17.4.11

The Saturday Shot #15: circus

Circus crooner
After a week in the US during which I had the confirmation that I was no longer jinxed with air travel (got upgraded twice for my inbound flight and landed 10 minutes early), I was back in London with a strong determination to get the jet lag rapidly behind me. What a surprise to walk around the British capital and to bump into this reminiscent Americanism... This speaker, armed with this crooner microphone from the 50's, was encouraging a crowd of curious passers-by to step into his attraction and see how stuntmen on motorbikes climbed his "wall of death". Totally anachronical, out of time and out of place.

"Every country gets the circus it deserves. Spain gets bullfights. Italy gets the Catholic Church. America gets Hollywood." Erica Jong (1942-)

9.4.11

The Saturday Shot #14: ice cream

Traditional Summer

It's definitely spring time in London and as I was attempting to get my annual first flip-flop blisters, we bumped into this traditional steam fair with its lot of old-fashion rides and attractions... Their motto: "relive Grandma's yesterday", hence the picture treatment for this week contribution to the Saturday Shot series.

"Clogged with yesterday's excess, the body drags the mind down with it." Horace (65 BC – 8 BC)

7.4.11

This is your Captain speaking

On the road again.

I am about to go back to Seattle for work, and I am quite adamant that I won't let myself get stranded this time again. It seems that 2010 was jinxed, but that 2011 is having greater, more positive omens. So far I have traveled to Iceland, France, Sweden, Germany... and have not been delayed or stuck once. Nevertheless my colleagues are now taking bets on what would prevent me from coming back on time, and I must say that the odds are odd: volcanic eruption 10:1, snow storm 11:2, grasshopper invasion 5:2... We will see.

Beautiful sky.

In any case I must say that I will do my best to enjoy that flight. Over ten hours without email or phone calls, that is nowadays a luxurious parenthesis. However in the same time, some prefer to take that opportunity to be busy with their photography. Click, click, click... Photographer and entrepreneur Nate Bolt has played around with his camera during a San Francisco to Paris flight, shooting almost 2500 pictures to create a 2-minute stop motion video of the trip. Nicely edited:
SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show.

To read further:
  • Still moving, or how still images with a bit of creativity can be very impactful.

  • Bunn-invasion, an article featuring a stop-motion advert for Sony Bravia which hides a bit more than just a unique selling proposition...