Your Today in Pictures...

[Graham Ritchie]

Steve...The last few days I have seen the same, folk out walking, kids on scooters and bikes etc. It might be that after two weeks so far of lockdown and with nice sunny days at the moment, The use a car seems pointless, there is no where to go as we have to live in our area and not drive outside it. As well as that, apart from the supermarket and corner dairy there is nothing else open. So with anyone with young kids at home, people appear to be spending more time together. I have to say that most people where we live, seem to be taking "there bubble" quite serious, even across at the park "the bubbles" are everywhere ...Funny thing, the other day I went on the walking track across the road, when I came across a family coming the other way. As soon as they saw me, they split up to either side of the track. It was like "I" was Charlton Heston parting the Red sea in the film "The Ten Commandments" Anyway as I got closer, I indicated that I would detour way to my right of the track, so mum and the kids could once again come together. The lady did give me a smile and a wave from afar.

I think by hitting this virus spread with strict controls early on, and hitting it hard, seems to be working, not just with NZ but other countries that have done the same as well. We have another two weeks of present lockdown, so will see if a decision to back of some of the measures can been taken.

[Dominique De Bast]

[Joe Taffis]

A very somber photo...stay safe Dominique!

[Dominique De Bast]

Thanks, Joe. I hope all of us will go through that bad episode safely.

[Chip Gelmini]

[Graham Ritchie]

At the present I am listing to good LP music, watching the odd film or blu-ray and eating good food....can't ask for more.

Anway who remembers eight track stereo that was fitted into cars? well I worked in one garage, where one of those units was playing "Tumbleweed Connection" by Elton John. This is way back 1972-73, anyway I liked the music that much, that I soon bought the cassette. Its now been 40 odd years since I bought the cassette, and to this day it still works. Last year looking through a second hand shop, I came across the LP in excellent condition which I quickly bought. You don't hear much about the music from this LP, mostly his usual hits, so it really does make a nice change.

I could not help myself in taking a photo of last nights tea....salad with curried egg...yum

Hope all is well with everyone.

[Brian Fretwell]

Did you know the cover of Tumbleweed connection shows Elton at Sheffield Park station on the Bluebell Railway? I had the record for years before going there and was very surprised when I realised.

[Graham Ritchie]

Thanks Brian ....I was also listening to a 45 release "Love Song" from that album the other day...timeless music.

Played also the album "The Pink Panther" and a few others.

[Steve Klare]

CineSea 21: as best as possible.

In times like these, people see what's available and they do the best they can with it to make things better. We couldn't do CineSea as we wanted, but we did the best we could.

All of a sudden: we live in the era of Zoom. Two months ago "zoom" to me was something a five year old did with a toy car, yet now it's an entire lifestyle! I have at least three meetings at work per week on it. My Thursday Night German class is on it. Sunday afternoon we have Coffee Hour for Church!

Non of these things compare to the regular way these things are supposed to be done, but by the same token all are much, much better than nothing. To say the least, without the ability to work remotely, I might be unemployed right now.

Tonight we had a Zoom get together for CineSea. Here we went a little bit overboard on the setup. We connected the laptop into the VP and plugged the audio into a spare mixer channel. We sat at the table with my Super-8 projectors (and the laptop) and our friends from CineSea were up on the movie screen and in our speakers.

-Just Seemed right!

Although I'll have to admit, this is something I never saw coming!

[Brian Fretwell]

Yes until the last couple of weeks to me "Zoom" was a 1960's ice lolly. (Or a type of lens when on this forum) :-)

[Steve Klare]

Amphibians and Reptiles!

I had a hankering to run my amphibious jeep around today. We don't have a pool, so I had to stay in dry-mode!

I sent a cell phone video to Doug: he sent it back enhanced!
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Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear!

[Graham Ritchie]

Steve I read those exact words on the mirror on the blu-ray release, as they were being chased in Jurassic Park, the first one

Nice addition by Doug

[Steve Klare]

Right on both counts, Graham!

[Chip Gelmini]

[Steve Klare]

Spare Time...

One thing that's good about having more spare time than usual is you get the chance to tend to old projects that have been piling up. For example, I fixed that dripping pipe in the basement last week (Does anybody need a bucket?).

The last couple of days have just been splicing leader on films that need it. The nice thing is it's forced me to round up all my editing supplies, and I'm going to leave them gathered together where I can easily find them.

A couple of days this week have been all Super-8, and I screened the films for us on those nights. Today was 16mm. Now, I've been shooting and collecting Super-8 more than 40 years and I have all the appurtenances: editor-viewer, about 4 different splicers, spare reels...

I've been in 16mm maybe 2 and a half years. I'm lucky a family member sent me their retired Kodak Presstape splicer: it's Bilingual!

Other than that, I have to work with what I have:
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The film is "The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes", kind of an educational comedy by one my favorite film makers: Bill Mason. It's one of the things I love about also having 16mm: I hadn't a prayer of getting this film on 8mm, but with a little perseverance and not a lot of money, I have a 16mm print!