Stupid dialogue

The following dialogue is in Romanian and I am not translating it by hand, is a stupid dialogue about people buying powerful cameras:

[Guy1] mi-am luat un canon 450d (kit) la 1500ron . e ok pretul? :) "ca si nou smm! zice ala de pe okazii"
[Guy1] si ma intalnesc mai tarziu sa il pick up, e ceva anume la care ar trebui sa ma uit? sa nu fie vreo defectiune/uzura pe care eu sa nu o observ? ca nu prea stiu
[Guy2] Guy1: da
[Guy2] desi la 1500 s-ar putea sa mai aiba un glitch pe ici pe colo
[StupidGuy] ala e un aparat foto?
[StupidGuy] am sesizat ca asta e noul thing la barbati
[StupidGuy] aparatele foto
[StupidGuy] patetic :)
[nicubunu] cu lentile cit mai MARI
[StupidGuy] da
[nicubunu] a mea e numai de 300 mm :D
[StupidGuy] toti stau si o freaca la rece pe forumuri si site-uri cu obiective
[StupidGuy] si se intreaba dupa aceea de ce nu vrea nimeni sa s efuta cu ei
[Guy5] nicubunu: da link la strip-ul ala al tau cu obiectivele :)
[Guy3] am si eu cunoscuti retarzi care au bagat in aparate foto si obiective 4-5k EUR. pula mea, daca nu produci cu sculele alea tre' sa fii putin cretin
[Guy3] deja placere si detaliu iti poate oferi orice scula de 800-1000EUR
[nicubunu] http://fedora.nicubunu.ro/webcomics/size-matters.png
[Guy4] Guy3: aceeasi parere poate sa o aiba ei despre bagatul de bani in masini sau comfutere
[nicubunu] so eu sint "aproape cretin" :D
[StupidGuy] nicubunu: nu draga
[StupidGuy] esti idiot sadea
[StupidGuy] eu nici macar nu am aparat foto :)
[Guy3] Guy4: la masini e clar. la computere idem. cistigul e imediat.
[StupidGuy] ce castig bre?
[Guy3] Guy4: dar la poze... faci ditamai poza care dupa 2 zile ramine uitata pe un hdd
[StupidGuy] tu castigi ceva cu masina?
[StupidGuy] faci taximetrie?
[Guy3] nu, dar profit zilnic de ea in mod util si placut
[StupidGuy] pai la fel si ei cu aparatele foto
[Guy3] pai faci poza si o zvirli
[Guy3] care e finalitatea?
[nicubunu] care e finalitatea sa te joci Starcrat 2?
[Guy3] ma rog, sint foarte multe aspecte si la masini care sint inutile si imbecile.
[StupidGuy] ideea e ca peste tot unde ma duc vad numai distrusi de astia lower middle class cu dslr-uri sau cum naiba se cheama
[StupidGuy] si nspe obiective langa ei
[StupidGuy] si se agita, sa uita
[Guy4] eu fac poze cu telefonul mobil
[Guy3] pai lentila e totul
[Guy4] cele mai misto amintiri
[StupidGuy] si tot de kkt ies pozele
[StupidGuy] point and shoot si gata
[Guy5] imo >90% din fotografie e sa stii CE sa pozezi
[StupidGuy] aia e tot ce ai nevoie
[StupidGuy] daca nu esti artist
[Guy4] Guy5: exact
[StupidGuy] in fine
[nicubunu] uh... nu, cind nu stii ce sa pozezi iese si mai rau daca faci cu o sapuniera
[StupidGuy] am remarcat doar ca asta e new thing
[StupidGuy] eram la IT-ul unei banci acum cateva saptamani
[nicubunu] pentru ca s-au ieftinit SLR-urile
[StupidGuy] o chestie de aia de noapte
[StupidGuy] si ma uitam pe monitoare ce au lasat deschis
[Guy5] nicubunu: pai pozele de kkt sunt de kkt la orice rezolutie si calitate
[StupidGuy] pe vremuri era porn si tech stuff
[StupidGuy] acum erau cu aparate foto
[StupidGuy] rusinos
[Guy5] StupidGuy: acu sunt photoshopuri si aparate foto
[StupidGuy] da
[Guy5] metrosexualizarea bate globalizarea
[StupidGuy] nicubunu: bai omule, sapuniera cum ii zici tu incape in buzunar
[nicubunu] o poza de kkt arata un pic mai putin de kkt daca e facuta cu o camera buna
[StupidGuy] nu umbli ca cersetorul cu rucsac dupa tine
[StupidGuy] asta e priceless
[StupidGuy] poza te pisi pe ea
[StupidGuy] oricare ar fi
[nicubunu] fa tu poze cu sapuniera
[StupidGuy] pai nu am nici de aia

As a conclusion, I am a cretin, idiot, beggar and such. I stopped the conversation then the next obvious line had to be "sorry my friend, but you are an idiot".

Note: all the names are anonymized as the discussion happened on a public IRC channel.

Here I come!

My friend convinced me, I am going to ARTMania, the ticket just arrived:

Hoping August will prove a month more interesting than July (I have a few things planned already) and I didn't lost my hope yet about getting my lens back. Wait and see.

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Out of the comfort zone

My experience with fashion photography is limited (but I do want to learn more in the area) and I also have little experience with shooting men - didn't read much on this area, did not experiment and such, so when getting this request for doing a male fashion shooting I really felt out of my comfort zone but the challenge was interesting. Will let the viewers be judged, I acknowledge I am a noob in this.

During the shooting I tried to play a bit, doing some less boring stuff, but the client was focused on the task at hand, so my freedom was limited.

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Rain break

My main lens is till broken at the repair shop (for over a month already) but this evening when I returned home and the daily rain stopped. I couldn't resist taking a few photos of those roses in my garden with what I had available (I think the roses looks amazing after a rain), so they are imperfect (not the macros I love to do)... but I also wanted them as a thank you/barter for someone who showed me today a much awaited set of photos.

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Stupid people story

When I bought the toy a few days ago I hat it shipped at my office, as usual, since this is the most convenient for me. Couple of days later, it was the time to bring it home and much to the shock on friend who lives in an unsecure country where something like this is inconceivable, I had no problem taking in the street, since in Bucharest something like this is obviously a toy. Of course, inside its original box :D

The day coincided with the openSUSE release party, where I participated along with a few friends and all the toys I could carry (Mo called us "Fedora release party crasher crew" for this). The meeting point with the other guys was at the exit from a subway station, Piața Victoriei, since I thought this may be the most convenient for all. And now is the moment when my stupidity shines: while waiting, I showed them my toy, ready to take it out of the box and fully assemble it. And only then we realised we are less than 100 meters away from the Government Palace, a building heavily guarded, with armed soldiers and in a time when the government just raised the taxes. And realised is probably a good idea to keep the toy inside the box :D And also realised how stupid can I be at times.

But this is not all... we continued to wait with the box under the arm while a guy passing by, not sure if he was drunk, crazy or both, asked us if that is real. From the box it was obvious is a toy, but we told him this once again. Then he asked us if we know where he can buy a real one (AFAIK, is not possible or legal to buy an AK 47 in Romania) so we, amused, directed him to ask the palace guards, since they surely have real guns. Before leaving he let us know how angry is he with the Prime Minister and bragged about he would do if he had a real weapon (from his look I doubt he ever touched one).

So I am stupid, but probably not the only one. Hope not the biggest one either...

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Crepuscular Bucharest

It was a heavy storm in the evening, just before I left the office and then the black clouds cleared a bit for the sun near the horizon, allowing for one of the most beautiful "golden hour" lights I remember but I was in a hurry to get somewhere and did not capture it. A bit later, after I failed the task I had in the city I noticed the beautiful colors of the twilight and this time did use my camera, trying to capture them. Hope you like them too, from the right angle and at the right time Bucharest is not that bad... The bad part is me being completely unprepared: hand held camera and only the 50mm lens with me.






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New toy

What I do when nothing to do? Beside buying books and being lame? I buy toys of course! And my latest toy is this AK 47 (Kalashnikov)

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More books / Learning

These days I don't do many photos (my main lens is still broken at the repair shop, I got shafted by some and generally feel depressed) so instead I should do something, like learning... always is a good time to learn.
The past week I was showing my photos to someone and she commented about the make-up being bad... to my defence I acknowledged my complete lack of experience in the area (which I know is a bad thing) so she suggested me to take a course. Until that opportunity arrives, I figured is a good idea to buy some books and learn from them, so there are my book, eagerly awaiting to be read:

BTW, thumbs up for Amazon: books ordered Friday, arrived the next Wednesday witht he simplest shipping option, this is good service.

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Books

The other day I went with a friend to Carturesti, supposedly the best book store in Bucharest, to check some stuff, I ended with a nice vintage photography book, since I am fascinated by the topic and plan trying some, and she with several titles.

The funny (IMO) part started when after seeing some cards and magnet toys she thought some old art may be interesting, so we started to find Kama Sutra, as such a big book store must have it. So we looked everywhere and were not able to find it, nether something related. She was embarassed to ask for help and we headed for the exit when a clerk asked if we need anything so we said we search for a book. The clerk, a woman, asked us to wait for a bit until she's done with another customer, so we returned to the aisles, waiting while looking at more books. Then my friend got even more embarassed, as there was no way out and she had to talk with the clerk.

A few minutes later we went to the clerk and my friend asked "where do you keep books like Kama Sutra, yoga and other things like that?" (see, a question as indirect as possible!) and we were pointed to a small part of an aisle, well hidden in the Psychology section, almost impossible to spot, because "very few customers look for such books" (this is a quote from memory). The books selection was weak, but we managed to find what we wanted: a copy of the original version, with ancient drawings, real traditional art. While we were searching the aisle I couldn't stop expressing my disappointment for the book store not having a space publicly dedicated to sexual education, as I expect to happen in a civilised country.

In our way out when passing by the clerk my friend thanked for the help but couldn't stop pointing her about how useful would be for the section to be labelled, just like all the others sections in the store so people can search what they need. We bot in response the same explanation about how those are hidden because very people are looking for them but this time I noticed the expression on the clerk's face: she had something like half a smile and half a grimace and was acting like she was at the same time ready to laugh at our questions and being embarassed by the topic, all while still trying to be polite. And she was young and probably literate.

So much for the modern Romania!

PS: in a related story, a couple of days before this incident, another friend of mine told me how she had some images from Kama Sutra, lost them and want again. As she was unable to, I pointed her to TPB, with plenty of resources, both traditional and modern.

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Shiver my timbers

Aye, i got this new toy, the pirate flag, ignore this crappy self-portrait made without a tripod and in a cloudy, ugly day... Me have in mind some real ideas about usin' it. Stay tuned, it may get pretty. Gar.

PS: this translation is pro'ided by the Pirate Speak Translator

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