Great to see everyone. It was also good that you all already were there when I arrived so Cal didn't sit alone for an hour!
Helen, I hope you stayed dry walking to the train. I look forward to seeing some of your shots! Also if you liked Cal's crazy 4x5 let me know if you want me to build you one, and I'll look out for the right parts (minimal assembly required).
I of course only brought a bunch of weirder cameras that fit on my bike. I'll leave some of the real monstrosities for another time.
A note on the little Robot wind up camera. Sam brought one to what might have been the last Manhattan meetup before covid. After that I really wanted one.
Cal, maybe John will want to rename part two of "Sunburn and Shadows" to Sunstroke! I figured we saw so many of Johns blurb books over the years, it made sense to bring his real book.
I eventually managed to close out my tab after I was told the waiter walked off the job.
I also had an easy ride home as I took the direct route, and not the complicated google route. Hopefully we can do another one before the weather gets really bad.
Christian,
I do miss John. We actually argued quite a bit. LOL.
I am a drama queen. I ended up closing my tab which included Joe’s bill and Helen’s. Even signing the credit card was complicated for our server, and this was even involved, but I ended up throwing him a twenty, and perhaps that was what he needed to run out and get his fix. Anyways, I don’t think I am being a creative delusional artist here, and my narrative I don’t think is far from the truth.
Oh the mystery, the drama, and the smut. Kinda entertaining how bad our server was. Then came the sequel, after our server left Dodge, another server attempted to deliver two food orders. Christian and I pretended and acted like clueless tourists when a delivery was attempted.
Cristian lied. In fact he said, I ordered food about an hour ago, it never came, I reordered, and again the food never came, so this is the third time I’m ordering my food. This was required to finally get his food from our likely strung out server who seemed to be on another planet.
Basically about two hours or more later the second and third order were attempted to be delivered by a replacement server. How did this get so complicated? Anyways it was entertaining and gave us great insight into the Pandemic, the sad state of the economy, the labor shortage, and how counter productive our “new” economy is.
With this new server, I was not lying when I told the replacement, “I did not order that food,” but technically Devil Christian did in fact order a second and third time. I’m a witness. Anyways my training in journalism sticks to the facts. Christian lied. LOL.
Jerome Powell, the lawyer made FED Chairman, would learn mucho about how screwed up the economy is by attempting to order food at this beer garden in Astoria with this server. Very sad, but also mucho entertaining.
Actually Joe and I arrived early at pretty much the same time, about ten minutes to twelve.
Also Helen, Christian is not kidding about minimal assembly. All I needed is to buy a lens. I bought a Schneider 90mm which is a 28mm FOV. In conversation over the phone when I mentioned I secured this lens Christian pointed me to some readily available enlarger lens mount that would be perfect for adapting the lens to a nozzle piece he also gifted me that he had laying around.
Remember that this is a fixed focus camera… I have mine set at two meters.
Let’s start a thread for a September Meet-Up.
The grand son will be born around “Labor” Day. Already he is kinda big. Did you know at the last month of gestation a baby gains about a pound a week? I did not know that. This is of concern because “The Critter” is so big that a C-Section has to be considered, and if a C-Section is performed then “The Creature,” the mother AKA “Maggie’s” daughter, will not be able to drive for a month.
Thankfully Maggie does not drive for the benefit and safety of the general public, so pretty much I might have to pick up and drop off my darling “Creature-Junior,” AKA the grand daughter, from school. Along with likely doctor’s appointments it could be a busy September. BTW the Creature-Junior is eight years old, I could also call her “Miss Bossy” because the name fits. Kinda spoiled and mighty entitled, but also very sweet.
Devil Christian is no good I tell you. Not only is he the epicenter for “Linhof Disease,” he s also still contagious and starting another pandemic electronically by sending me links of gear that is mucho tempting to buy.
I too think I “need” a Robot camera with the 50 shot capability for shooting the square. Would be great to have a 35mm FOV. Now I have to start doing research. What I love about this camera is the small size and the incorporation of an old Cine winder of a movie camera integrated into a small camera for a film transport. Not so large, perhaps a bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes, but with an oversized “Monster” knob for style and “Calzone” factor.
As Devil Christian explained, he bought the early version that you wind once, and then you have 50 shots. Kinda like an UZI that has a huge magazine. Also the camera is mucho dense and heavily built. Schneider German lens. Pretty much a weapon held in plain sight. I guess I now have GAS. “Christian is no-good,” I tell you, but he is also a Clever Devil.
The thing about Christian’s demeanor is he is not loud and annoying like the persona “Calzone;” in fact he is very polite, well mannered in a European kinda way, and to compound this he is rather soft spoken. Don’t fall for this, he is the devil in disguise. Keep away, he is trouble.
Cal
