Monkey Photo Manchester

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

STUFFE

The Surly Troll.

Yes, I know it's been a while.

NEW SURLY
If you don't want to be spoilered before Interbike, look away now.

Surly have outlined the new things in their range in a blog post here. I guess the trailer is the big addition - with a hitch that attaches at the rear dropout, by the looks of things, and capable of carrying 300lbs. Blimey.

Also of interest is the Troll, for all the world this looks like the sort of classic steel frame rigid MTB that makes a great beater/commuter/trailer hauler &c &c, with modern touches like disc compatibility. Like the Cotic Roadrat, in a lot of ways.

REDBIKES
Is gradually coming bac k from his injury;

3 weeks ago I was starting to wonder if I would ever get back on the bike.
2 weeks ago I was cursing the fact that I couldn't ride over 5 miles.
Last week 10miles / hills seemed impossible.

Hopefully his recovery will continue in this speedy fashion!

THE PREDATOR
I really think that using masking tape as handlebar tape is taking thrift too far. Although, given the amount used, wouldn't regular tape be cheaper than buying twenty rolls of masking tape?

ARE MODERN BIKES FASTER?
...or what part has bike technology played in the increase in race speeds? Cozy Beehive looks at one examination by Bicycle Quarterly, and attempts to untangle the different factors involved.

BAILEYWORKS
Their "flag" messenger bags really look cool - hopefully these will move beyond the prototype stage soon. (Story at Urbanvelo.com).

ANOTHER DIY TRAILER
I like the idea of this one - its designer aims to make a "global" DIY trailer, i.e. one constructed from materials that are easy to source anywhere in the world, and simple to put together.

RETHINKING THE PENCIL
As someone with a drawer full of slightly too short pencil stubs, Lines and Colors' article on the Continuous Pencil concept holds great appeal.

LOVELY STUFF FROM VELO ORANGE (AGAIN)
Their fillet brazed Rando frame prototype can be viewed here.

Friday, September 10, 2010

More Mrs Monkey craft - this little bear is called Coolio, apparently. #crochet

via Gravity

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Hipstamatic

Y is for Yellow, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Back when I still accounted myself a photographer, one of the joys of the hobby was taking expired film, and running it through an old camera.

It's a joy, because, as with film photography in general, you don't know quite what will emerge at the end. (As an aside, the uncertainty is slightly overstated, with "fresh" film, you can largely predict the way it handles colour and tone, although you can't instantly review all that and change what you do on the spot).

I once tore a film inside a Minolta A5 - then exposed it to light by opening the camera back, so I processed it in the wrong chemicals for practice, and some of the results were very pleasing. Although at the time, I'd fully expected to get a blank roll from it.

Even then, there were plug ins, and programs that would take a digital shot and ape the look of expired films, and clunky "toy" cameras. And of course now, we have the ironically titled "Hipstamatic" for iPhones, that seems to ape a sort of cross processed, Holga-esque idiom, whilst similarly missing the point as the photoshop "film look" plugins did.

If you like hipstamatic, why not pick up an old 35mm camera, and some cheap film and try the real thing? The results might surprise you.