(Definitely not one of MY photos!)Thanks to Peter in Australia for inspiring me to write a bit tonight. As I was replying to his comment (which I've copied below) about my previous post, I suddenly realized that my "reply" had turned into a full-fledged post itself. So I thought, ah, why not? I'm due for one anyway. So here goes....
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Peter wrote:
I can't do without my computer and scanner. A new digital camera is also coming my way.
They all help with blogging and sharing moments in time to anyone.
I just have to work out what I am going to do with the dozens of undeveloped 35 mm film rolls, God only knows how old they are, that are sitting in my cupboard draws.
Lost moments in time!
Anyway, thanks for listening. Must run!
Time for me to mow the lawn, clean the pool and fill in the holes that the dog has dug.
Regards
Peter McCartney
Sydney Australia.
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Exactly Peter! There you go. You've just reaffirmed the idea I was trying to express in my post, that there are pros and cons to both digital and film photography. Yes, photos are usually pretty easy to find when they're stashed in a drawer. But apparently sometimes rolls of film aren't. :)
As I said before, I love the stunning clarity of digital photos, and the amazing things you can do with them. But I don't like empty photo albums just sitting there collecting dust, waiting to be filled with photos I never seem to get around to printing. So that's the "dilemma" of my title.
And to answer your question about what to do with all those old rolls of film: ditch 'em right into the trash I say! I don't mean to sound bossy...just a warning from my own painful experience.
I still remember the time back in 1977, when I told my mom that I, my sister, and a few of our friends were going to take the bus and the L into downtown Chicago, where we were going to meet Led Zeppelin, so could I please have some film for my camera. She rummaged through the kitchen junk drawer and absentmindedly handed me a roll, probably thinking all the while, "Yeah sure she's going to meet Led Zeppelin."
Well, you might be able to guess what happened next. We DID actually meet them--all four!--outside the Ambassador East Hotel, where they were staying during the Midwest leg of their tour. They chatted with us for awhile, signed our album covers, and smiled obligingly for our cameras. And then when the film got developed, I saw that my otherwise great, close-up shots of Jimmy, Robert, and the two Johns were way-too-dark and way-too-purple/bluish. So much so that everytime I showed someone the photos, I felt the need to apologize profusely for their awful quality as I watched them squint to identify the four lads.
I remember my mom looking a bit worried when I got home and told her we'd actually met the band, and that I'd taken photos. "I hope they turn out; that film was pretty old." Boy, she wasn't kidding! Turned out it was years past its expiration date!
So I repeat, throw away that old film now! I know that can be a hard thing to do. With the price of film being what it used to be, it's almost like throwing money away. But I still wince when I think of the price I paid for my mother's thriftiness (or maybe it was just a lack of time for jobs like clearing out junk drawers, as she was raising 7 kids back then.) I could've sold those photos on eBay for perhaps thousands of dollars by now.
Not that I ever would really dream of it, mind you. Even shrouded in their "deep purple haze," those shots of a very cool-looking Jimmy Page in shades, with a rock-star scarf thrown jauntily over one shoulder, and John Paul Jones sitting calmly in the back seat of a limo on Chicago's Gold Coast, are still priceless to this former Led Zeppelin freak.
P.S. Your itinerary of domestic duties sounds like a typical weekend around MY house too. You lucky Aussies...here you are just beginning your spring, and it's already warm enough to use your pool! And here we are just about to put ours under wraps again for the next 7-8 months, until next summer rolls around.
****************************************
Peter wrote:
I can't do without my computer and scanner. A new digital camera is also coming my way.
They all help with blogging and sharing moments in time to anyone.
I just have to work out what I am going to do with the dozens of undeveloped 35 mm film rolls, God only knows how old they are, that are sitting in my cupboard draws.
Lost moments in time!
Anyway, thanks for listening. Must run!
Time for me to mow the lawn, clean the pool and fill in the holes that the dog has dug.
Regards
Peter McCartney
Sydney Australia.
******************************************
Exactly Peter! There you go. You've just reaffirmed the idea I was trying to express in my post, that there are pros and cons to both digital and film photography. Yes, photos are usually pretty easy to find when they're stashed in a drawer. But apparently sometimes rolls of film aren't. :)
As I said before, I love the stunning clarity of digital photos, and the amazing things you can do with them. But I don't like empty photo albums just sitting there collecting dust, waiting to be filled with photos I never seem to get around to printing. So that's the "dilemma" of my title.
And to answer your question about what to do with all those old rolls of film: ditch 'em right into the trash I say! I don't mean to sound bossy...just a warning from my own painful experience.
I still remember the time back in 1977, when I told my mom that I, my sister, and a few of our friends were going to take the bus and the L into downtown Chicago, where we were going to meet Led Zeppelin, so could I please have some film for my camera. She rummaged through the kitchen junk drawer and absentmindedly handed me a roll, probably thinking all the while, "Yeah sure she's going to meet Led Zeppelin."
Well, you might be able to guess what happened next. We DID actually meet them--all four!--outside the Ambassador East Hotel, where they were staying during the Midwest leg of their tour. They chatted with us for awhile, signed our album covers, and smiled obligingly for our cameras. And then when the film got developed, I saw that my otherwise great, close-up shots of Jimmy, Robert, and the two Johns were way-too-dark and way-too-purple/bluish. So much so that everytime I showed someone the photos, I felt the need to apologize profusely for their awful quality as I watched them squint to identify the four lads.
I remember my mom looking a bit worried when I got home and told her we'd actually met the band, and that I'd taken photos. "I hope they turn out; that film was pretty old." Boy, she wasn't kidding! Turned out it was years past its expiration date!
So I repeat, throw away that old film now! I know that can be a hard thing to do. With the price of film being what it used to be, it's almost like throwing money away. But I still wince when I think of the price I paid for my mother's thriftiness (or maybe it was just a lack of time for jobs like clearing out junk drawers, as she was raising 7 kids back then.) I could've sold those photos on eBay for perhaps thousands of dollars by now.
Not that I ever would really dream of it, mind you. Even shrouded in their "deep purple haze," those shots of a very cool-looking Jimmy Page in shades, with a rock-star scarf thrown jauntily over one shoulder, and John Paul Jones sitting calmly in the back seat of a limo on Chicago's Gold Coast, are still priceless to this former Led Zeppelin freak.
P.S. Your itinerary of domestic duties sounds like a typical weekend around MY house too. You lucky Aussies...here you are just beginning your spring, and it's already warm enough to use your pool! And here we are just about to put ours under wraps again for the next 7-8 months, until next summer rolls around.
5 comments:
You are amazing! I will take your advise and throw them all out.
You also taught me how to spell, "Drawer" as my spell checker did not pick that one up. Sorry.
Now for digital camera's. My son pinched our last one, so my wife is going to buy me a new digital camera - a Fujifilm FinePix S8000 fd with a 27 - 486 zoom lens. I will use that for my blog etc.
Talking about bands from the early 70's. My unique encounter was with ACDC that came to our school dance. One of the band memebers was from our school.
It was all pretty special but I did not get a photo of them. They cost about $400 to hire then. Not bad going on today's price's.
What I was dressed in at the concert - high waisted flared tight white jeans. I had on a short sleeved shirt with snap on pearl buttons. I had a Afro hairdo and I wore shoes that had very thick soles.
Who dressed me so I would look nice - my mother. A bit embarrassing to say the least.
Now! It took me all day to do the lawn and the pool in 35 degree C heat. Never got around to filling up the holes made by the dog. I will do that tomorrow.
Lastly, a very big thank you and all the best from downunder.
Regards
Peter McCartney
Wow Peter, AC/DC played your high school gym for $400?! And with you dressed to the nines (in that...um...unique!--yes that's the word...'70s style) for the occasion. (Too bad you don't have a photo of THAT to post.)
Sounds like it was an absolute blast. All that manic rock 'n' roll energy and earsplitting noise confined to a gymnasium. Man, they must've blown the roof off that night! And how cool that one of the band members was from your school!
At my brother's wedding reception, lots of the guests (and the bride and groom too) climbed up on the banquet tables to dance the moment those drums came in at the beginning of "You Shook Me." It's impossible to stay off the dance floor when you hear that familiar opening coming over the speakers.
Now back to your digging and patching. I can relate all too well. Our dog has dug some holes deep enough to get lost in. Well, that's only a SLIGHT exaggeration. Our backyard IS treacherous territory in places, though, thanks to her love of making dirt fly.
Julie, you met Led Zeppelin? Never mind the old film, at least you had the encounter! And Peter, AC-freakin'-DC played at your school dance?
Wow!
AC/DC is my favorite hard rock band, but I've certainly enjoyed choice Zeppelin tracks.
Yes I did, Kirsten. Can you believe it?! I know I couldn't believe my luck at the time!
It was the big "payoff" that capped a magical, memorable spring of chasing them around town when they were headquartered in Chicago for the Midwest portion of their 1977 U.S.(World?) tour.
There was the concert--of course!--at the grand old Chicago Stadium. Then there was a trip to O'Hare Airport, where we hung out for an entire Saturday, hoping to get a glimpse of them boarding their jet (complete with a huge Swan Song logo on the tail, and "Led Zeppelin" painted in huge letters on the side) on their way to another concert in another town. That foray wasn't successful though. They never showed.
But after one similarly unlucky day-long stake-out of the Ambassador East Hotel, we just couldn't/wouldn't give up. Coming face-to-face with (then) White Sox announcer Harry Caray as the elevator doors opened when we tried to sneak upstairs hadn't been enough of a consolation prize for us.
Our boys--Robert, Jimmy, John Paul and John--were staying right here in our city, experiencing the same weather, breathing the same air. And not just for the usual one-or-two-night stand. Nope, this time they'd be sticking around! So by golly, we just HAD to meet them! When presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to possibly be in the same place at the same time as the objects of their girlish affections, 16-year-old girls can be a most determined lot (as I'm sure you might know from your own direct experience).
Glad to know you've enjoyed some of Led Zeppelin's music too. You put it exactly right when you limited it to "choice Led Zeppelin tracks." Of course I used to love just about all of it when I was an obsessed teenager. But as I grew older and a little more refined (stodgy?) in my musical tastes, I realized that some of it was just excessive, bombastic, caterwauling noise. But I still love their gentler, more melodic songs, like "Goin' To California," "Ten Years Gone," "Since I've Been Loving You," "Tangerine," "Over the Hills and Far Away," etc.
So often they're regarded as the original heavy metal band. But I've never thought of their music as heavy metal myself. It's so much more intricate than that. Yes, there are the loud, drawn-out guitar solos. But much of Jimmy's playing is very melodic, even delicate sometimes--especially compared to the louder-is-better style of a lot of those "hair bands" that came along later--even when he's wailing away.
Like you, my husband has always been a major AC/DC fan. I have to admit, I didn't used to get the attraction. But I've come to appreciate them more as hardcore rockers. I used to write THEM off as heavy metal when my husband (who was then my boyfriend) would blast their music in the late '70s-early '80s. But when I listen to them with a more open mind, I hear some honest-to-goodness, gritty, sweaty, testosterone-soaked rock 'n' roll.
Kirsten, I think it's very cool that someone with such a ladylike (and I mean that in a good way), almost demure style of writing, with such refined tastes in so many areas, one who can expound eloquently on the music of Vivaldi or Wagner, or wax eloquent on culinary delights, is also a major AC/DC fan. You rock girl!
You too Peter! (Isn't that amazing that AC/DC played at his high school dance, Kirsten?)
Thanks, Julie! And don't worry, I take ladylike as a compliment. It's simply who I am. : )
Pre-teen and teen girls are some of the most determined people on the planet. Watch out when they set their sights on a goal! Your journey to meet Led Zeppelin sounds like it was a lot of fun.
As for are they metal vs. rock...well, I always heard the Celtic folk influence in their music. Seems more like they, along with Black Sabbath, inspired the metal genre in rock.
My favorite Zeppelin songs:
"Misty Mountain Hop"
"Stairway" (yeah, everyone does, but it's the way it starts out as a Celtic tune and morphs into ROCK.)
"All of My Love"
"Kashmir" (does make me think of far-off places)
"Whole Lotta Love"
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