Decent Exposure

In pursuit of bodily harm

2011-05-30T20:31:00.004+10:00

Horses and fishing rods. At first glance, they don't seem to have much in common. One's got legs and can run like the clappers; the other's good for throwing food to the fishes. Each of these disparate things, however, gives me cause to fear and respect them.

Other than a brief few moments as a tiddler, placed in the saddle of a horse that my sister was about to ride, and a trip along the beach on a donkey a few years later, I have only ridden a horse once. Similarly, I have been fishing on only one occasion that I can recall. It is perhaps significant that I was not the prime mover on either occasion, but was encouraged to take part by well-meaning friends or family.

Memories of my equine experience were brought back only too clearly when watching some youngsters about to disappear on a morning's trail-riding. As each horse-child pair was saddled up, strapped in and otherwise properly prepared for the impending adventure, a number of them gathered in front of me, waiting for the off. I watched the nearest horse plodding around, browsing on the grass at its feet, and generally filling in time. As it did, it turned this way and that, bobbed its head up and down, swayed around, and generally did as it pleased, with the passenger taking no part in the proceedings. It brought back in a vaguely unsettling way, my own experience some 20 years earlier: that horses have their own minds, desires, intentions and agendas, plus the nervous system and musculature to put it all into practice. In short, unless you are absolutely in control, with sufficient authority - and the ability to convey this to the horse - you are on a slippery slope.

With a car, you can generally turn off the ignition and the car will stop what it was doing up to that point; this does, of course, require good judgement, care and attention on the part of the driver to ensure that it is not done at the wrong time, but there is absolutely no doubt who is in control. Any misbehaviour: it's engine off, and bye-byes. With a horse, you have to say, "Look here, I say, would you mind not doing that - YES, THAT!" and so on. Any mistakes and you're cactus. Oh, and by the way - the horse will be quietly laughing at you.

A loaded fishing rod, it has to be said, has similar undesirable qualities in the hands of a novice. To be precise, it has a curved piece of metal with a very sharp barb on the end, flailing about on some very fine nylon. Said barbed metal is furthermore designed to become lodged, and remain firmly embedded, in flesh - nominally piscean flesh, but any flesh will do; the hook's not fussy.

Now, old hands at the fishing game are presumably possessed of at least one of the following: (a) fine motor control - that in a deaf signer would represent perfect enunciation, syntax and fluency - coupled with the eyes of a hawk; (b) a devil-may-care attitude in respect of vicious puncture wounds; (c) no nerve endings below the elbow; or (d) membership of certain recreational clubs involving leather restraints and whips and an associated pleasure in maltreatment of personal tissue. This must be the case, because when a rod is in the process of being prepared with lead weight and hook (some of which, you may be astonished to learn, have more barbs than a caffeine-deprived shock-jock), the business end can develop a mind of its own that a horse would be proud of. It can appear that the hook/weight assembly regards Newtonian physics with utter disdain: there can be much comical to-ing and fro-ing of hand and line, trying to ensure a satisfactory confluence of the two without dermal perforation, while the hand holding the rod gradually joins the rest of the body in a rising panic, ensuring that proper coordination and control become merely wishful thinking. At such times, if my advice be sought, it would be prudent simply to throw the whole contraption in one direction while leaping quickly in the other. Of course, this does not guarantee an injury-free outcome, but at least the torment and uncertainty will be brought rapidly to a conclusion.

If you are determined to give fishing a try, I would suggest fly-fishing, on a day with moderate but steady wind. Simply stand with your back more or less to the wind, then because the fly has no associated lead weight, it will be carried safely off away from your body, should you happen to lose control of it; in that situation, dropping the rod will put everything out of harm's way. Of course, you eventually have to cast your fly towards the fish, which seems to involve waving the rod around in a somewhat cavalier fashion, with the possibility of all manner of mayhem occurring anywhere within umpteen metres of you.

Tell you what: take my advice, and leave horses and fishing rods alone. Photography and aerobic poetry are fairly safe and surprisingly diverting; there is every chance that your body will remain undamaged in such mild pursuits. Afterwards, you can drive your car to the fishmonger.

A little something to keep me going

2010-10-27T21:37:00.002+11:00

A gaming table, somewhere in 18th-century southern England...

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, sits with a few choice companions – all movers and shakers (either that or just rich and idle). He is holding a handful of playing cards... a shrewd move on his part, as his associates are doing the same, and he does not wish to appear different – or indifferent. There is the aroma of tobacco and of port, walnuts and bandaged gouty feet; a heady mix at any hour. The hour is late, but it is not yet pyjama time or the wytching houre. All eyes are on Sandwich, save for those on the fine bosom of a serving wench, or those searching for a glimpse of a neighbour's cards.

Characteristically, the Earl of Berkshire spoke first: "Come on, Sandwich! You have been sitting there like a haunch of mutton for fully five minutes now. Either play or resign."

Sandwich, being the Noble Fellow that he was – not to mention the holder of such illustrious offices as First Lord of the Admiralty and Postmaster General – dismissed this discourteous interjection with barely a twitch. He moved only let go a silent one and to take a pinch of snuff. After further deliberation and scrutiny of his options, he played a card, sat back in his chair, and gestured for his valet. "Higginbottom," he said, for no other reason than the man's name was Effingham, "I am hungry. Kindly prepare me a plate. I rather fancy the mutton, or roast beef if perchance there is no mutton. Wait though – my hands will be greasy upon the cards, and I cannot bear that, so be creative. Chop chop! I won't have that scoundrel Buckingham winning because I am weak from lack of sustenance."

The play continued, with the Good Earls doing their best to acquire a considerable pot that was there for the taking, gods willing. Presently, Higginbottom/Effingham returned with a large plate, piled high with what appeared to be a compôte of sliced bread and meat.

"What the Devil is this?" demanded Sandwich.

"My Lord," fawned Higgingham, "it is the mutton, as you requested, but I have taken the liberty of enclosing it in some fresh bread, that you may keep the grease enclosed and under control."

"Capital! First rate! You hear that, Buckingham, you old fool? A manservant who can think for himself. I should think you green with envy, if you weren't already green with a bilious attack." Effingbottom relaxed almost imperceptibly, stiffening with pride at the same time. "What do you call this... creation, Effingsworth?"

"My Lord, if I may make so bold, and given that my family name is–"

"Excellent, splendid! 'Sandwich' it is. There you go, Buckers, how are your pork scratchings now, eh? Not only can the man think for himself, but he is also modest and loyal. Har, har. I say, Higginsworth, my goblet appears to be void... as does the bottle, since the Earl of Idiocy here just knocked it over."

"Certainly, My Lord."

Sandwich selected a 'sandwich' from the top of the pile, studied it briefly and then took a hearty bite. "Mmmf... it'f goob; weawy goob!

"I say, you fellows," he declared, once the Noble Mouth was empty, "I think this 'sandwich' thing could be quite something. Possibilities for a business here, don't you think? Damn fine idea."

Moments later, Bottomsworth reappeared with a large boxy-looking affair in his hand.

"What on Earth have you brought me now, Hilary?"

"My Lord, I have been thinking for some time about this, and felt the time was ripe to try it out, if you will pardon the pun."

"Yes, yes, of course, but what is it?"

"My Lord, I have devised a container that can serve in place of a bottle, so when the Earl of – I mean, so that in the event of any mishap at the table, the wine will not be spilled."

"Extraordinary! How does it function?"

"In brief, My Lord, I have contained a fresh – but not too fresh – pig's bladder full of wine inside a case made of stiffened parchment, and fashioned a kind of valve at the base, to allow the wine to be released only when required." Effingham demonstrated for the Good Lords, to quiet muttering and comment. After a few seconds, Sandwich piped up.

"Bottomsworth, I fear you are on a genuine flight of fancy here. Kindly take that contraption from my table and bring me a proper bottle of wine, as God intended. If He had meant us to serve wine from such an abomination, He would have called this land Aus– ... Austral–... oh, something else! It's England, man, England, dammit! Now be off with you, and spare us all your fanciful notions."

***

In due course Effingham, now a humiliated and dispirited shadow of the servile man he once was, fell foul of the law and was transported to the colonies; one of the very last to suffer that fate. Once there though, he applied himself diligently, kept his nose (and many other parts) clean, was granted his freedom in due course, and went on to start a chain of wine dispensaries. Several generations later, a great, great nephew had a brilliant idea based upon an old hot water bottle, a cornflake packet and a bottle of cheap shiraz...

And the winner is...

2010-08-26T19:48:00.008+10:00

So. Australia voted. This time, the voice of reason may lie with 3 independent MPs. Will it do us any good? Will the glue hold for 3 years? Will anyone end up insane? Answers on a postcard please, to...

Ah well. It was tedious before, and unexciting now, which might be the best outcome of all. Anyway, while it lasts, why not celebrate and enjoy it with a choice t-shirt? Perhaps this one:

Thanks for fellow-Twitterer @sjb351 for the inspiration.

Honeyed Chicken Delight

2010-08-23T19:54:00.004+10:00

No, it's not a pet name, it's a recipe. One that my beloved concocted recently, when faced with the need to feed us. So simple, so tasty. Here's the vitals:

1 carrot
1/2 onion
400g chicken tenderloins
1 dessertspoon honey
small sprinkle caraway seeds

Sauté the carrot (thinly sliced) in a little butter or oil until beginning to turn golden. Remove from pan and add chicken. Brown nicely on both sides, sprinkle in a few caraway seeds (1/4 teaspoon max.), add honey and stir around to deglaze the pan. Return carrot to the pan and stir through until heated.

Serve with rice or potatoes and greens.

That's it, apparently, so go to it.

300 Words

2010-06-14T23:20:00.003+10:00

Having discovered 300 Words this evening, and finding it a splendid idea, I thought I'd try to rise to the challenge. If I manage to turn it into a habit, I might even become a contributor. Here's a start.

...

I’m a cat person, sort of. I prefer them to dogs, without question – which isn’t to say that I like all cats, or dislike all dogs; far from it, and perish the thought. Why the preference then, when it turns out that I am allergic to the fickle felines?

Let’s see: they amuse me. Well, dogs can do that too, so it’s not just that. They look pretty and feel nice, on the whole. They take care of themselves, without having to be walked, and without one having to pick up biological detritus dropped on said walks. Mind you, I feel somewhat ashamed that they might be nipping over the fence to dig up a neighbour’s precious primulas, but compared to what my son could be doing to their precious daughter, it’s a minor misdemeanour. Not that he lives with us any more, but that’s beside the point.

Maybe it’s an ego-massage-thing: that an animal that can be so aloof if it chooses, might decide to honour your lap with its warm presence, is clearly a comment on your suitability as a host. Have a gold star.

Cats eat quietly. They don’t drool… much. They can’t be heard a couple of hundred metres away, barking at anything that moves – and several things that don’t. They are not inclined to roll in all manner of unspeakable substances that consequently require the donning of protective clothing and a fixed grimace in order to eliminate the offending miasma. They do, however, have minuscule lances on their feet, which they tend to use indiscriminately when young; adulthood eventually puts a stop to that sort of nonsense, unless they are being tormented (or think they are).

Maybe it’s the wide open, love-me eyes, or the I-know-you’re-there-but-I’m-ignoring-you confidence as they walk past, or even that they are a smaller package. Ultimately I’ll just have to admit that Mr Spock would find it illogical. Perhaps I can get some therapy.

Back in the land of the living

2010-06-13T18:29:00.021+10:00

It's been a while, and there's been a bit of water under the bridge since I last came this way. I've left behind the work of casual employment, and started a job for which I am eminently suited - which makes a change!

In April we relocated to Brisbane, so that I could take up a post at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. There, I am styled a Support Officer, which means I am one of the show presenters. School shows, public shows, observatory sessions - they're all in the mix, as I show the good citizens and tourists of Brisbane the sights of the night sky and the Universe at large.

There is a certain repetitiveness about it, giving the same shows on a weekly basis, but with the changing sky as the year progresses, and the different audiences from 5-year-olds to adults, there is a certain amount of freedom to ad lib in each show and change the focus along the way. Besides, there is an awful lot of Universe to talk about in a 15- or 45-minute talk.

One of the fringe benefits for me as a long-time amateur astronomer, is having access to 2 good telescopes - a Zeiss 6-inch refractor and a Meade 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. The pleasure is somewhat reduced due to the location just a few kilometres from the centre of a large city, but it's good to be back at the sharp end of a decent instrument. While in Edinburgh I had access to the Cooke 6-inch refractor at Calton Hill observatory, although I made far less use of it than I ought to have done, and really became an armchair astronomer over the last 20 years or so.

The Zeiss is particularly interesting, as I can easily mount a camera on it for photography through the telescope. So far I have just done a few tests that need to be built on, but I reckon I shall have fun with it in the future. As well as 'proper' photography with a camera attached securely to the business end (being on a Coudé mount, the scope can support quite a heavy load, which is just as well, since I intend to use my old brass Canons), I have experimented with cameras held against the eyepiece; not the best method, but it can work reasonably well, as this shot of Saturn taken with the mobile phone shows.

Another experiment was shooting both the Sun and Moon with a digital compact - still shooting precariously through the eyepiece while hand-holding the camera, but it worked quite nicely. 2 small sunspot groups are visible at top right and bottom right, and despite fairly poor seeing, the Moon image shows reasonable crater detail.

Watch the birdie

2009-12-23T17:35:00.004+11:00

About 25 years ago, I bought an old camera in an antique shop in Edinburgh. The owner was tinkering with it as I walked in, and I knew straight away it was mine! It was nothing flash, but the design intrigued me. It was made in an age when glass plates were still the standard medium for taking photographs. When I later sought an idea of the camera's age, I was advised around 1870, predating the Eastman Kodak company by a decade or so. However, the design of the camera means that only dry plates would have been usable (it was designed to hold a stack of plates, so plates made with the wet collodion process would have been entirely unsuitable). Dry plates were in development during the 1870s, culminating in George Eastman's success in developing a machine process for mass-producing dry plates. So, I'd say this camera was built somewhat later than 1870.

I have thought on several occasions that I should try to take a photograph with it, but the design made it a less than trivial task to do so, and I put it to the back of my mind until very recently. I have been tinkering with paper negatives for pinhole cameras, to get the development right for use as a negative, and with this foundation, it was an obvious step to using the old camera, using a small sheet of enlarging paper in a suitable cardboard holder.

I had already establish a nominal ISO speed rating for the paper, so with a hand-held light meter, measurement of the f/ratio of the lens (about f/14 or f/28, depending on which of the 2 aperture stops is in use) and the 'B' or 'T' shutter setting, I was able to give a long enough exposure, as required. Shooting indoors, in a large antique shop, I decided on 45 seconds - manageable by the sitter I had 'engaged' for the job (the shop owner). The resulting negative was somewhat underexposed, as it turned out - possibly the light had changed after I took a reading, and before making the exposure - but with careful digital post processing after scanning the negative, I was able to get a good enough result. I'd like to compare it with any of the plates taken with the camera soon after it was made, but will have to be happy with this modern product.

Now, if I can make a rollfilm adaptor (taking 116 film, of course...), I might have something really usable!

Fishy capers

2009-09-29T16:33:00.004+10:00

We don't eat as much fish as we should, so last night a piece of barramundi seemed in order. Eschewing the frying option, I went for steaming it on a bed of vegetables, accompanied with noodles.

Ingredients

500g barramundi or firm fish of your choice
2 largish carrots, shaved, grated or finely chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped any way you please
good handful of shredded cabbage
3 cloves garlic, crushe
sweet soy sauce (about a tablespoon)
malt vinegar (ditto)
oil for frying
small amount of water or stock
instant noodles or rice

Method

fry onion in a large pan 'till soft
add garlic and fry another 2-3 mins
add carrot and celery, plus water/stock (I used 1/2 a stock cube)
lay fish on top of vegies, add salt & pepper to taste, cover pan and simmer for 10-15 mins, or until fish is just cooked
stir in soy sauce, adding more water if necessary
cover fish & vegies with cabbage, and steam for another few minutes, until cabbage is soft
start cooking noodles while cabbage is steaming (or if using rice, start cooking rice 5 minutes ago...)
when noodles are done, the rest should be ready

This works well using a dry white wine instead of water/stock; with a curried preserve instead of soy sauce; with zucchini, shallots/green/spring onions, fresh asparagus, etc.

Was looking forward to leftovers for lunch, but No. 1 Son decided he'd have some after all - and declared it to be very good - success!

Click #2

2009-07-11T17:56:00.003+10:00

A moment seized; a fleeting glimpse. Click.
Contemplation. Possibilities; subtle details, obscure even. Click.
Clearer now, focus sharper. New perspective; comes to life. Click.
Different light, shadows new. Chiaroscuro changes mood. Click.
Quiet thrill; a frisson. Tones, texture; composition gels. Click.
Now from here, lower. Detail isolated, highlighted. Click.
Turn a ring; focus narrows, draws the eye. Click.
Close in, tighter frame. Rule of thirds? Break it. Click.
Nailed it.

...

Click

2009-07-10T10:30:00.003+10:00

Brass, turning. Click.
Gut drawn tight. Click.
Rhythm punctuates silence. Click.
Drum moves relentlessly. Click.
Tooth meshed with tooth. Click.
Cast iron drops. Click.
Glint of sun on silver. Click.
Shadow sweeps downward. Click.
Motes settle on oak. Click.
Governor spins. Whirr.
Bell rings out. Ding.
And thrice more. Click.
What time is it, Grandad? Click.
Steady beat of time. Click.

...

A serene cacophony

2009-07-08T15:10:00.004+10:00

Behind me, a fridge door repeatedly opens and closes, punctuating the clink of crockery and utensils. Quiet chatter and bustle.The urgent sound of milk being forced into action for a capuccino. And again. In the background (it's all background), the chatter and gossip of birdlife, the interlocutors hidden among shadowed paperbarks. They conspire occasionally to drown out the culinary commotion, then retreat into quiescence.

Midmorning traffic, intermittently trying to lay a post-industrial veneer over the placid scene, but not being entirely successful. The lagoon in front of me is receiving attention from a young man; he is corralling weeds on the surface with floats and net. Steadily, with unhurried pace, he skims the weed-strewn surface, until the unwanted flora is contained in a small enclosure one one bank. Carefully, intently, he draws it in to leave a clear surface once more. Finishes the task with rake and barrow.

A midmorning Virgin, headed south, momentarily disturbs the peace. It passes quickly, leaving its avian role models in charge once again.

The water surface, calm just moments ago, is now a frenzy of interwoven ripples, as myriad insects go about their routine. Busily, they skim and skate in an invisible free-form choreography betrayed only by the undulating boundary between open air and aquatic obscurity. The human chatter has now built to a modest hubbub, as the tables, once empty and quiet, fill with twos and threes seeking a morning break. Two toddlers, restless; mum stands watch - her attention divided between dancing insects and her diminutive dynamos - cajoling, controlling. The arrival of carrot cake and coffee seems to calm the little ones. Baby chocaccinos work their magic, and mum can relax. For now.

RIP Kodachrome

2009-06-23T19:51:00.004+10:00

A couple of days ago, on the northern summer solstice, Kodak announced the end of an era. Kodak: the very name is synonymous with photography, and Kodachrome is a substantial part of the name. Used by professional and amateur photographers the world over, and valued for its many qualities, including colour accuracy, sharpness and archival permanence; immortalized (if it could be any more than it was) in song by Paul Simon, the film that was manufactured for 74 of the 121 years that Kodak has been in business, is history.

Kodachrome was a unique film, requiring a long and complex development process that but a few labs could provide. I knew it only casually, shooting relatively little transparency material, but there was a special thrill in receiving the little yellow boxes in the post, full of card-mounted (as they were then) slides. Now, the advance of emulsion technology, not to mention digital imaging and sheer cold commercial necessity, has brought an end to this venerable icon, as the production lines cease to roll. It's not the first, and certainly not the last, photographic material to reach its use-by date, but it's arguably one of the most poignant. Kodachrome, Cibachrome, Dufaycolour ... when will we see their like again...

Many are wondering whether digital images will be as enduring as those made on this fine material. Only time will tell, but I wouldn't be placing any bets about digital longevity.

More kitchen capers

2009-06-18T18:11:00.005+10:00

With SWMBO intent on combining leeks and potatoes in the time-honoured soupy fashion, I thought the least I could do would be to make a damper to accompany it. I have a few standard recipes that I am comfortable with (although arguably, increasingly unfamiliar...), and this is one such. It caught my eye in that great British entertainment organ, the Radio Times, many years ago, and it has provided sterling service since then.

I confess to being a member of the KISS school of culinary arts: one pan, if possible; as little mess and fiddling as possible; flexible in the cooking process (ie, 10-15 minutes either way is OK).

I've never made bread as such, because it involves tedious things like kneading and proving, and that just puts me off. Call me lazy if you will. Call me Henrietta if you must (but I'll take no notice). Damper, however, is another matter, and suits my style very well. This one has a twist or two, in that it includes potatoes, cheese, and one or two other items of vegetable matter. Here's the lowdown:

Ingredients

6 oz (175g) SR flour
6 oz (175g) grated potato
6 oz (175g) cheese
[doesn't really matter exactly how much - just make the quantities roughly equal (but perhaps less cheese¹)]
2-3 shallots (spring/green onions)
pinch of thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tblsps water
sprinkle of cayenne (optional)

Method

Plonk flour in large bowl (sieve it, if it gives you satisfaction)
Mix thyme and salt into flour
Grate potatoes and add to flour; stir well to break up clumps of potato
Mix chopped onions into flour & potato
Add cheese², cut into lumps, and mix in well (easiest to use hands at this stage)

I find this too much cheese, and usually use half this much
the original recipe said mix in half the cheese, then press the other half on the outside of the bread before cooking, but that's just unnecessary mucking about, if you ask me; decide for yourself.

By now, you will have a pretty dry, loose mix, but there should be just enough moisture in the grated potato to soak up all the flour. At this point, add the extra water, just enough to keep the dough together.

Finally, place on greaseproof paper on a tray, and bake in a moderate oven (about 180^oC) for about 45 minutes.

I generally make a double mixture and split into 2 portions, because one just isn't enough!

..........................

The original recipe called for goat's cheese (or more precisely, goats milk cheese), and as I try to avoid bovine milk products, this suits me fine. Today, I'm using a sheep feta for the first time, so wait the outcome with eager anticipation.

[Later... verdict: it's quite delicious, as was the soup.]

A bit hazy

2009-05-27T16:25:00.005+10:00

I've seen the term bokeh bandied about for some time now, but only just recently came to understand what it's about. Whether that's a statement about me, or about the folk who wrote descriptions that I couldn't follow, I don't know. Whatever the case, it still has me a bit bemused - at least regarding the degree of fascination it holds in other photographers. Having spent many years away from serious photography, this term seems to be quite prevalent, even among relative 'happy-snappers'.

For those who aren't aware, it's a term descriptive of the appearance of out-of-focus detail in a photograph, and is derived from the Japanese for 'blur' or 'haze'. Is it smooth and 'creamy', or rough and unappealing... or something. When I went to look through my own image collection to see how my bokeh compared, it appeared that I had no images that showed bokeh - and then I remembered one that would:

I'm somewhat surprised that I don't have other examples to hand, as the ability to use wide apertures and selective focusing is one of those little tricks that I value (and which is sadly lacking in a wee digital point-and-shoot).

Judging by the comments I've seen elsewhere (such as in the Manual Focus Forum), my bokeh isn't especially good. However, I shan't be losing much sleep over it; nor shall I be going on a quest to find a set of lenses that does produce good bokeh - yet. Who knows what may happen in the future?

Beautiful woodwork, tiny little hole

2009-05-04T23:32:00.009+10:00

I have been known to mess around with homemade or modified cameras, all in the name of satisfying an urge to indulge in pinhole photography. There is a certain pleasure to be had in building or rehashing something which then draws light through a hole that may be as small as 0.15 mm - and then capturing that light on good old silver halides; kind of thumbing my nose at modern technology.

I've lately been dusting off a mailing tube camera that I made about 12 years ago. As I lack a darkroom, it's been dormant almost since it was born, but I've been making do and occupying the bathroom to produce wet bits of 5x7 paper with ghostly images on them. Yes, the pinhole muse seems to be back, in fine form.

Using different materials than I used to, I've so far just been establishing the right exposure and processing parameters, but I'm getting there. At the weekend, I recorded myself eating lunch on the back verandah. Not a classic photograph, but it's a step on the way.

It looks like I'm sitting by a rounded corner, but this is an artefact of the curved film-plane and the position of the pinhole. One of the reasons I like pinhole is that it gives you the ability to create images that can't be made with a conventional camera with a flat focal plane. Coming later will be a different curved-plane camera, one with less disturbing image geometry.

Such geometry can be found in images produced by the Pinoramic 120.

This is a panoramic camera handcrafted - with other similar models - by Kurt Mottweiler. They combine the delightful wacky world of analogue pinhole photography with woodworking and design skills of the highest order. When I have bolstered the bank account back up to a healthy level, I shall acquire one - either that, or chew off one of my hands with insane frustration...

Old words

2009-04-28T20:31:00.004+10:00

I've been having fun playing with the new toy again, and decided to go back into history for some inspiration. Arbroath is an unassuming little Scottish town, famous for its smoked haddock (the Arbroath Smokie, of course). Its greatest claim to fame though, is its association with one of the best-known documents in history: the Declaration of Arbroath. A bold statement, firmly nailing Scotland's colours to the mast, as it were, it sets out a compelling case for the Pope to deny Edward I's claim to the Scottish throne. There is but one original in existence, decorated with the seals of Scottish nobility. Now, however, you can own a modern interpretation of this most stirring document. It's history Jim, but not as we know it...

A Wordle in your shell-like

2009-04-20T16:10:00.003+10:00

Today I voted for Redbubble in the Webby awards (go to Websites and then Community - RB will love you for it). While I was there, I noticed the Wordle reference, so went over to investigate. I'll say no more, except that I have had fun feeding in words, phrases, etc. Here's how this blog looks, when Wordled:

The possibilities are endless.

Kitchen fumbler

2009-04-17T19:34:00.002+10:00

When I flew the coop, nearly 30 years ago, my culinary abilities extended to boiling eggs and making beans on toast. Finding myself in a foreign city (OK, Edinburgh) after leaving college, with no family to call on for sustenance, I had to find my own way. Initially, this meant a lot of badly-fried eggs, savoury rice from a packet (which was sometimes enhanced with a bit of chicken, and called risotto), and - when my willpower evaporated - something greasy from a chip shop.

In talking of chip shops, I feel I have to mention that great Scottish delicacy, the deep-fried pizza. Deep-fried it certainly was, but pizza... well that's debatable. Consisting, as it did, of a disk of dough covered with the barest smear of tomato paste, and sprinkled with a few herbs and possibly a bit of onion, it was nothing short of a travesty. Most of the flavour came from the frying, in both the flavour of the oil remaining in the dough and the slightly browned nature of the thing itself. I'd run a mile from one now of course, but in those days, it was a different matter. Perhaps they have improved by now, but I doubt it.

Anyway, I gradually moved on to higher levels of kitchen trickery (having finally mastered the method of frying the perfect egg), daring to cook various forms of meat, and managing to produce a meal with which I'd be quite happy even now. This was achieved largely by guesswork and trial-and-error, until some kind soul gave me a copy of Delia Smith's One is Fun. This was not, as friends later speculated, a sex manual, but excellent guidance for someone whose sole reference prior to this was the Be-Ro cookbook presented to me by Dear Mother upon my leaving home. The only thing is, I decided that I hate working from recipes; I'd much rather look in the fridge and cupboard, then make something from what's available. If I am forced to refer to a recipe, I usually end up tetchy and frustrated from going backwards and forwards between the book and the cooker, as I try diligently to follow the instructions.

In the end, it took a long time and a few "ah-ha" moments for me to become yet more adventurous. As it is, I'm more at home with tried and tested favourites, such as mince & tatties* (even if I do modify them now with the benefit of experience), but every now and then I like to try something different. If I do, there's a chance it will be slightly odd, or under-tasty, and the rest of the family might not appreciate it. Recently though, faced with a pack of mince and dinner time looming, I decided to experiment a bit.

* I discovered recently that this - boiled mince and steamed, boiled or mashed potatoes - is not a universally-recognised dish, so perhaps I'll post my recipe later.

I grew up on good old British "boil 'till required" type of thing (sorry Mum!), and about 10 different "safe" meals. These days, I'm more than happy to eat things that my dear old folks would look at with suspicion (you know... 'foreign' food). So, having decided that tonight wouldn't just feature burgers or mince, I assembled the following list of goodies:

500g good mince (I used beef, but take your pick)
1 small onion, finely grated
1 carrot, finely grated
1/2 courgette, finely grated
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped
about a dessertspoon of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon cumin *
1 teaspoon paprika *
1/2 teaspoon mint (I used dried mint) *
1/2 teaspoon salt *
1 egg
1/2 cup rice crumbs *
1/4 cup oat bran *

* approximate measures - I just gave sprinkles that looked about right

After mixing everything together well in a large bowl, so that the consistency was reasonably dry, not too sloppy, I squashed some of it around skewers (it's kind of a Kofta kebab), and formed some into patties. Either way, a few minutes under the grill produced a tasty result, which I can hardly wait to make again. Not too bad for a fumbler!

Distant shadows

2009-04-16T12:46:00.004+10:00

Astronomical imaging technology has come a long way since I first looked at Saturn through a small telescope, some time around 1973. Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft brought us the Ringed Planet from a vantage point outside of Earth's orbit for the first time, and presented breathtaking views of ring details, strange 'spokes', new rings and extra Saturnian satellites. Lately, Cassini has taking an extended look, and brought more detail and revelations, including a backlit Saturn with new, diffuse very faint rings much further out from the main rings.

Currently, Saturn's rings are being viewed almost edge-on to Earth and the Sun, which happens only twice in each 29-year orbit. When it does happen, we can see things that are normally hidden by the rings, such as some of the smaller satellites (and their shadows) passing in front of the giant planet. From the privileged vantage point enjoyed by Cassini, we are able to look down on the planet and its ring system, as in this image. As well as the sheer fascination of seeing such fine detail in the ring structure and the shadow of a satellite, there's a new treat: shadows from the rings themselves.

Jagged Shadows May Indicate Saturn Ring Particles

Much of the ring system seems to be composed of flat, uniform rings of differing width and brightness. Some rings are known to appear like twisted rope, and are separated from the main rings, as they are affected by small nearby satellites. In this case, we seem to be looking at a ring which is directly adjacent to others, but which seems to have definite thickness and texture, and which splits in two. The thickness is evident from the lumpy shadow cast on the other rings, and is a reminder that even with something as well-observed as Saturn, new surprises are still lurking.

Word for the day

2009-03-12T13:15:00.005+11:00

Refulgent, adj casting a flood of light; radiant; beaming

...

Just started reading "Building with Light - The International History of Architectural Photography" by Robert Elwall. It's a fine book, which includes some interesting examples of architectural photography from the very early days of the art, prior to the invention of the collodion process. While it's always interesting to see examples of work from those days, no reproduction of Daguerreotypes can do them justice. However, it is testament to the determination of those photographers using such processes, that they were prepared to expose their plates sometimes for days in order to get sufficient exposure on very slow materials.

Nowadays, just having to wait for a film to be processed, before seeing the results of your efforts, seems tedious in comparison with the immediacy of the digital process; I doff my cap to the pioneering stalwarts who had to prepare their own materials, lug around large and heavy equipment and then patiently wait for the picture to record. The nearest I have come to such endeavours (apart from long exposures of the night sky), is using a shoebox pinhole camera and slow blue-sensitive film, which required 15 minutes exposure or more. Leaving the camera unattended then left it subject to 'attack' by a comedian with too much time on his hands. I did get one half-decent result though: this image of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

Sinful modern music

2009-02-27T22:30:00.003+11:00

I confess I'm not an inveterate reader of other blogs - I daren't become hooked, and spend more time doing something unproductive. However, in an idle moment tonight, I looked at Fake Interviews With Real Celebrities, and found an amusing little game, that she borrowed from another blog. I have only the faintest idea what an Emo band is, but think that matters little. Just play the game, and see what happens.

First go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random and take the name of that random Wiki article; this is the name of your band. Next, go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 and take the last 4-5 words of the last quotation on the page; this is the album title. Finally, visit http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days to find your album cover image - it will be the third image you see. Put the whole lot together in your favourite flavour of image-editing software, and voilà - ready to put on your new opus mirabilis.

Here's my effort:

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roztoka,_Lublin_Voivodeship

Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bezbrige/3296467369/

I have to say, it all seems to gel...

3D Clouds

2008-12-20T16:03:00.004+11:00

A couple of days ago, the clouds were scudding along on a brisk wind, and apart from the general photographic possibilities, the opportunity for taking 3D pairs came to mind. Sometimes, if the cloud forms are moving quickly enough so that they don't change too much between exposures, you can take sequential exposures with a static camera, then view the image pairs side-by-side to create a stereoscopic effect. Obvously, with a static camera position, the landscape perspective is not changing, so no 3D effect can be seen there, but the clouds will appear as if taken by normal stereoscopic means.

Whither the Walkman?

2008-11-29T11:37:00.006+11:00

OK, it's confirmed - I like retro stuff. I like shiny new stuff as well, but it doesn't provide quite the same frisson as nice old gear. Thing is, technology is developing at such a pace that shiny new stuff becomes nice old gear fairly quickly.

I have been volunteering in a local 'op shop' (charity shop/thrift store) lately, and have just started testing the donated electrical gear. Among all of the toasters, vacuum cleaners and vibrating foot spas there is the occasional item of greater interest, and I find that I have to control my urge to claim these relics as my own. One plastic bag contained a number of boxed devices - radio, portable cassette recorder, mini-vac, and so on. It looked like an electrical dealer had had a clear-out of the back room.

The piece that stopped me in my tracks was a 'Walkman'-type cassette player. Ordinarily, I'd pass by one of these very quickly, never having had a real need for music on the go; I don't own an iPod, and possibly never will (but as I've still got my old slide viewer, I could do this with it). Also, I've seen enough sad-looking cheap specimens to know that they are usually not worth a second glance, even in their heyday. This little Panasonic beauty though, seemed a notch above the rest. It looked like a serious piece of kit and was a recorder as well, in pristine condition. I've been thinking about getting a recording device, so that I can do some interviews, and this seemed to be the ideal thing.

Recording is via a built-in mic, or by using the plug-in stereo mic supplied (Stereo Dynamic Sound, the box says), or if I'm feeling particularly Luddite, by plugging into the PC and copying MP3s across... Listening is by earphones or with the built-in speakers (or by borrowing the PC speakers). I can record and playback at either of 2 speeds, and when I've had enough of recording myself and playing back in Barry White mode, I can listen to the radio, either FM or good old AM. To perfectly locate the aerial, I can rotate it into any of 18 click-stopped positions on one axis (the other axis just does the mundane swivel thing, but it's very tight and smooth).

All in all, it's a fully-packed little gizmo, even though it won't play MPEGs or AVIs; as it is, I have already used it to transfer a set of audio tapes to MP3, before the tapes lose their magnetic charm. A tone control and a setting for metal tape would be nice, but I won't lose any sleep over it.

Judging by the sticker on the box, it's only 6 years old, but using, as it does, the antediluvian audio cassette instead of flash memory or a HDD, it's retro enough to give me that secret tingle. Oh, what fun we'll have, me and my RQ-A300 - once I've bought some blank audio tapes. As John Lee Hooker said, "this is hip".

2009 calendar - the collection grows

2008-09-18T20:04:00.005+10:00

I decided one calendar wasn't enough, so 3 more have been added to the collection. Go here to see all of them. Hint: buy all 4 and save on postage :)

2009 calendar

2008-09-18T16:36:00.004+10:00

I have just published a new calendar, via Redbubble. It's a collection of my favourite personal images, and can be previewed and purchased here; the price is AU$26 (approxUS$20, but see here for a current value), not including delivery. This is the front cover:

RedBubble calendars are satin-coated prints on high quality art paper. They’re A3 size (that’s 297x420mm, or 11.69x16.54") Order now for the holidays!

Still Sparking

2008-08-05T16:32:00.004+10:00

I was sorting music on the PC, and found an old Sparks track (I was a fan in the early-mid 70s). Having also recently seen a more recent Sparks video on Rage, I decided to go for a quick web-nosey, finding a few things that took me back. Surprised to find the boys are still going strong (stronger than ever, by some accounts), I arrived at their official site. (I was never a big fan of electronic pop - theirs or anyone else's - so although I'm not falling over myself to discover their latest stuff, I admit to being curious about the favourably-reviewed Lil' Beethoven.)

Now, I have more than a passing interest in retro, so this site caught my eye. A natty Flash home page (Flash doesn't usually impress me all that much) provided a few moments' amusement in the company of an old typewriter. Clicketty-clack.

Beautiful science

2008-07-28T22:44:00.003+10:00

Science seems to elicit a range of reactions from people: excitement, fear, distrust, puzzlement, and so on. There are those who hang on almost every word that scientists utter, and those who are dismissive of scientific endeavour, and see it as evil work, just serving to ruin the world. Some of these reactions are understandable, given the range of effects and products that scientific discovery and progress has produced, both good and bad.

For some, science can be just plain beautiful; such beauty can lie in an equation, the proof of a theorem, or a truly captivating image generated by any branch of science capable of so doing. One such example of the latter is this delightful confirmation of one of Einstein's predictions - gravitational lensing. Put simply, gravity can bend light. It takes a massive object, with a substantial gravitational field, to achieve this, but fortunately, the Universe is full of such things.

Our Sun is massive enough to show the effect, which can be demonstrated during total eclipses: stars 'behind' the Sun (but close enough to it, in the line of sight) can be seen in slightly different positions than expected, due to the Sun's pull on the distant starlight. When we look deep into the Universe though, we can observe not just stars, but entire galaxies that give rise to this effect. Often, the result is fragmented arcs of light, as very distant objects are not just 'moved ' slightly, but completely distorted. One very fine example of the effect is in this image from APOD. A very distant galaxy has been distorted into a nearly complete ring, by a nearer one. Click the image to read more.

SDSSJ1430: A Galaxy Einstein Ring

Credit: A. Bolton (UH/IfA) for SLACS and NASA/ESA

The past is evaporating

2008-07-17T19:53:00.002+10:00

I have always been concerned about the disappearance of ephemeral (and not-so-ephemeral) things, that deserve a greater degree of longevity. In my domestic surroundings, this manifests as a love of old or antique furniture, cameras, books, and so on. Photographs have a special place in my heart, as documents of people and events in the past - especially when those photographs are from the early years of photographic endeavour.

Retro Thing reports on the potential loss of early expmples of computer software, in "Restoring Woz's Original Apple BASIC":

"You might not realize how much early microcomputer software has been lost over the years. Steve Wozniak's Apple BASIC is a case in point. Only a few original copies of the tape still exist, and there were no perfect binary dumps of the 4096 byte file until Michael Steil recently decided to try his hand at reading a 2002 mp3 audio recording [mp3] of the original 30 second cassette file."

This is especially horrifying when the potential loss relates to such a pivotal piece of computing history. Read on, here.

clipped from www.retrothing.com

But is it Art?

2008-07-16T11:00:00.003+10:00

No. 1 Son and I were on our own last week, with the other half of our domestic community being away for the week. While I was out and about (or inside and busy), said son amused himself - both in the house and elsewhere. During the time the house was graced with his presence, DVDs were watched and food was consumed, among other activities. Actually, there probably were no other activities worth speaking of, now I come to think of it...

I returned home one day, to discover a growing collection of crockery beside the TV. No surprise in that - it is known to happen from time to time. This collection seemed to be on a larger scale though, so I wondered if, like grapefruit, there was more to it than met the eye. With a few spaces left in the dishwasher, this little gathering would have fitted nicely, but I just wondered whether it might be some sort of personal statement, instead of merely manifestation of a lack of industry. Could it be that No. 1 Son was merely expressing himself, and I was about to destroy his creation? To be on the safe side, I thought I should preserve the arrangement, just in case.

So, I present it to you now, with but a single question: Is it Art?

Looking for yourself

2008-06-30T16:27:00.006+10:00

Sources close to SWMBO were amusing themselves by entering their name into Google, along with "needs". Not to be outdone, I dipped my toe into the pond as well. "Duncan needs" brought the following results, among others:

mental evaluation
a haircut
ample social stimulation
an out-of-county jury
Better Lawyers
no explanation
to wake the f**k up

The sobering thing is that many of these are, or have been, true to some extent. The best, however, is probably:

Duncan needs to take a lesson from the immature kids like Dwight Howard and put on a Superman cape

Now, show me someone who wouldn't benefit from doing just that, and I'll show you someone who has grown up, poor sod!

Over to you now; go and find out what you need, then share it here. Also works with "XXX eats", XXX looks like", and so on.

More 3D

2008-06-27T15:27:00.006+10:00

Prompted by fellow Redbubbler PigleT, here's another image from the 3D collection. When we bought our last house in Scotland, the garden was graced with several teasels - wonderful if you like variety and appreciate the beauty in jaggy, scratchy things, but less so I suppose, if demure bedding plants are your thing!

Anyway, I liked 'em, and took a few snaps (too few, in retrospect). Getting up close and, as they say, personal, I recorded this 3D pair; the delicate pink flowers are a nice counterpoint to the spiky head.

As before, you need to use the crossed-eyes method, to view the images properly (cross your eyes until you see 3 images, and the middle one should be in 3D). If you can't manage it, sorry...

The Lawyer's Marriage Vows

2008-06-26T22:05:00.005+10:00

Dearly beloved, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, and holders of fully-paid shares of all classes associated with voting rights, hereinafter referred to as "The Congregation"; whereas it is proposed, and as required by statute, seconded by no fewer than 2 individuals, at an extraordinary general meeting of all with full voting rights at which a quorum was present, that the two individuals before us all today, one Mr. Ian Geoffrey Bottlestripe, hereinafter referred to as "The Groom", and one Miss Elizabeth Hilary Bodyss, hereinafter referred to as "The Bride", shall be joined in a Merger traditionally and by common consent known as Holy Matrimony, hereinafter referred to as "The Marriage"; and whereas said Groom and said Bride are admittedly of consenting age (see Annex A: Proof of Age of Principals), and in consideration of the fact that one Mr. Humphrey Altwych Bodyss, hereinafter referred to as "The Father of The Bride", has given his full and considered consent to The Marriage (See Annex B: Disposition in favour of Mr. Ian Geoffrey Bottlestripe, in respect of the office of Husband in relation to Miss Elizabeth Hilary Bodyss), we are gathered here in the presence of a representative of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (see Annex C: Attendance of interested parties), to prosecute the merger in full accordance with the provisions of The Mergers (Matrimonial Attachment) Act of 1957, pursuant to the wishes of the Groom and Bride.

Notice is now given that The Marriage shall proceed without further or undue delay, on this, the Eleventeenth Day of Octembruary, Two Thousand and Flirty in the year of our Incorporation; with the proviso that there shall be no dissenting motion presented to this Congregation within the allotted period of time immediately following, which shall be no greater than 1 minute and 30 seconds, and which motion shall be presented in written form, complete with supporting documentation, signed by the Proposer and witnessed by no less than two unrelated individuals, to either of the two ushers present, for subsequent conveyance to this Celebrant. In the event of such a motion being proposed, the proceedings shall be halted, the Celebrant and Principals shall step down, to be temporarily replaced by proxies elected by other members of the board currently present, who shall examine and verify the validity or otherwise of the motion, and who shall then, if the motion be found valid, conduct an inquiry into the substance of the objection contained in the supporting documentation, such inquiry to be adjudicated upon by a quorum of board members; in the event of the board being inquorate, a special general meeting shall be convened, at no less than two weeks' notice, at which a decision shall be handed down to the Celebrant, and thence to the Principals and other interested parties. If the motion be passed, the merger shall not go ahead in its presently-proposed form, and it shall be remitted to the shareholders for consideration, amendment if necessary, and either (i) resubmitted to the board for approval, or (ii) abandoned in its entirety, freeing the Principals to pursue other interests. If the motion be rejected, the merger shall proceed without further delay, as proposed.

Is there any motion of dissent...?

There being no such motion, the business at hand shall proceed as proposed.

Do you, Ian Geoffrey Bottlestripe, take Miss Elizabeth Hilary Bodyss to be your legally recognised partner in this Marriage; and do you confer upon her full and equal voting rights in all matters pertaining to the present and future business affairs of The Marriage, notwithstanding her normal rights at law; accepting individual, joint and several responsibility for all matters legally arising out of The Marriage; whether The Marriage be financially solvent or in a state of indebtedness to all and any third parties, including but not limited to banks, building societies, mutual and friendly societies, organic cooperatives, lending brokers (further including, but not limited to, pawnshops, payday lenders and thick-set gentlemen with dark eyeglasses and ill-fitting suits), families, friends and the Man In The Street; and do you agree to take equal responsibility for maintenance of the Body Corporate, in ill or favourable conditions, to the exclusion of any other unilateral private interest or association with any third party that has not been jointly agreed beforehand in writing, and which may be detrimental to the continued effective function of this Marriage, so long as you both pay taxes and submit full annual returns to any regulatory bodies, present or future?

[IGB indicates in the affirmative]

And do you, Miss Elizabeth Hilary Bodyss, take Ian Geoffrey Bottlestripe to be your legally recognised partner in this Marriage; and do you confer upon him full and equal voting rights in all matters pertaining to the present and future business affairs of The Marriage, notwithstanding his normal rights at law; accepting individual, joint and several responsibility for all matters legally arising out of The Marriage; whether The Marriage be financially solvent or in a state of indebtedness to all and any third parties, including but not limited to banks, building societies, mutual and friendly societies, organic cooperatives, lending brokers (further including, but not limited to, pawnshops, payday lenders and thick-set gentlemen with dark eyeglasses and ill-fitting suits), families, friends and the Man In The Street; and do you agree to take equal responsibility for maintenance of the Body Corporate, in ill or favourable conditions, to the exclusion of any other unilateral private interest or association with any third party that has not been jointly agreed beforehand in writing, and which may be detrimental to the continued effective function of this Marriage, so long as you both pay taxes and submit full annual returns to any regulatory bodies, present or future?

[EHB indicates in the affirmative]

With bilateral verbal agreement to the proposed merger having been reached, it remains only for the deal to be settled in writing and by personal union, and subsequently for me to declare the business to be concluded, and the merger finalised.

Daybreak

2008-06-24T21:16:00.003+10:00

The morning stumble through the house … wake daughter … into the kitchen … kettle on … pause a moment … notice shadows on cupboard doors … suddenly awake and camera in hand … daughter stepping around me with breakfast things, as I crouch on the floor…

The main shadows, stretched at a sharp angle down the vertical surface; the contrast of wooden handles against the white Melamine, glowing warm in the first rays but reflecting blue sky; the fine texture on the surface of the doors; the very subtle shadow of flyscreen, cast between the handles. Caught before it changes with the advancing day.

There is so much to see in our daily lives. We all enjoy seeing our loved ones and spectacular sights in this wonderful world, but what little things would you miss, if you lost your sight tomorrow? What would you give, to be able to see ordinary things again?

New Harley teeshirt

2008-06-14T16:27:00.008+10:00

Just made this teeshirt design. Its available in 3 colour options - 2 on a white shirt, and this one on black; see my redbubble site for details and ordering. Great for a present - or just indulge yourself.

Click the pic to visit my bubble!

Dangerous boxing

2008-06-13T22:43:00.005+10:00

Just suppose for a minute ... what if - what if - Pandora's Box had contained Schrödinger's Cat. What then?

OK?

And when you've done with that, suppose Heisenberg had been a banker instead of a physicist. Would we all be more uptight about money, or less so? What's a few quid, between friends?

...

Yes folks, I've been reading 'What the bleep do we know?' and such questions arise as a result. I put it to you that such questions are no more bizarre than those raised by quantum mechanics, such as 'How many places can a particle be at one time?'

I started it as a bedtime book, but it's proving difficult to keep on track of such substantial topics at that end of the day, so the daylight hours will have to do. For example, one of today's revelations was that one cubic centimetre of empty space is now understood to contain more energy than all of the matter in the known Universe. If one understands anything about Einstein's E=mc², it should come as some surprise that matter, which is equivalent to prodigious amounts of energy, is dwarfed in the oomph department by ... lack of matter. As Zaphod said: 'Put your analyst on danger money, baby.'

3 Phases of The Moon

2008-06-13T17:10:00.006+10:00

I've been taking photographs and stargazing for a long time; inevitably, those two pursuits cross paths now and then. It might be a startrails pic, a guided exposure of a comet, or something a bit more whimsical.

Delving into the archives, I took a moon photo from circa 1984, and played with it a bit to create this image. I'm not divulging the recipe, but you won't find it as a simple Photoshop tool! Actually, I'd probably find it difficult to reproduce myself; sometimes I 'explore' an image, making derivative copies, modifying and combining them in different ways until I create something that looks a bit interesting. Usually, I leap rapidly from one transformation to the next, without recording exactly what I've done, so the end result is usually unreproducable. One such exploration, that I didn't save in the end, produced some images that looked like an aged Daguerreotype, and to some extent I was trying to recreate that here.

Click the image to buy from Redbubble
(Available as a card, laminated print, matted print, and more)

Free Retro ebook

2008-06-11T18:03:00.004+10:00

Hop over to Retrothing and download a copy of James Grahame's "Essential Retro" ebook, while it's available. James has obviously had a knock on the head, because he's giving this away free for a while. Miss out and you'll have to buy the real thing, or ... miss out.

I've been nosing around retrothing for a couple of years now, and find it a fascinating collection of what-used-to-be, what-is-again, and possibly, what-never-should-have-been-in-the-first-place. I don't share the interest in computer games (can't see why anyone would get excited about playing a 20-year-old game on an obsolete platform; actually, I don't get excited about computer games at all), but there's plenty other stuff besides.

Just like Grandma used to do it

2008-06-10T19:04:00.007+10:00

There is a certain delight to be had in using a device that provokes your children to say "what's that?" - not because they haven't yet been introduced to one in school, but because they never will. I decided to make a meatloaf tonight (I'm no expert at it, this being only the second time I've done it. Bravely, I'm flying blind this time, as I can't be bothered to look out the recipe, wherever it might be!). Anyway, the meat was already minced, but I decided to mince the other ingredients - bread & vegies. It's such a satisfying process, and takes me back 40-odd years, when my mother would get the mincer out every Monday, to reduce the leftover Sunday roast to rissoles. I still love to scoff cold minced meat; there's something very pleasing about the texture (and taste). Now I think about it, the tadpoles in the garden also loved a bit of minced meat, as they nibbled furiously at small bits dropped in the water.

This one is a bit more decorative than the one my mother used (hers wasn't coloured), but it does the same efficient job.

Of course, one of the pleasures of the mincer was being allowed to turn the handle and watch the pulverized food pour out of the front. It's also very satisfying, just feeling the mechanism chew through the food as it does. This hasn't changed; I don't bring out this wondrous machine very often, but always enjoy the process. I think I probably bought the mincer simply so that I could relive that happy memory. Strange though, that neither of my children wanted to try it tonight, but then I suppose there's little fun to be had in using something that doesn't have LEDs, push buttons and a motor.

They say youth is wasted on the young; is that also true for simple pleasures?

Can I be an artist please?

2008-06-09T13:21:00.006+10:00

I’ve been taking photographs for many moons now (or to put it another way, more than a full orbit of Saturn). In that time, I’ve exposed many frames of film, and printed more than a few boxes of paper. I started with a Box Brownie, moved on to my Dad’s Yashicamat, then on through a succession of 35mm, rollfilm & 5×4 cameras of varying quality and pedigree. [The largest camera I ever used was 48 inches (1.2 metres) in aperture, and took thin glass plates 14 inches (356mm) square … the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. However, as you can’t actually look through a Schmidt, it is technically just a big camera.]

Professionally, my work was scientific in nature, while my spare time interests were more creative. I have produced some right old rubbish, and a few more memorable and enduring images. My aim was always to produce something that I’d be happy to hang on my wall, and which would be a pleasing image of some sort. Apart from a few years in a camera club, almost at the start of my involvement with photography, and a couple of later low-key exhibitions, I never seriously contemplated the possibility of providing my photography for wider consumption. Redbubble, however, has been influential in changing my mind on that.

For much of the last 15 years, my photographic effort has been almost nil. I seemed to have lost touch with my muse. Some time within the last 5 years or so, I did start playing with images again – initially just dabbling with low-res digital tweaking of some of the few pics I had taken. Gradually, I started feeling the desire to do more than this, and as my PC systems were upgraded, was able to work at higher resolutions until I could handle poster-sized images without too much difficulty. But still I wasn’t shooting much to speak of, so the end results were little more than just stretching my photographic muscles again, so to speak.

I dragged myself out of hiding to take part in a fun photographic event hosted by the Regional Gallery, where photographers were invited to bring along a BW image and talk about it briefly; I really enjoyed that, partly because it brought me into contact with the local art community. This is what I took along:

Pigeon Woman

For the ensuing year or so, I began to take my photography more seriously again, and wondered whether some of what I was doing might be suitable for any of the local galleries. Somehow, I always had difficulty with that – whether photography, mine in particular, could stand alongside works that were palpably more worthy of being called art. That’s just me. Somewhere, there was always a nagging feeling that I wasn’t an artist, that my reason for taking pictures was just to hang something on the wall that was nice to look at, without there being any greater substance, any social comment or underlying meaning to the images.

Then on that wonderful evening in November last year, I stumbled upon redbubble; seeing the tremendous wealth of talent out there seemed to be the catalyst I needed. Since then I have been gradually developing a body of work – very mixed, it has to be said – that might soon become something more than just a few images on the HDD. I might at last dare to call myself an artist. Maybe I’m too left-brain though, too concerned with technical quality, and not sufficiently able to let go and just be utterly creative, without always comparing with existing standards and references. I hope not!

3:58 pm

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the regional gallery again, and found an exhibition that in itself I didn’t find particularly enthralling. The following part of the brief introduction to the work on display did catch my eye though:

His figures can be easily read as archetypal images of ‘man’ giving no indication of external factors, no clues, and no contextualization, leaving viewers to contemplate the trans-historical universal human.

Now, I’m curious about how many other visitors to that exhibition will have "contemplated the trans-historical" ... etc, as it hadn’t occurred to me to do so. I think that this is substantially why I have had difficulty seeing myself as An Artist. I don’t seem to understand the lingo. My more frequent reaction to exhibitions is "yes, but is it art?" Or perhaps, "why is it art?" I think I’d like to take a group of artists, critics, gallery directors and other cognoscenti, as well as the lay public, through such an exhibition without their reading the introduction, and see how many of them would actually come up with a reaction that reflected the commentary. It might be an interesting experiment.

Wild dreams

2008-06-02T17:15:00.003+10:00

You know that dramatic/elusive quality that dreams can have? You have an extraordinarily vivid nocturnal experience, full of bizarre and surreal goings-on, and yet come morning, there is just a tantalising wisp remaining. Like a word on the tip of your tongue, you may almost be able to recall what it was that was such fun (assuming it was fun), but the more you probe, the fainter the recollection becomes. So frustrating, it could drive you to distraction. Well, the guys at xkcd obviously recognise this situation, and have illustrated it quite succinctly; glad I have my dreams though!

Here's the full image.

Breathing deeply now...

2008-05-15T14:20:00.004+10:00

Went to the doc yesterday, to investigate the possibility that I might have asthma, as "sources close to my sister-in-law" have previously said that my cough sounds like her son's asthma cough. Certainly, the last couple of times there's been smoke around from bushfires, my chest has felt a bit tight. So, to be on the safe side, I thought an appointment wouldn't be a bad idea.

Having blown, puffed and wheezed into a couple of devices, been measured for height (2 distinctly different values there!), and briefly quizzed about my history, it seems I have the lungs of a 39-year-old. I want to thank that person, whoever they may be. I don't remember receiving the gift, but the evidence is incontrovertible: for sheer volume of puff, my lungs are 10 years younger than I am, and in seeing how hard I could blow out, my ability proved to be right at the top of the scale for my age. Interesting - and rather reassuring. Nonetheless, I did opt to try an inhaler for a while, to see if it makes any difference to the cough. There's nothing like testing a hypothesis properly.

In addition to having good bellows, my hairline is much less receded than anyone knowing my family history would have bet on (maybe that came from the same source as the lungs). Maybe I was built from a kit, cherry-picked from a set of possibilities, to create the best result. The only thing that spoils it is that I've always felt I was born old; the tea beside me now is in a mug adorned with "World's greatest boring old fart," a treasured memento from a previous job, where my level of wisdom and knowledge of trivia and bad old jokes that should have retired long ago, were held in some regard.

We used to joke at college about one bloke, whose musical tastes seemed to be 10 years in the past; I'm very much like that now - haven't much idea who's who these days, and who my kids are listening to. Recent music is anything written since the days of JS Bach. And yes, policemen (and women) are looking remarkably junior these days. Never mind, at least I've plenty of puff - even if the legs don't always want me to use it.

Tidy desk, tidy mind?

2008-04-29T23:39:00.003+10:00

Having written previously about my battle with clutter, I was interested to find this post by the Closet Entrepreneur on the subject. I thought it might have been discussing big stuff - stacks of printer paper, cases of beer, dead-but-might-be-repairable computers, etc. Not quite, but it is a strange and compelling, if possibly Utopian, view of what can be achieved with pegboard & cable ties.

Declutter the mess under your desk

I've no time for this

2008-04-13T17:45:00.002+10:00

Time management: there's a knack to it, I'm sure - one that I never seem to have had. Or so I thought ... I now suspect the Universe is just against me in this regard.

I realised today that, in addition to having recently bought a wristwatch with a dodgy strap (so it's not very wearable), and my mobile phone having suffered an accident that renders much of the screen unusable - including the time display - the recently-bought 2nd hand car has a clock that resets every time the ignition is turned off. Someone doesn't want me to know what the time is. Now, perhaps all I need to do is work out the significance of this, and there might be a profound revelation that positively affects the course of my life henceforth.

Or it might just be proof of the adage about unwelcome things coming in 3s. But then again, as I write, I realise also that the new digital camera doesn't seem to preserve the precise time of exposure in the downloaded filename, just the date. AAaaargh! I don't have time for paranoia!

The Dictionary Effect

2008-03-28T09:20:00.008+11:00

One of the perils of life online is distraction. You want some information and go looking for it; you might or might not find what you want, but you will almost certainly find other things that you don't want either, but which are very tempting. You know how it goes: one query spawns five links worth looking at; each of those leads to five others, and so on. Within minutes, you can forget what you went in search of, and spend an obscene and distressing amount of time looking elsewhere at undeniably fascinating sites. Then, when you try to retrace your steps from the final page you dare look at, you will find it's next to impossible.

I always used to have this problem with dictionaries (still do), as they can be similarly engaging with serendipitous disovery. Dictionaries are safer though - each new link takes but seconds to read, and probably only leads you on a single trail, instead of an almost infinitely diverging set of possibilities.

xkcd expresses it thus...

Subtitle: "'Taft in a wet t-shirt contest' is the key image here."

Bad dreams

2008-02-12T19:41:00.000+11:00

For many years, I worked in an environment where procedures had to be followed very precisely, processes had to be rigorously tested and monitored, and where cleanliness (the workplace, not personal) was of paramount importance. The fact that I grew tired, not so much of the need for such tight control, but of the monotony of it all, meant that I baled out when the opportunity arose. About a couple of years afterwards, I returned to a similar role on a temporary basis, which merely served to confirm that I was right to leave in the first place.

Ever since that time, 12 years ago, I have had occasional unwelcome dreams that I am back in the old place, finding that all is not as it should be; the clean room is filthy, a vital part of the processing chain has not been turned on, I have forgotten to attend to a task until far too late, or I am simply back in purgatory, doing a job that has lost all of its appeal. Whatever the circumstance, it is usually a minor disaster, and fills me with feelings of utter dread.

The other night though, came a new variation: the entire facility had been dismantled, leaving only a leaky water supply. Does this mean that I have finally laid the ghost? Will I be able to sleep in peace from now on? I live in hope. Or perhaps I will be like Tantalus, where the waters recede every time I try to mop them up, and flow again when my back is turned. That I could cope with!

You can't do nuthin'

2008-01-25T13:15:00.001+11:00

We've had a fair bit of rain lately (he says, using traditional British understatement, since Northern NSW and parts of Qld have copped enough to float the navy). In a land enduring a protracted period of drough, it is however, generally welcome. Not all of it has fallen in the right places though, and hereabouts - which has been a lush green for a long time now - this particular natural bounty is somewhat surplus to requirements. Further than that: being school holidays, it is less than welcome as the clouds dump on us for the umpteenth day. Too bad, but we'll survive.

However, I hopped on a bus recently, and the driver greeted an acquaintance with "You can't do nuthin'," as she bemoaned the continuing precipitation. I had to wonder how people get by, with such a limiting outlook. The good citizens of Coffs Harbour are demonstrably doing a wide range of things. Few of them, I grant you, are connected with chasing a ball about, pursuing piscean prey, or lying on a golden beach, cultivating melanoma, but that still leaves many other possibilities. In a few days' time, the same people will be complaining that it's too hot and humid.

PFTHRRPPPPP!!!

Obsession

2007-12-10T00:00:00.000+11:00

I've been away, speaking figuratively. Same desk, same PC, different bit of cyberspace. RedBubble, it seems, is somewhat addictive. However, I do have a life beyond it, and part of that life encompasses astronomy from time to time.

In doing a bit of research for a talk last week, I came across Galazy Zoo. This is an online project that encourages people to assist with the massive task of classifying distant galaxies. As the site says, it's a: "project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky."

Well, I just went back to that site to look a bit further, and ended up registering. That process led me very quickly through the tutorial & test, and straight on to the work itself. No fuss, no ceremony, no tedious application or PhD thesis, just lots of pictures, as fast as I could work through them. And therein, I think, may lie the success of this project: as soon as you've done one, another image appears. Well, you can't possibly leave that one, so you do it. Then, there's another - which will only take a second or 2 - and then ... and so on. Oh, go on, just one more, it might be an interesting one. Here's a screen grab:

And so, obsession rears its ugly head once more. Have a go, you might enjoy it!

Lovely bubbly

2007-11-19T21:37:00.000+11:00

I'm a RedBubbler now; discovered the site a few days ago, and have just started uploading images. I've been looking for an online outlet for a while, and this seems to be a good one. Check out the images and leave a comment.

Twinkle, twinkle

2007-11-15T21:20:00.000+11:00

Sitting in the car tonight, waiting for my daughter, I opened the window and looked skyward. A beautiful night, warm, with as many stars as one would expect, this close to a sizeable regional town, and a crescent moon high in the west. A typical scene, yes? Well, it is here, Down Under (notwithstanding the wet season's first substantial cloud-bounty). However, I was taken back to my first experience of Australian skies, after first arriving here from Scotland 20 years ago. I was captivated. Not surprising, giving that I'd left a freezing northern land in January, complete with snow-turned-to-ice on the ground, and embarked on a delightful sojourn (it was supposed to be work, but was too much fun for that to be relevant) to the sub-tropical antipodes.

From 0° C to 40° C in the space of about 5 days, was quite a change. Temperature is just physics though; it required some adjustment, but it was what it was: hotter than I'd ever imagined. The sky however, was something else. Seeing Sirius nearly overhead, its brightness undimmed by the low altitude of a Scottish viewpoint, was the first thing of note. The second remarkable thing was that this scene was to be observed night after night - such that, after 2 months of unremitting sunshine and blue Rayleigh scattering, I was delighted to see a cloudy sky for a change. Anyone accustomed only to the perpetually grey skies of Britain would probably find that hard to imagine...

Back to tonight: it's easy to become blasé about the beauty of the sky, when it's always there, being ... beautiful. And even as an amateur astronomer of some 35-40 years, I am as affected by that as anyone else, and need to take a longer second look sometimes. Having said all that, what appeals so much about the night sky here - at least, between spring and autumn - is the fact that the whole experience is so damed comfortable. I don't have to put on 3 inches of insulation, before heading out to discover that it has now clouded over. There is such a sense of blissful relaxation to be had, looking at distant beacons gliding ever so slowly overhead, while crickets, cicadas etc sing their song.

I have to admit though: I'd exchange a few of these balmy, almost unchanging nights for a few displays of aurora under a crisp heaven with fiercely-twinkling stars. Of all the sights in nature, there can be few as awesome as the northern (or southern) lights. With that thought, here's a pic taken some years ago: a green rayed band over the orange glow of Edinburgh. It's a sight I will never tire of.

Hydrangea

2007-11-11T16:04:00.000+11:00

It seems I have a minor - but possibly growing - obsession with a hydrangea. We have one in a large pot on the back verandah, which is enjoying exuberant growth. It was somewhat abused a couple of years ago, being fairly sunburned and drought-afflicted. After being moved to a better spot and being treated more tenderly though, it is thriving once again.

I am drawn towards it with camera in hand; there's something about the leaf shape and texture that is so appealing: well-defined veins and bold serrations, with a satisfying sheen on at least some of the leaves. There is also a slightly unruly quality to the leaves, with unexpected twists and curls. The pink flowers, pretty though they are, don't interest me so much; possibly because I am inclined to render the images in monochrome, and they don't present enough of a graphic form to be worthwhile. Maybe I should take another look, and see if I can create a pleasing image from them as well. I might surprise myself.

Look what I found

2007-11-04T23:35:00.001+11:00

I have spent several days, on and off, tidying my home office. It was in desperate need of it, for 2 reasons: 1, I am perpetually under-organised; 2, I have just moved the contents of an external office into the home, which made the floor disappear. Today was substantially the culmination of the process, in that it now looks organised, and ready for business. Indeed, SWMBO came in a few hours ago and said "what's that?"
"It's a piece of MDF", I replied.
"No, that," she insisted, waving her hand over the empty space (specifically, a desktop covered with said MDF).
Ah, yes, empty space. I have been the proud possessor of such a thing from time to time, but it invariably fills up with all manner of detritus as soon as my back is turned.

I realised some time ago that paper is the bane of my life. Copy paper, printed paper, brochures, forms, magazines, interesting snippets, etc etc... Once I had come to that realisation, I felt I had at least taken a step forward. Realising it was one thing though, dealing with it was another.

This time it will be different. I will be the master, and paper will be my servant; on call for when I need it, and despatched when I don't. It will be ephemeral, discarded on a whim, and only retained if it will serve a purpose. This will begin tomorrow, when my new assistant starts work ... a ruthlessly efficient filing system, coupled with In/Out trays that actually function as they are supposed to.

Tomorrow is a bright new morn...

Fascinating books (that I haven't yet read)

2007-10-24T20:48:00.002+10:00

I like to catch the Book Show on ABC Radio National, when I can. It's a usually a welcome retreat from daily life. Today I listened while waiting in the car outside Spotlight, as SWMBO picked up supplies for a current magazine project. I'm not, I confess, a real outdoor person, although I do like the idea of being so. Today's guest, Robert MacFarlane, was discussing his new book The Wild Places. Not only was the subject of interest, but Robert was a pleasantly modest, gracious and engaging interviewee. His brief tales of 'night walking' along a ridge of hard snow and ice by moonlight, and the holloways of Dorset – among others – were quite thought-provoking. The transcript is here. A New Statesman review of the book is here.

14 May 2008 update: the current issue of Orion Magazine has an article here.

Another transcript that sounds interesting is from Monday's show, which included The history of virginity with Hanne Blank. Dare I look forward to The history of the loss of virginity...?

The tangled web

2007-10-23T20:31:00.000+10:00

Dictionaries & the WWW: I love how you can go looking for one thing, and end up somewhere totally different, if you're of a mind to follow the path. It kind of fits in with the sentiment that we should "chase wild geese - that's what they're for."

This evening, I went looking for the history behind the ISO 'A' format paper sizes, following a discussion with a local artist today. I felt it was probably had some ancient British or German origin, which just happened to translate to the strange 297x210mm for A4 (etc). Turns out it is connected with old German & French thoughts on the merit of a format in which the ratio of the 2 sides of the sheet is 1:[square root of 2]. This allows a sheet to be folded in 2, and still be the same shape. Markus Kuhn says this:

"One of the oldest written records regarding the sqrt(2) aspect ratio for paper sizes is a letter that the physics professor Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (University of Göttingen, Germany, 1742-1799) wrote 1786-10-25 to Johann Beckmann. In it, Lichtenberg explains the practical and aesthetic advantages of the sqrt(2) aspect ratio, and of his discovery that paper with that aspect ratio was commonly available at the time. (There are also suggestions that the task to find a paper format that is similar to itself after being cut in half appeared as a question in mathematics exams as early as 1755.)"

However, James wondered how they arrived at an odd number like 297mm, which doesn't multiply to a nice round number. The answer is simple, and logical - from a metric viewpoint: A0 is one square metre, or very nearly so (with the 1:[square root of 2] ratio). Everything follows from there. Here endeth the lesson.

The point of this is that, having gone in search of old technology, I stumbled across someting very much of the present, a Flash animation. The front page of this site has a mesmeric animated mandala, and the succeeding page has an equally fascinating linear array. Both are affected by movement of the cursor with the the bounds of the graphic. Have a go: mothteeth.com

Beautiful woodwork

2007-10-21T11:47:00.000+10:00

We took a run down to the Old Butter Factory in Bellingen yesterday. It's a collection of craft retail outlets covering a wide variety of creative endeavours. I'd seen a notice about a new fibrecraft exhibition there, and wanted to see what was on show (moreover, I thought Heather would enjoy it). There were some very nice exhibits, including one or two I'd like to buy.

What stopped me in my tracks though, was a piece in the woodwork gallery. This shop always has a variety of work, from small nick-nacks, to larger pieces like dining tables. On this occasion, Bim Morton, whose work I have admired before, had a beautiful dresser that is almost exactly what I want in my study when we build our house — except I want it to cover a whole wall.

Constructed from Blue Gum, this was a fairly simple cupboard topped with a bookshelf/display cabinet with glazed doors. The design was a perfect blend of simple elegance with individual finishing touches that my words cannot possibly do justice. For example, the door handles were hand-carved from the same piece of timber they were 'attached to'; both handles coming together in a central rose-like scroll motif. The doors themselves were prevented from banging shut by damped pistons, which allow them to close gently, even if you give the doors a firm shove to close. If you've even seen an S-class Mercedes pulling its doors shut when you didn't quite close them firmly enough, you'll be able to imagine these doors closing — with calm, refined restraint.

Deep joy.

Now there's an idea

2007-10-18T23:12:00.000+10:00

I spent a number of years chasing innovative ideas, prototyping a few, bringing one to market and another almost there. It was an exciting and frustrating time, and after about six years of it, thought I'd managed to leave it all behind for sanity, but over a meal recently had a real 'light bulb' moment. That this moment was shared and more importantly, enthused over, by my other half, gives me hope that I might be onto to something here.

I'll need to tread carefully with the idea, as I don't want to be ripped off again, as we were a couple of years ago, by a large national semi-governmental organisation. After 18 months in development, that hurt. But, their lawyer was bigger than ours, and we had to let it go and watch while they introduced almost exactly the system we had proposed. So, I shall seek better counsel than before (no, not better - in fairness to my colleagues - just possibly more informed or focused), and see if I can turn the rough diamond into a real sparkler. Watch this space!

CD 'gramophone'

2007-10-12T13:00:00.001+10:00

This is beautiful. Last year, I bought a gramophone kit, which was supposed to record on to old CDs, or any other smooth, rigid surface; it didn't work. Here's a new approach: play a CD, on what looks like a slimmed-down wooden gramophone. Eat your heart out, S*ny!

clipped from www.jieyu-design.com

By bringing back a familiar nostalgic form of a phonograph, the design seeks transport the user back to the golden age of phonographs in early 1900s where sound broadcasting had a magical feel.

What's In A Name, Mate?

2007-10-11T14:10:00.000+10:00

A Sideways Glance at the Hidden Meaning of Aussie Place Names

There are many place names around the world that cry out to tell you their true meaning. Well, perhaps not their ridgey didge true meaning, but who has ever looked at the name Footscray and not felt that it probably also exists as an entry in a medical dictionary? Or Patchewollock, or Humpty Doo? Exactly. Furthermore, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of things, situations, personality types, events, etc, which have no adequate name. What do you call the person who cheerfully ignores the lane markers on a roundabout or motorway, then drives on, blissfully unaware that you have only just avoided having your wing and door remodelled? No – apart from that... While !&%#&*!!?! will do, there is an even better choice to be found somewhere, on the signposts of this great nation.

It is now time for Australia to step forward, and lend some of its magnificent place names to the great cause of the "unnamed definition".

(I can assure the reader that any place names that follow are genuine, existing somewhere in the "wide brown land" that is Australia.)

Aberfeldy n

The ungainly stumble performed by a novice attempting any form of Scottish country dancing for the first time, when he goes the opposite direction to everyone else and tries to correct the mistake. cf Acland.

Note: I am keen to draw the reader's attention to the fact that no disrespect at all is intended towards any place whose name is featured in this work. All the disrespect is aimed squarely at the annoying prats, frustrating situations, etc, to which those names have been assigned, pro tempore.

Why? II

2007-10-11T01:06:00.000+10:00

Why is it that you can make a cup of tea (or coffee), absent-mindedly forget it's tea (or coffee), and - now thinking you are having coffee (or tea) - get an unpleasant surprise when it tastes nasty? What does that say about our perception of taste? Does it mean that we can be happy with anything, as long as we think it's something else?

I was once given a mug of something that I think was coffee, but which was so appalling in flavour, and disgustingly sweet into the bargain, that I just had to tell myself that it was some entirely new and different beverage, nothing to do with coffee at all. This seemed to work, and I was able to drink it OK. I wouldn't want to do it often though...

Long black

2007-10-11T00:26:00.004+10:00

I came to coffee relatively late in life, having been mainly a quaffer of tea. An occasional cup of N**cafe was had - and even enjoyed - for a few years, then I met my life partner (SWMBO - she who must be obeyed), and was introduced to the real thing. I was also introduced to quality (Twinings) tea - for which I am grateful.

In those days, tea was brewed strong, and, like coffee, was taken with plenty of milk. Having discovered an intolerance to milk a few years ago, tea then became weak and black (OK, mid-brown), and coffee disappeared from the menu. I had once tried black coffee when there was nothing else available, and found it to be a foul substance. Lack of sugar didn't help.

Before I abandoned mlik, I developed an affection for a weekend cappucino or mocha. I had to be in the mood for it though; I was unlikely to have it in the morning, and it had to be reasonably good coffee. The main attraction was sharing a quiet cuppa in pleasant surroundings with SWMBO, which remains with me still.

Having done without the roasted bean for a few years, I decided to try it black again, and found that if I took it weak, it was palatable. I'm gradually coming to tolerate a stronger cup, but it does depend on who makes it. I'm no connoisseur, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am fussy about having a good brew. I swapped notes recently with a client, and found we shared a preference for the same coffee-houses. One in particular (named Cocoa, as it happens), makes coffee that I can take full strength - which makes me wonder: does everyone else find it weak, or is it just that an excellent brew doesn't need to be weak? I do ask for a wee jug of hot water, just to make the cup go further, but it's not necessary. It seems to have a more rounded flavour, as if it's coffee with a dash of chocolate in it, or something. The only downside to this particular establishment is that the serves are smaller than elsewhere, but I forgive them, as long as they keep up the quality.

Comet Encke fishtailing across the sky

2007-10-06T16:25:00.000+10:00

In this delightful time-lapse image from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, the tail of short-period comet Encke can be seen flailing about in the solar wind.

Go to http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0710/enckeRipoff_movie_short.gif for the animation. The comet is small (it orbits the sun about every 3 years, so has lost a lot of its mass over time), but the sequence is quite fascinating – normally, a comet is so slow-moving that you need to watch carefully for hours or days, to see any change. On this occasion, the wonders of time-lapse have saved you the wait.

The fun world of sewing machines - Part II

2007-10-02T23:24:00.001+10:00

Well, I managed to remove the coil from the circuit board, and rewind it. Not quite as it was originally, but a pretty good attempt, and better than I'd feared it might be. That just left the soldering back in place. I'm not known for my soldering skills; I know that dry joints are bad news, but haven't the faintest idea how you might cause one* - and therefore, how to avoid causing one. Add to this, the only soldering iron in the house is one designed for leadlight work, so to say it's a tad larger (and probably hotter) than required is a bit of an understatement. No matter, it's an old circuit board, with just a few widely-spaced basic components, so the chance of damaging something else is fairly slim. Apply iron ... dab solder ... hey presto! A nice shiny blob of solder, exactly where it's meant to be. Now, the other wire, then screw the whole lot back together. Plug it in, attach to Elna ... wonderful, it works again. Great relief, cup of tea to celebrate.

Now what can I fix next?

* I looked this up after the event, and found that my meagre knowledge was enough to make sure I did all the right things. I don't see a career in it, though!

In the third dimension

2007-10-01T18:55:00.000+10:00

Something I've dabbled with for a long time, is 3D photography. When I was studying applied photography, it was one topic that really grabbed my attention. I've yet to do something really dramatic with it, but - having been asked to mount an exhibition at one of the local art galleries - it's just a matter of time.

One of the earliest exponents of photography (then Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth) was quick to tackle the 3D world, and created stereo pairs in various locations as far apart as Egypt and Russia. So, I follow in illustrious footsteps. In fact, one of the more pleasant tasks during my time as photographer at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, was to help with the production of an exhibition of some of CPS's work. It was certainly a fun change to the usual drab observatory work, and the resulting show was a delight to behold - and a pleasure to be associated with.

If I'm honest, I've only dabbled with 3D, in that I haven't produced a great body of work; however, I have managed to get some out-of-the-ordinary images, such as are not generally captured by those photographers still working in 3D. It is that sort of image that I would intend to include in the exhibition. And what sort is that? All will out, in due course...

Meanwhile, here's a taster that I took while visiting Stonehenge in 1997. It wasn't taken under the best of circumstances, but does give an impression of what the monument is really like. You need to use the crossed-eyes method, to view it properly (cross your eyes until you see 3 images, and the middle one should be in 3D). If you can't manage it, sorry... Warning: if you click through to the larger image, sit back fom the screen a bit, to avoid getting a headache from severe eye-crossing!

The fun world of sewing machines

2007-09-30T22:29:00.001+10:00

My wife's beloved Elna SU suffered a hiccup last week, and in the course of this being investigated by an expert, it transpired that a wire was broken in the foot. The expert had not fixed this, advising that 'it could be done, but it would take a lot of time' (& therefore a lot of money) to fix it.

Not one to be beaten by such a situation, I opened up the foot to see what the problem was. Sure enough, just a wee wire broken, as it enters the casing of a sizeable coil. I shall attempt to repair it, but the trouble is, the break is obviously right in the centre of the coil, so I will have to completely unwind it to fix it. If I don't succeed, there's no loss, as it certainly doesn't work now, but I will be somewhat disappointed if I can't do what's necessary. I've done battle with our washing machine twice now (there is no service agent for domestic Zanussi machines in Oz), so a wee coil should be but a small challenge ... I hope!

The fun world of HTML

2007-09-30T22:11:00.000+10:00

I've been creating HTML, off and on, for more than 7 years now, and thought I had a reasonable grasp of it. Today though, I've been defeated in the process of trying to send out an email containing an existing HTML file, compete with CSS. It more or less works, but the CSS information doesn't get through. I've sent out an SOS, so hope to have the answer in a day or so.

I could just create it in the email client, but want to do this as a monthly newsletter, so will work from an HTML template (at least, that's the plan).

Think I'll go and read the book du jour.

Low-tech photography

2007-09-26T22:14:00.000+10:00

Someone said to me yesterday, "what's pinhole photography?" So, with that as a prompt, here's a couple from the files. First a very literal - albeit panoramic - image:

This was taken with a shoebox camera; literally, a shoebox, with a pinhole in one long side, and a long piece of film curving around opposite the pinhole. It gives a nice, straight, rendition of straight lines, around a very wide angle (about 155°). How does it work? Simple - light comes in through the pinhole, in a straight line, and hits the film opposite. Where it hits, it makes an image of whatever was exactly opposite the pinhole, outside the camera.

The second image was taken slightly differently, using a cardboard mailing tube, with a sheet of printing paper inside it. Same principle, but the geometry is different, hence funny curvy lines.

At its simplest, pinhole photography is just that - punch a hole in tin foil with a pin, and take a picture. You can do it with a normal SLR camera (with the lens replaced by the tinfoil), but the results will be a bit fuzzy. I tend to be a bit particular, and make a pinhole as near perfect as possible, and precisely the right size for the camera. But that's just me, pedantic as ever.

I'm interested in the number of finely-crafted pinhole cameras available these days - often lovely wood and brass. I have a notion to create one of my own, based upon an experiment a few years ago. It will be a challenge to create what I have in mind, but Rome wasn't built in a day, so if I just get started on the task, it might hit the market one day. Will there still be film available to put inside it then? That's another matter entirely!

There's nothing worse

2007-09-26T21:59:00.001+10:00

Don't you love it when someone says, "there's nothing worse..."? Invariably – and I DO mean invariably – they are talking about something pretty trivial. Not enough rice for the biriyani, smudged lippie when you're running late, or catching a hangnail 3 times in 5 minutes: these are apparently serious matters that cause all others to pale into insignificance. Things like bowel cancer, third-world famine and fundamentalist terrorism seem to be blithely pushed to one side, while the trauma of the moment sits in the limelight.

To be, or not...

2007-09-25T14:07:00.000+10:00

Is it nobler in the mind (or the wallet) to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously badly-paid (but promising) employment, or with a new vision of something (some things) possibly better, jack it in and move one? It's a vexed question, especially as giving up the former means waiting several months to be paid. Acute cramp to the wallet! – but much more time to give to the other projects, and perhaps actually give them full attention and do them justice. Oh, for a crystal ball (or maybe just tea leaves with a USB connection). Yes, you heard it here first – cyber tea leaves, for an instant online reading.

Fooling around with images

2007-09-22T16:52:00.001+10:00

From time to time, I'll open an image in Paint Shop Pro (or create something from scratch using areas of colour/black/white), and then mangle and manipulate it to see what comes out the other end. I have something of a fascination for tiling images, seeing what, if anything, is the effect of a repeating motif.

Made this one a while back, and found it again today. Can't remember how I started, but probably just an array of dots.

Why?

2007-09-22T00:24:00.000+10:00

Why does a dictionary need to contain a definition for the word 'dictionary'?

Why do TV shows need to be announced as 'all new'? Are there any that have random old bits in them? Maybe the new Doctor Who could be momentarily supplanted by Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker, without any explanation.

Why does my daughter remember, in tedious detail, any conversation she has had or any disparaging remark directed at her by schoolmates, yet 2 + 5 takes a second or 2 to recall?

Digital mini Rolleiflex

2007-09-21T14:01:00.001+10:00

Is this brilliant, or what? Classics like this are too young to die under the electronic onslaught. It won't provide quite the same satisfaction as holding the full-size real thing, but retro-cool outweighs that. It's just a pity they couldn't have managed at least 5 megapixels.

Full story at http://www.minox.com/index.php?id=1094&L=1

clipped from www.minox.com

Here is a camera that not only collectors will get excited about but also the 'gadget' market and anybody fascinated by miniaturization. In co-operation with the Rollei company, MINOX makes available the smallest fully operating Rolleiflex in the world. The "Rolleiflex MiniDigi" is a digital camera with the same shape and design as the famous 6x6 twin lens reflex camera with a resolution of up to 3.1 million pixels. This unique miniature Rolleiflex is added to the successful 8x11mm film and 'Leica' digital classic collection camera series from MINOX.

Health check

2007-09-20T12:50:00.000+10:00

Middle-age spread. Is it good for you? Can you get it with plant sterols, to actively reduce cholesterol? Or should we just avoid it altogether, and stick with good old butter? It's a worry.

Great oaks

2007-09-16T17:08:00.000+10:00

We have our own quercus – transported as a Glen Innes acorn, to become a Coffs Harbour oak. It loafed around for a while, doing nothing obvious, but a few weeks ago burst into new and thrusting life, and now sports 7 magnificent wavy-edged leaves on a small and spindly, but proudly straight stem (probably too early to call it a trunk).

30th August

16th September

So there it was - an eager, youthful, autumnal blush, now settling down to a sensible spring green. It's not clear that there are any more leaves on the way, so we'll see what next week brings.

A day in the life...

2007-09-15T00:18:00.000+10:00

Attended an exhibition opening tonight - '365 Happy Days' by James P Gilmour. Interesting show: the artist is creating an exhibit based upon 1 work per day, inspired by – whatever happened to him that day. As he admits, it's a large undertaking; walking in and seeing 140 framed pics, tightly bunched on 3 walls, it's quite an effect in itself. Looking at the works themselves, it's clear I'll need a while to take them all in.

First impression? The man's got a lot of stuff in his head, and yet some days, a work is created on the flimsiest of notions. Some images really resonated with me (day 42, below), while others (unsurprisingly for such a vast and quickfire body of work) left me unmoved – or just bemused.

I think I'm impressed by James's courage in attempting such a feat; committing to complete the whole 365 days, and showing it part-way through (and day by day on the web); risking being laid low by artist's block, failing to complete and looking foolish – although there's probably little chance of that.

I felt there was an interesting resemblance, in some of the 'portraits', to drawings in Raymond Briggs's books (e.g. When the wind blows). I think this exhibition will grow on me.

Flash bang wallop ... what a picture

2007-09-14T23:22:00.000+10:00

Haven't had a good thunderstorm for a while. Coming from a country where thunderstorms are infrequent and less than dramatic, I enjoy those that entertain us Down Under. There is always a desire to get the camera out, and capture a winning shot. I'm not a storm chaser, hell-bent on driving great distances in pursuit of the action, so tend to take the opportunity when it occurs on my doorstep (literally...), or within a few km. Sawtell headland is a favourite destination, and I'm not alone in that. The last big one that I went out for, there was quite a crowd in attendance, watching the display. Better than the goggle-box.

Tempus fugit

2007-09-13T00:15:00.000+10:00

It's now tomorrow, but I haven't finished doing yesterday's work. I realised a few years ago that my body clock seemed to be running on a 25-hour cycle. I think that's no longer the case, but I just have too much on my plate. I could stay up for another hour, but it will just catch up with me in the end, so I may as well admit defeat. Not total defeat, for I did get a few things done, just scrappy bits & pieces. At least, that's the way it seems. Maybe I just expect too much.

I was told once that there is a Gaelic equivalent of mañana, but "it doesn't convey the same sense of urgency". Oh, for such an unhurried lifestyle. And all in a 6-day week, with forced rest on the Sabbath. Maybe I'll try it one day – after I've finished everything I have to do. Tick, tock...

Speak up, man

2007-09-06T14:05:00.000+10:00

It's not that I'm going deaf - far from it; it's just that sound isn't so loud these days. All right, I know I don't hear quite as well as when I was 20, but it's not that bad. I've always had a tendency to miss the first word of a sentence, which often makes the rest unintelligible, or at least, nonsensical. The big problem now is the tinnitus, like a constant hiss somewhere just behind me. I don't always notice it, so maybe it isn't always there, but I doubt that's the case.

Used to be, it appeared only after I'd had an evening on the laughing syrup, or a long drive, but now it's a fairly constant companion. Wake up, it's there; go to sleep, it's there. When I first realised it had come to stay, I felt a brief moment of panic: what if it tormented me all night, and I ended up insane? I soon realised that wasn't going to happen, and a visit to the specialist gave the comforting information that it would likely not get worse; on the other hand, there would be little I could do about it.

Fortunately, I don't notice it all of the time; usually, I am too busy concentrating on something, or the background noise is loud enough to block it out, but it's in the quiet moments that I hear it most. I don't care for the thought that I will be missing out on finer nuances of music, but then I never was much of an audiophile. These days, most music is heard while at the PC or in the car – neither of which are ideal environments – the opportunity for sitting just listening with the headphones on doesn't really exist these days (partly because No 1 son has managed to destroy a good Sennheiser set by neglect and abuse). Requests to buy him some new headphones now fall on deaf ears...

In praise of a Weston

2007-09-06T14:00:00.000+10:00

Way back when the world was young, and the word papparazzi wasn't even a twinkle in someone's eye, things happened at a slower pace. In the 'olden times', as my daughter might innocently say, there was less urgency to get one thing done and on to the next. A fast computer was someone who could flick through log tables in a flurry of pages, on the way to completion of a Herculean multiplication task. A small quality modern camera was likely to be a Rollei twin-lens reflex or perhaps a Contax rangefinder. A fast lens was around f2.8, and Kodachrome was hot stuff. (Kodachrome remained hot stuff for quite some time afterwards, but that's another story.)

In those peaceful times, there was no such thing as automated exposure control; a photographer had to use judgement and experience to get it right, or revert to using a hand-held light meter, such as a Weston. Almost an institution, the Weston Master was (is) a lovely instrument, with its snug, thick leather case and slim, heavy construction. It wasn't too good in low light – that needed an as-yet-unknown CdS cell – but as long as the needle wasn't bumping the bottom end of the scale, you were in business.

A swinging baffle allowed the large self-powered selenium cell (show me a light meter now that doesn't require batteries) to measure light over a fairly wide brightness range, and in later models a diffuser could be fitted over the cell, to measure the light falling on the subject instead of the reflected light, allowing a more objective exposure measurement. And that was about it. No bells or whistles, no LEDs or thumbwheel-controlled menu. Just a basic tool for no-nonsense, get on with it, photography. Pick it up, point it in the right direction, turn the dial, and there's your answer. Later models did provide a locking button, so that you could hold the measuring needle in place after the reading was taken, but that was about as high-tech as it got.

My Weston Master III doesn't get to see daylight very often these days, but that's all right. Occasionally, a modern light meter's battery fails, and out it comes, dependable as ever, to give me a result when it could otherwise be difficult to get the right exposure. I still like its glossy black enamel and rounded styling; the later silver-grey models with harder lines did little for me. If I'm using a pinhole camera (they don't see much daylight either), the Weston is a very appropriate tool to judge the right exposure: an unhurried measurement for an even more ponderous exposure. Deeply satisfying...

We have the technology; we can rebuild it

2007-09-03T13:51:00.000+10:00

Bad news this morning: motherboard &/or CPU on my main PC are dead. Yes, I'll have a faster machine with more RAM, but the timing could have been better; could it not have waited 6 months? At least the data's safe. To compound the problem, the old P-III that I brought in as backup has clearly decided that it didn't like 2007, and chose to pack it in while my back was turned. One minute: I'm checking email; next thing: computus geriatricus has rebooted, but gone no further than the obligatory RAM check. It stubbornly refuses to go any further. Probably time to let it RIP.

Word for the day

2007-09-01T21:44:00.000+10:00

I was asked today what my favourite word is. Difficult; I tend not to have favourites; nor do I see much of the world in black and white, just many shades of grey. I settled on whisky – specifically malt whisky – but might need to reconsider. Other candidates would include:

prosperity
wife
sleep
discumknockerate

I once amused a young colleague when I used the word 'splendid', so perhaps that should be on the list.

I am fond of invented words, but care must be exercised when using them, or the audience can be left behind. Scrabble often brings the opportunity to create Welsh words, when all you have on your tile rest is 6 consonants and one vow-ell...

Being a Scot (at least, I was born there; my heritage is in the Sherwood Forest area), I am wont to use the occasional bit of dialect; not too much, because a Scots accent is bad enough in Australia, without introducing weird words as well. I once watched a bit of Looking After Jo Jo and was amazed to see subtitles being used, to help Aussie viewers understand the Edinburgh accent. Were the subtitles in English? Were they chook! They were in dialect, so made nae difference at a'. What a laugh!

Within the richness of the Scots tongue can be found such gems as:

shoogle - shake
tumshie - turnip
nyaff - a useless, objectionable, tiresome person
skelp - to smack, especially a child's backside ("I'll skelp your dowp!")

I was talking one day to a fellow Scot, in the presence of an Englishman. Jason was talking about the scooshers on his car, and I never gave the word a second thought, until Brian's face contorted in puzzlement; we had to explain that Jason was referring to the windscreen washers. Oh, the joy of secret language ;-)

So, preserve the richness of the spoken word, and use a regional word today.

Phoenix PC

2007-09-01T21:30:00.000+10:00

My main PC is dead just now, or perhaps just resting. I took it into the shop yesterday, and left it in the capable hands of Ray. Bearded, sage and with a wicked sense of humour, Ray should be my saviour. The only thing that worries me this time is that the failure to boot was accompanied by a distinct smell of electrical overheating. What got fried? Something easily (and economically) replaceable, I hope. Will the trusty machine, resurrected from the ashes, be as good as before? I hardly dare think about it.

Meanwhile, an old P-III machine has been pressed into service. I've been hanging on to it for ages, thinking it's not worth selling, but too good to throw out. It's good to be a procrastinator, sometimes. I did try to load a new flavour of Linux on to it recently, but as with all previous attempts, was utterly unsuccessful. I may not try again.

Toe in the water

2007-08-31T23:56:00.000+10:00

OK, I'm in. The wonderful world of blogging beckoned, and I heeded the call. How far will it go? How long will it last? Will I (or anyone else) regret it?

It's the end of another working week, and quite glad I am. It was a good end, as it happens, not the usual, T-G-I-F, drag myself home, thankful it's all over. I had just lodged the final two loan applications of the month, scoring a new high total. One last phone call and email, and then home for a good meal (home-cooked, as always). Pasta bolognese, with not a mushroom or sprig of rosemary in sight; delicious.

An interesting package was waiting for me, containing the seeds of a new venture; I opened it, placed the wad of pages into the binder, read the first few, and felt a frisson, with the promise of a new direction. I'm looking forward to tackling the work, and doing so in quick time, with dramatic results. Hope I'm not disappointed.

School bored me; I got through it well enough, but never actually enjoyed it. I did, however, enjoy burning my exercise books at the end of 6th year (Year 12, if you are outside Scotland). College was thankfully short on lectures, but those I did have to sit through really challenged my ability to stay awake. The first educational experience that I positively enjoyed was at the age of 37, when I took a week-long course in copy-editing and proof-reading (it's the 'pedantic' gene, you know). The search for perfection in words - I loved it. Still can't read a book or newspaper (or website), without noting extra spaces between words, wrong use of the apostrophe, or any of a myriad misuses of the language. So, my intended new direction ... it involves words and writing, so should feed that part of my psyche which revels in the written form. Will it come to fruition? Time will tell, but I intend to be well on the way by Christmas. I really fancy a New Year worthy of the name, one that heralds a significant change in lifestyle and fortune. Watch this space.

Decent Exposure? Well, you've got to be decent, and you have to expose yourself to life's opportunities. Also, if your photographs are to be any good, you need ... decent exposure. Easy with modern, all-singing, all-dancing, electronic instant feedback digital cameras, but try a pinhole camera; you need to use the old grey matter there - or perhaps a Weston Master III.