blessingx

RIP David Kirke, the world’s first modern bungee jumper, piano skier, and early Dangerous Sports Club member. https://people.com/david-kirke-the-worlds-first-bungee-jumper-dead-at-78-8383202 'David Kirke’s old chums found the peaceful circumstances of his death last month — in bed, at age 78 — paradoxical. “He could have been killed at least 20 or 30 times many years ago,” his friend Edward Hulton said. For instance, on April Fools’ Day in 1979, when Mr. Kirke put on a tuxedo, attached himself to elastic ropes, and stepped off a bridge in England clutching a bottle of Champagne in the world’s first bungee jump (https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-29819029) Or the time he flew over the English Channel standing in the pouch of a giant inflatable kangaroo held aloft by helium balloons. Mr. Kirke was the founder of the Dangerous Sports Club, a group of University of Oxford students who, typically while not sober, hatched deranged stunts in English pubs during the 1970s and ’80s, often as a metaphorical middle finger to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s society of squares. “Most people think we are mad,” Mr. Kirke once said. “We think they're mad to endure such humdrum lives.” Decades before extreme sports such as bungee jumping, kiteboarding and wingsuit flying became mainstream, Mr. Kirke and his coterie of foolhardy mates were skiing down Swiss slopes on grand pianos, skateboarding (not running) with the bulls in Pamplona, and flying makeshift microlight gliders across imprudent distances.'

^ I'm Halloween drunk, but you know everyone talks about the influence of Elvis and The Beatles, but Denver...

My 28th Reese Peanut Butter Mini Cup for the night. I'm done eating these forever.

^ Nice. Enjoy your current eye-prostate agreement as long as possible.

For those who don't have trick-or-treat plans tomorrow, why not spend it with Paul Lynde, Betty White and KISS? Wikipedia: Christopher Muther of The Boston Globe, in a 2021 retrospective review, described the special as the most "fabulous train wreck of a holiday spectacular ever filmed," "a vision of horror" and a "phantasmagoric, polyester-clad, rhinestone-studded time capsule of bad jokes and disco medleys with a nonsensical storyline(.)" Lynde's singing, dancing and wardrobe and Vilanch's writing were singled out for their poor quality, but the review noted that Lynde's sincerity made the special likable camp and an enjoyable kind of bad instead of an unwatchable mess. A 2009 review at The Bootleg Files, a running column on Film Threat, described the special as "so bizarre and over-the-top in its acid-camp that it is almost impossible to believe anything of its kind could ever be shown on TV(.)" The review praised Lynde as the "queen from hell" and the program's "saving grace," with author Phil Hall expressing surprise that the special—aimed at family audiences—drew no complaints from Christian conservatives despite Lynde's thinly veiled homosexuality and references to Deep Throat, among other innuendo.

World Series or unusually late Apple Event tonight? apple.mp4

Based on the recent @mikeymad Casual Jazz/Gleason post in the music thread.

Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer

Looks like the surviving episodes of Jazz Casual have been uploaded. Also an out-of-print DVD box set. "If Ken Burns' 10-disc 'Jazz' is a freshman lecture, this is a senior recital." EDIT: Some on streaming services and a good short read: https://jazzhistoryonline.com/ralph-j-gleason/

Have you compared the R6 and R6 II jpgs (or something like trial DxO PhotoLab for RAWs) to verify it’s the LR profiles? It might be that I was used to Fuji colors, which are basically controlled by a single person, but the color differences in brand across models are irritating. I know it was a 5D mkX vs. 6D battle and certainly there in Leica SL models. Sony at least seems to do it by generation, instead of model. Although not your experience, I’ve often wondered if video matching across brands played a part here in sacrificing still consistency in brand. Or more basically the march towards perfection/realism.

Short discovered video footage of Robert Frank discussing aspects of The Americans. You may be interested @Hopstretch (The Americans) and @shellylh (Houston) https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/exclusive-never-before-seen-video-of-robert-frank/

Another Cameras That Changed Photography Forever list https://petapixel.com/2023/09/30/cameras-that-changed-photography-forever/

I don't really understand why Bobby Bare Jr's Young Criminals' Starvation League (2002) album (soon to be band name) is one of my desert island picks, but it certain is. Ex.

If anyone wants to see the original Canon 1D CCD 4.1 megapixels boring test shots output, see below (bumped up in Topaz’s Photo.ai). You can do a lot with 4MP, but I think I’m more comfortable with “high res” 6MP+. Certainly a step up from the Nikon D1’s 2.7MP. Tweaked on mobile with Snapseed.

Miss you man.

‘Reservation Dogs’ Was a Coming-of-All-Ages Masterpiece Gift article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/arts/television/reservation-dogs-finale.html?unlocked_article_code=-KSeQBHDM8s8Yv1nvoY7rpzgAw9eWOG7hyd5fTJg5VOwAwTFXfDBP6YNljB3U9c0hCaza0lMUAl8_vv_kyHiHvMHaGYv2KQM68Zhy7JmfR1m04QuegE4YI-Iw8ldYTsJmjJ8WanmvYqE7Ebf5sAKEBBi4hVzdIpPhLayY9Fmxd2-ArBJB4weFBX2zWlPnVNgK7XLo32_qgwjcVw_UbcjgDeSNMK9tIKTxp9fgc-ZJkV3TZ-YcOElGGXeUlCjBtVH8ltWfeQdINEmtcZrf7-5VGnN-R030ApyHHqxXdidDjC4fqNrCzHota-UJNq-JUm_ObMLO6-nD2c8d4sd5xKfUcEusnM85Yl3&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare 

A little push back to the doom scrolling. ‘Are You OK?’ San Francisco Residents Say They Most Certainly Are. San Francisco’s national reputation has plunged since the pandemic began, and many residents say they are frustrated by how their beloved city is being viewed.

Okay, the iFi Signature Finale is now an additional $50 off. I'll just keep posting here until it's free.

A sleepless internet rabbit hole lead me to the early 80s failure One of the Boys. Any chance anyone has heard of it? Micky Rooney gets out of a retirement home to move in to his grandson’s (Dana Carvey) college pad with roommate (Nathan Lane). Double bonus: Scatman Crothers as Rooney’s friend and Meg Ryan as Carvey’s girlfriend. And it’s ahhh somehow not very good. The past is weird.

Thank you once again. Appreciate you getting it back up before the big event. https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?msg=Countdown+to+the+Rapture&

'cause it came out a couple years back, failed, and was called Meta Portal.