with the eyes closed, it’s mean all the procedure has been completely programmed into own subconscious and the motor-region of the brain, therefore all the process of Tea-making could be done without the Self or any thinking (= it has all been done in Mushin) — still, it doesn’t necessary the person did (intellectually) understood the Selflessness.  ( —– Ideally, the person can make a Tea without having any notion of Zen or Buddhism even Tea-making is the best, and it IS closest to be an Ichijo.)

It would be much clearer to see it in the case how to ride a Bicycle = there is no theory or explanation or understanding is necessary, but by actually master it by the body you can ride it. —– Then, when you ride it, you can do it without a conscious of that you ARE riding the bicycle = “You ARE riding it without your SELF” and more importantly, this selfless condition / situation IS NOT an imaginary / spiritual matter. = IT IS A HARD EXISTENCE. = And to become aware or grasp this condition as it IS (without the literal interpretation = without thinking) IS what all about the the teachings of Lord Buddha.  = Just to be riding, as to be Ichijo in riding, even without having the awareness of riding, of course, without the conscious of “Me riding this” = IS the situation becoming a part of the Dharma, or the Dharma itself. (= when you became able to glasp this Dharma, it is your Clear Eyes = So as the Dharma IS not an abstract idea neither imaginary existence = this HARD FACT is the Enlightenment though, in reality, what you ARE seeing IS the same existence and the same fact = this world (nothing new neither special) = hence, it’s a Dog Shit.

And this tradition = learn from the practice, only kept Zen Buddhism as Buddhism of No-Self —– not by the scripture which doesn’t contain the explanation of  [Selflessness]  anyway. —– Think, Selflessness IS NOT a spiritual matter at all.  It IS a fact “you can do it without your own conscious” and its physical, neuro-phisiological mechanism IS the Selflessness.

___/\___

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