Today, I completed my month-long stint at the local newspaper. Overall it was a good experience. I learned quite a bit about the industry and was able to go on photoshoots that I normally would never have gone to. All good things must come to an end, however, and now it’s on to different ventures.

Today was also the last day for a couple of people who worked with me back at Palm. Jon is leaving for a travelling and a job in New Jersey, while Josh is off to business school after his own European excursion for the next two months. Palm’s past, present, and future gathered together at the Blue Chalk Cafe in Palo Alto this afternoon to send them off with food and drink.

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Carver Mead, Chairman of Foveon, spoke on The History and Future of Electronic Photography at the AMD Commons Building in Sunnyvale Tuesday evening. His talk covered the history of photography from Joseph Nicéphore Niepce’s heliograph to Foveon’s X3 sensor technology. It was very interesting to note how the underlying technology behind most digital camera’s sensors, the GRGB Bayer Pattern (circa 1970), is so closely modelled after the potato starch on glass plates techniques from 1906. Foveon’s technology is akin to Eastman Kodak’s Kodachrome color film (circa 1935). By using a pixel well of silicon, Foveon relies on silicon’s ability to absorb wavelengths of light at differing depths. This allows for the creation of a sensor that captures full red, blue, and green for every pixel.

This makes for very exciting technology. Foveon’s sensors mean the dramatic reduction of artifacts such as moiré which have plagued Bayer Pattern-based sensors, increased sharpness and dynamic range, and greater saturation and color fidelity. It’s safe to say that many people are anxiously awaiting the release of Sigma’s SD-9 digital SLR (the first camera with the Foveon X3 sensor) later this year.

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Two events headlined Saturday, May 18, 2002. The first was a BBQ held by the Sze sisters, Amabelle and Felicia, at Ocean Beach on the corner of Lincoln Way and the Pacific Coast Highway. The BBQ was followed by a wonderful musical performance by Jen Shyu and Art Hirahara at Eric’s in the City.

My cousin Cynthia is here in the Bay Area for a summer internship, and she came along with me for the evening. I thought I was hardcore having seen ATOC on opening day, but she’s already seen the movie twice, once on opening day and again on Friday (at a digital theater no less!). Star Wars movies need to be judged on a different level than most other movies. After all, Lucas is the ultimate independent filmmaker; he can do whatever he wants, since he’s not a puppet of the big Hollywood powerbrokers. Perhaps when Anakin says “Well, I should be! One day I will become the most powerful Jedi ever!” he was talking about himself? The box-office Force is certainly with him, and I’ll go and see the movie a few more times before ATOC’s run is over. After reading about some of the cut scenes, I’m anxious for the Director’s Cut or Special Edition DVD. I hope that Lucas reincorporates some of that footage into the final movie, as it will make the political and social themes much stronger.

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On Friday evening, Randy and I went to see the ARTSHIP Foundation’s Geographies of Memory at the Port of Oakland on 10th Avenue. The ARTSHIP is the former U.S.S. Crescent City, a troop transport ship during WWII. In fact, it was originally launched as merchant ship Del Orleans before being acquired by the Navy in 1941. The Crescent City saw significant action in the Pacific Theater before being decommissioned in 1948. In 1971, she was loaned to the State of California, renamed the name Golden Bear, and acted as a maritime school vessel until 1995. Four years later, she was purchased by ARTSHIP Director Slobodan Dan Paich, renamed ARTSHIP, and is now serving as a cultural and educational center for the East Bay.

Performing at dusk in front of the ship were three dance companies, ARTSHIP Dance, Nina Haft and Company, and Facing East Dance & Music. Rae performed in the piece entitled Paper Walls, which was choreographed by Facing East’s Artistic Director, Sue Li Jue. Back in November, 2001, I had seen an earlier version of Paper Walls in Berkeley.

The bay chill was in full-force throughout the evening, and spectators were strongly encouraged to dress warmly. Randy and I felt for the performers, most of whom danced in bare feet and dressed in thin and loose outfits. I’d like to think that the up/down action of pressing the shutter provided me with enough warming action to fend off the cold, but man, that didn’t help!

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First off, I’m not going to reveal any plot points in this movie. See and judge the movie for yourself; don’t rely on the critics to make decisions for you.

I enjoyed the film. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is a worthy addition to the Star Wars film collection. This photo journal is dedicated not to the film itself but to those who braved the cold and the unending hours in line to be among the first people (aside from the early screeners and the Internet bootleggers) across the country to see ATOC.

I went and saw the movie with Dardy, Dishi, and hundreds of Star Wars fans at the Century Theater on Shoreline Avenue in Mountain View on May 16, 12:01 am. Dardy was kind enough to buy tickets a couple of days prior, though there were still many available throughout the evening. At 3:30 pm, I drove by Shoreline only to find a couple dozen people waiting in line with their lawn chairs and Star Wars Monopoly. I guess this points to the fact that most people either (1) don’t know about the midnight showings or (2) aren’t willing to stay up that night to attend a midnight showing. I went back home to relax for a couple of hours, and shortly after 5:00 pm, I headed over to the theater, armed only with my 1D. Surprisingly, the line hadn’t grown significantly from when I first stopped by. People started filing in later in the evening (presumably after work), but the line didn’t seem as long as I thought it would.

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The 31st Annual Stanford Powwow was held this past Mother’s Day Weekend, May 10-12, 2002, at Stanford University’s Eucalyptus Grove on the corner of Galvez and Campus Drive. The Stanford Powwow was sponsored by the Stanford American Indian Organization.

In my nine years in the Bay Area, I’ve never been to the annual Powwow, although I certainly knew about it during my days as a student. I realize that I didn’t go to a lot of Stanford events, including Gaieties, Faces of Stanford, Full Moon on the Quad, etc. Silly of me not to experience all that the University had to offer, eh?

I was a little suprised to see how small the actual area was at the Powwow. I half-expected there to be multiple events going on instead of everything happening in one large circular area. Sure, there were vendors and food stands, but they don’t exactly count. According to my friends who have been to multiple Powwows, it’s been like this for a long time. No expectations, no regrets.

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Stanford Taiko is holding SPRING CONCERT “x”, their tenth annual performance, this evening at Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford. I went to their dress rehearsal last night to photograph the event, since cameras will not be allowed at the performance.

I remember Stanford Taiko used to practice in the A3C Ballroom when I was a student at Stanford. I remember there was a tall Asian guy named Dardy. I recall thinking to myself, “What kind of name is Dardy?!?” Dardy’s not in the Stanford taiko group these days, but he does help them from time to time. He asked if I would take some pictures for the group, and so here I was on Thursday night at 10:45 pm. Like most Stanford organized events, however, it started and ran late, but I think that the photos more than make up for the hours of sleep that I lost.

Talisman is performing with Taiko this evening. Though it sounds like a strange combination, a cappella and Taiko works surprisingly well. I got a nice animation of the double sword martial arts action during the performance. It’s just like what Anakin Skywalker does in the new Star Wars movie, eh? Only one more week! I will resist watching the bootlegs that have made their way onto the Internet!

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Today, I had the opportunity to view and use up close the new Tiqit eightythree handheld computer. The eightythree combines the portability of a handheld computer with the power of a Windows desktop PC. Powered by a National Semiconductor Geode processor at 266-300MHz, the eightythree runs Windows, Linux, or UNIX, and is equipped with a powerful array of ports for PC Cards, Secure Digital cards, USB peripherals, a headphone, an earbud/mic, IrDA, and docking station support.

The eightythree has a 640×480 TFT (18-bit) color screen which works well indoors but is difficult to read out in direct sunlight. I don’t know any laptop or tablet manufacturer which is using a transflective LCD screen like the ones used by the Compaq iPaq or Palm m515. Those screens are easily readable in direct sunlight without having to use the backlight. I’m no LCD expert, but I wonder if there is a manufacturing issue with creating large transflective LCD’s for laptops. It’s all going to be moot in a few years anyhow when OLED screens come out into the marketplace.

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This evening, I went bowling with Dardy, Mike, Rita, and their gang of friends at the Cambrian Bowl in San Jose. I don’t remember all of their names, but I do recall Jimmy, Dan, John, Nelson, Geoff, Grace, Paul, and Walter (anyone else that I’ve missed?). Though they’ve been bowling every Tuesday night for the past several months, this was the first time that I have went.

I have my own bowling ball and matching shoes, but I haven’t bowled in ages. I thought my bowling ball was blue, but when I pulled it out of the case, I noticed it was black. I hope that I didn’t accidently replace it with a different one the last time I went bowling! If so, oh well!

I scored a 91 and a 132 in the two games we played. In the final game, I got three strikes in a row to boost my score over 100! During that match, I made the switch from using my heavy, 16 pound ball to using Dardy’s relatively light 12 pound ball. Consistency is the key to getting a good score, as is the ability to get those crucial spares. I’d imagine the feeling of hitting a spare is like getting a crucial par putt. You didn’t get the birdie (i.e. strike), but you didn’t bogie (i.e. gutter or the inability to hit a spare) either.

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For the month of May, I will be honing my photojournalist skills at a weekly newspaper in the Bay Area. On my first day on the beat, I worked on three assignments ranging from photographing a house for sale, food at an upscale restaurant, and former President Jimmy Carter. How’s that for variety? I’m looking at this month as an excellent opportunity to gain some good experience in the photojournalist and newspaper trade.

The day started off with a simple task of driving to South Palo Alto to take a picture of a house that’s being featured in an article on median home prices in Palo Alto. I would think that the median price of a home in Palo Alto is well above the national average, given the community’s affluent citizens. Photographing a house might sound simple and boring, but they are a lot harder than you might think. You only get one photograph to illustrate the story, which means composition is very important! The fact that the object being photographed doesn’t move or talk only serves to ratchet up the pressure!

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