Reykjavik Street Art
I recently visited Iceland for a few days and there are any number of articles I could write about the experience but thought I’d just slap up some photos I took of the various bits of street art in and around Reykjavik. Why’s that, Mark? you ask. Because I’m lazy and this is an easy way to add some content without giving it too much thought, I reply. Reykjavik is not the prettiest of cities in the world, architecturally-speaking – Iceland’s remote location probably has something to do with this, and there’s probably an element of practicality over beauty too – which might explain the abundance of colourful and intricate artwork along many of the streets we walked through. These pictures (and more) all come from my Reykjavik photo album on...
Whaling In All The Wrong Places
Self-published in 1983 was Kelvin Turnbull’s humorous anthology of tales of whaling where no whaling should really take place. The final chapter took place in the waters off Iceland and was intended to highlight why whaling for any reason and in any location was wrong; it was the only chapter in which the whale was caught and killed. In an interview published in his hometown newspaper The Northampton Mercury Turnbull explained how he had become an avid ecologist and champion of whales’ rights. I had been working on a small trawler to earn some money and we were on a night fish when the nets were pulled away from us and the boat turned over. I banged my head and slipped into near unconsciousness, pulled to safety by a crewmate to cling to the hull until rescue came. I had a vivid vision at that time of seeing rising from the surface of the sea the bulk of the whale that had caused me to nearly lose my life and I remember how beautiful it was and thinking that I bore it no ill will. It was later, after a stay in hospital, that I discovered it had been a submarine but the love for these wonderful sea mammals was firmly in place. The compensation payment for the accident allowed me to start my own publishing...
American Football Analysis
Many, many moons ago I wrote a fairly popular article explaining American Football for beginners. For more advanced and ever-so-slightly more useful analysis of the sport of American Football as well as explanation of some of the terms used I can recommend Inside The Pylon. If you’ve already got an interest in the sport but aren’t that familiar with the terms “‘A’ Gap” or “Cover 6” or you’d like to see a breakdown of just why a recent play worked out the way it did then it’s a great source of football...
Rare Atari Game – Starwombat
Starwombat was released for the Atari 2600 in March 1978 but was withdrawn very soon afterwards owing to two mistakes with its production run. The first issue was that the back story to the game – that of the fictional history of the titular Starwombat, its role in future space warfare, and the honour and responsibility of the people tasked with caring for these magnificent creatures from birth to death – was sadly missing; the story, originally written in Japan, was shipped across to America for translation but lost at sea (along with several thousand cartridges of the game) when the ship it was sent on disappeared. When those games that had already been distributed to America and Europe were released anyway without much in the way of explanation as to what to do the result was a confusing experience for everyone. The second issue was the now infamous Game 18, the Starwombat Vaccination game, the purpose of which was to administer a series of vaccinations through the creature’s thick pelt. Sadly, without an adequate description the game more closely resembled an early porn game as one player tried to ram a long spike into the opening of the creature controlled by player two. This led to a raft of complaints and a rapid withdrawal of the game from circulation. The Atari 2600 video game cartridge Starwombat is highly sought after by fans of the console. In 2011 a cartridge sold on eBay for over...
Photography By Janet Delaney
Some sample pictures from some of the projects of California-based photographer Janet Delaney. In the 1980s Janet made a number of trips to New York and wandered the streets with a twin lens Rolleiflex camera capturing some lovely examples of street photography. Another project from decades past is the series of photos South of Market 1978-1986. I’ve got a soft spot for Beijing having been there for my honeymoon so it’s nice to see some photos from that wonderful city too. The last lot of photos I want to share come from Janet’s collections from South of Market (now) – a revisit to the area she photographed in the 1980s to highlight what has changed and what it heralds for the future – and Managua, Nicaragua...
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