2020 weeknotes 29 and 30…and 31

3 August 20204 August 2020 | Paul Capewell

I was feeling all smug recently thinking to myself that I could rebrand my weeknotes, as sporadic as they seem, as fortnotes. Geddit? Fortnightly weeknotes? And yet here I am nearly another fortnight behind, and ‘monthnotes’ just reaks of “HEY GUYS WOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN A WHILE BEEN SO BUSY THERE” so I’ll just keep my spoonerisms to myself and crack on with the updates.

Been getting out and about as much as possible in the last few weeks:

went camping for one night in Buckinghamshire, which was a nice little test of our bikepacking / cycle touring setup and the equipment we plan to use in Cornwall soon – as well as involving taking the train. Really glad we did this as we’d seen in the forecast that storms were due and we nearly bailed, but by the time we’d had dinner and the rain showers had passed, the sky was clearing and completely clear by sunset which meant for some great stargazing and a really calm, quiet night – heard owls
did a section (two, actually) of the London LOOP for the first time in more than a year – being out of the city was just gorgeous – spring has sprung in the countryside without us and although that is sad, it is just wonderful to be able to step right out into a summer that looks so lush and healthy – walked from Cockfosters to Epping Forest at Chingford/ This also involved using the Tube and the Overground, which was the first time since all of this so it was a good way to break the seal
tried to keep up the running – my brief foray into running twice a day for a week or so was good for the endorphins but I have to listen to my body and run 3 or 4 times a week, tops. I did get very good at laundry, though
took a multi-modal trip to Kent yesterday (bikes to St Pancras then High Speed train to Ebbsfleet, then nice shared-use paths most of the way) to see M’s grandparents and spent a lovely lazy few hours in their garden – wonderful
Friday night took swingball to a local park for a picnic with two friends – we batted and drank and ate while the most ridiculous sunset unfurled itself around us, with red fluffy clouds over Wembley and, in the opposite part of the sky, a sunset rainbow, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before

Work trickles on. We’re all doing fine mostly working from home still, but our usual summer schedule – which tends to be our busiest time – has slipped and a lot of what we expect to do in August now looks like it will be done in September. Which is absolutely fine in the grand scheme of things.

After an anxious few months where we thought the flat that we rent was to be sold, we found out incredibly slowly that we were in fact fine to renew for another year. Weeks of not quite knowing what was happening really tore my nerves (and fingernails) to shreds but it’s nice to have a bit of certainty about something.

I treated myself to a Kindle Paperwhite when they were on offer recently. My 2012ish model with flappy buttons just won’t seem to die – which is brilliant, obviously – but as well as reading on it, I also send articles, read PDFs and try and use Kindle-friendly RSS readers (thanks Reabble!) which are all things that newer Kindles just do a lot more smoothly. The faster refresh rate and higher resolution makes zipping around PDFs much nicer. I also read in bed a lot and liked the idea of having a backlit screen.

Apart from random articles and blog posts I send to myself, I was egged on by the recent BBC adaptation of The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton to finally finish reading the darn book which I hadn’t managed to before. I had to start over as it had been four years or so since my last attempt. I’m about a quarter of the way through and, of course, I love the vivid, descriptive prose, and all the mention of NZ’s goldrush and life in early NZ settlements and references to those early settler newspapers is just bliss. But damn the early chapters are long. I’ll get there though. I will.

I scanned a bunch of old photographs recently and it was just as much fun seeing old pictures of friends and family from 20-30 years ago as it was the settings – particularly pictures which featured a large portion of the image showing, say, what my lounge looked like when I was about ten years old. The books on the shelves, the weird… chintz?… that my parents seemed to hoard. The reminder that fashions and furnisihings are often a decade or two late – my lounge looks like it’s from the 1970s but it’s like 1992. And the tech! The giant telly. VHS tapes everywhere. And the best bit: a decent shot of the main computer I remember growing up with. A little Packard Bell 486.

I have written a little just-for-me memoir of the computers I have used in my lifetime and that’s the one I perhaps remember most fondly, but conversely know so little about. So it’s very useful to see a photo of it in situ on the desk surrounded by floppy disks and the remote control for the CD player and other stuff. All these contextual clues.

Have been getting my bike ready for our trip to Cornwall next week. Taking the bikes on the train down to Penzance and will be bikepacking/cycletouring/camping around. Moving on every few days. Carrying all our equipment.

I’ve replaced the kickstand on my bike, which has given it a great new lease of life because, stupidly, I’d let it become one of those components that slowly got worse over time, the bike listing at a worrying angle and being unable to stand with any sort of luggage. Now, a ten quid part and some easy twists of the multi-tool later, she’s as a good as new.

I’ve also ordered a front pannier rack and some new bags – my first Ortliebs! – which I now need to try and install. If that works, my bike will have a bunch more storage space and hopefully feel more stable than when she’s got all the luggage (and me) weighing down the rear end.

Am looking forward to snapping some more film with my Minolta Hi-Matic 7s on that trip, and will be taking my Canon dSLR as well, particularly as I’ve now installed the Magic Lantern firmware that breathes a bit of life into the old 1100D’s bones – primarily for me this is focus peaking, which displays via live view where exactly in your image is in focus. This will be great for any manual lenses I use with the Canon, like the lush Ensinor 24mm f2.8 I picked up a few months back and am really enjoying.

I’m not sold on this current website theme/design. The general overview is nice but some of the fonts feel a bit thin and light, and the differentiation between URLs is not as bold as I’d prefer.

Apollo 11

3 August 20204 August 2020 | Paul Capewell

I finally watched Apollo 11 (the 2019 film) last night and was so glad I had it piped into my noise cancelling over-ear headphones cranked up – it’s the first time I’ve felt them vibrating while wearing them!

Obviously the pictures looked incredible. I kept pausing and it was like a perfectly crisp still photograph every time. The crowds on launch day – wow.

The sound design was fantastic – the inevitable roar of the Saturn V rocket was as wonderful as I’d expected but other subtle moments caught me out where (I guess?) foley effects were added to wide shots, and other nice stereo pans were added for effect.

The score was also a pleasant surprise – huge, WARBLING, WOBBLING bass and pulsing/ticking metronomic tension for the time-sensitive, heart-in-your-mouth segments.

I loved that at the end of the credits was a note that Matt Morton’s score was produced using equipment that was available at the time of the Apollo 11 mission. Cool. Very cool. Not seen that sort of liner note since Elephant by the White Stripes.

Back shooting with the Minolta Hi-Matic 7s

23 July 20204 August 2020 | Paul Capewell

It’s been about eighteen months since I last used my Minolta Hi-Matic 7s.

The last roll of film I shot with it was mostly in Cyprus. I had learned about Ilford’s XP2 film, which is black and white, but is developed using the colour ‘C41’ process, meaning it is cheaper and easier to get developed than ‘full’ black and white film.

The images I got back from Cyprus – mostly in bright, December sunshine – came out so satisfyingly that I knew I would use XP2 again.

Fast forward to the middle of 2020, the world is somehow different, and yet my photographic bug hasn’t gone away – in some ways it has stepped up with more time to devote to photography across a smaller range of locations and subjects, and the time spent looking at other people’s photographs and editing techniques has led to me having as strong an urge as ever.

I picked up a new roll of Ilford XP2 from Snappy Snaps and popped it into the Minolta one Friday a few weeks ago, and started shooting with it. It’s a rangefinder camera, and as such is a little heftier than some other film cameras. It has a fixed lens, and you look through a viewfinder which is separate to the lens itself – unlike with an SLR camera which uses a prism to allow you to see through the lens you are shooting with.

It’s a satisfyingly manual camera to use, and yet it can be used fully automatically (apart from focussing). That is – it can be, if it has a fresh battery installed. The battery powers a simple light meter which is visible inside the viewfinder, and gives a reading which can be used to set specific apertures or shutter speeds as you wish – or it just reveals if a fully-automatic shot is likely to be under- or over-exposed.

20200702_113012-ANIMATION — The lightmeter inside the Minolta’s viewfinder

It’s on the right hand side – see how the black needle on the yellow bar moves from about 10 to about 14? These are ‘EV’ readings and correspond to settings on the lens which are shown when adjusting aperture and shutter speed manually.

I’ve seen differing opinions on this: some say that this camera can only ‘do’ shutter priority; others say only aperture priority. One source states that it only works when setting both – i.e. fully manual.

The camera’s manual implies that all three are possible: page 18 says you can set any combination of shutter speed and aperture; page 19 talks about setting the shutter speed first, then using the light meter to set aperture; it goes on to say that alternatively you can set the aperture first, using the light meter to set a corresponding shutter speed.

The system is simple: compose your shot, check the meter for lighting, then rotate the barrel for either shutter or aperture so that the EV number shown on the lens is the same, and your picture should be properly exposed. Or just set both barrels to ‘A’ for automatic, and check the light meter and focus. If the above needle is in the red zones at the top or bottom of the range, the picture is likely to be under- or over-exposed. This is particularly important when shooting fully automatically.

I digress. This all relies on the light meter functioning correctly, and for that the camera needs a working battery. To my surprise, I found that the one in mine was dead. The needle on the lightmeter had just stopped responding to light.

This was odd, as I was sure it had been functioning eighteen months ago – it must have been for me to obtain usable images, right? But of course little, old batteries don’t live long when you go years between uses.

I noticed that the dial where you set the film’s speed in ASA/ISO also has an ‘off’ setting. Presumably if I’d set this, the battery would be disengaged? The manual doesn’t confirm, but does suggest that if the camera is not being used for more than a month that the battery should be removed. This is probably more to do with avoiding battery leaks than anything else. Either way, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find the battery was dead.

Being from 1966, the Minolta takes slightly strange batteries… Batteries that have since been banned from production. But fortunately there is a close equivalent which is fairly readily available. When my replacement battery arrived, I popped out the old one.

And indeed it was an old one… In fact, knowing these batteries were banned from production in the EU in 2000 already made it a certain age, but, on closer inspection – Made in W. Germany – mine had to be, what, pre-1991…? Something like that, anyway. Weird.

So maybe it was in the camera that whole time, mostly switched to the ‘off’ position and not draining charge, and it worked for the last film I shot? Or I just got very lucky and the light meter wasn’t working at all, and the shots just somehow worked. No idea. Thank goodness it hadn’t leaked.

Anyway – once the battery was swapped out, the light meter was responsive again. I wanted to get back into the swing of things nice and quickly, and I shot the roll of 36 exposures over the course of a week or so.

For this film, I wanted to check if the camera was functioning as expected – the first few frames were shot without the new battery, and either guestimating the settings, or using my dSLR as a sample or simply as a light meter.

I noted down the settings I used for each frame (and the location/subject, to help me identify each one later on).

It turns out I seem to have accidentally invented the Photomemo notebook!

As I’ve written previously, the Minolta Hi-Matic 7s is a bit bulky to carry around, but it also fits nicely in my hands. It feels nice to use – perhaps familiar? And the focussing system is nice and intuitive – and ensures tack-sharp images.

To focus an image, point the yellow diamond at the centre of the viewfinder at the edge of what you’re trying to focus on, and then turn the lens until the two translucent images align:

20200702_112913-ANIMATION — The Minolta’s rangefinder focussing system

When the ‘two’ images are aligned, that confirms your image is in focus.

And with that, one can head out with the Minolta and snap away. I loaded the XP2 while sat on a bench in Regent’s Park, and within a few days I had filled the film. And it produced some really lovely results!

The whole film can be viewed here, but below are a few highlights.

I’ve already picked up a new roll of XP2 – as well as a roll of Fomapan 200 having seen a few others using this stuff. That wil be my first pure B&W film, so I’m excited to try it out.

Overscanned negative of the Kilburn underpass shot

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s – Ilford XP2 Super 400

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s – Ilford XP2 Super 400 f22.0 1/500

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s – Ilford XP2 Super 400

150 hours in to Zelda: Breath of the Wild

17 July 20204 August 2020 | Paul Capewell

Last night – and the last few times I’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I’ve found myself getting into some sort of flow state.

A few sessions ago, I found myself stumbling into tackling my last Divine Beast. My third one had felt somewhat easy, and the super power it granted a bit lacking, to the degree that I felt maybe I’d tackled them in the wrong order. This isn’t to say I wish the game forced me to tackle them in a certain order, mind you; one of BOTW’s best features is the ability to do – or try and do – just whatever you like, whenever you feel like it.

The great part is that, even though this game lets you pick and choose when you do dramatic things, at times it feels like a natural pacing – you stumble onto something just when you least suspect it, and yet it feels like exactly what you want to be doing next.

I’m now about 150 hours in. I’ve tackled the four Divine Beasts, and the game is starting to show signs of me entering an endgame of sorts. This trouble me – I never want this game to end. I haven’t exactly rushed things. I’ve spent a lot of those 150 hours simply exploring and hunting down landmarks to see what’s there. That’s the real beauty of this game.

With the addition of the DLC that shows on your map where you’ve been, I’ve been able to identify places I haven’t been, which has also added a huge amount of value to a game in which – much like in life – you tend to explore the same areas, and it’s easy to miss whole chunks of locations just on your doorstep.

I found it very interesting how a lot of the scenery really close to where the game starts was left unexplored until I saw the fact writ large on my map.

But as the game now keeps offering dialogue and items that hint heavily towards me heading off to defeat Calamity Ganon, I’ve been thrilled to find yet more diversions. I’ve stumbled on at least two quite large new games-within-the-game – one of which is, I think, only unlocked at this stage, and possibly is part of DLC, and the other is somewhere I could probably have visited at any time.

But, as with so many ‘discoveries’ in this game, the fact that you can stumble upon them at any time has this uncanny ability to make it feel like now is just the right time.

Well, apart from Eventide Island. I’ll go back there one day.

So as I found yesterday, and continue to find with this game, there is plenty more to be done, even at this seemingly late stage in the game’s main story. I’m not sure if I can doulbe my 150 hours in the game as the story comes to its conclusion, but I’m pretty sure I’ll crack 200 tracking down Korok seeds, shrine and looking for side quests.

What an amazing experience.

James A. Reeves’ Notes From the End of a World

15 July 20204 August 2020 | Paul Capewell

Recently I pointed to another blog which has long been a favourite of mine – and which quickly took up residence in the ‘must read’ folder in my RSS reader.

Today I’ve got another one for you, but this one I only heard about a few weeks ago – via, I think, Phil Gyford’s blog? – and which has leapfrogged its way into the must read folder for its consistency, its tone, and because it acts as a sort of talking point for my mind. A thinking point, if you will.

James A. Reeves’ journal serves up reasonably short, daily journal-like posts, usually accompanied by a picture and an MP3.

The soundtrack element is neat, though I’ll admit I haven’t once played a track – but it has sometimes been interesting to note the pairing of a song I’m familiar with. And pairing is the right word; I find this idea of selecting music to accompany a blog post like wine with food very compelling.

James appends the following explanation / mission statement to each post, which helps set the tone:

Each night in 2020 I’m writing a short post for a series called Notes From the End of a World because I want to etch these days into my memory before I forget them. Before the world changes completely.

I was interested to read that his posts are written in the evening before bed – particularly because they occasionally reference dreams that must’ve been had the previous night – but also because I am finding myself reading the posts in the evening before bed.

As an aside, for a long while now I’ve been in the habit of, rather than sending stuff to Pocket or Instapaper to read…. never… instead I have been sending a few articles to my Kindle which will hopefully be a good read before bed.

The tool I use is pretty good at extracting articles and spitting them out in Kindle-friendly formats, but it’s not always perfect.

This blog’s entries are absolutely perfect for this process, though. Not too long, and the single image usually comes through with it. I still love how the Kindle’s e-ink screen renders book covers, illustrations and photographs.

Last night I caught up on four of his most recent posts, and it was just the kind of stuff I wanted to read as I drifted off. Other days I’ve been grateful to have had a single post to send to my Kindle.

And, beyond the ‘must read’ folder in my Inoreader, James’ blog might even achieve gold status: some sort of hack which sends each new post directly to my Kindle with no manual intervention.

Few have achieved this level… but this one feels like it might.

I love the diary / journal as a format, but I love even more the inside story of what makes a person write in such a way. What are they trying to record, and for whom?

James’ latest post gets slightly meta in terms of picking apart the genre of diary-writing, by also referencing another book which itself makes use of the diary format – a subject I’ve been fascinated by for more than a decade – and I love this kind of insight and connection:

But what strikes me the most about The Stand is the diary a pregnant character keeps as she crosses the country. Each entry ends with “things to remember,” a list of things she wants to tell her child about life before a plague wiped out civilization. The catchphrases and television commercials. The amusement parks, laugh tracks, and frozen cheesecakes. This captures how I’d like some entries in my journal to work: something written for the future rather than the moment. (Hopefully it will be far less dramatic than the diary in The Stand, but god only knows what the rest of 2020 has up its sleeve.)

God only knows, indeed.