A Tragic Tale of a new Dell Laptop and Windows 10

Some bloggers rant. It's what they do. During my 13 years as an entertainment writer with a weekly music column I found that there are only so many superlatives you can use to say something is good. I could get reeeeeallllly creative when I wrote how bad something was. Rants are easy, but meaningful praise requires thought and insight from the writer. I would spend hours writing an in-depth review of a new  album (look it up you millennials) release after researching the artist, the studio, etc. 

Years ago I wrote a review of the much revered punk group The Ramones which appeared in my column. Tear sheets are sent to the record company and band management once the article is published. I can still remember it. In total it said, "The Ramones suck. They have no social redeeming value." Of all the good reviews I wrote with all that research and attention to detail over 13 years, I was never quoted. My Ramones review was included in the Ramone's full page ad in Rolling Stone magazine. And so it goes.


All the digression displayed above is to explain that even though I don't normally blog that way, this post is going to be a rant...just a R A N T!


The rant subjects are:


Windows 10

Dell Computers

Dell Tech Support

Microsoft Windows 10 Support


I list these to afford you the opportunity to exit the post and move on to more important things in life such as beekeeping, birdwatching or watching grass grow (hey, that's tough in winter).

We are a laptop family. I have 4 but run three. One holds my photography software. One is for music production and the third is for internet browsing, et al. There are two others belonging to the rest of the household. The important thing to take away is that all are PC and not Mac and none WERE Windows 10. 


Music production software and all its plugins use some serious RAM and my Toshiba was tweaked as far as it would go sooooo I went to Dell because you could design your own computer and see the prices as you tweaked. 


Gone. Packaged now. You get this and can add that for this much more. Ask if you can have an onboard item removed and replaced with something else or not at all and you are told that it's not possible since it's part of the package. Is this Dell?

It arrived and I put the programs on it and took it to my bedroom studio to give it a go and it couldn't find my sound card which is vital to recording anything. When I got that resolved I reattached my dual monitors and started to work. I was greeted with recordings that sounded like musicians were eating bowls of Rice Crispies during the session...with their mouths open! Snap, crackle, pop over everything.

Never happened with my Toshiba. My new rig was killing me. I did everything I knew how in order to correct the issue (this happens periodically with recording software drawing too much of the brain power of your computer and can be fixed with a few changes in settings). Nothing worked. Other freaky things were happening as well. Only having the Dell for a couple of weeks I decided to make use of their support. 


Dell Support for a brand new laptop:


I lost 7.5 hours of my life trying to communicate with three support techs sporting Anglo names but a limited grasp of the language and an inability to help with the problem other than to claim they could fix my laptop for me if I purchased a premium support package for $350. I had a tantrum. After 5 hours of chatting on the phone I asked for a supervisor who eventually told me my programs had altered the original Dell preloaded software settings and since it was software they needed me to buy the package. I told him (with great restraint) "When pigs can fly!" The fact that a lesser Toshiba could handle the programs with less ram memory, a slower processor and Windows 7 didn't seem to figure into the equasion. 5 hours of trying this and that and then you say you can fix it for $350!!?? This isn't the Dell of old. I need to call Michael.


On my own I discovered that there was a Windows Desktop Manager (WDM) grabbing more than 30% of the brainpower of the laptop with nothing else running. I had asked the third Dell person what it did and he never answered me. Wouldn't do it. I repeatedly asked why it was taking that much memory and he claimed I had a virus and corrupted files. Lord have mercy.       

After 90 minutes I cut the third Dell rep off and told him I didn't believe he had any idea what was wrong nor how to fix it. Time to chill. My sphincter level had finally reached 11. What's Michael Dell's phone number?


Windows Support for Windows 10:


Next morning I called Microsoft Support for Windows 10. If anyone can tell me what's going on with Windows 10 it has to be them, right? Patricia Ann E was very nice and told me not to worry she would help me with my issue. First thing she did was look for corrupted files and asked me about my security software. It hit me. They were all using the same online protocol to diagnose what ailed my computer. Their level of expertise was based on the same script! They are trying to clear their product of blame. She had the nerve to ask if I had any programs loaded on the laptop. I should have said, "Nope. I want this in mint condition so I can sell it as an antique in a few years! Here's your sign."

This was worse. She actually saw what was going on and I finally got her to say that Windows 10 shouldn't be doing that. While we were chatting and no programs running it went to 95% of CPU memory in use. "Doing what?" I asked. She hadn't a clue. I asked her what that WDM did and she sent me a link to read about it. I asked if she could give it to me in a nutshell and I did get a nutshell. It controls things on the desktop. 3D images and shadows under the icons among other things. I asked if we could disable some of that stuff and she said nope. 

Then she did it. She offered me a premium service package with 24-7 support as well as integrated Skype and XBox for only $189 a year. 

I had an out of body experience. I was streaking toward India as a giant bird of prey with talons at the ready following IP addresses to online support facilities. SNAP OUT OF IT!

I was very nice to Patricia after that. I asked if she was saying I have a glitchy operating system on a brand new laptop and in order for Microsoft to make good on their crappy Windows 10 OS I had to pay...MORE!? Backpeddling as fast as she could she said I didn't have to buy it, but it would take care of the type of problem I was having. What??? You haven't even told me what problem I'm having!!! I know what problem I have now and that's a WINDOWS 10 LAPTOP! 


She wanted to try one more thing. She created a Test user account and hit the button to switch to it. It took 25 minutes for it to load and when it did the CPU load was even higher with the WDM still exceeding 30%. She had no clue what to do next. She said let me log you in and disable the Test user account. When she hit the button the computer went black with a spinning cursor for 25 minutes, I had to unplug the monitors and open the laptop to manually bring it back to life. When it reloaded she was gone, but the Test User log-in remained. I plan to keep it as a reminder of the fine support service I received from both manufacturers.


I had a hunch and checked the CPU load. It was 2%. The monitors running via USB caused the video card to draw the extra brainpower robbing where and when it was needed. The music production software ran smoothly and the other quirks that showed up are gone. No more Rice Crispies!

All the support techs knew I was running the monitors (as I did on the Toshiba) but failed to check if that might be causing the problem. I could have doubled the cost of my laptop if I had purchased both service agreements and they would still be like the blind men and the elephant trying to figure out what the issue was.


Well, that's my rant. The moral of the story is buy a Mac (If you can afford it and don't mind not right clicking your mouse) or find a Windows 7 laptop and cherish it. 


Next time out, how about a nice trip to Siena Italy?

Theater, Art and a Rock 'n Roll Heart

Took a break. Doing a theater piece and time wasn't on my side. I can now let the lines, blocking and cues drift away making room in my brain for other things to take hold. I had the feeling as one memorizes a script something else in memory gets pushed out. This particular time I wasn't required to do but three small character roles but balance must be maintained and I must let go of what was held in the cerebral library for the past couple of months. I'm kidding, of course. Can you imagine putting
the "Scottish Play" to memory only to let it go once the final curtain falls? Imagine having to memorize it again when you are cast somewhere else or during another season. Personal experience dicates that certain lines stick and certain actions can trigger even more to resurface. I'm one who requires a spacial reference. I am there when I say...whatever or I reach for the cup and I exclaim...something.
Acting is an odd sort of self deprecation where you hide behind a faux personality by endeavoring to bring to life a character who only exists in the two dimensions as print on a page. Amazing, no? Scary? YES. You would think this should be left to highly trained experts. But that's not the case.
Those with ability and training face the same judgement by an audience along with their less talented or untrained fellows and put themselves out there and up there without a net. Gotta love the craft, the art and the risk. The stuff of junkies...that first laugh earned or early applause. Intoxicating.
When I direct I usually start off reminding the cast if experienced (and preaching if not) that acting isn't like putting on a coat. You have to respect that there is much work to be done...and I don't mean simple memorization of lines, lyrics, blocking, melody and harmony. The worst thing that can be
said about a performace by an actor
is that you didn't believe anything the character said or did. An actor has to be able to interpret the human
condition and communicate it faithfully to their audience. That
requires talent well trained. I don't
mean to suggest natural ability and
talent can't take the stage and make it work. Happens every day in what
we know as Community Theater.
And I say, God Bless it! (Oops...sorry for the Dickensian blerb. We only closed a couple of days ago. I'm sure it will pass soon.)
There are some great people toiling in less than ideal conditions as volunteers for the simple love of the theater arts. It's a hell of a committment. Depending on where you get cast you could have anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks rehearsal and a 9 to 18 to ??? performance run. Combined that's a minimum of 9 weeks and a maximum of  ??? Community theaters are non profit and provide fertile ground for youngsters finishing high school or entering college to get a taste of the responsibilities that go hand in hand when "doing a show." I've shared the stage with folks that made the decision to pursue a career in the theater with some having made it to Broadway or have performed in national touring comapnies, Others have been in films and on TV. Trust me, There's no jealousy, just simple pride. In America we celebrate the self made man (or woman though not as much as we should). It's a tale of rejection and humiliation with little or no guarantees of any meaningful return on investment.  It takes guts to keep putting yourself out there. Enjoy being rejected for being not tall enough/too tall, not blonde/or blonde but wrong color blonde/ and on and on. I made a decision many years ago to make my love of theater an avocation. I chose not to follow through and move to New York. I for one, wasn't willing to give up everything to follow that dream and I have no regrets. Ya gotta love those who make a go of it...even if they wind up working construction or waiting tables while they get to live in one of the greatest cities in the world.
I sort of went on this mini rant with the knowledge that it might only be relevant to a minority of people out there in blog-o-land, but it was fueled in part seeing the Oval office commit to the need for the arts to remain and be supported in our schools. We do. I'm concerned we are failing to provide a meaningful education to our young. One day all this (sweeping arms wide while standing on a mountain top) will be theirs and if they can't see the beauty or understand the heart of humanity who will be left to lead the nation forward into the next milennium? I saw a quote supposedly attibuted to Winston Churchill (look him up if you don't know who that is). During WWII he alledgedly was asked if he wanted to divert moneys being used fund the arts in schools to the war effort and he said "Then what are we fighting for." Even if he didn't say it it rings true. Years ago I had a professor who reminded us that sometimes the only thing left of a culture destroyed in war after being trampled on by occupating armies were the plays that were memorized and performed in cellars and any space large enough to hold a gathering. I never forgot that. It's hard for us to imagine something similar happening here, but I visited the countries where it happened and saw theater done with such committment that I was in awe.  We are lucky to be free and have the opportunities we have. Keep the arts alive and we will continue to grow as a people.

I intentionally left photography, painting, sculpture and music out of this post. If you read my earlier renderings you will understand. Enough said.
Oh! One more thing. The Rock 'n Roll heart refers to all the geezers who pick up their guitar and play. Just like yesterday. We can cover this another time, but ask yourself. Are you getting tired of seeing 75 year olds in tight pants with long hair and wrinkled skin gyrate to their hit songs that were recorded before your father was born? Think it over. We can chat it up next time.

The Blog's New Suit.

Hope you like the new look. I'm not sure I do. Might have to come up with my own design and I don't speak the language. Enought gabbing. How about a Yuletide Lion? I snapped one a couple of years ago. He's a stately looking fellow, who along with his brothers protects the little concrete bridge in  the park he shares with Selene (whom you've already met in the header). It's a beautiful, quiet place to walk the trails and get close to nature. No punch line. It's an oasis in the surrounding desert of urban sprawl.

The statue of Selene graces one of the ponds in the park near the Jame River. She sits quietly in contemplation while those who stumble upon her floating above still waters take their lives in their hands to see her up close. The passing traffic can't see you and vice versa, as you stand gazing  upon her serenity. Cars leaving the park that direction have their vision obscured by bushes and must watch the opposite direction as they merge onto the road out. I felt the unwelcome breeze of passing cars while taking her picture. But she's worth it.

How about a Yuletide Lion? I snapped one a couple of years ago. He's a stately looking fellow, who along with his brothers protects the little concrete bridge in  the park he shares with Selene (whom you've already met). It's a beautiful, quiet place to walk the trails and get close to nature. No punch line. It's an oasis in the surrounding desert of urban sprawl.

   All gussied up with no place to go. And no one who'll  play ball .
                                                                                            Ba! Humbug!                                                                                                                                                 

Reflections of fall in one of the ponds near the James River

Osprey on the hunt crossing from the James to Lake Maury and back.

A little preening before a bit of beak fishing under the osprey's watchful eyes. 

Tuscany and a little Pisa on the side

The beautiful Tuscan countryside from high up in San Gimignano, home of the World Champion gelato maker Sergio Dondoli's Gelateria di Piazza. A little more about that in another piece, but the real story is the ride of the trip. 

If you visit Tuscany you want to go a little out of the way and visit that leaning tower in that famous town of...you guessed it, Pisa. We arrived at Pisa after 4pm and in October the sun goes down earlier than in summer so things were getting dark and photo ops were on about to go dark!





















 So I hurried to the area where everyone was trying to get that perfect shot of you holding the tower from falling the rest of the way and gaved it the old college try. Not so much. It looks like the young lady in the phot is trying to use her super powers to will the tower upright, however as you guessed her photo-buddy was angling for the exact...spot. Looks kinda nuts doesn't it.

Anyway, too exhausted to wander much further afield for photos we quick marched back to where we'd eventually reboard our tram and had a coffee while waiting for the ride back to our tour bus. I did pass up an opportunity to buy a Rolex from a vendor with a box of them for a very good price mainly because 1-I had to use the WC and knew I needed to hold on until I bought something at the cafe in order to have access and 2-a sucker I'm not. I was a little disappointed no one tried to sell me a selfie stick.

I recorded bits of video on our trip and my favorite clip happened as we were completing a long days tour of Tuscany. The tour was great, if not exhausting and we looked forward to our ride back to Firenza and a relaxing evening. Instead of heading to the tour bus our little 2 car tram train went on a cooks tour of Pisa. During the summer months it would have been a sweet little jaunt...in daylight. This time of year (late October) it was getting dark and all we could see were well lit storefronts through the opaque plastic windows around us. Any important buildings, churches or fountains we passed were dark, smeary blobs in the twilight. After approximately 10  minutes into the ride what started as a few titters eventually gave way to hysterical laughter as we were tossed about the cars like like rag dolls (I exagerate) on the world's bumpiest tour of the apparent rough streets of downtown Pisa. My battery was almost done, but I had to try and capture at least a part of that amusement park thrill ride. Our lovely guide who rode in the vehicle pulling our two little cars was totally unaware of the jostling and bouncing we were doing as she undauntedly pointed out sites we couldn't really see in the dark through frosted plastic windows and jostled eyeballs. It certainly woke us up for the ride back to Firenza. What happened after we got back is another story. (We can't be lost.)

(Apparently the file is too large for the blog so here is the video address for YouTube. I wasted time trying to load it here. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/kQ3IKcRTUAw

Ooops! My fault. Comments are welcome just impossible to see!

My fault. "Mea Culpa" I neglected to open the comments to the public and I've heard about it via other means of communication. A flick of the finger caused me to limit comments to those logged into...something. Not my intent. Please forgive. You may now comment on my not allowing you to comment if you wish or wished to do so. Be gentle. I bruise easily.

Thanksgiving Bloat. Black Friday Rubs Off. Christmas Already?

The leaves of fall are just now beginning to glow......well in some spots around here. The midwest US just got a winter blast and where I domicile we've been in the high sixties (Farenheit for those on the metric system) making it difficult to get into the holiday spirit. Normally American college football games feature an event that takes place in the stadium parking lot hours before the contest begins called tailgating. This is where revelers sporting team apparel (jackets, sweaters, beanies, thermal underwear, etc) eat and drink copious amounts of grilled meats and sides washed down with beer or other spirits usually in the frosty fall air. This year it seems to have been replaced by a beach party with temperatures warm enough for t shirts, shorts and flipflops! I realize it is still fall and will be for a few more weeks but global warming give us a break! Or is it global warming? Could this lack of chill be the result of El Nino 2015 winds (pardon the lack of proper Spanish punctuation)? Got me. All I know is it's too warm for sweaters. Start with one in the morning and regret it by afternoon. Flu and upper resperitory bugs are running rampant. Doctors offices are full of coughing, sneezing and mucous spewing patients. Don't forget to get your flu shot. Of course it might not be the right strain, but get it anyway. It's kind of like one day football fantasy leagues. Invest a few dollars in a shot and, if you contract the right combination of viral bugs, you could win. Results are not guaranteed.
Thanksgiving for those who don't celebrate such a thing dates back to our colonization period. Pilgrims traveled to American shores to avoid religeous persecution back in England. They came here and, well, one thing led to another and the indian population, (not knowing any better) shared their food with the starving population and a feast was had by all...before the killing and displacement of the indigenous people by those colonists and/or the European diseases they brought with them. The indians got their licks in and took a few settlers with them, but that's not a Thanksgiving story. None-the-less we commemorate the spirit of that happenstance or that's what we were taught as children. Turkey for Thanksgiving is the tradition. Apparently the bird is quite different today than it's free range great, great, great grand daddy was in colonial times. They were cagy, quick and hard to catch. Founding father Ben Frankln championed the turkey as our national bird. He had a list of reasons and one had to do with it providing sustenance to the early settlers. So the honor went to the bald eagle and the turkey continues to provide sustenance...except for the one the President pardons at the White House every year. The majestic bald eagle won out in the end.

Black Friday, I believe is a U.S. only event where for one day the stores stop screwing you with their regular retail prices and drop their drawers allowing you to buy stuff priced how it should be all year long. It used to start at midnight the Friday after Thanksgiving and end at the stroke of 12 Saturday morning. Now there are Pre Black Friday sales that last a week. And I was introduced to post Black Friday sales that end next Friday. I don't get it. Stop calling it a DAY if it's a WEEK! I hate to tell those Madison Ave Advertising folks, but we the pulic know the difference between a day and a week. We learned that before we learned to tell what it means when the big hand is on the twelve. The expectation is when the turkey's been eaten and the dishes are washed and put away and you've eaten so much you are uncomfortable and have to pop that top button on your pants, you are now ready to pack your car with a sleeping bag or lawn chairs, food and portable potty to line up outside a big box toy store, electronics seller or major department store and roost until those doors open and you can be the first to grab that thingy little Suzy will die if she doesn't get and it is seriously marked down for the first 50 shoppers. Only in the USA.

At 12 midnight that Friday morning is the official start of the Christmas season. Pumpkin spice lattes disappear replaced by peppermint bark coffee and fall colors give way to RED and GREEN everwhere. No Dickensian "Bah Humbug" here, just bewilderment in how quickly things change. They started playing Christmas music on the radio on November first. Halloween! WHAT?! Ghosties and witches and deck the halls with ghouls and holly? Who's programming those stations?


So next comes the tree and hauling out the decorations. I just mowed the lawn?! You don't mow the lawn Christmas time in my neck of the woods! We used to joke about having a shirtsleeve Christmas. Maybe it's going turn out to be a shorts, tank and tube top Christmas. Southern California, Nevada lowlands, parts of New Mexico, Texas and Miami I get it...but not 'round heah! We aren't that far south of the Mason/Dixon line. I'll stop my whining and get back to Black Friday week shopping. I still have 12 minutes before the clock rolls to Sunday and I could lose the chance to overspend on something I will forget who I got it for by Christmas! Oops...11 minutes.

More photos next time out.
Mike

Canon, Nikon, Canon, Nikon, Canikon, Canikon...Sony? Sony, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Canon, Nikon...Soncanikon? Not enough room for anyone else?

I'm one of those guys. I secretly want my personal choice of cameras to make it to the top of the photo food chain and be the choice of digital photographers around the world! So I look to see what everyone is carrying and in my minds eye I attempt to "will" the brand name on the bag, body and lens to change! No luck so far. So who in god's name is buying my brand?

I see Canon everywhere. In Washington, New York, Rome, Florence and even here it's Canon, Canon, Canon! Find a rare camera store and you find Canon. Visit your local pawn broker...Canon. The Canon folks have it down. They advertise everywhere and not just during the holiday shopping season. But what of Nikon?

Cameras and lenses are crafted in Nikon plants. No copiers nor printers nor studio quality digital tv and film equipment are made there. It's a camera company and I'm sure they're diversified to some degree, but not far afield of their core product. But we consumers don't really care. How much does it cost to get a Canon? There's soooo many choices at just about every price point. Not like Leica whose prices start 4 to 5 times higher than just about any mainstream camera company. Their entry level stuff will level most wallets.

Don't get me wrong. The Leica store in Washington, DC is next to a favorite breakfast spot for my wife and I so I usually get to press my nose against the window and drool over the sleek beauties on display. To give you an idea how the store panders to an elite crowd it doesn't open until 10am. The average Joe has been at work for over two hours before they unlock the doors. I made it back there once and took the tour. Lovely sales people took pity on me and treated me very nicely. They looked at me as a dry run for when a qualified customer might enter the establishment and throw down their purse to claim their premium priced optic prize. I smiled and took the product catalog which I proudly displayed as we walked back to our hotel where my Pentax awaited my attention. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing anyone else enter the place or found nose prints on the front window other than my own. Oh yes. Nose prints are identifiable...just like fingerprints. It's true. Look it up*, but I digress....

Then there's Nikon. Nikon is ranked with Canon and, though not endeavoring as far afield as its fellow Japanese photo giant, it is a most revered name for amateur and pro photographers.

The bodies are great as is the glass. But I didn't see as many or even a few gawking my way from bag to bag, strap to strap and camera to camera wandering the sites of Rome and Florence. Nikon was notable to me in its absence. I had expected to see it in the hands of tourists snapping the attractions.

I was was carrying a simple Sony mirrorless rig with only two lenses. Didn't see any of the brand in our meanderings. But I know the brand is coming on strong. The best of Canon and Nikon (and most other brands) have been using the Sony sensors for years. The engine that made those top cameras go...Sony. Sony's A lines of cameras have been gaining popularity and can be found right next to the Canon and Nikon products on major retailer shelves. Once again, if you can't visit B&H Photo on 9th Avenue in Manhattan or Pittman Photo Supply in Miami, there are few places in the US you can get "hands on" with an assortment of camera brands you might be considering for purchase.

As the big two brands try and break away from Sony by developing their own sensors the company has been bringing out new products at great price points and good reviews. Who knows? SONCANIKON?

And now for the also-rans. My brand and all the others languish under the power of the Goliaths of photo retail. We'll skip Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji, Samsung, Sigma and all the others and look at my favorite...my team...my investment, Pentax.

Where are you Pentax users? I never see Pentax DSLR's out and about, lens cap off and at the ready. Am I a "David", challenging Goliath on my own?! I know Ricoh/Pentax must be selling cameras somewhere or they would return to making copiers and binoculars! Stand up for your choice in lenses and camera bodies! Pentax makes great glass! They've been building and improving their DSLR lines for years now. Compare the power and flexibility of their current flag ship body with the K10 or K1 of old. If they EVER deliver their mythical FULL FRAME as promised, the playing field and game could change forever. They hit a home run with their superbly priced 645Z medium format camera used the world over by countless professional photographers.

Build on it with a line of full frame products.
My reason for sticking it out (I almost jumped to either Sony or Canon earlier this year) even after its release was delayed until Q1 2016 is the camera's reported ability to adapt to APS-C lenses as well as full frame. The savings in not having to buy new glass and being able to use what's already in my kit bag is huge!

So I wait. Rarely, outside of the Pentaxian blogsite, do I see anyone championing the brand. I always feel like I have to explain why I chose Pentax. I still have my reasons packed away in its bag in my closet. I am determined to take my 48 year old Asahi Pentax 35 mm out and shoot some film, just to remember how it feels...barring fungus or other old age maladies having crept into its nooks and crannies.

I saw an ad recently touting the fact that more photos are taken with IPhones than with any other device on the market. I believe it. Add the other phones with high megapixel cameras built in and you have a new industry and I'm not talking about selfie sticks.

Samsung and LG have killer cameras in their phones that, in the hands of someone with an eye for photographing things turn out surprisingly good pics. There are lenses made to fit on the phones too. A pro photographer friend admitted she has some for her phone. What can I say? Apparently lensmakers are willing to eat their young for a dollar. But a camera isn't photography. And a cell phone isn't a camera. Truth be told one must mention what phones have done to camera sales. I imagine it is difficult to sell the simple point and shoot digital cameras anymore without their having some other hook to keep up with the flexability and instant gratification of phone pic sharing for tweeting, facebooking or instagramming. It's a communication device that now allows pics and videos to be digitized and sent to friends and family within an instant of being taken. Hard to fight progress...if you want to call it that. I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it leads to human interaction. We all spend too much time face down peering into that tiny screen for entertainment and information.
But this is a topic for another time.

Pentax users of the world, unite! Fly your flag high. Maybe someone will notice. Pentax! I want my full frame camera. I wanted it for Christmas, but now I will have to wait until my birthday, but I may not be able to hold out much longer.

*Being my own fact checker I looked it up. Dogs can be identified by nose prints, not humans. I stand corrected. MikeDSr.

Let's Talk About David...you know that statue...the naked one....

In the age of 3D printers that can print a part for your car or a working hand gun to being able to bring (via CGI) anything from inanimate objects to long dead dinosaurs to life and move (in 3D) across TV and movie screens, wonder seems to flash before our eyes every day. The eyes and brain are easily fooled by technology, and, with even more electronic miracles to come in the near future our attention spans will continue to decrease and our faces will be buried in a screen of some sort for even more hours in a day. Is it so hard to imagine there is little or no wonder left in simple things like sculpture or painting? A painter interprets what he/she sees and slops it on canvas or the side of a subway car or building. A sculptor kinda does the same thing but with a hammer and a chisel. Easy Peezy. Worth a look, but no big deal. Might look up from my handheld device...for a moment.

I challenge anyone who feels or knows nothing about art or sculpture to walk into the main hall at the Accademia Gallery and see the distant figure standing above the crowd in a circle of light and not be gobsmacked.

Michelangelo's David is a staggering vision of mythic proportions. Standing there amongst a throng of visitors, sling over his shoulder stone in hand, poised and ready to take on the "giant" Goliath. I am not an art scholar or expert on sculpture by any means, but in what little training I've had and reading I've done, the "genius" of Michelangelo was his self proclaimed ability to see the figure in the marble and simply bring them out of the stone in which they were entombed.


There are several unfinished works by the sculptor and, as you move down the hallway toward the David, you pass works the artist never managed to complete. But after closer inspection you begin to see how the master was going about bringing out the figure trapped in the stone. You can see the economy in what little of the surface area was going to waste. After all, marble wasn't cheap and the blocks had to be dragged quite a long way from quarry to studio. Look closely at the tool marks and notice how the body parts were emerging.

Look at the beautiful unfinished Pieta ("Pieta da Palestrina"). It is a more complete piece than the previous item shown. There is no doubt he knew exactly the dimensions of each figure, their positions and the proper perspective for viewing. (Once again there is controversy over who else might have done this work. Currently it stands attributed to Michelangelo. It was discovered in 1939 in the chapel of the Barberini Palace. His most famous Pieta is in the Vatican Museum but he made a number of different renderings of the scene in marble.)



The pose affords the exposure of the body of Jesus in death. Michelangelo had already begun to bring out the detail in His arm and the hand supporting him. See the musculature in that arm and the veins on the back of the hand. We can see the transition taking place from stone to high art, but it was never completed. It remains open to conjecture as to why. Usually money from a patron running out or a shift in government or church leadership could also serve to end a commission.



Now on to David. This is the 17 foot David which was commissioned to adorn the upper ring of the Florence Duomo (cathedral) dome roofline.



Two previous artists had tried their hand at working this block of marble and were fired for their trouble. Michelangelo had completed the Vatican Pieta (already a superstar at 26) and was hired to complete the David. The long and narrow, partially worked block of stone had sat for 25 years prior to his being hired. The result is simply breathtaking.



I decided to circumnavigate his body in order to fully get an idea of the detail acheived in magnificent fashion. I'm going to post the photos as a group and let you see him, however there are no photographs that have ever been taken that can capture the power of this statue. David stands at the ready. He seems relaxed but there is a tension in his arms as he holds the sling over his shoulder and palms the large stone in his right fist. His stance is braced as if to spring into action. The sheer magnitude of this carved stone is a wonder. It was an unforgettable experience just seeing the beauty wrought from a young man's hand who started to free the figure of David he saw in a block of stone 514 years ago.




A final note. After two years labor the completed 17 foot 6 ton giant of David was too heavy to be hoisted to the dome rooftop as intended. Instead David's initial home was guarding the Palazzo Vecchio or town hall of Florence in the Piazzo della Signoria.

Shots from my first digital Nikon as well as Nikon and Pentax DSLRs

When I first started photographing "things" and not just family events or school chums fooling around it began to dawn on me that ya gotta have something worthwhile to shoot. Now, the trick is how to decide what would be a worthy subject. It can't always be beauty cause we all know that is in the eye of the beholder and not every landscape is deserving of preservation in photographic history. Something you see or experience has to compel you to take the shot. Inspiration comes as a reaction to seeing something lurking in a landscape or a pattern in a brick wall or something discarded on a street corner or a bug on a flower or...? The key is to have that camera near at hand loaded and ready to shoot. Loaded...not film but how about a media card and fresh charged battery.

The roses were glorious and the antique car in front of the similarly painted house was a happy accident. The door was one of my first. It was a door to nowhere on the defunct Coca Cola building downtown. Loved the bricks on the building and boy did I shoot them. The old painted bench and the swing happened by accident. I saw the swing at the end of the tree lined drive as I drove past. The sun was setting over the James River and that swing was caught in the light with the sparkling water appearing as a halo surrounding it. I couldn't wait to start shooting and continued clicking after realizing I didn't have the lenses needed to capture it the way I envisioned. The bench was sitting haphazardly inside a fence next to the lane with the swing. The glare from the sun was blowing out everything surrounding it so I had to return another day to reshoot the white painted iron bench. I believe some purple fringing is still visible. The clock tower on Richmond's downtown train station was just begging to be shot while I sat in stopped traffic on I95. That camera was my first decent digital. I was a Nikon P90 (if memory serves) zoom and though not very good in low light and only rendered Jpegs, it could take quite a good shot. Even though it was taken in a burglary it got me thinking seriously about photography again. I still have my 1967 Asahi Pentax Spotmatic camera body and assorted lenses for which I traded a gentleman a CB radio and antenna. That should give you an idea how long ago that was! The most recent shot is the sun dawning through the fence. I just happened to see it out the bathroom window and managed to get the shot. Nothing earth shattering, but I liked it. You can't go wrong with digital photography. Shoot to your heart's content. The only limit is battery life and the size of your media card. The more you shoot the more you learn about yourself and your camera and lenses. It's a win/win.

The photos here are old and imperfect, but I saw something or was compelled to preserve or interpret that moment in time. It may have only been a "moment" in my eyes and had no impact on most anyone else who happened to see it at the same instant. But maybe my/your shot will share that moment and affect, entertain, inform or simply help a smile appear on someone's face.

Be happy. Keep shooting.

Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck Oh My! Uffizi Bonanza of Dutch Masterworks and the bitch of photographing art in a busy museum!

I'm a geek for certain artists and the art of painting. Blame it on my mother. She's the artist in the family. There were easels, canvas, tubes of paint from oil to water color to acrylic, various brushes, pencils and works in progress or completed and on the walls around the house. As an art teacher she instilled an appreciation of the dedication and talent required to work in that medium. Flipping through her art textbooks and the plates of various coffee table books she received as gifts (from me usually) I began to appreciate the incredible developement of the painted image from the first cave drawings, through the dark ages and up to the time the first photographic plate appeared.

During our recent trip to Italy we naturally expected to see some of the greatest art ever conceived and executed. And we certainly saw our share. We marveled at marble figures and were treated to a Sistene ceiling sublime, but when I walked into a room in the Uffizi that featured works by some of the greatest non Italian artists who ever lived I could hardly contain my excitement. A room with works by the Dutch Masters (and I don't mean those cheap cigars)? I was happy as a clam. (Someday someone can explain that expression to me.)

The paintings above are purportedly Rembrandt's work. One of which (the first I believe) was the final self portrait completed shortly before his death. After touring and photographing in The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC and The Metropolitan Museum in New York I've never encountered the amount of glare on the artwork displayed as I did at the Uffizi. Many of the angles were poor due to my vantage point in the crowd or position of the piece on the wall catching the overhead lighting, but it made for poor photographic results even after working on the shots with software. So, please pardon the glare.

I saw my first "Rembrandt" years ago visiting the Dahlem Museum in Berlin. I had seen photos of his painting of the man with the golden helmet and marveled on how he was able to make the goldsmithing on the helmet so realistic. When I walked into the little alcove that held the painting I couldn't believe my eyes. It was tiny and very dark. If you look closely at his work and others of the Flemish School it's their use of darkness and light that guides your eye to the focal point of the painting. The helmet was a revelation. In order to get the relief in the gold the painter stacked and shaped gobs of paint. The reason the helmet looked so rich and detailed was due to the contours and designs formed on the surface, projecting in relief off the canvas. I was so thrilled to have seen the real thing. I told everyone about it...for years. Then years later I discovered that in 1986 it was determined, after scientific study in preparation for some restorative work, the brush strokes did not come from Master Rembrandt's hand. Ya gotta be kidding! My Rembrandt wasn't a Rembrandt? The artist is now listed as "Unknown" artist of the Rembrandt school. I don't care who did it. Science-schmyence. It is still a masterful work of art by an unknown Dutch master. x

The above group of paintings are by Rubens and Van Dyck. Unfortunately the photos do not do the paintings credit, but they're still worth a look. What is seen here are some of their lesser known pieces. Much of the artwork seen here was listed in the museum's inventory as having been donated by various royalty, dignitaries, museums and organizations as far back as the 1700's and as recently as the mid 20th century.

The final painting is my favorite in this part of the gallery. The artist, Nicholas De Largilliere, is French but was trained in the Flemish school. I can't get over the photo realistic rendering of the man's face. The model is purported to be the famous French playwrite/poet Jean Baptiste Rousseau. The piece was completed in 1710, approximately 50 years after the paintings in the previous group. The photographic quality of the portrait harkens to the statement I made way back at the start of this opus. Man has advanced in his ability to communicate what he sees around him. Speaking of photo realism the first known photograph by a camera was made by J.N. Niepce in France circa 1826. I can tell you that it would be a long time before it could come close to the glory of M. Largilliere's portraiture. It takes time to create a future artform.

From art on a cave wall to art from 1's and 0's (that's digital camera speak), there's nothing that can deter man's inate desire and ability to represent, recreate, interpret and hopefully improve the world he sees around him. Some call that art. Some just don't get it. Others don't really care. Here's hoping and looking to a future where the preservation and nurturing of the arts is accepted for the vital part of our human experience it is.

MD