Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Extolling the Virtues of Film and the Forgotten
A lot of people ask me: hey, Kari, you have nice cameras. Why are you pointing that piece of crap at me?
Oh, I am so glad you asked.
I do love my dig-it-all cameras. I do. I love the instant gratification of being able to see the effects of shutter speed changes, aperture changes, white-balance changes. Ooo. Gives me chills just thinking about it. So yeah, I really do love my digital friends, but...
Come on. This is nice. The color. The softness of the grain. The whole kaboodle just screams "lazy hot day at the fair with non-alcoholic beverages" to me. This was taken with an Ansco 1065 that someone very thoughtfully sent to me. My Ansco 1100 was stolen during the Great Robbery of 2008, in which most of my old, loved, crap cameras were taken. Lots of people chipped in to help me rebuild my obsessive collection of shitty cameras.
This was taken by my dear, departed Yashica MF-2.
A very kind and wonderful man from Florida thoughtfully sent me a care package of some old cameras he was giving away. The Ansco 1065 was among them. The funny part is, the robber probably didn't get away with more than ten bucks worth of cameras unless you count the...
Nikon N6006. Ughhhhh but we won't talk about that for now. Makes me have diarrhea just thinking about it.
The thing about shitty cameras is this: they're all the same and yet so different. They all pretty much need bright light, but what they do with that light is just fascinating. All the bends and smears and leaks. Depending on how the camera was used, you could really have some nice effects on your hands. And while I prefer 35mm cameras, I have a couple of Kodak Instamatics that only take 126 cartridges, which I guess I can modify to take 35mm film. But I also have Polaroid Land Cams and Kodak Disc-Cams and you JUST CAN'T FIND FILM FOR THAT SHIT ANYMORE. It drives me nuts.
The irony here is that I'm not a big fan of LOMO or toy cameras, like Holgas, Dianas, et cetera. They're okay. I had a Holga. It was fun. But for some reason, these crappy cameras that you can go out and find at any thrift store or flea market have this ineffable air of Americana to them. And the find - ahh, the thrill of finding a new old crappy camera! You don't know what it's going to do or how it's going to act until you get the roll processed. Magical. Truly.
If you don't believe me, go to Flickr's Trashcams group and look at the pictures people take with these things. It's wonderful.
Alright, that's enough of that.
Oh, I am so glad you asked.
I do love my dig-it-all cameras. I do. I love the instant gratification of being able to see the effects of shutter speed changes, aperture changes, white-balance changes. Ooo. Gives me chills just thinking about it. So yeah, I really do love my digital friends, but...
Come on. This is nice. The color. The softness of the grain. The whole kaboodle just screams "lazy hot day at the fair with non-alcoholic beverages" to me. This was taken with an Ansco 1065 that someone very thoughtfully sent to me. My Ansco 1100 was stolen during the Great Robbery of 2008, in which most of my old, loved, crap cameras were taken. Lots of people chipped in to help me rebuild my obsessive collection of shitty cameras.
This was taken by my dear, departed Yashica MF-2.
A very kind and wonderful man from Florida thoughtfully sent me a care package of some old cameras he was giving away. The Ansco 1065 was among them. The funny part is, the robber probably didn't get away with more than ten bucks worth of cameras unless you count the...
Nikon N6006. Ughhhhh but we won't talk about that for now. Makes me have diarrhea just thinking about it.
The thing about shitty cameras is this: they're all the same and yet so different. They all pretty much need bright light, but what they do with that light is just fascinating. All the bends and smears and leaks. Depending on how the camera was used, you could really have some nice effects on your hands. And while I prefer 35mm cameras, I have a couple of Kodak Instamatics that only take 126 cartridges, which I guess I can modify to take 35mm film. But I also have Polaroid Land Cams and Kodak Disc-Cams and you JUST CAN'T FIND FILM FOR THAT SHIT ANYMORE. It drives me nuts.
The irony here is that I'm not a big fan of LOMO or toy cameras, like Holgas, Dianas, et cetera. They're okay. I had a Holga. It was fun. But for some reason, these crappy cameras that you can go out and find at any thrift store or flea market have this ineffable air of Americana to them. And the find - ahh, the thrill of finding a new old crappy camera! You don't know what it's going to do or how it's going to act until you get the roll processed. Magical. Truly.
If you don't believe me, go to Flickr's Trashcams group and look at the pictures people take with these things. It's wonderful.
Alright, that's enough of that.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
DIY Laundry Detergent
For this I used
1/2 c. Borax
1/2 c. washing soda
1 bar Ivory soap or maybe 1/2 bar Octagon Soap
essential oils
I grated the bar of soap (at the time I had Ivory, but now I have Octagon soap which according to this person will not only clean your filthy clothes, but will also break any spells that happen to be on you at the time! Swift!) with my food processor. Then, all I did was switch out the blades to blend the Borax and Washing Soda together. Yes, it's that simple.
Most people, even I, thought that this would either a) eat holes through my clothes or b) eat holes through my skin. It did neither. In fact, the wash came out just as soft as a goddamn lamb. Keeping in mind the acid/base yin and yang of laundry is a plus too. Lots of people add vinegar to the rinse cycle to balance out the alkaline of the detergent, but I really don't want to mess with the timing of this. Maybe I'll dabble in homemade fabric softeners (which are acidic) later.
The only problem is that even though I used Ivory (which has a caustically soothing smell) AND essential oils (sweet orange), the load of laundry I did didn't really come out smelling like a whole hell of a lot. I guess I'm the kind of person that needs the scent to validate the cleanliness. Next time I'll add more smell.
So, was it worth it? HELL YES, as far as I'm concerned. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find washing soda anywhere, but it was at my grocery store, and it was CHEAP. If you can't find it, I suppose you could substitute baking soda or OxiClean. Borax is also CHEAP, but I had it around anyway, because I use that shit for everything. Seriously. And Ivory soap? CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. I found it for a dollar per three pack. Take a lesson from the Joker: be a person of simple tastes.
It's not about money. It's about sending a message.
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