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The faces, bodies and performances of character actors can linger in your memory even if you can’t quite recall their names.

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The More You Know

Right now I am reading the EULA (“end-user license agreement”) for my cellphone. One of the restrictions states:

You may not use the software in any device or system in which a malfunction of the software would result in foreseeable risk of loss, injury or death to any person. This includes operation of nuclear or infrastructure facilities, medical equipment, aircraft navigation or communication systems or use in risky or dangerous situations or environments.

It’s not clear if the manufacturer is referring to the operating system software or application software. (It’s a smartphone.) But if I’m reading this correctly, it would still be acceptable to use the phone, say, as a triggering device for a suitcase nuke as long as the software was working correctly.

OK, I seriously need to get a life.

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There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.

Carl Sandburg

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It never hurts to ask. Unless you ask for hurt.

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka, and Toshihiro Kawabata

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The Eyes of Taxes Are Upon You

Rant mode: ON

I had to get a reseller’s certificate in order to purchase picture framing supplies from my local wholesaler. It was not a big deal, but I have to file a report once a year reporting (and turning over) any sales tax I collected.

Today I got an email from the California State Board of Equalization. I know that sounds like some Orwellian Star Chamber to ensure no one is exceptional, but it’s actually just bureaucratese for the Sales Tax Office. The gist was that the sales tax had been lowered, and I was struck by this paragraph:

What if I collected tax at the incorrect rate? We are aware that some retailers may not have reprogrammed their cash registers in time for the tax rate change. If you charged sales tax reimbursement or collected use tax at the higher rate on or after July 1, 2011, you must return any excess tax collected to your customers or pay it to the State.

Now I’ve only collected tax once or twice since I got the permit, and that was before the rate changed, but still, this says if I overcharged someone, I should either refund their overpayment or give the money to the state. Excuse me? I totally agree with the first option, but not the second. If I make a mistake and after all due diligence benefit from that mistake, I am retaining that benefit. What if the customer comes back two years later and wants the seven cents I overcharged him? Or what if I want to add it to the fund for the Christmas party I throw for my customers? Or…what if I just want to keep it? It was through my work and effort that the sale was made in the first place. If that hadn’t happened, the state of California would get bupkes.

This is just a hypothetical situation for the most part anyway, since large retailers will have software that prevents such things from happening, and small retailers would probably be able to contact customers directly. (I imagine there are exceptions like scalping and selling fake Rolexes where that doesn’t apply, but I strongly suspect such sellers would eschew paying sales tax in the first place.)

Rant mode: OFF

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What Works, Works

I saw this picture of Tyne Daly in the New York Times today:

(Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times)

Ms. Daly has always been one of my favorite actresses, with her classic Modiglianiesque looks. This striking photo illustrates an article about her role as Maria Callas in the Broadway play "Master Class."

As a photographer, however, I was more interested in the lighting, especially since I had a strong feeling of déjà vu. Scroll down to my June 25 entry and see what I mean.

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As long as you keep using ‘leverage’ as a verb, you'll always be able to find a job somewhere. It’ll probably be writing press releases for a company that maps synergies in order to optimize workflows, but you’ll have a job.

Clown Shoe Pilot

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One Reason I'm Glad I'm Not Korean

We’re having a bit of a heat wave in SoCal right now, and although I live on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay, it’s still about 80F outside right now. I have awful air circulation in my little converted granny flat, so I keep a fan on me 24/7. And that’s why I’m glad I’m not Korean:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/freakish/fandeath.asp

Yes, fan deaths seem to affect only Korean people, just as deaths by rattlesnake bites to the tongue are largely limited to certain fundamentalist sects living in Appalachia.

But please don’t get me wrong — there are many things I love about the Korean culture, including bibimbap, kimchi, tae kwon do, and above all, those lovely hanboks:

(The traditional dresses aren’t too bad, either.)

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I Have Met the Enemy and He is Me

I just volunteered to make mojitos and margaritas for the band of Berserkers who will be here on Monday. In my defense, I'd already had a mojito or three myself before volunteering to be publican to a bunch of Republicans.

(And for anyone who might be sizing me up for an editing job, I realize “He is Me” should be “He is I.” But I defy anyone to say—or write—“he is I” without sounding like Thurston Howell III.)

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The unexamined life is not worth living.

Plato

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The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the examined one is no bed of roses either.

Peter de Vries

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Close Call

I stopped at a Shell self-service station yesterday to top off the tank before the holiday weekend, and after locking the pump handle to keep the flow going, I thought it might be a good idea to clean my windshield, especially since my driver's side squirter recently stopped working. The squeegee bucket nearest my car was empty, and as I started looking around for another, a young lady came up with a squeegee in hand and asked if I wanted my windshield cleaned. She was wearing a black shirt and pants and didn't look destitute, so I assumed this was some sort of promotion and told her to have at it. I noticed the squeegee was rather dry, but I didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. As she was finishing, I noticed a young guy dressed the same way on the other side of the island, and he was showing the car's owner some imperfection in the windshield and telling him he should get it checked sooner and not later.

By that time the young lady had finished and moved on to another car. As I was driving off I saw her pointing to some real or imagined imperfection in the windshield she was supposedly “cleaning,” and then it hit me this was simply a scam to sell windshield repair services.  Fortunately, that's one of the few parts of my 111K mile plus car that is in good shape, and I was spared the sales pitch.

And my inner cynic was spared having to accept the possibility that there are businesses out there who value customer service over milking their customers (or allowing others to milk them) for every penny they can squeeze out of them.

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Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.

Robert Benchley

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Friday Night (Strobe) Lights

WARNING: The following is somewhat technical and probably of interest to photographers only. OK, you’ve been warned.

Last night I tried out my Interfit light set that just arrived that afternoon. It came with two 300 w/s monolights, two stands, two 24-inch softboxes, and a nylon case. This set usually sells for about $700 but for some reason I was able to snag it from Amazon for $450. I'm an Amazon Prime member, so I got free 2-day shipping, and I didn't have to pay the 8% CA sales tax. The ethics of that will be a future blog post in the near future.

Anyway, after spending an hour getting the first softbox assembled and five minutes for the second, I just needed a model. I've been involved with photography for about 50 years and I haven't taken a good self-portrait yet, but hope springs eternal, so I used myself as a subject.

It's been more than 20 years since I had a studio, so it’s going to take awhile to get back into the flow. I wish I’d had lights like these and Photoshop back in the day. I might have stayed in the business.

The picture below is one of my test shots — I was looking at the key light because it didn’t seem to be firing. It obviously was.

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I'm really not this beatific (Canon 7D w/ EFS 17–85 lens @ F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 160).

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Funny, I was just reading about cryptids today on io9.

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When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not, but I am getting old, and soon I shall remember only the latter.

Mark Twain