Thursday 19 March 2020

School's out (for ever!)

Uncertain times in the world right now.  Here in The Liberties life is a little quieter than normal...school has closed up for the foreseeable and there are good reasons to leave the car where it is and not to venture out.  Of course you still need a dander down the road from time to time to keep things moving and take the air - hopefully our air is still relatively clean, coming as it does across the Atlantic before it hits us.  And it helps not to listen too much to the doom and gloom coming from the media - still too many unchecked and conflicting stories out there.  We might all have to make to do with a little less for a while - no bad thing, perhaps.

Fortunately the darkroom is well-stocked and so I was able to get in there yesterday morning.  Missy was, of course, enjoying an extended lie-in so the house was quiet.  This shot was from a while ago - a couple of years ago at least.  I like the Maths scribbled on the back of her hand:

HP5+ on very old Barclay graded paper.  It has a lustre finish and is quite unlike any other paper I have encountered.  I wish it was still available as there is a real sparkle to it - as well as quite a nice range of tones, as you can see.  Cropped from 35mm to the much superior square format ;)

I'm not sure there'll be very much of this happening for a while, since it's looking like exams might be cancelled, or at least postponed for the foreseeable.  Of course as a responsible parent I'm trying to convince Missy that this is the ideal time to catch up on missed work and get in good shape for when exams do re-commence (as they must, at some stage).  We'll see how well that goes down.

You will of course notice that Missy is 'plugged in' - or at least her ears are.  Now this is something I just don't understand.  When I was a lad I needed complete silence to study.  But pretty much everyone now of a certain age needs more-or-less continuous aural stimulation.  It's a different world, of course, to the '60s and '70s...

Can you believe that old Alice Cooper track (this one) is nearly 50 years old?  Where are the Alice Coopers of today, I wonder - all we seem to hear about is the likes of Ed Sheerin and Lewis Capaldi those guys who look like the bloke next door.  Talented, no doubt, but where's the rebellion?  Maybe I shouldn't speak too soon - it might be around the corner.   And then we could all be in trouble, eh?
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5 comments:

  1. Roy Karlsvik20 March 2020 at 01:23

    The situation:
    It's serious, but I must say I don't really know what's worst, the invisible danger or the very visible ones. People are loosing their jobs by the day, and we will soon be out of money if this is due to carry on for a long time. Difficult times for sure!
    The print:
    Ooooh, it's a nice one! I've seen it some time before, I think. Maybe not in this version being some really old and good paper and all, but at least some other version of it. Ears plugged... well, I've seen that as well, and I'm very much on your side about the thought of them things while trying to learn anything at all.
    Alice Cooper:
    I got very bad internet where I am right now, and can't even get the page opened. Still, by the title of your post I might be able to give a rather highly qualified guess which one track you tried to send me to. A good one... and nearly 50 you say? Time really flies for sure!

    Stay healthy and safe over there!!

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    1. Michael McNeill23 March 2020 at 09:35

      Cheers Roy. It's bad times for us humans - unprecedented in our lifetime...but maybe not for our parents. We're not used to reigning in our desires and wishes and freedom to jump in the car at any time of day or night and go where we want. Here in The Liberties it seems that all those caravan owners have decided 'Stay at home' means get the kids and everyone to their holiday park up on the North Coast. I read that Portstewart and Portrush are bunged with people who think they're on holiday. Mad. It will end in tears, if the predictions are anywhere near accurate.

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    2. Roy Karlsvik24 March 2020 at 02:09

      It's a damn disaster Michael, that's what it is. I heard they have started to fine people in Norway doing stuff like that now. If you got a holliday home, caravan, motorhome or whatever and use it to get away from home and sleep over in, they can give you a scary huge ticket and send you straight home with police escort. It's the only way they might learn... Selfish people, absolutely no thoughts for others whatsoever. They are putting the lives of others in jeopardy without even thinking twice about it, and it annoys me big time!
      There are a few other things which annoys me as well, but I'll better save that for another day.
      And let's just hope this is over soon... even though I must say I doubt it will go away that quickly. Even though we might get rid of the virus itself some day this is going to have an extreme long term effect on the world as we know it. It doesn't take very much to see that fact, I'm afraid.

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  2. Marcus Peddle25 March 2020 at 13:18

    I complain about having to make videos for my classes, but I'm lucky to be in work. Some people who work for private academies are sitting at home and not getting paid.
    That's a great photograph. I'm sure that after your responsible parent talk she'll be back at the table studying sans earphones. haha.

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    1. Michael McNeill25 March 2020 at 15:40

      Well that's good at least Marcus - nice to know the $$ are still coming in, during these uncertain times. Lots of people must be very worried about their situation, with rent and mortgages due.

      Thanks for the compliment. Haha is right, though. It's way too late for her to take much notice of anything I say any more - perhaps that's an exaggeration but sometimes it feels that way :)

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