Here's a proper miscellaneous topic: The contents of a box of cameras passed down through my family. Ilford Sportsman, Zeiss Ikon Colora, Agfa Super Silette L I thought of these as "granny's cameras" — my paternal grandmother was quite a keen photographer — but it turns out they came from a couple of different family… Continue reading Three cameras from around 1960
Category: Non-Work
On picking up the cello again after 30 years
For most of the last 30 years I've had a cello sitting in a case in a corner of the flat, unplayed. I described myself as a lapsed cellist, former cellist, sort-of cello player when younger, someone who is just not really playing these days. Occasionally I would get the cello out and tune it.… Continue reading On picking up the cello again after 30 years
Can you swap the keyboards between a Thinkpad T40 and an IBM SK-8845?
No. (I'm posting this because it's something I searched for and didn't find an answer to.) The SK-8845 and its sibling the SK-8840 are IBM-branded keyboards with built-in trackpoint and trackpad. They appear to be essentially the keyboards from Thinkpad T40 (or T41, T42, T43) laptops, pulled out and put in a separate case for… Continue reading Can you swap the keyboards between a Thinkpad T40 and an IBM SK-8845?
Films by Aki Kaurismäki
We sat down, my wife and I, during a quiet period that could otherwise have been a little gloomy, to watch as many feature films directed by Aki Kaurismäki as we could lay hands on. We watched them in chronological order, so this could have been an interesting article about the director's development from his… Continue reading Films by Aki Kaurismäki
Hayao Miyazaki and work
I see it's the 80th birthday of the noted animator Hayao Miyazaki. I once read his book of essays Starting Point: 1979–1996 and was seized by a desire to do something well, with vigour and clarity, instead of tiredly poking around. At the time this made me a little miserable, and I wondered why. *… Continue reading Hayao Miyazaki and work
A few pictures from 2020: 4. Deepest black
(Previously: A few pictures from 2020: 3. The living) I started developing my own black-and-white films at home a couple of years ago. There's nothing quite like toiling through the process before emerging with a strip of negatives which you have to hang up and let dry, knowing there are pictures on them but being unable… Continue reading A few pictures from 2020: 4. Deepest black
The Breakfast Post 