By Kate
Filed in Uncategorized, photography, technology, writing
Tagged with antique clock repair, antique clocks, clocks, dorian clair, gears, gravity, pendulums, simple machines, the bold italic, time
June 24th, 2010 @ 2:39 pm
In a departure from my normal high-tech writing ways, I’ve written a piece about antique clocks. The story was inspired by an antique clock repair shop a few blocks away from my apartment and its owner, a man named Dorian Clair. Dorian is the kind of guy who will answer all the questions you ask, and then go on to answer unasked ones as well. Before I knew it, he was telling me stories about the history of San Francisco’s tower clocks and how he takes care of them. It turns out that Dorian watches the clocks at the Ferry Building and the pendulum clock at UCSF Medical Center. He also built the clock in the tower that overlooks the Bay Bridge viaduct.
The piece is about my attempt to get him to take me up into these clock towers. In it, I include a smattering of clock work, clock history, and Dorian’s history. I had a fantastic time researching and writing this piece, and I’m happy to have it appear in the Bold Italic, a new online publication that features unique people, places, and things to do in San Francisco.
You can read the story, All Along the Watchtower, here: http://thebolditalic.com/kategreene/stories/268-all-along-the-watchtower
The digital camera revolution was a little rocky for Polaroid, a company famous for an iconic film camera that prints photos instantly. But thanks to the invention of a new type of thermal printer, the company now has a instant digital camera, the Pogo. I’ve had the chance to play around with one for a couple of weeks* and I have some thoughts. First the bad:
- The camera is big and boxy, much like a Walkman from the ’80s.
- The 2″ x 3″ photo paper is loaded into the body of the camera, but when you shake the camera the paper moves around. Technically this isn’t a problem, but it’s still disconcerting to hear things moving inside.
- The user interface is awkward and slow compared to the other cameras–Pentax, Canon, and Nikon– that I’m used to using.
Now the good:
- It is AWESOME to be able to print out a picture and give it to a person on the spot. People are so used to having their picture taken and resigning themselves to the fact that they may never see it again. Maybe it will be posted on Flickr or Facebook, maybe not. It’s been surprisingly fun and rewarding to give a physical picture to someone immediately.
- These cameras aren’t very well known yet, so there’s a nice novelty to them.
- The photo paper is relatively cheap. You can buy a pack of 30 for $10.
- I’ve found that I enjoy thinking of fun and clever uses for the pictures like putting together flip books or hiding pictures of me making funny faces around the house for my partner to find.
My main recommendation to Polaroid is to change the form factor of the PoGo. I understand that the camera has to be a little bigger than the average point-and-shoot to accommodate the internal printer and paper, but why not have a little fun? Urban Outfitters sells bigger, vintage-looking digital cameras that the cool kids really love. Imagine how much more they’d love these cameras if they printed photos too!
*Disclosure: the PoGo sells for $199, but I got mine as a free gift for participating as a judge in a design contest for the Zink thermal printer.
I recently got a Nikon D5000, my first foray into the world of DSLR cameras. I don’t know much about photography yet, but it helps to spend some time with friends who are into it. So last Saturday Dave, Jess, and I went to a skate park in Petrero Hill to snap some shots. I’ve included some below. (We came across the van on the way to the park.)
Here are some shots from Dave. He has an awesome shot of Jess that he got using his magic flash. He also documented us climbing over the park’s fence after we got locked in. Oops!
In a departure from my normal high-tech writing ways, I’ve written a piece about antique clocks. The story was inspired by an antique clock repair shop a few blocks away from my apartment and its owner, a man named Dorian Clair. Dorian is the kind of guy who will answer all the questions you ask, and then go on to answer unasked ones as well. Before I knew it, he was telling me stories about the history of San Francisco’s tower clocks and how he takes care of them. It turns out that Dorian watches the clocks at the Ferry Building and the pendulum clock at UCSF Medical Center. He also built the clock in the tower that overlooks the Bay Bridge viaduct.
