overheard conversation and M. de La Rochefoucauld
Girl 1: …and I’d get lifts there regularly with this, like, bloke, from… but then later this bloke, like he’s older, and I think he’s getting, you know, and I think… well, he’s sort of middle aged and, anyway, you know what, he’s killed in a car crash next week. It’s so funny [she actually laughs and her friend laughs too], I mean, it’s like, you know, but it’s really funny [more laughter from both]. Of course I don’t, like, get the lifts now…
i must become a borrower of the night
a thought or a question
I’m surprised by how actions and their consequences can become physical presences, sitting in a corner and haunting the room. and if they are a presence do they inhabit a parallel universe when they’re not haunting this one?
sleeping amazon
got the equipment, where’s them coins gone
albatross outside the ‘marfin egnatia’ bank
when looking westward, i beheld
a something in the sky…
a speck, a mist, a shape, i wist!
[a glittering APC]
Ka sleeping
refugees
The refugee situation this summer seems to have escalated.
the trial of the sober dog – by Nick Abadzis
this is a snippet from an ongoing series on Nick Abadzis blog, i’ve linked the first one here, he’s currently on episode 16, all are linked at the bottom and he posts every wednesday
2 blinks and summer’s gone – excuse the indulgence
promise i’ll tell what they is
taken with a borrowed holga
anyone care to adopt
after the garden of the finzi-continis, found photo
serendipity
I was out shooting some night shots last night and took the NikonD80 to use as a light meter for the Yashica, the time was so slow i had to take the digital pic to count the seconds the shutter was open for. I haven’t got a clue if it will work on film until i get it developed. I liked the accident of this; zoom on, camera held out at arms length more than if i’d had it on a tripod.
Conflicts fuelled by climate change causing new refugee crisis, warns UN
Climate change is fuelling conflicts around the world and helping to drive the number of people forced out of their homes to new highs, the head of the UN’s refugee agency said yesterday. After a few years of improvement, thanks mainly to large-scale resettlement in Afghanistan, the numbers of civilians uprooted by conflict is again rising. During 2007 the total jumped to 37.4 million, an increase of more than 3 million, according to statistics published today.
foxhunt – taking a bit of heat off the squirrels
Ritsos’ chair – for Cooper
Greek Scene
He dismounted, hitched his horse to the huge mulberry tree, took a leak.
The horse was looking at him. He slapped its neck.
“We’re young,” he said.
The sun was calling out among the osiers.
The cicadas were coming on strong.
The fig tree’s shadow banged against the stones.
A huge red sail was flapping above the plane trees.
The horse was twitching its ears, sometimes the one,
sometimes the other, while below,
two young boatmen were rolling the huge iron barrel along the road.
Samos, August 19, 1963
experimenting
this is a digital shot taken through the viewfinder of a twin lens reflex [TTV - through the viewfinder]
Canadian train put in quarantine
A train in Canada with about 280 people on board has been put under quarantine, after one passenger died and several others reported flu-like symptoms.
The authorities say they do not believe there is a connection between the death and the illnesses.
um, is it me or is there some confusing contradiction here or maybe several
cameras – Bencini Koroll
I was gifted a camera recently that I shot a roll of film through. There’s some information on it here and an image of its lovely construction and basic elements. Mine is not the Koroll S but a simple Koroll that preceded it, the only difference being that mine has no flash bracket. I really like its minimalist functions; 1 F stop and 2 shutter speeds, kind of a 1950’s point and shoot. Film used — Kodak160VC
photogenic
every time i take my camera out into the garden and start framing a shot the dog makes a dash and positions herself in front of the lens
hubris and nemesis; the economy of food
On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television. It is a documentary most Americans will never see, explaining how the gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.
For millennia, farmers have saved seeds from season to season. But when Monsanto developed GM seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, Monsanto patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for seed patents in a five-to-four decision, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply.
more here about the seed gestapo
george mikes and epigrams
Epigrams take us on elegant brisk journeys; they are smart ripostes in which X proposes, Y disposes. They are beautifully crafted little musical instruments, exquisite jewelled needles that can do real harm. There is nothing quite so lethal as a neat binary:
Four legs good: two legs bad.
Me Tarzan, you Jane.
from George Szirtes
Sheila’s new tundrabusting roadster
happy is… as happy does
well this isn’t a photo masterpiece but these 2 are such a consistently joyful pair they warm my heart
