film and skis

Today I was up early to take Rumpole for a walk-stroke-drag and then, after getting some breakfast and a medicinal nice cuppa tea for an under the weather Sal, I headed over to the Observatory Hill and the S H Ervin gallery where I met JCJ and we looked around an exhibition of the work of Chris O'Doherty, aka Reg Mombassa. Eventually. We had arranged to meet at 09:45, a full 75minutes before the gallery opened so we popped around the corner for a spot of breakfast of our own and one of our gently put the world to rights chats. I always enjoy my chats with JCJ and even before we got to the gallery I'd had a good day.

Reg Mombassa is the stage name of Chris O'Doherty. He was a member of the Aussie band Mental as Anything but is probably mroe well known for his work as designer of Mambo shirts. His work, however, also consists of pictures of ordinary semi-rural Australia. Fibro houses and the roads they sit beside. Relentlessly...ordinary. But very good. I like it. I like the mental Mambo Australian Jesus stuff too. Given the opportunity to buy some merchandise I chose instead to add to my collection of grafitti books with Street Art. Good to find it on sale in an art gallery.

I accepted an offer of a lift home from JCJ and as we started to drive away he spotted what looked like decent photo opportunity, an alley behind some houses. JCJ is a film photographer. I know a couple of others and they are, in my opinion, a class apart from us digital snappers. I take a fair number of pictures and I have taken a few film shots in the past. But now, although I occassionally take a few extra moments to consider composition and light and exposure and that proper stuff, I am one of the multitude playing the numbers game. Click, OK, keep, click crap delete, try again. But the film mob, they have 36 shots. Each one needs to count. So they need to know their stuff, their science and their art. And I envy them. Though I shouldn't, I should work more upon my laziness instead of buying ever more memory.

I have decided that I am a lazy bastard. I take digital pics and I snowbaord instead of take the time to learn to ski. I'd love to be able to ski. I am not especially driven. And I am not sure if this is a good or a bad or just a thing.

The rest of the day has pettered out. Sal was far worse when I got home than when I left. I got her some lunch and then retreated to my area under the house where I promptly fell asleep. When I woke at a little after 5 Sal was worse again and we headed out to try and find a late night medical centre. We failed and headed home and the night if for us over. When in fact I should be meeting up with Hempy, a mate I've not seen in 5 years and who I rarely get the opportunity to see. My justification for not going - looking after unwell wife. Is that largely bollocks? Yes it is. The real reason I am not going? It has gotten to 20:30 and I am a lazy bastard. And I should be and am, to a degree, ashamed of myself for that. Tonight.

But I can live with that and I'll almost certainly be this much of a prick again.