Old words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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!