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Flotsam and Jetsam

In Camera

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Trying to choose a suitable play on words for the title of this post – with the intention of taking the theme about cameras that commenced here and was extended here to its (quite probably il)logical conclusion… it occurred to me to wonder for the first time in my 58 years as to the origin of the phrase ‘in camera’ – and how it came to mean what it does.

Thank goodness for the InterWebNet! I found this on a most useful site titled Daily Writing Tips:

“The word we use for a “picture-taking device” comes from Latin ‘camera’, “an arched or vaulted roof or room.” The English word chamber, “room,” comes from the same Latin word.”

The link from the domed room to the clever digital device that we now take for granted is the camera obscura – again from the Latin. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definition:

camera obscura [L.; lit. ‘dark chamber’].   a. Optics. An instrument consisting of a darkened chamber or box, into which light is admitted through a double convex lens, forming an image of external objects on a surface of paper, glass, etc., placed at the focus of the lens.

There are still a good number of Camera Obscuras in the UK, possibly the best known of which is on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. I have no idea if there are any in Canada but I would love to hear of such.

The expression ‘in camera’ thus literally means “in the room” – the inference being “privately” or “secretly”. When – for example – a judge calls opposing barristers (attorneys) to meet him “in chambers,” they are meeting ‘in camera’.

 

Oh yes – I decided to order the Fuji X10. It should be here early next week!

 

Cajones!

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OMG!!

I have been an enthusiastic amateur musician for more than 40 years, and throughout that time I always believed that I was keeping reasonably well abreast of developments on the music scene.

The other night I was at a school production – a contemporary dance re-interpretation of Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’, with an updated score in a style which I can only describe as a jazz/blues/classical crossover. This particular production was largely the brainchild of a young man who is the son of a best-selling novelist and journalist, and who led the five piece onstage band on acoustic guitar.

Alongside him was a pianist, a bassist, a violinist and a percussionist. This latter was seated upon – and was hitting with his bare hands – what looked like a small wooden crate. The great surprise was that the sound produced was not that of a man slapping a wooden box, but rather a pretty good facsimile of a drummer playing a decent sized  kit. The bass was rich and punchy, the snare crisp and tight, and there was a full range of sounds and colours in between.

Amazing!

For those of you who – like me – have never even heard of a Cajon, let alone seen one in action, this video gives some idea of the possibilities, as does this one – though there really is no substitute for actually hearing one live.

Awesome – and not just in the Canadian usage!

As a compulsive tapper of rhythms on anything handy I think I just might need to acquire one…

Imperceptibly!

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You may have noticed that I have a fondness for language – for its depth and richness and for the infinite variety of its textures and meanings. I love how flexible and elastic it can be and the endless tapestries that can be woven from it. I have no issue with language evolving to meet the demands of new ages, but I do despair if it becomes impoverished by reduction – particularly if such occurs simply through laziness or some form of inverse snobbery.

Clearly ‘imperceptible’ is amongst my favourite words and always makes me think of that great – if apocryphal – theatrical anecdote concerning Samuel Beckett. To cover the somewhat unlikely eventuality that there are those who have not yet heard this story I thought I would include it herein.

Beckett was famously exacting when it came to productions of his work, demanding not only that the text be delivered unadulterated but also that stage directions be followed to the letter.

In 1975 Beckett’s TV play – ‘Ghost Trio’ – was filmed for BBC television. According to the anecdote Beckett himself sat in on the filming, sitting unobtrusively in the shadows at the back of the studio.

One of the early shots in the play includes this stage direction:

‘Cut to close-up of whole door. Smooth grey rectangle 0.1 x 2 m. Imperceptibly ajar.’

When it came to shooting this scene the director and set designer spent some time on set, nervously discussing the exact positioning of the door and experimenting with various degrees of ‘openness’ – all the while casting anxious glances towards the back of the studio trying to guage Beckett’s reaction. Receiving no guidance from that direction they tried ever finer degrees until finally – unable to stand it any longer – the great man leapt from his seat, stormed onto the set and slammed the door shut.

The director gasped. “But it says ‘ajar’…”, he protested.

“It also”, snapped Beckett, “says ‘imperceptibly’!”.

Camera Obscura

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Aaaaaaargh!!

After what feels like literally days surfing the InterWebNet researching cameras in an attempt to meet my somewhat arcane requirements (see here if you would like to know the background to this particular quest) I thought I had finally found one that came close to what I wanted. The Fujifilm X10 is a retro styled advanced compact with just the sort of features I was looking for.  Almost panting with excitement – my hand twitching over my credit card like a gunfighter itching to draw – I read on…

Then, to my horror, I started to unearth stories of an apparently fatal design flaw that causes the camera to perform poorly in certain low light conditions, unable to deal in a satisfactory manner with specular highlights. As this was the only camera that remotely met my criteria (assuming that I can’t afford a Leica – which I can’t) I was aghast!

Further reading simply confused the issue. Some reviewers were appalled that a £400 camera could exhibit such flaws – others didn’t mention the problems at all. The posters on some of the more excitable photographic blogs were sufficiently apoplectic that they almost seemed to want to storm Fuji HQ, burn it to the ground and to stone the executives. Others either hadn’t suffered from the defect at all, or if they had did not think it sufficient reason to return the cameras and demand their money back.

It is a very pretty little camera – and I have seen online many excellent examples of images captured by it. Should I just ignore the issues and buy the X10 anyway?

What to do? What to do?…..

I saw my brother last night (Kickass Canada Girl was handing over the sexy Civic to youngest son) but he claimed pressure of work as an excuse for not having yet come up with definitive photographic advice. He had also forgotten to bring the M9 with him which he had intended to show me – though that was probably a good thing!

He has, however, promised to look into it. Watch this space…

Picture Post

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Over the years I have had several bass guitars stolen – one from the back of a van whilst it was being unloaded outside a venue in Edinburgh 20 minutes before the start of a show! I could almost admire the chutzpah required for that particular heist, were it not for the fact that the guitar – my first professional instrument – carried a strong sentimental attachment.

The last time I lost a bass, in the early 90s, I took the insurance cheque and headed for the music stores to replace it. I was in for a shock! Bass guitar technology had changed and I found that I no longer understood it. There were 5 string basses, 6 string basses, extended range basses, acoustic basses, semi-acoustic basses… I couldn’t play any of them! The tide had ebbed and left me behind – driftwood on the strandline.

Fortunately I found a proper old-fashioned guitar shop in Richmond (that is Richmond in the UK – in Surrey… oh, let’s not get confusing!) called – as I recall – Barney Marder’s. Sadly this store is no longer with us, as it used to carry a wonderful collection of old and sometimes rare guitars. There I found a much abused Fender Precision from the mid 70s, in a battered case and with most of the original finish worn away through use. It needed a bit of work but it will – if looked after – see me out.

I am reminded of this episode now because I am looking to purchase a camera. My intention – a good one I think – is to furnish this blog with images that I take myself. Though very much a novice when it comes to photography I do want to try to capture the things that I see and that I write about. The cheap digital camera that I have been using for the last few years does surprisingly well at the basics, but I have a hankering to be able to produce the sort of images that are now so prevalent on the web.

When I was young (painful to write that in so many ways!) there were basically only two types of consumer camera – inexpensive ‘compacts’ that used film cartridges and 35mm SLR jobbies that required flight cases, multiple lenses, filters and all the rest of the paraphernalia. I naively assumed that something similar would still apply, and that to step up I would need to look for the digital equivalent of the 35mm camera – the DSLR. I turned to the Internet to see what might be available.

Another shock! Camera technology has changed and I no longer understand it. Did I want a point and shoot camera, a compact system camera, a bridge/hybrid camera, a 4/3 format camera, a micro 4/3 format camera, an entry-level DSLR, a ‘prosumer’ DSLR… or should I just use the camera in the iThing?… if I had one… which I don’t!

Clearly I have no idea at all as to what I should be looking for. I made a list of what I think are my requirements:

  • There has to be a viewfinder of some sort – I don’t like taking pictures at arm’s length
  • There has to be manual or semi-automatic control – I like to tell the camera what to do
  • There should be dials and buttons rather than just onscreen menus
  • It must be possible to shoot in reasonable closeup and at a reasonable distance
  • It must be possible to shoot in fairly low light
  • The camera should be as simple as possible (no comments please!)
  • The whole shooting match should not be too heavy – or I just won’t use it

At this point I consult my brother, who is a designer and who has used cameras professionally ever since he left college. He solved the weight/complexity problem on his first trip to Canada – in the summer of 2010 to attend our wedding – by simply leaving his Hassleblads and DSLRs behind and traveling with an old Leica rangefinder. Mind you, he has just paid an arm and a leg for an M9, so I’m not sure about using him as a role model. Still, he has promised to have a think about it and to get back to me with a recommendation. His younger son is getting Kickass Canada Girl’s car at a knock-down rate when she leaves for BC, so he probably owes me one.

Pensioned off!

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Received today from the UK Pension Service – under the auspices of the Department for Work and Pensions – a notification of the change in State Pension age. The notice contains the following priceless text:

“You may be aware that the law has changed. State Pension age is increasing from 65 to 66. This affects men and women born on or after 6 December 1953.

Our records show that your date of birth is 07/01/1954. Based on this information, the earliest date from which you could be entitled to any State Pension is 06/05/2019. This date is unlikely to fall on your birthday.”

 

You don’t say!!

 

O Lucky Man!

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“Smile while you’re makin’ it. Laugh while you’re takin’ it. Even though you’re fakin’ it. Nobody’s gonna know” – Alan Price

One of the reasons that I have not previously considered writing a blog is that I feel somewhat ambivalent about the motivation so to do. Creative writing – which in my case means writing plays – seems quite different. When I finish a project and launch it into the world (however insignificant a part of the world that might be) the piece ceases to be mine and takes on a life of its own. Certainly there is something of me in it, but it is not necessary to know anything about me to engage with the work.

Blogging feels more self-centered – more about me, me, me! Why would anyone want to read my ramblings? Isn’t it somewhat pretentious to imagine that anything I might say could be of any interest or value? Or am I perhaps just being a bit too self-consciously ‘English’ about it all?

The truth is that I am a lucky person. More than that – I have also been very fortunate. Opinion seems to be divided as to whether these are one and the same thing, and indeed as to whether either is simply the outcome of chance occurence or can be influenced by our actions and behaviour. It may be the case, of course, that the nature of our fortune derives simply from the way that we react to chance events.

In an unusual twist we find new age thinking – with its Law of Attraction – almost entirely in ageement with ‘science’. Richard Wiseman, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, has carried out a 10 year study into the subject. His conclusions are fundamentally that those who believe themselves to be lucky invariably turn out to be so. Being open to opportunity and focussing on positive outcomes tends to lead to better fortune.

I don’t doubt this, but I do believe that my life experience also contains much good fortune that has been entirely outside my influence.

  • I am a boomer – one of the most blessed of generations.
  • I grew up in the sixties. Whatever re-evaluation there might have been of late concerning that golden age most of us are deeply grateful to have lived through it.
  • Despite having no idea what I wanted to do with my life I have had a fascinating career and have had the good fortune to work in some very special places and with some special people.
  • I have met many wonderful, clever and fascinating people, with some of whom I have been married, had relationships or developed friendships.
  • I have always been able to indulge my creative impulses and have met others with whom to do so.
  • I have always been in final salary pension schemes – though that was never something I looked for. I joined my current scheme a month before it closed to new members. This, naturally, is of particular import now.

…but, of course, most of all…

  • I met Kickass Canada Girl. She came eight and a half thousand miles to find me and, but for the most fortuitous of circumstances, we might never have met. As all my fortune and happiness is bound up with her I would say this was spectacularly lucky!

I suppose my fear is that, having been this fortunate, I should just shut up and keep quiet about it. This does raise the question of what is the appropriate reaction to being lucky. Should I feel guilty that there are many in the West worse off than I am? Should I feel even more quilty that many in the rest of the world are far worse off than 99% of us in the West?

Perhaps the best response is to celebrate all good fortune, my own and others, and to do my whatever I can to increase the happiness of those that I know and those that I meet, as well as – wherever possible – those that need it most.

“If I am only happy for myself, many fewer chances for happiness. If I am happy when good things happen to other people, billions more chances to be happy!” – The Dalai Lama.

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