Alex Roy

What’s the first thing you think of when I mention the name, Bruce Lee.  Bad @$$.  Enter the Dragon.  Abs.  Ripped.  Jeet Kune Do.  He is one of the pivotal and most influential figures in martial arts.  The pioneer of the now widely practiced martial art, Jeet Kune Do.  You see it everywhere, UFC, Pride, Boxing, even NFL linebackers learn JKD and Filipino Kali.  So with the name Bruce Lee, martial arts is often tagged along.  What many might not know is that he is also a great philosopher.  In my past I have read TONS of books written by him, about him, about his martial arts, and his philosophy.  I randomly stumbled upon an excerpt from one of his books, The Art of Expressing the Human Body, on the web a few days ago.  It was a testimony by Stirling Stilliphant, a student of Bruce Lee and Hollywood screenwriter/producer.

“Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a half minutes per mile]. So this morning he said to me “We’re going to go five.” I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.” I said “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.” So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” –and we’re still running-”if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “Then die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “Why did you say that?” He said, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”‘ (Pg. 23.  The Art of Expressing the Human Body.  Bruce Lee & John Little.)

This post isn’t about my practice of martial arts, nor tips on how to beat people up.  This is about analyzing one’s self, goals, and aspirations.  Bruce Lee’s quote really hit me.  I realized that if I continue to set limits to what I want to achieve, I really might as well be dead.  What is life if it’s filled with complacency?  It’s funny how one’s attitude really does spread in ALL aspects of life.  For me personally, I see my personal struggles affect my performance in school, physical health, and with relationships with family and friends.

After to reading this, I realized that this was a great reminder that I am in huge need of my own REVIVAL.  Respark the fire.  Live with purpose.  Know no boundaries.

So I ask you, my fellow blog readers, where do you stand in life?  What are your goals?  What are you doing to achieve it?  Where do you stand in your FAITH?  What are you living?  How do you define PURPOSE?

Never cap yourself in life.  Never set limits to your potential.  Like Bruce Lee once said, “…might as well be dead.”  As human beings, we are capable of amazing things.  Take advantage of it and know that nothing is impossible with true FAITH and DEPENDANCE.  Truly try to grasp life and what is has to offer.

Let me know what you all think.  Bruce Lee is a wise man.  I recommend you guys stop by your local Barnes&Noble, peruse through Amazon, or flip through iBooks on your iPhone/iPad, pick up some of his books.  Not only will you get great advice on how to get ripped and jacked, but you’ll also learn how to defeat your life’s obstacles.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned for more.  Just finished an exam, and now I have to get back to the studying game.

Peace out . God Bless

taking a short study break to upload more test shots of my new lens.  i took most of these a few days ago and it is quite fun having a lens for once with a short MFD.  my last lens that could focus this close was my late 24-70mm f/2.8L from 3+ years ago, haha.  well as most of you know, i am quite the avid Apple supporter.  i live, eat, and breath Apple.  i’m not going to lie, their products are on the pricier end, but the quality of their product shows it.  some people don’t have the best of luck with their products, but i’ve only had great experiences.  i’m not saying that they’re better than other PC brands, just saying that it fits me.  i purchased the following products because i saw an opportunity to make my life more efficient and enjoyable.  every products serves it purpose.  everything from my Magic Mouse to the 17″ MacBook Pro.  i was a little skeptical about the iPad, but once i held it in my hands…for a lack of better words, it was love at first sight.  it has been quite beneficial for my academic workflow.

well, enjoy some still life.  just testing out the lens still.  stay tuned for some possible Product Reviews for the following items.

peace out . God Bless

Apple 17″ MacBook Pro . 2.8Ghz Intel Core i7 . 8GB RAM . 500GB 5400RPM HD

Apple Wireless Keyboard

Apple Magic Mouse

Apple AirPort Express

Apple iPad . WiFi . 32GB

Apple iPod . Nano . 8GB . Black

JDM YO!!! Smooth Cologne Air Freshner . Reminds me of my car back at home and it keeps the room smellin squash fresh.

old school meets new school….ya know…

BBS RS’s on an E36 M3

Mugen MR-10s on an EK

SSR Meshs on an S14

all the old school jams on the new age Glee

old school beats mixed by todays hip hop artists

it seems to be all about old school style fused into our new school culture

on another note, you all know how i am no longer shooting weddings, since being here in medical school.  due to the rigors of school, i haven’t been utilizing my photography equipment as much as i used to.  a few weeks ago, i decided to sell two of my precious and favorite lenses of all time, the Canon 135mm f/2.0L and 85mm f/1.2L II.  i figured that i should try to save a couple pennies and give up these two to a better home where they’ll receive much more attention.  my shooting style has also changed A LOT!  i no longer need the long focal lengths.  i have been shooting very slow paced and casual lifestyle.  just capturing priceless moments with family and friends.  many of you may know that my Canon 35mm f/1.4L is my workhorse lens.  the focal length is so versatile, but i realized that i still needed something slightly tighter than a 35mm, but wider than a 85mm.  a 50mm prime.  i have been on quite a hunt for the right 50mm lens for me.  in my history of shooting, i’ve gone through one 50mm f/1.8II, one 50mm f/1.4, four 50mm f/1.2L (yes, four), and i even got a chance to shoot with the legendary 50mm f/1.0L.  to much disappoint, i never struck any luck.  the 50 1.8 and 1.4 didn’t produce the colors i liked.  i always had the infamous focus-shift problems or soft focus of the 1.2L.  the 1.0L is WAY too expensive for me to justify ever buying, plus it’s soft from f/1.0-f/2.0.  i thought about trying the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4, but i heard it had focus problems as well.  so clearly…all this new school gadgets just were not cutting it for me.  here i enter the old school realm…

old school lens x new school camera body

Carl Zeiss 50mm f/2.0 Makro Planar *T mated to a Canon 5D Mark II

Zeiss lenses have been known to produce some of the best optics in camera history.  known for their “3D” look.  amazing micro-contrast, colors, sharpness, and build quality.  so the curious guy i was, i really wanted to get a taste of this Zeiss power.  oh and the best part, its cheaper than its Canon equivalent…HOLLA!!!!!!  i posted some really quick and rather not very exciting samples of the lens.  i didn’t really do much editing except color correction, possibly some basic levels/curves, then resized and bordered.

Some quick first impressions of the lens.  AMAZING build quality.  you can just feel the level of investment and engineering into the lens.  everything is pure metal and its nice and heavy.  the focus ring takes getting used to.  it is only manual focus, which pose to be quite the challenge for me.  i like it though, it will hopefully force me to slow down when i take pictures and to really think about what i’m doing.  the focus ring is easy to handle with close up shots, but its ratio of turning radius to focus gets kinda odd when focussing on something far away.  now for the images.  AMAZING COLOR AND CONTRAST!!!!  straight out of camera with good exposure yields amazing photos.  i never got this level of sharpness, detail, and contrast out of any of lenses…including the 85LII and 135L.  when shot wide open, it yields a very nice paint/pastel effect in the bokeh.  you’ll see in some of the flower shots how it renders bokeh.  very different compared to the L glass that i have been using for quite some time.  well, i have SO MUCH to learn with this lens.  that will have to wait after i finish the endless list of academic priorities.  in the mean time, hopefully you enjoy some of these shots.  stay tuned for many more!  i think i made a very good and fun investment.

until next time.  peace out & god bless.

made corned beef with potatoes and onions with rice | classic delicious meal

slight out out of focus, but ridiculous how much detail there is in the hi-res version

can’t see it in this lo-res version, but in the original shot of the image on the left, you can see a spider web through the tope left and right quadrant of the diamond balcony rail.  this was shot wide open at f/2.0! ridiculous how much detail and sharpness there is | the shot on the right shows its weakness with chromatic aberration.  you can see the fringing at the top of the coconut tree.  for those who are wondering, no i have not climbed that tree……yet…haha

shot wide open, focussed on the mango tree.  this kind of depicts the 3D-ness of the lens.  again, its crazy how much detail and color this lens produces.

sola introduced me to these AMAZING chips | close up shot of my bag tag. this is actually also slightly out of focus. im terrible at manual focus, haha

i have no idea what this is, but this pic shows how it renders bokeh slightly different than the Canon 50mm f/1.2L

insanely sharp once again.  im in love with the colors and bokeh of this lens.

i feel like this pic shows some AWESOME bokeh once again.  it seriously looks like the background is painted, so dope.  this was shot wide open at f/2.0. i dig.

once again, shot wide open. awesome bokeh.  but get this…on the flower pedal at roughly “10pm” position, you can actually see a tiny little fly.  when i was pixel peeping, it’s crazy how sharp and detailed that minuscule bug is. DOPE!

ya son! zeiss FTW! shot at 1/25″ with my awesome camera shake skills..still looks kinda sharp, haha.  good glass to cover up my lack of school

again, stay tuned for more thoughts on this lens.  this lens alone might have sold me over to the even DARKER side, Carl Zeiss.  weather has been beautiful here at Saba, so hopefully i can snap some landscape shots to show you where myself and King Kong live.  its a nice place, you all should visit.

I knew moving out here for medical school was not going to be easy. There were many obstacles that I would have to face and conquer. Not only would things be very difficult academically, but there was the whole lifestyle change to deal with. Prior to leaving for Saba, I was constantly praying that things were not going to be as bad as I thought they were. Simply trusting that things will be ok. One of my biggest fears coming out here was the “building friendship” aspect. I knew it wouldn’t be a problem making new friends, but I was scared that I might not forge REAL friendships. People who are more than the ones you study with or talk to because there is no one else. I wanted to form TRUE relationships with my peers. The concept of community means so much to me. I truly value accountability, vulnerability, honestly, loyalty, and fun humor. It’s very easy to meet people to just hang out with, but what about those that you share your life with, the one’s you unconditionally share support and love with. I was so blessed to have experienced this back at home, but would moving out here provide the same? Truth is, it isn’t easy nor common to always build these types of relationships with people.

Well…

I am very thankful to say that since moving out here, I have been blessed with amazing friends. We are all from different parts of the world. Different ethnic backgrounds. Different ages. Different past experiences. We are a very eclectic yet harmonious group. I can say that every single one of them have shown endless encouragement and support for me. I am hoping to have done or will do the same. They have made living out here SO MUCH EASIER and ENJOYABLE than I had ever imagined. My friends and I are building real community.

I definitely plan on sharing with you all more about my amazing friends out here and from home, so please stay tuned for that. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures from a nice little get together we had.

** To everyone back at home, I miss you guys so much. I thought as the semesters go by that dealing with “homesickness” would get easier, well it doesn’t. There’s no way I can deny how much I wish you were all here or I was back at home kicking it with you all. I wish I got to see you guys more during break, but I guess that will have to wait. Thank you for all your support, prayers, and love.  I could not do this with out you.  I hope all is well. Never forget that I’m only an email or IM away See you all in August!!!!

** To my friends here at Saba, you guys are absolutely amazing. Thank you for being such a great support out here. Whether we’re from the Bourbon St of New Orleans, the chill town of Junction City, or from the awesome Yonge & Finch…I know that we have all developed relationships that no physical distance can ever falter.  Keep studying hard!  When can we order from Christina’s again?

claire . rafi | kevin . claire

me . claire | me . sola

kriti

kriti . sola | me . sola

sola | siavash

siavash . sola | siavash . claire

kevin . siavash | claire . rafi . sola

me . sola

kriti . kevin . siavash

me | sola

sola . dope light post outside of the house

** to the curious photogs:  all shots were taken with my Canon 5D Mark II and 35mm f/1.4L.  The last two shots of Sola were taken at a BAJILLION ISO, manual focus, and it was A LOT darker than it looks!  primes + awesome full frame sensor + beautiful model = ALL SORTS OF WIN!!!!!!!!!!

i often dream about being a ridiculously rich engineer…with an audi R8…crazy computers…an underground garage/lab…oh and an arch reactor.

unfortunately as the days go by, i realize that that dream is slowly becoming less and less of an actual reality.  BUT!!!! upon seeing this amazing video…there is still hope for my hopefully future son LOL

this post is simply for humor and entertainment sake.  haha.  peace out.