meerkat products ltd.

Who's That Bird

Spotted this out-of-place looking bird on the pier around 14th Street, wrote to my birder friend Mark Hedden to see what it was. "It's a Canada Goose. It's looking for bread crumbs and what not. They're a pretty people-friendly species. They really thrive in urbanized habitats, though what they really like are the grassy open areas in all the corporate office parks on US1 in North Jersey. There's tens of thousands of them there. They like it there so much their populations are exploding and they no longer bother to migrate to find food, so they fly around airports in winter and make the occasional US Air flight land in the Hudson.

Hasta.

M."

Return To The Rock Pools Of Sydney

Sheer Buterbaugh

 
Shot some photos for "Shear Genius" competitor Brian Buterbaugh's website. The blood and scissors were all his idea--a good one.

New Sade Album Drops. National Holiday.

Give This Man A Leica!

After my review of the Leica M9 went live I got this great letter from an enterprising soul and a true camera lover. Check out his site leicadream.com for some sweet Leica gear....

Hi Jason,

Read your M9 review with great interest.

Shortly after its announcement in September 2009, I was lucky to spend a few days with one of the first production cameras to get out of the Leica factory in Solms.

 

Sadly, I had to give it back. Now I want one, and I want it bad. Unfortunately, it's a ridiculously expensive tool, and I simply can't justify the hefty price tag. I guess I could sell a kidney or something, but I'd still have a hard time convincing my wife that I really need another camera.

 

I set up this site in a desperate attempt to fund one. Ok, it's not as desperate as it sounds. It's all done tongue in cheek and with lots of humour, realizing that I'll probably have to start saving like everyone else.

I don't expect to make a lot of money, but initial response has been overwhelming. People are buying T-shirts, SIGG water bottles, thongs (!) and other stuff, and even donating money without asking for anything back (and not just pennies, either). Needless to say, I'm both grateful and humble.

More info: http://www.leicadream.com

I've already had some cool write-ups in places like WIRED, Amateur Photographer, CNet, PhotographyBlog.com, etc. but I wouldn't mind another one :-)

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Jarle Aasland

Leica M9: Believe The Hype.

 
My hands-on Leica M9 review just went online over at Switched.com--check it out here. I won't reprise my gushing piece other than to say: next spare $7,000 is dog-eared for this camera. I'm posting some shots I got with the thing--I think the images speak to the incredibly rich image quality the Leica lens and full frame sensor deliver.

 

 

 

Brak Friday

I Want To Believe

Friday Music Cue: Big Baby

Just interviewed the rapscallion Liverpool band The Hot Melts over at Embury Cocktails about their drinking habits on and off the road. I learned that gin is made from the tears of widows and divorcées, 3 beers is the optimum number to consume before performing, and that a day in bed with a spliff and a copy of The NeverEnding story is the ideal response to a hangover. These guys rock.

"Buy me a drink and we'll talk about it."

Something about the tagline on the teaser one sheet for Spike Jones' adaptation of "Where The Wild Things Are" struck me as odd: "There's one in all of us". My slight sense of unease turned into weak-kneed laughter when I saw it written up on my pal John Walsh's blog, You Are Hated. His headline with the poster reads "Not sure how I feel about this tagline". His copy: "I dunno. Buy me a drink and we'll talk about it."