Journal Entries
-
- 1
- 2
-
Loan Sharks
Posted Jan 5, 2011
The two main news stories that caught my attention yesterday were, firstly the rise in VAT to help pay off the budget deficit, and the increase in the use of loan sharks. This started me wondering. If the country's debt isn't reduced quite rapidly, will someone be knocking at Number 10 to break the knee caps of David Cameron? Or perhaps George Osborne can expect a good chibbin. I can't help feeling that would be an especially satisfying day. 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 5, 2011
Are TV Historians Tramps?
Posted Dec 14, 2010
As someone with a casual interest in history I'll watch almost any history programme. I have to admit though the genre seems to have developed an increasingly bizarre edge. All that a historian really needs is a room and maybe an overhead projector to tell us what they know, but on TV they are more often than not seen wandering from place to place in the great outdoors. Its as if historians have been pushed out of their natural environment of lecture theatres and thrown onto the streets.
Because dragging historians outside has been done so many times before, witnessing certain figures trodding through fields that were once maybe battle sites, or meandering around a dilapidated castle looks increasingly odd, mainly because it has become easy to imagine them as tramps. Once this idea gets into your head it appears as if on screen historians do nothing but tramp-like activities, and all that is missing from the picture is their possessions wrapped in a hanky on the end of a stick.
There are for instance always shots of historians seated in the middle of nowhere, on a mound of rubble that form the remains of a once great building, as if resting after hours of aimless walking. They can also be seen taking shelter in a church, or any building open to the public, maybe a warm library or castle, and occasionally in a cafe holding onto a coffee as if to stave off returning to the elements.
The scene however that completes the impression is the almost unavoidable image of them walking along streets, oblivious to the throng of pedestrians around them, chattering away, as if lost to their own wandering thoughts, a consequence of their down at heel circumstances having got the better of them.
It seems as if anyone who presents a programme with a historical element is not immune from this process. Even Ian Hislop who fronted a show about Victorian 'do gooders' spent most of his time outdoors and walking the streets.
Some historians are luckier than others however. Richard Miles for instance was at least doomed to walk the streets and to muse amongst the historical rubble of other countries for his civilisation series. Even so, he followed the same predictable tramp-like habits of all history presenters.
The problem is, this well worn way of presenting history documentaries has been done so many times, it is very close to becoming a pastiche of itself. Perhaps its time television stopped reducing our best historians to tramps.....?
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Dec 14, 2010
Tilt Shift Images
Posted Jul 31, 2010
Tilt shift photography is something I had no idea existed until quite recently, when I immediately became fascinated with the images it produces. Essentially tilt shift photography is a method for making the subject of a photograph appear as a miniature or a hand made model. This can be achieved with both still images as well as movies. In fact there are a number of examples of tilt shift movies on You Tube, and this is one of my favourites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkrtYRxGyuo.
To get a flavour of what can be done with tilt shift photography, this website has plenty of examples: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography. As you will see, using this technique to create a miniaturised effect is not always successful, but there are some very good images here.
After immersing myself for a while in these kind of images, what then began to fascinate me was the unusual places tilt shift images cropped up. For instance, I recently watched a re-run on BBC of the Survivors pilot episode, and there were a few shots in the early part of the show that received the tilt shift treatment.
I have also seen the tilt shift effect incorporated into TV documentaries. There was a series shown recently about the contributions British scientists made to their respective disciplines, and as with many documentaries, shots that don't really have anything to do with progressing the subject were included. Some curiously enough were tilt shift images.
Yet another TV documentary, about applying forensic techniques to the remains of people long dead, (some remains were hundreds of years old), also included the occasional tilt shift image. The list could go on, but this demonstrates the point that what appears to be just a curious and engaging photographic technique with no substantial application, has in fact been put to creative use. Also, once you are aware of what a tilt shift image is, they can be found in some unexpected places.
Concentrating on TV shows may give the impression that tilt shift photography is beyond the means of those who do not have access to state of the art production equipment, but this is not necessarily the case. Admittedly, if you wanted to create a tilt shift movie then the only realistic way to do this is to buy the correct lens, which for many would be prohibitively expensive. However, whilst still images can be taken with a tilt shift lens it is quite a straightforward process to transform a photograph into a tilt shift image by using graphics manipulation software. You can find out how to do this by following this online tutorial: http://visual-arts.helium.com/how-to/10610-how-to-fake-a-tilt-shift-image-with-gim p.
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Jul 31, 2010
Disappearing Journal entries
Posted Jul 26, 2010
All my journal entries have suddenly disapeared. Why......? 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jul 26, 2010
Overdue Account
Posted Jul 22, 2010
Some time ago on the British comedy quiz show 'Have I Got News For You', http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mkw3 there was an item about someone who received a letter from their bank telling them they were $233.95 overdrawn. In response the person in question sent the bank a piece of their art work - a cartoon drawing of a spider - saying the value of the drawing was $233.95, so the debt was now cleared.
It turns out the person behind this, David Thorne is not new to the world of such lateral thinking and in fact has a blog, http://www.27bslash6.com/ dedicated to correspondences with those who are unwisely willing to exchange emails with him. David is so well known for his obtuse and slightly bewildering emails he has been mentioned in media all over the world and he has produced a book of his correspondences. The orginal exchange between David and the bank (along with the infamous spider drawing) can be viewed here: http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html
If you are easily offended by bad language and the such-like this website may not be for you.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jul 22, 2010
-
- 1
- 2
-
Lusus
Researcher U4912495
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."