There’s a civic workers’ strike going on in Toronto right now. It’s in its second week and already some of the public spaces downtown are looking a little the worse for wear. The sticking point in negotiations between the union and the city seems to be a long-held provision in their old contract whereby the workers were entitled to 18 paid sick days per year, and whatever they didn’t use could be “banked” for future use if needed. The banking provision wouldn’t bother most people considering that this system was apparently in lieu of a proper short-term disability benefit; it’s not what most people in the private sector are used to, but it seems to make some sense. Allegations of abuse of sick days, while valid, could just as easily be levelled against anyone in any line of work, and is really a bit of a red herring in the arena of public discussion. What does bother most taxpayers hereabouts is the provision that allows unionized staff to cash out any unused sick days upon retirement. As some pundits have rightly pointed out, this amounts to an unearned bonus for nothing more than not being sick. Such a perk is unheard of in the private sector, and the union workers are making themselves look like scoundrels in the eye of the public by demanding that it be kept, as though they’ve somehow “earned” it.

If the strike has had one minor benefit, it is this: it has made us think, at least to some small extent, about the amount of stuff we consume, and the amount of waste we produce. I’m not so naive as to think that one small garbage strike will be enough to curb the appetite for more new furniture, more gadgets, more cars, more stuff; but it has given me some small measure of satisfaction, knowing that my unglamourous habit of picking up stuff that’s been discarded and continuing to use it is at least not adding to the problem. The list of things – from curbside junk to antique-fair finds to ebay gems – that fill my house are a testament not only to my altruism, but to my frugality as well. Just one example: I picked up an entire stereo that someone was tossing out, along with a set of computer speakers, and repurposed them into a basement workshop stereo and surround speakers for my living room. The CD player in the stereo unit doesn’t work, but it does have a tape player, which lets us play all the cassettes that were gathering dust in a drawer when we upgraded our living room stereo (after, I might add, several attempts to have it fixed). The speakers are flawless, and in combination with the set from our old stereo and one of the computer speakers, we now have a full 5-channel surround setup that cost us nothing more than the price of an amp.

Just this morning, I scavenged a 6-and-a-half-foot tall shelf that someone had left out on their lawn with a handwritten sign entreating passers-by to take it away. It is solid, heavy as fuck and obviously built to last a long time. There are no dents, scratches or pieces missing and once it’s cleaned up it’ll look almost new. It saves us a trip to Ikea, for which we would have had to borrow our neighbours’ car, it saves us money, and it keeps a perfectly usable piece of furniture out of the landfill. I can’t really see any down side.



Even as my DSLR fund continues to slowly accumulate, I am adding to the Mamiya (further proof of my dedication to re-use). Yesterday I successfully bid on a waist-level finder on an ebay auction, and just the day before I bought a strap for the camera to replace the hacked-together strap I was using. While I will feel some regret for having to now mothball the strap that I bought just last year, it will be offset somewhat by the reassurance of knowing that the strap I will be using henceforth was made specifically for this camera, and is a good deal sturdier. That should go a long way toward allaying my constant fear of my homebrewed strap failing and the camera falling to its certain doom.

I’ve also come to a conclusion regarding the camera fund as well. I know that there are certain things I want from a DSLR (and to some extent they are the same things I wanted from my old film SLR, which now sits in corner awaiting repair). Interchangeable lenses, the ability to see (to some extent, anyway) and control the level of depth of field, full manual control when I want it and full auto when circumstances don’t allow for careful setting up, the ability to see what I’ve just shot and make adjustments on the fly, and finally the ability to make really enormous prints (36" x 48" or larger). With the Mamiya, I’ve found that I have a lot of those things already; most importantly, I have the ability to make really huge prints when I want to. Perhaps, instead of wishing for all of these features in one camera, (which, while it does exist, currently costs about twice as much as I want to spend), I can be content to have two cameras, whose features overlap. Instead of a Nikon D3 or D4, I’ll get a D700. And if I want to do studio portrait photography and make larger-than-life-sized prints, I have the Mamiya and my scanner.



I’ve been somewhat remiss lately; I haven’t been on dA much of late and therefore haven’t added many new favourites. Nonetheless, I do have enough in my back catalogue to put together a little gallery of some of the more inspiring pieces I’ve seen. Herewith I present the Zero gallery’s exhibition of lens flares. You know the drill people. Show them some love.

and by ~TheLong

by *cainadamsson

by *MannyB

by *PlastikStars

by =H3AD3AD