tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post5384172633746979458..comments2023-04-16T13:03:08.852+02:00Comments on Déjà vu - down memory lane in California: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - TO SPRUCE AND BACKEmil Emshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815643585218883358noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post-39554191052751763482010-04-27T02:47:39.737+02:002010-04-27T02:47:39.737+02:00Dear Rainer,
I highly appreciate your compliments ...Dear Rainer,<br />I highly appreciate your compliments for my writing and pictures. That notwithstanding, I have to admit that my proficiency in English is far from perfect. It is true that, after 15 years of being forced to draft text in that language, a certain fluency has been obtained. But, whenever I send a text to one of my native speaking friends, I get it in return with a manifold of corrections. <br /><br />Furthermore, when honing your proficiency in a new language, there is a cost. The fine nuances of my mother tongue, not to speak of my acquired Swedish, were being lost as they were gained in the language of Shakespeare. For that reason I always turned out to be a miserable translator, when asked by my colleagues in the Commission to help them out in times of critical necessities. So I am glad that I had my proficiency as photographer to fall back on, when age and languor enticed me out of my professional career. <br /><br />Dear Michaela,<br />It pleases me no end to hear from you again and that you like my humble words and pictures!<br /><br />Dear Harry<br />As always, your interesting and thought provoking comments are highly welcome. Furthermore, it is a delight to meet, even in retrospect, a fellow photographer who is appreciating large format photography, with a camera in hardwood at that. I wished your father was still alive so that we could have a meeting, him with his 5x7 hardwood and myself with my 8x10 cherrywood from the venerable company of Tashihara! I of course immediately adapted the posting so that your father has received the credit due to him.<br /><br />As to the geyser event, I did not observe the incident itself, only its consequence, so my description of the cause was based on hearsay. But you are right that even bloggers have to get the facts right. Encouraged by your comment, I paid the fire department located opposite the site a visit today and queried about the incident. The answer was that, indeed, a truck had hit a hydrant placed on a refuge in the middle of Shattuck Avenue and had sheared it cleanly off the ground. So there, the issue is now settled to everyone's satisfaction.<br /><br />Dear Lars,<br />I will of course grasp the first opportunity to get hold of David Lodge's book. Furthermore, I can hardly wait to hear the other story at a forthcoming meeting, which I will try to arrange with you as soon as I am back in Sweden.Emil Emshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07815643585218883358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post-19234095247510921992010-04-26T17:26:42.320+02:002010-04-26T17:26:42.320+02:00Emil, Thank you for the photo of "my" ho...Emil, Thank you for the photo of "my" house at Spruce Street. What a perfect photo, you have got the perspective absolutely right even though you had to be quite close to the house. BUT, for there is a big but. We lived in a penthouse on top of the building, and obviously you can't see it from down below. A very nice thing, about 50 square meters — and, at least in those days, a view of both bridges (Bay and Golden Gate).<br /> <br />Speaking of this, there is a novel by the British author David Lodge, who I think is a professor in literature as well. He writes "campus novels" somewhat in the style of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim. There is one called "Changing Places", which deals with a British academic visiting Berkeley, and trying to adjust to the place. I don't remember the story, except for one thing: the stress on the importance, when in Berkeley, of having a room with, not any view, but a view of both bridges. Well, it's a kind of book you read only when the rain is pouring down, the forecast says that it will rain as much to-morrow, and you have a rusty throat. <br /> <br />There is another, rather funny story to tell about the view of both bridges, but I would appear too self-centered if I told it here. So I will tell you when we meet.Lars Werinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post-34359218751952691912010-04-26T05:59:10.756+02:002010-04-26T05:59:10.756+02:00Dear Emil
I must apologize for not jumping quickly...Dear Emil<br />I must apologize for not jumping quickly enough. Upon reading that you intended to post the picture of my erstwhile residence, I intended to ask the picture credit be "Charles A. Pottol (1899 - 1967.)". This picture is cropped from a 5X7 contact print. The camera is a 5 X 7 view camera, constructed mostly of fine hardwood. The back features a ground glass focusing plate and ability to receive a 5 X 7 film holder in portrait or landscape mode. It is no longer in the family. We gave it to a man who has since died, but I find that his widow is on the executive board of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers. A man who appears to be his son is succeeding as a conductor of small symphony orchestras.<br /> <br />As for the Francis Apartments (across from my house), I remember them (and may have them documented in my archives) as totally white. I knew some kids who lived there. I have seen the blue and it is an improvement, probably due to rising real estate values.<br /><br />Research on the geyser calls into question your interpretation of the event. Google street view shows fire hydrants outside the Honda dealership on Parker and on Carlton Streets. None are visible at anything like the location of that flow. Also, fire hydrants characteristically break as a failure of the riser pipe, producing a nearly cylindrical stream at the source. This event appears to be a catastrophic failure of an old water main.<br /><br />Had it been a fire hydrant break, the vehicle would have been a truck. We do not have lorries! During the war, the Brits and Americans had to work together and improvised and interim common vocabulary. All that I remember of it is the agreement that trucks would burn petrol. George Bernard Shaw said we are two peoples separated by a common language.Harry Pottolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post-44535462887265774002010-04-24T20:33:31.237+02:002010-04-24T20:33:31.237+02:00Hallo Emil,
vielen Dank für die interessanten Text...Hallo Emil,<br />vielen Dank für die interessanten Texte und wunderschönen Fotos :-)<br />Viele Grüße aus Bayern<br />Michaela KammermeierAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242228370300474063.post-15117542388607757202010-04-24T17:45:40.193+02:002010-04-24T17:45:40.193+02:00Lieber Emil
Möchte Dir ein wirkliches Kompliment f...Lieber Emil<br />Möchte Dir ein wirkliches Kompliment für dein literarisches Englisch und die interessanten Fotos machen, ist wirklich gelungen. Wenn man bedenkt, dass Du zumindest Schwedisch und Deutsch so gut wie Englisch sprichst und auch Dein Französisch in Brüssel sich weiterentwickelt hat, dann bist Du ja ein wirklicher Sprachenzampano. Da hättest Du angesichts der Dolmetscherknappheit in Brüssel Dir einen kleinen Pensionsjob behalten können.Rainer Wieltschnoreply@blogger.com