The Turtle Moves.

Life goes on

2007-12-04T16:12:00.000+02:00

Since my Mom passed away in August, things have been rather slow. I've taken very few photos.

Here is a copy of the speech I gave at Barry & Erliza's wedding. I was his best man.

A wise man once told me that the Best Man’s speech should last as long as the Groom makes love… Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen.

[I sit down, briefly]

When Barry asked me to be his best man, I was over the moon. Firstly that he was going to marry the woman that he loves, and secondly that he had asked me to be his best man. A few drinks later, it dawned on me. The speech. Choking on my beer at the realisation that I would have to stand up and talk in front of his family and closest friends, I started shaking and told him that I didn't think that I could do it. Reassuring me, he said, "all you've got to do is stand up, look like an idiot, tell a few jokes and be confident." Taking his advice, here I am.

I have known Barry for many years now. I know all his little habits and how loving he can become after a few drinks, just a little warning to you all here! Barry has helped me through some hard times over the duration of our friendship. He has always been there and supported me, something that I know he will do for his beautiful wife, Erliza.

Barry, take Erliza's hand and place your hand over hers... Good. Now, remember this moment and cherish it... because this will be the last time you'll ever have the upper hand!"

Even though Barry asked me to keep the stories about him clean, and to try not to embarrass him too much, I must admit that I sat for many hours trying to think of embarrassing stories. At the end of the day, this was a fruitless exercise. I can't recall a situation I've been in with him where we felt embarrassed. A marvellous quality about Barry is his ability to take control of and turn any situation into a humorous (if not debauched) affair! So, instead of telling you a story, I’d like to share a bit of trivia with you.

Fleming was a poor Scottish farmer. One day at work in a field he heard a cry for help. Following the sound, Fleming came to a deep bog, in which a boy was stuck up to his chest, screaming and sinking. Farmer Fleming tied a rope around his own waist and the other end to a tree, and waded into the bog. After a mighty struggle in which it seemed they would both perish, the exhausted farmer pulled himself and the boy to safety. He took the lad back to the farmhouse, where Mrs Fleming fed him, dried his clothes, and when satisfied he had recovered, sent him on his way home.

The next day a carriage arrived at the Fleming's humble farmhouse. A well-dressed man stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy whom Fleming had saved. "You saved my son's life," said the man to Fleming, "How can I repay you?"

"I don't want payment," Fleming replied, "Anyone would have done the same."

At that moment, Fleming's own young son appeared at the farmhouse door.

"Is he your son?" the man asked.

"Yes," said Fleming proudly.

"I have an idea. Let me pay for his education. If he's like his father, he'll grow to be a man we'll both be proud of."

And so he did. The farmer's son attended the very best schools, graduated medical college, and later became the world-renowned Nobel prize-winning scientist and discoverer of penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming.

It is said that many years later, the grown man who'd been saved from the bog as a boy, was stricken with pneumonia.

Penicillin saved his life. His name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Barry & Erliza are two of the most loving and caring people I know. Both of them would help others in a heartbeat, without hesitation, without thought of compensation. My wish for them is that every act of unselfish kindness is returned to them tenfold.

Incidentally, today would have been Sir Winston Churchill’s 133rd birthday.

Finally, I’d like to say a few thank-you’s.

Firstly to you, for joining the newly married couple in their celebrations.
To the bridesmaids: You have done a fantastic job helping Erliza and you look lovely.
To Grant, for your help when it came to arranging things. At a time when I was flooded with commitments you were there, pulling it all together. The bachelor’s was a hit, thanks to you!
To Johan & Erminia on raising a most beautiful & loving daughter, and instilling in her a set of values that could only make any parent proud.
To Vanessa (Or Vinnie, as she is endearingly known to those who were present at the bachelors!): You have raised a son that I am proud to call my friend. It is an honour to have been chosen as his best man.
Erliza: The amount of work, planning & dedication I’ve seen from you is truly astounding. This beautiful day is testament to that.
Barry: What more could a guy ask for other than to see his best friend blessed with true happiness.
Last, but not least, to Luke. Thank you for helping out on such short notice. You’ve saved me (and the newly-weds) many grey hairs!

Ladies and Gentlemen, please all join me in a toast.

May you be friends to each other as only lovers can; and may you love each other as only best friends can. - To Barry and Erliza!

Disasters of a dumbass diabetic

2007-05-24T04:46:00.000+02:00

On Saturday morning I came around to the sound of puking. The person puking, it appeared, was me.

"Why am I hunched over the toilet, puking?"
"Why is there, what appears to be, blood mixed with my puke?"
"and WHO is this person standing next to me in the bath?" I think to myself.

Incoherent noises.

"You've had a seizure" I hear the voice telling me.

Then it dawns on me. This would be the reason I have been speaking with a lisp this past week.

OK, so for those of you that have NO idea what I'm rambling on about, I'm a diabetic. My diabetes is fairly well controlled. My doctors are generally happy with me. Just over 2 years ago I had the following series of unfortunate events take place:

I woke up on Friday morning and went to work, as per normal.
I did not eat anything during the day, for reasons I can't recall.
I went home, skipped dinner, changed, and went out to Sutra (A club).
I proceeded to drink (and dance) the night away.
I went home, checked my sugar, established it was high, and injected the appropriate (or so I thought) amount of insulin.
Having not slept for the past 26 hours, fell into a very deep sleep.

Now usually, when I go low, I will wake up. I will stumble through to the kitchen and find something to eat. The problem here is that I was so tired (and/or trashed) that I didn't wake up. My glucose levels continued to drop. Having not eaten anything and having exercised (the dancing), they were dropping faster than normal. They dropped so low (1.2) that I had a seizure and bit my tongue. My folks had to get the paramedics out to get me stabilised. This landed me a week long stint in hospital. Needless to say I learnt a lesson the harsh way, and have since endeavoured to avoid a similar situation.

I'm still trying to figure out all the details, but it seems that something very similar happened on Saturday. Yes, I had been out that night, but I had not had nearly as much to drink as before. Yes, I did get to bed late (about 4am), but I didn't inject nearly as much insulin as I did before. This is something that I've become very weary of, and I would rather go high than have another fit! Additionally, I had made sure I ate something before going to bed.

Perplexing. The only thing I can think of that makes any amount of reasonable sense is that my insulin wasn't mixed well enough, and I got a stronger-than-usual dose. This isn't really supposed to happen, but I cannot think of any other logical explanation.

Regardless, we were at least a lot more prepared. Since the last incident I keep a glucogen injection in the fridge, which is easy to use. My folks immediately recognised what was happening and injected me. This, I later found out, was also what induced the vomiting, and not my alcohol intake.

I should probably apologise to the paramedics - apparently I was quite aggressive and very rude. All I wanted to do was hang on to the toilet bowl and puke away my sad existence. I made that very clear to them, and I sort of remember them saying something along the lines of "we can't take him without his consent" to my Dad. I think I told them exactly where to get off when they tried to take me away from my porcelain telephone!

Anyway, the point of the story is: Always make sure you mix your insulin (or drink, for that matter) properly!

Book your face

2007-05-22T10:26:00.000+02:00

With the advent of Facebook becoming as popular as a $2 whore on a US Navy ship, it would appear that now's the time to jump in. I'd been putting it off for the better part a year. I caved about 2 weeks ago, though. All along, I had figured that there was no point - I mean, what do Myspace, Orkut, Datingbuzz, Digg, Blogger, del.icio.us, etc all have in common? They all contain some or other digital representation of my miserable life. Social Networking, so I'm told.

So, as with Orkut, I signed up and found a bunch a friends I'd happily forgotten about. My day now works as follows: Constantly check to see if I can find more friends. Poke. Leech more friends from other friends. Poke. Comment. Poke. Waste time reading cyanide and happiness groups. Poke. Lather. Poke. Rinse. Poke. Repeat. Poke.

One thing I will give Facebook is the fact that their plain-jane layout doesn't give me nearly as many headaches as Myspace. Gods, I cannot articulate just how much I dislike Myspace for the simple fact that users have too much control over the layout. Flashing black and white stars with skulls and crossbones on a lumo pink background is BAD! Don't do it!

Oh, before I end this, here is another interesting read. It's all about how Facebook is secretly funded by the CIA. Enjoy.

Hello World.

2007-05-13T13:40:00.000+02:00

#include
using namespace std;

int main( )
{
cout << "Hello world!";
return 0;
}

Guess who's eating/sleeping/shitting c++.

;-)

Cape Town Photo Shoot

2007-03-22T01:24:00.000+02:00

Hi all

As some of you may know, I was recently in Cape Town, assisting with a photo shoot for Sony Ericsson. Initially, the shoot was meant to be a time-slice which involves setting up about 100 cameras on a railing rig (or tripods, as the situation dictates) and firing them all simultaneously. These images (all of the exact same moment in time, but a slightly different angle each time) are then inserted one after another into a video, to create an effect of movement.

(Have you seen 'The Matrix'? Remember the part in the beginning where Trinity jumps up in the air, and it seems as if time freezes, and the camera pans right around her, just before she delivers her rib-crushing kick to the officers chest? That was done using the same technique I've just described.)

Anyway, getting back to the Sony shoot, we were located in Atlantis Dunes, about 30 minutes out of Cape Town. Soft, pure white sand all around. Call time was 5am, which meant we we usually up at about 4am. We spent the 1st day (Sunday) cramped up in our hotel room, setting up a test run, with about 35 cameras. See 'testing.jpg' to see what I mean when I say cramped!

The following day we did another test run, but this time on location. Images 3, 4 & 5 show the 'Construction site' set. All of the photo shoots involved capturing a sand-boarder performing a jump or trick of some sort. There were 3 sets that we shot on, the construction site being the biggest (and ironically, least impressive). As the boarder approached the jump, we would start firing the cameras, usually taking a burst of 5-7 images per jump. This routine was repeated until the director was happy that they captured everything he was looking for. Sometimes up to 10 takes. Eating dirt after wiping out on jump can really take its toll!

I'll not bore you with 7 more paragraphs of finer details (like the really fine sand that managed to get itself in EVERYTHING, including parts of my body I'll not mention here). Once we had the cabling setup licked, it usually took us around 3 hours to setup. The film crew would then come set up and shoot, and dismantling everything took about another 2 hours after that. Once the day ended and everyone went home to their nice soft beds, we still had many hours work ahead of us. Memory cards needed to be downloaded & formatted. Batteries needed recharging. Cameras needed cleaning. The images of the day needed to be sequenced and stored. Amongst all of that we needed to find time to eat & sleep! I think if we got 2 hours a day we were fortunate!

Our bodies took a beating (sunburn, fatigue, etc). We managed to lose a rental car, damage another, and racked up at least 5 traffic fines. All in all it was a great experience; Working with an international film crew, for a high-profile client with a very big budget.

We've been told that the commercial should air in South Africa. If, however, it doesn't, I've included a copy :)

By the way, if you're interested in purchasing a decent camera, the equipment we used for the shoot is being sold. These cameras have taken about 100 shots. The cameras usually retail for over R9000 on their own. I think they're being sold for R8500, but this price includes a 1GB memory card as well as a Manfrotto tripod (which is usually R1000 on its own). If you're keen, contact Jono on 082 820 2435.

Take care

Den

New camera

2006-09-20T09:25:00.000+02:00

Well, well, well!

I've bought myself a new camera. The taxman decided I'd overpaid, so he gave me a refund. Thanks for the Canon EOS 350D, Mr Taxman!

After a year, looks like I'm finally back in business folks!

Watch this space

Pleonasm

2006-09-19T08:06:00.000+02:00

I am the apotheosis of malleable uncertainty
I no longer want to be a malcontent
Ineffable feelings of love, lust & longing
The juxtaposition of compunction and alacrity
Carrying a burning burden, I wait in silent agony;
Rapture, simulated and artificial
Waiting; Implacable
Delusions of grandeur, concealing my tainted soul
Soon I will be free

Fuck it.

2005-08-22T09:25:00.000+02:00

On Firday I was help up at gunpoint. I was tied up with my own shoelaces. My phone, wallet, car and all its contents were stolen. My camera was in my car, along with my brand new 50mm f/1.4 usm lens. I hadn't even used it yet. 200 dvds. My clothes. My LIFE.

No more pictures. Nice knowing you.

Fuck it. The world can fuck itself.

New lens

2005-06-15T09:24:00.000+02:00

Aaargh. I'm sick. I can't stand this. My head feels like it's gonna explode! *sniff*

Anyway, I've aquired a new lens for myself. It's a 50mm F1.8 prime. Fantastic for portrait work, as well as low light situations! *bounce*

How are you folks all keeping?

D.

New subscription

2005-04-12T09:23:00.000+02:00

Life's a mess. dA has been put on the backburner, as there are far more important issues dominating my life at the moment. Those of you who know me will understand this.

Go look at =stevenjm. A fantastic fractal artist, and more importantly, a wonderful friend. Thank you for the subscription Steven. I'd probably have lost all motivation to submit anything new if not for you.

Later.

New beginnings

2005-03-16T09:20:00.000+02:00

So, I'd like to start by saying that I've been away for a while. I'm aware that I've got a lot of catching up to do, and that there's a great many things I promised a great many people that I'd do. If you're one of these people, I'm sorry. I'll make an effort in the next while to rectify things.

Things have been getting a little out of hand here at work recently, and I desperately need to spend some time getting back on track. dA has taken a bit of a back seat due to this fact. As soon as things settle down here, I promise to update with some more work.

Until then, your patience is very much appreciated.

D.

New flash, new knowledge

2005-01-29T09:18:00.000+02:00

Ok, so last night I attended a lighting workshop, focusing on how to make the best of available light, without running up a huge bill. It was quite informative, and hopefully I'll be able to put it to practical use sometime soon - We'll see if I get any decent portrait shots in the near future! The guy giving the class (David) was really cool and we chatted for a while afterwards - I'm looking forward to chatting to him again in the future. He's REALLY clued up!

I also got myself a flash unit while I was at the workshop last night. It's a Sigma EF-500 Super. It's a little overkill at this point (ok, I have no idea how to use it!) but I got it for a really decent price (I hope) and knowing myself, I'll grow into it.

How's everyone doing?

D.

New computer (and my stay in hospital)

2005-01-20T09:16:00.000+02:00

Hello

I've been absent for roughly the past week. On Saturday the 15th Jan at roughly 9:30 in the morning I was dragged out of my bed by paramedics. I had had a fit/seizure of sorts, and had bitten my tongue open rather badly. When the paramedics tested my blood sugar levels it was 1.2. A non-diabetic usually has a blood sugar level of about 5.

So I was rushed off to hospital, where they decided to keep me until yesterday. I was tested for epilepsy, and various other brain abnormalities. Luckily that all checked out alright. They kept me longer to observe my fluctuating sugar levels, though I must admit I'm not entirely sure they knew what they were doing. My muscles are pretty sore, and still feel quite tense. I'm on a bunch of antibiotics and painkillers now, so life feels quite different (read: woozy!).

Anyway.

Oh yeah, my PC specs are as follows:

---------------------------------------- ----
Pentium 4 3.4 (775LGA)
4 x 200GB Seagate SATA 150 HDD's
1GB DDR2 RAM
nVidia 6600GT PCI Express (128MB)
16x DVD/RW
WLan card
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Winfast TV2000XP Expert
---------------------------------------- ----

I'll try get some more artwork up soon-ish.

D.

New lens

2005-01-04T09:15:00.000+02:00

OK, so I got myself a new lens today. It's a Tamron 70-300 1:2 macro F4-5.6 LD. Cheap and cheerful, but should set me well on my way in learning to work with a larger lens (and it's what suited my budget at this point in time)

I think I've summed up my feeling for photography:

==========
You know when you find someone that you just get on really well with, or you find that perfect pair of shoes, or that perfect bit of porn that always gets you hard? I think that's how I'd explain what photography is for me right now.
==========

D.

New camera, new life.

2004-12-23T09:14:00.000+02:00

It's here, it's here! I got my new kit yesterday! It's SO fantastic. The kit includes:

Canon EOS 300D Body (Limited black edition)
18-55 Lens (USM)
Vertical battery grip
Spare battery
Cokin UV filter
Polarising filter
Lowepro carry bag

I've taken a few shots this morning, and results are GOOD. Compared to my G6, this camera is in another league altogether. Firstly, manual focusing rocks! The auto focus is VERY quick. The lens is pretty versatile (to start off with). I still need to get used to doing things the 'manual' way, but WOW, oh WOW, I'm gonna have some fun with this!

Tomorrow, I'll be heading off on holiday for a week. I'll be sure to take hundreds of pics, so expect some new work when I get back!

D.

New toys

2004-12-16T09:12:00.000+02:00

I got a tablet for my birthday yesterday. It's gonna be cool for photo touch ups, etc. Here's a quick scetch: -> [link] . I guess I just need to learn how to draw now!

I am so stuffed. We went out last night to celebrate my birthday. Needless to say a steady supply of alcohol was forced upon me! Good thing today was a public holiday, and I'm not working tomorrow either.

I need coffee.

kthxbaai!

No new camera

2004-12-12T08:56:00.000+02:00

My camera has been stolen.

I will no longer be taking photographs.
I cannot afford a new camera. I had to save for months to purchase my last one.
I no longer wish to live here.

Pity.

I was enjoying myself.

New camera

2004-12-10T08:56:00.000+02:00

So, I sold my camera yesterday.

Rather, I sold my second hand Canon G6 for more that what I purchased it for brand new. *beam*. I plan on getting myself the 300D now (Some may bash it, and advise me otherwise, but the fact of the matter is that I've already purchased a spare BP-511 battery pack, as well as memory cards, etc. To move to another brand would be a bit of a waste). Feeling quite excited about it now!

It's my brother's birthday tomorrow, and I still have no idea what to get for him.

Work is shit.

D.

New developments

2004-12-08T08:57:00.000+02:00

Well, I just finished watching "50 First Dates" & "Along came Polly". My mom's requests. We'll leave it at that.

So, moving right along, I also just purchased my first subscription to DA. That probably explains why I'm writing this arb journal entry - I had to try out all the nifty new features!

Also, today I got told that I'm in the wrong profession - that I should stop being a geek and take up photography. I took that as quite a compliment. (If only she knew how little I actually know!). I also finally go my car back, after a week and a half. I hate relying on other people for transport. Eck. What else? Oh yeah, take a look at [link] for some FANTASTIC wallpapers.

It's my brothers birthday on Saturday, and mine next Wednesday. If anyone knows some magical method of doubling up money really quickly, let me know, mmkay?!

Right. Bedtime.

Baaai!

New teqniques

2004-11-11T09:06:00.000+02:00

Today I learned about under and over exposing images. Actually, more like taking two exposures of the same high-contrast scene, in order to capture foreground and background detail, then later combining them. Can't wait to try this out!

[link]