The seven deadly Flickr sins!
Photo explanation: I came home Friday night to find the flat upstairs was leaking water through the roof. The last two days have been spent with driers and dehumidifiers running trying to dry the place out. The cupboard you see to the left there is the camera cupboard, and got emptied quick-smart as all the walls were leaking. It *looks* like I got away with camera damage though I’m not 100% yet.
I got tagged. I thought I’d escaped, but I got tagged. Not normally one for taking shots for these various themed groups etc, but for once, I thought what the hell! 😉 (And no I’m not tagging another sixteen of you, I think everyone’s been hit fourty times over already!)
1) I’m big. I’m 6ft 4ins and have size 13 feet. (That’s 1.93mtrs for you metric fans.) Shopping for clothes and shoes for me is a nightmare. If I buy shoes, my opening gambit is now "what have you actually got in size 13?" before I even look at the shoes.
2) I was brought up as a bit of a God Botherer. The particular brand shall remain strategically absent, but rest assured, as you can imagine, it made a huge impact on who I am. I parted company with it late teens, and have never felt like I made a better decision (emigrating runs it close). Whilst I respect the faith of my old man, and numerous members of my family who still practice, and I also respect the religious beliefs of anyone else, I’ve got to the point where religion as a group ‘thing’ is something I don’t think very highly of. As a sweeping statement, anything that causes as much blinkered, irrational thinking, as much hurt, and as many wars as it does, all whilst receiving it all guns blazing from those who do believe far too often, is in my book, a fundamentally flawed way to spend your time on this little planet. Be free more, enjoy more, and be nicer to other people who aren’t on the same brand of religion as you. 🙂
3) I’m part of a small family, just my dad and my sister left. My mother passed away when I was 11. Dad’s a retired engineer and drum tutor, and my sister’s a trained graphic designer, planning a move into Europe, so she’s frantically studying all sorts of European languages.
4) I am a trained engineer. Following in the old man’s footsteps I went into it from school and served a five year apprenticeship before reassessing my goals and moving on. So I can work a lathe, milling machines, CNC machines, program code, work CAD stuff, and make whizzy things. (Though I may be a little rusty by now). It brought me a few good things, a rather memorable relationship, a particularly close friend, a brief period working in Utrecht in Holland (where I nearly emigrated to at the age of 19) and apparently there’s some of my work in a museum for technology and industry somewhere in the States (Seattle I think?)
5) I have had a ‘thing’ for bicycles since I was young. One of my first memories as a child is scootering down the hill to meet dad from work on my little plastic tractor which I did at breakneck speed until I wore the wheels literally in half. Another memory was watching one of those UK TV shows with Noel Edmonds where they had challenges on (can’t remember the name, the one they shut down after someone died trying a stunt). I saw somebody drive this big lorry thing on two wheels for ages, and ran outside to try it on my tricycle. I still bare the scars across all my knuckles from where I ground myself down the wall… I also got heavily into mountain biking when I was a bit younger. I found cars then, but I’m trying to get back into it.
6) I was one of those strange kids who at a early age could tell you what any car on the road anywhere was. I had the Ladybird Book of Cars, and endless sets of Top Trumps card games. Despite my family never having a car, I’ve been a total car geek for as long as I can remember. The proximity to many of the European race circuits from Britain is one of the few things I miss now I live Down Under.
7) I’ve played the drums since I was 12ish. Has been very quiet for a number of years as a recent photo told. What I didn’t mention is that if you wanted to, you could try very hard and find CD’s on sale with my performances on. 😉
8) I got into photography entirely because I saw my mate’s holiday photos and wondered how the hell they were so much sharper than mine off my little £20 Halina I bought brand new from Argos. They’d bought 35mm SLR’s. So I got conned by a bloke called Carey in my engineering firm into buying his old Canon AE-1P and bits. The rest is history. I’ve always wondered what he would think if he saw me now…
9) I vividly remember the interview with my photography course lecturer, where I sat down, knowing what all the f/ stops were and how to work a camera, and asked him if I could skip the beginner class, and move up to the advanced course. His dismissal and ‘here we go, another smart-arse’ look I remember well. There started what was I think about six years of night school classes, where I was entitled to be in there for three hours a week, but spent towards 30 very often. I gatecrashed every night school course they did, even though I wasn’t on the register, and for a long while ended up assisting and co-teaching the beginner courses. The last few years I did alongside my degree. I made some of my best friends there, and I still miss the 10mtr cubed all black painted studio!
10) People often ask me if I miss Britain. Essentially, not in the slightest. There are a few bits which are missed, but not much. The more time I spend here the more I find myself thinking that the national pride you see the typical British holiday goer exhibiting as they walk around in their chavvy England football shirts, is completely misplaced. It’s exactly that sort of thing that makes me almost embarrassed to be British. That said, I do still feel a huge affinity with Scotland even though I only lived there for 18 months. I made some exceptionally good friends there, some photos buddies, some close buddies, one megalomaniac wanna-be Bond villain who collects race cars and swears like a trooper, and his side-kick. I also find it ironic that whilst I was there I struggled to find models to shoot, and since I’ve left I’ve got requests coming out of the woodwork. I miss The Highlands and Glen Coe. (Check out Alex Boyd’s work on Flickr for examples of Scottish scenery.) And yes, I’ve worn a kilt, and I liked it so much I’d probably get married in one!
11) I have mild (comical) OCD. If I don’t remember locking the door, even if I’m going to be late, I have to go back and check. The volume on the stereo has to be in evens and go up in twos. I have a sequence for placing my memory cards in my card wallet and I’m screwed if I go to them and spot something out of place. I always like the duvet straight, and even manage to make it half straight whilst asleep without waking up. It does have side effects though, I can pack more stuff in the fridge and the boot of a car than anyone else on earth.
12) I have at least a dozen of my Flickr contacts (most of whom will read this) who I desperately want to photograph. They utterly fascinate me, to the point where if I went any further I’d have cyber crushes of doom. I intend to hunt every single one of you down, and photograph you, even if it takes me years!
13) I used to be dreadfully shy. I had a small very tight-knit bunch of friends who I trusted with my life, and never let anyone else in. I used to find it very difficult to speak about anything at all, to anyone outside that little circle. I was particularly bad with women, and even worse with those I fancied. They could have a flashing sign over their head saying ‘come get me Dave!’ and I’d have stared into my drink all night long. Then my mum’s passing caught up with me and I had to make some major changes in myself. These days I could talk the hind leg off a donkey, could sell sand to the Arabs, and would have no qualms whatsoever about speaking in front of thousands. I can at times be a terrible flirt, especially when hidden behind the anonymity of the web or texts and that sort of thing, but still find it very difficult to relax and speak openly with someone I find a bit attractive.
14) In early 2003, my sister applied to go to uni down in Southern England, down in Cornwall. I took her down there as she doesn’t drive, and instantly fell for the chilled lifestyle. It was at that point I decided I was going to ditch the short-haired good boy hair do, and grow it and look as scruffy as possible. Combining that with the fact I haven’t had a close shave since just after the millenium, I started to achieve the sruffy-bugger look you see today. As a small side point, it has, with almost comedy levels of regularity got me accused of looking like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters. I find it very amusing, and pretty flattering if I’m honest. Helps that I play the drums too, but I wish I could sing or play the guitar! It even ‘worked’ on a couple of occasions for me in uni! LOL! (And if I ever get myself a job where I can completely relax about having to look smart at times, I’ll grow the hair longer for the full Grohl look!)
15) I consider myself a small-scale connoisseur of beers. My photo lecturer got me into them at The Rutland pub in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Most of the ones I drank there most of you reading will never hear of let alone get hold of, but if you ever get a chance to try Durham Brewery’s ‘Christmas Gold’ do so. Also try out Bittburger, but serve ice cold, a Belgian beer called Kwak that my mate Will (Admirion) got me into and ended in the worst hangover of my life, and for all you NZ types, or anyone visiting, try a brewery called Three Boys in Christchurch. Basically anything they do is awesome!
16) Hats. I like hats. You’ll often see me wearing beanies, especially in a morning, even in mid-summer. Precious little of that is to do with looking cool, but to do with trying to tame my hair! (The secret’s out!) I’d build a bigger collection of hats if I could, but seeing as I can’t afford a milliner, I have to buy off the peg ones, most of which never fit. I’m deeply jealous of Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) and his hats, and I wish I could dance like him, but my most teasured, but seldom worn is a hat my friend Jenny gave me in Aberdeen when I left Scotland, a big long black fleace thing with bells on. I got christened ‘Tinkles’ for ages after that!
Phew, done. Now you can relax. 😉 (That or come help me dry out the carpets)
Posted by manipula on 2009-01-11 09:13:44
Tagged: , Dave Sanderson , manipula , Sixteen things , flood , portrait , self portrait , SP , B&W , black and white , heaters , fans , gutted , there were soggy bits everywhere! , secrets , explanations , silly little bits of shit all about me , Dave Grohl wannabe , Feel free to giggle and ridicule, this is not the most serious of photos on my stream! , Wellington , New Zealand
