Saturday, May 30, 2009

Steph Davis

Impressive and versatile woman... Steph Davis on Freerider
I started learning yoga about two years ago. At about the same time, I became a vegan (don't eat any animal products, or refined sugar). Physically and spiritually, these two practices have changed my life, and brought my climbing and running to another level.
And: She Rocks
STRUGGLE IS PART OF LIFE, AND ONCE WE ACCEPT THAT, THINGS WILL BE MUCH EASIER.
...
Snaking past buttresses and long cracks, Freerider rises 38 pitches to the summit of El Cap. Davis's training program was part masochism, all discipline: Two or three times a week, she'd hike ten miles to the summit, self-belay a thousand feet down to the lower pitches, and climb up alone. "Most people don't just walk up to El Cap and say, ‘Oh, I'm going to free it,' " she says. "It's like playing piano: taking something big and breaking it down and then trying to achieve a perfect performance."
...
As it turned out, Freerider was a turning point in her relationship with Dean: The couple finally accepted that their marriage, weird though it was, actually worked. "Our roles started to materialize," says Davis. "We agreed that there are some things we'll do together and some things we'll do apart. The reality is, I wouldn't really want someone following me around, bearing my rock shoes on a pillow and saying, ‘Rah-rah, Steph!' That would get on my nerves!"
...
"To be a professional climber, you have to sell yourself and convince everybody you're the best," Davis says. "But I don't think there is a 'best.' The minute you say you want to be better than someone else, you've immediately put a limit on yourself, and you're a fool!"
Here is her blog.
And book: High Infatuation: A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity

Sunday, May 24, 2009

New F200EXR

Thursday was a day off and used it to spent the first day (almost) with the new Fujifilm F200EXR camera. I was lured into this camera because of its new suposedly superior sensor, which should handle low light situations better than any other digital compact camera. Also, as I started to make more and more pictures with my Panasonic (have a look at my first impression back then) in ISO 400 mode to get faster shutter speed even under normal light conditions, I was also interested to use a higher sensitivity for normal light conditions. Now it is to early to confirm that I like this Fujifilm's handling of colors and special light situations better than the Panasonic DMC-TZ5's, but the 28mm wide angle has been an immediate disappointment with quite strong barrel distortions. After all in comparison it looks like the Panasonic's Leitz (Leica) lens is quite special! Same can be said to my old Kodak's Schneider Kreuzach lens!

Anyway, here are a few first shots from Lucerne on 2009-05-22.




Saturday, May 02, 2009

Joe Hisaishi: Summer


Not so long ago (2009-02-27) heard this piece played live by Kamura Kizilboga in the Storchen Bar in Zurich and it was fantastic!

Here the composer Joe Hisaishi plays it himself:

Joe Hisaishi Live - Summer ( from Kikujiro )


Here is the sheet music, if you like to play and practice it yourself.

Very sweet:
Ethel Poh (6-year-old) - "Summer" composed by Joe Hisaishi


Thanks to Xin.