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The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

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Mauritius

Enjoy Timeless, the TV show, while you can

19 March 2023 By Avinash Meetoo Leave a Comment

Christina, Kyan and I have just finished watching the last episode of Timeless, a TV show which ran from 2016 to 2018.

Here is the premise as copied from Wikipedia:

When Eastern European-based ex-National Security Agency asset turned terrorist Garcia Flynn and his group of terrorists steal an experimental time machine, Lucy Preston, a history professor, Wyatt Logan, a United States Army Delta Force Master Sergeant and Rufus Carlin, an engineer and programmer, are tasked with capturing Flynn. They soon learn that Flynn plans to rewrite history and that each of them has a connection to his plan as well as the mysterious organisation known as Rittenhouse that funded the machine’s development.

We liked Timeless and we gave the show an overall 7/10.

For me, the best thing about Timeless were the characters which were all really likeable (which is quite rare).

In particular, Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston was really nice from beginning to end. She’s a university history teacher and remains so throughout the show. She didn’t become a badass and this is true to reality.

I also liked Claudia Doumit as Jiya Marri who was a small character at the beginning but gained in importance and relevance as the show progressed. In some ways, she is a more dramatic character than the others and I didn’t expect that.

But, for me, the best character might be Goran Visnjic as Garcia Flynn who, initially, was perceived as the bad guy but who, in reality, was far from being one. From episode 1 to the finale, every scene he was was intense. He is a good actor.

We watched Timeless on Netflix and today is the last date it is going to be on that platform.

Filed Under: Family, Mauritius, Movies, Technology, Web

My Top 50 Depeche Mode songs

21 February 2023 By Avinash Meetoo Leave a Comment

I discovered Depeche Mode in 1985 and, for the past four decades, I have been a massive fan of the group and electronic music in general.

Last night, I gave it a go and I selected the 50 Depeche Mode songs I like the most. There are a lot of songs which I didn’t choose despite loving them but I tried to keep things balanced by choosing three songs from each album, except for some seminal albums such as Violator where I had to choose more than three songs. For good measure, I also chose Shake The Disease which, for some reason, was never part of any album but only released as a single.

At the end, this is what I consider to be my Top 50 Depeche Mode songs ever:

  • Just Can’t Get Enough (from the 1981 album Speak & Spell)
  • Photographic (from the 1981 album Speak & Spell)
  • Tora! Tora! Tora! (from the 1981 album Speak & Spell)
  • Leave in Silence (from the 1982 album A Broken Frame)
  • My Secret Garden (from the 1982 album A Broken Frame)
  • See You (from the 1982 album A Broken Frame)
  • Everything Counts (from the 1983 album Construction Time Again)
  • Love, in Itself (from the 1983 album Construction Time Again)
  • Told You So (from the 1983 album Construction Time Again)
  • Blasphemous Rumours (from the 1984 album Some Great Reward)
  • Master and Servant (from the 1984 album Some Great Reward)
  • People Are People (from the 1984 album Some Great Reward)
  • Shake the Disease (from the 1985 album Shake the Disease (Single))
  • A Question of Time (from the 1986 album Black Celebration)
  • Black Celebration (from the 1986 album Black Celebration)
  • Stripped (from the 1986 album Black Celebration)
  • Behind the Wheel (from the 1987 album Music for the Masses)
  • Never Let Me Down Again (from the 1987 album Music for the Masses)
  • Strangelove (from the 1987 album Music for the Masses)
  • Enjoy the Silence (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • Halo (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • Personal Jesus (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • Policy of Truth (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • Waiting for the Night (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • World in My Eyes (from the 1990 album Violator)
  • I Feel You (from the 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion)
  • In Your Room (from the 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion)
  • One Caress (from the 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion)
  • Walking in My Shoes (from the 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion)
  • Barrel of a Gun (from the 1997 album Ultra)
  • Home (from the 1997 album Ultra)
  • It’s No Good (from the 1997 album Ultra)
  • Useless (from the 1997 album Ultra)
  • Dream On (from the 2001 album Exciter)
  • Freelove (from the 2001 album Exciter)
  • Goodnight Lovers (from the 2001 album Exciter)
  • I Feel Loved (from the 2001 album Exciter)
  • A Pain That I’m Used To (from the 2005 album Playing the Angel)
  • John the Revelator (from the 2005 album Playing the Angel)
  • Precious (from the 2005 album Playing the Angel)
  • Suffer Well (from the 2005 album Playing the Angel)
  • In Chains (from the 2009 album Sounds of the Universe)
  • Peace (from the 2009 album Sounds of the Universe)
  • Wrong (from the 2009 album Sounds of the Universe)
  • Heaven (from the 2013 album Delta Machine)
  • My Little Universe (from the 2013 album Delta Machine)
  • Should Be Higher (from the 2013 album Delta Machine)
  • Cover Me (from the 2017 album Spirit)
  • Going Backwards (from the 2017 album Spirit)
  • Where’s the Revolution (from the 2017 album Spirit)

This is more than four hours of pure enjoyment.

Take a nice scotch. Relax. Close your eyes. Marvel.

Filed Under: Family, Mauritius, Music, News

My photography RAW processing workflow

17 December 2022 By Avinash Meetoo Leave a Comment

I bought my first serious digital camera on 10 April 2011 when we visited the US. It was a Canon EOS-60D with a crop sensor and I used a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. From the very beginning, I had decided to use the RAW format but I made a grave mistake:

Because storage space was still expensive and limited in 2011 and computers still slow, I chose to use the mRAW format instead of the regular RAW. This gave me a small file to process. Unfortunately, mRAW (and sRAW) are not RAW files at all (which I would come to understand later…)

At that time, I used the free Canon Digital Photo Professional software which opened the mRAW files without complaining. And I have to say that the JPGs I managed to obtain were good.

It is only on 6 November 2013 after having taken 4784 photos that I switched to the regular, full-size RAW format. The reason was obvious: I wanted to use the full power of the RAW processing software.

My first ever RAW photo is shown above: shot from a bungalow in Tamarin which overlooked the lagoon. I used my trusty Canon EOS-60D with a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM.

Switching to DxO Optics Pro (aka PhotoLab) in 2014

On 8 December 2014, I purchased DXO OpticsPro 10 Essential and I tried to open my old mRAW files. I couldn’t and I got error messages such as “This is not a RAW file which can be opened with Optics Pro”. In other words, I have 4784 photos which I cannot open.

Fortunately, all the 19,062 remaining ones I have since taken can be opened by DxO as I now only use the full RAW format.

The situation in 2022

Equipment wise, these days I am using a Canon EOS-6D full-frame camera with a selection of nice lenses: a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM as well as a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM.

Software wise, I have switched to the DxO triumvirate:

  • DxO PhotoLab 6, the most advanced, end-to-end, RAW photo editing software according to DxO. It is not cheap but I am very happy doing my photo editing and processing in it. I have been using PhotoLab for 8 years now.
  • DxO ViewPoint 4, for geometric perfection and complete control over lines, angles, and shapes. I can adjust perspectives, fix distortions, warp specific areas, and correct wide-angle stretching for perfect images.
  • DxO FilmPack 6, for faithfully reproducing the colours and grains of analog films thanks to an exclusive calibration process developed by DxO and Fuji. In particular, I can use digital Fuji film emulations such as Velvia Vivid, Provia Standard, Astia Soft, ProNeg High, ProNeg Standard and Eterna on my Canon cameras. It is the best of both worlds.

And this is the kind of photos which I am capturing, processing and editing now. And, as you can guess, I am happy.

Here are all my photos on Flickr.

Filed Under: Family, Mauritius, News, Photography, Technology, Travel, Web

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