Yesterday I posted a photo similar to this:

Yeah, a marching band (listen for the sarcasm). Boring. But, with your favorite image editing program (go Photoshop!) you can create something a little more spectacular. The more megapixels your digital camera has, the more room you have to play with. I’m blessed with 10 mps on Digital Rebel XTi, so I have a lot of image to mess with.

The cropping of these images allows you to better see the faces, the emotions of the band kids. This technique is great for an on-screen or web presentation. These images would be disastrous if printed on a professional photo printer, there is little resolution left to produce a quality image.

Tip of the day: If you can’t get in close with your camera, a little work in Photoshop can help rescue an image.

What is the history of marching band uniforms? Can I blame America for this madness? It’s wrong, so very wrong. I was never a band geek, maybe I don’t appreciate the ritualistic significance of marching band yi fu.

Shenzhen, November 6, 2007.

That’s right, Mother, and other faithful readers: look what I did! The Stevo, who occasionally talks about himself in the third person, has had another imaged featured on A Daily Photo from the Planet Earth.

Which one, you ask? It hasn’t been posted on inane ramblings yet. See my image, Emergence, at Daily Photo. Be stunned by my incredible skills and trained eye. It’s luck, actually, something most photographers don’t admit to, lest their genius become tarnished.

Note: Stevo is having great difficulties connecting to WordPress.com and Blogger.com. If he doesn’t comment this week it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.

Should you view this page and find it looking unusual, disorganized (more than usual), and dare I say, fugly, please bear with me. Changes are afoot. I’m playing with some different themes and trying to get them coded properly. I love WordPress, but at times it tries my patience more than a class of Grade 1s.

Are we ever really lost?

We know roughly where we are, be it a city, region or country. We are on the earth, from that point of view we’re not lost at all. We have a place within the cosmos. I have been lost, literally and figuratively. Much of my time is now spent trying to get lost.

But you just asked if we’re ever really lost?

Who’s that? Shut up. Don’t interrupt.

As long as I know which way is north and I have a rudimentary map I can find what I’m looking for. Eventually. Knowing the compass points is key. When I first arrived at my digs in China I was confused. I had no idea where north was. It was good my faith (or total lack there of) didn’t involve facing Mecca. After discovering north, navigating my new world became easier.

New world? Are you Columbus? North? Oliver North?

Shut up.

I was lost, really lost, only once. On a cold, rainy October afternoon some friends and I went hiking. After reaching our destination, the remains of an old uranium mine, we started back. One friend decided on a short cut. His error in judgment led to hours of walking in the rain, wading through beaver ponds, and generally being miserable. It wasn’t a bad place to be lost, it was bordered on four sides by roads and the area was about 18 square kilometers. We would have been found before DNA was needed to identify our remains.

I learned lessons that day. Most involved stupidity, listening to others, and always carrying a compass. None of those have translated into my urban, Chinese, existence.

I stray from the path. A straight line between Point A and B is boring. There are too many alleys to explore along the way. I’m never really lost, I know what city I’m in and my approximate location on a map. I’ll never have to worry about resorting to cannibalism if lost in China as I would in the Canadian wilds. Many varieties of street food are widely available.

If I hadn’t had strayed from the path last Saturday I never would have found Nui Xiang (translated: cow path) and this mailbox covered wall. Getting lost has advantages.