Today is Y's 'granny day' at Burton Joyce I called in at Lidl to see of they had any cheap digital watches. My old Casio has finally yielded after 6yrs service and although Lisa is asking Santa to bring me one I needed something to tide me over.
They hadn't got any in stock but my route takes me past the Langley Mill Boat Basin and the light was good. So remembering Manxislander's enjoyment of previous coverage I nipped across the road with my compact. And when I got home I found an old Accurist ( a 21st birthday present) wound it up and it has been happily ticking away all day and it seems reasonably accurate. There are things to be said for hoarding !
Our purchaser's builder, extra to the surveyor, arrived mid-morning and found it hard to believe what he had been asked to do ! He had the 10 page survey and he was supposed to estimate the cost of what need to be put right. He had a chuckle when he got to 'the sealant round the bath' fault, so I think he put 'tube of silicone sealant - 85p' and so it went on. I'm beginning to think we might as well put the bungalow back on the market and I now regret telling the agents not to send further viewers.
Picture 2 is just a Derbyshire 'tonal recessions' shot. My entries in the EPS monthly competition fared as well as they usually do i.e. bottom. I think I might stop entering because doing the sort of photography required to win doesn't really appeal to me. I won't talk you through the pictures - it would be tedious. It would however be refreshing to have a judge whose line was different from "I'm a dinosaur and I do real photography in the dark
room" . My picture of a Zaha Hadid piece of sculpture at Chatsworth was dismissed with the words "This is a record shot". That is precisely what it was intended to be ! At least Trevor, our Architect member, could see its purpose. These comments should be read as a critique of my photography rather than as an attack on the judge though - because he made valid points based on his wide experience.My 'Tea' book continues to delight. It is a good straight read, also equipped with an excellent index which makes it good for dibbing into. This morning I wondered if there was anything specifically about PG tips - builder's tea - and there were several illuminating paragraphs. Also about samovars !
.....Sleep tight, catch you tomorrow..
After many years of entering photographic competitions/exhibitions solely to win trophies or gain awards, and after many years of judging competitions, I grew tired of the whole scene. Now I avoid them almost totally. I judge once or twice a year and try to make my comments helpful to the photographers; they, of course, have the right to ignore me if they so wish.
ReplyDeleteAll of which leads me to this Bill Brandt quote, with which I agree wholeheartedly:
"Photography is not a sport. It has no rules. Everything must be dared and tried!"
Personally I think it would be better if competitions were replaced with discussions so people could say what they were trying to achieve and get constructive feedback, but I don't know how many would join in.
There was a super quote from Chuck Close on the first "Genius of Photography" programme. I liked it so much that I wrote it down, but I haven't got it to hand so will post it later. I've done a nifty google but can't find it.
Does anyone know if it's possible to put words in italics and bold on this comments page?
Rob
Pleased you've found your old Accurist (why not 'Accuwrist'?).
ReplyDeleteI had Rotary watch for my 21st from my parents. I think it cost £20 (1951); a substantiual price! Eventually the mainspring went and I abandoned it, later throwing it out. Having 'watched' antiques programmes on telly, I dare say it might have had some value now.
I think you are getting too despondent about the house sale. If the builder, as you suggest, regards many of the required repairs as trivial that is surely a good sign? To making house fit for occupation - £17.37.
Unless I have misread, it sounds to me as if you are on the home stretch.
Reading the comments from yourself and Anon Rob, it sounds as if photo societies would be better run on the lines of 'Writers' Groups'. Often boring and irrelevant but with a few pertinent criticisms and suggestions.
Oddly, Sandra bought some PG Tips teabags yeaterday as, 'We haven't tried them for a long time' and, like you, we have not found a completely satisfactory replacement for Morrisons Gold. I cannot say I have ever thought of PG as 'builders' tea'. A bit upmarket for that!
Both Sandra and I come from families of builders (in my case an uncle, several great uncles, first-cousins-once-removed, and second cousins; in Sandra's her father, for whom she worked, and his father before him) and we both remember builders tea not as PG (good strong brew thought it is)but as being made in a blue billy can; the water, tea, condensed milk and sugar all being boiled up together until 'your spoon stood up in it'.
PG was my mother's choice for many years, with occasional forays into their 'superior' quality (I think in a black packet). In spite of having 'proper' caddies, however, she always kept leaf tea in a Brook Bond Choicest Blend (a Tea of Distinction) tin which we still use.
To anonymous Rob:
I also have been unable to emphasize as you wish to do and have resorted to THE USE OF CAPS where necessary.
'Home stretch' was an unintended pun. What about the lintol (that seemed potentially the most likely thing to cause problems but not much so)?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else watch what I consider the most important, best produced, and shocking 2 part TV drama on Channel 4 (Wed/Thur nights)?
ReplyDeleteI am waiting to read the critical reviews (please forward via RadioG)but it seems totally reasonable to me to assume that this was based very much on reality. Very, very scary. And (in my opinion)essential viewing if it is ever repeated.
Try: >channel4.com/britz<.
BRITZ
ReplyDeleteJust experimenting - but now I see that the comments-window accepts HTML code so italics will be < i > before and < /i > after, but without the gaps. They are there to stop it slavishly following the HTML tags and putting the sentence in italics like that.
ReplyDeletedo you mean like this?
ReplyDeleteThank you
Rob
I might as well try it too but it doesn't seem to work!
ReplyDeleteThe Chuck Close quote that I liked (from The Genius of Photography) was this (naturally he was talking about photography):
ReplyDelete"It's the easiest medium in which to be competent, but it's the hardest medium in which to have personal vision that is readily identifiable"
I also liked his "There are no accidental masterpieces of painting but there are accidental masterpieces in photography."
Rob
wow i like how you write in a style let me have a go..... I sometimes think WHY DON'T I KNOW THINGS! its unfair someone teach me
ReplyDeleteHannah