Monthly Archives: December 2013

The Fix

humor, personal, techniques, , , , , ,

I’m a frequent visitor to Chinese restaurants. You might say that I’m a big fan of Chinese food.

But something has been bothering me for the last several years. Let me explain and then you can judge for yourself whether it bothers you too.

When the server seats us, she brings the usual: a napkin, a tea cup, a plate and chopsticks. Of course the bamboo chopsticks are wrapped to keep them sanitary. By the way, I hate those plastic chopsticks because they’re slippery, but that’s not what bothers me. You’ve undoubtedly noticed that the chopstick wrapper usually has printed instructions explaining how to use the chopsticks, but that’s not what bothers me either.

Actually, the thing that bothers me has nothing to do with Chinese restaurants at all. What bothers me has everything to do with the non-Chinese restaurants.

What if someone went into a restaurant, say to have a meal of spaghetti and this person doesn’t know how to use a fork? How would he get those long strands of pasta into his mouth? Of course, this dilemma isn’t unique to Italian food – think German sauerbraten, French coq-au-vin, English roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and Spanish paella – the food has to make its way from the plate to the tongue.

To be fair, this isn’t much of a problem with pizza, tacos or hot dogs since you can always eat these foods by hand. But by and large, the culinary world doesn’t look kindly on hand-food.

So I’m proposing an easy fix for those guests who have not yet mastered the art of consuming food with a fork. For the benefit (and non-embarrassment) of these guests, the restaurant establishment should consider wrapping their forks with the following instructions:

So now it’s your turn. Did I hit the nail on the head?

Written by: Arnie Lee
 
 
 

It’s Personal

equipment, personal, , , ,

Camera Brands Are Like Religion

Not a week goes by without someone asking me what brand of camera they should buy, a Canon or a Nikon.

Most of the time theyā€™re wanting to replace their good quality point-and shoot camera. Theyā€™re looking for more advanced equipment along the lines of a DSLR.

Having owned or used literally dozens of cameras, especially in the past five years, I have a definitive answer which Iā€™ll share with you shortly. But what I find interesting is that so many photo enthusiasts also have very definite answers to this question.

Let me back up a bit and explain why Iā€™m writing this.

A Facebook friend wrote that he was looking for a new DLSR. ā€œShould I buy a Canon or a Nikon?ā€, he posted. I replied ā€œor a Sony?ā€. The point I was trying to make was that there are more choices than only Canon and Nikon.

A few minutes later there were many more replies on his Facebook status: “Nikon”; “CanonCanonCanon”; “I shoot Nikon”; “I use a Nikon D90”; “Canon definitely”; “I have a Nikon 5000”; etc.

 

 

Itā€™s not surprising that a camera brand is a very personal choice. It is as though each photographer is pleading with my friend to heed only his or her suggestion. Isnā€™t proselytizing their brand like forcing a personā€™s religion onto another?

Yet when I think about it I was doing the same. I was suggesting that a Sony NEX camera is similar to DSLR but without the weight and bulk. And since I am very fond of carrying lightweight equipment, I frequently use a Sony NEX camera.

Of course I could have chosen a different way to respond to his initial post by asking a few qualifying questions: will he be taking lots of sports or action; are movies part of his photography repertoire; how much money does he have to spend.

But frankly these qualifying questions donā€™t matter much.

Hereā€™s my answer to his question: it doesnā€™t matter if you choose Canon or Nikon. Both have equally capable cameras in the various price ranges. And Sony also has equally capable cameras. One could argue that Pentax and Olympus also offer quality models too.

Thereā€™s too many slanted opinions for my friend to make his choice based on all of the Facebook replies. I hope my friend makes his choice based on how the equipment feels in his hands; getting the most features for the price; availability and affordability of additional lenses; past experience with previous purchases.

What do you think? Any comments?

Written by: Arnie Lee