Snapshot Chronicles - Susan Getgood's personal blog

My telephoto lens

05.06.2008 by Susan Getgood //

I’ve alluded to it here and written about it a little on New England Mamas but today, I am going to tell you all about my new love: my Tamron telephoto lens.

For Christmas, my wonderful family (husband, son, mom and brother) gave me the Canon Digital Rebel xTi that I craved. It came with a very acceptable 18-55mm lens, and I’ve been enjoying messing around with the camera since the holidays.

My brother also recently got his first DSLR, a Nikon. We’ve always geeked out about stuff together — from Star Trek in the 60s til now and Web 2.0, so we’ve been talking cameras a lot lately. He even contributes here from time to time. He got a telephoto lens about 6 weeks ago, and from the moment I saw his, I was jonesing for my own. But trying to be fiscally responsible and all.

Then we went to San Diego on vacation. And while I wished for more proximity while watching the pandas,

it was at the beach watching Doug play in the surf that I realized I didn’t just want a telephoto lens, I absolutely needed one.

Because I am just WAY too far away.

I had to go north on business mid-week during the vacation, but when I got back, God bless my husband, he found a photo shop near Balboa Park in the Yellow Pages (remember those), George’s Camera, and we went there to talk telephoto.

While I am a big believer in online shopping, I am sooo glad we went to a good photo store for this purchase. They showed me a number of mid-price options, including official Canon lenses, but the Tamron prevailed. And not just on price, though at less than $200, it was much less expensive than either of the Canon options. What sold me? The macro function. I had it on the lens on my old Pentax film SLR, and I really like being able to shoot close-ups of flowers.

Like this one I shot on Coronado Island:

Or this one at the San Diego Wild Animal Park:

So now I can get close up on David and Douglas, when they are not paying attention to me with the camera, as well as get close-up shots of birds and animals.

Doug, Coronado

Doug and Dave, La Jolla

Doug and Dave, at the William Heath Davis House in the Gaslamp District

San Diego Wild Animal Park – Cheetah

Elephants

A one-day old giraffe and his mother

And seals, La Jolla

Worth every cent.

[tags] Tamron, telephoto lens, San Diego, La Jolla, seals, San Diego Wild Animal Park, panda, cheetah, elephant [/tags]

SciFi Sunday: Iron Man

05.04.2008 by Susan Getgood //

Warning: This post may contain spoilers.

I am Iron Man.

Today we saw Iron Man. And I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the best sci fi film I have seen since Blade Runner. Not that others — ET, Close Encounters, Serenity, iRobot among others — haven’t been good.

But this film rocked. And not just because of the Black Sabbath tune. In fact, it may get a place on my top ten films of all time.

What’s so great? The story. And Robert Downey Jr’s performance. When he’s on the screen, he owns it. I know action films don’t tend to get nominated for Academy Awards, but this performance deserves it.

The supporting cast. Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges are excellent. Gwyneth Paltrow, who can be annoying and whiny, is excellent.

The special effects. Awesome but they don’t eclipse the performances, and that’s what makes a great film. Versus a video game masquerading as one.

Bottom line. Run don’t walk to your nearest theater for this one. And stay ’til the bitter end, all the way through the extensive credits. You’ll be glad you did.

Sequel? Please.

—

I have an SG-1 action figure of the Prior hanging around from my last contest. So, here’s your chance to win a present to give your geek nephew or niece for his or her birthday or some other holiday. Tell me your top ten movies of all time in the comments on this post. Giveaway period: now through May 31st. Winner announced June 1st.

Here are mine, in no particular order.

Blade Runner
Serenity
Princess Bride
Usual Suspects
ET
Iron Man
Wag the Dog
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Notorious

I’d also like to recognize 1930s and 40s comedies in general. Among the best: The Thin Man, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Philadelphia Story.

Same general terms as previous giveaways: Adults, US including Alaska & Hawaii, Void where prohibited. One prize winner, picked using a random number generator, gets the SG-1 Prior action figure. Entry period ends May 31st at midnight Eastern Daylight Time. Winner announced June 1st.

[tags] Iron Man, science fiction [/tags]

Cam and Vala off to new homes

05.01.2008 by Susan Getgood //

There were 10 comments (excluding my own) on the Ark of Truth review, so we have winners for the Mitchell and Vala figures. The poor Prior is still in the storage closet with the second set of figures, so I guess I’ll have to come up with another way to get him out of the closet.

Winner of the Cameron Mitchell figure is Nightsister, who said this about Daniel Jackson:

“I also think you need to really watch how Daniel (and the rest of the team too) develops from “Children of the Gods” to the present — it’s not just the hair that changes, honest! — but I would recommend “Lifeboat” for an amazing Michael Shanks performance.”

Winner of the Vala Mal Doran figure is ColeJ, who had this to say:

“If you want to see the best of Daniel Jackson, then “Meridian” from the 5th season is a “must watch” episode because 1) Daniel sacrifices himself to save a planet of people who are too stupidly selfish to save themselves; 2) you will get to see how profoundly Daniel/Michael Shanks affected each of his teammates in the first five seasons. The cast’s reactions are genuine and mirror that of the characters. For a later episode that shows, again, how far Daniel will go to make life better/safer for the masses, watch season 10’s “The Shroud”, which ties in directly to the Ori storyline and “The Ark of Truth”. The geeky nerd from the original movie, though he becomes macho and militaristic in later years, manages to retain his deeply unselfish tact throughout the ten years of the show and continues to believe in and dedicate himself to a “greater good”. He never becomes cynical, which is refreshing in the often-dark environment of the Stargate reality.”

Winners were selected using a random number generator.

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on Daniel Jackson with me. Please keep reading SciFi Sunday, especially when Continuum is released, when I will do my second SG-1 action figure giveaway.

[tags] Stargate SG-1, Ark of Truth, science fiction [/tags]