A blog post embodying the announcement that the catalogue for my employers upcoming auction is now ready for viewing.
INTRODUCTION
The catalogue for James and Sons’ auction at Fakenham Racecourse on November 25th is now available. Printed copies can be picked up at James and Sons’ premises at 5 Norwich Street, Fakenham for £4, while an online catalogue can be viewed here.
THE BULK EMAIL
Yesterday I sent an email our to a large number of people about this auction, a jpg of which I reproduce below:
JAMES AUCTION ALERT
PICTURES
For the extra pictures I am going to concentrate on the silver vesta cases, most of which I was able to scan at very high resolution, but some of which I had to photograph, and because they are silver photographing them came with the challenge of minimizing reflections and avoiding the distorting effects caused by strong artificial light shining on silver…
Lot 63.
Lot 64, usually convexity is what prevents small items from being scannable, this time it was concavity.
Lot 210 – this was particularly tough to get a good image of.Lot 49, first of the vesta cases the needed to be photographed rather than scanned.
The vesta cases that were scannable were these…
This is lot 47, the last lot you will see is lot 65 (lot 210, the big bulbous vesta case seen earlier is this only one out of sequence.
A review of Matthew Reilly’s latest, “The Great Zoo of China”
INTRODUCTION
Matthew Reilly is one of my favourite contemporary novelists. He writes action adventure stories in which the pace of said action is never in any circumstances below greased lightening. His latest novel, The Great Zoo of China, has all the usual features and a few more besides.
THE GREAT ZOO OF CHINA
Dragon myths are a global phenomenon, and pretty well every where dragons are described the descriptions are very similar. All have four legs and a pair of wings. Although the book describes this as being hexapods it is not necessarily so, since the Malaysian Flying Lizard has four legs and a pair of wings, the latter being supported by an extended ribcage. Other reptiles which have evolved an extended rib cage for structural support purposes are turtles whose carapaces are supported by their ribcages.
The back story is that the reason for dragon myths being global is that dragons really exist, and each myth documents an appearance of a dragon who hatched out from the egg and came to the surface to see if the planet was warm enough for them to survive. Behind even this is the survival of the dragons, winged archosaurs who survived the great extinction at the end of the cretaceous because their nests were protected by being beneath nickel deposits. The Chinese located a nest beneath their second largest nickel deposit, and captured each dragon as they hatched. This gave them 88 dragons. A breeding program using female saltwater crocodiles as incubators for dragon eggs boosted this tally to 232.
The Chinese believed they were ready to unveil their great creation and arranged for a two select groups of important visitors to be shown the zoo. One of these groups was made up of Americans, including the hero the story, Cassandra Jane “CJ” Cameron, an expert on large reptiles. The other consisted of high-ranking politburo officials, who were being shown the hunting area of the zoo.
The dragons were being kept confined by means of electromagnetic shields, so it looked as though they were moving freely, while the humans were supposedly protected by ultrasonic shields that the dragons could not approach closely because of their sensitive hearing.
It turns out that some of the red-bellied black dragons (there are four groups of true dragons and one group of hybrid dragons produced from the crocodile experiment’s early days) have torn out their own ears so that the ultrasonic shields don’t bother them, and that the dragons have worked out how to bring down the inner of two electromagnetic domes, and have decided that this day, when there are two groups of guests is the day to attempt a break out.
Additionally for the human visitors, the Chinese are determined that no word of the disaster can be allowed to spread and that therefore no independent witnesses can be allowed to live.
PICTURES
To conclude this post here are some pictures to give you a better idea of the book:
The book is divided into seven sections called “evolutions” – something Reilly frequently does – in Ice Station they are “incursions”, while in The Seven Ancient Wonders they are “Missions” etc.
This is an excellent story, and although the notion of a species surviving in deep hibernation for 65 million years seems a trifle far fetched there is very little in the back story about the dragons that is actually flat out impossible – a further plus mark as far as I am concerned. If you get an opportunity to read this or indeed anything else with Mr Reilly’s name on the cover make sure you take it!
An account of my latest visit to the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, with a mention of my website, http://www.londontu.be and plenty of photographs from today.
INTRODUCTION
Today I paid a visit to the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge to participate in a study entitled “VISUAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSES IN PEOPLE WITH ASC”. Just in case anyone failed to work it out, ASC is shorthand for Autistic Spectrum Conditions. If you have an ASC, can get to Cambridge, and would be interested in participating you could email Jan Freyberg for more details.
GETTING THERE
I decided, in keeping my usual rule for such situations, to take the earlier of two possible trains and be certain barring a major incident of being able to be there in time. I was therefore at Cambridge train station before nine, the train having run like clockwork on this occasion. I took a slightly longer than necessary route to the Autism Research Centre, getting some interesting photos along the way…
The first of four pictures from the Roman Catholic Church.
Three pictures from this building, the Scott Polar Research Institute
The first of four pictures from the Chemical Laboratories. This stonework reminded me of a Matthew Reilly novel – probably a Jack West adventure with Lily decoding the symbols.Following on from the previous caption, the next book in the Jack West series should feature the number four in its title!
The device on the left as you look at this picture could a be the framework for “The Machine” in the Jack West novels.
The river alongside Trumpington Road (the Autism Research Centre in based in Douglas House, a.k.a 18 Trumpington Road) .
Ironwork on a bridge over the river.
THE STUDY
This study was monitoring electrical activity in the brain, which meant me wearing what was effectively a bathing cap with connections for 64 electrodes. After a preliminary which involved keeping the eyes open for a minute and then closed for a minute and repeating that process, the proper tests began. The first featured white and grey lines flashing across the centre of the screen while I kept my eye on a cross right at the heart of the screen. There was then a sequence of trials in which real pictures flashed up on the screen very fast, for a minute at a time. The final trial involved grey and white “gratings” once again, but this time the box in which they would appear had a solid black border.
There were also of course various bits of paperwork to fill out and sign.
Once I had finished everything, Jan showed be back into the main building and I headed to the exit, making a single stop en route due to something I had noticed on the way to the testing room…
WEBSITE FODDER
On the way to the testing room I had noticed an intriguing poster, which on closer inspection was entitled “Tastes of London” and was a very interesting variation on the classic London Underground Map. I photographed it, and made it the centrepiece of this post on www.londontu.be.
HOMEWARD BOUND
The journey back was uneventful, save for a small delay between Littleport and Downham Market. I conclude withe the photographs from the return journey…
The first of two picttures showing some of Douglas House’s external decor.
A new development near the train station in Cambridge, still not complete.Three pictures of silver plaques with ink faces on them that are set into the pavements at the bus station that adjoins Cambridge station.
Two samles (this and the next of deocrations at the train station).
Pictures taking through train windows are always difficult, but these last four all came out OK.
As well as the title piece, I have some good pictures from in and around King’s Lynn to share. These date from Monday, when I attended an NAS West Norfolk coffee morning.
HOME PAGE CLEAN
I have modified the home page on www.londontu.be so that the original stuff that came with the Hathor Theme that I selected is no longer on show, replaced with my own stuff.
PICTURES
With a bit of moisture to highlight the silk, Monday was an excellent today for photographing spiders webs – and King’s Lynn rivals Mirkwood for quantity of spider webs if not for size or scariness of occupants thereof…
This was the first of many – and only just outside my door.Partway down the first of two flights of stairs between my flat and the street.The remaining webs were all alongside Bawsey drain.
Neither were the birds at all put off by the weather…
For the fifth time this year, I’ve woken to news that another person associated with the tiny atheist community in Bangladesh has been brutally murdered via machete. In February it was…
is now up and running (As you will see I still have a few gremlins to deal with in terms of their being an unwanted section of the home page, but if you click on the tabs at the top, you will see that it is shaping up quite well.
This is an account of a Musical Keys session for autistic people that took place between 4:30 and 6PM on Monday. The photos I shall be sharing include some pictures of myself and the other people at the group. Everyone was aware that these pictures were being taken and that they were going to be made public.
GETTING THERE
I reversed my normal sequence of travel, going out by way of the Walks, which provided a few decent pictures…
I arrived at the venue, the scout hut on Beaulah Street, a few minutes early, and the youngsters were still finishing their session, so I waited near the front door, and bagged a few more pictures…
THE EVENT ITSELF
Before we got underway with the music making (don’t worry I was not playing a real instrument – as with the story of Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra there are some things for which humanity is not yet ready!) we were required to record introductions giving our name and one other fact about ourselves and select a special effect to go with our words. I decided that the other fact would be my enthusiasm for photography, and in a nod to my love of photographing nature selected the jungle effect so that it sounded like an opening to a wildlife documentary.
Voice recording software displayed in landscape format……and here in portrait format.
On to the music, and I was doing the strings by way of more software on the i-pad…
We had a short break in the middle of the session, and then resumed. Near the end we did the…
GROUP PHOTOS
I took the first photograph, and then handed the camera over to another member of the group, provided some basic instruction, and of course did the preparing/ editing of the pictures myself…
A MAP LOVERS FEAST
We were in the ground floor room at the scout hut, and my attention was drawn to the maps (three in total with varfious adjuncts) on the walls. Naturally this was not an opportunity to be missed…
HOMEWARD BOUND
Having thoroughly enjoyed the Musical Keys session, and added to my photo collection, it was time to head home, and by then since the clocks went back the previous day it was full dark – still I did some photos on the way home, and I also include one from yesterday…
Marking my first year on twitter, also mentioning autism advocated Robyn Steward and Kevin Healey and livened up with plenty of pictures.
INTRODUCTION
As well as marking one year since I set up my personal twitter account I have a few other things to cover, and of course have some pictures to liven things up.
TWITTER ONE YEAR ON
A year ago (plus half an hour for the seriously pedantic among you) I set up a personal twitter account, @aspitweets. Here is a link to the first tweet I posted back then:
And here is a screen dump as well.
It has been an amazing year, as I am closing on 3,000 followers. It has also been very beneficial to this blog, reaching people that I would never have reached without twitter.
TWO AUTISM RELATED THINGS
On Thursday Robyn Steward, an internationally renowned autism advocate gave a talk at Churchill Park Complex Needs School, half a mile from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn which I was lucky enough to attend, having been invited by West Norfolk National Autistic Society branch chair Karan MacKerrow. The talk was exceedingly interesting, but rather than regurgitate it here I direct you to Robyn’s website so you can see it in her own words. Although one has to be careful about taking pictures in a school, I have some photos from the evening…
As stated in the body text I respect the need for care about taking pictures in a school, but I thought that this excellent display board deserved sharing and carried no risk of causing offence.The first of two slides that I photographed before the talk started.
Robyn herself. The hat and the pink shoes are tthere because she cannot recognise faces and therefore needs to wear something distinctive to recognise herself in photos.
My second Autism related piece is less happy. Kevin Healey recently contacted his MP, Paul Farrelly, about the bullying he was suffering. Unfortunately, rather than helping or offering any sort of support all this MuPpet came up with was a suggestion that Kevin should get off twitter, failing to note that for Kevin twitter is a vital communication tool. Kevin has responded by launching another petition, directed specifically at Mr Farrelly, which I urge to you to sign and share.
A BRIEF UPDATE FROM JAMES AND SONS
Yesterday was devoted to imaging for our sale on November 25th at Fakenham Racecourse. The last lots will be catalogued and ready for imaging by November 8th, and the plan is for the catalogue to be available by the 15th (i.e ten days before the auction). Assuming that the lotting is done promptly the imaging will be no problem…
I scanned the four prints that make up this lot individually and then assembled those scans to make this image – the next four are of the individual scans.
A FEW FINAL PICTURES
Sunrise on Thursday morning.A small side window, King’s Lynn Museum.The same window with the entire surround in shot.The fountain in the walks.The plaque detailing the history of the fountain.
Details of the photographica section of James and Sons November 25th auction, with a full picture gallery.
INTRODUCTION
I have mentioned a project involving photographica that I have been caryring out as part of my job at James and Sons Auctioneers in two previous posts:
This post not long after I had started on the project
Now that I have officially catalogued everything in the collection and assembled a photo gallery I am producing this post. There will be one more post specifically about this collection when I know what each lot sold for (i.e. post auction, which will be happening on November 25th).
LOTTING UP
Having ultimately catalogued this vast collection into 22 lots on a spreadsheet formatted as the final catalogue listing would be so that I could copy and paste rows into said listing, all I needed to complete the process were lot number stickers, plus some tie on labels for those lots which warranted it to finish the process of getting this stuff ready for auction. I was given lots 75-100 inclusive for photographica, and decided that as 100 as easily the most distinctive of these numbers that the prize item of the collection should get that number. Apart from that use of the magic number 100 I front-loaded the rest of the listing, starting things of with the folding cameras and others that I was selling individually. The bulk lots come in the low 90s, and at the moment lot numbers 96-99 inclusive have not been assigned.
THE END PRODUCT
This has the lowest estimate of any of the photographica, because even with its original bag it is not that rare an item.
Lots 84, 85 and 86 are three identical cameras, of sufficiently esteemed make and model that each is worth selling singly.
This is a sampler – one of six boxes of bags, cases and other accessories that make up this lot.
The final lot in the photographica section – estimate on this is £60 – 80 – a deliberately conservative estimate to attract bidders.
This, the third image relating to lot 100 should be the last you see (but it is possible that the images for lot 75 appear out of position since I had problems uploading them – everything else is defintiely in lot number order – 76-95 inclusive and then 100)This picture and the next are of lot 75, which starts the photographica section – this has the second highest estimate of any of the cameras being sold individually at £40-50.
An account the AGM of NAS West Norfolk, focussing on changes to the committee and an autism awareness event.
INTRODUCTION
The AGM of the National Autistic Society West Norfolk branch took place last night at the scout hut on Beaulah Street, King’s Lynn. Obviously there are limits on what I can say about the meeting itself as some of the stuff talked about is confidential, but there is enough to say to make it worth posting about.
GETTING THERE
Although it was not very warm (this is an English October folks) I walked both ways, not being willing to fork over a bus fare for a journey of that length. For the walk there I headed across the upper Purfleet, down to the Tuesday Market Place and past St Nicholas Chapel to the town end of Bawsey Drain which I followed as far as Lynn Sport, from where I headed across open fields to the scout hut.
The moon over King’s Lynn Minster, 6:15PMThe Corn Exchange lit up for the evening, circa 6:20PMSt Nicholas Chapel against the darkening skies a couple of minutes later.
AT THE SCOUT HUT
We were meeting in a small side room off the main meeting area in this building. Once I had taken a suitable place in the meeting room there were a few minutes to kill before things got properly underway, so I bagged a few more photographs.
For reasons I have already given I am only going to a mention afew things from the meeting itself. Two very long-serving committee members were stepping down, and naturally this was marked with a public thank you…
Delores and Kim with their thank you gifts.
The new committee was chosen. Notable changes to the structure of the committee saw yours truly and Callum Brazzo (both adults who are #actuallyautistic) given roles as adult co-ordinators. As some of you on the other side of the Atlantic have reason to know, not all organisations which claim to be about helping autistic people are so good when it comes to actually involving autistic people in a meaningful way.
The new committee. Second from the right, in the black and green top is yours truly.
In April there will be an Auitism Awareness event taking place at thje Duke’s Head Hotel on the Tuesday Market Place, King’s Lynn. I will very likely be presenting a display the best of my photographs, probably as a slide show.
HOMEWARD BOUND
I headed back by the path I had not taken on the way there, and although it was of course pitch dark by this point I did get a few more pictures…
A mallard drake taken at night without the use of the flash.As we started with the Minster, so we finish there, with three shots of the son a lumiere display.
aspiblog 