Monday, June 13, 2005
Blasted Blogger.
Please Miss, the Blogger ate my post.
Recapping:
The human thing; it's insects too, including a very iridescent dragonfly that pretended I was a pirate and it a parrot (or vice versa) for ages yesterday. I must smell like a plant. Oh, and now it's bats as well. Maybe they were attracted by the insects.
Watched 80s cold war film yesterday. Much on MAD and Russians not really. The film was War Games, so not very serious. Very young Matthew Broderick (wasn't he always?). A "Whatever happened to...?" revealed what has happened to... Basically married the woman out of Flight of the Navigator (and Sex and the City).
Anyway, in fillum they show tourists being shown round the main operations room at somewhere called NORAD (it's got capital letters; it must be important). They say "No pictures please" to a group where one tourist has a camera slung round her neck. I wonder if they still do that? Considering some BBC documentary crew [television on the background - multitasker that I am. It's something on Martha Stewart. Americans are Americans/I still don't get it] have just been told they are not allowed to film a shop (not inside it you understand, but they are not allowed to have it in shot) by some officious American policeman (presumably al Qaida are planning an assault on the irretrievably twee).
I wonder if they still have tours of the mountain lair? Apparently they do, but I'm not digging out the links again.
Anyway, pictures, forbidden places, officious security... Thanks to Flickr I've discovered a useful guide to one's rights as photographer in the UK. It seems to cover both professional and amateur. There was the US equivalent floating round on Flickr, but I can't find it now.
Anyway, Mr Yet-to-be-Bueller's film has at the end a message about the soundtrack. It's available on records AND tapes.
Oh, reverting to American quirks - that Jackson thing. Ignoring all the moral and legal stuff, viewers in the UK have just had most of the 10 o'clock news being bumped by livefeeds as we wait for something to happen (heck, the main other story was only the French are being French, and the UK are saying "yeah but, they're worse than us"). It happens. Then the guy in America comes on, and describes, live on air, what's just been described to him. So there's proper staid BBC guy solemnly intoning (what other type of intoning is there? Manically intoning?) as he goes on in detail about Michael Jackson's reactions. Other than the curious case of the brandname of the distinctly non-commercial BBC - he first used "tissue" then switched to "Kleenex" [Now in new quadruple-ply acquittal size], the reporter informed the nation how Jackson asked for a tissue, was handed one, wiped away a tear, and - the best bit's coming - "handed it back to an aide". He then apparently asked for another tissue (such profligacy!) although the fate of the second tissue is currently unknown.
And don't forget, all of this was second-hand. I think we know what they'll be showing at this guy's retirement party (if he hasn't somewhere along the way called the Queen Mother "he").
Anyway, it's late and I'm not too hopeful about Blogger working this time.
Anyhoo,
PS. Just remembered. The BBC have been doing A Picture of Britain. Usual Sunday evening stuff. BBC4 have been doing their own digital photography version afterwards, which is usually quite good, and the interactive bit has tips and viewer submissions (there's some comp). In amongst the endless black and white dead trees (if you're surname's not Adams don't try), misty trees, neverending sunsets, and mountain-loch combinations (or all of the above) was one shot taken down a stairwell at Tate Modern. Except I'm pretty damn sure I was standing just to the right of the frame, because coming down from the members' room on the Saturday, I met a guy with a digital camera who was taking ages to take a photograph - but I didn't mind waiting. The people in the shot match the couple who were at the bottom of the stairs when I got round the corner.
Sorry, it's just one of those things. It might not be the same shot, but I'm pretty sure it is. And yes, I had already noticed the cinematic potential of that staircase (and the building in general).
Actually, looking back at it (having found it), I think the position of the camera could have been better.
PS2. Stumbled across this odd test. 100%, 100%, 100%, 93%. I got two wrong; hung, because I panicked and changed my mine (animals are, people aren't), and I assumed common usage was equally as acceptable on the whom one.
[answers].
And you'd never tell to read this would you?
Please Miss, the Blogger ate my post.
Recapping:
The human thing; it's insects too, including a very iridescent dragonfly that pretended I was a pirate and it a parrot (or vice versa) for ages yesterday. I must smell like a plant. Oh, and now it's bats as well. Maybe they were attracted by the insects.
Watched 80s cold war film yesterday. Much on MAD and Russians not really. The film was War Games, so not very serious. Very young Matthew Broderick (wasn't he always?). A "Whatever happened to...?" revealed what has happened to... Basically married the woman out of Flight of the Navigator (and Sex and the City).
Anyway, in fillum they show tourists being shown round the main operations room at somewhere called NORAD (it's got capital letters; it must be important). They say "No pictures please" to a group where one tourist has a camera slung round her neck. I wonder if they still do that? Considering some BBC documentary crew [television on the background - multitasker that I am. It's something on Martha Stewart. Americans are Americans/I still don't get it] have just been told they are not allowed to film a shop (not inside it you understand, but they are not allowed to have it in shot) by some officious American policeman (presumably al Qaida are planning an assault on the irretrievably twee).
I wonder if they still have tours of the mountain lair? Apparently they do, but I'm not digging out the links again.
Anyway, pictures, forbidden places, officious security... Thanks to Flickr I've discovered a useful guide to one's rights as photographer in the UK. It seems to cover both professional and amateur. There was the US equivalent floating round on Flickr, but I can't find it now.
Anyway, Mr Yet-to-be-Bueller's film has at the end a message about the soundtrack. It's available on records AND tapes.
Oh, reverting to American quirks - that Jackson thing. Ignoring all the moral and legal stuff, viewers in the UK have just had most of the 10 o'clock news being bumped by livefeeds as we wait for something to happen (heck, the main other story was only the French are being French, and the UK are saying "yeah but, they're worse than us"). It happens. Then the guy in America comes on, and describes, live on air, what's just been described to him. So there's proper staid BBC guy solemnly intoning (what other type of intoning is there? Manically intoning?) as he goes on in detail about Michael Jackson's reactions. Other than the curious case of the brandname of the distinctly non-commercial BBC - he first used "tissue" then switched to "Kleenex" [Now in new quadruple-ply acquittal size], the reporter informed the nation how Jackson asked for a tissue, was handed one, wiped away a tear, and - the best bit's coming - "handed it back to an aide". He then apparently asked for another tissue (such profligacy!) although the fate of the second tissue is currently unknown.
And don't forget, all of this was second-hand. I think we know what they'll be showing at this guy's retirement party (if he hasn't somewhere along the way called the Queen Mother "he").
Anyway, it's late and I'm not too hopeful about Blogger working this time.
Anyhoo,
PS. Just remembered. The BBC have been doing A Picture of Britain. Usual Sunday evening stuff. BBC4 have been doing their own digital photography version afterwards, which is usually quite good, and the interactive bit has tips and viewer submissions (there's some comp). In amongst the endless black and white dead trees (if you're surname's not Adams don't try), misty trees, neverending sunsets, and mountain-loch combinations (or all of the above) was one shot taken down a stairwell at Tate Modern. Except I'm pretty damn sure I was standing just to the right of the frame, because coming down from the members' room on the Saturday, I met a guy with a digital camera who was taking ages to take a photograph - but I didn't mind waiting. The people in the shot match the couple who were at the bottom of the stairs when I got round the corner.
Sorry, it's just one of those things. It might not be the same shot, but I'm pretty sure it is. And yes, I had already noticed the cinematic potential of that staircase (and the building in general).
Actually, looking back at it (having found it), I think the position of the camera could have been better.
PS2. Stumbled across this odd test. 100%, 100%, 100%, 93%. I got two wrong; hung, because I panicked and changed my mine (animals are, people aren't), and I assumed common usage was equally as acceptable on the whom one.
[answers].
And you'd never tell to read this would you?
