jibber jabber » shopping

camera gear is evil

wutang — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:37:10 +0000

seriously. it is. nothing’s ever good enough and there’s always something bigger, better, faster to fuel your gadget lust. as you may have read earlier, i picked up a Sigma 18-55mm f2.8 lens, which came highly recommended by the salesperson.

it was the same all around focal length that i wanted but with a super fast aperture. sounds good on paper and the price couldn’t be beat. well after two weeks with it i’ve exchanged it. my biggest gripe? it continually hunted for focus 1/3 of the time and spent another 1/3 of the time focusing just plain wrong. not exactly what i was hoping for that price. of course, the only other option with a similar spec was the canon 17-55mm f2.8 but at more than double the price. that’s what credit cards are for right?

well so far i like it. the AF motor is super fast and super quiet and seems to achieve focus much more easily than the Sigma. haven’t really had a chance to do much shooting with it yet but hopefully it works out. i already have an eye on what my next lens will be. except this time i think i’ll rent first. maybe a 400mm f2.8 to bring to the montreal grand prix?

lighter wallet

wutang — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:57:32 +0000

gadget lust got the better of me again. i am now much lighter in the wallet thanks to a Canon T2i with a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens. still getting the hang of it and can’t figure out if the crappy focus is user error or faulty lens. probably user error but i better figure it out before the exchange period is up…

patiently waiting

wutang — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:50:55 +0000

been on a cooking bent lately so on a whim i ordered us a Staub cocotte. can’t wait for it to arrive so i can try making rillette.

it’s all downhill

wutang — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:40:14 +0000

its pretty bad when my own RSS reader classifies my personal blog as a ‘dinosaur’ feed. i blame twitter. so what prompts me to go all jurassic park and resurrect this bitch from the dead? shit ass products and customer service.

i’m shot calling two suckers today.

1. Belkin. You suck and caused me serious heart palpitations today. I’ve been looking to use up an eight month old Future Shop gift card and decided to do so on a car charger/FM transmitter for my new iPhone 3GS. Selection at at FS was weak so I ended up with a Belkin Tunecast. I’m a tech geek so as

soon as I get out to the car I rip open the ridiculous packaging and put it to use. I connect the iPhone, stick it in to the power socket and start the car. The iPhone’s screen instantly goes dead… WTF. Try every trick I know to restart the iPhone and nothing. Its done. Fried. Thanks. Hope that $0.02 cents you saved by leaving out a fuse bumped your share price higher. Assholes.

2. Rogers. Get your shit together. You know what happened last year when you launched the iPhone. You’re supposed to learn from your mistakes. Instead, all the same shit that went wrong last year went wrong again this year. Called in to HUP my iPhone. That was easy. Actually getting the phone? Yeah right. 3 days later, call in 3 times, each time I get a different answer.
“It’s shipped but there’s no tracking number.”
“Its in processing, it’ll be there in three days.”
“Sorry, there’s no order in the system.”
I gave up and pursued other avenues. I hear on HowardForums that people are still waiting weeks after the launch and don’t expect to get anything until mid-July.

But despite my nom de code, i can’t leave on sour note so i’m gonna give props.

Apple. You guys have saved my bacon 3 times in the last month. To the kids at the Apple Store Pacific Centre…much love.
1. You replaced my out of warranty Macbook casing after it cracked. Yes I know it was a ‘known issue’ but you made it simple and painless.
2. You rescued me from Rogers’ bullshit. You were able to HUP my iPhone despite the dubious status of my Rogers’ account due to their f’d up order system. In and out in 20 minutes, no muss no fuss. Dara, you killed it. Thanks.
3. You saved me from Belkin’s piece of shit Tunecast. Squeezed me in on a busy Saturday without a reservation and replaced my phone.

Phew. That’s a long post. Sorry.

CLEWI

wutang — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:16:00 +0000

What is CLEWI you might ask? I’ll give you a hint. It was created by Forbes. CLEWI stands for the Cost of Living Extremely Well Index. Its like the CPI (Consumer Price Index) except for really rich people. It measures how much a basket of luxury goods has increased in price over time. It includes things like a sable fur coat, a facelift, a championship race horse…you know all the things you need to survive in this cruel cruel world.

jackets

wutang — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:43:02 +0000

well since fall is just around the corner, i’ve been looking for a nice jacket. and its pretty damn hard. mostly due to lack of fundage.

this is a nice candidate though. black heavy wool nom de guerre. its a steal at $750 when you put it up against the dior jacket i saw at barneys but i think i’m going to have to lower my standards a bit more.

anybody going to nyc or japan mind doing some shopping at uniqlo for me?

i wonder what walmart’s got in store…

beyond means

wutang — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:08:06 +0000

i don’t know why i do it. we end up going to a lot of high-end fashion stores when shopping with the girlfriend and i always end up wandering into the guys section. i should really stop.

in seattle the other day, wandered into the new barney’s and of course fell in love with two different ridiculously out of reach pieces.

a dior homme jacket. kind of a car coat/military jacket in black of course. super nice fabric but more importantly a great cut and fit. $1295

a raf simons 3/4 length wool trench with some very unique very cool pocket openings. they were shaped kind of like amoeba, backed with a metallic lining. $1695

oh and i went to lay my grubby little paws upon an iphone. love it. want it. need it.

sneaker doldrums

wutang — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 06:34:00 +0000

there’s been a drought. perhaps not of biblical proportions but enough to leave me parched. i’ve almost given up on trying to find more sneakers. i blame it on the AF1. its stealing all the hype and creative juices. either that or i’m getting too damn old.

i mean let’s see… the AF1 comes in what, Classic, Premium, Supreme, probably a dozen collabos, original 6, city series, 360 outsole, its endless.

then there’s the endless Jordan reissues, Pigeon rehashes “inspired”.

i am however starting to back some of the adidas reissues though. we’ll see. i need those paul smith boots first though. oooh or maybe some timbalands, then i can be like X to the Z, Xzibit. what are those things in his hair anyway?

sharpest knife in the drawer

wutang — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 21:45:39 +0000

i’ve had this random fascination with japanese kitchen knives for a while. i don’t know why. i don’t cook that much but when i do, a good sharp knife is always handy. i never liked german blades, always felt too heavy and clunky for me.
i’ve managed to get a few global’s which are my favorite brand so far. nice and light, fits my hand well, sharp and good looking. however recently i’ve discovered some other japanese knives with something called a damascus steel which looks amazing. the craftsmanship and aesthetic is something else and i have no doubt that they’re sharp as hell.

window shopping

wutang — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:31:16 +0000

checked out the newly renovated Holt Renfrew today. damn nice store. huge. lots of different interior treatments and cool design details. leather covered tables. triangular skylights. etc. gave me lots of inspiration for the house. got dragged around some of the women’s stuff and i must say that balenciaga has got some cool ass trims. crazy metal buckles and snaps that are screwed together.

finally found a pair of g-star handcrafted denims. up until now they haven’t been available in canada so i was very stoked to see them live. so dope. black and silver rivets. whip stitching. the interior was completely finished. amazing detailing. however…$375. oeuf.

nice pair of paul smith boots. $695. just that right mix of worn looking yet new. nice layered leather outsole. don’t know what tops would go with it though.

the funniest part about the new holts? if you’re in the mall and you want to go to sport chek, you have to walk through holts. haha.