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Two Hectic Days at James and Sons

Thursday and yesterday were two busy days at James and Sons, imaging for the February auction. The new Nikon Coolpix P530 proved its worth in spades, as the pictures I shall be sharing with you through this post will make obvious. Here is the (likely) front cover lot from two different angles:

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The bulk of the imaging I did over these two days was of coin lots, some of which I shall now share with you…

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Next a shout out, already provided on twitter, to Norfolk Libraries for having this magnificent book in stock, and of course to Ben Goldacre for writing it….

Goldacre

Before sharing some final images of quirky items, an update on the camera situation. Sine January 26th, a.k.a Dies Irae I have mad three attempts to contact the people from the Norfolk Camera Centre regarding the Nikon Coolpix P520 I took in for repairs on October 27th and have not seen since – for further details click here, concluding with an email sent on Thursday giving them details of where and when i would be working those two days and a warning that if by the end of work on Friday the camera was not back in my possession I would go back to the police. The camera not being in my possession I have duly recontacted the police with this information. Meantime, courtesy of the generosity of my parents I now have a Nikon Coolpix P530, which is well and truly proving its worth. Now for those final images…

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The First Fruits of My New Camera

My new camera was ready for collection today, and since picking it up I have been enjoying myself testing it out. For comparison purposes before going into the main set of pictures here are the images for Lot 723 in our February auction, the last set of pictures I took with the Samsung…

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For the rest: Camera Nova Ipse Loquatur (Let the new camera speak for itself)!

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This panel is quite attractive. Pity about the building it belongs to - £1.2 billion tax dodger B**ts
This panel is quite attractive. Pity about the building it belongs to – £1.2 billion tax dodger B**ts
Effective and appropriate restoration.
Effective and appropriate restoration.
Stage one of sorting out this disaster should involve the use of a wrecking ball!
Stage one of sorting out this disaster should involve the use of a wrecking ball!

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Imaging and Describing at James and Sons

Today has been a physically and mentally demanding day, and all the better for the latter of those two being the case. As well as imaging some very interesting lots, as you will see, I got to try my hand at describing. The most interesting lot for me was lot 720:

Lot 720

Wall Plaques – collection of seven by “Ivorex” – nice. Four of these are rectangular, 11ins  by 7ins (28 by 18cm): Westminster Abber, Conway Castle & Bridge, Royal Naval College Greenwich and Tower Bridge. One plaque measures 8 ins by 3.5 ins (20 by 8cms), with an arched top piece which at the centre increases the height by approx 0.5 ins (1.5cms) – this is of the Capitol, Washington DC. Rochester Castle and Rochester Cathedral are both 5 ins by  3.5 ins (13 by 8cms).

Est £20-30

This is all seven plaques
This is all seven plaques
And this is a close up of the star of the collection (at least in my opinion)
And this is a close up of the star of the collection (at least in my opinion)

Also quite interesting was lot 719, a small table, the top of which hinges up to reveal a full set of cutlery:

???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????There were also several large dinner/ tea services in various extremely fragile materials which therefore needed very careful handling.

Another very interesting lot from an imaging and describing perspective, which I am not ready to share in full yet, consists of four boxes of wooden printers blocks of varying sizes, all fairly large.

Wednesday’s Auction and Today at James and Sons

I have already made mention of the January auction of James and Sons, which took place on Wednesday, but I am briefly revisiting it because at that time m y photos from the day itself were unedited. The number of people actually present at the racecourse was small, partly because it was very cold that day, but large numbers of people were bidding online via www.the-saleroom.com.

James and Sons next auction will be on February 25th, once again at the racecourse. Information about James and Sons activities can be found on their website , facebook and twitter pages.

Now for some pics from the auction before moving on…

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Much of the last couple of days have been spent publicising the Great Centenary Charity Auction. More information about this event can be found at:

www.greatcharity.org
facebook: www.facebook.com/GreatAuction
twitter: www.twitter.com/great_auction

My personal twitter, @aspitweets has over 1600 followers.

This week has been a particularly stressful one in many ways, but I am pleased with the progress I have made in all the areas mentioned in this post.

An Important Press Release, A Successgul Auction and Some Other Stuff

An important press release, a brief mention of yesterday’s auction and some other stuff

Starting with the biggest news: The Great Centenary Charity Auction will now have its first instalment at The Prince of Wales Stand, Fakenham Racecourse on June 28th, sale commencing at 10AM. A full press release is reproduced below:

AUCTION FOR BLAST INJURY RESEARCH BOOSTED BY 100 OLD UNIFORM AND HEAD-DRESS DONATION

The Great Charity Auction for The Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London has received a valuable collection of uniforms and head-dresses. The collection, from an anonymous donor, includes uniforms from the Crimean War through to World War I and World War II, National Service and later. It covers Royal Navy,  British Army and Royal Air Force.

“This collection, added to the many uniforms, medals and militaria already received takes the number of lots to 600 and we have brought forward the auction date to June 28th” said the delighted auctioneer, Colonel David James. “We have also moved the venue to accommodate the large volume of lots to the Prince of Wales Stand at Fakenham Racecourse.”

“Viewing will be held on Saturday 27th June from 3pm to 7pm and from 8am to 11am on the morning of the auction” he added.

The auction will include live internet bidding worldwide on the-saleroom.com.

“We are pleased to announce that the-saleroom.com has joined the Eastern Daily Press and I-Post as sponsors.”

I-Post will, through The Royal British Legion collect and deliver cartons of donated items to Fakenham virtually free of charge from United Kingdom donors. Details are available from the auction website, www.greatcharity.org

Catalogues for the first Centenary Auction will be available from June 5th post free for a donation of £10.

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The original document and a full image gallery can be viewed here:

AUCTION FOR BLAST INJURY RESEARCH BOOSTED BY 100 LD UNIFORM AND HEAD Combo 1 Helmet ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????Yesterday’s auction at the Racecourse (a regular James and Sons affair) was overall very successful. A combination of a matchday brochure, team sheet and ticket from a Spurs v Chelsea match of the early 1900s (in which the legendary Vivian Woodward appeared for Chelsea) fetched a credulity-stretching £600. There were many other notable successes, fuelled by a substantial number of people registering for online bidding via http://www.the-saleroom.com

SDC18154One of my favourite Autistic Spectrum Condition related bloggers is Autism Mom, and one of her recent posts, which I have already tweeted to my followers I found particularly impressive:

http://blog.autism-mom.com/2015/01/dinosaurs-to-the-rescue

The Case of the Crooked Camera Repairers

The story that is the raison d’etre for this post is already in the hands of Adam Lazzari, the EDPs chief reporter for Fakenham and Dereham. It concerns the situation with my Nikon Coolpix P520, and the plain text version is here:

THE CASE OF THE CROOKED CAMERA REPAIRERS

This is the story of the fate of my Nikon Coolpix P520 up to today, when I uncovered evidence that admits of no interpretation other than serious criminality on the part of Messrs Christopher Robert Simpson and Mark Gregory formerly of The Camera Repair Company, Dereham.

The significant milestones are as follows:

  • October 27th took camera in for repairs, handed over a deposit and was told I would be contacted as soon as they had identified the fault.
  • A week and a half later I was told that the fault was a damaged USB port and associated damage to the motherboard. I was assured that they could fix it in approximately ten working days, so although I was going to have to pay for the privilege I agreed to the deal.
  • Three full weeks (i.e 15 working days, since there were no public holidays in the period concerned) later I phoned them to ask what was going on and was told that they just needed to perform quality checks and would then be able to return the repaired camera to me.
  • On the Saturday following having mean time heard nothing I phoned them to find out what was going on, and was told it should be ready by Monday.
  • Thus on the Monday following that I went to Dereham expecting to pick up the camera and was told that one of them was doing a job in King’s Lynn the following evening and that they would return the camera to me then.
  • That following evening no one showed up, so…
  • On the Wednesday I made another trip to Dereham expecting to return with a functioning Coolpix P520. I was then told that the replacement board had malfunctioned and that they needed another which they were waiting for. They also said that as soon as it was ready they would deliver it to me. So I waited, and waited and waited some more, hearing nothing until…
  • I decided that today, with them having had three full working weeks since Christmas to get things sorted I was going over to Dereham one more time and come hell or high water would return with a camera, which brings us to what I as a classical music lover call…

DIES IRAE

I arrived at the shop to find it shut and locked, and with a notice from Brown & Co Estate Agents attached to the door, explaining that the shop had been repossessed and that more information could be obtained from them. Therefore, I travelled on to Norwich (no extra cost – on First Eastern Counties one gets a day pass rather than a return ticket) to find the branch indicated (I wanted to do this face to face, not over the phone). There I found out that I was far from being the only person in this situation and that the repossession had been because they owed the estate agents a large amount of money. Additionally, I was informed that when the agents went to repossess the shop and change the locks they found it already stripped bare, and they have not been able to make contact with the individuals who ran it.

Additionally to what is mentioned above in the word document (attached below), the website is still active, but I have not bothered to attempt to contact them by that means as I do not consider it worthwhile.

Article ???????????????????????? THE CASE OF THE CROOKED CAMERA REPAIRERS

This major issue apart, I am in decent fettle, and I will finish by sharing some of my more usual type of picture (taken with older and lesser camera, a Samsung) with you…

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Here for your information is a photo of the repossession notice taken with old Samsung…

Imaging, Database, the-saleroom.com New Style and Some Thoughts on GE2015

There is a natural split in this post between the first three aspects and the fourth, and this will be accentuated by placement of pictures.

Among the various things I have been doing over the last couple of days are producing and uploading the last few images for the January auction (this Wednesday, starting at 10AM, Fakenham Racecourse or online via http://www.the-saleroom.com), and working on the database.

The process for adding new images to an online catalogue on the-saleroom.com has been greatly simplified. Where previously one had to email or wetransfer late images and hope that they got uploaded, one now has the capacity to edit directly, including replacing images. The process can be done by clicking and dragging from the folder in which your images are stored at your end into the space for images on the-saleroom.com. Personally I found the new system a joy to use. Now to mark the change of tack in this post here are some of those images…

25 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? 90 90a 90b 130 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? 387On the subject of the rest of this post, the forthcoming General Election, one should first of all remember that it is not one single contest, but 650 separate contests, each decided on a first past the post basis. The second point is that for everyone except the rich another five years of Cameron as PM will be an absolute, unmitigated disaster. Fortunately, I am saved any great difficulty in my own constituency by the fact that the only candidate with any sort of chance of dislodging the current Tory MP happens to be someone I would be happy to vote for anyway. Jo Rust (Labour) is a Unison Rep, was involved in the successful campaign against the Saddlebow incinerator, was one of those who helped We Are Norwich to make the EDL feel as small and insignificant as they were. The contrast between the incumbent and the challenger is particularly marked when it comes to the NHS – Unison Rep versus shareholder in one of the companies who stand to benefit from the carve up of the NHS. If you are in Northwest Norfolk and want to see the back of the Tories make sure that on election day you get to the polling station and vote for Jo Rust.

A couple more images to finish off – these are of lot 778, which will probably go under the hammer at approximately 2:30PM on Wednesday.

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Prepping for one Auction and Imaging for Another

Today featured database work, heavy lifting and imaging. I spent the bulk of the day bringing a degree of order to the January auction lots. A full catalogue for this auction can now be viewed on the following link: http://bit.ly/1yGOwUD. In between times I imaged a very few lots for the February auction, shown below, and stashed some boxes of albums away.

In the order in which you will see them these are lots 402 (2 images), 403, 404 (2 images), 405 and 406 (2 images)
In the order in which you will see them these are lots 402 (2 images), 403, 404 (2 images), 405 and 406 (2 images)
I decided that this twopenny blue warranted a special image all to itself.
I decided that this twopenny blue warranted a special image all to itself.

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Victory in Cumbria

The text is mainly devoted to celebrating a big success in Cumbria. As usual there are some good pictures form in and around King’s Lynn.

What is this victory in Cumbria that I have used as the title for the post? Well, this body text should make all clear:

“19 Jan 2015 — FANTASTIC NEWS!! We had the meeting this morning and we got the yes we’ve been fighting for! Mike can now stay in the best home for him, in his local community and a street away from my mum! This has been a hard fight so thank you so very very much, without you we couldn’t have done it!! My brother deserves the best which is what we have got. Thankyou so much! xxxx”

My involvement in this was courtesy of an online petition circulated via change.org. For more details please click the following link: https://www.change.org/p/national-health-service-cumbria-give-mike-a-chance-to-live-in-a-home-near-his-family-in-wigton-cumbria I have already shared this FANTASTIC news with my twitter followers on @aspitweets

If you read this, you will see that although this was a small, local campaign, it was of great importance, and as such the victory is worth celebrating.

It was cold today, to the extent that I have some shots of gulls walking on water…

This sequence of ten shots all show gulls walking on water.
This sequence of ten shots all show gulls walking on water.

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I have plenty of other pics, some of which are worth sharing…

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Two Days at James and Sons

Yesterday at James and Sons was devoted to finishing the imaging for the January auction (Jan 28th 2014, Fakenham Racecourse). It is in the nature of last items to be imaged that they are not the most interesting, but there were some good ones in there…

This is one of five images of lot 324
This is one of five images of lot 324
This is one of five images from lot 325.
This is one of five images from lot 325.

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The next four images are of lot 601
The next four images are of lot 601

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This is lot 736 - the map is in the frame at right angles to the normal orientation.
This is lot 736 – the map is in the frame at right angles to the normal orientation.
The next five images are from lot 780. a giant scrapbook full of beer mats
The next five images are from lot 780. a giant scrapbook full of beer mats

???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????Today however was a much more varied day. The morning was devoted to the heavy work of clearing the alleyway behind the shop (our neighbours in Fakenham who I won’t name had failed a fire inspection). Thereafter a new advertising board to replace the clapped out and out of date one was constructed (I did some of the selection and layout work, my colleague Andrew then assembled it) – I have a picture of it laid out ready for construction and one of it standing in the shop window, both of which I have tweeted out to my followers on @aspitweets…

The new advertising board, ready for assembly.
The new advertising board, ready for assembly.
The new advertising board in the shop window.
The new advertising board in the shop window.

The imaging for February only involved four lots, but some needed multiple images as you will see below…

The first four images are of Lot 1 in the February auction
The first four images are of Lot 1 in the February auction

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The next two images are from lot 103
The next two images are from lot 103
This postcard album is lot 102 in the February auction.
This postcard album is lot 102 in the February auction.

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Lot 101 for February warranted no fewer than eight images.
Lot 101 for February warranted no fewer than eight images.

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