Mama, they took it away! :(

Suddenly, the skies seem a bit less blue... the grass less green. It is now official. Eastman Kodak has produced their last run of Kodachrome film. It's a line that has been the staple in nearly every photographer's bag from amateurs to professionals alike, for the last 74 years.

I am very sad. As a photographer of 22 years, I still shoot exclusively on film. Kodachrome has always been known for its beautiful hue productions. Unlike most of the other film types, the roll contained only silver in the emulsion and developed as black & white. It then went through a 3 color process that just made everything pop! It was always so crisp and bright, almost like magic! It was used for everything from home slides to pro ads, to all kinds of movies. It was what was in the camera of the Zapruder Film and virtually every other home movie enthusiast.

Remaining supplies are estimated to be expended by fall of this year. There is only one lab in the entire world that continues to develop Kodachrome and that is Dwayne's Photo in Kansas. It is a sad farewell to such a beloved medium and it will be missed by many. I leave you with what is probably the finest tribute such an icon deserves...

Atrocious Tyrannical & Tight-fisted

Well, as most people now know, the new iPhone firmware releases tomorrow and the new hardware releases on Friday. During the Developers' Conference, it was revealed that the new hardware/firmware addressed many of the issues that have been lacking thus far. Sadly, some of the features that come with the new iPhone 3GS, are not compatible and hence unavailable to the 3G iPhone. :(

That aside, finally after 2 years, the iPhone finally has MMS capability. Normally I would be quite happy. I am greatly dismayed, however, with AT&T. With 2 new features of the 3.0 firmware, AT&T is the only world wide provider not offering them: MMS and Tethering. Now, I don't have a laptop and therefore tethering does not apply to me, (I do sympathize with all who use it) but no MMS?! I'm sorry, Apple devotees have just waited 2 entire years for this. Apple has received so much backlash about not having it on what is one of the greatest telecom technologies to date, has finally addressed it, and AT&T is not allowing use of MMS until "later this summer". Are you kidding me?! A serious pile of BS!

There is no way in the Universe that it's a technical issue. Think about it; Att boasts to be the "best" network with the "best" coverage, which we all know is bologna. They 're going to tell me that they're not prepared for MMS? Please! Phones that are 5+ years old have been using MMS without issue. All of Att's other phones/smart-phones have it. It's not like Apple, in secret, developed MMS capability then sprung it on Att saying, "Figure it out." They knew this was coming, and for some time. I have no doubts that they are delaying MMS in order to find some way that they can charge for it. People are paying over 100$/month, have unlimited data, are paying for texts and yet may have to pay for MMS? Preposterous! Obscene! Ludacrous! Deplorable! Now I could be wrong, but even Apple blasted them in the keynote by purposely advertising all of the world providers that will enable MMS except for Att...

Shame on Att! This is awful business practice and they should be embarassed! I personally expressed to them how displeased I and several of my fellow iPhone owners are. Hopefully, if more unsatisfied customers voice their concerns, Att's CEO will actually do something rather than simply acknowledge the problems and ignore it with comments like, "Well, the majority seems satisfied and that's good enough for me." With any luck, something beneficial will come. I am not counting my chicks, however. I have another year on my contract. By that time a new Apple device should be out and with the bandwidth upgrades, Verizon's network should be compatible with GSM and the iPhone. After that, it's so long Att and hello to the real best network!

Come on Honda, pretty please, with cherries on top? I'll be your bestest friend!!!

Back in 2004, Honda created a concept sport bike that is known (as far as I can find) only as the NASa. As I am a Honda Hawk GT owner and devotee, and an avid Honda fan, I came across these photos while researching parts and tuning for my Hawk.


I am not a fervent proponent of sport bikes, but oh my holy crotch rockets, Batman...This is by far and away the sexiest, most dynamite machine I have ever seen! I would sell all of my bodily fluids and then some, to get my hands on this bike! What is Honda thinking? How could they NOT release a production version of this?! Not only does it have the iconic single sided swing arm, it also has a groundbreaking single sided front fork, dual front calipers, stainless steel braided coolant lines, ram air induction and the under-body exhaust is right out of a Roswell crash site! It's clean, it's mean, and oh boy it must be one hell of a ride! Street Fighter? Um, can anyone say 'Street Assassin'?!

I hope you enjoy this magnificent treat for the eyes half as much as I. And if anyone out there reading this happens to work for Honda, or know anyone who does... Please, please, PLEASE urge, plead, cajole, bribe them to revisit this bike!!!

Nature is Awesome!

I spent the majority of my extended weekend riding my Hawk. The weather was simply, perfect! Here are a few shots from my iphone. I love where I live!

Sunset from Palos Verdes Drive East.

Downtown from Blair Hills

Whisps of sunlight from the top of Palos Verdes Peninsula

Foretelling the future?

Is Palm telling the public something, or are they merely using clever marketing ploys? Either way, the new Palm Pre smartphone may finally give Apple a run for their money!

The Pre is quite impressive. It has a full touch screen with a slide out, tactile QWERTY keyboard. It touts all of the standards: MMS, interweb, wi-fi, email, 3 meg camera w/ flash, calenders, etc. Where it pulls ahead - some seemingly common sense yet fantastic abilities. It has a fully integrated processing system that not only allows the use of multiple apps simultaneously, but also lets you say - surf the web to buy tickets to Zappa Plays Zappa, then automatically creates a date event in your calendar with all of the info. How cool is that? It also organizes all correspondences with a particular person into one IM-type window, regardless of whether it was a phone call, text or IM.

Another cool feature is how it handles notifications. When I'm on my iPhone and using a particular app and a text or phone call comes in, that big ole window pops up right in the middle of the screen and prevents me from what I'm doing until I select 'ignore or reply'. The Pre has a little dashboard at the bottom of the screen that simply shows you what else is going on without interrupting the task at hand. It also has ambient light, accelerometer and proximity sensors like the iPhone. The screen is slightly smaller, 3.1" to the iPhone's 3.5". And at 3.9x2.3x.67" and 4.76oz, the Pre is relatively smaller, though thicker than the iPhone's 4.5x2.5x.5".

I downloaded the beta 3.0 firmware for my iPhone. It has some great improvements, some of which should have been native to the phone ages ago. 3.0, which should release around mid June, allows MMS messaging (finally), Cut/Copy/Paste (finally), universal search (meaning you can now search the entire phone for contacts, entries, whatever), and you can text and email in landscape format (finally). The phone is slightly more responsive. A new native app is included, Voice Memos. It is just as it implies. I prefer YouNote, as you can attach voice memos to your photos, notes, etc.

The Pre definitely appears as though it will be a heavy hitter. With some of its terrific abilities, Apple has a little catching up to do. The largest downfall of the Palm's new device, however, is that it initially will only be offered through Sprint. As a previous patron of 3.5 years, I can tell you that Sprint sucks bologna! As with most other Palm devices, however, I am certain that Verizon will offer it shortly in their own color of choice. As for the iPhone, a new hardware device - yes, that's right folks - a new iPhone is due out along with the firmware update. It's difficult to discern exactly what bells and whistles it shall flaunt. A short while ago Apple acquired a microprocessor company. It is certain there will be a much faster processor in the new iPhone, although we're all pulling for a multi-processor. A better camera will be included and overall, the phone will be more tailored towards the new bandwidth. Will Apple release the update first, or the phone? If they're smart, the update will come first, then the phone. This will prevent the complete server failure of last year when they released both simultaneously, and it will likely employ more veterans to seek out the new hardware. Personally, I'll be happy with my 3G for some time...At least until my contract runs out. ;D

So what's the verdict? While Jane and Joe Blow probably won't care very much, my fellow geeks and smartphone devotees are sure to be closely watching and anticipating. Although Apple's App store is ingenious, the Pre offers a wide variety of 3rd party apps in their own app store and an SDK. The developer's conference in 2.5 weeks will certainly have all eyes and ears glued!

Secta Chameleon - More Than a Feelin'

Check out this very groovy gem. Complements of PuffyStatic. Long live Erector Sets!

SECTA CHAMELEON - MORE THAN A FEELIN' from Emil Goodman on Vimeo.

Chain up the pretty girls and release the Kraken...It's time to celebrate!

In pure amazement to even myself, I managed to get my butt up before 8am, AND work out! AND did it twice!!! It sucks getting up, however, what a satisfying and uplifting sensation it is knowing that I've accomplished such an intense activity first thing in the day.

Mmmmmm... Yogaaaaaaahhhh

Good for the body, good for the soul!

I feel somethin' creepin' in and I'm tired of this ga a a ame...

So I'm hangin with a buddy at the Director's Guild, waiting in line to see Eden à l’ouest at the COL COA Festival last night. I go into the bathroom and as I'm freshening up, I see this big klingon on my beard. I think to myself, "Oh great, I've been walking around all day with lunch stuck to my face. And no one was cool enough to tell me?..."

As I wipe my hand across it, I notice it is still there. I lean in closer to the mirror and much to my surprise, and chagrin, it's not food at all, but a pure white hair poking out in all of it's raillery and bluster. Suddenly I see a small batalion of them, clearly visible, lurking about around my chin! I couldn't believe it! It's as though it happened in a matter of hours. I mean, I woke up in the morning, washed and groomed myself, and there was NOTHING there out of the ordinary!

Well, that's age I suppose... it certainly creeps, then pounces without warning!

Hey, what are you smirkin' at?! It's not funny!! It's not! {sniffle}

Vlad the Destroyer. A follow up...

Well, much to everyone's dismay, or delight... Vlad, from previous entry, never did show his mug and the clients ultimately got their bench and then called me sometime thereafter to purchase again. HA!

As a follow up for Stu, and thanks to my friend PuffyStatic, I spied this tasty little morsel. Enjoy...