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Roger Corman, tireless producer/director that he was, put out another of his B movies in late 1959. WW is a much more conventional science-gone-wrong story. It also added to a growing sub-genre of science spawned human-animal monster stories. Leo Gordon, who wrote the screenplay, had just given us Alligator People a few months earlier. It co-ran with Return of the Fly, the famous of the human-animal monster sub group. WW amounts to a female version of The Fly but without the transporter technology. Instead, it's the more customary trope of animal juices turn you into that animal.
Shot in less than a week for $50,000, Roger Corman directed this science fiction film about a cosmetic company executive (Susan Cabot) who has found a youth-rejuvenating drug in the royal jelly of wasps. The only side effect is that the taker periodically becomes a wasp and at night slays her victims and devours them.
Synopsis
(never mind that the credits are over a hive of honey bees)
Research scientist Dr. Zinthrop thinks the royal jelly of the queen wasp holds the key to perpetual youth. Hhe promotes his ideas to Janice Starlin, head of a cosmetics company. Starlin Enterprises has been steadily losing revenue since Janice -- the "face" of the company -- has lost her youthful look over the 18 years at the helm. Janice hires Zinthrop. The rest of the staff are suspicious and skeptical. Most think Zinthrop is a con man or a quack. They plot to uncover the scheme. Meanwhile, Janice does get daily injections of the serum Zinthrop developed. After 3 weeks, looks only a few years younger. Zinthrop has a new serum which is even stronger. She tells everyone to plan for a huge new product release that will save the company, etc. etc. Zinthrop is attacked by one of his test animals. The cat reverted from neo-kitten to savage beast with wing buds. Zinthrop, despondent at his failure, is hit by a car. With Zinthrop missing, and impatient with the slow progress, Janice injects herself with the untested new serum. Now she looks remarkably younger. Everyone is amazed. Not long afterward, Janice develops odd headaches. In the lab on night, Cooper snoops right after one of her injections. Now with wasp(ish) head and claws, Wasp Janice attacks and kills Cooper. She also dispatches a night watchman. A few days later, Janice takes the last dose and again becomes Wasp Woman. She kills the nurse assigned to care for Zinthrop. Bill fights with Wasp Janice to save his girlfriend Mary. Zinthrop throws a bottle of acid at WaspJanice, hitting her square in the face. Recoiling in pain, she falls out of a window and dies. The End.
It's interesting how 1959 had three human-animal monster stories. Comparing similarities and differences is food for thought. Perhaps not intentionally, the sub-genre dabbles in the fragile essence of what is humanity, vs. the beastly "nature" side, much as Dr. Jekyll did.
As with most monster movies, there is little or no Cold War analogy. Instead, there is the usual dangers-of-science moral. There is also the hubris of man thinking he (or she) can trump nature -- with the customary fatal results.
Susan Cabot, who does a capable job as the ill-fated woman. She also starred in a couple of Corman's prior films, War of the Satellites ('58) and the peculiar film Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent ('57). WW was her last movie role. Corman movies were no way to grow a career. Michael Marks plays Dr. Zinthrop well enough. His trace of russian accent meshing well with the eccentric scientist role. Audiences had just seen him (briefly) as the night watchman in Return of the Fly. He was also conspicuous as Emil, friend of Mr. Franz the puppet master in Attack of the Puppet People ('58)
Corman's original cut of WW is said to begin with Starlin conducting the business meeting where sagging sales are discussed. This makes the Dr. Zinthrop character a bit of a shot out of left field, but the movie gets going on its own nonetheless. When WW was released for television in 1962, director Jack Hill filmed several minutes of prologue footage. In it, we see Zinthrop as the eccentric researcher employed by a honey company. Instead of working with bees, he has been working with wasps. His honey farm boss is unimpressed with talk of reversing aging. They sell honey. Zinthrop is fired. This prologue sets up Zinthrop and his discovery (as well as need for a patron), so his appearance at Starlin Enterprises is not so much of a non-sequetor.
The poster artist may not have read the script or seen the film. His image of a huge wasp with a woman's head is the opposite of what happens. WaspJanice, like FlyAndre and FlyPhillipe before her, had an insect-ish head and claws, but her own human body. Handily enough, she took to wearing black knit pantsuits as the serum was taking over, so she was dressed for the killer role. The poster does give a refreshing twist on the old abduction trope, even if it's not in the movie. Here, it is a shirtless young man in the clutches of the she-monster, instead of the swooning buxom babe.
Instead of the typical naive scientist creating the monster, we have that trope split in two. Zinthrop follows the role of native scientist who hopes to benefit mankind, but he shows restraint. He was willing to call it quits when things went wrong. Janice took up the task of the fatal misstep, pushed by her desire to save her company and her vanity as a woman. She pushed nature over the edge.
Bottom line? WW is a fairly predictable science-gone-wrong tale, but capably acted and directed. There are enough entertaining moments to keep WW watchable. For fans of The Fly, it can be an amusing other-side-of-the-coin.
Roger Corman directed this science fiction/horror film about a woman (Susan Cabot) who teams up with an eccentric scientist (Michael Mark) who has created an anti-aging cream based on extracts from queen wasps
Another Take.
This goofy but entertaining horror cheapie from producer-director Roger Corman and company involves the efforts of a questionable scientist working for cosmetics magnate Susan Cabot, who is developing a new rejuvenating beauty cream derived from an enzyme secreted by wasps, intended to make women look eternally youthful. A vain woman obsessed with restoring her lost beauty, Cabot insists on being the first test subject. The solution proves remarkably effective at first, transforming her into a sultry raven-haired vixen...until she begins to take on the predatory traits of a giant female wasp, setting out on a nocturnal killing spree. Originally double-billed with The Beast from Haunted Cave, this cheesy monster mash inspired the less-amusing Leech Woman and was later remade for 1980s audiences (i.e., with a higher sex-and-gore quotient) as Evil Spawn.
review
Considering the strange and terrible fate of the lead actress -- Susan Cabot apparently lived her own nightmare and was eventually killed by her increasingly browbeaten son -- The Wasp Woman takes on an added poignancy that obviously wasn't intended by the film's cheapskate producer-director, Roger Corman. Here is yet another creature flick hampered by a ludicrous monster costume -- nothing more than a Halloween mask, really -- not quite as bad as it could have been but not very good either. Cabot herself does well enough as the youth-obsessed heroine/villainess and the film does attempt to address both the increasing paranoia regarding aging and science run amok. But the cheesy special effects (if you can call a rubber mask and a couple of claws "special effects") and lack of any kind of budget betray the good intentions. Typical of Corman, the supporting roles are well cast (including the stunning Lynn Cartwright as a Brooklyn-accented secretary) and an attempt to turn modern office life into a sort of Grand Guignol melodrama works at least part of the way.
Roger Corman, tireless producer/director that he was, put out another of his B movies in late 1959. WW is a much more conventional science-gone-wrong story. It also added to a growing sub-genre of science spawned human-animal monster stories. Leo Gordon, who wrote the screenplay, had just given us Alligator People a few months earlier. It co-ran with Return of the Fly, the famous of the human-animal monster sub group. WW amounts to a female version of The Fly but without the transporter technology. Instead, it's the more customary trope of animal juices turn you into that animal.
Shot in less than a week for $50,000, Roger Corman directed this science fiction film about a cosmetic company executive (Susan Cabot) who has found a youth-rejuvenating drug in the royal jelly of wasps. The only side effect is that the taker periodically becomes a wasp and at night slays her victims and devours them.
Synopsis
(never mind that the credits are over a hive of honey bees)
Research scientist Dr. Zinthrop thinks the royal jelly of the queen wasp holds the key to perpetual youth. Hhe promotes his ideas to Janice Starlin, head of a cosmetics company. Starlin Enterprises has been steadily losing revenue since Janice -- the "face" of the company -- has lost her youthful look over the 18 years at the helm. Janice hires Zinthrop. The rest of the staff are suspicious and skeptical. Most think Zinthrop is a con man or a quack. They plot to uncover the scheme. Meanwhile, Janice does get daily injections of the serum Zinthrop developed. After 3 weeks, looks only a few years younger. Zinthrop has a new serum which is even stronger. She tells everyone to plan for a huge new product release that will save the company, etc. etc. Zinthrop is attacked by one of his test animals. The cat reverted from neo-kitten to savage beast with wing buds. Zinthrop, despondent at his failure, is hit by a car. With Zinthrop missing, and impatient with the slow progress, Janice injects herself with the untested new serum. Now she looks remarkably younger. Everyone is amazed. Not long afterward, Janice develops odd headaches. In the lab on night, Cooper snoops right after one of her injections. Now with wasp(ish) head and claws, Wasp Janice attacks and kills Cooper. She also dispatches a night watchman. A few days later, Janice takes the last dose and again becomes Wasp Woman. She kills the nurse assigned to care for Zinthrop. Bill fights with Wasp Janice to save his girlfriend Mary. Zinthrop throws a bottle of acid at WaspJanice, hitting her square in the face. Recoiling in pain, she falls out of a window and dies. The End.
It's interesting how 1959 had three human-animal monster stories. Comparing similarities and differences is food for thought. Perhaps not intentionally, the sub-genre dabbles in the fragile essence of what is humanity, vs. the beastly "nature" side, much as Dr. Jekyll did.
As with most monster movies, there is little or no Cold War analogy. Instead, there is the usual dangers-of-science moral. There is also the hubris of man thinking he (or she) can trump nature -- with the customary fatal results.
Susan Cabot, who does a capable job as the ill-fated woman. She also starred in a couple of Corman's prior films, War of the Satellites ('58) and the peculiar film Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent ('57). WW was her last movie role. Corman movies were no way to grow a career. Michael Marks plays Dr. Zinthrop well enough. His trace of russian accent meshing well with the eccentric scientist role. Audiences had just seen him (briefly) as the night watchman in Return of the Fly. He was also conspicuous as Emil, friend of Mr. Franz the puppet master in Attack of the Puppet People ('58)
Corman's original cut of WW is said to begin with Starlin conducting the business meeting where sagging sales are discussed. This makes the Dr. Zinthrop character a bit of a shot out of left field, but the movie gets going on its own nonetheless. When WW was released for television in 1962, director Jack Hill filmed several minutes of prologue footage. In it, we see Zinthrop as the eccentric researcher employed by a honey company. Instead of working with bees, he has been working with wasps. His honey farm boss is unimpressed with talk of reversing aging. They sell honey. Zinthrop is fired. This prologue sets up Zinthrop and his discovery (as well as need for a patron), so his appearance at Starlin Enterprises is not so much of a non-sequetor.
The poster artist may not have read the script or seen the film. His image of a huge wasp with a woman's head is the opposite of what happens. WaspJanice, like FlyAndre and FlyPhillipe before her, had an insect-ish head and claws, but her own human body. Handily enough, she took to wearing black knit pantsuits as the serum was taking over, so she was dressed for the killer role. The poster does give a refreshing twist on the old abduction trope, even if it's not in the movie. Here, it is a shirtless young man in the clutches of the she-monster, instead of the swooning buxom babe.
Instead of the typical naive scientist creating the monster, we have that trope split in two. Zinthrop follows the role of native scientist who hopes to benefit mankind, but he shows restraint. He was willing to call it quits when things went wrong. Janice took up the task of the fatal misstep, pushed by her desire to save her company and her vanity as a woman. She pushed nature over the edge.
Bottom line? WW is a fairly predictable science-gone-wrong tale, but capably acted and directed. There are enough entertaining moments to keep WW watchable. For fans of The Fly, it can be an amusing other-side-of-the-coin.
Roger Corman directed this science fiction/horror film about a woman (Susan Cabot) who teams up with an eccentric scientist (Michael Mark) who has created an anti-aging cream based on extracts from queen wasps
Another Take.
This goofy but entertaining horror cheapie from producer-director Roger Corman and company involves the efforts of a questionable scientist working for cosmetics magnate Susan Cabot, who is developing a new rejuvenating beauty cream derived from an enzyme secreted by wasps, intended to make women look eternally youthful. A vain woman obsessed with restoring her lost beauty, Cabot insists on being the first test subject. The solution proves remarkably effective at first, transforming her into a sultry raven-haired vixen...until she begins to take on the predatory traits of a giant female wasp, setting out on a nocturnal killing spree. Originally double-billed with The Beast from Haunted Cave, this cheesy monster mash inspired the less-amusing Leech Woman and was later remade for 1980s audiences (i.e., with a higher sex-and-gore quotient) as Evil Spawn.
review
Considering the strange and terrible fate of the lead actress -- Susan Cabot apparently lived her own nightmare and was eventually killed by her increasingly browbeaten son -- The Wasp Woman takes on an added poignancy that obviously wasn't intended by the film's cheapskate producer-director, Roger Corman. Here is yet another creature flick hampered by a ludicrous monster costume -- nothing more than a Halloween mask, really -- not quite as bad as it could have been but not very good either. Cabot herself does well enough as the youth-obsessed heroine/villainess and the film does attempt to address both the increasing paranoia regarding aging and science run amok. But the cheesy special effects (if you can call a rubber mask and a couple of claws "special effects") and lack of any kind of budget betray the good intentions. Typical of Corman, the supporting roles are well cast (including the stunning Lynn Cartwright as a Brooklyn-accented secretary) and an attempt to turn modern office life into a sort of Grand Guignol melodrama works at least part of the way.
Roger Corman, tireless producer/director that he was, put out another of his B movies in late 1959. WW is a much more conventional science-gone-wrong story. It also added to a growing sub-genre of science spawned human-animal monster stories. Leo Gordon, who wrote the screenplay, had just given us Alligator People a few months earlier. It co-ran with Return of the Fly, the famous of the human-animal monster sub group. WW amounts to a female version of The Fly but without the transporter technology. Instead, it's the more customary trope of animal juices turn you into that animal.
Shot in less than a week for $50,000, Roger Corman directed this science fiction film about a cosmetic company executive (Susan Cabot) who has found a youth-rejuvenating drug in the royal jelly of wasps. The only side effect is that the taker periodically becomes a wasp and at night slays her victims and devours them.
Synopsis
(never mind that the credits are over a hive of honey bees)
Research scientist Dr. Zinthrop thinks the royal jelly of the queen wasp holds the key to perpetual youth. Hhe promotes his ideas to Janice Starlin, head of a cosmetics company. Starlin Enterprises has been steadily losing revenue since Janice -- the "face" of the company -- has lost her youthful look over the 18 years at the helm. Janice hires Zinthrop. The rest of the staff are suspicious and skeptical. Most think Zinthrop is a con man or a quack. They plot to uncover the scheme. Meanwhile, Janice does get daily injections of the serum Zinthrop developed. After 3 weeks, looks only a few years younger. Zinthrop has a new serum which is even stronger. She tells everyone to plan for a huge new product release that will save the company, etc. etc. Zinthrop is attacked by one of his test animals. The cat reverted from neo-kitten to savage beast with wing buds. Zinthrop, despondent at his failure, is hit by a car. With Zinthrop missing, and impatient with the slow progress, Janice injects herself with the untested new serum. Now she looks remarkably younger. Everyone is amazed. Not long afterward, Janice develops odd headaches. In the lab on night, Cooper snoops right after one of her injections. Now with wasp(ish) head and claws, Wasp Janice attacks and kills Cooper. She also dispatches a night watchman. A few days later, Janice takes the last dose and again becomes Wasp Woman. She kills the nurse assigned to care for Zinthrop. Bill fights with Wasp Janice to save his girlfriend Mary. Zinthrop throws a bottle of acid at WaspJanice, hitting her square in the face. Recoiling in pain, she falls out of a window and dies. The End.
It's interesting how 1959 had three human-animal monster stories. Comparing similarities and differences is food for thought. Perhaps not intentionally, the sub-genre dabbles in the fragile essence of what is humanity, vs. the beastly "nature" side, much as Dr. Jekyll did.
As with most monster movies, there is little or no Cold War analogy. Instead, there is the usual dangers-of-science moral. There is also the hubris of man thinking he (or she) can trump nature -- with the customary fatal results.
Susan Cabot, who does a capable job as the ill-fated woman. She also starred in a couple of Corman's prior films, War of the Satellites ('58) and the peculiar film Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent ('57). WW was her last movie role. Corman movies were no way to grow a career. Michael Marks plays Dr. Zinthrop well enough. His trace of russian accent meshing well with the eccentric scientist role. Audiences had just seen him (briefly) as the night watchman in Return of the Fly. He was also conspicuous as Emil, friend of Mr. Franz the puppet master in Attack of the Puppet People ('58)
Corman's original cut of WW is said to begin with Starlin conducting the business meeting where sagging sales are discussed. This makes the Dr. Zinthrop character a bit of a shot out of left field, but the movie gets going on its own nonetheless. When WW was released for television in 1962, director Jack Hill filmed several minutes of prologue footage. In it, we see Zinthrop as the eccentric researcher employed by a honey company. Instead of working with bees, he has been working with wasps. His honey farm boss is unimpressed with talk of reversing aging. They sell honey. Zinthrop is fired. This prologue sets up Zinthrop and his discovery (as well as need for a patron), so his appearance at Starlin Enterprises is not so much of a non-sequetor.
The poster artist may not have read the script or seen the film. His image of a huge wasp with a woman's head is the opposite of what happens. WaspJanice, like FlyAndre and FlyPhillipe before her, had an insect-ish head and claws, but her own human body. Handily enough, she took to wearing black knit pantsuits as the serum was taking over, so she was dressed for the killer role. The poster does give a refreshing twist on the old abduction trope, even if it's not in the movie. Here, it is a shirtless young man in the clutches of the she-monster, instead of the swooning buxom babe.
Instead of the typical naive scientist creating the monster, we have that trope split in two. Zinthrop follows the role of native scientist who hopes to benefit mankind, but he shows restraint. He was willing to call it quits when things went wrong. Janice took up the task of the fatal misstep, pushed by her desire to save her company and her vanity as a woman. She pushed nature over the edge.
Bottom line? WW is a fairly predictable science-gone-wrong tale, but capably acted and directed. There are enough entertaining moments to keep WW watchable. For fans of The Fly, it can be an amusing other-side-of-the-coin.
Roger Corman directed this science fiction/horror film about a woman (Susan Cabot) who teams up with an eccentric scientist (Michael Mark) who has created an anti-aging cream based on extracts from queen wasps
Another Take.
This goofy but entertaining horror cheapie from producer-director Roger Corman and company involves the efforts of a questionable scientist working for cosmetics magnate Susan Cabot, who is developing a new rejuvenating beauty cream derived from an enzyme secreted by wasps, intended to make women look eternally youthful. A vain woman obsessed with restoring her lost beauty, Cabot insists on being the first test subject. The solution proves remarkably effective at first, transforming her into a sultry raven-haired vixen...until she begins to take on the predatory traits of a giant female wasp, setting out on a nocturnal killing spree. Originally double-billed with The Beast from Haunted Cave, this cheesy monster mash inspired the less-amusing Leech Woman and was later remade for 1980s audiences (i.e., with a higher sex-and-gore quotient) as Evil Spawn.
review
Considering the strange and terrible fate of the lead actress -- Susan Cabot apparently lived her own nightmare and was eventually killed by her increasingly browbeaten son -- The Wasp Woman takes on an added poignancy that obviously wasn't intended by the film's cheapskate producer-director, Roger Corman. Here is yet another creature flick hampered by a ludicrous monster costume -- nothing more than a Halloween mask, really -- not quite as bad as it could have been but not very good either. Cabot herself does well enough as the youth-obsessed heroine/villainess and the film does attempt to address both the increasing paranoia regarding aging and science run amok. But the cheesy special effects (if you can call a rubber mask and a couple of claws "special effects") and lack of any kind of budget betray the good intentions. Typical of Corman, the supporting roles are well cast (including the stunning Lynn Cartwright as a Brooklyn-accented secretary) and an attempt to turn modern office life into a sort of Grand Guignol melodrama works at least part of the way.
Ok, this part is fun. Fold over the top like shown. I think mine is about 1/4, maybe a teeny bit over. I always try to match the center seam up first, then adjust the edges. I don't know, maybe you might do it differently, but that's how I roll (err...hem)
Stitch. Back stitching never hurts, but with fabric this thin, you need to be careful. Usually I use leftover bits of tracing paper or paper towel to keep the feeds from eating fabric, but You don't want to do that with tights. water soluble (sp?) stabilizer is what you'd want...But I'm poor AND a cheapskate, so I don't bother. I just go slowly.
So Yeah, I'm still here, even if no one else is..., and I know what your thinking, "Oh great, He's Still here!, even Flickr can't make him leave!", and yes while I'm not proud of the fact I now have a Pro acount as I've never trusted Americans with money, the Northern decended cheapskate in me doesn't say no to a kind benifactor from outside Flickr offering to pay for it for me... Judge me if you wish...
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw 2 Weeks ago!!
Showing the different seating arrangement at the back of the lower deck of this Bolton-based Volvo B5LH with Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodywork.
It was seen here today - 19/03/16 - in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre for the day for a promotional event (with another in Leigh) for the new 'Vantage' service from First, which runs from Leigh to Manchester with a part of the route (over 4 miles) using a guided busway - the first in the North West of England - and set to launch on the 3rd April. As such, the vehicle's (a batch of 20 including 2 spare) are painted in a special purple livery and of a luxury standard, including plush coach-like seating and two tables on the upper deck, free wifi, USB charging and next stop audio-visual announcements.
There were also Goodie Bag's available at the event, and whilst I was hoping for a free ticket of some kind (with the cheapskate that I am), I was still satisfied with 2 Cadbury chocolate eclairs, a blueberry muffin, a leaflet and a Vantage branded pen!
It is easier said than done, organising a picnic for 20 or so in a foreign country. So we spent quite a bit of time on the Friday organising things which had us going to Homebase to pick up the 'gazebo'/mini-tent to rpovide shade, as well as three comfortable chairs which fold up into a bag, as well as two more common collapsable chairs. Then I would rely on Fiona for the picnic rugs. So much for the furniture.
Plates and napkins had been brought over from the Hema in Holland and Fred picked up some soft cool boxes at the pound shop.
The food was ordered from a Syrian restaurant in Shepherds Bush, the champagne already pre-ordered from Waitrose (which was listed as having one of the best supermarket champagnes) and then we picked up breads and cheeses and still more cheeses from the Portobello Market.
A big worry was how we would carry everything and I was lucky to find a quite sturdy shopping trolley with big wheels for a tenner on Portobello Road, which was big enough to carry the soft cool boxes stuffed with bottles of cooled champage as well as the cheeses and so on.
The minibus which brought us from West London took us through the various byroads of South London, slow but reasonably direct and brought us all the way to the course, from where it was a short walk through the tunnel under the course to the open areas of the Downs to this spot just below the last furlong, in view of a good TV screen, from where we could follow the races.
James set up the gazebo with a little bit of help and soon we were set, for what turned out to be a lovely afternoon!
As it happens, the double decker buses at the track were for rent at 1,600 pounds for the day, whilst a pitch was going for 2,000 pounds. I don't really consider myself a cheapskate but I thought these prices were a liottle bit on the high side, when just a few yards behind, access was completely free, more money left for the champers!
I needed to whip up some quick business cards for a craft show, but I didn't feel like paying for the fancy "print-your-own-business-cards" cardstock. So, to the junk drawer I went. heycarrieann.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/business-cards-for-...
Ages since I flew a Boeing 757. These were a quantum leap over the likes of B-727s and Tridents for short/medium-haul flights, and my favourite memories of the type go back to the latter-1980s/early 1990s, when British Airways employed them on their UK domestic shuttles. Being in head-to-head competition with British Midland, the on-board service was second-to-none, with three-course meals and whatever you wanted from the drinks trolley. With BA now having taken the cheapskate route in order to maintain their share price, I no longer fly them.
Now that I am based in the United States, Delta has become a carrier of choice. This TPA-ATL flight was good, though I admit to have paid a premium fare.
slave! where is my guest list?
here, lord ba'al. the invitations have gone out.
excellent! this will be the social event of the season! of the decade!
indeed, lord. your supplicants are busy with the preparations.
and the virgins? are they in readiness?
well. . .
well what? speak up!
we are scouring the city for suitable candidates, sire.
double your efforts slave! my guests expect to be entertained in proper fashion!
yes, lord. we are working within your constraints: 3 virgins for you for every one for your guests.
yes? you question my appetites, slave?
certainly not, o voracious one. but with 500 guests, that's. . . that's. . .
a lot of virgins?
in these times, I'm afraid so, sire.
we'll have to give some of the guests a substitute.
substitute, lord?
give them used cars off our lot. we're way over-stocked anyway.
used cars as substitutes for. . . virgins?
yes, dammit! if they don't like it, they can go to thor's party. he gives away grab bags. grab bags! with cookies and shit! what a cheapskate!
thor isn't worthy to carry your toga, lord.
how he ever made it in the cinema instead of me is a complete mystery.
a crime, o corpulent one.
those hollywood types. so shallow.
they don't know what they're missing, lord.
absolutely not. and those cars for the guests? stick to the high-mileage clunkers. are we clear?
as an unmuddied lake, lord.
www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2010/04/11/the-beauty-and-...
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, but I was too late for a sunrise. I slept in until nearly 07:00. By the time I got up, there was no time to do a post, so I'm catching up today. It's worth the wait, because I got some splendid shots during the day. We had a few adventures.
Jo Noble has mentioned to me a couple of times how she loves to free diver down and swim through the divers' bubbles. It's fun, it tickles and it's a visual treat. The bubbles sometimes form mushroom shapes as big as your hand. If you stick your finger in the "bell" shape at the top, it explodes into a hundred tiny bubbles in a circle.
So, we decided that I'd go down after Monty and Kate got into the water and shoot Jo swimming through the bubbles. It was a very good idea. Look at this beautiful shot: It might not be the most elegant pose in the history of underwater figure photography, but I like the animal power of it. Jo is going for the bubbles, pure and simple. She's chasing them with all her might.
This one is a bit more dreamy. It reminds me a a reverse rainstorm: Jo is an aquatic beauty caught in an up-pour of air drops. I struggled to get some good skin tones out of this one, but the data was simply not there.
The next pose is much more sleek and lovely, but still portrays the power of the dive. If you've never free dived, you might not realise how much effort and skill it takes to get turned over and kick your way down, especially into salt water. It's not as easy as it looks. Those of you who free dive will probably remember, as I do, the difficulty of learning to do it gracefully. If it's done right, you see the swimmers bottom for a moment as she flips heels over head, the legs shoot straight up out of the water to gain weight above the water line and that weight propels the diver downwards and she reaches for a big double armful of water to pull herself downward.
Here Jo shows the technique beautifully: Isn't that beautiful? How lucky to be there with a camera!
Since I'm now doing two dives on Saturdays we decided to have a little fun on the second one. I'm such a cheapskate that I rent only one tank. If I get an 80 (that's a big one) I can get nearly two hours of dive time from it. Monty says I have gills. He may be right.
Anyway, on the second dive we decided to play the tropical divers' equivalent of Russian Roulette, "Tease the Triggerfish". Regular readers have seen triggerfish here before. Triggerfish are about the size of a football. In fact the Latin name is derived from the work for "ball shape".
Here are two Yellowmargin Triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus) guarding a nesting cone, the big, funnel shaped area in the sand with the rubbish in the centre: Though they are not currently mating, the come back regularly to these areas to check things out. On Saturday there were about ten of them patrolling the area.
The plan was that Monty would take pictures of me trying to get close-ups without getting bitten. The have teeth. Oh, my do they have teeth, teeth like a Pit Bull and a temperament to match. I had the thickest wet suit and the most experience with a camera, so it was my duty to get in up-close and personal with the little devils. Did I mention that they bite? I've seen chunks taken out of divers' fins by these critters.
As it turned out, Monty and Kate were distracted by some anemonefish and weren't of much use to me: The did get into the fray pretty quickly as the triggerfish were getting very agitated and were darting about everywhere. The like to get about five or six metres away from you, square off, lower their head and make a charge, waggling like crazy and visibly accelerating directly at you. At that point you being to ponder in earnest if they are going to break off the attack or not.
Some of you have seen this before: I got so tired of describing the two most dangerous triggerfish to divers on my boat so that I could tell them to get behind me that I had them tattooed on my back.
Now, I can hear the mumbling out there, so don't act like you're not sceptical. Non-divers are naturally suspicious of the tall tales, since hardly ever comes back with so much as a scratch.
I did get one very lucky shot just before I nearly soiled my wetsuit: Did I mention the headlong charges? Did I mention the teeth? This beast was travelling about thirty KPH when I snapped this shot, just before he flicked aside with an audible SNAP.
We call this fun.
46025 stands at platform 8 at Plymouth with 1M22 the 11.14 Plymouth - Manchester Piccadilly on the 26th August 1980. Despite years of spotting which then developed into bashing I did not acquire a camera until August 1980 and that was a cheapskate Kodak Ektra 12 with 110 film. The August Bank Holiday weekend was particularly sunny in 1980 and as previously mentioned the camera could take a passable shot for what it was. I have digitally tweaked this a bit to sharpen it.
www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/camera-132-Kodak_Ektra...
References
The Prodigal Returns (Animated Film by Superbook)
Tenth Street Presbyterian Sermon Archive
Topic: Forgiveness
www.tenth.org/resource-library/sermons/
Connor Quigley Sound Cloud Archive (Psalm 40, Ballerma)
soundcloud.com/connorq/psalm-40-tune-ballerma
Psalm 16 (tune: Golden Hill, a cappella Scotland, similar to RPCNA)
Friends & Heroes: No Way Out (Episode 12)
www.friendsandheroes.tv/episode12.html
"The Lost Son Comes Home" by jill Kemp & Richard Gunther
www.lambsongs.co.nz/New%20Testament%20Books/The%20Lost%20...
Clipart by Masaru Horie
www.christiancliparts.net/viewillust.php?id=i06079
Guide to using Masaru Horie's clipart
www.christiancliparts.net/guide.php
Pirate Hat
www.leehansen.com/printables/masks/pirate-hat.htm
The Unforgiving Debtor by Jorge Cocco
www.pinterest.com/pin/172614598211496474/
Sushi Cones (Paper Cones)
www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_sushi_hand_rolls.htm
Science and Technology Connections
Mazes
www.mathsisfun.com/games/puzzle-games.html
Shown in Photo
Jenga block
Darice 10 mm "wiggle" ("googly") eyes
Kunin felt (royal blue)
Lee Hansen Pirate hat (printed small version on index card)
Cotton Swab
Bobo (bubble tea, milkshake) straws
Holographic Origami Paper by Yasutomo
Zots by Thermoweb (medium size glue dots)
Play money (two bills taped together,rolled into cone)
Seen here facing from the back to the front is the upper deck of this Bolton-based Volvo B5LH with Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodywork.
It was seen here today - 19/03/16 - in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre for the day for a promotional event (with another in Leigh) for the new 'Vantage' service from First, which runs from Leigh to Manchester with a part of the route (over 4 miles) using a guided busway - the first in the North West of England - and set to launch on the 3rd April. As such, the vehicle's (a batch of 20 including 2 spare) are painted in a special purple livery and of a luxury standard, including plush coach-like seating as seen here on the upper deck, two tables (also seen here on the left and right further back), free wifi, USB charging and next stop audio-visual announcements.
The small blue flash of light you can see in the centre of the nearest seat on the left is where the USB chargers are located on seats.
There were also Goodie Bag's available at the event, and whilst I was hoping for a free ticket of some kind (with the cheapskate that I am), I was still satisfied with 2 Cadbury chocolate eclairs, a blueberry muffin, a leaflet and a Vantage branded pen!
Lunch break sketching with Anette, Vadestedet Århus by the canal.
My sketchbook, pens and pencils.
Blogged on Ea's Artlog and Urban Sketchers
Nita using my Bronica SQ-A, while I downsize to...
Taken on a car boot sale expired (2009) Boots disposable camera. Film cross processed as B/W in ID11. Photography doesn't get much cheaper. Even reached Flickr Explore.
Naked Barbie: Damn those girls. Making off with our clothes.....They so bigh still want to steal ours..Cheapskate!
No more No Signs!
Olympus XA2 compact 35mm camera (cost 50p).
Ilford HP5 Plus film, developed in ID11
From Birmingham International Motorcycle Museum - by the gift shop, before you have to pay to get in.
was a 'league of nations' at the Myalbangera Outstation near Griffith NSW over Easter. Being a cheapskate i pitched my tent on the grounds and used the facilities. During the day i would go off by myself birding, and at night join the mad, young backpackers in celebrating end of vintage/harvest, as most of them were involved in fruit picking to subsidise their journeys.
taken 28/06/17; Cheapskate corner; I picked up this planter last year down the tip from the rubble container and everything in it was grown from seed or cuttings - and the lilies behind have done a few seasons too.
On Christmas day 2000 myself and the missus went and got away from the main beach at White Sands, Koh Chang, but this character popped up out of nowhere with a Blue Spotted Ray that he had just harpooned with a broomstick he had fashioned into a spear. He then went on to explain that he was a bit skint having left the UK with conviction looming (don't ask) and had come away on a credit card that he had no intention of paying back. He was catching his dinner for him and his 'Bar Girl' that he had paid to take away from her work in Pattaya and who was now seriously pissed off with him as she was expecting a slightly different treatment.
There's people like this all over SE Asia which is the downside to the experience.
To celebrate this cheapskate finally shelling out for PRO how about I re-post some of the images I deleted to keep us under 50!
Oops, I think I just fried my upload limit for this month with this photo, I just noticed its 3.3MB in size.... Serves me right for being a cheapskate 'non-pro' I suppose but I'm off snowboarding the weekend after this one so it'll give me time to get some new shots.
This photo was taken on the same day as the other previous few in my photo stream. Whilst it still (just) contains a dog I just quite like the composition, and I hope it conveys the peacefulness of my walk.
By the way, and not to hopeful be too depressing, but whilst I am uploading this on the BBC news they are reporting on the continued problems in India and Pakistan after the Earthquake earlier this year. Now that winter has set in many people who have already survived one natural disaster are facing another great challenge just to survive the winter.
I currently give money to Oxfam every month and would recommend it as a very worthy cause if you can spare a few £. More info can be found here.
This is quite possibly my favorite picture I've ever taken out of a moving car. My wife was driving and I was taking pictures of stuff using my Canon S5 at its full 12X zoom. Pictures like that usually come out all wrong, like they focus on the wrong thing, or don't get the intended target fully in the frame, or something in the foreground looks like it's moving really fast. This photo actually came out the way I really wanted it to.
Except for a huge powerline. There was a huge powerline in the original photo. This photo was so perfect with the exception of the powerline that I decided to finally learn how to fix stuff like that in powershop. (I lie, I am a cheapskate who uses Gimp.)
This barn is seen from the highway that connects Russelville, KY to Franklin, KY, highway 100.
Showing the front of the lower deck from the stairway to the door of this Bolton-based Volvo B5LH with Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodywork.
It was seen here today - 19/03/16 - in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre for the day for a promotional event (with another in Leigh) for the new 'Vantage' service from First, which runs from Leigh to Manchester with a part of the route (over 4 miles) using a guided busway - the first in the North West of England - and set to launch on the 3rd April. As such, the vehicle's (a batch of 20 including 2 spare) are painted in a special purple livery and of a luxury standard, including plush coach-like seating and two tables on the upper deck, free wifi, USB charging and next stop audio-visual announcements (which is the black bar on the upper left).
There were also Goodie Bag's available at the event, and whilst I was hoping for a free ticket of some kind (with the cheapskate that I am), I was still satisfied with 2 Cadbury chocolate eclairs, a blueberry muffin, a leaflet and a Vantage branded pen!
Shown in Photo
Jenga block
Darice 8 mm & 10 mm "wiggle" ("googly") eyes
Kunin felt (pirate green)
Foamies Sticker Shapes by Darice
Zots by Thermoweb (medium size glue dots)
Chenille stem by Darice
Bandana by Levi
Popcorn
References
Psalm 16 (tune: Golden Hill, a cappella Scotland, similar to RPCNA)
Friends & Heroes: No Way Out (Episode 12)
www.friendsandheroes.tv/episode12.html
"The Lost Son Comes Home" by jill Kemp & Richard Gunther
www.lambsongs.co.nz/New%20Testament%20Books/The%20Lost%20...
Clipart by Masaru Horie
www.christiancliparts.net/viewillust.php?id=i06079
Guide to using Masaru Horie's clipart
www.christiancliparts.net/guide.php
Korean Popcorn (Gangnaengi 강냉이) Cannon
was a 'league of nations' at the Myalbangera Outstation near Griffith NSW over Easter. Being a cheapskate i pitched my tent on the grounds and used the facilities. During the day i would go off by myself birding, and at night join the mad, young backpackers in celebrating end of vintage/harvest, as most of them were involved in fruit picking to subsidise their journeys.
Project cheapskatery: outdated Fuji NPS
developed in expired Nova C41 kit. It's all gone a bit magenta around the edges; good fun though.
Okay, so the picture is technically from 44th Street and not Broadway, you get the idea.
This afternoon I ditched work early and took the train up to New York. I decided to stay at the Best Western at the South Street Seaport. It's a pretty cool area. I'm going to have to come back another day when I've got more time and shoot loads of pictures. It's old and weathered looking and there are some great views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
I grabbed dinner just around the corner from my hotel, at the Bridge Cafe. It rocked. It's just a small, unpretentious, neighborhood restaurant with excellent food. In that regard, it reminded me a bit of my favorite eating place in the world -- the aptly named Le Restaurant in the Montmartre section of Paris. I started with the mixed green salad with pears, bleu cheese, candied walnuts, and citrus vinaigrette paired with the pumpkin beer they had on tap. Then it was on to the lobster pot pie with a side order of mac and cheese, washed down with another glass of pumpkin beer. I'd missed lunch, but this dinner more than made up for it.
After dinner I headed to the St. James Theatre to see the musical 'Gypsy' featuring Patti LuPone. I had never seen this show, but I knew it was supposed to be a classic with a plum role for a mature, belt-it-out style female singer. I hadn't realized how many great songs it had in it. There were about four songs that were instantly recognizable as well-known standards. Now I need to order the soundtrack off Amazon.
The story chronicles the life of the famous burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee and her loopy, controlling, over-the-top stage mother. As with most family dramas it was a bit dark, but it was also quite funny and moving. I liked this play a lot. In addition to lucking out with my choice of a play to see, I got lucky with my seat as well. Normally I spring for a pricier seat in the orchestra section, but I'd been to the St. James before to see 'The Producers' so I knew there were good views to be had from the balcony. Because the theatre was only about two-thirds full, they closed off the balcony and let us cheapskates sit down on the mezzanine level. Bonus!
I had been planning on grabbing some cheesecake and coffee after the show, but I was still so stuffed from dinner that I just headed back to the hotel to crash. Not exactly de rigeur for the city that never sleeps, but I knew I had to get up early Thursday if I wanted to get a good spot from which to watch the parade.
(November 26, 2008)
Bridge Over Troubled Water: Simon & Garfunkel
Baby Driver
Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Cecilia
Keep The Customer Satisfied
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
The Boxer
The Only Living Boy In New York
Why Don't You Write Me
Bye Bye Love
Song For The Asking
Give 'Em Enough Rope: The Clash
Safe European Home
English Civil War
Tommy Gun
Julie's In The Drug Squad
Last Gang In Town
Guns On The Roof
Drug-Stabbing Time
Stay Free
Cheapskates
All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)
Get Happy!!: Elvis Costello And The Attractions
Love For Tender
Opportunity
The Imposter
Secondary Modern
King Horse
Possession
Men Called Uncle
Clowntime Is Over
New Amsterdam
High Fidelity
I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)
Black And White World
5ive Gears In Reverse
B Movie
Motel Matches
Human Touch
Beaten To The Punch
Temptation
I Stand Accused
Riot Act
A Walk Across The Rooftops: Blue Nile
A Walk Across The Rooftops
Tinseltown In The Rain
From Rags To Riches
Stay
Easter Parade
Heatwave
Automobile Noise
Steve McQueen: Prefab Sprout
Faron Young
Bonny
Appetite
When Love Breaks Down
Goodbye Lucille #1
Hallelujah
Moving The River
Horsin' Around
Desire As
Blueberry Pies
When The Angels
New York: Lou Reed
Romeo Had Juliette
Halloween Parade
Dirty Blvd
Endless Cycle
There is No Time
Last Great American Whale
Beginning of a Great Adventure
Busload of Faith
Sick of You
Hold On
Good Evening Mr. Waldheim
Xmas in February
Strawman
Dime Store Mystery
Plumb: Jonatha Brooke & The Story
Nothing Sacred
Where Were You?
Inconsolable
No Better
West Point
War
Made Of Gold
Is This All?
Full-Fledged Strangers
Paris
Charming
Andrew Duffy's Jig
Songs: Rich Mullins
Sing Your Praise To The Lord
Awesome God
Sometimes By Step
Creed
We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are
If I Stand
Screen Door
Let Mercy Lead
Elijah
Calling Out Your Name
My One Thing
Boy Like Me / Man Like You
Alrightokuhhuhamen
While The Nations Rage
Verge Of A Miracle
Hold Me Jesus
Background image: unsplash.com/photos/yI3weKNBRTc
I've lived in this area on and off for the past fourteen years, and never been to enormous Lake Lowell, about 45 minutes away. So I headed out there yesterday evening and caught a really pretty sunset - what a beautiful area. On the downside, my cheapskate attitudes toward buying filters may have finally caught up with me. Starting to see some blotchiness (especially with clear skies / smooth long-exposure waters) with the stacked ND and polarizer filters, which is definitely not ideal. But I'll keep working at it.
I did bracket these, but the dynamic range wasn't quite wide enough that I ended up using HDR. I think I may have used the overexposed bracket to hand-blend a bit of a smoother, brighter look on the water, but no tonemapping here.
This shot was taken on my first night photography excursion. I took some shots on streets around my house and then I headed up to a place in Glen Cove (part of Vallejo, Ca.) that overlooks the Carquinez Straight.
The Carquinez Straight is a part of the system of water that runs from the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, through Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and out to the Pacific Ocean. This is the narrow channel of water that connects Suisun and San Pablo Bays.
Originally, I was going out to take some shots of a pair of bridges that run over the straight. But then this beautiful moon presented itself to me. So I turned my camera and tripod east towards the rising moon.
This was one in a series of shots that I was taking because I wasn't just experimenting with night photography, but also with HDR. I discovered a couple of things. 1. I need a better tripod and/or a camera upgrade and/or a cable release for the shutter if I want to do HDR. My D3100 doesn't have exposure bracketing so I have to manually do it, but my tripod doesn't tighten enough to keep the camera 100% straight so I got pictures that were just slightly off from each other. 2. Photoshop CS2 (hey, I'm a cheapskate and it's free) doesn't do HDR well at all.
That's fine, though, because there are lots of nice pictures to be taken without the use of HDR techniques. This one, for instance. :)
I had a chance to visit some of the plantations along the Great River Road in November 2010. San Francisco, near Gramercy, Louisiana on the banks of the Mississiippi River, is pretty impressive but what you don't see is that is sits between big chemical and petroleum plants - plus there are wires and cables all over the place. I didn't check out the inside (I'm a cheapskate) but it was pleasant to stroll around.
If you are like me, and believe in keeping your car looking as close to showroom new as possible all the time, then interior care is just as important as the exterior. And automobile leather is NO exception. Leather in general, is rather robust, and degenerates slowly, taking about 50-55 years to disentigrate completely, depending on how it was originally cured. Proper treatment and conditioning, can extend that.
NOW, there are three main factors that determine the lifespan of leather in automobiles. First one, and probably the most important, is sunlight. Most cars made after 2000 have gotten better with this, but, tinted windows will SAVE an interior. I cannot stress that enough. If you buy a new car, that has no tint, go buy some 70% VLT tint. It's very light, one can hardly tell there is a tint there, not even enough to really darken the windows, but it will SAVE everything inside your car. My car has a factory tint, and believe me. My interior still looks new. No fading or warping anywhere.
When a tint is not applied to the windows of a car, whether factory or aftermarket, all of the suns rays are magnified inside the interior. (Picture sitting out in the sun every day, from sun up, to sun down, for years) because of this, after 5-10 years, that nice navy blue interior of yours has become a sky blue, and every time you touch the steering wheel, more original dye comes off. Of course, the effects this has on leather is remarkably poisonous. The leather absorbs the UV rays, and the UV rays pull the original conditioners, protectants, oils, etc out of the leather, until it becomes hard and dry. When the leather gets in this condition, it will tear very easily. It is no suprise to find cars from the 80's and early 90's with completely shredded interiors, simply because they were not taken care of.
Second biggest life span shortener, is us. Without conditioning the leather, it slowly becomes dry and brittle, and our sweat, tears, spilled Pepsi, etc does nothing to help it. In most cases, the leather will get "stress marks" or creases in it. Not a big deal, bound to happen, but, because it is not being conditioned and taken care of, the stress creases, become small cracks and tears. Very small, not a big deal, until you flop down one day and hear "Riiiip!" naturally, you jump up, scared to death that your friends will see your "Valentine's Day Special" boxers, but, to your dismay, there is a 4" long split in the center of the bottom of the seat. At this point, you realize, your pride and joy...isn't so new anymore, and....most people, simply do not care. The tear gets worse, and many more follow, until it gets to the point where you are pretty much just sitting on shreds of leather and foam cushion. Then, you break out the photos of the car when you first brought it home, and hold up the pic to your seat, and sigh.
Third largest, is a mixture of neglect, and lack of cleaning/conditioning. As you know, little bits and pieces of sand, dirt, and other debris will fall on the seat. Some people do not notice, and the particles get drug across the seat, scratching as they go. This creates a weak point, which will definately become a crease, and eventually a crack, if not taken care of. This type of thing, among lack of care, leads to cracked and split leather interiors.
Leather itself, is very robust, but like anything, it must be cared for. If you don't want to take the time, cheap out and get cloth.
So, here is how you PROPERLY take care of a leather interior, which will prevent any form of tears/cracks for probably as long as you own the car.
NEW CARS :
First thing you should do, is tint the windows. Window tint isn't only for punk-ass kids in Toyota Supra's that try and rattle your mirrors off at stoplights. They are very beneficial to the interior of a car, as I mentioned earlier. If your car came with factory tint, you're good. Next, upon getting the car home, Use some form of leather cleaner/conditioner on the seats. I recommend LEXOL. This removes any excess oils, dust, dirt, and sweat from the time the car was manufactured, to when you bought it, giving you a great foundation for future care. Next, apply cleaner/ conditioner every 2-3 weeks, or whenever a soda or some other such thing is spilled, if car is a daily driver. By doing this for several years, you will be suprised how new your seats look 5-10 years later, while the same interior in another car is cracks/torn. It will be worth the effort.
OLDER CARS:
Providing the leather is in good condition (i.e. no cracks or splits, leather is still supple, not wrinkled and/or dried out, creases are fine) do a THOROUGH cleaning with a leather cleaner, from experience, I recommend (LEXOL ph.) Do it twice, if needed, then follow up with two treatments of some form of conditioner, I recommend LEXOL, from experience. After this do so every 2-3 weeks for a daily driver, and every 1-2 months for a "Sunday" car.
The brands I have in the photograpgh here, are the kinds I prefer the most, out of all the ones I have come across.
1. / 2. LEXOL Cleaner & Conditioner 2 Step System
4/5
I feel this does the most thorough job, with the best results, as far as conditioning goes. It's a wipe on, buff off deal. Works very well. Not the cheapest, both bottles will run around 20-25 bucks, but hey, they last.
3. Turtle Wax Cleaner/Conditioner
2.75/5
This is ok as a cleaner, but severely lacks the conditioners really needed to PRESERVE the leather. Cheap enough, around 6 dollars I think. Ideal cleaner, not much more.
4. Tannery Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
3.75/5
Does a very good job of cleaning the leather, no doube there. Sprays on as a foam, which lifts dirt and other impurities out of the leather. Does a good job of conditioning, as you cna fele the elather is noticeably softer afterwards, although not as good as LEXOL. Close. Best part..... the smell. this WILL make your entire car smell like new leather. It is the most authentic smell I have ever experienced. Not come crappy scented tree fragrance, smells like the real deal. If you do not want to spend 25 bucks for cleaner/conditioner, buy this for $5. Available ONLY at Ace Hardware. At least...only place I have seen it.
Hopefully this long description will aid in your care of your leather interior, and opened your eyes.
Unless you opted for vinyl. Cheapskate. :P