cimw - Tumblr blog

[cimw]

I know his last competitive skate was not the most ideal skate... but I will always remember his smile right here, when it's over.

I knew the end is coming since the moment he fell on the ice at Worlds 2023, and all I wished for is for it to happen with grace and dignity. And it did. The result was one of the hardest to accept (slipping from 1st after the SP to off podium) but he was there, at peace, a smile on his face as he congratulated the winner.

And that's what I'm going to remember from his competitive career- his big heart for the sport and its competitors, when he wins or loses.

Thank you, Shoma.

[cimw]

Thank you Shoma for all the moments of your career I could witness! You made me go to live competitions where I met so many amazing people! Words cannot describe how thankful I feel for everything you gave me in this sport! I will cherish all those memories! Thank you! ❤️

Some pics from some comps I saw Shoma in! 🥲

[cimw]

Oh Shoma you will be missed 🥺

But if he's happier this way then, happy retirement.

[cimw]

three time olympic medalist, two time world champion, six time japanese national champion, two time world silver medalist, four continents champion, grand prix final champion, world junior champion, junior grand final champion, and youth olympic silver medalist. the first man to land a quad flip in competition. you have quite a lot to be proud of, shoma uno. we’ll miss you.

[cimw]

When you hear a new song on the radio and you’re desperately trying to pick a notable phrase so you can google it later

[cimw]

This one is for all the siblings out there.. My condolences.

[cimw]

Hey now, you’re an all star

listen to what I orchestrated

SoundCloud

[cimw]

Lead them to paradise.

[cimw]

In writing, epithets ("the taller man"/"the blonde"/etc) are inherently dehumanizing, in that they remove a character's name and identity, and instead focus on this other quality.

Which can be an extremely effective device within narration!

They can work very well for characters whose names the narrator doesn't know yet (especially to differentiate between two or more). How specific the epithet is can signal to the reader how important the character is going to be later on, and whether they should dedicate bandwidth to remembering them for later ("the bearded man" is much less likely to show up again than "the man with the angel tattoo")

They can indicate when characters stop being as an individual and instead embody their Role, like a detective choosing to think of their lover simply as The Thief when arresting them, or a royal character being referred to as The Queen when she's acting on behalf of the state

They can reveal the narrator's biases by repeatedly drawing attention to a particular quality that singles them out in the narrator's mind

But these only work if the epithet used is how the narrator primarily identifies that character. Which is why it's so jarring to see a lot of common epithets in intimate moments-- because it conveys that the main character is primarily thinking of their lover/best friend/etc in terms of their height or age or hair color.

[cimw]

Shoma on the cover of Figure Skaters Plus Vol.12 🔥🔥🔥

[cimw]

professors who have only interacted with other academics for years: “what do you MEAN you don’t know multi-variable calculus yet??”

professors with small kids: “thank you for not putting the lab equipment in your mouths when I turn my back”

[cimw]

Remember this joke?

Well, I am going to do something similar only with photography. This is a photo someone took for an Amazon review of their Clinique products.

Honestly, it is not a terrible photo. They did some staging. They have an interesting background. All of the labels are legible. It is properly exposed. This would be a perfectly acceptable product photo for an Etsy page.

I've been taking these advanced photography courses in preparation for whenever I am able to create a new studio in the house. And my teacher is a photography badass. I just watched a 6 hour class on how to recreate a professional Clinique ad. And at first glance it looks deceptively simple. It's just some skin care products being splashed with a little water.

Which is why I wanted you to see an average person for reference.

This is what Karl Taylor came up with.

And I don't think I've learned so much about photography in one tutorial before.

Product photography is just loads and loads of problem solving. You have to light the chrome caps with a gradient. Which requires giant diffusion scrims.

Those big white panels are literally only there for the two chrome caps.

You need a pure white background, but you can't let light spill all over the studio, so you put up giant black light blockers.

And you have to add another light just for the orange bottle on the right.

Oh, and if you want the bottles to glow, well, you have to hide a silver reflector behind them.

But you still want the edges of the bottles to be darker so they have some contrast. So you add some black tape to the sides.

And in order for the reflective labels to have bold black lettering, you have to reflect black cards into them.

Ack! Karl's beautiful bald head is showing up in the chrome caps! He must put on the naughty blanket.

And once you get every aspect of every bottle perfectly lit, you finally get to yeet some water at it all.

I don't love product photography because I have a weird obsession to help greedy corporations make their wares look more beautiful. I love it because it is a complicated and challenging new puzzle every time. Every product is a different shape and requires a different technique to make it look its best.

I don't know if I will be able to live up to Karl's standards.

This is about the level I was at in 2017 before I quit photography.

I have so much more knowledge in my brain now. I'm really hoping I can surpass that.

[cimw]

The cast and the set list for L’Apprenti Sorcier, a Beatrice Berrut and Stéphane Lambiel's ice show (as part of the Rencontres Musicales de Champéry music festival). It takes place on August 8-9, 2024 at the Palladium de Champéry.

Tickets go on sale on May 1st.

[cimw]

Que n’aurai-je pas fait pour ce Danceny? J’aurai été à la fois son ami, son confident, son rival et sa maîtresse!

[cimw]

[cimw]

Maybe the real treasure was the boops we made along the way

[cimw]

2024 Stars on Ice Japan: Osaka - March 30, 2024 Shoma Uno → Boléro IV ～New Breath～ (Instrumental) performed by Tomotaka Okamoto (from Boléro, M. 81 by Maurice Ravel), choreographed by Stéphane Lambiel