Heraclitus, revisited. (Or, sorry I haven't written lately; what's been happening this month?)

I've written recently about Heraclitus, and my goal of taking photos of Bucky that are distinct.

Sometimes, though, like when he stands in the window-light at the top of the stairs and looks into my portrait lens, images from different days can be pretty damn similar:

(19 October 2014)

(27 October 2014)

So, it was nice to get a chance (at bedtime) to snap a shot that is different:

(25 October 2014)

Thanks, Bucky.

(Click on any image for full-screen.)

(Reprise.)

Bucky was back at the top of the stairs.

8/31/2014 (click image for full-screen)

The Bucky Variations*.

Heraclitus said that "Everything changes and ... you cannot step twice into the same stream."

If, however, you take several photographs of the same stream – or dog – they may not look all that different.

But what if you use different lenses?

Here is Bucky standing at the top of the stairs, as seen through three different lenses** (click any image for full-screen):

Fuji X100S***, 5/28/14.

Nikkor 105 mm f/2 "defocus control" lens****, 8/9/14

Lensbaby LM-10*****, 8/12/14.

And there you have it: Three different views of Bucky at the top of the stairs.

I admit that these may not reflect three different ways of being, a la Heraclitus, but instead may depict three different ways of seeing, a la John Berger. But, for most of us, ways of seeing are ways of being. And, as for me, I am grateful to Bucky, who has taught me new ways of being, and of seeing.


__________________________
        *  With footnotes.
     **   And cameras.
   ***   Built-in 23 mm f/2 lens (35 mm equivalent focal length = 35 mm).
 ****  On a full-frame Nikon digital SLR.
***** On an iPhone.

Sun, & Autumn.

Two analogies from the Mountain Goats:

"...the sun peeks in like a killer through the curtain..."
-from "The First Few Desperate Hours" from the album "Tallahassee" (2002).

"...Autumn came around like a drifter to an on-ramp..."
-from "In the Hidden Places" from the album "Get Lonely" (2006).

Under the influence.

Heraclitus said that you can't step into the same river twice, but sometimes I wondered whether I was photographing the same dog twice, thrice, and more.

I like to photograph Bucky. Sometimes, though, I found that I would take a photograph of him, and it would look very familiar:

(July)

(October)

(November)

(Click any image for full-screen.)

Old dog, new photo. If you photograph the same dog, repeatedly, how different can any new photo be...?

Last weekend, I visited the Yousuf Karsh exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (USA). In spite of my familiarity with some of Karsh's truly iconic images (his portraits of Churchill & Hemingway, for instance), looking at his prints moved me. Wow. What exquisite compositions! What use of light - and darkness - to frame, and to highlight!

After visiting the exhibition, I took these two photos (click any image for full-screen), indoors, by available window-light; I think they are different from all my earlier photos of Bucky:

Thank you, Mr. Karsh!

And thank you, Bucky.

Our 2013 Top Eleven!

The top* ten-plus-one NeuroCooking posts of 2013:

1. Bucky is not like other dogs. But he is like a motorcycle, or Gerald Ford, or Harry Potter... ("Visually similar images" from Google's "search by image")
2. Title of the Week!
3. Don’t bring a data set to a food fight!
4. Edward I. Koch, 1924-2013
5. Mid-Winter Dog-Blogging!
6. Cooking with NeuroCooking!
7. "Bucky is not like other dogs. But he is like ..." Part III. ("Visually similar images" from Google's "search by image")
8. Your functional neuroimaging update (with study questions).
9. Brains are different like bikes are different.
10. Two Views of Christmas Afternoon
11. O Lucky Man!

Bucky, from "Mid-Winter Dog-Blogging!", February 12.

Self-strangling morning glory, from "O Lucky Man!", October 17.

Bucky, from "Two Views of Christmas Afternoon," December 25.

________
*As ranked by number of pageviews.

1000

We are pleased – and honored! – to announce that Bucky has accepted our invitation to feature in this, the 1000th NeuroCooking post:

3 August 2013 (click image for full-screen)

H-index, I10-index, Etc.

Dear NeuroCooking friends, my Google Scholar Profile is now public.

Opera in a barn (continued): Rossini and Verdi

At 10 AM tomorrow (Saturday), tickets go on sale for the Summer season at Wolf Trap, including opera at the Barns.

(2011)

Thank you for giving me control of your brain!

Title of the Week!

The article, "When Pinocchio's nose does not grow: Belief regarding lie-detectability modulates production of deception," appears in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Missed a birthday!

Ten days ago, NeuroCooking became four years old! Thanks for joining us here!

"I used to think I was alone. Well, I ain't alone no more." [Special Kickin' in 2013 Rockin' New Year's Day Repost!]

Tom Morello's song about his guitar is uplifting:

Our 2012 Top Ten.

The top ten* NeuroCooking posts of 2012:

1. Best. Coffee. Ever.
2. Mid-June Dog-Blogging! (or, "SG-31R")
3. "AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D" part II (or, "Do you want fries with that?")
4. "h" vs. "H" (and the Mountain Goats, Down Under)
5. e.g., "Rule number eight: exploit superstitious thinking"
6. Proofreading Is Important, Part XHYXHYXHYX
7. Applied what?
8. "If new-laid eggs wore wooden legs I should not laugh or cry."
9. "Finally, SUPEREGO-related neural activity was localized to lateral prefrontal and parietal cortex."
10. Seeing Is Believing.

Bucky, from "Mid-June Dog-Blogging! (or, 'SG-31R')," June 14.

Cherry tree, from "'AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D' part II (or, 'Do you want fries with that?')," March 25.

The Mountain Goats, from "'h' vs. 'H' (and the Mountain Goats, Down Under)," May 16.

Nope it ain't, from "Applied what?" September 27.

Warning, from "Seeing Is Believing," May 18.

_____
*As ranked by number of pageviews.

Lensbaby (2.0) Loves Bucky!

I don't use it much, but when I do, I enjoy my Lensbaby (2.0).

In fact, I admit that, sometimes, playing with the Scheimpflug principle can be irresistible.

I enjoy my Lensbaby, and my Lensbaby loves Bucky:

(click image for full-screen view)

Another succinct alternative to another dualism.

If you liked our succinct alternatives to Cartesian dualism, then you might like this sentence – the text of a slide –  from Prof. Luiz Pessoa's compelling presentation at today's stimulating Maryland Neuroimaging Retreat, hosted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine:

"There are no cognitive or emotional brain regions, per se."

Not that there'd be anything wrong with that...

My talk at the upcoming Applied Brilliance Conference will be nothing like this:

"Unknown engines underneath the city..."

You can hear "Transcendental Youth," the new album from the Mountain Goats that is due out next week, streaming live (and free) at this link, and you can see Mr. John Darnielle introduce and perform "Harlem Roulette" (from the new album) right here:

"If new-laid eggs wore wooden legs I should not laugh or cry."

I would like to tell you how beautifully Corinne Winters sang the role of Anne Trulove at today's matinee of The Rake's Progress at the Barns of Wolf Trap. And I'd like to tell you that Eric Barry inhabited the title role of Tom Rakewell so perfectly that it could have been written for him! And I'd like to tell you that Margaret Gawrysiak's portrayals of Mother Goose and Baba the Turk demonstrated virtuosity and great humor.

But I can't.

I can't. Not because any of that isn't true, but because my ticket says that by attending the performance, I agreed that I "will not transmit ... any description [or] account ... of the event."

Sorry!

"... by your use of this ticket you agree, that you will not transmit ... any description [or] account ... of the event ..."

oPad?

At the Barns of Wolf Trap tonight, when Leporello sang the aria "Madamina, il catalogo è questo'" (also known as "The Catalogue Aria"), listing Don Giovanni's conquests ("In Italy, 640 / In Germany, 231 / 100 in France; in Turkey, 91 / But in Spain, already 1003"), he read not from a book, but from an iPad — while the data were digitally projected onto tall scrim panels.

Don Giovanni's iPad can be seen at the 0:30" mark in this video.

And here's a video of the aria (from a different production) with English subtitles.