From the Archive -- 405

The true story of how I rescued a dog with an assist by Michael Jackson

Ok, this story it true. All of it, strange as it sounds.

Several years ago I was driving with my girlfriend up on Los Virgenes in Calabasas where she lived. Los Virgenes is one of a few roads connecting PCH (and Malibu) with the 101 (and the world). It can get kind of busy at times near the 101 where it's a little built up and we were sitting in traffic when I noticed the nicest Rolls Royce behind us that I'd ever seen. All Rolls are nice, it comes with the territory, but this one was the prototypical Rolls. The Rolls all others aspired to be. I don't know its vintage (though I know it was an older one) but it was clean and shiny as the day it came off the assembly line. There is a subtle difference between an expensive car and a really great car, they shine differently. It's subliminal.

Anyway, here's this car distracting me from the business at hand, which is maneuvering through the slow moving group of people trying to get on the freeway, when this dog comes bouncing of nowhere into traffic. He was frolicking, something I've never seen an animal do until then, but there he was. Forty or so pounds, basically still a pup, chasing after god knows what while cars swerve around him and an older lady comes flapping down the road behind him. She's obviously distraught as her dog goes barreling down a side road into a parking lot for a school. My passenger says we should stop and we're not going anywhere so we pull over in the lot as the dog does his dog stuff around the lot and various temporary buildings. I notice the fancy Rolls pulling in behind but don't think much about it as I get out and start thinking about how I'm going to get this crazy dog.

Now in retrospect I realize the logic behind following a strange animal into a blind alley is probably faulty but he seemed nice at the time and I was trying to be the hero so off I went. As a kid we had a dog that would bolt at any opportunity presented him so I knew it was just a matter of being patient enough and waiting until he decided I was ok, then I could grab him. So I'm heading down into this lot with my girlfriend and Rolls Royce guy, following this dog. Rolls Royce guy was quiet, wearing aviators and a baseball cap pulled low but that's all I got, since I wasn't paying much attention.

I just realized this is a short story getting long. Here we go: the dog ended up trying to dive into a crawl space where I got him by the collar and started heading back up to where his owner was waiting. As I turned around, there's MJ. Ball cap, pony tail hanging out the back, sunglasses. Full on celebrity disguise. I said thanks for the help and he mumbled something in his high pitch and that was it. We walked up together, got in our cars and headed out. It was strange to say the least, and I was caught up in grabbing this dog and trying to impress the girl that I didn't think about it until later. "That was Michael Jackson" I said as I started the car to go. "No" she replied, "it was some tranny stripper". I don't think she got a good look though.

More Kodachrome

Here are a few cool kodachrome related links.

The Billboard Show opened a couple of weeks ago at Take my Picture on Broadway downtown. I've never been there and don't know much about it, but this show looks cool so I'm thinking it might be time to check it out. From what I've read it's vintage kodachrome slides of billboard adverts from the 50's. The examples I saw in Los Angeles magazine look pretty great. Hopefully I can get down there before it closes.

Also, Photojojo offers its guide to kodachrome. I haven't gone through it all yet but there looks to be several great kodachrome related links to peruse. I'm thinking of picking up a couple of rolls to shoot before it all goes south.

From the Archive -- Square

They give us the greens of summers...

So after 74 years Kodak has announced they will discontinue Kodachrome. I understand the need to move on, that it's not viable for them to produce anymore (you have to send it to a third party to develop because they stopped that a while back). I understand that it's expensive and tedious to use, it's 1930's technology after all. But nothing can compare to looking at a vintage, large format kodachrome. The color is so rich and the detail so sharp it's like you're there. The experience is similar to looking at a daguerreotype, in that you really feel the presence of the person (or object) in the picture. They transport you to a different place and time.

I shot a couple of rolls last year (I was buying film and saw some rolls in the fridge and thought "that won't last long" and decided to give it a whirl. I hadn't shot kodachrome since college) and it's strange but it even makes contemporary images look vintage. It's that distinct in its color rendition.

In the end though I'm not sure how much I'll actually miss it. As I said, I haven't shot it since college and it is kind of tedious to use (exposure has to be spot on and it's pretty slow, not to mention sending it out to develop and the 4 or so week turnaround) so what's to miss? I think it has something to do with being at the tail end of the generation of photographers who learned the craft with film. When I was in school autofocus was still a novelty and pros didn't trust zoom lenses. When I started working for wedding photographers we lugged around Hasselblads and Lumadyne flashes. A lot has changed in 11 years and though I love the convenience, speed, ease, cleanliness etc. of digital photography, It's still kind of a bummer when the things I learned with are put to rest. It makes me feel like such a dinosaur.

Hey look...

it's my Library of Congress Name Authority Record!

010 n 2004007985
040 DLC ‡b eng ‡c DLC
100 1_ Scott, Miles
670 Twentieth Century Fox, 2004: ‡b e-CIP t.p. (Miles Scott)

From The Archive -- Santa Barbara

From the mission in Santa Barbara no a trip up there several years ago. I'm sorry to say I just found out my Hasselblad lens is broken (from neglect) so it will have to be put up on the shelf for a while longer until I can afford to fix it.

From the Archive -- France

From the Archive -- Eclipse

Space Invaders

The big one looks worried.

It's Chinatown

From the Archive -- Mexico