Misc. Musings

[swarren@xxxxxxxx]

.....George, I had to snicker at your comment on acronyms. Specifically,
what is that GAT thingie you sign off with each time? ;)

.....I'm sitting here perusing the mail and about fell out of my seat when
up on the screen was some good, ol' fashioned cussing. There for a minute,
I thought I was the only one having a bad day. I guess it's cheaper than
therapy.

......Eric reminds me, in his post on Mount-o-Phobia, of some of the same
resolutions that I've had to make when kneeling at the alter of
stereoscopy. Sort of like a 12-step program where you stop questioning
things and just turn yourself over to the power. It's refreshing to see
such a simple admonition that the stereo window should be used as a
compositional element, rather than an annoyance at the edge of the picture.
Wish I had figured that out nine years ago.

.....I took all my issues of ISU Stereoscopy to work today, just in case
the boss didn't show. He showed. But he turned his back for a minute, and I
peeked at an issue from 1991 showing a diagram of a Kodak disc camera
laying flat. It had a hypothetical conversion similar to the discview
camera Photo3DGuy talked about, but it uses a pair of small prisms to
reverse the images onto the film disc. The taking lenses were bored into
one of the thin sides of the camera. I still think this is a great idea.

.....I picked up a short stack of "Professional Photographer" magazines
recently, dating from the early 50's. There's a monthly column on stereo
marketing tips ("Contact your local aluminum-siding company and develop a
3D package to help their sales reps in the field, etc.,etc.,etc). In one,
there's a full-page advertisement by Holstein, the maker of wedding photo
albums and picture mounts. It shows a 4x5 speed graphic with a stereo
realist bolted to the top and a dual-cable release firing both cameras at
once. Complain about weight if you will, but this was ingenious! "Saves on
flash bulbs!" read the description. More than that, it saves on hiring an
assistant! The ad was displaying two gorgeous wedding boxes that held
viewers and slides. Never in my travels have I seen one of these jewel
boxes. My bet is that these sets will be the last thing a family parts with
as estates are settled. "Get rid of dad's camera, but don't you dare touch
those wedding photos!"

....In the shameless plug dept. - I'm still looking for a single cover
glass screw-in filter for the Viewmaster Personal Camera. Please root
through your parts box and let me know if you have one for sale. Thanks.

Stephen in Roanoke



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