Nov 25, 2010

Square America: Together


Monday at work I was tasked with arranging a meeting with Italian business partners who'd be in town on the last week of November. I sent out an email, with a gentle reminder that there was a holiday over here this week. Their reply was "Silly goose, (not exact wording) we're coming the week after. So I had to explain, that if we didn't nail down the time of the meeting by Wednesday noon the latest, there would be nobody around to reply emails or meeting invitations till Monday. The Italians were somewhat surprised - I don't know why; they themselves took the entire month of August off for vacation. And by that I mean the whole country of Italy.


If you live in the US you know what's going on. If not, let me explain. Dive the amateur anthropologist at least should appreciate.


Thanksgiving is a practice run for Christmas; people - generally related by blood or marriage - come together, play out weird family dynamics, watch TV (football), eat way, way too much food, and drop off into a food coma.


There are some variations on the theme; consuming copious amounts of alcohol or playing football (the American kind) may be involved. In some cases both. There's nothing like drunk men ramming into each other on a cold afternoon. The pain will manifest itself the day after.


The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday is the day when crazed hordes of people swarm the shopping malls. It's a lot like a zombie movie, but the participants move faster, and there is more carnage.

Nov 13, 2010

iShoot Square


I keep playing with my apps. For a long time Hipstamatic was a favorite. Give me John S lens and Ina's 69 film and I was set.


Occasionally I wandered into B&W territory with one of the Blackeys films.


It's funny how all this digital technology that slowly but surely making film, paper and darkrooms obsolete is the sexiest when imitating what it replaces.

Not that I'm bemoaning the lack of chemical fumes and aching feet of ours spent in darkrooms. Along with me across the world a billion bathrooms also sigh in relief.


My chosen Hipstamatic combo has a pronounced greenish tint. Sometimes it works brilliantly. Other times it doesn't.


These days I more often just take a regular photo, then if I like it run it through lo-Mob.


This app applies frames and visual effects after the fact, giving more control to the user.


Lo-Mob has a lot of options, but I'm unfailingly drawn to the "vintage instant - reframed" setting.


I have thing for square images.