Archbishop Burke's iPod - Listening to the Priestie Boyz!

According to the Reap Team (a St. Louis Youth Office ministry teaching about chastity to teens), Archbishop Burke has listened to the Priestie Boyz on the iPod they gave him as a gift for Christmas. Check out the Priestie Boyz' album, Lost in Ecstasy.

Put Lost in Ecstasy on your own iPod (for less than $10!).

Exploring the Seminary with the Nikon D40

In trying to familiarize myself with my new Nikon D40 SLR, I went in and around the Seminary this morning, snapping a few pictures and testing some of the features of the D40. I was extremely pleased with the results, and I'll share some of the pictures with you here. (You can find a lot more of the pictures I took this morning on my Seminary Pictures page).

 
1/125, f/5.6, ISO 200 (cropped, lightened)

This image, taken at the Seminary's Marian grotto, was made using my Raynox .66x wide-angle conversion lens. You can see a lot of blurring on the outer edges of the photo; I think the wide-angle lens was meant for a little longer focal length on the camera lens than the 18mm wide end of the kit lens on my D40. However, the 'zoom blur' effect can have it's use. I can't wait until spring, when the flowers are all in bloom! I'll be sure to snap a few photos of the grotto then.

1/15, f/4.2, ISO 400 (converted to B&W in Photoshop)

Pitured above is the St. Jean-Marie (John) Vianney statue in the Seminary's main (St. Joseph) chapel. I took a picture of this statue last year with my Canon PowerShot S2 IS, at ISO 50, with the shutter open for 2 seconds, while on a tripod, and got a very clean (low-noise) and sharp picture. With the Nikon SLR, I could easily go to ISO 400, or even 800, before noise is a real issue, and I can hand-hold the camera with a 1/15 second shutter speed. This is simply one of the areas where digital SLRs truly play on a different field than any point-and-shoot camera, mostly because of the bigger image sensor in SLRs.

1/15, f/4.0, ISO 560

This picture of one of the two wooden confessionals in the St. Joseph's chapel (both of which were installed last year) was taken using the .66x wide-angle lens. In this one, the edge blur actually helps the image (at least, in my opinion!). I think the St. Joseph's chapel is on of the most beautiful areas in the Seminary (and rightly so!), and the new wooden confessional add even more beauty.

Look at the rest of the pictures I took this morning on my Seminary Pictures page.

Nikon D40 - First Impressions, First Picture

I received the Nikon D40 digital SLR camera I ordered this afternoon, but only had time today to charge the battery, then take a few test pictures, with and without my Vivitar 285 flash and my .66x wide-angle conversion lens [B&H].

I am happy to be using an SLR again; after selling my previous 35mm SLR (a Minolta X-700) in 2004, I've only used digital 'point and shoot' cameras, because the price of digital SLRs was prohibitively expensive. Since then, prices have come down, and now the D40 is moderately affordable for 'amateurs' like myself.

The picture below was taken with the D40 set to shutter priority mode, at 1/500, f5.6, ISO 400 (cropped and saturation boosted in Photoshop). I bounced the flash from the Vivitar 285 (which worked like a charm with the D40) to get the overhead lighting.

(In case you're wondering, I took this shot in the shower room, as there is no other place in the seminary with as large a mirror...).

Besides having to play the game of shoot-adjust-shoot-adjust with the flash (because the flash, being of an older design, can't get exposure information from the camera), it's a great setup. I also screwed in my .66x wide-angle conversion lens [B&H] and took some pictures at the widest setting on the kit 18-55mm lens, effectively making the lens a 12mm wide-angle lens. There was a little vignetting (darkening) in the corners, but that's acceptable for me!

Another great aspect of the D40 and other SLRs with great lenses is the beautiful 'bokeh' (the blur in the background/foreground) you can get, even at higher apertures. You just can't get the background to be knocked out in the same way on point and shoot digital cameras (like my previous S2 IS)!

I hope to someday get an AF-S 55mm f/1.8 lens for the camera (for portraits), but as none exists right now (there's only a non AF-S version, which doesn't autofocus with the D40), I am content with the kit lens.

On the 24th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade... I'm an Uncle!

As I am reflecting on God's gift of life this day, I also am extremely proud to become an uncle (for the first time!) of the baby in the above ultrasound, whose name is Joseph. He seems to be doing well in the womb, and obviously wants us to know how much he likes soccer by his repeated kicking (so says my sister...).

I think it is important for anyone who calls himself a supporter of God's gift of life to try to educate himself to the greatest extent possible on life issues, and the biological, moral, philosophical and theological reasons for supporting life from natrual conception until natural death.

I find it disheartening when I hear of someone who calls himself 'pro-life' telling a 'pro-choice' person he is sinful and that a baby's a baby, starting with conception. While this may be true, it is (1) not our place to judge others, and (2) not helpful to start a discussion in hopes of helping another person see your viewpoint (even if it's the truth) by beating him over the head with it from the start.

Instead, I hope everyone who calls himself 'pro-life' will know why a baby is human and should be given the right to life at the moment of conception, rather than at the stage of implantation, or at the stage of the development of the neurological system, or at other stages of development. If we can understand why others believe abortion is allowable, we can better know how to talk to others about abortion.

Rather than 'shoving your beliefs down their throats,' you can converse with them and slowly help them to see how blessed and sacred human life is, from its earliest stage (which so happens to be the moment when the sperm and egg cells unite, and the genetic makeup of the person is formed—and, we may also propose the human soul is formed here, bringing the biological process of conception to the supernatural level.).

I will be studying this issue more in-depth this year, and I plan on writing my philosophical thesis paper (which will be posted here) on this issue.

Please pray for my sister, her husband, and their baby Joseph, and also pray for all mothers who are contemplating the lives of their unborn babies.

RIP - Canon PowerShot S2 IS

Two weeks ago, my Canon PowerShot S2 IS died (the shutter would no longer open, even after I performed about six different resuscitation methods). After discovering the cost of repair was a little too high (almost $200!), I thought to myself, "Well, why don't you take a crack at seeing what's wrong?"

Bad idea.

As you may surmise from the above picture, I was able to take apart practically every part of the S2 IS. However, I think I finally decided there was no chance of my repairing the camera, or even putting it back together, after I accidentally broke the itty-bitty microphone wires, then dropped two microscopic screws (until that time, I was carefully documenting where all the screws went...).

So then, I thought, why not just take everything apart, down to the last screw, for fun? Well, that was going well until I arrived at the camera's 330 volt capacitor. Having taken high-school physics, and having an interest in electronics, I knew capicitors, especially very large ones with a '330v' marking on them, would hold some electrical charge. And I knew capacitors could be discharged by connecting the two leads together.

So I decided I'd take a metal rod and touch the leads together, thinking there wouldn't be too much charge left, since I hadn't used the camera for a while. Boy, was I wrong! Luckily, I had decided to hold the metal rod with some rubber-handled needle-nose pliers; otherwise, the bright and loud arcing that ensued may have caused more damage than simply melting the metal rod I used to discharge the capacitor.

Now I've learned two lessons:

1. Don't use metal rods to discharge capacitors. (My Dad told me most engineers would use a high-capacity resistor and let the capacitor drain over time, rather than risk an explosive arc as I did).
   
   
2. Don't try taking apart digital cameras. There are too many microscopic parts in them.

I did enjoy using my S2 IS while it worked, and I recommend the S2 or S3 IS to others frequently; the camera took great pictures, and the zoom lens allowed me to zoom in tight from long distances. I think my next camera may be the Nikon D40 SLR... but I'll have to wait and see. For now, I'll be holding back a bit on the picture-taking.

New Site for Biblical and Religious Art on Kenrick-Glennon's Website

There's a new section on Kenrick-Glennon Seminary's website which includes many high-resolution, copyright-free scans of religious and biblical etchings, from many different sources. You can browse through all the pictures and download the original high-res scans to use for anything you'd like!

There's also a section with an online version of the Holy Way of the Cross, with beautiful etchings and meaningful reflections on all fourteen stations, which you can browse online whenever you'd like.

2007 March for Life

Please keep in your prayers all the people from across the nation who will be travelling to Washington, D.C. this weekend for the 2007 March for Life. There's usually more than a few difficulties facing the groups who choose to travel by bus - especially those who must travel through the mountains or the northern U.S., with snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc.

This year, I'll be taking a break from the trip, but I'll be going again with the seminarians from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary next year (at least, I hope to!). Since I won't be going this year, I'll be going to the St. Louis Archdiocese's Commemorative Mass on the 34th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade at 8:00 a.m. in the St. Louis Cathedral-Basilica on Saturday, the 20th.

Off to Priestly Formation Week

Starting tomorrow morning (Friday the 12th), my brother college seminarians and I will be heading off to Dutzow, Missouri, to begin the 2nd academic semester with a 'priestly formation week,' with prayer, community activities and time for reflection. Please pray for us while we're on this retreat.

New 'iPhone' from Apple - Computer in Your Pocket

The new Apple iPhone is about the best pocket-form-factor gadget that I forsee on the market this year. It combines phone, iPod, and web-browsing technologies in a simple to use, but very elegant package. Seeing the demo on Apple's iPhone site, I find it hard to imagine how much engineering went into this thing. And the fact that most details about the iPhone were kept under wraps also surprised me. I just hope Apple can ship enough of these to satisfy demand—even at the MSRP of $499 for a 4 GB version and $599 for an 8 GB version (with a 2 year Cingular wireless contract), these phones will probably sell like nothing else.

If they can ever get the price down, I would definitely consider buying one of these to replace my current phone in a year or two; it would quickly replace my Palm Tungsten E and Motorola phone, and allow me to listen to music and watch widescreen video on the same device!