There was a pumpkin carving contest and a best costume contest at my work place today. Even though I work from home I was able to browse the winning pumpkin and it was a really nicely cut Death Star! I was thinking wow how did they come up with such an idea, but I was suspicious so I Googled it and realized the Death Star’s already been carved by lots of people…lol. They didn’t deserve to win.
Anyway I was looking at this site and saw some of the most amazing carvings I’ve seen, including the Death Star.

Also today I came across this animal species called “water bear”, and was amazed. It’s a real “animal” that is just 1mm in size, but it can survive extreme environment like, 1xx degree Celsius hot, -257 degree Celsius cold…able to live in vacuum space, and can survive without water for 10 years…etc. This thing really “can’t die”. I wonder what it is and why us human aren’t even close to the toughness of these 1mm creature… Here is a link to the wiki, and another link for more info/images. There is even a video available that shows how it “walks“.

Got these close-up filters today in mail, bought them of Ebay last week. It was the Hoya Close-Up Filter Set with 3 close-up filters: +1, +2, +4. I was so stoked to test them when I got them but as soon as I screw them onto my new 50-200mm lens, I knew something was wrong. My camera wasn’t able to auto focus! Well I then tried manual focus, it worked but I had to be at a certain distance from the target, which makes it very impractical to use in real life. Also the image taken was very blurry near the corner, and also I had to use a really low F number like F11 in order get a sharp picture.

Overall, these filters are hopeless. I’ve just posted them onto Craigslist hopefully I can get rid of them ASAP

I was looking up pictures of the famous La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain, where I always wanted to go to (wish I can travel to Spain ASAP) due to its intriging architecture (the project was ongoing for 100 years!) Then I accidentally came across this crazy place called Sedlec Ossuary which is a Roman Catholic chapel located somewhere in Czech. Its exterior looks just like another church, but what is mind boggling is its interior. It was decorated with 40,000 human skeletons which have been artistically arranged - like the chandelier that was entirely made from skeleton. I kind of want to go there to have a look but somehow it is frightening.
Here is a link to a 360 degree view of the inside of the church

Got the ultimate zoom lens for my camera today! It was delivered last Friday but I didn’t notice it until Sunday so I went across the border to pick it up today. This $9xx piece of glass has solid build quality and optics so it will probably be the last long range zoom lens that I’ll get. It comes with a really nice bag (see pic) with shoulder straps~ Also for some reason the Ebay seller popped in a F-PRO 67mm UV filter with the package so I got a free filter to use! Even though now I have this long range zoom, I don’t plan to sell my cheap Zuiko 70-300mm F3.5-5.6 though since the 300mm range is still very useful for objects that are really far away.

Here are a couple shots of the lens:

This lens is really bulky! it’s 2.5 pounds on its own and it barely fits in my tiny Lowepro Slingshot AW100 camera bag. I have to put the lens hood in the top storage compartment while storing the lens itself in the lens compartment. Consider its zoom range, I’ve heard that the size and weight of this lens is not really too bad compared to ones from Canons and Nikons which is good~ I think this lens will bring me years of fun~

At Point Roberts today where I picked up the lens, I was lucky enough to see a bald eagle catching this average sized bird and devoured it on top of a wooden post~! I took a couple pictures of it and as I walked closer, it flew away and I took another couple pictures. It was so cold down there so I didn’t really feel like doing too many test shots. I will go out again on a sunny day and I know I will come back with a full memory card~

A couple more shots at the beach:

Continue to my last post, I’ve taken photos of the bricks/stones and actually “paving” them onto my yard using Photoshop CS3. Here they are:

So I’ve been thinking of getting rid of the grass on my front yard, replace the entire area with either gravel or stones/bricks. Finally got some research work done this weekend. Made a couple trips yesterday and today to Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire (sucks, nothing’s there), and some other gardening supply stores. Looks like only Home Depot carries the stones that I need, so I’ll probably get all the necessary supplies there, other than the hardware like shovels and stuff since I can probably get some used ones.

Took some pictures and copied some info and prices, guess I’ll use the blogs as a data storage:

Rona

Gardening store on Alexander St.

I’ll have to first dig up all the grass and soil, for about 10 inches deep. Then, pave a layer of some loose drainage rocks, lay them flat somehow with a 2×4, put a layer of landscape fabric on top to prevent the growth of weeds, and then pour a layer of sand, and top it up with the stones/bricks. Also I’ll have to install metal (or maybe plastic) edgings so that the stones/bricks won’t come loose and go out of shape in time. Looks like a lot of work here! I’ll see how much I can do and will update the blog as it progresses.

Photos taken at the Home Depot: