2007.04.28
Posted in House and Home, Photography at 3:26 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Based on the types of things I’ve been doing with my camera over the years, I decided that it was time to spend some money and start picking up some new lenses that will give me more options than the kit lens that came with my Canon 20D.
So, today I picked up a new lens – a Sigma 18-200mm that gives me a lot more room to play at the telephoto end of things while still allowing me to shoot wide-angle when I need to. As an added bonus, it’s quieter focusing than my other lens, and it’s not a lot larger (although it is heavier). I wanted something that I could travel with and take hiking, giving me lots of versatility without the need to lug around multiple lenses.
There might be another lens in the future for me, since I do like to play with macro photography on occasion, but the budget dictates that this will have to wait.
So far, I haven’t fully put the new lens through its paces – I’ve just fiddled with things here in the condo to get a feel for things and make sure that there’s nothing obviously wrong or defective about the lens (and there isn’t). I’ve posted three of the photos online – the one of the living room and the two of the entry hallway that show a red wall are the new ones.
If the weather holds, I’ll head outside tomorrow and spend some more serious time getting a feel for what I can do with the lens.
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2007.04.26
Posted in Board Games at 7:51 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve decided to try out ScribeFire, a Firefox plugin that lets me post things to my weblog without using WordPress’ built in editor. It’s not that I don’t like the editor that comes with WordPress, it’s just that I thought I would try something different.
I also gave ClipMarks a quick look, but I really don’t like the fact that I have to create a ClipMarks account just to use the Clip to Blog features. I didn’t even bother to create an account, I just opted to uninstall the plugin.
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2007.04.25
Posted in Writing at 10:18 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
As I’ve discussed before, I’m working on a short story that I intend on publishing in audio format. In fact, in my view the only reason I’m writing it down is so I have something I can read and record. The written version may never see the light of day.
Having completed enough of the research and plot outlining to actually start writing, I’ve now completed the first draft of chapter 1 and roughly half of chapter 2. I don’t have a particular written length in mind for the finished work, but I do have a goal for the audio. Ideally, I would like the story to consist of 60-80 minutes of audio, not counting the front and end matter for each episode. To get a feel for the pacing that is required, I’ve already been reading the work aloud with a timer set (but not recording it yet), and noting the timings.
At least, timing the readings was the initial reason for reading my story aloud to myself. It’s still one of the reasons I’m continuing to do so, but I’ve discovered that reading my story aloud to myself is useful for a number of other reasons.
Foremost among these reasons is that reading the story aloud helps me to pick out sections of text that don’t read smoothly, or that don’t sound the way I want them to. It’s easy to write something that seems to work on paper, but I’m finding it more challenging to get a flow that works well when read aloud. Since the written work is actually secondary to the end goal of recording the audio version in my case, I can focus on the sound of the text as opposed to the read of the text.
Of course, by writing text that sounds good, it turns out that it also reads well. It’s a technique that I never considered using before, and I can already see that it’s helping me to identify passages that need work.
Another bonus is that it gives me practice reading aloud. Silly as that may sound to some, anyone who listens to audiobooks with any frequency will have listened to at least work that was terribly read, to the point of being almost unlistenable. Unfortunately, it turns out that it’s very easy to read something poorly when reading aloud; I have a great deal of respect the people who do it on a regular basis to publish audio versions of novels. I’m aiming to be a passable reader of my own work, which for me primarily means focusing on my pacing (slowing down) and also on enunciating more clearly.
A third, but minor benefit, is that reading aloud gives me a different sort of familiarity with my work; for instance, I know which words need stress when read aloud in order to better convey my intended meaning. In the end, I’m hoping this will translate into a bit less time spent recording and editing, but that remains to be seen.
All of this reading aloud has the side effect that my neighbours might think I’ve gone off the deep end. I’m sitting at my computer when I’m reading my work aloud (from the screen), and at present, that puts me very close to the wall that separates my apartment from the neighbouring one. If they can hear me (though I doubt they can), they’ve been treated to the sound of my voice reading Chapter 1 of my story. Over and over. I’ve probably read my draft of chapter 1 aloud 6 or 7 times thus far, and I’m sure there are more readings to come.
Let’s hope the neighbours can’t hear, for their sake.
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2007.04.24
Posted in Board Games, Friends at 9:13 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This past weekend Jason and I ventured into a new game as well as dusted off an old favourite. First up was the newly published second edition of Columbia Games‘ Wizard Kings. The rules could have been written a little more clearly, as they required some deciphering, but we managed. Glossing over the rules that didn’t apply to the scenario we were trying out (the first scenario in the rule book), we got down to business as quickly as possible.
By random chance I ended up with the elves, while Jason commanded the evil army of the undead. Since the elves only have ten turns to win the game in this scenario, I decided to strike straight out of the gate. I moved all three of my flying elven characters (which were at full strength) to the nearest city on the Island, and proceeded to roll so brutally I was wondering if the dice were fixed. In three rounds of combat I failed to score even a single hit, while Jason’s zombies ripped me to shreds. That setback was so severe I already knew I had lost the game, though we played it out just to get a better feel for the rules.
I did wind up losing rather badly in the end, as expected, and Jason and I were both questioning the game at that point. I enjoyed the mechanics but really didn’t like the way the scenario was constructed. Jason wasn’t sure he liked the combat system, but we both agreed to give it another shot (though with a different scenario). We were, however, both pleased that the game played quickly once we got started.
After supper, we played a second game of Wizard Kings, this time with my Amazons defending their noble land against Jason’s invading Barbarian horde. I got lucky enough to destroy Jason’s only naval unit early on. This gave me an advantage since several of my cities were difficult to reach over land, and the land offered some natural choke points through which Jason had no choice but to pass. Even still, there was a point on turn 4 where I thought I had lost for certain.
The way the scenario was constructed, the Amazons can win by attrition, but only if they survive beyond turn 6. Since I spent most of the first few turns running away from the barbarians as fast as I could, enough of my units survived into the mid-game that I stood a fighting chance. I managed to turn things around enough in turns 6 and 7 to actually come out victorious by wearing Jason down slowly over the following turns.
We both agreed that the second scenario played a lot better, and we both enjoyed the game. Having played it twice, I’d be interested in playing again for sure. Columbia did a great job with the maps and the game plays well.
Following Wizard Kings, we decided that it was time to play an abstract strategy game, something we haven’t been doing much lately. Several games were proposed, but we settled on Sid Sackson’s Realm. This blast from the past is well worth digging up, or alternatively, it would be fairly straightforward to make your own set out of wood if you’re so inclined. Realm is all about territory control, but there’s also a bit of a race aspect to the game that adds an interesting dimension. The rules allow for some interesting self-sacrifice plays that can be rather devastating since your “dead” pieces stay on the board, immobilized, and block movement.
This time around, I managed to box Jason into a corner, and edged out a victory during the final few turns. It was a very tense game, and it definitely made me think.
I think I’ll have to try getting some of the Gipf project games back to the table soon, since it’s been a while since I played any of those. Maybe this coming weekend…
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2007.04.15
Posted in Sports at 5:56 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Today I took my bicycle out for the first time this season. This wasn’t a pleasure ride, though. I had things to do. Or rather, I had things that I needed to do with the bike.
First stop was the gas station to put air in the tires. After sitting for the winter, they certainly needed it.
Next stop was the car wash. A winter of being locked up in the underground parking of my condo building caused a rather thick layer of dust / dirt / crud to accumulate on every exposed surface of the bike. It’s dusty enough down there in the winter that I have to wash the car every few weeks even if I don’t drive it anywhere, and the bike has been sitting for about 5 months, so you can imagine how disgusting it was.
Cleaning the bike cost me exactly $1.00 at Penguin car wash, a great little pressure-wand style car wash just outside of downtown. I’ve never much liked the automatic car washes where I pay exorbitant prices for the ‘convenience’ of not having to get my fat lazy ass out of the car to wash it, and for washing my bike, it’s obviously not an option anyway. I can usually wash my car for $5.00 at Penguin, which is cheaper than any automatic car wash I’ve seen in the city.
After spraying the bike with my $1.00 worth of water, I discovered that it’s green, not brown. Who knew?
Anyways, now that my bike was clean and I was no longer embarrassed to be seen riding it, it was off to Sport Swap to have the bike tuned-up. It’s booked in on Tuesday, but I decided to drop it off today so I don’t have to head there Monday after work. I get the bike back on Wednesday, and then I’ll be cycling to work most days instead of walking.
On a related note, I hereby declare it to be spring in Calgary, which means the next snowfall won’t happen until October. Mother nature, are you listening?
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2007.04.09
Posted in Anime, Manga at 8:24 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve finally gotten around to watching the first few episodes of the anime デスノート(Death Note). Based on the manga series of the same name, Death Note tells the story of a bored high school student named 夜神 月 (Light Yagami) who happens upon a rather unusual notebook. The notebook bears the words “Death Note” on its cover, and inside the first page are written instructions on how the notebook is used.
The rather disturbing premise behind the notebook is that you can kill someone simply by writing their name in the notebook. It is also possible to dictate details such as the time and manner of their death. It sounds rather grisly, but the presentation isn’t especially gory.
Though I’m not very far into the series (and so it’s not spoiling much to discuss this), things have already gotten interesting. Light initially uses the notebook to kill many well-known violent criminals, some of whom are already scheduled for execution. Light feels he is justified in killing these criminals, in order to make the world a safer place in which to live. The police take the view that what Light is doing is murder, plain and simple, and begin trying to figure out who he is in order to capture him.
Despite its somewhat gruesome premise, I’ll likely continue to watch the series. When it was first described to me, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the series, but it’s surprisingly well done. If you can stomach manga like I luv Halloween, then you certainly won’t have any issues with this.
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2007.04.05
Posted in Board Games, Friends at 7:47 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Last weekend, Jason, Dave, and I played the Fury of Dracula for the second time. Once again, Dracula won (this time played by Jason). It was very close, but I’m still not convinced that Dracula is at as large a disadvantage as the comments on The Geek seem to indicate. Mind you, if it wasn’t for a raft of terrible rolls on my part, I suspect Dave and I would have vanquished the count, but that’s not what happened.
It was refreshing to play the game as two of the hunters this time. It’s a very different game than when you play as Dracula.
It was also interesting to see how Jason played as Dracula. He kept using Bats encounters (much to my annoyance), which is something I never really used when I played Dracula. We also had very different styles of play, though I don’t think either style was more or less effective – just different. I’ll have to play more often and see how my impressions change over time.
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