Steve's World

Don’t ask me why, but… Now that we’ve been firmly entrenched in digital imaging for many years, I’ve taken up shooting film again and even set up a darkroom once more. I have a Nikon F4s, which in my mind (and many pro photographers will concur) is one of the best 35mm cameras in the world. Now if I only had the money to buy a few more lenses… Maybe I’ll treat myself when I get my tax return.

Yeah, strange working in the darkroom. I haven’t done it in almost 20 years. I was working in a commercial darkroom back in the late 80’s and I haven’t had my home darkroom in operation for probably almost 30 years. I still have the enlarger I got for Christmas when I was around 14, so that’s 32 years ago! But I’m actually using a much nicer Omega enlarger I bought at a tag sale and had been sitting in the attic unused for 10 years.

I grabbed all my old photography books I had in storage, bought a couple newer ones from alibris.com and did a little homework in my spare time. Nothing much has changed, they have new films using a different technology, but I have been shooting conventional “old school” B&W films like Kodak Tri-X and Ilford HP5-plus.

Danny and I (he’s almost as tall as me so we don’t call him little Danny anymore) went down to B&H photo on 34th and 9th. If you have never been and have any interest in A/V equipment, you simply must go! They have absolutely everything and anything related to Photography and Video production. And the overhead trolley system that transports bins of purchased items from the many departments to the checkout area is really cool. Bring your camera and you can try practically any lens made on it and have a look-see.

We bought paper (Ilford nowadays, Kodak, although they still make chemicals, no longer produces B&W paper), paper developer, another safelight, and some odds and ends. Then we came home, mixed up the paper soup, and started printing negs from a few rolls I had shot in the previous few weeks. I must say it was lots of fun. Like always, time seems to stand still in the darkroom, and before you know it I’d been in there for over 6 hours! I ended up with about 9 or 10 good negatives from the 3 rolls of film I had shot and developed, which I find about average.

I took some shots of the Croton river and was trying for the “cottony” effect you get with long exposures and flowing water, but even on an overcast day with the lens stopped all the way down, I was still getting 15th or 30th seconds shutter speeds, too fast to make that effect work. But I found a genuine Nikon neutral density for only 19 bucks on ebay and it got here in 2 days with free shipping, so I’m gonna give it another go at another spot tomorrow.

For some reason I’ve always enjoyed B&W photography much more. Learning to see and think in terms of tonal range without the visual noise of color has been almost second nature for me for almost as long as I can remember. We only have consumer grade digital cameras at home, so I’ve never even tried B&W with digital, I hear it’s nowhere near as good as film though. I’d love to have a good digital camera and a couple lenses for it, but I just don’t have the time or money now, so I’m going to continue to develop (no pun intended) my skills with conventional silver based imaging.

OK, enough from me, if you’re into photography, hope this brought back some memories, if not, you must be bored!

OK, I’ve been thinking about doing this for awhile, so without further ado, here’s a list of cars I’ve owned. I think I remembered them all. They’re also in the order I’ve owned them.

In case you couldn’t tell I was a big Mopar fan for years.

OK,

If you had a last meal and it could be any food from any place you’ve ever had, what would the meal consist of ?

Mine is easy-

Soup- The Lobster Bisque from Arno’s on Nantucket.

Bread- Sourdough assortment from Boudin’s in San Francisco

Salad- A spring mix with a round of warmed goat cheese in the center, slivered almonds, and a nice raspberry vinaigrette.

Main Course- Broiled NY Strip Steak served with 6 jumbo shrimp, brushed with a compound butter then grilled over cherry wood coals.

Vegetables- Baked Potato with butter, chives, sour cream, salt
and also- broccoli spears sauteed with olive oil and garlic, sprinkled with a few drops of lemon juice

Desert- A Double chocolate ice cream soda – either from “The Hippies Place” that was on City Island, Bronx, NY in the 70’s or from “Huntley Farms” in Eastchester, NY also in the 70’s. Home made ice creams, fresh whip cream, it was great !

And if I’m not full maybe a slice of Juniors Cheesecake from Brooklyn

Beverages- Iced water while eating, Coffee would be a yemen mocha brewed in a vacuum pot, with raw sugar and cream, and then maybe a bit of a nice vintage port to end the perfect meal

Or maybe just 10 really fresh and juicy white castle cheeseburgers with one onion ring each placed under the bun top and a chocolate shake, depending on my mood !

OK,

I’m always saying- “such and such” is one of my desert island albums…

Well, I’ve finally taken 5 minutes and written down the ten albums I’d take if I was going to be stranded on a desert isle. Yes, just ten albums to listen to for years on end. I guess The Professor and Gilligan are taking care of the electricity and the sound system!

Anyway, here’s the list-

1- Charlie Parker (still not sure what album yet)

2- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers RVG recording – Live At Birdland

3- The Rolling Stones- Sticky Fingers

4- The Beatles- The Beatles (White Album)

5- The Clash- London Calling

6- Bob Marley and The Wailers- Confrontation

7- Lucinda Williams- Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

8- Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magic

9- Patti Smith- Radio Ethiopia

10- The Allman Brothers Band- The Allman Brothers Band

OK, I have to just say how incredible this mornings “Bird Flight” was. Particularly a group of 4 back to back renditions of Night In Tunisia. It’s not a long story, so I’ll tell it quickly…

Many moons ago, about 27 years to be exact, I had a really kick-ass stereo (actually the one I have now isn’t so bad either). In fact I had people tell me they could hear it 2 city blocks away when I had the windows open and the wind was blowing in the right direction. But of course I attribute any hearing loss I may have from working around Jets for a few years. But, as usual, I digress, back on point please-

Anyway, often times I would come home at 2 or 3 in the morning, after a long shift of cosmic exploration, and I’d listen to a radio show called “The Transfigured Night” which showcased avant garde and minimalist music of the late seventies. Stuff like The Red Crayola, Shox Lumania, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, you get the picture. After that show was over, the next show was called “Daybreak Express” and was very upbeat Jazz which was a great way to watch the sun come up.

And after that show was Bird Flight. Hosted by the venerable Phil Schaap, the always verbose and usually anecdotal Jazz historian. Phil is not just spinning records, he spends probably close to 50% if not more of each show presenting the story behind the music, often from his personal experience with many of the late masters.

But of course Bird Flight is dedicated to one musician in particular, Charlie Parker. By now you may be wondering, how can this guy have a radio program for over 30 years playing the music of just one artist? Well I can’t answer that, you have to listen to understand. You will learn not just of Charlie Parkers music, but about Dizzie Gillespie, Lester Young, Earl Hines, and many many other legendary, and also some unknown artists, and how they shaped the future of the art form known as be-bop.

This year, Phil is doing a chronlogical history of every known Charlie Parker recording. He started in March and is only up to summer of 1946 so far, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this continues through to the holidays.

I could go on and on about Phil, but best to leave the accolades it to a professional writer, so look at this piece, a very good celebration of Phil and his contribution to the music world… Phil Schapp Article

If you are in the tri-state area you can catch Bird Flight on WKCR, the staion of Columbia University at 89.9 on the FM dial. And thankfully you can also listen to show over their stream at WKCR’s website but it’s not archived, it’s only vailable live, so tune in every weekday morning from 8:20 and hopefully, you’ll hear something you like, something that will make you come back and listen again and again, maybe even for 27 years…

So all this was just my very roundabout way of saying, holy shit, the pieces he played this morning were absolutely rocking my world! I’ve quite an extensive music collection, maybe 3 or 4 thousand albums worth of music, spanning practically all genres and decades, and nothing lifts my spirits or gets me in a good mood like an exceptional rendition of Night In Tunisia or Ornithology. Those pieces have the power to change my whole being at the particular moment I listen to them, and the amazing thing is that they retain that power even after I’ve heard them a hundred times or more. So come to think of it, I do understand how he’s been playing the same artist every day for 30 years. And I’m glad he’s still doing it, I hope he never stops.

Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. Bird Flight- 89.9 FM in NYC or at WKCR weekday mornings at 8:20 until around 9:50

It has changed the way I think about and listen to music forever.

OK, you know who you are, if you got that email, and you do me that favor, I’ll write a long ass post here and fill you in on whatever and such. What the hell, it’s only been 6 months, right ?

Hopefully I’ll be writing here real soon…

-S

Yowza!!

This is major, can’t get anymore main stream media than this…

I hope the good Dr. does well.

Sometimes I think that the hope I have for this country that’s been rekindled by Ron Paul is just displaced emotional wreckage from the stuff that’s too painful to deal with in real life. But then again I may be wrong.

Either way it wouldn’t change the fact hat Ron Paul is probably the only man out there running that has appealed to people on a very emotional level. He has, quite frankly, done this by being very unemotional. If you listen to Dr. Paul speak, he never quavers, he will, in an almost monotone delivery, expound on anything and everything from health care or immigration to economics and central banking with great knowledge and understanding. His conviction and deep commitment and respect for the U.S. Constitution is also commendable. The man is a scholar as well as a healer. Both require attributes we don’t associate with politico’s, so maybe it should come as no surprise that it practically shouts “no business as usual around here”.

It has been quite sometime since I have liked, the so called – “Holidays”…

Actually they make me sad. Even sadder this year. Maybe in a clime where it’s 80 and sunny you could forget it’s the season to be you know what.

In any case, this time of the year sucks.

Just wondering… If you know me, send me an email to let me know. Yes, to my gmail address. I wish I could turn comments on, but they were getting filled by spambots so I had to say goodbye to them.

One day soon I’ll archive all this old stuff and install new blog software with all the bells and whistles. Actually I heard my webhost is going to upgrade their version of PHP, so who knows, it may break my whole blog and then I’ll have to re-do it…

K, ttfn