MiKE: Don't be yourself / Let them eat cake

Don't be yourself / Let them eat cake, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Found at one of residences at the UofT.

MiKE: Why winter sucks

Why winter sucks, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

this is not to say that winter sucks, with no possibility of redemption. It is definitely a season that makes one appreciate the heat and humidity of summer, and having seasons makes one more aware of the passing of time.

But winter also brings along with it snow, and when snow melts and the temperature drops, and the water re-freezes, there will be ice. Ice that crunches underfoot is quite fun to step on, much akin to popping those foam packing bubbles. But when it is semi-frozen, and slushy, it can be a very slippery coating over the pavements that we walk on. Worst of all is the ice that is so dirty and so packed in that it looks like part of the pavement, but most definitely does not feel like it. I've slipped on the ice three times in the last week, twice yesterday alone. Which sucks.

So, here's a picture of why winter sucks, or rather, why winter can suck.

ReNe: south-east asia nostalgia

We were watching an episode of Top Gear, where the three hosts were sent to Vietnam, bought a motorbike (each) and rode from the south (Ho Chin Minh City) to the north (Ha Long Bay).

I was struck by a feeling of nostalgia. Typically, the challenges on Top Gear features a car race in a European county -- something rather foreign to me, as I can't drive and I haven't much familiarity with Europe. However, this show was shot in a Southeast Asian country, during the monsoon season, on motorbikes.

I miss it. As they complain about the heat and humidity, I can almost feel it. Though Singapore does not have highlands, the scenes of the misty mountains in the dusk remind me of many places in Southeast Asia -- evenings are my favorite time in Southeast Asia, cool and alive. (In contrast, evenings in Canada are mostly *cold*.) I even miss the heavy rains. I also wish I had a motorbike again.

I guess this is a particularly bad time to be watching such a show, as it's flurrying heavily outside in -10C temperatures.

MiKE: Toronto Islands in Winter

We went to the Toronto Islands last Saturday with the local photography group. Somehow, we actually missed the ferry that brought the group over, but fortunately met up with one other person who was as late as us. The Toronto Islands is like Singapore's Sentosa island, except this place is not as built up, and the place almost literally shuts down in winter. We walked around the few houses where some of the locals stayed at, and generally took pictures as we got progressively colder and tired. Nothing much more to say about it though. Just a pretty place for pictures where they don't clear the snow that much and there is less human traffic, so the snow is somewhat more pristine. Here are some pictures:

Berries! Still not frozen or shrivelled up even in that temperature

The CN Tower framed by trees around sunset. I like this picture; we were walking along to the ferry terminal on our way off the island, and I just happened to look to my left and saw this. It was easy to miss, since we were a little tired, and it was easier to have a tunnel vision like forward gaze.

And the best picture, in my opinion at least. The lake was pretty icy, with chips and blocks floating in the water. It was interesting to hear the ferry make its way through the water, kind of like how you would expect it to sound if you stir an icy drink with a straw, only MUCH louder.

Oh, the full set is available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-tan/sets/72157612135953066/show/

MiKE: Playing

Playing, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

f/1.4 and slightly cheesy, overused PS technique. Background is distracting, I know.

MiKE: Static Face, selective colour

Static Face, selective colour, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Same picture as the previous day, except with some image manipulation.

MiKE: Static Face

Static Face, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Boxing Day was crazy. Crowds everywhere, even on icy sidewalks with snow banks that reduced the amount of walkable space by up to half in some places.

In shopping malls, people were thronging the aisles, looking for good bargains; and to be honest, there were really good bargains to be had. Not 30% markup pre-season before 25% boxing day sale kind of trick. Or at least I think so. I don't really know because I don't keep track.

Anyway, at Eaton Centre, a major mall downtown, the escalators were full of people on their way to support the economy. Interestingly enough, this one face appeared to be still.

MiKE: Couple shot!

handheld self portrait, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

We like to take photos of ourselves like this once in a while, and found that 35mm film equivalent focal length of 28mm really enables us to take a good picture of ourselves, and include enough of the background to give some context. It would be nice to be able to have a camera like the Ricoh GR-1V again, actually. Except for that fact that it shoots film, which, though makes for beautiful colour rendition, grain and dynamic range, is a pain to process, and would take up too much physical space during a vacation for the number of pictures taken.And I know Ricoh has a digital version of the GR-1; don't get me started on how pointless small sensor P&S cameras can be. But I digress...

This picture was taken with a 50mm equivalent, at handheld distance, which makes for very little background. I cropped it slightly to balance the picture. I like the result. Better focus on the subject foreground, and no distractions. What do you think?

MiKE: I get it, I think.

So, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I have been very distracted from work. I am supposed to be completing my comprehensive examinations any time now, the exams which confirm my candidature for the PhD. I have two paper proposals which have been accepted for conferences in April next year (which means submission deadlines sometime in March), and three professors want to write papers with me, or want me to submit a single authored paper. I've not finished the comprehensives, and needless to say, I've not started on any of those papers yet.

And all I've been doing is obsessing over photography. Of course, you'd noticed that the recent posts about my fascination with large aperture lenses, but I bet you probably don't know I've taken over 6100 photographs since I got my camera in September. Sure, the vast majority of the shots have been the "just in case" kind of duplicates, adjusting the aperture/focal length, and general messing around. Also, the dSLR makes taking pictures really easy - with such rapid responses rates, it is not hard at all to fire off 3-4 shots in about 2 seconds. But still, there's something not really right here. And I think I know what's wrong.

Part of what drives me, what makes me want to be an academic and write and be a scholar and all that, deep down inside, is a desire to want to change the world, because of injustice, unfairness, stupidity, political machination and other such ethical moral and social injustice that I experience personally, or through close friends and family. I believe education can be one very powerful way out of situations of oppression and unfreedom, seeing my own personal example as a very strong example. If I had not gone to school and did well, if my parents had not forbidden my association with the neighbourhood kids and strongly encouraged (to put it mildly) me to study, I probably would not have been where I am now, in relative luxury to contemplate these matters in such a theoretical way.

And now, since I've been in Toronto, I've been in this neither-here-nor-there situation. I've stopped reading the singaporean blogs, because I've stopped caring. It seems to be some place far away, like reading about the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Yes, I know the town council funds have been mis-invested and all that, but, really, do I care? Does it concern me, here, now? Besides, I am so far away, and have no sense of being able to do anything about it.

On the other hand, I've not been integrated into this local community yet. There is a strong activist culture here, to be sure, much stronger civil society presence, and a somewhat more democratic government, but, once again, things here are happening to others, not people I know, not to me (well, ok, some of it is), and as a 'guest', I feel as if there is little I am qualified to do. To top it off, I know little of the political histories and struggles of this place, and how the battle lines are drawn, so to speak, so I am wary of suggesting anything.

And all these is affecting me. As I live in this place as a guest, and isolated from the stupidity and outrage at both places, I am feeling as if what I am doing is highly synthetic, and at points ethically wrong, or at least, hypocritical. And that is giving me pause.

I want to get angry. I want to get connected. Outraged, worked up, and activist. I need to know what I am doing is actually connected to some real action in the world. I want to know that I am changing the world, not just for my selfish ends, but also for others.

Do I sound like over-idelistic and naïve yet?

MiKE: Queen's Park shadow

Queen's Park shadow, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

It snowed last night, about 9 cm downtown in Toronto. More storms are expected on Friday and Sunday, with temperatures not exceeding -6. So, I guess this probably means we'll be having a white Christmas?

MiKE: You know it's winter in Toronto when...

You know it's winter in Toronto when..., originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Frozen food that's normally stored in the fridges are sold out in the open like this. The light red and grey packages at the front centre are frozen shrimps(!)

MiKE: Happy Birthday

happy birthday, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Knowing her, this would probably not be enough... Maybe if I just said I suck at photoshop so badly this took me the better part of about 40 minutes, she'd think better of my effort? Anybody got a good book/site to recommend?

MiKE: 30mm f/1.4

Testing out f/1.4, B&W, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

For those that claim that cameras are irrelevant to picture making... Here is a picture taken at an aperture of f/1.4 with a borrowed lens.

True, you probably could accomplish something similar with image manipulation software techniques, but then, it would not be as good, nor would it be as quick.

MiKE: At Niagara Falls.

Serene before Horseshoe Falls, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

We went to Niagara Falls yesterday. Yes, in winter. At night. We went with the International Students Centre (ISC). Overall, I'd say that the trip was not only inexpensive, it was also somewhat cheap. Anyway, the full set of pictures can be seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-tan/sets/72157611194638335/show/

ReNe: art gallery ontario

When the Art Gallery Ontario (AGO) opened a month back (14th Nov), admission was free for that weekend. We wanted to go but the queues were too long. Turned out we need not have worried; Wednesday evenings are also free admission and last Wednesday, we finally went down to take a look.

The building where I work is about 5 mins from AGO so I was always very curious to see what's inside, now that the construction's done and cleaned up. The architecture is beautiful, so even though we're not really art aficionados, we enjoyed walking around the gallery. Somehow, the place reminds us of Center Pompidou in Paris (a little), which we also didn't really 'get'. Behind, attached to the gallery, was the restored Grange House. The short tour around the Grange House, which mostly talked about the mystery of the wax (art?) pieces left behind by the third maid of the house, was pretty interesting too.

It's great though that these museums have free nights. (AGO's not the only one; the Royal Ontario Museum and Bata Shoe Museum also have free evenings), for it encourages people who might normally not be interested in such places to have a look, especially the local residents. Certainly I would go again. I might not fully appreciate the art collections, but it's a nice way to spend an evening after dinner at Chinatown. Unfortunately for AGO, cameras are not allowed inside (though we have seen people sneak in cameras, and not small point-and-shoot types!), so no pictures (yet?) to put up.

MiKE: New! II

New! II , originally uploaded by mike.tan.

testing out manual exposure.

MiKE: want. last. bit. of. ketchup.

want. last. bit. of. ketchup. , originally uploaded by mike.tan.

at Ikea restaurant. blogged about this last year. Ikea is pretty much the same here as in Singapore, and I assume, all over the world.

MiKE: Sunset on the Market

Sunset on the Market, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

We walked down to King Street to get her a cap. I walked from home, to meet her near her workplace, and went through Kensington Market looking for photo opportunities. Saw this, and had to wait out in the cold (about -4ºC or so) till the light faded enough to get a good photo. By that time, my fingers were so cold they started to hurt.

MiKE: Toronto Skyline II

Toronto Skyline II, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

As seen from the tallest point at Casa Loma

At the Casa Loma

IMG_4490, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

The Casa Loma was built as the private residence of a very rich man, Sir Henry Pellatt. Ever famously derided as a 'five legged elephant', deserving to be 'stuffed and mounted' to remind people of its monstrosity, and considered a blight to the local landscape for its romantic notions of castle-hood, with its crenellated walls, high spires, and commanding location on a hill, it is now owned by the city of Toronto, and run by the Kiwanis club. As you can see, the grounds that are open the public are impossibly large to maintain; this photo was taken inside one of the spires, where the raw brickwork was probably deemed by the vandals as more spots to leave their mark.

Well, whatever. A pretty picture of Serene. And I'm quite glad how this picture turned out, because it would have been close to impossible to make with lesser gear. Just in case you were wondering: there was no window to her right, and the ambient light is actually as dark as the background behind her. Flash was bounced off the wall on her right, made of brick, so the reflected light had a reddish cast, warming the tones in the picture.