Stalking Light and Life

Quick Entry

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:16:41 -0600

Seems like it will take me longer than expected to upload another big film-entry, so here's a quick one with squared-neg film. The long one will be up before November ends-- I promise.

Grabbed the Rollei and did a couple of test frames... everything Portra 400VC (my new favorite 120 colour film)

Ok... it still works... thanks Mr. Fleenor... more than a year and still good.

I was walking around the uni, looking for something or someone to photograph, and I found a writer that teaches here: Felipe Montes. He's got a bunch of groupies here... which is kind of funny.

Normal portrait

It was cool approaching him; he was eating, and seemed surprised to see me asking if I could make a picture.

I had only 4 frames, so I did 3 close and 1 from a normal distance.

Up, close and personal - using Rolleinars #2

I never thought the Rolleinars were the *exact* thing I was looking for. Can't tell you how sharp the full frame is.

Now I can try and play Steve Pyke.

That's all for now.

Have some good news...

...not telling right now, of course.

... it would ruin the surprise.

Hope life catches you well.

J

Alice Workshop PDF

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:09:11 -0600

Click here to download the Alice Workshop Instructions.

PracticaAlice.pdf

Soon...

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:48:32 -0600

More things to come soon...

Mixing, Pouring and Shaking

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:59:39 -0600

I've been busy lately... it's cooler to say you're quitting your job than actually doing it.

I mean... I could just walk away and not give a fuck, but that's not my style. I try to do things properly.

Even if people hate me... I like it when they hate me properly, not just plain old, mediocre hate...

...as I know that certain readers do.

But what are you going to do? This is the net, and I prefer to avoid any emo-kiddo or wannaby artsy fartsy pretentious self portrait with camera gear, or books... as if I were masturbating to the thought of being something I am not.

---this is all; what you see is what you get.

Pictures don't lie.

Unless Photoshopped... but that ain't happening here... I couldn't care less about modifying my frames for stuff other than tones and balance.

...as if I could remove in Photoshop someone's being an asshole...

As I told N the other day... I like to make frames of things that catch my eye... but some individuals will never be photographed (again) through my lens just because they are not worthy of it.

And so-fucking-what? My camera; my point of view.

This also brings to mind some other thoughts... like school and growing up.

There's only so much you can do on school, then you have to grow-the-fuck-up.

My limit is Master's Degree. Yes, like... I want to have theoretical expertise in a given field that I am truly interested in (Information Technology - I'm a computer guy according to my university degree). But the problem is not about getting perfect grades, it's actually what you do in the real world.

...and unless you are not doing real world research, if you are still in school, after university, you suck.

"I feel good in this comfort circle that harbors no responsibilities other than doing my homework, and teaching some undergrad kids" definitely does not count as Real World. Puhleeeeease... unless you can actually make it happen outside, then you are using up valuable resources like oxygen.

Anyway... I don't usee a blog to make you think I am a thinker, a philosopher, or someone who actually cares about making himself look interesting. My friends know who I am, and how much I would do for them.

But come on... this is too much bla bla and no photos. My photos.

On a side note, I think it's caring too much to put a copyright notice on each photo, but my good friend Nuno (who is a kick ass concert photographer) told me to always do that.

First, let's get digital out of the way:

My ex-roommate asked me to drop by his live presentation at Café Iguana.

He's an amazing DJ... and this was his night.

It's twice the fun to watch him wink you, just before he puts your favorite mixed song.

We both worked at the same company once... and just like that, life goes on:

As I walked in...

Preparing the next song... his own creation

Up - close - and personal

People grabbing their own cameras...

From the DJ's point of view

Spacing out

Check out his site: http://www.myspace.com/djferh

He's also working as a producer with some other guy: http://www.myspace.com/loudroomrec

T'was a fun night...

Film already!!!

These are some old scans from a Portra160NC:

Sleeping man in a department store.

Late night--- 7-eleven

A repair shop door. f1.4 Vignetting

Ice-cream - In this place "Brownie" is spelled "Brawny"; Brawny ice-cream here is delicious

Reala 100. Do they even make that film anymore? In the lovely store where they scratch the film sans extra fee, they sell it... and it's dated, so I'm going with a "yes, they still make it".

I hate banks. You give them money that produces them more profits, and t hey charge you for so doing.

Dusk... 100 asa is not that friendly handheld with a Tessar f3.5

drumrolls

Yes! A lovely brick wall. Please note coma, chromatic aberration, pincushion and vignetting.

Ha!

Gotcha!

Nah, just for the fun of it, here is a brick wall:

A tool for evaluating lenses... or so many claim

This one serves to illustrate two things:

Car accidents in Monterrey happen a-fucking-lot... most of the people drive like shit
If you batch scan color film with automatic dust and scratch removal, you might end up with shadows like those here shown:

There are no dark areas... look how the software ate the bottom shadows into weird pixelated blocks

Martist after being photographed with his 15yr old fans

...and now... a commercial break...

I like the rolleiflex, but working out the square neg is quite challenging for me.

I can't wait to see how my b/w homemade developing works with MF... so far with 35mm it's going fairly well.

Now, starting with some images from my first attempts to develop Tri-x myself:

Xtol stock - me likey blacks... not much detail in shadows, tho'

Xtol 1:1 - My personal fav for trix

Xtol 1:3 - Grrrraaainyyyy. Don't know... not really like this one...

Xtol 1:3 - In this case I liked the result.
This individual's stereo is probably double the cost of the old car he's driving

I'm loving Xtol, and learning how not to mess up the Fixer (two practice rolls screwed, one good one screwed, but somewhat scanneable).

This is where the mixing and pouring take place - Leftmost: Stop, Fix, Hypo, Flo, Cooking Oil

And all that mixing, pouring, and shaking produces this:

Delta 100 (Xtol 1:3)

I dig the 1.4 DOF on this frame

f2 + strong light source = flaring. I still like this one, though.

E and I used to get our late night fix of tacos here. We would laugh at drunken juniors losing their dignity in public.

Monterrey upscale nightlife: Park the Mercedes or Jag, and get a hot dog or some tacos somewhere

Apodaca is up North from this place... Wtf were they doing in downtown Monterrey?

Now Delta 400:

Bus station. One way ticket. Sherezade is done with this place. This is her last picture here. Godspeed.

Shooting into the sun. I loved the detail on the ticket taped to the windshield

This is typical Monterrey: wanker parks on a reserved space and does not care. Shotgun, please!!!

N couldn't resist a glass of pineapple-flavored water

Street in Barrio Antiguo - downtown Monterrey

... and now Tmax 400 (Xtol 1:3):

I don't know why cameras are prohibited in super markets. Is it because someone may photograph their layout? You could write it on a notepad. Are you documenting what they have in stock... well... you can write it down as well.

Anyway...

N choosing I don't remember what - 1/500 f1.4

Yours truly in the milk aisle - 1/500 f2

I went to the movies with N, and as we got out of the car, I saw this man sitting in a bucket. I've seen him around since I first came to this cinemas, about six years ago. It took me all this time, and the experience I've built until now to approach and ask for a portrait.

I was very happy to see he was was willing to sit for a moment and let me make a few frames.

1/250 f4

He told me that he looked after this car for a friend who owned it.

1/250 f4

He asked for a print, which I will be making next weekend.

1/250 f4

This was a reminder to never leave the camera at home, or somewhere else... you never know where you'll find something that makes you feel that rush pressing the shutter.

Strange how at certain angles, the flare is different; this is Monterrey traffic FYI

I like the detail in the shadows... like my glasses - 1/500 f1.4

Vignetting at f1.4 (1/500) - Sun coming down...

I see this guy every other day when going home from school; I think he collects aluminium cans and stuff.
Small social differences pictured.

This is Diego. Migue and Laura's baby. Grandpa is holding him here

N and I got to visit the new parents in the hospital the day after he was born

As you can see, I was not the only one papping Diego

Finally...Trix 400 (Xtol 1:1):

Teachers' night at the contemporary art museum

A dancer surrounded by people

Her act was strange... she reminded us of Ophelia (daughter of Polonius)

Ophelia playing with the water

Loved the details in this contre-jour; N's hair is awesome...

"Careful sonny, they'll grab your attention and drive you nuts to get what they want" - haha

Bad Idea: Open all the fridge doors during mid-summer.

We had sushi that day

N prepping the motor for the next roll.

And this is life as I saw it happen.

So this is in a way, me.

The me I want you to know...

...exactly how I want you to know it.

Hope life catches you well,

J

Ça commence encore ||| Fotofase Sucks color-wise as well.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:06:52 -0600

I'm quitting my job.

Well... it's not exactly my job. It's my "I don't have anything else to do, and I need to pay the rent" kind of thing.

I am having a hard time matching my profile that my manager expects from me due to several reasons:

I'm not a robot. It's fucked up to work extra hours because of his mistakes/shortcomings
I have a mind of my own, and use it rather frequently; I am not going to do ~~work~~ shit just because he thinks it should be done. Demonstrate me why, and where the importance of that shit lies.
I can't stand working for dishonest people. I've got principles.

If you want a professional team, treat your team like one.

That's all I have to say about my soon-to-be ex-job.

...when in doubt try to figure what exact problem you are trying to solve.

In my case, I'm not looking for anything over-the-top. I want to read a little more, to do some more stuff in a sandbox before actually throwing myself at the big sharks.

This feels a bit weird because I'm on my own now. (own, now, won, ... stupid Word Challenge App in FB).

This means no known friends, no known teachers, and the lovely uncertainty of wondering if I'm any good for it.

Well, the start seems good. I got all expenses covered on my own. No longer depending on dad. I'm sort of a grown up now.

I wonder how many people in grad school still phone home: "Dad, can I have a deposit?". Or... "Dad, I am an idiot and lost my credit card for the 25th time..... even though I am theoretically a grown-up and should be doing these things myself, can you get me a replacement?". I guess it's very different between people, so I won't keep on bitching.

I have a feeling that this will be totally worth it... with or without my usual paradigms.

...so I got some photos from the lab.

Since it was good, old colour negatives, I took it to Fotofase.

Yes, Fotofase SUCKS for b&w, but come on... how difficult is it for super standard C-41? you just put the roll in the machine, and voilà... developed film.

So I dropped the film, asked the negs to be uncut (hate the fucking 4-frame strips when I have 6 strip storage pages).

I have my own scanner, so I do the scanning even though it takes AGES (I'm on a super-tight budget now).

Guess what... drum rolls... Fotofase keeps the official WE SUCK ROYAL title.

They hand me my negative inside a long plastic cover. I wonder how they put the film in there gently... my guess is that they just push the film in.

I did not want to pull out the film, so i cut along the edge, to slide the film gently out of the wrap/cover, only to find out it is completely scratched.

Not as in hairline scratch... more like Dear Sir, we put your film through a sand box with pieces of broken glass, and just for the sake of it, our cat decided to sharpen his nails scratching your film.

One of the frames had the red layer completely torn off. Yes, that's the security layer...

Now, you get it? They are CRAP.

There's some thing I like about doing a BW conversion with portra 160VC. I love that film. Most of the time I'm in between leaving it color, or BW...

For BW, I am an Ilford Delta fan.

So here are the photos:

Self, brilliant slanting btw. 160 VC.

El Norte is Monterrey's biggest newspaper. It's shit, if you ask me.
El Sol is an even shittier shit done by the same organization that contains blood, car crashes, and almost naked girls.
Oh so classy. 160 VC.

Self, looking for something... don't remember what. 160 VC.

N with her new toy. ~1/8s @f1.4 160 VC.

Martist - I think he liked this one. ~1/4s @f1.4 (only in a RF) 160 VC.

That's about it. Will scan some 6x6 frames sometime soon.

If you know Spanish, here's my letter to the assholes at Fotofase:

Llevé un Portra 160VC a la sucursal de Barrio Antiguo y pedí que no cortaran el rollo (odio las tiras de 4, y tengo hojas de tiras 6, entonces prefiero cortarlo yo).

Me entregaron en una funda de plástico traslúcido mi negativo, y al sacarlo para escanearlo, me dí cuenta que estaba TODO rayado.

No sé si no saben meter el negativo ahí, o si lo pasaron por arena y le pusieron un gato encima para que se revolcara. No sé si la máquina está vieja, o qué pasó. Me parece ridículo que un laboratorio de fotografía maltrate de esa manera mis negativos.

Fue tan fuerte el maltrato, que en un cuadro, la capa protectora del negativo (la que hace que se vean rojos o marrones - c-41) está rasgada.

R A S G A D A.

Mis fotografías no se merecen dicho trato.

No regresaré con ud, y si alguien me pide una recomendación de laboratorio, no serán ustedes.

Dudo que FotoLab del Norte sea tan descuidado.

Hope life catches you well.

J

As Mexico City As It Gets

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:13:14 -0600

...So there were some reasons to go back to Mexico City...

Stairs + Father

I won't go into the strongest personal reason... none of your business whatsoever.

Some are just waiting to get back... others like me are just trying to move on.

It's weird how things work. I love home, I love the city, but I think I'm over it.

In Mexico, certain people from the countryside blog about this place, and rant about how awesome and great, and fucking special it is. I guess it is thaaat special when you grew up in a stinky town, and long to feel special in a place where you're not that unique. Anyway... I'll digress.

I still got a sweet spot for Mexico City deep within me. It's too bad I had to leave N temporarily, but well, she's tough and can kick anyone's ass without my help.

...So there was a photo-workshop...

Not any photo-workshop, but the meanest, baddest workshop in town: Foundry Photo Workshop.

Here's some name dropping if you're turned on by that:

Last, but not least... not teaching but helping veeeery much:

I jumped between 3 classes: Multimedia Storytelling (Tewfic), Building a Reportage (Eros) and Photojournalist Bootcamp (Renee, Paula, Scott). It's too bad there were so many great photogs teaching at the same time.

Sort of reminded me of a little kid in a huge candy store, and only seconds to grab a few things before mom or dad calls.

And so a week passed by.

A somewhat strange week... with photographers from all over the world, lots of beer, avid desires to learn, to teach, to grow aware of what's around you, and introduce yourself to truly awesome guys... friendship in the air.

I did 3 things: Help translate, get access, and shoot.

Multimedia Storytelling

We headed to Sonora Market, to shoot traditional Mexican stuff.

Well, it's a market where you can find from toys, to herbal medicine, live animals, and healers. It was a bit daunting at first because I had not heard any good things from my father... he was a bit reluctant to let me go... but you know... I've been in worse places.

After trying to convince Lukcero Aghakán to let us take pictures, we looked around for someone else who would be willing to let us take photos and provide us with information about healers and the healing process. We actually never got to talk with Ms. Aghakán; one of her assistants made a point in saying that they had an arrangement with the big-evil Mexican TV network Televisa.

It sucked... I mean... traditional healers with their exclusivity contract with a tv station. Pleaseee...

After wandering around the market for some time, we spoke with Angel Guarda who was truly amazing. He explained the healing process, and was quite friendly when it came to share experiences and take pictures. Angel, you rock!

So here is what I did in the end...

It's not much but I liked the result:

...and well... being in Mexico City, I could not neglect my long time friends Betty and David.

Time was short, but we had fun. David showed us his latest creations and well, Betty smiled.

David smiling saying that the outfit was not yet perfect for actual use

We went to El Hijo del Cuervo to have a couple of beers and just talk about everything we have always done.

Strangely calm night

The next day was calm. During the morning I attended the Building a Reportage lecture, and discussed some cool things about coherence of the story, and closeness (image-wise).

But since I had my wheels, I told Matt we could drive downtown and just walk and shoot pictures.

"never forget the first rush. remember how good it felt? that first rush of blood from retina to cortex. all it takes is one hit"
(Craig, M., 2008).

He's funny, and an awesome photographer. Check out MJR. N O W ! ! !

Yet another protest...

Also met Mustafah from MJR. He did a hardcore project about crime in Mexico City. He had awesome shots as well.

Mustafah was sitting down half awake, half asleep in a couch, so I approached and said:

J: Rough night?

M: Man, last night I was in a police raid and so sooo many firearms... like I'd never seen before. And it was hardcore... safeties off and just ready to shoot.

J: I don't think those guns had any safeties.

M: What do you mean?

J: Safety devices are considered "extra" in here... y'know... guns with safeties cost more, and well...

It was cool he did not get hurt, or shot. A police raid in Tepito... that's harcdore.

Zocalo. México D.F.

PJ Bootcamp.

This seemed like an interesting class, and since I was free, and not shooting, I thought I might as well go in.

So I opened the door and everyone went quiet and looked at me.

Typical "oh shit" moment.

M: Is this PJ Bootcamp?

Scott: Yes.

M: Can I stay? I'm interested to hear what you have to say.

Scott: Yeah, grab a chair.

And they kept reviewing people's projects, and I just felt infatuated with this class. It was about three teachers with incredibly trained eyes for photography telling you how to build a small story with images... and you brought them your photos straight from the camera and they would tell you what worked, and what sucked.

To have the three guys discussing out-loud about what photos were cool and which ones weren't - priceless.

So it was Thursday morning... Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday went by quickly (as when you have lots of fun), and Thursday morning I met Tewfic, Chris, and Adam at the Mother's Monument, where people were protesting naked.

Peasants and fishermen from the Mexican state Veracruz were removed from their lands. Eventually, the local government seized these lands without providing the original owners any type of restitution. Since the local government was not opening any channel for communication, the peasants and fishermen brought their families to Mexico City to obtain an answer to their situation.

Their marching and dancing naked is a symbol of the fact that without lands they do not have anything; not even clothes.

This is one of the first times I've photographed public manifestations up close and personal.

I met a really cool guy called Pedro who guided me around. He had a cool sense of humour... which made me wonder how much humour I'd have if I were protesting against the government.

Well... never mind.

So Thursday Morning I met with the Multimedia Storytelling guys, and shot this. Later during the PJ Bootcamp class, I decided I wanted this to be my project (originally it was supposed to be low-level cantinas, but the window for that project was killer for waking up early for class).

I did not like any of the pictures I took in the morning.

Even though the protesters weren't violent at all, police had to surround them

The mask represents Vicente Fox - Mexican ex-president

Protesters wore the image of a senator implicated in the scandal

The police did not really have anything to do while they danced

Not all the protesters danced naked

Late at night, the campers ate dinner. They had free coffee, but the foam cups were 2 pesos each.

It felt good to see the whole material on the big screens. The colors sucked, but the atmosphere in the auditorium was cool.

My favorite panel was the one with Stanley, Khadir, Scott, and David (from NatGeo), and the discussion about the future of photojournalism.

Stanley Greene and Khadir Van Lohuizen in one of the panel discussions

And that was it for Foundry 2008.

I spent the rest of the time with my family, and was quite happy about it.

Too bad couldn't go out to dinner the three of us, but well... there will be other times.

Better times, hopefully.

Mexico City's airport has seen me many times in these past years. With lots of luggage, with only a backpack and a camera, exhausted from intercontinental flights, but this time was weird. I had this strange satisfaction you only have when things go perfectly sweet, and there's no way someone on Earth can take that from you.

... a small realization, maybe.

Drops of water falling from the ceiling

They sky on my way back just gave me a pretty good image to close this chapter down... youth, dreams, and good times... here and far.

Hope life catches you well.

J

Rocking Leopard

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:00:10 -0600

For now, I have my very own Mexico City entry waiting...

It's far from finished, but well... ya know... Photoshop takes some time... particularly with .NEF's.

It's veeeeery simple to pop your Leopard DVD and just click away "next" or "continue" and voilà... OS X 10.5 for the masses.

And what if for some strange reason the laptop won't read the DVD as startup disk?

When life is not that simple, you can just use a Mac Pro as brain for the smaller, less powerful laptop.

You might even need to end up doing this:

Love Jeroz' expression in the back - a man minding his own business.

Yes... a huuuge Mac Pro used as a vile Target Disk. That's a very expensive external FireWire disk.

And so, I had to play around with dmg's, open firmware, and single user sessions (sooo in looove with the dark screen, and console appearance)... to finally get HERE:

Rewarding results

And just like in American Beauty... I yelled: "I RULE".

Now... after about 35k lines of installation log... here are some useful tips I found. In fact, this is much more for me than you... so I remember stuff. If you couldn't care less... skip to the bottom of the separator...

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

I hated the glossy dock... so I changed it. Since ObjectDock just won't work (haven't looked for it yet), I found a cool console command:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES

killall Dock
I also like to know where I am placed every instant I look to the toolbar, so I want to see a full path à la windows:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES
...ah yes... I am in /Developer/Applications/Utilities... that's why the regular system utilities are not here.

Now I get it.
Front Row. Yes! Awesome idea, Cupertino. But... if I don't have a remote how can I access it?

Simple:

Command + Esc

Thanks to D.W. Hoard at CalTech for his lovely site with OS X tips. You can learn how to change the login shell, and other practical stuff there.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

I'm off for now... I've been having a headache today, and have still many photos to go through.

Hope life catches you well.

J

Hidden Files

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:16:27 -0600

I was havig some troubles with a WinXP machine at work.

I could not see hidden files, even after activating them in options.

So I had to go to the registry editor and do the following:

Find: HKLM-Software-Microsoft-Windows-CurrentVersion-Explorer-Advanced-Folder-Hidden-SHOWALL

then DELETE the value CheckedValue in the right window. (Its type should be REG_SZ and data should be 2.)

Finally create a new DWORD value called CheckedValue (same as above, except that the type is REG_DWORD). Modify the value data to 1 (0x00000001)..

Voilà.

Mercado de Sonora - Rough translation of an interview with a healer

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:53:29 -0600

Here, in the Sonora Market, there are many elements of the occultism.

Many spiritist, santeros, witches, magicians and chamanes are found here.

To do any witchcraft work, there are four main elements that rule the planet: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. Everything is energy. Witchcraft does not exist, it’s only energies.

But how are energies created? Chamanes dance around a bonfire until they reach ecstasy to create energy; there are people who mourn/pray; there are those who work with herbs and manipulate herbal substances to whatever end… good or bad. But there is a greater power that people do not recognize: the energy of the human being. There are those of us who have a great mental power, there are some who are not aware of their own power.

The human body is a receiver and an emitter of energies, that is while after some time there is a need to cleanse the body. For this end, there are many many methods... like temazcales, baths in rivers or cascades, cleansings, quartz stones, etc.

The easiest and most traditional way to heal oneself is an egg, or some herbs from nature. Most of the time, no-one knows how to do it properly, nor how to use the 4 elements.

At the beginnings of time, there were two parts that controlled the stability of the planet: the good and the bad. Since these are two extremes, a fusion becomes a saint... the balance.

Saints desired more power so they discovered red magic and green magic.

Red magic is a very powerful energy, and uses blood from sacrifices or donations.

Green magic is based on nature; herbs. It does good or bad to the humans. There are very powerful herbs that may kill humans, so everything depends on what is used.

Most of the people doing this, are not aware of the foundations of how to handle magic. A lot of them have read literature from undocumented sources that worked for a particular case, and most likely won't work for other cases.

Black magic by itself does no harm... you need to have a combination: a duality.

There are four main types of magic: Black magic, green magic, red magic, white magic: four elements: Water Earth Wind and Fire.

Many recipes or preparations just use a couple of types of magic, without considering the others... for the product to work, you need the presence of four... it's like a two-feet table.

I'm 53, and I've been doing this since I was 12. There's nothing I haven't read... but many don't know a thing. I was taught by ascended teachers whose names I can't mention.

There are three fundamental steps to a complete process:

1.- Consacration of the elements: that prepares the energy in them.
2.- A rite: All the movements and gestures for the process: whether good or bad.
3.- The spells: the most important step. The spells create an enchantment; they close... they create a trascendency in the process.

For a healing, herbs or natural elements are used. Oils, soaps, lotions, perfumes... many elements can be used as well. In reality, to heal a person you need energybecause the human being is energy.

There are four other steps for a healing process:

1. destroy all bad energy. Spirits and negative energies exists. Even though people don't believe in them, we are not alone at all. They exist beyond our capacity to understand them.
2. The human body is comprised by seven energy points called chakras. When someone is not feeling well, it's because their chakras are not stable. Once a person stabilizes and harmonizes his/her chakras, healing occurs... this can be done with herbs, with energies, with many different elements... even with conventional medicine.
3.- We are all immersed in the energy of the human being. There's a polarity; once a person is polarized he/she becomes a human magnet. Bad energy can be repelled and good energy can be attracted. For all this, you need a process... this polarity exists on Earth. There's people whose polarity is so unstable that good things that arrive to them are repelled unconsciously... same with health. When you're correctly polarized, you attract good energy.
4.- There are many protections (like the tetragrammathron), and elements that serve as protection. Unless those things have a healing and spell process, they are only material things, and cannot provide real protection.

Once you have a connection with divine energy, the universal energy, you become immune to many things, and no energy can affect you; you have an energy field that protects you.

(shows book by Barbara Newmann - hands that heal)

The most special cleansing is by using quartz.... it has an energy by its own.

In Sonora Market, in order to know who knows about magic and who is fake, one should ask them how many types of magic exist. If they don't mention the 4 magic we have mentioned, don't waste your money.

If a person uses an egg for a cleansing, they use white and red magic because the egg is in principle a living being, and it is used as a sacrificed to absorb all bad energy in the person.

If they use plants to cleanse, they use black and green magic.

The trick is in consacrating the elements and ritualizing the process. In wrong hands, this processes can hurt people, or do evil upon others.

In this market, there are not many people left who know about magic... the only way is to approach someone who knows magic.

In a human being the energy terminals are in the palms of the hands and the feet; those are the sources of energy flow in all of us.

Adventures with Portra 400 NC

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:57:09 -0600

Here are six photos I like from the film I picked up from the lab yesterday.

Everything shot in Portra 400 NC.

Jacinto had a flat tire, so we had to find a place to fix it. These are someone's tools of the trade.

N got some lovely colourful sandals

Gauchito. Monterrey's best Argentinean tacos. End of discussion.

This is how many people park in this place. SUCKS. It's sooo dificult to park correctly. Seems like people have a brain disability that does not allow them to park correctly. Full view. Tell me if ANY car is correctly parked. It's a fucking jungle.

This is the midday sky. I heard somewhere: "Noon is the new Golden Hour". Hahahaha.

I don't post many self portraits, but I liked this one somehow. Photoshopped the b/w. I prefer self portraits in b/w.

It'd be cool if at least one of those photos made you smile.

Hope life catches you well.

J

A Wedding, Trip Up North, and the Usual Rant

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:30:08 -0600

Strange feeling sitting on the corner waiting.

My favorite one is still burning... this old flavor of youth. Yeah. Trying to prove something.

You try so hard, and it all comes to a brief hit.

...and this is the last one.

I just love it when electronic devices sort of sync to the body. Like... songs that really fit your mood... even though the device it's set on random.

Silencio - Ely Guerra. Headphones and the remains of a certain period of my life. No one talking around.

The wind whirs around the headphones and remind me how you cannot totally disconnect from what happens around.

Strangers passing by and well, the heat of this oven-like city.

I was watching America's Most Smartest Model on tv (yeah, like there's so much to do around), and found some interesting words:

Nincompoop
Emaciated
Variegated

There ya go. If you're bored go look out for their meaning.

I'm listening to Muse. It's been a while since the last time I was really into Muse... (I can picture Checo telling Galo: "duuude, you don't know them... you're not a fan"). Well, I never really listened to them. I saw them live, and I pretty much enjoyed it.

*zap* Subject Change *zap*

A man who ran the board of directors of my uni died last week. As expected, Monday morning was a pretty hectic day. I had to create spots for the huge tv screen outside campus, send EVERYONE on this campus the formal PR communication about the decease, and some other stuff. Couldn't attend this journalism workshop I was supposed to be at. This workshop is quite interesting... I'm much more into electronic media and publishing, but well... theory of journalism will come in handy sooner or later.

Today I had to write a small article about whatever I wanted as long as I included context and impact of the product/action itself. So I presented the Kindle, and while getting info about it, I found this:

*Loved* the wired book.

How come most reviews are boring (except for engadget and techcrunch (lately) )? I know... not all business people care about this, but I do. If it makes me smile with witty humour, I'll probably like it.

Anyway...

By the way... how come Photoshop doesn't have a "Auto-all my photo"? I know... it's oh so powerful... I guess it could even photoshop the hunger out of the world, and photoshop world peace, and stuff. Yeah... it's a damn verb. Like BillG said about Google being a verb (to google-it). The point is that I sometimes don't carry a somewhat decent camera, and I'm stuck with the cellphone camera which sucks royal.

So here's the scenario: I take a photo with my crappy phone camera, then import it into Photoshop (which might be overkill now that I think of it.... there's only so much photoshop can do with a crappy photo), and then I have to:

Auto Levels
Auto Contrast
Auto Color

But we're missing a super ultra mega useful:

Auto Don't Suck

Something like this:

Check under "Auto Color" - in bold... yay!

Yeah, well, that goes for the guys at Adobe. You need a functional spec for that? Hahaha. "Auto don't suck v0.3 build 0012" hahaha. Riiiight.

*zap* Subject Change *zap*

I got tired that my journalism class had all the class documents, references, research papers crammed in a single gmail account with no filters, so I did the geek thing and created a blog for all the stuff in our class. Yeah, I *LOVE* content management systems (you could say blogs, but technically unless you can actually manage tags, categories, and authors, it's not properly a content management system).

An asshole once accessed the mail account, and deleted everything.

So much for being in college; that bastard will get it sooner or later.

Anyway

Photos:

This was cute. Little girl paying for a hamburger.

Then......... wedding time!!!

As we walked into the wedding dinner/party...

Cool lights when we came in

A week later, we drove up North... we drove to North America (as if we weren't already there - In case you did not know, FYI North America comprises Mexico as well).

Laredo... here we go!!! Yay!!!

...cool roads under deep blue skies ain't free...

This is the second customs check... if you get a red light, they search your car for things thing requiring import taxes.
Do I smell corruption?

Before crossing the Mexico-US bridge. There are the typical paper people giving away US-stores' newspapers... urging you to buy, buy, buy, BUY, BUY... BUY, DAMN IT!!!!

There are also people begging for some spare change

LAREVOLVO!!!

Tejas? Texas? Well...

If you work in industrial design and your boss wants a sink that "flows" I guess this is more-or-less what you need.

And that's it for somewhat decent photos.

Moving on to simpler photos...

Finally The Sharper Image went bankrupt. I mean... how many "Ultra-massage 9000 VX" chairs can you sell???

And for our grand finale....

There was this woman in Laredo's Old Navy that carried two huge bags stuffed with sandals to the cashier.

Yeah, those ones you grab at the entrance of outlet stores.

I insist... HUGE

The lady behind me whispered to me "Oh my God, two bags... it's too much". I told her.. "Well, it could be worse".

And then it became worse.

...

...

The woman stepped out of the cash register to grab a SHOPPING CART FULL OF SANDALS.

I told the lady... "Well, yeah, it was worse".

Everyone started looking at the cart, and I grabbed my P&S and took her picture.

So now you know... this is what a shopping cart full of sandals looks like.

With the 28mm you lose a bit of the *hugeness* of the cart

That's a goooood moment to switch cashier lanes.

Comment on this... what do you think she was going to do with all those sandals?

Wear a new pair every day for a year?
Sell them twice the price in a flea market in Monterrey?
Give them to their children and grandchildren so they never get sandal-less?
Prepare sandal recipes at her place?
Build a castle of sandals one on top of the others?

Hope life catches you well.

J

On My Way to the Lab

Mon, 26 May 2008 15:40:01 -0600

Well... just walking by when I saw two orange cones:

Then I had an idea.

Play dead.

Yay. So smart.

But no...

Even better...

Urban YOGA!!!

Several updates are due... I know, I know.

Been busy

Been with N

Sometimes time just flies by.

Monterrey is disgustingly hot right now.

Note to self: flee from this place.

...

working on it...

Hope life catches you well.

J

I proclaim this result in name of malvenko.net

Fri, 09 May 2008 14:33:54 -0600

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

Google search results.

(88 a's fyi)

Since if you add one more letter, it crops it to a page with two results, this one provided none... so it's MINE.

Original idea: http://daaaamn.com/

*evil laughter*

Evidence:

Before:
After:

Ok... back to work.

Interviews and Movies - Over Thinking, and Not Thinking at all... Oh, and Finding a Decent Lab

Mon, 05 May 2008 09:12:16 -0600

A guy who works with N (Javier) was nominated as a candidate for a very interesting prize. Something about youth, and the National Council of Culture and the Arts (not sure if this is the correct translation, but you get the point). So there were many guys nominated for this award - all of them around 20-25 years old. And since there's so much to do in Monterrey we had to cancel maaaany other events to go. *cough* BS *cough*.

This is where we parked. Love the Reala tones.

So there we were, waiting for the presenter to deliver the prize.

...and Javier friend did not win.

The winner's work was acquired by the state, so it became some sort of National patrimony.

After handing the prize, we were allowed to go into the museum. All the journalists were following the winner to get the flashy news photo and interview. Frankly, I was quite curious to see her work; the title seemed interesting (well, long, not that interesting, but long).

"Máquina de Influir: Estudio de la conducta en personas de entre 3 y 55 años, niños" - something like that.

We visited the second floor, and voilà... there it was... the winning piece.

I walked around to see it from different angles... tried to understand it... tried to set it within a specific context, and then try to picture it without one.

...and I did not get it.

In fact, I hated it. Big time.

But to be honest, I don't know that much about art... there are things I instantly love (Monet), some others that grow in me (FGT), others I don't care about , and those I hate. I hated this one.

Since N is the expert in this field, I asked her what were her thoughts about it. She smiled and whispered "It's not a good piece at all".

She then proceeded to illustrate me on how technique-wise, the drawings were nothing special, and how the shadows weren't good either.

I love how she stays politically correct when someone asks...

Then I saw Javier's work, and I found it quite interesting. He used a biiig page with small squares on it, to draw an "impression" of a goat-sucker (chupa-cabras); he filled many many small squares as to have two impressions from the piece - from a close distance and long distance. I liked the concept a lot... much more than some boring blurry faces drawn with pencil.

At the end there was some wine... standard procedure for any artsy fartsy event in Monterrey.

I liked the hat on this guy - Reala @f1.4 (b/w photoshopped)

---and that's how Monterrey just acquired a piece of work that does not propose anything new, or even display great technique.

Sh*t happens.

Moral of the story: You can have a crappy work with a long name, and some "pro" critics will surely consider it amazing.

So I am still looking for a decent lab... one where people do not think that a horribly grainy film is *good* b/w developing. Tried another one, but after I picked up my film and got home, I saw several ugly spots all over it.

Yes, ugly spots. Looky:

The wrong framing is my fault... the spots are not (see circular example under graffiti). Delta 400.

We're a bit better with the grain, but the spots and dust were worse here... I had to wash some frames again.

I'd never thought about placing a fruit cart outside a sex shop. Delta 400.

Anyway... my birthday was last week and I did lots of stuff... like eat chocolate and sushi. And chocolate again.

A small guy in a sushi place. Delta 400.

Sushi with Martist - conceptual. Delta 400.

*still thinking about chocolate cake*

...and along came May 1st.

No work at all.

Going somewhat straight to get the morning tacos. List in hand and all. Delta 400.

Carnegie Mellon? Well, career oportunities are quite open... why not having your taquería in Mexico? Right, Saca? j/k... hahaha. Delta 400.

Sleeping students... too much sun. She opened her eyes just as I "thwaapped". Delta 400.

Cetec. Another view is here. Delta 400.

btw... someone dumped a really old TV in the park. If it wasn't already wet and moldy, it'd be awesome to take it and use it as an aquarium.... nevermind...

Look... I'm on a black and white TV. Delta 400.

Campus closed, no office, and nothing really interesting to do.

As I left the campus, I jumped on a bus and started papping away at people.

...all hipshots...

...and I sort of suck at it... not even one came out half decent.

A girl sitting behing me was looking at what I was doing... I think she was freaked out or something, b/c she looked nervous. I did a frame using the plexiglass thing that protects the back of the driver...

"Who you shooting at, jerk?" Delta 400.

Guys reading papers with half-naked girls. Hipshot. He didn't look that friendly, so had no time to frame. Delta 400.

Last Wed. we went to the movies. Hadn't been there in a while, so we forgot all the long lines, and people recklessly getting into the line (proving once again that there is little-to-no education in this town).

Yes... you can bitch about it, but that does NOT happen in Mexico City. Same thing with people leaving their crap after the film. Some local friends I've talked to about this "leaving your trash in the seats" thing, tell me that most people think that the price of the ticket includes cleaning their trash.

...and we wonder why we're third world... ...never mind.

FYI - I'm not saying ALL the people in Monterrey are like this... I have the privilege of knowing really nice, educated people who also believe that it's just plain stupid to be a filthy pig thinking that you already paid for someone else to clean your sh*t... I abhor the fact that MOST of the people who do it, ruin the fame of all those who do not.

...so we saw Made of Honor.

We were pretty tired, and did not want to see anything über intelligent of artsy, or pretentious... we just wanted to chill, and laugh.

I liked it a lot. I insist, it's not the best film ever, but it made us laugh quite a bit. Somehow I think that Patrick Dempsey is in a Hugh Grant-like role. I like it, and it's refreshing to see that role without the familiar Hugh Grant face.

That's it for now. See you next roll.

Hope life catches you well.

J

...and this is what f****d up film looks like.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:23:03 -0600

There's this lab in Monterrey where I've taken my films since I got here. It's small and if you're lucky you can find rolls of film you can't find anywhere else (discontinued rolls - - oh so close to expiry date, of course). So I shot a delta 400... it's been a while since the last time I shot a 400, and these guys screwed it up. So much for trying something new. They developed it so harsh that's it's waaay to grainy and too contrasty. Waaaaay too much. Too much as in "after hdr scanning, levels suck":

...and after levels adjustment... super ultra yuck-grainy....

That was it for this lab. They suck. Phoned a new lab. The guy who develops seems nice... hope he knows black and white film includes more than "just black" and "just white". I had to cover a marketing event, which was kind of weird. Lots of 40-50 year olds in jeans and casual jackets; guys who own design and media studios. Everyone talking about creativity and innovation and being sooo cool. Nothing personal, but I believe that the guys who didn't make it to the "gala" dinner, those who work their butts off until 5am are the ones who should have been present. Yeah, whatever... I'm sure all the guys there would tell me that it is their business to make the others creative, or "facilitate". Yeah, well... whatever. This event took place in what was once a huge iron foundry... nowadays converted into an iron foundry museum. I guess that when a city was built created around manufacturing facilities, you have to improvise once they become obsolete.

Some random guy on his phone... outside the foundry core

The lights were cool, but I had to take a couple of portraits in almost no light and black walls.
Nowhere you could bounce some decent light.

Tables. Lotsa them...

One of the organizers interviewed for local TV

These last ones remind me of Chris Weeks' comments about flare. I honestly loved the aperture, so flare's not that much an issue for me... but then again maybe that's because I suck and I don't shoot brick walls. There was this man from Argentina whose portrait I really needed. At first, I did not approach him because he was busy talking to other people, but when he turned around, I got him. When I said I wanted his portrait, he immediately smiled and posed. In my experience, people with huge egos are somewhat easy to photograph. Even though he had a huge ego, he was easy going... I don't find that combination that often...

Argentinean guy speaking.
Tried to get closer to blur him out, but the security guy didn't let me

The rest of the night just went on... nothing really interesting.

Outside the old foundry... by the river

The next day, there was a soccer match at my uni. Fans start flocking from all over the city, students take control of the buses, and well, it's kind of a big deal here.

It's damn hard to drive stick and shoot a manual camera at the same time.

So we did stuff to get away from there. Shopping centre, lunch, etc... I don't get the point in trashing stuff because of a sport. Ok... so your team lost. Big deal. Get over it... whatever. I don't get hardcore fans... maybe it's because I was picked last in gym class... and I'm repressed or something. Well, at least, I don't do drugs, just like many "cool" guys from grade-school.

Tried to catch the flash à la Chris Weeks; close but no cigar...

Then we went back home, and the weekend was over. Early Monday... wake up, and go to work... try to save the world one online publication at a time.

Sherezade learning the basics of manual focusing

Wednesday suddenly arrived, and I left early to meet with N at the museum. Before going in, I walked around the central plaza, looking for a place to buy a ticket for the Pumpkins concert. I had nothing else to do, and well, I used to be such a great fan.... the I grew up.

Man selling potato chips

Nothing against Lays (Sabritas, or whatever), but I prefer street chips. Maybe it's all the crap and bacteria that make them taste so decious... don't know. If you're not used to eat street stuff, I suggest you don't try these... you won't want to spend the rest of your Mexican vacation looking for a restroom. I just love 35mm, but I am having a hard time going for the shots. I think it's because I'm a bit shy, and I don't want to shove the camera in people's faces... well... I'll just keep trying.

Waiting for someone speeding

This last one is a hip-shot. I liked the way it came out. not perfectly centered, but I like it. This spot where the cop is, sucks big time. People who pick up or drop people from an to the museum always stop there. I suppose it's a cool place to get the "bribe-o'-the-day". Will try to get a picture of that one day. Then I went into the museum.

Laura

Laura's a couple of months away from giving birth. Can't wait to see what the kiddo will look like.

That's all for now... eventually I have to get some stuff done.

Hope life catches you well.

J