Good morning!
With a recent addition of a neutral density filter, I decided to go over to Roseville central park and see if I couldn’t get some nice blurred water. For those who don’t know, a neutral density filter basically darkens the picture. So, this means less light goes into the lens and you need to take longer shutter speeds to get a picture. With a tripod (of course), this is a 1 second exposure of the water.
Why can’t I do this without this filter? Well, if I set my camera to take a 1 second exposure without this lens, in daylight, the picture would be all light and washed out (because all that bright light would be hitting the sensor for a full second). The ND filter, by reducing the light that comes into the camera, lets you take a longer exposure.
I then converted this to black and white. Here’s the result:
I was invited by the powers that be to participate at CONvergence this year. I signed up for a slew of panels, and even managed to get on a few.
Where can you find me at CONvergence?
Thursday, July 4
5:00pm
100 Science Fiction Books To Read Before You Die
My fellow panelists are: Michael Levy, Elizabeth Bear, Jody Wurl, Patrick Tomlinson, James Enge.
Friday, July 5
9:30am
Doctor Who Primer (Description: Paul Weimer)
My fellow panelists are: Christopher Jones, Michael Thomas, Jennifer Kelley and Steve Manfred
11:00am
Successful and Unsuccessful Alternative History
My fellow panelists are: Will Shetterly, Eleanor Arnason, Naomi Kritzer, and Bob Alberti
Saturday, July 6
9:30am
Back In My Day... (Description: Paul Weimer)
My fellow panelists are: Rory Ni Coileain, Kevin Horner, David Rust and Kimo Kuppe
So come to one of the panels I am on, or meet me wandering around the convention, camera in hand!
The desert sands crunched under his boots as he walked toward the thing. Larger than a tank, Marcus thought, looking up at the numerous guns. He hadn’t quite gotten a good look at it on their last encounter. Now that he was within spitting distance, the origins of the thing, with its fusion of metal and organic designs were clear. And it definitely did not belong here. So.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Good afternoon. As a duly designated representative of the town of Northmarch, the Kingdom of Ryozan, and the Empire of her most serene Highness my mother the Empress Julia Procopina, you are hereby in violation of the Sweetwater Compact. As such, you are hereby ordered to remove yourself behind the Black Line back to your origin,or nearest such parallel dimension.”
The metal monster seemed to consider this a moment.
“Are you one of the Nine and Forty?” it stated in that metal voice Marcus had heard before.
“I believe I specified that already” Marcus replied. He tensed himself and was not surprised to see the main gun track and turn on him.
“Is that an affirmative?” the metal voice repeated.
“Linea’s Eyes, YES!”
The gun fired...
1st person Marcus
This was not one of my brighter ideas. I had to trust my sister’s plan, because, well, she was smarter than me. And this thing had to be stopped. I’d invested too much in the Kingdom on behalf of Mom to let some metal construct from the other side of reality wreck it.Besides, if Dulce was right, *I* and the rest of the family was its real target.
I stopped a few paces from the thing.It had been traveling slowly, a few miles per hour, after the sting of our first encounter. It did not immediately fire on me. Maybe she was right.
I cleared my throat and spoke.
“Good afternoon. As a duly designated representative of the town of Northmarch, the Kingdom of Ryozan, and the Empire of her most serene Highness my mother the Empress Julia Procopina, you are hereby in violation of the Sweetwater Compact. As such, you are hereby ordered to remove yourself behind the Black Line back to your origin,or nearest such parallel dimension.”
The thing might be made of orichalcum instead of marshmallow, but the same principle applied.
I think I confused it, it took a moment to answer.
“Are you one of the Nine and Forty?”
Idiot, I thought. I said my mother was the Empress already, indirectly.
“I believe I specified that already” I replied. Yeah, my brilliant big sister was right. Coming for the family. Good. Let’s make this personal. And don’t think, I thought to myself, I don’t see that big gun turning on me.
“Is that an affirmative?” the metal machine repeated.
“Linea’s Eyes, YES!” What a pedantic machine. I tensed my shoulders.
The gun fired.
1st person Ogre
The little man walked toward me. I slowed down to a crawl, and then a stop.I had to revise his threat level from 0 to 3 after the previous encounter. Form indicated negotiation before immediate hositities. There was also a 89 percent probability he would have countermeasures for a sneak attack. Patterns of force suggested allowing him within range of main gun. Programming also dictated confirming the man’s identity, although there was a 45% chance, based on current evidence, he was Prince Marcus. Confirmation was essential before action.
The man spoke.
“Good afternoon. As a duly designated representative of the town of Northmarch, the Kingdom of Ryozan, and the Empire of her most serene Highness my mother the Empress Julia Procopina, you are hereby in violation of the Sweetwater Compact. As such, you are hereby ordered to remove yourself behind the Black Line back to your origin,or nearest such parallel dimension.”
Most of the referents were to local and large scale political entities. Form of the speech suggested allusion to some work of literature. I spent a half second searching for the referent, in vain. In accordance with programming, I resumed the forms.
“Are you one of the Nine and Forty?”
“I believe I specified that already” the man replied. This increased the probability of the subject to 89%. It was not 90% confidence, confirmation was indicated. I trained the main gun on him anyway, he was enough of a threat in any situation.
“Is that an affirmative?” I asked. Human language could be fraught with strange constructions. Why could these Empire dwellers not use a regular language?
“Linea’s Eyes, YES!”
I ignored the mythological reference. He was Prince Marcus,and thus a legitimate target. I fired.
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