Chief of Engineering’s Log: Stardate – June, 2019

So, the Gallagher guy suggested that our blog content expands a bit beyond just the cadence of the new gear, the firmware updates, the software updates the events and the specials.

The ensemble team here has skillsets that extend far beyond the roles we play at the shop, and it is this roundedness that make client interactions all the more fun because we have many things to talk about outside of just the camera gear-head stuff. I mean, have you seen the cool cars that Kristin drives to work?

I endeavor to know as much as I can about the camera systems we support, and beyond using the gear for the occasional commercial shoots I’m apt to do, it’s literally my job to take cameras home and play.  What a nice job I have.

I play at a bunch of other things as well, and will start publishing bits and pieces on things I’m reading, watching, working on, designing etc.

Here are 4 of the 5 books I’m currently in the middle of reading, I’ll detail each of them as I complete and in some cases, re-read and put information into practice.

The One-Straw Revolution:

“Call it “Zen and the Art of Farming” or a “Little Green Book,” Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book “is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture.”

Time,Space & Knowledge:

“An integrated, natural intelligence, unfragmented into reason, emotions, sensations, and intuition, is our greatest treasure, and our key to progress. Exploring our realm of experience with such an intelligence can be an inspiring undertaking. If, for instance, such an open intelligence is brought into play in reading this book, even the reading and thinking process itself can become a visionary path. Through integrating a theoretical approach with one which is more experiential, we can actually begin to change our lives.”

The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry:

“Convinced that design was not purely instinctive, Jay Hambidge (1867–1924) spent much of his life searching for the technical bases of design. He found his answer in dynamic symmetry, one of the most provocative and stimulating theories in art history. Hambidge’s study of Greek art convinced him that the secret of the beauty of Greek design was in the conscious use of dynamic symmetry — the law of natural design based upon the symmetry of growth in man and in plants. But Hambidge, who was not only a theoretician but also a practicing artist, did much more than analyze classical art and its principles of design: he worked out a series of root rectangles that the artist, using the simple mathematics supplied in this book, can easily follow and apply in his own work.”

Weatherman’s Guide to the Sun:

“With hundreds of new studies published on the sun-climate connection over the last decade, it is imperative that any meteorologist understand the forces on the sun that cause their model errors and the unexpected events. This book compiles and simplifies the latest advancements in understanding the sun-earth connection, and the direction of the field. From weather and climate change to technological disruptions and earthquakes.”