Ever since I made the wholesale switch from Canon to Sony a couple of years ago, I have not purchased a new camera lens. The one lens I have missed from my Canon collection was a 135mm prime, one of my favorite lenses of all time. After being rumored for almost a year, a Sony version was finally announced and went on sale at 10 am this morning. If not for meetings at work, I would have put my order in immediately but had to settle for getting in the queue by noon.  Sigma has offered a compatible version of this lens for some time but it is something of a monster and quite heavy.  While on the topic of camera equipment, an odd thing happened the other day.  Jeanine asked if I would be interested in photographing an important event for her.  I said yes.  She then suggested that Nico be a second shooter.  When I told her I no longer had a second camera body to loan him she was outraged and told me I should buy another.  I thought it important to document this conversation for future reference.

Ohio is home to a company that was recently acquired by Formlabs and where I spent the day learning more about the operations here. My experience at Truevision, a small mid-west-based company that was acquired by a fast-growing high-tech company on the West Coast, was very helpful in understanding the post-acquisition dynamics present here. As is often the case in such scenarios, there is a sense of isolation and diminution of mission. I was able to suggest a number of ideas to improve the situation and gathered important feedback to take back to Boston. I also had a chance to get elbows deep in the processing work done here. I took many photos but given the proprietary nature of the work done here, I will only post this one of the entrance to our clean room.

Evidence of soccer fouls often takes the form of bruises.  The one pictured above is the result of being grabbed from behind by one of the Argentinian defenders.  It did not hurt when I got it and it does not hurt now but it has been interesting to watch it as it changes shape and color.

During my recent trip to Argentina, I had the distinction of being the oldest man on our team (60 years old). It was a little daunting to face opposing players who in some cases were 20 years my junior. Today, I received photos taken by one of our fans which included a nice sequence in which I dispossessed one of my opponents of the ball. Not a terribly glamorous play, but one which represents the kind of small contributions I make to my squad and an unflattering reminder that I need to drop 20 pounds before the start of the spring soccer season.

While at Laguna Torres last week, I was able to get quite close to this ?falcon? for a nice photograph. The Katabatic winds were gusting and he was happier on the ground than in the air. While I was stalking him, our hiking partner, Ray, was stalking me. Having both photos tells the whole story.

I was delighted to receive this photo today from our fellow Patagonia hiker, Ray Himenez. We exchanged pictures from our respective cameras and I think he may well be the better photographer. The introvert in me enjoys solo trekking and communing with nature by myself. I must admit, that I had an even better time sharing this climbing adventure with Nico and Ray. None of us were big talkers and we could go for hours without saying anything. Once we got to camp, however,  it was nice to have the conversation and companionship.

Jeanine was invited to speak to the Concord Rotary Club this evening. She choose to speak about “What it means to be open,” in the context of Open Table. I was not there to hear her but happy to receive this picture of her while speaking. One of the things I admire most about Jeanine is her ability to speak from the heart and connect with her audience. She has a gift for relating to people in a very deep way through her stories.

As if my commute was not bad enough already, Union Square has been closed for what looks to be several days if not weeks of construction. The detour adds another 10 minutes during times of congestion, in other words, most of the time. I once gave some thought to buying a helicopter for commuting. I think I am going to look into this once again.

Given all the challenges we have experienced with air travel on this trip, there was little surprise that our return flights were cancelled and we had the choice of rebooking a day earlier or a day later.  The former choice would have meant missing our second soccer match, the latter missing an additional day of work.  Our new itinerary had a connection through Bogata.  In my extensive travels, it is the only airport I have ever flown into that features machine gun nests lining the runway.  Not exactly the most welcoming sight.  Of the 8 flight segments planned for this vacation, only one was taken on the originally booked flight.  Despite all the canceled and delayed flights, the unavailability of gasoline for the rental car, and a flat tire, this has still been a wonderful vacation.  Perfect weather at all the key moments, an opportunity to hike with and play on the same soccer squad as Nico, and a great team effort to deliver what we are proudly touting as an undefeated record in South America (1 win, 1 tie; this is the way fat, old soccer players embellish their story).

Colonia del Sacramento, located in southwestern Uruguay is one of the countries oldest with a population of 27,000. Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the UK, it has changed hands a dozen times. It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site. Nicolai and I took the ferry from Buenos Aires for a brief visit this afternoon. It was a nice departure from the hustle and bustle of BA if not the heat and humidity. We made a leisurely walking tour of the tree lined streets and enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner on the waterfront.

This evening we faced the Abril Football Club. Our Concord United team consisted of 13 over-50 players and 2 twenty-somethings (both sons of team members). The Abril club looked to be an over-40 squad of 18 members with one or two old dudes thrown in to maintain appearances. Their goalie was an ex-professional Independiente player named, Gustavo Moriconi. Despite the age mismatch and some very one-sided officiating, we managed a 1:1 tie which felt like a victory. Nico had the lone US goal, a blistering full volley from the top of the box. The game ended a few minutes early when one of their players was ejected for an extremely violent tackle which nearly provoked a brawl. Despite the inelegant conclusion to the match, we dined with several of the Argentine players and parted on excellent terms and with a nice trophy in hand. Playing on the same team with Nico in a highly charged and competitive match will be one of my fondest memories and the highlight of this trip.

The Argentine first division Boca Juniors beat Lanús at the famous Bombonera stadium this evening. Said to have the most enthusiastic sports fans in the world of soccer, the non-stop singing and chanting throughout the match would support that reputation. Our attendance at the game was bracketed by two very memorable meals. We lunched at Napolese in San Telmo, an eclectic Italian restaurant / museum featuring a collection of antique racing cars, clothing, artifacts and motorcycles, all for sale. I had the Malfatti in a lamb stew (being freshly made as we walked in) and Nico had the Gnocchi. Delizioso!

We spent several hours walking about the San Telmo neighborhood taking in all the sights and sounds.  I found the people and artwork  to be more interesting than the famous market of this area.

Diner after the game started at 10 and ended at midnight. It was a fancy affair at La Brigada.  The fixed menu included all manner of meat (kidney, intestines, sweat breads, short ribs, skirt steak, and plain old steak).  Argentinian’s are crazy for their meats.  I would be content to stick with a vegetarian diet for the next month just by way of recuperation.

The motivation for our trip to Argentina was an international friendly soccer match between Concord United and two teams from Buenos Aires.  Our team, pictured above in traditional Argentine jerseys, includes a mix of our over 50 and over 56 teams with the addition of Nico and the son of another teammate. We are pictured below with our first opponents, wearing USA jerseys, after the match which we won by a score of 4-2.  Nico had two assists and played very well.  I had a single blocked shot on frame, a nice mid-air volley off a corner kick.  Once again I skipped dinner to try and rest my vocal cords which have not improved at all.

Today’s travel glitch took the form of a flat tire on our rental car. Fortunately, the spare was is good shape and we lost no more than ten minutes. Our destination for the morning was the Perito Moreno Glacier where we found overcast conditions and more rainbows. I have always wanted to capture images of a calving glacier and that  dream was realized this morning.  I managed a 32 frame sequence which I subsequently converted into a 4 second movie.

Fortunately our afternoon flight to Buenos Aires was uneventful. We arrived at our hotel by 6pm and connected with the rest of my soccer team. I have developed a rather serious case of laryngitis and opted to turn in early rather than join the team for dinner and late night debauchery.