“Hello Master, How you doin’ today?”
“Fine Grasshopper or should I say Louie baby?”
“Awright!”
“No Monday after the contest hangover?
Strange!”
“Saint Francis. Serenity to accept things that are not meant to be.”
“I see, so you are at peace with yourself?”
“More or less, master.”
“I don’t see. You have been passionate, almost obsessive in your ambition to be an
MP!”
“Yes but nature abhors vacuum and I have replaced my problem with other matters.”
“Such as?”
“ Skip. “
“Skip???!!!”
“Skip. Remember master? When announcing the result of the contest, when he says SKIP and passed over your photo?”
“What about it?”
“Before, that term meant that you either won or failed to reach a grade of three.”
“So!”
“You don’t understand, master, when they say Skip to YOUR entry, 99% you win!
“Why only 99%?”
“You are bragging master, the one % struck Master Rudy and 2 of his entries did not make it. Another unforgettable club trivia.”
“What happened?”
“The judge never got invited again.”
“But Grasshopper, why worry about Skip?”
“For most of us master, when they Skip our entry, we dream of the impossible! Chance to beat Zobel, you, Rudy, and all the stars of the club. David/Goliath thing!”
“And now?”
“Now, when they say Skip, you win, pure and simple. No anticipation, or suspense, no excitement.”
“I still don’t see it. Why the excitement?”
“ Master, you are so used to winning that you became jaded, just like Tiger driving over 300 yards, ho hum, while us, just making contact with the ball is ecstasy.”
“But Grasshopper, when they skip your entry, you either fail or win!”
“ Yes master, but all of us bottom dweller, never admit that our entry was passed over because we failed! We always select our best photos for every contest!”
“Now I see.”
“In the past, when the scores are being read, you can feel the tension building up, from the first entry. snide remarks, clapping and good natured ribbing are common.
“But now, watch the face of the member when his/her photo was skipped. There is
NO JOY of ANTICIPATION!”
“What are you talking about? Forgot again to take your meds? Calm down! Breathe! Seems that your BP is much higher now than when you had the MP Syndrome!”
“Sorry, master. I got carried away. This really started when I read the press release
of the new Leica M-D. Then I read it again, and I thought it was April 1, but that was three weeks ago!
“Please explain. Grasshopper.”
“They came out with a digital version of the film camera. Meaning, no LCD screen, just manual exposure, no PAS settings, no autofocus, Auto ISO, or video. Since only
manual exposure, no Menu, buttons, or wheel selector. no LCD, so no review of photos”
“Sensor?”
“CMOS, 24MP”
“WB?”
“Built in.”
“JPEG?”
“None. Raw DNG.”
“Max ISO?”
“6400.”
“Vivid Setting.”
“None.”
“WiFi?”
“None.”
“Metering?”
“None”
“How?”
“Take out your Pentax or Seconic from storage.”
“Or?”
“Bracket. If you do that Ansel said you don’t know Photography”
“Price?”
“$6000.”
“Why?”
“There are hoping that using this model will give additional joy of anticipation, their words not mine, since you won’t see the result until you download the images. Just like a film camera. They call it a Step back to the Future. Focusing on the Essentials, again their words, not mine.
“Amazing”
“True master, If I see Patrick using this in his wedding assignments, I will bow my
head , kneel before him and replace you as my idol.”
“But what’s it to you? You were never a Leica owner!”
“Inggit’”