December 2005 Archives
Thanks to a tax return I'm travelling to Weesp today to pick up these two babies:
Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF.
This is the one I wanted to get in New York, but they didn't have it in
store. This one comes in the box (which includes petal hood and padded
case), with added (and valuable: 170 euro) polarisation filter.
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8. Just because I could get a good deal on the two of them together. This one comes with a UV filter and hood.
They are second hand and no bargain, but I'm sparing myself a lot of
hassle not ordering 'cheap' online. Dutch online vendors don't accept
credit cards, shipment always arrives when you're out, lenses never in
store so you have to wait for weeks. And if you buy from a real shop,
you can put another 100 euro on the price. So... 425 for the lot, I'm
happy.
I expect the 28mm to become my standard lens. The 20mm is a huge fucker so that'll be for dedicated photography trips.
Expect some pictures later today.
Here they are. Unfortunately the weather is dull and it's drizzling,
not ideal circumstances to give them a try outside the house.
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'Kitten has a Yoko-like fling with a beery rock singer (wonderfully played by the debauched Gavin Friday), which is interrupted by a subplot involving Irish Republican Army gun-running.'
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Great new 'David Sylvian' album. I hate to be conservative, but I do prefer his less experimental outings. This is one he's done with Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman.
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Fuck. How did I miss this?
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'Chevalier du Gôute-Boudin' invents veggie black pudding.
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'Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last.'
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I love Zing products, they're sexy and practical. And you can find them cheap on eBay (at about 1/3 of Dutch retail price.)
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Custom setting for G3 (and G5) for quick shooting
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Fun for under the tree.Ten minute stop motion animation. Download 'n' watch.
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Hoping this fixes my daily blog posting problems with del.icio.us
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An image I took at a leaving do for one of our interns
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'Dr. Shari Brasner, a 40-year-old Manhattan gynecologist, says she, for one, just doesn't have time to menstruate.'
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Maybe my favourite tag on Flickr
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I have dog lust. Can I retire already?
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Fun Lennon vs McCartney thread on AskMefi. If I remember correctly as a 12 year old I preferred Lennon but thought Harrison wrote the best songs.
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On the wish list.
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I can't keep up with innovation anymore.
My 70's 35mm rangefinder - a Canon GIII QL17 - broke a few weeks after I bought it. The lightmeter's kaput. I love this camera because it's tiny and inobtrusive and has a fucking great lense attached to it. I've been wanting to get a new one and I've got a (low) bid on one going on at the moment. Six hours to go and no bids but mine as yet. Weird, as these cameras are hot property. I may get very lucky. Not.
There's another camera from that era, that's very similar: the Olympus 35 RD. They're quite rare, but I've found one and am sorely tempted. It's a 'buy it now' item.
I had a low bid going on a (digital) refurbished, unit only, Canon G5, but someone's trying to steal it from under my nose and has driven up the price to a frankly ridiculous amount for a camera that comes without any of its paraphernalia. (It uses the same battery as the EOS 300d, so I don't need a charger or software anyway.) I may end up overpaying for it now as I was drawn into this silly bidding war. Update: And yes, of course I won this one. I'm happy, but not as excited as I'd be over a vintage camera. This G5 will take over business formerly handled by my Ixus, the picture quality of which is just too disappointing compared to SLR. The G5 makes a good prosumer 'back up' camera.
Christmas bonus, eh?
Tivoli i lov' it
My final day in Copenhagen I spent in the city's entertainment park, Tivoli. (Flickr photo set) It's closed in winter, but opens during Christmas when they've decorated the place in lights.
Tivoli has the dubious honour to have inspired Walt Disney to build his Disneyland, but the Danish park is charming, not gaudy. It's old fashioned and far too lovely to be camp.
When I was little I wandered into one of its gambling venues with a handful of coins (from my uncle) in my pocket.
There I found a strange betting machine. It was based on horse racing. I didn't understand the instructions, but it looked fascinating so I dropped in a coin and pressed some buttons.
A few minutes later a heavy load of money spilled into the receptacle at the bottom of the machine. I looked around me, but none of my relatives had followed me into the building.
I was a little sad that no one had witnessed my fortune, but I pocketed the winnings with a thrill. And spent it all on other, less generous, machines.
A second set of photos taken in Copenhagen on day 3 of my stay, the results of an eight hour walk from Vesterbro to Christianshavn, to Nyhavn and all around the City. I gave myself a task for the day: 'find the light' (and the shadows).
The funeral set is also online, but mostly friends & family only.
A set of photos taken on my first day in Denmark. A pro would cull these down to 3 shots, but that would take too much time so there's 34 in all.
Scandinavian Christmas decorations aren't permeated by the American 'Coca Cola Santa' fun fun fun look like in the rest of the world. Sometimes they're a little creepy. A little creepy can be good.
Also, there are a couple of cameraphone shots which contain more freaky shop window examples.
I bought a monopod shortly after walking through this arch. On Tordenskjoldsgade, where I once spent a lovely summer.
Next time I travel to Denmark, I am bringing thermal underwear.
Beautiful days, if sad. Sunny blue skies, warm fried pork rinds, Carlsberg, chai lattes and an 8 hour walk around town.
Ready to come home now.
Not sure if that title's going to do this blog any good, but what the hell. My budget hotel (Absalon Annex) offers free internet access and people here don't seem to be in a rush to use it all that much. Or maybe my frantic typing scares them off. Or maybe they're all out getting hammered. That's what people do in Copenhagen, don't they?
I gulped down two interesting types of akvavit during dinner for a little buzz and I have to say I prefer plain old Aalborg.
Some observations today:
1. I've been here a few times before, so for me Denmark = childhood memories = good.
2. Nothing today has scratched that shiny veneer yet
3. Everybody is super friendly and helpful and polite. Sort of Germany-lite, in a good way.
4. It is as I remembered a lot 'warmer' than Stockholm. In colour and attitude.
5. Talking warm, it's 7 degrees Celcius, but there's a nasty wind.
6. Photo opportunities on every street corner.
7. I forgot to bring my battery charger.
8. Am an idiot.
9. Walked into a camera shop to see if I could pick up a cheap charger, but they're v. exp.
10. Walked out with a new Manfrotto monopod instead. Wanna go play with it!!! (Problem, have to be selective. See 7.)
I could have seen it coming. I was a little nauseous in the morning and had felt 'off' the night before. Hindsight 20/20.
Late in the afternoon on Monday, my lower abdomen started to feel
painful and bloated. I ignored it and continued working. But the pain
got worse and when I realised I was having another one of what I think
is IBS/spastic colon episodes, it was too late. The first and second time it
happened, also at work, I made use of a stress relief room we had. I
could lie down there and wait for it to pass. But we've moved
buildings, no longer have that room and it was 6pm. I didn't fancy
spending the night at work.
My boss called me a taxi and I tried to relax in the back seat. By this
time, I could not stand or sit up straight and was unable to talk much.
I seemed a litte better when we got to my house, but when I got up off
the back seat the pain returned in full force. I paid the driver his 71
euro and then literally crawled up the stairs on my hands and knees.
Inside I grabbed a bucket for emergencies and eased myself down on the bed. I tried to
get undressed, but could only manage an item of clothing every half
hour or so. I was moaning out loud for the next few hours.
I must have fallen asleep around 10 or 11pm and then woke 3am, feeling
somewhat better. I managed to get up to get a sip of water, I had
become a little dehydrated. But I couldn't keep the water down.
It's 10.30am now, my belly's still tender but only painful when I press
it or move around too much. I feel a little feverish and my head hurts.
The last time I approached my GP about this, he said IBS is hard to
determine and he seemed unwilling to investigate. Maybe it's time I put
some pressure on him, or consult his colleague.
Test entry for my new MT installation
When it was suggested I'd go live with my mother's sister, my aunt Ineke, I was all for it. She was married to my favourite uncle and I was close to her two youngest sons. They lived what I at 12 years old (and for a long time after) considered the high life. International schools, a lot of travel, all the toys in the world.
It would have meant leaving Holland and growing up in Jakarta and Copenhagen. I think I was ok with that too.
My aunt and I would have eventually come to blows had this plan (One of several... boarding/finishing school in Switzerland was another. That would have been something.) got the go ahead, I'm sure. I'd have been the rebel child. I eventually went to live with my father instead and consequently did not see a lot of my mother's family after that. I spent my whole childhood missing them and learning to do without. Then I forgot how to get back in touch, and they seemed to have forgot about me. -- EXTENDED BODY: The last time I saw her, she got on my nerves as most of my adult family members do. This was two years ago, at my uncle's place. We had Christmas dinner and she demanded to know 'what I'd done with my mother's money' and why I didn't believe in God. That got my heckles up.
But she and her husband were very kind and welcoming to me on many occasions, and she and I wrote letters for a while, that kept me in touch with and part of the family.
When I got the news about my uncle two months ago, I was also told my aunt, like her brother, had been diagnosed with lung cancer in the final stage. The same disease, by the way, that took my mother.
God must have had an off day when he concocted our family gene pool.
My aunt, who was in Copenhagen for treatment, passed away Wednesday night. She was spared much suffering.
And yet I can't cut down completely. Sometimes I get these urges, these little obsessions. Last week it was 'I have to have everything and anything ever put out by Arcade Fire'. Why? Gorgeous packaging, that's why. I mean, look at this. The scans don't do the actual product justice. The 'Neighborhood #2' 7" for example has a fold out sleeve, printed inside and out with Art Deco/Tim Burtonesque imagery.
{ click click }
Since they're only starting out it's fairly easy to obtain 'everything and anything', except that elusive first single, only 1500 of which were pressed. So if anyone can give me a lead on a copy of the 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' 7"...