A Guide To A Good Life

Stewardship or possession?

Video

What’s the healthier, saner way to view that which have or enjoy?

Should you regard it as a possession or should you see yourself as a steward of it? What’s the better long-term approach to these matters? Join me for a (non-religious) discussion of the subject in this video. I’ll talk about various topics related directly to this subject, such as the relationship between husband and wife, one’s home, business and other “possessions”, such as cars, furniture, clothes, etc.

I hope this helps you!

My Watch Collection

A 1950s Fero Antimagnetic Watch

Video

Here is a 1950s Fero Antimagnetic watch with a 15 rubis Ebauche Bettlach (EB 1343) movement and a peripheral second hand. The dial is exquisitely designed, with guilloche reliefs in the shape of circles and solar rays and a hexagonal star in the center. I call this an early version of a skeleton watch, because it’s sealed between two panes of plexiglass. You can see the movement when you turn it over and you can also see through it.

The downside to this is that I cannot open the watch because the seal (which accords it a certain resistance to water and most definitely to dust) will be broken. The upside is that the plexiglass modulates the ticking of the movement, making it softer and more interesting. This effect can also be seen when the watch is wound, and you’ll be able to hear both those processes in the video.

You can tell this watch was loved, because it’s well-worn. The gold plating is barely visible anymore but in spite of all the wear, there are no significant scratches on it. This means its previous owner(s) wore it a lot and cared for it.

The movement ticks at 18,000 beats per hour and it has a power reserve of 37 hours. The diameter of the watch is 37 mm and the distance between the lugs is 18 mm. The movement itself has a diameter of 25.6 mm and is only 4.2 mm thick.

The Fero brand, trademarked in 1959, belonged to the Fero Watch company, founded by Roger Ferner as Fero & Cie. before WWI in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The Fero name actually comes from its founder and is made up of the first two initials of his two names (FErner ROger). Fero also made watches with the following names: Feldmann, Ceneri, Farad, Ferio, Hello, Legation, Maloja, Pantheon and Tango.

Fero did not manufacture its own mechanisms. Instead they purchased and installed movements from some of the best Swiss watchmakers such as Anton Schild, Bettlach, FHF and others. They did design their own watch cases and their designs were quite distinctive, as you can see here. Fero watches are quite rare these days and it’s fairly difficult to find one in as good a shape as this one. I know, because I found another, likely older than this one, whose bezel and case are completely corroded, so I’m not sure how I’m going to restore it.

I hope you enjoy the video and the photos!

A Guide To A Good Life

Tight-fitting clothes vs. classic, comfortable tailoring

Video

Here’s my take on the subject of men’s clothes. I realize I’m going against current trends with this view, but thanks to my recent experience with severe back pain, I’ve gained additional insights into the effects that clothes have on our posture, our bodies and ultimately our health. I know and I have seen first-hand how some clothes can provoke back pain and others can relieve it, and that’s what I talk about in this video. I hope it helps you!

How To

A quick fix to the chime of our baroque clock

Video

We recently purchased an ornate Baroque wall clock which was working perfectly fine at the store. When we got it home and put it on the wall, we discovered that the crystalline chime it makes each half-hour had disappeared. I assumed that it was a minor issue, so I opened it up carefully, after which I discovered that the hammer which struck the bell inside the mechanism had gotten stuck during the transport. After I got it unstuck, the clock started chiming again. Not an earth-shattering discovery but we were happy. Here’s a look at the process:

How To

My video recording setup

Video

After working with this setup for over a year, I wanted to share it with you, having gained full knowledge of its advantages and disadvantages. It is what works for me at this time, in my particular situation, but it may help you as well, if like me, you make your own videos and don’t have a team working behind the scenes.

This 3-4 camera setup is what I use to film my wife’s shows: Ligia’s Kitchen and De Vorbă cu Ligia. For my own videos I use a more basic 1-2 camera setup, since I have to be both in front and behind the camera.

Let me state the advantage and disadvantages first and then I’ll give you the exact list of equipment.

The advantages:

  • The big iPad displays allow for proper framing, focusing and exposure control. I always disliked those tiny screens on DSLRs and video cameras.
  • The iPads have big batteries (except for the iPod Touch) that allow for hours of filming.
  • The featherweight iPod Touch can be mounted  in all sorts of unusual spots (including overhead).
  • Live viewing and control of the video feeds (things such as focus, exposure, white balance), including instantaneous switching between the feeds, from a master iPad. One person can manage all of the cameras at once. This setup allows up to four angles at a time.
  • Lightweight, small and highly portable setup.
  • With the aid of dedicated apps, you can get very good control of the video quality and look, right in the camera, without having to resort to a lot of post-editing.

The disadvantages:

  • Video quality isn’t on par with what you can obtain from a good DSLR with a good lens or better yet, from a dedicated, professional video camera. The dynamic range isn’t there, the noise levels are fairly high, the focus isn’t crisp enough. What you’ll need to do to compensate is to make sure your lighting is as good as you can get it.
  • The battery life of the iPod Touch is terrible. Have an external power source (plug or power bank) readily available if you need to record more than 30-45 minutes of video.
  • Also, the iPod Touch has a much slower processor than the iPad, so don’t attempt to use it as a master controller or for video editing. Use it only as a slave camera and be prepared to wait for good, long times when it updates itself with new Apple software and apps.
  • The on-camera (iPad Air and iPod Touch) microphones don’t offer good sound. The iPad’s microphone is passable from a close distance when nothing else is available, but that of the iPod Touch sounds tinny, no matter the situation. Use shotgun, dedicated or lavalier microphones for better sound.
  • You’ll need good WiFi signal in the room where you’re recording video, if you’re going to want to manage the video feeds from each iPad camera on a master iPad.

The equipment list:

  • 4 iPad Air units: mine are 128 GB first-generation models, I got a great deal on them at B&H Photo about 1 ½ years ago, I think they were old stock and they were making room for the 2nd generation iPads. I went for the largest capacity available because I wanted to be able to record lots of video without needing to stop and download. It just so happened that they also had 4G LTE, which was a nice plus. It was the right decision.
  • 1 iPod Touch unit: I got this because it was small and I wanted to use it for overhead angles, where a heavy camera might fall on my head. I didn’t want to use my iPhone, just in case it ever fell from its rigging. (An iPod is cheaper to replace than an iPhone.) It was the right decision. The short battery life and slow performance were unexpected and disappointing, but it does its job when needed.
  • 5 iOgrapher cases for the iPads and iPod Touch: check out their website, they keep working on their cases and have developed new ones to fit the new gadgets from Apple. I love their cases because they work both handheld (they have two big handles on each side) or mounted on a tripod. And they have mounts for external microphones and lights, right on top where they’re needed.
  • 5-6 iOgrapher lenses: I use a mix of Telephoto and Wide Angle lenses made for the iOgrapher cases, they use a 37 mm mount. They’re not pro-level lenses and they have a bit of distortion and chromatic aberration around the edges, but they’ll do the job.
  • 2 Rode smartLav+ lavalier microphones. This is where our iPhones are useful. We put them on Airplane mode, plug these mics into them, start up the Voice Memos app and slide them in our pockets. We get to record great audio with little fuss.
  • The following iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone apps: the built-in Camera app that comes with iOS, RecoLive MultiCam and Filmic Pro.
  • 1 or more video lights. There are a ton of options here. We use this one. Its advantage is that it comes with interchangeable color filters that shift the temperature of the light.
  • 2 or more softboxes mounted on C-stands for each set.
  • 1 hair light such as this one. I mounted it on a C-stand that I extended to its maximum height and lateral length. You may need to use some sandbags to stabilize the stand.
  • We also use the room’s own lighting for effect and illumination. I tend to use cold temperatures for the studio lights (white CFLs and LEDs) and warm temperatures for the room lights. I know people say you shouldn’t mix light colors when you’re shooting video or photos, but I like it. When they’re mixed the right way, they give me a “live” white balance, an in-studio “look” for my video, which is better than doing it in post.

If you have any questions or if I’ve forgotten to mention anything, let me know in the comments. I hope this helps you!