Random Things
…that don’t deserve their own posts.
iPhone 11 Pro Max
I upgraded from the old, stinky iPhone XS to the new, great-smelling iPhone 11 Pro Max (excellent work, Apple marketing department). It’s huge. But, except for when I hold it one-handed with my pinky holding the weight1, it’s easy to get used to the size and weight. The battery life is really great. I use the phone all day long and, unless I’m playing a really power hungry game, it only get’s down to about 60%. Apple says Face ID is faster and it does feel a little speedier. I’ve gone with the Apple silicone case and I have to say it’s my favorite case for iPhone because the cutout at the bottom makes doing swipe up from bottom gestures very easy.
New Film Camera
I sold a bunch of cameras and lenses on ebay recently to get the cash to buy a new camera. I got a Mamiya 645 Super medium format film camera. You can get a good idea of the difference between 35mm and medium format here. The 645, as the name implies, uses the 6cm X 4.5cm (actually 56mm X 42mm) frame size. It captures much more detail than a 35mm film image. I did keep my 35mm Canon A1 and a few lenses for it. For the Mamiya I have an 80mm lens (roughly equivalent to a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera). I’ve shot three rolls of 120 format film through it and I’m really enjoying it so far. I’ll have a post very soon on some of the first photos with it.
Office Ladies Podcast
There is a new podcast that I’m kind of obsessed with. It’s called Office Ladies. It’s Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey (Pam and Angela, respectively, on The Office) rewatching and discussing every episode of The Office. It’s great and you should listen to it.
Watchmen - The show and the podcast
The new Watchmen show has debuted on HBO and I’m really liking it. It’s well-written, well-acted, and way better than the movie was. And after every third episode show-runner Damon Lindelof sits down with Craig Mazin (he did a similar podcast for his own HBO show, Chernobyl) to talk about the show and it’s production. I highly recommend both the show and the accompanying podcast.
I tried to find an image of someone holding their phone this way on the internet but I couldn’t. Apparently I’m the only person on the planet who holds their phone this way. I dunno. It’s basically this: the phone is in my left hand with my thumb on the side with the volume controls and my first three fingers on the other side and my pinky stretched down under where the speakers and lightning port are to hold the weight of the phone. It gives a really secure hold on the phone but makes two-thumb typing hard so I would type with my left thumb and my right index finger which doesn’t work well because for whatever reason Apple’s keyboard gives a lot of typos when I type with my index finger. So I’ve recently tried to hold it like all of you people do and type with both thumbs and I see now why no one holds their phone the way I do.↩︎