A journey we made just before Christmas 2009, flying from Auckland to Christchurch, Mount Tongariro peeking through the cloud…home is about one o’clock at the further edge of the gap in the cloud…trips to the South Island are always good and one highlight of this journey was lunch at Cafe Mes Amis in Orari, about halfway between Ashburton and Timaru…
I was fortunate yesterday to be invited on a pre-opening guided tour of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I visited the museum last year during normal hours when it is packed (8 million visitors a year!!) and found it difficult to get to all the exhibits, let alone see them or get a decent camera angle. We had just over an hour before the doors opened and the experience was unbelievable – also unbelievable was the massive leap in noise levels as soon as the doors opened…
While I’m on the road, I have to work a bit harder for photos to meet each week’s challenge and I was hoping that this tour might provide something for today’s challenge. I got lucky with not one but two (probably would have had more as all the aircraft displays are very well arranged but even without the place to ourselves, my little camera just doesn’t have the field of view to capture the true effect of the arranged displays…
The header image is from the naval aviation hall and shows three aircraft that I’ve always thought significant: the Dauntless that changed history at Midway (even though this one is a late model SBD-6); the Wildcat that fended off early Japanese attacks at places like Wake Island, Coral Sea and Midway; and the A-4 Skyhawk that is very precious to us Kiwis…
Below is the other arrangement that appealed to me…our guide explained that the entrance to the WW1 hall is based upon the legends of the WW1 ‘Knights of the Sky’ and includes a lot of memorabilia that fosters those legends from immediately after the war through to the Aurora models of the 60s. Interestingly, the Fokker suspended over this part of the display is actually not only a WW1 combat veteran but also one of the aircraft that actually flew in movies like Knights of the Sky’…from this light opening, the display then exposes visitors to the darker realities of the first air war…
PS, WordPress, I’m not a ‘change is bad’ kinda guy but I really hate the new button for new posts…too damn hard to find and select categories and tags, no option to save while drafting…if it ain’t broke…
PPS…links to Smithsonian visit slideshow
I have a couple of quite cool ‘through‘ (yes, I know this is last week’s challenge but this has been the first opportunity I’ve had to sit down and do some writing) pictures at home but they are not much good to me half a world away…my work schedule in DC was quite intense with most days being twelve hours or longer so I was starting to worry that I might not be able to meet the challenge while on the road…on a break though, I was strolling down Prince Street in Alexandria and noticed the very narrow alleys between blocks of houses. You can just see some hint as to what lies beyond as you glance through each gap….
I always enjoy being around old quarters such as this, wondering what tales that each might tell…
Got a bit idle and almost missed last week’s photo challenge…please not the contrast between the old chicken coop, designed for 10 chickens who are all pretty friendly, and the new version, almost designed for 10 chickens but with enough room that they can all have their own space and don’t have to even like each other…chickens last seen heading off for Danske Mobler to order in lounge suites and a big plasma TV…
This week’s challenge is ‘distorted’ – I’ve never really been into taking photographs of images distorted by the lens or some other direct medium so I struggled to find an approach to this theme. Then I remembered the online discussion at the Unofficial Airfix Modellers’ Forum in the lead up to the Classic Box Art display for ScaleModelWorld at Telford last year – all the build discussions are here for those who might be interested – on the difficulties being experience (and overcome) converying a 2D image into a 3D representation of that image without wildly distorting the theme and flavour of the original art work. So this won’t be for everyone’s taste’s but it’s something that rocks my boat so I’ve included rather more images than I would normally for the Weekly Challenge. Each set comprise the 3D interpretation with an image of the orginal artwork.
My favourite at Telford – yes, I was lucky enough to be in the UK over the Telford weekend and go to spend a whole day there so all the images of the displays are mine taken on the day – was JRatz’s version of the Matchbox M16 half-track – a personal favourite since I was about 10 – which offered a mjor challenge in capturing the essence of speed and urgency in the original…I think this is pretty damn good…
The trick, of course, would be to be able to photograph each display from the same perspective as the original image but the layout of the display and the sheer size of the crowd at Telford made this impossible. I think that the plan for this year’s Classic British Kit (CBK) display at ScaleModelWord in Telford is for a Part Deux of this theme as many have been inspired from he seeing how well the first attempts at this idea have turned out. Certainly, I am somewhat inspired to have a crack although it is a long way from here to Telford with what might be delicate cargo…thought this is what I might recreate:
Three or four Airfix Bloodhounds and a base board and away we go...
Despite the evidence, no one really believed that Mr Cricket was guilty...
Indulge is this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge, although this image may be more about over-indulge…
‘Down’ is the theme for this week’s photo challenge…
Looking down into Raurimu from the (very steep) roof of the Chalet…insights from chimney cleaning….
I guess it must be a good sign if you struggle to find a ‘regret’-themed photo for this week’s photo challenge…I do regret though every day when I go to work and have to leave these guys behind…they used to come to work with me in Waiouru but the risks are just too great on an airbase – I’d just hate for Lulu to come back froma wander, tail happily wagging with an AirTrainer grasped firmly in her munching gear…
No, folks, you haven’t missed the latest WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge email…but I sure did as it has become a feature of my weekly programme, one which ensures that, if nothing else, I do one post a week…I missed it so much that in the absence of a formal challenge form WordPress this week, I’m selected my own…anyone is invited to kick in as well if they feel the need – or just have a big gaping hole where the Challenge usually lies…
‘Heavy’ came from yesterday’s task: digging in this sump to capture surface water and sediment from around the garage and to get it (the water) into our storm water system while dumping out the sediment which tends to clog the pipes…The prefab sump unit is 70cm high with an internal dimension of 40cm on a side – the walls are about 5cm thick: THIS THING IS HEAVY!!!
Our first attempt the hole wasn’t quite square enough and the whole thing wedged in about 10cm short of its target depth and too damn high to capture any anticipated run-off. If lifting it in was a challenge, lifting it out was quite definitely ‘character-building’. Edging out the hole by 2-3cm on each side (mostly done to free it up for the remedial lift) did the trick and the sump is now emplaced.
Over the next week or so we’ll shape the ground around it for optimal water capture and then concrete it in, using river rock for the final layer…
As a bonus, we also have some free Flintstone tyres from where the inlet and outlet holes were cut…one more sump and we’ll have enough for a go-kart….
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