Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Recommended reading

Jim Grey
12 comments on Recommended reading
1 minute

💻 Restaurant reviews are not usually my thing, but Terence Eden shares good impressions of a special dining experience he had in a London restaurant kitchen. Read Restaurant Review: Chef’s Table at The Savoy

Berlin: Sowjetische Ehrenmal
Nikon Df, 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF Nikkor, 2023

💻 I read Sheila Kennedy because her liberal leaning challenges me, not because I always agree with it. She wrote an article about lower-wage work and how Republicans and Democrats frame the problem differently. Maybe this isn’t news to you but it was to me. Read Working

📷 I’ve tried a couple of Film Washi films, D (here) and S (here) specifically. Alex Luyckx gives A a go, and has good luck with it. Read Film Review Blog No. 98 – FilmWashi Type A

📷 Tim Dobbs put some HP5 though an old folding Zeiss Ikon. He shares his experience. Read New/Old Camera … Zeiss Ikon Nettar & HP5 ….

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Comments

12 responses to “Recommended reading”

  1. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    I found Tim Dobbs review of the Nettar interesting, and it returned me back to an era where I actually owned one of these, altho in very poor shape. The best thing about them, was because it was scale focus and had no light meter, it was totally pocketable in any jacket I owned! It was like a fun little camera with an exceptional lens.

    Sheila Kennedy’s entry is an update of an old story, throughly covered in Thomas Frank’s book “Listen Liberal”. A recommended read by me. Frank predicted Trumps success in his first presidential run, precisely because Trump co-opted the neo-con working class by lying to them about his ability to ensure their future through bringing back highly paid manufacturing jobs to the US, an impossibility their relative lack of education allowed them to believe. Frank shows how they were ripe for the promises of Trump because the democrats solution for their future was for them to go to college, which they couldn’t be bothered with, nor afford; and the republicans solution was for them to just keep working, and eliminate any employee protections, and government over site, and their futures would be ensured.

    This entry reminded me of a recent discussion I was involved in, where I was allowed to espouse my theory that one of the major problems over the years with both republications and democrats has been their avoidance of understanding human nature. The democrats have promoted a system of support for people in dire circumstances, thinking that people would “do the right thing” by getting back on their feet and getting off those programs as soon as possible; when what they’ve done is create a class of people that rely on those programs because of their lack of initiative. While the republicans have promoted the idea of zero over site of private business because business owners are ethical and moral people and will “do the right thing” by their employees, when nothing could be further from the truth, and even a cursory review of the history of labor in America will show that unchecked, business owners will overwork people for nothing and even make production plants dangerous to work in because it’s cheaper to do so.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Your last paragraph contains some keen insight.

      Reply
      1. Bob Avatar
        Bob

        That was certainly one reason Trump was elected. I’d say his (actual) animosity towards people of color and his (hypocritical) support for the anti-abortion movement and religion were just as if not more important. Not to mention wanting to give more tax breaks to businesses and the wealthy (aka himself), cutting regulations, etc. which kept most “traditional” conservatives in the tent.

        Reply
        1. Andy Umbo Avatar
          Andy Umbo

          As far as the book is concerned, it was written before the election, and predicted Trumps victory, because the American working class was increasingly disgruntled with solutions for their problems from either side of the aisle. Mean while, in the run-up, Trump was telling them that it was fine for them to barely make it through high school smoking pot in the parking lot, he was going to bring back those house-buying jobs from the far East, drilling holes in a metal plate all day down at the plant, with little education. I can’t remember religion or tax breaks for the wealthy even being part of the books research or calculation. Any student of history can make easy correlations between Trumps cooption of the working classes with Hitler doing the same in 1930’s Germany. Trump was swept into office entirely by disaffected blue collar workers that forty years ago would have been union democrats voting on economics alone. None of them cared about religion, taxes, welfare mothers or government programs until Reagan and the republicans started breaking up the unions. Then, as TBM states below, the republicans started demonizing the poor as your problem, taking money out of your pocket; the exact same way Hitler demonized the Jews!

          Reply
  2. lizkflaherty Avatar
    lizkflaherty

    I’m surprised you found Sheila Kennedy’s framing of the problem “different.” Although she said it very well, there wasn’t anything surprising in it. Thanks for sharing her link, though. I often read her, but hadn’t seen that one.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Like I said, might not be news to you, but it was to me.

      Reply
  3. DougD Avatar
    DougD

    Kennedy didn’t surprise me at all, but I’m not American and can see that the “people will become lazy “ trope is mostly false. Kind of reminded me of Ireland, no tipping in restaurants because they pay a living wage.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Politicians on the right here have managed to create the feeling people have of “don’t give my money to someone who hasn’t earned it” and “I worked hard for what I have, why don’t they have to work hard for what they have” with respect to people who receive government assistance. And it’s stuck, hard.

      Reply
      1. tbm3fan Avatar
        tbm3fan

        Of course it has stuck hard. When it is framed as “these people are cheating YOU out of your money” the natural response is those damn people. Once a politician has done that their job is done because the citizen will now take that and run with it seeing everyone sitting around as stealing their money. The only thing left for the politician is to throw that line out every election cycle just to remind and reinforce. Job done.

        Reply
  4. tbm3fan Avatar
    tbm3fan

    I, too, have a new to me old Zeiss camera to try. Actually two which are Box-Tengor Ver.1 and Box-Tengor Ver.2. Found them on Etsy but didn’t realize at the time they were coming from Poland. Got them Wednesday and they have far exceeded my expectations in condition. They are pristine with that tough covering Zeiss used on the metal boxes. I bet that is where Mercedes got their MB-Tex. They truly outclass the Kodak Box 120 Model C. Clear, bright viewfinders and three apertures to choose for the 1/50 shutter speed.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Those boxes sound like good fun! Enjoy them.

      Reply
  5. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    TBM, I salute you! I’ve been searching for a Box Tengor for a while, the last series. I’ll bet you can do a whole photo story just shooting with that!

    Reply

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