What I like about the book is the coming-of-age story of a young Japanese woman, relocated to Chicago from an American incarceration “Camp” during WW II.
It feels very natural and believable. Almost like reading her diary.
She learns about racism, sexism, corruption, and violence in the USA.
Set in 1944 Chicago …
… the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister’s death, brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II.
… The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets.
But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train.
Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
The charm of this unlikely threesome has worn off.
This is the weakest season, so far. They are trying too hard. And it’s a bit painful to watch.
One tell is the increase in profanity. When the script isn’t all that compelling — writers add some swearing to shock the audience. Jon Stewart and John Oliver are guilty of this, as well.
BUT at least the cast is still having fun.
Martin Short and Steve Martin are best of friends in real life. I’m sure they consider this venture a bit of a party. Inviting their friends as celebrity cameos.
It IS worth watching season 3 for Meryl Streep.
AND there are some good 1-liners each episode.
Selena Gomez as snarky Mabel increasingly steals the show. You actually worry about her getting her life together. Yes, the same young woman who’s the most followed on Instagram looks lost at times as she approaches age-30 in this show.
Mostly I’ve been disappointed with the many limitations of Instagram. I’m not a fan of that platform. I store my best (64,000 😀) photos on a paid site ➙ Flickr by Smugmug.
I shoot iPhone photos and video in HDR (High Dynamic Range). The BIG advantage of phone cameras is the black magic used in the automatic setting. Most of the time automatic results are better than I can do manually. AND it’s a lot FASTER.
After posting myFrench Creek tribute,(2021), I declared I was GOOD ENOUGH at video editing for my purposes. Approaching “Concious Competent“. I could sit down at a table with a professional video editor and understand 75% of what they were talking about. 😀
The remaining 25% has mostly to do with colour. Skin tone. Complicated stuff. Creators who can afford it often send their own work out to a specialist for colour correction.
NEXT STAGE = STORY
Story. Story. Story.
Every edit should contribute to the STORY.
I threw this one together quickly as a teaser for my West Coast Trail survival videos. But in some weird way, it’s evocative of that wild and challenging hike.
For video I’ve switched from 24fps to 30fps as it’s a little sharper, though less cinematic.
the Ace Pro is my main camera for video.
Ignoring advice of most experts, I mostly shoot Intelligent Auto Mode. In fact, I shoot Intelligent Auto Photo Mode almost all the time — as it’s QUICK on the Sony to take a 5472 × 3080 [16:9] photo and QUICK to switch to Intelligent Auto video 4K 30fps. With 4K I have plenty of room to crop or zoom to my final product in 1080p.
The biggest risk of shooting Auto is shifting exposure during the same scene. When that happens I’ll have to crop scenes so as not to show the flickering. One exception is with the DJI drone — with the exposure is set to Auto while flying, I can LOCK 🔓 it in by clicking the small button bottom lower right of the Fly app display. That’s the case with all cameras ➙ but I often forget to lock exposure.
Shooting auto I tend to get video more saturated than reality. To that, I add even more saturation and contrast. I like that exaggerated look though it’s considered uncool in 2023.
ZV-1 Memory Recall #3 = 1080p / 60fps for slow motion (60 is better math when slowing for 30fps output)
ZV-1 Memory Recall #2 = 4K / 30fps
ZV-1 Memory Recall #1 = is for Time Lapse photos 5472 × 3080 [16:9]. This setting I use mainly for photos, choosing the best from the collection. 16:9 ratio makes for a time lapse photo that matches the dimensions of my export video.
PHOTOS
I often shoot photos in RAW and JPG both — but usually edit in RAW.
Apple’s free Photos app on the Mac is not perfect, but I’m still using it for organization. And quick edits. It’s a much better photo editor in 2023 than just a couple of years ago.
I’ve switched to Pixelmator Pro for editing the best of the best photos for Instagram.
I quit trying Sony video S-Log2, S-Log3, and other HLG profiles used by the cool kids as it was way too much hassle for gains in quality I don’t really need.
iPhone 13 Mini on the OM 6 gimbal apps: Camera, Moment, DJI Mimo, SkyFlow
the 13 Mini probably just as good as the ZV-1 in bright daylight. But I’ll use it mostly for B roll: slow-mo, time lapse, special effects, etc. (always 4K and 60fps for slow mo or speed ramping. 30 fps normal. 24 fps low light). I shoot HDR High Dynamic Range 10-bit. The better quality ProRES is not available on my 13 Mini.
I’ll probably switch to the dedicated SkyFlow app timelapse app as it’s so quick and simple.
The 13 has less stabilization than 13 Pro or Max, so I’ll use it on the gimbal as much as possible.
One great gimbal feature that finally works consistently on the DJI OM 6 is GESTURE CONTROL for tracking myself. It seems like I have a cameraman, though I’m solo. That’s only available on the DJI Mimo app.
Space on the phone is not a worry as I’ll transfer photos and videos on the fly via a tiny SanDisk 256GB memory stick.
The 13 Mini will be a dedicated camera and audio player. I’m currently carrying a second iPhone, the S.E. mini as my phone phone.
GoPro 7 is for B roll: action, water, fake drone, etc. (mostly 2.7K 60fps as 2.7 is the highest it can go with Superview (16:9 aspect ratio) enabled. I’d only switch to 4K if on a tripod.)
low light set on auto
ISO min 100, max 400 (400 might be low)
Protune off
Head mount, chest mount, handlebar mount, selfie stick, or tripod, depending on the situation.
Editing video with Final Cut Pro X on a MacBook Pro 14″ 2021 with 16 GB internal memory. That said, the cheapest MacBook Air is sufficient for almost everything I do.
Export in 1080p
master file using ProRes 422
export ‘Computer’
export H.264 Faster Encode
Shoot 120 fps only for smoke, fire, fast moving sports, etc.
As little hand held video as possible. Use tripods. Handheld would only be used to show ACTION. Close-up motion. I don’t shoot much of that.
Shorter the better for my videos.
No ads. I gave up trying to monetize anything on the internet years ago.
Shoot in 4K. Crop as small as 1080p. Export 1080p.
Keeping electronics powered while on the road is one of my bigger problems.
For hikes where weight is critical, the only essentials are phone and drone.
For bikepacking, I’ve taken EVERYTHING on some long trips. Weight and bulk are not really issues.
For the GoPro, I’ll carry at least two 3.85 Volt batteries and a tiny charging case. I find these batteries die too quickly.
In 2024, I’ll likely upgrade to a better GoPro or Insta360.
I sometimes carry a solar panel. And I’m increasingly interested in the Shine ultra-compact wind turbine. An even better solution for me than solar — but it’s still a bit too expensive. And too heavy at 3 pounds.
The Sony is my favourite camera. But when it breaks I’m planning to continue using only an Action camera and iPhone, with or without gimbal. Both cameras are small, light and durable.
The top hiking blogger, Kraig Adams, recently sold his big camera and shot only iPhone and drone. UPDATE ➙ Kraig went back to carrying an expensive camera. But he really wants to dump it. He calls himself a minimalist.
That’s ODESZA. Indeed, my favourite YouTube music 2022 were tracks from that duo.
Once I decide on music, I find it fairly quick and easy to decide the sequence of clips. And do the editing. I have an ✔ EDITING CHECKLIST on Apple Notes app I continually update.
Of course the future of video editing and creating is AI.
Well established for images, artificial intelligence for video is just getting started.
Give it the music track. Drag in all video and/or photos you want to include. And the software creates an edit for you. Normally, you click again to watch a different edit. And you can change the length of the music track quite easily. The software tries to find a good place to cut the song.
It’s mainly intended for short, fast cut Instagram, TikTok, and Reels.
BeatMark Pro is amazing. But far from perfect.
To keep it simple I tried a photo slide show. Got a decent result. Then did an additional hour of editing to come up with this.
Only twice so far has YouTube promoted any of my videos, even though the quality is conspicuously better than hiking videos with far more views. YouTube is terrible at search, I’d say. 😀
Rob is Canada’s most successful philosophical fiction writer.
The Downloaded is his 25th book. So far only available on Audible.
A print version will be available sometime 2024.
In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario.
One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage.
The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.
But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction …
Audio book narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser • Emmy Award-winner Luke Kirby • Dora Award-winner Vanessa Sears • Kim’s Convenience star Andrew Phung • and Gemini Award-winner Colm Feore.
I know Rob personally and have enjoyed his books for decades. But I’m not sure I can recommend Downloaded.
I like the plot.
But the unusual format of the book didn’t work for me.
Rather than telling the story directly, it’s a series of dialogues and interviews.
Originally intended to be released as a series of audio episodes over some weeks — like Shakespeare — the final decision was to keep it together as one audio book.
Zailer and Waterhouse investigate when housewife Geraldine Brethrick and her young daughter are found dead. The early view is that Geraldine killed them both, an opinion endorsed by criminologists Harbord and Hey – but her husband Mark, away on business at the time, claims she was perfectly happy and would never have taken her own life.
If It Bleeds (2020) is a collection of four previously unpublished novellas by American writer Stephen King.
“Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”
“The Life of Chuck”
“If It Bleeds”
“Rat”
With Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, once again King proves he is the best of all the great story tellers.
Craig gets a job working for the retired Mr. Harrigan, who gifts Craig a winning lottery ticket.
Craig then buys Mr. Harrigan a cell phone using some of the money won from the lottery ticket.
Eventually, Mr. Harrigan dies and later, Craig leaves a voicemail on Mr. Harrigan’s old phone about a bully. The bully is later found to have died by suicide. …
I also enjoyed If It Bleeds,a stand-alone sequel to the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, specifically The Outsider.
King is a terrific story teller. You quickly relate to his fictional characters.
Injustice (2011) is a five-part Britishdramatelevision series about criminal defence barrister William Travers, who has lost faith in the legal system following a traumatic series of events. …
Quality British TV. One of the best miniseries I’ve watched recently.
The Brits treat their audience as much smarter than the Americans. 😀
Charlie Creed-Miles is excellent as DI Mark Wenborn, a rotten cop and weasel you simply want to punch out.
Script was written by Anthony Horowitz, one of my favourite authors.
The story follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom with a tyrannical ruler …
Celaena is given the chance to leave the slave pits, and become the king’s personal assassin. She’d have to survive a contest with the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. …
I listen to more audio than anyone else you know. 😀
Mostly audio books and podcasts. Mostly when I am on the move or exercising.
I cursed Steve Jobs thousands of times for not promoting wireless headphones.
Steve died too young in 2011 (aged 56) — RIP.
AirPods were launched 2016 alongside the iPhone 7.
My entire life was instantly 13% 😀 improved.
I’ve used the least expensive 1st generation AirPods until 2023 and have been very happy. Amazingly, I’ve only lost two individual AirPods and kept using the rest, often syncing one AirPod at a time.
Finally I upgraded to AirPods Pro 2 in 2023. Expensive. But worth it for me.
I somewhat appreciate the improved sound quality and noise cancellation capabilities, and extended battery life — but the main reason I’m endorsing the product are the volume adjusting gestures and better Find My tracking.
The original AirPods had no physical volume adjustment.
The case has an external speaker so you can more easily located it when lost between pillow cushions.
Pausing audio by clicking is far better than the old double tap.
Maximum volume is quite a bit higher in the Pros.
Another plus is faster connection via Bluetooth.
I don’t like AirPods switching automatically. The default. But it’s easy to turn that off. AirPods stay connected to the device of your choice — unless you tell them to switch.
Of course I got the case engraved with my email address in case I leave it somewhere. 🙏
The sound has more base. Not super important for me, but it does seem to make female voices richer in podcasts.
The plot centers on five pivotal moments in the life of a self-proclaimed “lummox” named James “Jimmy” Tock. …
Moments before his grandfather’s death, the old man makes 10 cryptic predictions: among them that his grandchild will be named James—but that everyone will call him Jimmy.
Josef also predicts five terrible days to come in his grandson’s life. And announces those dates.
As the prophecies are fulfilled one by one, and he survives each, Jimmy learns many things.
Rick McCharles 