06.23.04
Posted in PhotoBlog: Found Film at 1:35 am by Thomas
I obtained two rolls of exposed Kodak Verichrome Pan film in the obsolete 620 format from eBay, figuring that if nothing else, I can always use the spools for my vintage cameras.
The rolls were only loosely taped over and I had my doubts if there were any photos left after probably bouncing around some desk drawer for the last 40 years. But I dropped them off for development anyway and here are some of the results.
The first picture was the best of 9 photos on the first roll, all of them from a winter holiday in the mountains. The second picture is the only useful image on the other roll which was probably fully exposed when the camera was inadvertently opened.
Looking at the pictures, it is striking how different people posed for photos in the sixties, when for many young families it was still a novelty to have a camera and to record their memories for later.
But if photos were still something so special, it is disturbing to think of the reasons why these pictures had to wait for some 40 years before they would be developed by a complete stranger. Why would nobody in the family develop these rolls, even if they were found many years later? Especially if they were found later.
The photos in front of us have no answers. All that is left is the shadows of chemical reactions on film, tiny particles frozen in time, holding on to a long-lost memory of Happy Days.
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06.19.04
Posted in Photography at 7:18 pm by Thomas
While visiting our good friend Diana in Berkeley, she showed us this garden in her neighbourhood where huge sunflowers grow right at the side of the street.
Out of all the pictures I took on this day, this one captures best the feeling of a hot summer day in the Bay Area. Taken on Agfa Optima 100 with one of my 50 year old Kodak Bull’s Eye cameras with a close-up attachement. The wind was blowing the flowers out of the focus range, which actually turned out to make the picture so much better.
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06.17.04
Posted in Media at 10:08 pm by Thomas
the book of beginnings is an amazing tour de force through 3D rendering and short story telling.
The author, Gilles Tran, has created an intricate world full of some of the best 3D renderings that are linked togther through a web of unfinished short stories that range from thoughtful and interesting to the outright bizarre. You can easily spend a few hours on a random path through this amazing site.
Gilles also offers “Making Of” pages for some of the more complex renderings with a wealth of useful tips for users of POV-Ray, a free raytracing package that easily overshadows a lot of commercial products.
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Posted in Rants at 9:47 pm by Thomas
Well, for the last few months I seem to have posted mostly rants about the current situation in the world. And why not – I’m currently paying taxes in a country that seems to spend quite a lot of that money on blowing up other people’s countries and then torturing the unlucky inhabitants.
But now I want to bring this monologue back to a more healthy balance of Good Stuff and Bad Stuff. I’ll limit myself to one political post per month and try and fill the rest of the time with some more uplifting material.
Onwards and upwards…
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06.10.04
Posted in Rants at 2:00 am by Thomas
So sometime in 2002 somebody in the White House thought that it is a good idea to do some research on torture and on how to avoid to break federal laws while doing it.
Here is the result, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
This is “How to Avoid War Crime Tribunals For Dummies” as the All Spin Zone points out. In short, this memo constructs a legal case that allows the US President during wartime to order anybody on this planet to be tortured. As long as the chain of command goes back to the President, it would be completely legal. This is of course bullshit, as has been pointed out by legal experts and anybody with an ounce of moral fiber in their body.
Now as horribly misguided as this attempt to legalize torture is, it allows for some fascinating speculation… if this memo has indeed been used by the White House to guide their decisionmaking in the Iraq war, then we know now where the buck stops in the case of the prison torture in Abu Ghraib – right at the top. This memo does not allow for anybody else to order the torture (whatever you want to call it – abuse, softening, interogation techniques, I don’t care.) other than the President of the United States.
Well, at least that’s cleared up then.
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Posted in One World at 1:04 am by Thomas
Back to Iraq 3.0 is a new weblog, only 3 weeks old, by Christopher Allbritton who is currently working as journalist for the Time magazine in Baghdad.
It is the honest and open diary of a young western civillian in Iraq and provides many interesting insights into the current situation in the country. Christopher has been to Iraq before about a year ago, and his verdict on the situation is devastating.
Update (June 10, 2004):
Christopher commented with a correction: His site was launched in September 2002 – his current trip to Baghdad started three weeks ago.
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06.05.04
Posted in China at 12:31 am by thomas
15 years ago in a very different world. Millions of people in China were demonstrating for a free society, for an end to corruption and for some semblance of a democratic process.
It was one of these moments in time that is hard to describe, when everything seemed possible and everybody you see seems to be bubbling over with ideas and excitement. Strangers in the streets were – openly and loudly – discussing politics in a country until then known for a repressive communist regime. A demonstration with more than a million participants was snaking its way through Shanghai, day after day, again and again.
These were good times. Everybody thought so.
Then on the morning of June 4th, 1989 everything disappeared like a mirage, replaced by a fierce nightmare. Over the next few days, more than ten thousand people would die, crushed by tanks, executed in public squares all over China.
I will never learn if some of the demonstrators I had met during those days were among the victims. But I will never forget their enthusiasm and excitement.
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