100 Rolls of Film

Having recently organized some of my old photo logs, it reminded me that for many serious film photographers it was critical that one eliminate any variables in emulsion when you had to replenish the supply of your favorite film with a new batch.

For those of you that never shot film, every role of film comes with an emulsion number that indicated date of manufacture, coating plant etc. The photos, below, show the process I used to test the effective film speed (versus stated ISO) of film as part of some workshops I taught on adapting the Zone System to 35mm photography.

I should add that by knowing the effective speed of your film when recorded by your standard lenses and developed in your standard developer, you essentially were eliminating any of the variables in your equipment thus allowing you to instinctively compose and read a scene quickly then "expose for the shadows and develop the film to control where your highlights fell".

This got me thinking about another practice in the film days that has seemingly been forgotten or not appreciated in the current age of being able to immediately review images taken with a new camera or new lens, and instantly make snap decisions on the performance of your gear. I remember a maxim a well known editorial photographer shared with me at a workshop I was attending about how he related his lenses as equivalent to the fine bristle brushes he used for his other passion - oil painting.

Just like new brushes, he pointed out that with any new lens, he had to spend many hours getting accustomed to how it captured light just like how he'd have to practice with a new brush on scratch canvas to understand how it lay down his favorite oil paint. His maxim was that it typically took him "100 rolls of film" to thoroughly test any new lens in all the various lighting situations and conditions that he typically shot. He explained that he would never use a lens on an assignment until he fully understood it's characteristics and traits.

Note: I've been meaning to write this post for awhile, and I still have some additional comments from my old photo journals that I need to find time to review in order to complete this essay. Stay tuned.

(Data on color photo: DA*55mm lens / K20D / F4.0 1/20 sec. Japan, April 2009)

100 Devastating Days Down

The good news about the 'First 100 Days' of the Barack Obama administration is that there are 100 days behind us, and so we are 100 days closer to the end of this disastrous administration. The bad news is that there remain 1,362 more days in which the President, his policy wonks, and his political allies can do even further damage to the very fabric of the United States of America. Those of us who are Republicans, and particularly those of a more conservative bent, are expected to say things like that. We didn't vote for Obama, will not vote for Obama the next time around, and in fact can see no reason to support any Democrat at this moment, so entrenched is the control and power of the ultra-liberal wing of their party. So for one of us to make such dark, gloomy, negative statements about the Obama administration can easily be written off by his supporters. But there is just one problem for those supporters. They themselves are finding it more and more difficult to actually express the reasons that they support him and his party. It was all so easy just six months ago, when they all had George W. Bush to hate. Bush-bashing was all the vogue and had been raised to an art form thanks to the constant, repetitive, relentless negative coverage given the Bush Presidency by the liberal mass media. Americans, especially Democrats, and even more particularly liberals, wanted 'Change' from Bush and from what they perceived as the negativity of the previous eight years. Had they only stood back and let their brains do the thinking instead of allowing the liberal media, as well as Hollywood and music industry celebrities, they would have been hard pressed to find a real reason to vote for Obama. They would find that presumptuous of me, and would ask what right I had to say that they didn't use their brains in the first place. To that my reply would be that they were simply being disingenuous. I talked to liberals around the time of the election. I never once heard anyone speak of any particular policy or plan of Obama's that they liked, just that it was time for a change, or they would ask me in return about the Bush administration and what had been so great about it. Never mind that the point was moot, that Bush wasn't running. The one thing that they did know was that Obama was going to stop the war in Iraq. So here we are, three months into the Obama administration, and our troops are still solidly in Iraq. Oh, there is a future plan to remove some troops down the road, of course dependant upon the Iraqis being able to fend for their own security. But the fact remains that Obama could bring home every troop tomorrow from the Middle East, and that would not end the war. What the liberals fail to realize is that it takes two sides stopping to end a war, and the radical Islamists have no intention of ever stopping. All our liberal friends need to do is to actually do any amount of serious study in relation to radical Islam, and they would understand this, but they simply refuse to look past their pie-in-the-sky idealism at the sober reality of the situation. In his 'First 100 Days', Barack Obama, the man that they elected for 'Change', has begun to change America at its very core, and not for the better. Obama has seriously handcuffed American intelligence gathering and worsened morale in the military and intelligence infra-structures, thus seriously jeopardizing our very safety. Because he refuses to keep America's military presence active and strong in the Middle East, despite some tough talk on Afghanistan, it is only a matter of time before either Iran actually has a nuclear weapon, or Israel attacks it in what would be a necessary but devastating pre-emptory self-defense bid to avoid annihilation. It is also only a matter of time before the Taliban or some other radical Islamist group takes over Pakistan, already a nuclear power, and thus places the nightmare scenario of an Islamist regime in control of full-blown weapons of mass destruction. Closer to home, he announced the imminent closing of the terrorist holding facility in Guantanamo Bay, yet made no provision for where the dangerous individuals being held there would be released. He knows full well that the vast majority will not be accepted back into their home countries, and that no reasonable nation on earth will take most of them because, well, they are dangerous terrorists. In other words, there is every likelihood that many of these individuals will be released right here into the American population next year. Nice. He went on a Euro-tour and bad-mouthed and blasted our country, much to the delight of the America-despising Europeans, then went to the Middle East and bowed down in deference to the Saudi king, and finally on to South America where he exchanged good will and gifts with one of the most virulent anti-Americans on earth in Hugo Chavez. He is dragging our nation by the hair away from freedom and capitalism and into full-blown Socialism, with the Federal government extending and deepening its reach and effect on every facet of our lives. His handling of financial matters has perhaps amazingly been even worse and potentially as or more destructive. He is pushing a 'cap and trade' plan to limit carbon emissions that would cost every single American household over $3,100 per year, thus destroying his promise of no taxes to the middle-class. He is doing this to prop-up the ultra-liberal 'green' movement that is all feel-good and no substance. The real science says that the earth has had many periods of warming and cooling in its history, and thus will have them again, but also that we are now in a period of cooling, not warming. So what is all this fuss about going 'green', and why do we need billions of dollars of new taxes and fees on Americans to support it? The simple answer is that we don't, and that while natural conservation is an excellent idea to foster for general environmental cleanliness sake it is nowhere near the apocalyptic need that has blown up under the tutelage of Al Gore and his super-liberal supporters. President Bush set a horrible precedent towards the end of his administration by bailing out some financial industry entities with federal dollars rather than letting the market work and letting them fail. Rather than start his administration with a reversal of this Bush error, the Obama administration has taken the idea and run with it, pushing the nation into a series of massive 'stimulus' bailout schemes that will now leave my grandchildren trillions of dollars in debt after Obama himself is long gone. By forcing industries from banking to automobiles to take federal money in exchange for federal control and oversight, the Socialist agenda pushes deeper. All this, and he names an acknowledged tax cheat in Timothy Geitner to be his Treasury Secretary. In his own house, Obama has had a horrible time in trying to fill many other important positions, including the embarrassment now of having a full-blown pandemic hit the world while he has not yet filled the position of Health & Human Services Secretary in his cabinet. No single President in the history of the United States has done more to harm the very heart and fabric of America than this President has done in his first hundred days. It is disheartening to realize that he still has over 1,300 more in which he can do far more substantial damage to our nation. There is some hope that if the country can get a Republican congressional majority elected next year that we can put a brake on some of this, and limit the damage. If not, the dangers both within and without that the Obama administration has opened us up to are frightening to anyone who cares to look past the liberal and administration rhetoric that such talk is simple political demonizing and negativity and at the reality of these Obama administration actions. Still, such political change may become more difficult as Obama has moved control over next year's U.S. Census out of the Department of Commerce and into the White House in an overt attempt to control the results by political means. Since Census results determine congressional allotments, this is a huge attempt at making a long term power grab by the Democrats. President Obama will take to the airwaves tonight to address the nation, field questions from a majority of reporters representing liberal media organizations, and feed the feel-good lines to his Kool Aid-drinking supporters. But the truth will be that it is 100 devastating days down, and 1,362 truly disheartening and possibly frightening days to go under a Barack Obama administration that it's messianic leader will find more and more difficult to sell with any credibility.

Pandemics Are Nothing to Sneeze At

For some people it's probably a big joke. 'Swine Flu', it just has a funny name, right? For others it's probably a case of wondering what all the fuss is about, since we are talking about a few dozen cases in the United States, and all of those are down around the border with Mexico, which has the real problem. So what's the big deal? Why all the headline stories in the newspaper and on television? And what's with all those empty stadiums this past weekend for all the big soccer matches down there south of the border? Well glad that you asked, because the topic of handling a pandemic, at least from a law enforcement perspective, is being addressed this year in one of the courses that I am teaching. The course, titled 'Crisis & Emergency Management', is a scenario-based course in which the police officers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are presented with four unusual situations, asked to place themselves in the scenario, and are guided as to how they should be expected to have to respond. They are also given information on some of the resources that would be coming to help in the situation from the government and other entities. One of the scenarios, in fact the final one that they are being presented, is a pandemic flu outbreak. How timely, huh? I can't tell you how many times that I have gotten that look in class. You know the one, the "You gotta be kidding me, this will never happen" look. Well as today's headlines are beginning to relate, pandemic outbreaks are not only things that happened in the distant past or the subjects of science fiction, but they are very real threats to our society and our world, and we need to be prepared and informed. A 'pandemic' is a breakout of an infectious disease that spreads through populations of humans or animals or both from person-to-person (animal to person, animal to animal) across large geographic regions, continents, and even around the world. There have been a number of pandemics to hit the world in recorded history. Many have heard of the 'Black Death' of 'bubonic plague' pandemic that struck in the 14th century and killed 20-30 million Europeans in just six years. In the 19th century, another plague outbreak began in China and spread all around the world, killing 10 million people in India. There were numerous outbreaks of 'cholera' in the 19th century, including an 1866 outbreak in our own country that killed some 50,000 Americans. Also here in the U.S., the 'Spanish flu' pandemic struck in 1918-1919, eventually spreading to all corners of the world and infecting up to 5% of the human population, with 20% of people feeling some effects. In six months, some estimates had the number of dead worldwide as 50 million, but others placed it at twice that number. As recently as 1957-58, the 'Asian flu' caused upwards of 70,000 deaths here in the U.S., and in 1968-69 the 'Hong Kong flu' killed 34,000 Americans. During the 1700's, at the time of the 'Thirty Years War', approximately 8 million Germans were wiped out by an outbreak of plague and typhus. Just as recently as 2003 the world reeled at the possibility of another pandemic called 'SARS', a highly contagious pneumonia type, but quick action around the world stopped its spread before it could become a pandemic. That illness was not eradicated, however, and could reemerge at any time. The bottom line is that there is nothing at all cute about 'Swine flu' despite its comical sounding name. It is an illness that draws that name because it is prevalent in swine or pig populations. This is a killer illness that at the very least can make a lot of people very ill. You need to pay close attention to the news on this pandemic, and take every precaution that public health authorities release as seriously as possible. In a worst case scenario here in America, we could see scenes such as played out in those Mexican football/soccer games this past weekend. What are known as 'social distancing methods' could well be put into effect, where large groups of people are kept apart from one another by methods such as closing schools, bars, restaurants, and other public gathering places and events such as pro sports games would perhaps be played, but in front of empty ballparks and arenas. We will see individuals placed into 'isolation', where they have been diagnosed with the illness and are kept away from others during their period of infectiousness. We would also likely see individuals, and possibly families, work places, or entire communities put into 'quarantine' where these have been in contact with individuals who are diagnosed as positive with the illness, until those folks in contact can be deemed illness-free. And if things ever get really bad due to a pandemic disease outbreak, you need to not only pay strict attention and follow along with strict adherence to public health and law enforcement authorities directions, but it couldn't hurt to toss in a prayer or two while you're at it, because hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are likely to end up dead.

First Photos from the DA*60-250

The first production units have started to ship in Europe and other parts of the world. We'll start to receive our first units in the US in the next two weeks. Not having had a chance to shoot with this lens, I was pleasantly surprised to see some early sample photos from Richard Day, who lives in the UK. Here's a link to some of his DA*60-250 test photos on Flickr. Here's another series of photos Richard took to show the background blur (bokeh) produced by this lens using some nice tomatoes in the foreground.

Crispy salad and easy cupcake topping

Sometimes I get to the end of the week and it just seems impossible that a whole week has passed. I know we've been eating but I can't think what we ate. The weekend was just as hectic with more company than we usually have in 3 months, and everyone knows you shouldn't try out new recipes (especially if you're making them up) on company. Noooo. So all the food has been familiar old stuff.

I did throw together a new combo of ingredients (for me at least) for a salad dressing and it was quite delicious. I had to be creative at the last minute because the dressing I was planning to make depended on ingredients that I didn't realize I didn't have. Instead, I used fresh squeezed orange juice and one of the wonderful vinegars I purchased a while back at Vom Fass. It was a Waldburg balsam cherry vinegar. I'm not expecting anyone to actually have this vinegar on hand — just use a mild fruity vinegar of your choice, or a plain rice vinegar, which I would have used if we'd had any. To go with the dressing, I made a salad of mostly finely shredded cabbage with a handful of baby greens and assorted other stuff, and it was so fresh and spring-like. It went perfectly with a mildly spicy peanut stew. I also came up with a new ULTRA EASY cupcake topping that worked amazingly well. And if it appears anywhere else on the Internet, I don't even want to know. I want to feel clever at least for a little while longer.


Mixed salad with orange-Waldberg cherry balsam dressing

• baby greens
• finely shredded red and green cabbage from a bag (about 1 part baby greens to 3 parts cabbage- use enough for 4 people)
• shredded carrot (1 large)
• 1-2 thinly sliced green onions
  
• crystallized ginger bits (about 1/4 cup)
• kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts (raw ones toasted in a pan)

Dressing (4 servings)

• Juice of 1 small orange (about 3 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Waldburg cherry balsam vinegar
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• pinch salt

Mix the salad ingredients, including half the walnuts, together. Add the dressing and toss thoroughly. Toss the remaining walnuts on top.


Easy cupcake topping
Take the cupcakes out of the oven and remove from the tins. With one hand make a ring shape with your thumb and third finger and place atop a cupcake. With the other hand drop a bunch of vegan chocolate chips into the ring. It takes about 3 seconds for the chips to adhere to the warm cake. You can give them a gentle press if you think they're not sticking. Do all the cupcakes, and then go back and stick individual chips in spots you think need a few more. The chocolate chips will soften but they won't lose their shape. As the cupcakes cool, the chocolate chips will harden again. That's it. They looked so cute I wanted to kiss them!

Sunday Walk with DA15

Our Sunday walk along the beach in San Clemente was the first time for me to try out a production version of the DA15. I previously posted photos of Harry the Pelican using a pre-production sample of this lens and I'll need to burn through a lot more film (files) of various scenes and subject matter to see if I can discern any differences.

Photos were all shot in RAW with a K20D and processed in CS3 to produce jpegs for posting here on blogger. No adjustments were made to the images, except for the snapshot of my wife. I had to crop this photo, as I shot this quickly by turning and firing and ended up with a falling horizon in the background.

I was really pleased to see that dpreview already posted their review of this lens in the past few days. Being a new lens, I didn't expect to see their review up this quickly. I'm puzzled by one of Andy Westlake's comments about construction and his choice of a zoom lens to compare against a prime, but overall, I thought this review was even handed and well done.

(Note: Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image file)

Vans Am in Orange County, California

This past weekend I got to check out and judge the Vans Am contest at "The Block" in Orange County along with guest judges Cory Nastazio and Gary Young

3 classes of 6yr- 15, 16yr up, and Advanced went to battle.

The kids shredded and I was definitely impressed with the riding level in all classes, from the 6yr old kid that blasted the 5 stair first trick and even nearly got some 360 flyouts, to the overall champ in Advanced class 15yr Premium bikes flow rider all the way from San Diego,Chad Kearly, who won the prelims the semi's and then stepping it up to take the final. Chad mixed up a lot of street moves on the course including a long manual line to bar down the 7 Stair set with confidence and ended it with a 180 bar off the bank to flat. Chad improves every time I see him.




Seeing an Am contest was great and the kids will remember the experience forever. Although the course at The Block is very skate influenced with small banks and ledges everywhere, the guys did a great job and made it fun to watch.

This was the first time for the Vans Am event in So Cal and Id say there will be another planed for next year. Haro and Premium hooked up some frames and parts for the top 3 in each class, and the kids also won a 1yr pass to the Vans Park.

Look for the video of the event on vitalbmx soon...

Mackay

The 'Secret' to a Good Marriage

Thanks to Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean, there has been a lot of discussion around the country in the past week regarding the issue of the sacrament of Marriage. I also had the honor of attending a wedding yesterday, and got to enjoy all of the joy and happiness that surrounds those blissful occasions.

I'm going to keep the marriage topic going for one more day here. Only this time it's not going to be the issue of 'who' or 'what' should or should not be allowed to marry. Rather, I'm going to dip in to my own personal experience and education bag of tricks to offer some advice to married couples, and to those who are contemplating getting married.

I think that I can speak on this topic as well as most anyone on earth. I've been married twice in my lifetime, raised children, and gone through almost every type of struggle that most normal married persons go through, including any number that I myself created along the way. I've bought and remodeled two homes. I've bought three cars, a handful of barbecue grills, and a golden retriever.

I've gone from being a 'cafeteria' Catholic to a solid, church-going, sacrament receiving, money-happily-donated defender of the faith. My point is that, like many of you, I come from a decades-long background and experience base that gives me a strong perspective of what it takes to make a marriage work.

I didn't come upon my own particular ideas easily or quickly, nor without causing myself and my family in both marriages a number of difficult moments. But what I have learned is that marriage can be broken down to the dedication of ones self to a pair of very simple words: love and priority. Let's deal with the easy one first.

Some people would think that the idea of 'love' is the more difficult, but I say that is not true. To me, love is the beginning and the bedrock of any marriage relationship. But we also need to remember what love is and is not. Love is not that romantic feeling that you get when you first meet someone and feel that 'connection' or attraction.

Many people get those early months and even first couple of years of a relationship when the sexual attraction and energy are strong, when the bonds of intimacy towards one another are first being formed, confused with actual true love. True love is something that grows over time. It may actually come in those early months for some. For others it may grow over a period of years.

One thing that is certain is that you need to have a certain level of personal experience and maturity in order to understand that true love comes not only with an attraction to, but also with a respect and a deep caring for your partner. Once you obtain that level of understanding, then the knowledge of your love for another is revealed to you in your heart.

It is a fact of your life, the very fibre of your inner being that you cannot deny. When you love someone, you see the world through their eyes, you feel their pain and their joy, you would give your life for them. You never have to ask the question, there is none to be asked. It is simple truthful knowledge. This true love will never die. It cannot be burned out by the fires, or frozen solid by coldness, or stomped out by the giants that will inevitably cross our paths in life.

The Bible indicates that love is from God, and in fact states that "God is love." He loved man so much that, despite our turn from him, despite our rebellion, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." This is the type of love that married people need to have towards one another. The type that sacrifices and gives in perpetuity, without expecting anything in return, that is not conditioned on the response of the other person.

I put it to you that in fact, true love is impossible without a relationship with God. The feelings that you have for one another, whatever they may be, however long they may have existed, will not be enough to sustain a true, deep, passionate, committed love without God's care and involvement in the relationship. You might feel responsibility, affection, even enjoy physical intimacy, but that is not love.

The second term is a bit trickier, and hearkens much more to the tangible, physical, easy to grasp everyday world of all of our lives. That idea of 'priority' again takes experience. There is no substitute for actually growing up, not just physically, but more particularly growing mentally and emotionally.

Through personal trial and error, through watching the example of others, and through formal education we learn that actions have consequences. We learn that some of these consequences are good, and some of our actions yield greater good. We also learn that some are bad, and yield various levels of poor results for us.

But we also learn those many lessons in between 'good' and 'bad', learning that some actions yield better results than others. And so in most of our lives we learn to 'prioritize' our actions, doing those good things most of the time that will yield us the best results.

Married couples, and this is a special message that those contemplating marriage need to hear, must make one another and their family their greatest priority, and must constantly examine their lives to ensure that their personal individual priorities are not taking precedence over those of the family.

If you are not prepared to subordinate your own needs and desires to those of a spouse and children, then you should not even be thinking of getting married. If you know that you do in fact truly love your partner, and are committed to building and sustaining a family with them throughout your life no matter what circumstances arise, then you should by all means go ahead and marry them.

You should absolutely not get married because they look good, are good in bed, like the same sports teams or music as you like, are the same religion, or for any other reason whatsoever. And once married, you need to continually prioritize your family first. Not only the caring for of them physically, but the emotional nurturing of your relationships, the education of your children, these things must come first.

Most of us work hard for hours upon hours each week, and we deserve some 'down time' for ourselves. But we must always be very careful that this time never takes away from our family time. In fact, our first enjoyment should always be in the spending of time with our partners and our children.

We also need time to sleep, to rest our bodies. If we deny ourselves this necessary act, then we make ourselves vulnerable to emotional and physical pains and anxieties that will take away our ability to make the best decisions for ourselves and our families.

A good marriage based on true love will prioritize itself to include working to sustain our families with shelter, food, clothing, and education but which also at the same time includes time with them bonding and enjoying one another. Sleep and rest must be prioritized, because without these we cannot be healthy enough to function properly in our right mind and body, thus denying our family our best.

Most everything else is extra, a bonus that comes during those few hours each week where we are not working, or enjoying time with our family, or resting. Some weeks those bonus or extra hours may not come at all, but how can any reasonable man or woman say that they are missing out on anything that life has to offer of real lasting value simply because they didn't get to listen to some music file, or play some video game, or watch some television show, or go to some concert or movie?

Believe me, over the course of our lives, a normal life will yield many opportunities for entertainment and pleasure. We must prioritize our partner, our spouse, our family above all else. And above all of this we must place our own personal, individual relationship with God, and realize that a home that has Jesus Christ as its rock and foundation has a far greater chance of weathering the storms of life than any home trying to do so without Him.

Most of the problems that we have all encountered in our lives, if we are fully honest with ourselves, can trace themselves back to times when we decided that we were going to make our own desires our priorities rather than the will of God as demanded of us in His commandments, as further expanded upon by the teachings of Jesus Christ, and then as grown by the Holy Spirit in the teachings of the Church down through the ages.

The two bedrocks of any good marriage then are love and priority. When you know without thinking that you love someone else, when they can say the same about you, and when you can confidently know that you will always make them your first priority no matter what else happens, then you have the stuff of a good, lasting, loving marriage.

I can tell you this for certain in my own life: I love my wife. Debbie Veasey has all of my love, truly and for as long as we live and hopefully beyond that, and of that there is never any question in my mind or heart, ever, no matter what happens. She has all of my love, and she is my priority. The same extends to my children and grandchildren, and the rest of my family. But that marriage between Debbie and I has to be the rock on which all the rest settles.

In the end, there will be one final test of your marriage that will absolutely tell if it was based on this true love. It will be the old 'proof is in the pudding' saying, and you won't know perhaps until your last day on this earth. This final test is stated perfectly in the closing lyrics of a song titled 'When It's Love' by the rock group Van Halen, which ends "When it's love, it lasts forever." Amen.

Op-Ed thoughts by the Spa

After a particularly grueling and long week, it was really nice to get back home for a weekend of relaxation. This morning as I was reading the NY Times and enjoying coffee in my back yard, I realized there were a number of related topics and discussions that occurred this week in the small corner of the world we call photography that is then further segmented by those that have an interest in all things Pentax. So consider this an "op ed" post or collection of thoughts and comments that I will post throughout the weekend. There won't be any order to the comments that I add, and there's no significance to the order in which I post these snippets.
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Having seen a lot of less than complimentary things said about me in the past, which I understand is part of being open and approachable on the internet, I had to laugh this morning when I read this comment by GnusMas on pentaxforums that was in response to a heated exchange on who knew more about a certain upcoming model from Pentax..."Ahh its OK maybe next year you to can buddy up to Ned at the PMA and try to get your very own NDA . I suggest you start building your tomato shot portfolio I hear that's one way into NED's heart. lol." I think the whole point about my love of tomatoes stems from the realization that what tends to typify many Pentax shooters is that they have a pretty balanced life wherein photography is only one of their passions and pursuits. I think we tend to harbor a higher percentage of independent minded shooters who enjoy the pursuit of photography first and are less obsessed with their gear. So GnusMas is right, the way to my heart is to show a balance of passion for life and make sure your love of photography is not at the expense of other priorities including nuturing the relationship with your family and close friends.
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The photo for this post was taken with the K20D and DA15 lens, shot in RAW and processed in-camera to produce a "soft" jpeg.
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Regarding the tempest on pentaxforums about whether Rice High knows more about the upcoming K-model than Yvon Borque, consider this. Just like any other company in high-tech, we have a number of journalists that represent traditional print as well as web, who have signed NDA's and are at various stages of evaluating a new product offering. We've had long standing relationships with these folks, and this is critical in making sure information about a new product is available at the time of announcement. None of this is possible without a great sense of trust by both parties. Therefore, it's a reality that while some people will have knowledge prior to an announce dates, others will have to speculate and I guess that's fine in this new cyber world where rumors tend to create so much buzz that the actual announcement almost becomes a letdown.
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I've never met him, but quite a few of you should cut RiceHigh some slack. I don't always agree with what he says, but he has every right to post his thoughts. He has strong opinions, and is passionate about what he does. Last time I checked, there's no restriction on having a point of view either in print or on-line.
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Mike Johnston had some great things to say about buying a camera in his post this week by not selecting the "T.O.P. Ten Recommended Cameras: #3". His conclusion was "all of these cameras are truly excellent devices that will serve any thoughtful and hardworking photographer very, very well—very well indeed. Pick one and be done." If you haven't read this post, check it out...
T.O.P Ten Recommended Cameras:
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Square sensor and full frame??? Executives in Japan have said we'll release a model this summer that is more advanced than the K20D, and that we have re-started development of the 645D which is expected to be released in 2010. When asked about full frame (meaning 35mm camera body), we commented this would be very difficult in the near future. To those that continue to postulate or argue that the new camera better be full frame, ask yourself what lenses are you planning to use on this hypothetical new full frame body?

As I received a few comments on this, let me clarify my tongue-in-cheek comment. Anyone that is currently using a full frame sensor 35mm camera knows that they exact a high price in terms of the lenses that perform acceptably. Many lenses originally designed for film fall short in terms of distortion control and edge-to-edge sharpness when used with a full frame sensor. I have a good friend who currently shoots high-end weddings in Southern California with a 5D. While he loves the fact he can now use his wide angle lenses, he has quite a few lenses he's shot with for years that he can no longer use.

In our case, if we developed a full frame camera, it's likely that very few of our recent DA lenses (those designed for APS-C) would be able to properly fill the viewing area of this new sensor. And although we have some wonderful FA lenses, like my favorite FA 31mm Limited, I'm not sure even this lens would be up to the optical challenge.

I know that our engineers have studied these issues and would probably not agree totally with my simplistic explanation. However, I think it's important to understand that going to a full frame sensor means not only having to design a brand new camera from ground up, but likely a new line of lenses that meet the more demanding optical requirements.

It's clear that there is a place for full frame cameras, but it currently is a small part of the overall SLR market. Due to the total cost of ownership and increased demands shooting with full frame images, the majority of cameras sold will still use APS-C, 4/3rds type sensors.

Despite some of our desires to always want newer, faster, better technology, I'm not sure that many of us would see a dramatic improvement in our photography if we were given a full frame sensor camera. Personally, I think we've hit the sweet spot with APS-C sensor cameras today. 12-15 megapixels is more than adequate for even your most demanding assignments, we've got far better control of noise, frame rates and processing speeds are sufficient for the majority of work advanced or serious photographers need and all of this is available at very reasonable price points, regardless of your choice of brand.

In closing this train of thought, the whole full frame debate reminds me of the sometimes wine-induced arguments I have with a buddy of mine over the performance of our 5 series BMW's. I always end these discussions by saying if he really, really demands/needs/desires higher performance then shut up and buy an M5 or 7 series. As you'd expect, he's still shooting...uh I mean driving his beautiful 5 series bimmer.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As RiceHigh aptly points out, any legacy lens would work on a 35mm full frame camera. There's no question about this, the real concern is about the image quality produced by these lens.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A week in Australia video

I Just got back form Australia. I had the camera rolling during some of the sessions and put together a little something. I originally planned to film with my mate Stujohn, but he had to go in for a surgery the same time I was there. I rode a bunch with my nephew Sam Jordan who was on School Holidays and had him hit record for me a few times.

I hit up a local contest in Caloundra which was sweet, I knew most of the guys in it so It was good to catch up and see them shred.

Im basically on the road for a while now and hope to capture more of my trips. As I write this Im in the Airport flying to Cali for the Vans Am comp at The Block in Orange County. If your going, see you there!

Colin


A week in Australia from Haro Bikes on Vimeo.

What a Hateful Liberal Bigot Looks Like

They have always existed, but they have become more emboldened with the recent leftward lurch in American political direction. I am talking today about liberal bigots, those lefties who are not only obstinately or intolerantly devoted to their own opinions and prejudices, but who also regard and treat those who disagree with them with vitriolic hatred. You frequently hear them harping about wanting freedom of speech, the right to express their opinions and viewpoints publicly, even the right to have their alternative lifestyles accepted by the mainstream public as 'normal' or at least 'acceptable'. But this freedom of speech, this right to express opinions and viewpoints, can never, ever extend to those who disagree with them. Perfect case in point came this past weekend with the Miss USA pageant questioning incident. As I previously discussed in another recent post, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was a contestant in the pageant. She is a beauty queen, a model, and she had a simple goal, to win a beauty pageant title. She wasn't looking to change the world on Sunday night, and certainly when it came to the question-answer stage she did not expect a controversial question on an epic hot-button sociological and moral topic. In any event, that is exactly what she received from pageant judge Mario Lavandeira, who goes by the professional name of 'Perez Hilton'. Lavandeira is a gay activist and celebrity blogger, and basically asked Prejean whether she supported 'gay marriage', and to give the reasons behind whatever her feelings were on the issue. Carrie Prejean simply replied from her heart, basically saying that she did not support the idea, that she believed marriage should only be between a man and a woman, and that basically this was how she was raised, taught, and now fundamentally believed. In the immediate aftermath of the pageant, at which she nearly won, finishing as the first runner-up, Hilton said that Prejean was a 'cunt', and then took to the internet and video-blogged that Hilton lost because she was "a dumb bitch." So in other words, Hilton as a gay activist has a right to voice his opinion on the issue, and the mainstream American public is supposed to tolerate not only that viewpoint, but also his public expression of it. But the same right is not extended to Carrie Prejean. Because she disagrees with Hilton on this issue, and because she had the audacity to answer his question with honesty, she is pilloried as some sort of bigot and neanderthal thinker, and then called names as well? How far does this freedom of expression, this right to your own viewpoints go, Mr. Hilton? And it wasn't just Perez Hilton, but also most of the 'gay rights' movement, and in fact most liberals as well, who ganged up on Carrie Prejean. In doing so they exposed themselves publicly for what they really are, a group of hateful bigots, everything that they claim to be against. This is the United States of America, and we are supposed to celebrate, support, and grow from the expression of differing opinions, not denounce them with hatred, ignorance, and profanity. It isn't as if Carrie Prejean said that any gay who actually got married should go to hell. She didn't say they should be arrested, tortured, or even publicly embarrassed if they tried to marry. She did not express that she didn't like gay people in general, and didn't call them any names. In short, she said nothing that would incite hatred or intolerance of gays. She simply answered the question put to her regarding the issue of marriage, stating that it should be between a man and a woman, which it should. Not an opinion, but a fact since the early days of man, and one that has only gained any public forum at all since the fringe gay element of society began imposing it's radical views on the vast mainstream 'straight' majority just a few decades ago. Carrie Prejean simply answered a direct question without lambasting or profaning anyone, but the response that she received in reply has been what we have come to typically expect from the liberal community. We conservatives love an open debate, love ideas expressed in public, and embrace the notion of having them put to the test of a vote. That is the true spirit of American freedom and diversity and exceptionalism at work. There are groups who have wanted that freedom of speech repressed in the past: Nazis, Communists, and brutal dictators of all stripes go this way. Add now to that group the ultra-liberal bigots who want anyone shut up and shut down who does not agree with them, from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to Ann Coulter to Carrie Prejean. For anyone out there who agreed with Perez Hilton's response to Carrie Prejean, not his view on the topic of gay marriage, but with his response to Sunday night's question-answer session, then you can count yourself in that group of liberal bigots. NOTE: As with every entry at this Blog, there is a 'Comments' button below. You can do so anonymously, but it would be appreciated if you had the courage of your convictions to add at least a real name.

Thanks Tone!

I started riding for TonyD at the beginning of 2005 when he was doing rider support for FOX Racing. A year later, just as he was leaving FOX and coming over to serve as Haro's BMX Brand Manager, he helped get me a ride with Haro for the 2006 race season. I raced 2006, 2007 and half of 2008 for Haro and Tony got me this job here doing Aftermarket Parts & Rider Support. I also did a lot of the stuff he didn't care to do so I was more like his secretary but after all he has done for me I probably owe it.

Yesterday was Tony's last day here at Haro. He will remain in the industry but I'll let him come out of hiding and let you know what company is lucky enough to have him be a part of it. Tony is a classic and he'll be missed around the office. I can say that Tony single handedly helped me out more than anyone in my BMX endeavors and for that I can't thank him enough. Good Luck with everything in the future T, you're the best! -dB

Banana-coconut-yogurt cake

I live in a university town, and there's an old joke here that when you take a cab, your driver probably has a PhD. There's actually a lot of truth to that, and as I've discovered over the years, it applies to more than cab drivers. The story goes that people come here for their degrees, fall in love with the city, and never leave, causing a glut of overqualified job seekers. But there's more to the story than just too many qualified workers. Some of these highly educated folks decide to take a different path. Take the handyman who cleared our walks this winter, caulked the tub and made me a new cutting board. He's a (too young to retire) retired engineer who builds decks and pergolas, trims trees, does woodworking, etc. And in a conversation with the painter who is working on our house trim, I discovered that he used to be a social worker/ psychotherapist. He also sold plants at the farmers market for 10 years. He prefers painting, which he started doing to put himself through school, to therapy. These are two people who have found what they really want to do, love their work, and love where they live. This is one of the little tidbits that comes to mind as I get closer to leaving the city that I love so much. There will probably be more . . .

So how do I connect that little blurb about my favorite city to a banana cake? Well, the house trim will be brown - about the same color as the bananas that were sitting on the counter looking ready to explode. They were past the point where anyone would want to eat them, and were crying out to be baked into a cake and not wasted. Each morning as I passed them on my trip through the kitchen before going to work, they cried a little louder, until I finally took action. There was also a jar of leftover coconut milk waiting to be used, and a carton of the most tangy (damn sour) unsweetened soy yogurt in the fridge, that needed a purpose. The words "banana sour cream cake" were assaulting my brain, even though I've never had such a cake, let alone made one, but now I've done both. Not real sour cream, of course, but sour yogurt must be kind of the same once it gets into a cake, don't you think? The cake far exceeded my expectations (and apparently my son's since he ate about half of it after I went to bed!) It was substantial without being heavy, not too sweet and with an almost velvety texture. Delicious!


Banana coconut yogurt cake

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, sifted or stirred well before measuring
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup evaporated cane juice (like Sucanot)
• 2 very ripe bananas (3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy yogurt (I used Wildwood)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy milk)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.
2. Mash the bananas well and mix with the yogurt. Add the oil, coconut milk, soy milk and lemon juice and mix together.
3. Add the liquid to the dry and fold in until all the flour is incorporated. Don't over-mix.
4. Bake in a lightly oiled 9" square pan for about 40 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven. The baked cake should pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back to the touch. Don't over-bake.

This cake was especially charming while still slightly warm.

note: When I put the batter into the pan I was sure the pan was filled too high and would overflow, but it baked up perfectly. (I was so worried I even put foil around the edge just in case, but it was unnecessary.)

More Trails Shred!

Ryan Sher posted this Iphone polaroid on twitter today, if you're also on twitter; I post randumbness on there all the time. So add me if you want @ twitter.com/benhucke to see what kind of mess I'm in at any given time.

-Ben

Miss California Gives Straight Answer

What was very obvious early on in the Miss USA pageant held this past Sunday night was that Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was a beautiful young woman on the outside. She was the typical stereotype of what we all would expect from a 'California Girl': blond, long legs, gorgeous face. And when it came time for the bikini/swimsuit competition she displayed the great body that you would expect to come strolling down the beach in Malibu. But what did not become apparent until right near the end was just how beautiful Carrie Prejean is on the inside. It took an incredibly controversial question under those circumstances from an incredibly outrageous, over-rated, quasi-celebrity judge in the pageant named Perez Hilton who demonstrated his own internal ugliness to bring out Miss California's inner beauty. Hilton, an openly gay male and celebrity gossip blogger, had the task of asking a question of Ms. Prejean during the final portion of the contest. All of the other finalists had to give their opinions on the somewhat difficult questions asked by a particular judge when their own turns came, but none got a more outrageous judge with a more sensational question than Ms. Prejean. Hilton asked his question with wide-eyed enthusiasm, quite obviously expecting a different response: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?" With the relative softballs that the other finalists were being tossed in comparison to this bomb shell of a question, Miss California looked momentarily lost as she searched her mind and her heart for an answer. She quite obviously knew that this was her make-or-break moment. Many people thought that she was the odds-on favorite to win, and the results of later voting showed that was indeed the case heading in to this question period. A politically correct answer, even some non-committal answer, very likely would have resulted in her being crowned as Miss USA. But fortunately for everyone in attendance and for everyone searching for good examples in these increasingly amoral days, Carrie Prejean is a Christian, and she simply could not sell out here true beliefs for a pageant crown. She stumbled through her answer as she tried hard to balance those beliefs with an answer that might still salvage the title. Some of her reply included "I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised." Well hallelujah! First, a young woman with integrity enough to answer a controversial question with honesty. She very well could have gone another way with her public answer, won the crown, kept her personal beliefs to herself for now, and perhaps revealed them down the road as a 'change of heart'. But that's not how Carrie Prejean rolls. This beautiful young girl just a few short years out of high school stood on that stage in front of thousands watching her live, and millions more on television, and spoke from her heart and soul. And secondly, big kudos go out to the parents and family that raised this young woman to also be beautiful on the inside, and to understand at such a young age that truth cannot be compromised for expediency. She later would comment that she now believed that God had placed her in that position intentionally, and I would have to agree with her. Immediately, the exasperated Hilton was taken aback, and he along with numerous gays in the audience and later on the internet and in other forums had negative, hurtful, and profane comments to make about this wonderful young lady. There is only one word that comes to mind: typical. The fact is that God instituted marriage as a sacrament to be between a man and a woman. That is in no way a hurtful or sexist or demeaning statement towards gays. It is simply the truth. Though there were a smattering of boos, the large majority in the audience cheered and applauded when Ms. Prejean gave her answer, one that she had to know once she was finished would derail her Miss USA hopes. As it turns out, it was still very close. She finished as a very close 1st Runner-Up in the judges voting. In the aftermath, the Miss California Organization denounced her answer and said that they did not agree with it. Shame on them for not standing up for their girl. California, one of the most liberal states in the American union, has already turned thumbs down on gay marriage when it was put to the public for a vote, which only shows that even many people with generally liberal political and social viewpoints understand basic, fundamental truths. In response, Hilton commented that she lost the pageant because of her answer, and then later video-blogged that she did not lose because of the answer, but because she was a "dumb bitch". This one should not even be considered in any way controversial on Prejean's part, but the controversy should be squarely on Perez, who showed with his attitude and his words that he is a total and complete horses ass. Perez Hilton is a perfect representation of all that is ugly in the world today, while Carrie Prejean represents all that is right and true. After his outrageous attacks on her simple honest answer, Prejean said simply that she would pray for Hilton. Thankfully, she stood up and showed all of us her beauty on Sunday night, both inside and out. Congratulations to Carrie Prejean for her high finish in the pageant, but more importantly for her, for taking the higher ground that night and ever since. NOTE: As always, the title of this entry takes you to more information on the topic, this time to a news story that shows the Miss USA question-answer, and the controversial internet response.

I Usually Hate Voicemails...

Voicemail from Ben Hucke on Vimeo.

I received this voicemail while Levi was being born in the hospital. I didn't get to hear it until the following morning I was pretty stoked haha.

Lewis Rules

From the UK:

Here are a few pics from a young Haro rider in the UK . Lewis is sponsored by Haro through your UK importers Moore Large. Lewis had his first race on the bike at the first euro round in zwolle a couple of weeks ago ,he was racing 9/10 boys as they only run double age groups.He is in the younger group as he will only be 9 this year and after 2 laps on saturday he won races and got to the semi ending up 5th after making a mistake on the last rythm section while in 3rd .
On Sundays race we made a few changes and he was quicker this time making the main and getting on the podium in 3rd place not bad out of 6o riders with him being the youngest in the main .Lewis loves the way the Haro rides and it has give him so much more confidence in jumping and manualling .He will contest all the major races in Europe and the worlds in Australia on the Haro hoping to get a W plate back on his bike !!! Thanks for a great bike . Check out the videos on schijfbmx and bmx2day

Remembering the Nazi Final Solution

The Nazi Party came to power under the guidance of Adolf Hitler during the 1930's, and early on they blamed the Jewish people for many of their problems. They then began to formulate a plan for what Hitler himself called the "final solution of the Jewish question." In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed that saw classification of German citizens by race. If all four of your grandparents were of German blood, then you were a good German. If 3 or 4 of them were Jewish, then you were Jewish. With 1 or 2 Jewish grandparents, you were considered a 'crossbreed'. The laws prohibited marriage and intercourse between Jews and Germans, as well as the employment of German females under age 45 in Jewish households. They also stripped those of the non-German blood of their German citizenship. Efforts to begin eliminating Jews from German society began even prior to World War II, as Jews were slaughtered in mass killings and became the victims of 'pogroms', which were systematic riots against and attacks on their population centers that included physical violence and murder against people, destruction of businesses, and destruction of their places of worship. Beginning in September of 1941, all Jews living in the lands under German control were required to wear yellow patches on their clothing for identification. Jews were not permitted to become doctors, lawyers, or journalists, could not use state hospitals, and would not be schooled by the state beyond age 14. By the time that 1942 rolled around, with WWII underway fully across the globe, one million Jews had already been killed by the Nazi regime. But this was only the beginning of the worst slaughter of one group of people in the history of mankind. On January 20th, 1942 at the Wannsee Villa in Berlin, a conference named after Hitler's statement of 'The Final Solution to the Jewish Question' was held by a group of Nazi officials. It was here that the idea was born to build actual 'extermination camps' at which mass extermination of Jewish people would occur. Many Jews would also be held at 'concentration camps' if deemed healthy enough and would be utilized as slave labor, until they either died of disease or exhaustion. As the Germans conquered new territories, they set up a system of mass warehousing of Jews, and their transportation on trains to the extermination camps. Built under the direction of Heimlich Himmler in Nazi-occupied Poland, this use of actual extermination or death camps was the beginning of the final phase of the Jewish mass murders that has become known as 'The Holocaust'. This coordinated genocide of mostly Jews, but also at places including Serbs and gypsies, was accomplished by herding those who survived the arduous train rides into the camps. Here they would be led one-by-one into gas chambers, with the bodies then being either cremated or buried in mass graves. Approximately 2-3 million people, most of them Jewish, were killed during the years that the death camps operated, and perhaps 10 million more Jews were killed by the Germans when you count in mass shootings and other murder victims. Today, April 21st, is 'Holocaust Remembrance Day', on which we call to mind all of those who were murdered by the German Nazis in that final racist solution. Still today, over six decades after their use, the death camps with their gas chambers and crematories are lasting symbols of the pure evil that existed within Germany during the years just prior to and during World War II. Evil is a very real force, a real entity in our world that exists still today. We need only do what today calls on us to do, remember the Holocaust in the Nazi final solution, to plant that knowledge of evil firmly in our consciousness, and we must always be willing to fight to overcome that evil.

Spring in Connecticut

I flew back to Connecticut this past weekend for a family event and to check in on my 88 year old mother. Being a quick trip, I only packed my K20D and 31mm lens. The weather turned out to be sunny and warm, and I was able to carve out a little free time to try and capture a few photos showing the signs of springs.

Except for the photo of the field of daffodils, all the other photos were taken around my mother's house and land. I tried to find scenes and composition that tested the 31mm's wonderful resolving capabilities. Although I have used this lens more than any other piece of Pentax glass, it continues to surprise me in the way it consistently renders highlights, shadows and color regardless of the scene or lighting.

While I spent most of my time outside, I did take a few photos inside my mother's house to mix in some hand held natural light interiors to juxtapose against the primarily outdoor nature scenes. I haven't photographed many interiors with this lens previously, and was fairly happy with these casual tests especially since they were all shot at f/4.0 and between 1/6 and 1/8 sec.

All photos shot in RAW and converted with CS3 (no adjustments) into jpegs for uploading to Blogger. Double click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

Lil' web edit.

Vital did a cool little edit with Nyquist, Dennis Enarson (before surgery) and Anthony Napolitan. Although Anthony isn't on Haro, he still shreds...so enjoy.

Check it.

Rendell is Wrong on Guns

The governor of Pennsylvania wants to take away your Constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms. He believes that there are guns flying or walking around his Commonwealth and this nation on their own, blasting away at the citizens under his charge. He believes that if he just takes away your guns, then the bad people who want to sell drugs and rob folks will never again have firearms in their hands. This must be the case. He must believe that, like some crazed cartoon, a gun walks up to people on its own and demands their cash. Or that a gun shoots itself at people on a drug corner. Or that guns leave their homes, drive down the block in their cars, and kill police officers. Never mind all of the evidence that seems to point to something completely different. That there actually do seem to be human beings who are carrying those guns, robbing people with them, and pulling the trigger to shoot people. And there is a funny thing about the vast majority of the people who it seems are always carrying those guns. They have a criminal record, have been arrested by law enforcement already, been convicted by juries and judges already, and been sent to prison already. Unfortunately for their subsequent robbery and assault and murder victims, many of them have been released early from their sentences. People sentenced to 15-20 year sentences get out routinely in a half dozen years. People sentenced to 25 years behind bars are out in a decade. And what do the heavy majority then do? They return to a life of crime, often using guns to accomplish this task. But perhaps Governor Ed Rendell understands this, and maybe he just thinks that if we do away with guns then it will be more difficult for these individuals to obtain them. What do you think? Do you think that if a bad guy wants to get a gun, no matter what kind of laws and restrictions the Governor has instituted, that he will not be able to get one? I mean, there are literally tens of thousands of guns already in the hands of private citizens across the country, and no amount of legislation enacted is going to ever do away with that fact. No, the fact is that bad guys will always be able to get their hands on guns, and the further fact is that Governor Ed Rendell knows it. He is not a stupid man, he is just a politician, and what politicians have learned over the years to do best is to make people feel good, to make them feel as if the politicians are doing something, anything, to help alleviate problems. Just like any other politician who has ever said them, Governor Rendell knows that when he and other pols speak lines such as "We're going after the guns! This is outrageous, all these shootings! Something has to be done, and we're going to do it!" he sounds tough, and some people believe it means he is looking out for them. The fact is that politicians know that they can never do away with all the guns out there, and that they cannot keep them out of the hands of bad guys. They simply do not have the political courage to stand up and tell you the truth, that the vast majority of gun crimes, like any other crimes, are committed by the same small percentage of the population over and over again, and that if you just keep these folks off the streets, crime will drop precipitously. If someone gets 25 years in jail, keep them in jail for 25 years. That's a quarter of a century that some violent criminal will not be able to victimize society. If they commit another such crime on being released, double their penalty. That pretty much takes them out of the game for the rest of their lives and ours. Spray paint doesn't cause graffiti, ignorant and delinquent people do. Matches don't light forest fires, careless and reckless people do. Guns don't rob, injure, and kill, dangerous people do. If the Governor and others like him are ever successful in restricting or limiting the purchase of guns, then the only people who will have a hard time getting their hands on them will be law abiding citizens such as you and I. There is a popular argument that these generally liberal politicians like to make, that individuals should be able to own a handgun, but not high-powered, military-style, automatic or semi-automatic weapons. They like to say that no one needs weapons such as those. Why is that? Who are they to decide that they know better than the framers of our American Constitution, who envisioned ownership of private firearms as a means of ensuring that the government could not oppress the people at the barrels of its own guns one day? Americans have the right, guaranteed by our Constitution, to protect ourselves with private firearm ownership. That was the intent of our Founding Fathers, that has been the position of numerous court decisions down through our history, and that is the reality of the situation. Liberal politicians such as Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell would be far more sincere, and far more effective, if they spent less time worrying about taking away our guns and more time worrying about taking away freedom from criminals and keeping them behind bars where they belong.

Are You Like 'Doubting Thomas'?

After his rise from the dead, Jesus appeared to a number of his disciples in a couple of different circumstances. But present at none of these was one of his closest followers, the Apostle Thomas Didymus.

Thomas was one of Jesus' original twelve disciples, one of his inner sanctum. Yet when the others related the news to him that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead, and that the Lord had appeared before each of them, Thomas doubted. He said to them "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

How many of you reading this feel the same way? You may have been raised in the Christian faith, yet for many that faith has become watered down, and in some cases has disappeared entirely. For others it is something that they profess, and yet do nothing about.

You claim to not need the Church, not need anything 'formal', not need anything sacramental. You are 'spiritual', whatever that means, and no one should dare to presume to tell you what you should and should not believe. After all, everyone has their own beliefs, and we should not force ours on others. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus and his Apostles evangelized, and Jesus himself called on all of his followers to do the same, to spread his Word throughout the corners of the world. Once your life has truly been touched by Christ, there is nothing that you can do to hide that fact, and spreading that word and belief is something that you are bound to do in accordance with your faith.

Thomas was there in the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. He was there throughout the travels around the Holy Land as Jesus spread his message of love and hope. He was there as Jesus entered into Jerusalem in triumph. And he was there as Jesus was taken into custody, put on trial, scorned and scourged, and killed on a cross.

But apparently there was something particular to Thomas' belief in Jesus Christ, the same thing that is particular to many of your belief in Christ. He believed as long as he could see, hear, touch Jesus Christ. Once Jesus was dead, he was history, and Thomas did not have the faith to carry his belief beyond the grave, beyond that history.

Most people understand and believe that Jesus Christ was a real human being in history, and accept that he was a great preacher and holy man in his time who was indeed eventually considered a threat and was ultimately dealt with by the authorities. The rest comes with true faith.

A week after Jesus had last visited his disciples, just a couple of weeks after his death, burial, and rising, the group was again gathered in hiding behind locked doors for fear that the authorities might still be looking for them. Suddenly there standing among them was Jesus himself, appearing out of nowhere, and saying to them "Peace be with you."

He then turned and directly addressed Thomas: "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas was overcome with Jesus' appearance in front of him, speaking to him again. "My Lord and My God!" is how he responded.

Thomas immediately recognized and acknowledged Jesus Christ for exactly who and what He was. Not a man somehow back among other men, but God himself, the Messiah raised from the dead to bring spiritual deliverance to all men. Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

I myself have never seen Jesus Christ in person. He has never appeared to me in a dream or a vision. I have never viewed video of his life, or still pictures of his feats. I have never spoken with anyone who can claim any of these things either. But I have met Jesus Christ. He has come into my life.

I cannot claim to have always followed his word, always obeyed all of God's commandments, always been a regular church-goer, always set the best example. But I can say this. I cannot ever remember a time in my life when I did not believe in Jesus Christ as God.

It has been my ultimate happiness to learn more as I have grown older, and grown to understand more about Christ, how he died for my sins specifically. I only pray that you feel the same. That any 'Doubting Thomas' left out there today, especially among those who I count as loved ones, will seek and find what I have found in Jesus Christ.