Spoke at length with the Swami this morning. He was up late waiting out the game on the coast so he was slow getting started, but with the McCourt thing cleared and new owners there and the super-hot-start they have going, I expected the Swami to be all made up about things and he wasn’t. He was nervous about needing another pitcher at the break and that certain things weren’t right. Oh sure, he said some positive things but he was cautious overall.
He ripped Uribe’s hitting, especially his apparently unorthodox foot movements in the box, and that lead to the inevitable comparison to the Boys of Summer all-glove, no-hit 3rd baseman, Billy Cox. “But that team was loaded”, was the refrain, and that led to “Hodges should be in the Hall”, which made me think, “why don’t they just put the whole 1953 Dodgers in the Hall and get it over with?”, which led to the old idea that one pitcher, either way, would have made the Dodgers win all those world series in the era (1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 I include 50 because with another pitcher, they would have beaten the Philly Whiz Kids and in 1951, they would have beaten the Giants with one more arm). And that led to the agreement that the worst trade for the Dodgers of that era was when the Yankees traded Joe Gordon to Cleveland for Ali Reynolds, which, he and I agreed on finally, but, that he added, of course: “…but they had Raschi…”
And the takeaway is how great it is to have this discussion at all. Most of it well before I was born but Swami doesn’t care about that if you know your stuff and can keep up with him. Like last Summer when he casually added to a discussion an anecdote about a Chinese home run he saw hit at the Polo Grounds off Rex Barney? Or was it Karl Spooner? He was there with the CYO. He probably remembered the count too.
Taking my sons to Citizens Bank Park the other day made me realize that they will never see Shea Stadium and to them, it will be as The Polo Grounds was to me: just this ancient and unattainable thing that you see pictures of. Thinking about it from my new perspective makes me realize that it isn’t all that. It’s just a concrete bowl of seats more or less, give or take. Like when you go to your first world series game or playoff game and sit down and realize, “it’s just another game”.
It was great talking to the Swami, but I have to say I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t happier about things. He was crying when the team was in a funk and now he’s nervous. Fandom. He did admit to spending like all his time in the garage. That’s the man-cave where the XM radio is and the hotplate and the beer. The he-man woman haters club, basically, for the neighborhood guys. I’ll have to get down there to see it.
For the 2nd straight year, we were guests of the Philadelphia Phillies on the occasion of Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, 2012. The statue is a one-of-a-kind, hand-carved, solid-wood statue, depicting Robinson in a 1955 home Dodger uniform. Everything you see on that statue is wood; the shoes, shoelaces, hat, skin, uniform: everything. Fans enjoyed taking photos with it all game long. It was a great experience and I want to thank the Phillies, particularly Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi, for their work in making this come off so easily.
Jackie’s next stop is scheduled to be the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO, in time for this Summer’s All-Star game, which is in KC this year.
The Phillies crew gets some close ups of Jackie right off the bat.
The boys eat lunch behind the sign. It’s a long drive down for them and they need some fuel.
The boys each got a Phillie Phanatic from the guys at the Phillies. It was a very generous gift for them and they loved them! All day, they were our constant companions.
Here’s Gregg Murphy of the Phillies going over our in-game spot in the 5th inning. They could not get a camera to show the statue live, so they used the shots they had gotten earlier and we did the spot from the standing room section behind the left field foul pole. Murphy was very nice and put me at ease and the spot came off nice and relaxed.
The boys were tired but rallied in the suite. We only had an inning or two up there, because we have to be with the statue mostly, but we did get up there. The two gentlemen in the background are the fellows who played for the Phildelphia Stars in the early 1950′s. They signed the ball we got last year and we were glad to see them again. The Tuskegee Airmen were in a different suite and I got over there in time to speak to a few of them and that was a real nice treat. They are great guys and the country should be aware of their sacrifices under trying conditions.
The boys pose with their Phanatics.
The boys loved the doughnut car and even got some freebies.
All in all, it was a wonderful day. Both boys were old enough to go and really enjoyed it. The Phillies’ staff was just great as always and we hit all of our marks during the day. Many, many people said very nice things about the statue and it’s always great to get the statue out in front of baseball fans and hear their comments. It makes all the hours spent covered with sawdust seem worth it. Thanks, everybody. Hope to see you next year.
Recently completed: a solid-wood, hand carved, life size statue of Curt Schilling’s leg (yes, leg). The sculpture will be auctioned off to benefit ALS at a future date to be determined.
I had a ball making this item and I really like it although it generates some interesting responses, from bemused to, “who’s Curt Schilling?” from the non-sporting crowd. I have had it in front of people and the responses have been nice.
I got so tired of people not understanding that my art was 100% wood, even, at times, when they were standing in front of it and being told by me that it was wood. You would be surprised. So with this piece, I put it right out there and I plan on doing that with all of my pieces from now on.
* And before anyone asks me, I’ll tell you. ALS is handling the auction. It’s not on any fast track right now. Yes, I have tried to contact Curt Schilling through social media to propose the idea that he sign it to give it legs in the auction. Since I’m not making a dime off of it, I figured that I’d at least be acknowledged and to date I have not been. Am I disappointed in that? Well, to be completely honest, I am a little, I have to admit, but, I know he’s doing this huge launch to a product that his company has sweated blood to produce, so I understand the busyness.
I know he has people coming at him from all angles with his gaming company and on and on, so I do respect the demands placed on him, however, when someone spends the time I did, meticulously creating an art object for a charity auction for a cause that he champions, then I would hope for an acknowledgement at least. Even if the answer is “no”, which it could easily be. He may be uncomfortable getting too close to something that might appear self-serving. I would totally respect that. But I would like to at least hear, “message rcvd. great work. sorry, no can do good luck”. That’s it. Would that be too much? I read 10 tweets a day from him about the video games and sundry so it’s not like he’s not plugged in. Oh well, everything happens for a reason. So don’t ask me this question again! Got it? haha. Thanks.
Addendum: The Jackie Robinson statue looks like it will be appearing at Citizens Bank Park for the Mets-Phils on Sun April 15, 2012, but I do not have confirmation on that as of right now. It’s a strong possibility however. Love to see everyone there. Day game! Very pleased that the schedule makers did that.
Also, I am in talks with the Negro League Baseball Museum to have Jackie shipped out to Kansas City and displayed at the museum through the All-Star Game period. I’m very happy about that as well. Jackie belongs there and I hope a lot of folks get to see him.
The Cards just look ready and centered for this. Seeing Ron Washington send up Esteban German, who had not had an at bat since Sep 15, and he strikes out with a man on second…brutal.
Cards in 5 or 6. I have rarely or ever seen a team so poised to play postseason as LaRussa’s group is. They KNOW they will win. They conduct themselves like that. Baseball is mental and the Cards have that conquered.
I loved Joe Buck comparing LaRussa to John J. McGraw. McGraw was hated in his time. Edd Roush didn’t want to go play for him. He lost the 1908 pennant because he was hated. Good analogy for Tony? haha. I can not deny, however, the degree to which I feel the Cards are READY for this. They are out ahead of the game. You want to use the phrase dujour? The game “slows down” for them.
I actually find that “slowing down the game” to be a very apt description of it. Since I have started playing soccer again, for the first time since the mid 80′s, I really feel that is very descriptive.
When you are not confident, you tend to feel that there is LESS TIME to do something, than in actuality. The great clarinetist and bandleader, Artie Shaw, had one of my favorite quotes. I read it 30 years ago and still dredge it up from time to time. Folks gushed about his playing and he downplayed it by saying something along the lines of [I'm paraphrasing] “There is more time than you realize between things that seem to happening very fast”. He was talking about “fast” in a musical setting of course, but his point is that with practice, you can gain familiarity and effectively LENGTHEN the time that you have to make decisions, between closely spaced events.
In soccer recently, I have seen this in spades. Even though I haven’t played in 30 years with people, (except for a handful of pickup games), I have spent hours hitting the ball, two footed, off of walls. It’s a form of cardio exercise that I have always enjoyed. So my footy skills are decent, but my game vision is not!
When I first started back up, I would feel that I had no time to do things, ergo, I rushed them and had really bad results. I resorted to consciously trying to slow myself down–slowing down my decision making; picking up my head and looking around. All of a sudden, I wasn’t forcing passes that weren’t there. The great Jan Molby, of Liverpool, once said to Jamie Rednap, “…you can’t play what you don’t see”. And he’s right. It’s not enough to have a hunch that a blur in your peripheral vision is a runner with the right color shirt on, you have to SEE it and KNOW that they are there.
So it’s counter intuitive, but by slowing down YOUR reactions, you actually have better results, because your brain needs an extra beat to take in information and process it before you act on it. Now in soccer, you might make 30 or 40 key decisions in a game, if not more. But a fielder in a world series baseball game? Maybe he makes 3 or 4 key decisions; maybe even just one per game. You don’t get the chance at redemption in pressure baseball, is my point. You better get that decision right.
One step in on a ball over your head? Throw to the wrong base in a bunt situation? Very little room for error, so the team that can slow it down enough to make the correct decision, is, like Artie Shaw, aware that there is a beat more time to make these decisions than the inexperienced panicking player THINKS there is.
And bear in mind that the ability to calm yourself and remain in this “calm-but-centered” state is difficult to maintain! It’s not as easy as just THINKING it! It’s a well-honed discipline. For me, in soccer, sometimes making an early dopey decision can actually SHARPEN it! And sometimes, it can wreck it. While you can “find” it mid-game, I feel that more often, it’s a product of your mental attitude before the game. How do you feel? Do you feel strong? Are you excited to play? Or did you just look at the forward you will be covering and get that sense of dread, as in, “…I can’t go step-for-step with that guy!”
What I’m saying is that it’s a mental approach that can not be faked or manufactured and yet it is so important to performance, particularly under pressure. The team that can generate this feeling of confidence and maintain it, will prevail–it is often the difference. It can also be said, I believe, of managers and coaches and gaffers. It can also be contagious among team mates and coaxed at times among team mates.
Look for this in the games that are left. Ask yourself which team seems more confident in the moment? And realize that it doesn’t always mean that the player with this feeling will always get a hit–always succeed. It just means what Bobby Thomson told himself on Oct 3, 1951, before he hit “The Shot Heard Around the World”. He went up to hit thinking, “…give yourself a CHANCE to hit”.
After 3 hours of sleep, it was up at 3am and driving down from NY with the Jackie Robinson statue to do the first of many interviews and appearances at Fox. Ably assisted by Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi of the Phillies, we hit our marks out in front of Fox at 7:20am. A few teaser shots and then a short interview with Fox 29′s John Anderson. Click here to see the interview in a new window
Here’s a small clip my brother took from a little way away during the Uke Washington interview:
Then it was on to a community Jackie Robinson Event at the Philadelphia Stars Memorial at Belmont and Parkside Aves, in Philadelphia. That crossroads was the location of the Philadelphia Stars ballpark. The Stars were Philly’s entry in the old Negro League. Later this day, my family would get to meet two of the last surviving members of that franchise.
There were many groups attending and special promotions from the Phillies. The children were having a ball and posed for this photo.
There were several groups and this particular group did a dance number before posing.
There were many nice monuments marking the site and those who were a part of it. I really enjoyed meeting regular folks from this community and just listening to the older fellows tell me how much Jackie Robinson and Monte Irvin and Larry Doby meant to them growing up. You know, when you do an event like this, those dusty pages in a history book become real live anecdotes and recollections and it was amazing to take it all in. It was also very flattering to hear the very sincere compliments for the statue. When you spend that long covered with itchy sawdust, it is very gratifying to hear these things and see the sparkle in their eyes, as opposed to words on a page.
Here we are finally at The Bank. It’s early; well before batting practice and my amazing handlers with the Phillies (Kenny Johnson & Deb Rinaldi) lined up a couple of more interviews. The first was with John Mayberry, the man who’s hit won the exciting Phils opener. I don’t have any photos of that interview but it went very well and it was nice to see and hear John’s reaction to the statue. It was probably the first time I had spoken to someone who was directly in line with Robinson’s courageous work, so it was extra special for me.
After that piece, we did a short interview with Comcast out in dead center field. What a beautiful backdrop! I have been to 40 different major league ballparks in my lifetime and Citizens’ Bank Park is my favorite building. Everything about it just feels right.
All night it was the same thing: folks lined up in a semi circle around it, taking photos and asking questions. It never gets old. I met some really tremendous people and heard just an amazing array of stories and anecdotes about Robinson, Civil Rights, baseball, art and on and on. This part of it is easy and never feels like work.
By this point in the day, I’m feeling my 3 hours of sleep and nonstop itinerary pretty acutely, however, a great subplot was that my 3.5 year old son, Thomas, came to the game and it was his first time in a big league ballpark! What a way to break in! His uncle Bob, shown below, was holding him up to see the Phillies take batting practice and he caught a BP homer left handed while holding Thomas in his right hand! So on his first game day, Thomas gets a ball!
Later on this evening, Thomas got the ball signed by the last two remaining Phildelphia Stars and for that I am very grateful and want to thank both the Stars and again, my Phillies guardian angel, Kenny Johnson. Kenny is just a pro’s pro and he hit his marks (and kept me hitting mine) all day long with aplomb. He put on a clinic. It’s a pleasure to watch someone do something that they are so good at, whether it be art, or sports, or even business.
Below is Thomas showing off his baseball. How great is that?
Here’s the family; my wife Carol and Thomas (Jack Benny is too little and is spending the day with his grandparents). I’m looking a bit tired by this point and perhaps a bit cold as the temp dropped towards gametime, but on April 15th in the East, you are going to have that. I was just thanking God all day that there was no rain as that was the one thing that would have given us a problem.
Since my statues are 100% solid wood, they will not hold up to weather, so it was a concern. All around baseball, there are many life size statues that honor players but they are all bronze. Bronze is great for holding up to weather and can be outdoors permanently. But Bronze is one color. The great thing about the wooden statues is that I can show color and isn’t baseball a colorful thing anyway? Add to that the color component of the Robinson story and it makes a nice fit. There are currently no color statues such as this permanently residing in any major league ballpark. Wouldn’t it be nice (and somehow fitting) for this statue to be the first?
After a little breather, I did two more spots thanks to Deb Rinaldi and Kenny Johnson. The first was a spot right behind the statue that went very well. It was what they call a “talkback”, which means, I wore an earpiece and had to listen for a cue from an unseen host. It was hard to hear with the crowds and I was worried that I would miss the cue or not be able to make out what the host was asking me, but it turned out to be the best one all day just about. I think I was too tired to be nervous! I’ll tell you, I have new respect for anyone who makes their living with a mike and a camera. They make it look easy–it isn’t.
Here’s what it looked like. I sure look rigid in this shot, but I felt pretty loose, all in all.
After that, I had to run halfway around the stadium and do a pregame radio spot and that was fun and went really well. By then I suppose, it didn’t seem so strange to be doing this stuff.
On the way back to the statue from the plate area, I heard my voice on the PA and quickly ran down the tunnel to the seating area, so that I could see the Phanavision screen. They were showing my 2 minute video which I had narrated. It was the strangest sensation to hear my voice blaring around Citizens Bank Park like that, but there it was. It was a day of things like that and one that I’ll never forget.
I mentioned that two of the old Philadelphia Stars had signed Thomas’ ball and here are their names on the statue by their old stomping grounds which we had visited earlier.
The gentlemen who signed were Mahlon Duckett and Harold Gould. I also got a chance to meet some of the Tuskegee Airmen and that was a big thrill. My father and just about all of my uncles were WWII vets. Men of that generation shaped me more than any other and I have read a great deal about that war and so it was just tremendous to shake the hand of men who flew Jugs and P-51′s against the Germans in those dark days.
Guys like that gave us a lot of freedom and I think it gets taken for granted sometimes, unfortunately. The Tuskegee Airmen, not only had to deal with bombs and bullets, but the institutionalized racism of the day: a double whammy. They are great men for having done all of that and children should know their story.
And again and again, all night, folks stopped by to talk, take photos and ask questions. It was great.
April 15th 2011, a day in which the Jackie Robinson statue went many places and met many nice folks, hopefully, making them happy and spreading awareness of what went on, not that long ago. The statue is tentatively slated to visit the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City later this Summer but as of right now, there are no details.
I want to thank the Philadelphia Phillies for all of their support. I have worked with various organizations and baseball clubs through the years, but I have never seen the professionalism and can-do spirit that I did these past few weeks while working with the Phillies. As I have said, much of that was through the hard work of Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi, who made it easy to do all of these things without one single hitch. As I look back at the itinerary and see all the marks we hit from 7am to 10pm, I am amazed that it went so seamlessly and that is a testament to their diligence. I hope to work with them again in the future.
Here’s my takeaway shot for the day: the first time my little buddy is at a big league game. It was filled with memorable things. I have to wonder, however, that at 3 and a half, will he remember it years from now? I hope he does. I know I will.
Thanks for all the kind words and stories! Enjoy the game.
Yankee Payroll: 208 Million
Texas Payroll: 55 Million
Difference: 153 Million.
I was listening to Michael Kay today on the radio. He went through the playoff stuff and golly, he just didn’t ever mention that there’s a 155 Million dollar difference between the teams. Why is that? I’m serious. Isn’t that a material fact about this matchup that folks ought to know before they tune it in? Baseball does an amazing job of obfuscating the ELEPHANT in the room, that is, the Yankee payroll.
The obfuscation talking points are well worn:
* They don’t win it EVERY year
* They pay other teams salaries with their revenue share and luxury tax
* Other teams spend a lot too, you know. The Phillies spent 142 million this year.
208. 55. 153. Tinker-to-Evers-to-FAT CHANCE!
And I find it just hilarious that the dopey Yankee callers are just apoplectic about Cliff Lee. You dump out a piggy 208 million and yet you STILL are INSECURE enough to cry about a pitcher that might actually give your All-Star team a game? bahahaha!
And inevitably, you hear, “well, he’s ours next year”. Yup. If at first you don’t succeed, buy, buy, buy.
Then I had to hear Michael Kay running the Mets organization. He was whining in a high pitched wail that the Mets HAD to hire the 62 year old Sandy Alderson. That’s it. Case closed. Because Michael Kay said so, that’s why. His sidekick asked him for reasoning–he got shouting and chanting and repeating in return. They had to hire him. HAD TO! No detail. No cogent arguments. It was like Joy Behar. There will be no reasoning here: I’m right!
Memo to Kay: If you’re going to be that adamant about something, dontchathink you should have some specific points to back up your strong opinion? Because, “…the Wilpons are dummies, I know better”, wouldn’t win a high school debating team gig.
And he also doesn’t distinguish between running a business and managing it and keeping tabs on it with knowledge in a specialty. Look, I’m no fan of the Wilpons, but even if they don’t know ANYthing about baseball, they still have the right to interview people and run their BUSINESS!~ It’s their business, guys. If the P&L says “L”, it’s THEIR “L”, not yours, Michael Kay.
What if they want to talk to Stan Kasten? I would. What if they don’t want someone 62 years old? Why is the commisioner foisting a guy on them? Would his buddy Steinbrenner like that? Ooooh nooo0, he’s “The Boss”, it says so on the garish, tasteless uniform patches above every Yankee’s breast.
I’d stitch a big red 153 there. The interlocking NY is interlocked with insecurity. –fog
I have railed about it before. Noise at ballgames. Not the natural noise of the game, mind you, but the incessant noise pumped in over the PA’s during every single lull in the game. Walk-up music. Between innings music that makes just conversing with the person in the seat next to you, a challenge. Many is the time I’ve come back from games absolutely horse! And not from yelling at the ballgame–just from trying to discuss things in the seats!
The marketing departments got a hold of our game and ruined it by insisting that every single open moment in the game was filled with [air quotes] entertainment, as if a 35 year old BTO song at ear-bleeding volume is entertaining to ANYone. I don’t know anyone who likes this stuff. Look, we’re baseball fans. We like a leisurely pace. We like to talk strategy and fantasy and what did this guy do last week, last month, last year. We KNOW when the game is coming to a head because we are fans–we don’t need endless sound effects to pump us up. It’s beyond ridiculous.
So as the reader(s) knows, I have gone to most parks in the country (40 and counting) and have this same complaint at every joint I go to. This weekend, I was at the Nationals’ Park in DC. I was on biz, so I was alone, which can be a weird experience at times, but thankfully, I sat next to two decent, knowledgeable and funny guys and we had a good time kibitzing about the game over the noise.
I gave the guy my website and he looked at my lifesize baseball statues and shot a quick email and I shot one back. He mentioned that he is an attorney. I said that he should launch a class action suit and that I would like to be listed as a plaintiff. I said he should sue the Nats for hearing loss for the in-game noise that they subject us to. I said to sue for $1.00 only–just make a point for publicity’s sake.
Today he wrote back: “Fog: True, a great game, but an even better idea! We’ll do it under the DC Consumer Protection Act. We need a DC resident as first named plaintiff, but we’ll fit you in somewhere!”
So I may have struck a blow for the obnoxious in-game experience at major league games! And it’s ironic that it will originate in DC–fitting really. Stay tuned to this one, it could be amusing.
–Fog
Saw some search engine searches coming through that had the text string “Mickey Mantle statue” in them, so I figured I would put this out there. This photo was taken at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant on Central Park South in New York City way back in the mid-90′s.
I still have this statue in inventory–inquiries welcome!
He’s life size in all details and depicted in that classic Mantle left-hand hitting power stroke. The foot print is about 5 feet in length by about 2.5 feet in width.
I’ve finally gotten the time to edit the clips together and it came out fairly well. I’m pleased. We are in talks with some potentially big parties so fingers crossed. Enjoy.
With perhaps days/hours to go before the baby, I’m doing a big push on Jackie Robinson to see how far I can get before my life changes so much. I had a big day in the shop yesterday and took these stereo photos.
Together, they can be viewed in 3-D. If you were one of those who could left your eyes relax and see those old 3-D, computer-generated drawings, then you SHOULD be able to do this the same way. I can do it. But it takes a few moments to get it.
The trick, for me, is to get far enough away from the two photos, so that they are a little smaller than a postcard, held at arms length. Then you stare, allowing your eyes to relax and not truly focus. When your eyes are relaxed correctly, you should see double–that’s 4 images. Keep trying different pressures on your focus until the two center photos become 1 photo and it will be 3-D. It’s eerie. When you get it, you will KNOW, so if you are wondering, then you don’t have it. Remember: Try and make the middle two images merge into one, so that overall, there are 3 photos, and only concentrate on that middle photo–that’s the one that will become 3-dimensional.
How did I take this photo? With a 3-D camera? Nahh, with my own camera. Since I’m working with a tripod, and nothing is in motion, the time lapse between photo1 and photo2 can be ignored. You couldn’t do this trick with live action, because p1 and p2 would not match. But in the studio, you just take one photo and then move the tripod 80mm to the right and take another one. 80mm is about the distance between people’s eyes. The “interpupillary distance”. Actually, in the population, it’s much smaller for most and is smaller for women and bigger for some ethnic groups. It runs between 65 and 83 mm. At 25.4 mm per inch, you do the inch-math.
With the two photos of EXATLY the same thing and yet from two slight different (80mm apart) vantage points, they are about what your brain takes in and processes into one, 3-D image. The slightly different perspective means that the right eye sees a little further around Jackie’s left side, than the left eye can see. That info is used by your wonderful brain to give you all sorts of depth and distance information. Imagine trying to golf without it! “How far to the pin?” “Where’s the 150 yd marker?”
And for you Liberals out there, remember, the beauty of the eye and the brain and the depth is pure chance–we’re talking NO INTELLIGENT DESIGN, right? Don’t even think those words in a public school.
Before you go thinking I’m some kind of techy person, realize that 3-D cameras and looking at “stereo-images” like we are here, originated at about the time of the Civil War. Stereo view photos were all the rage from about 1870 to 1910. They looked like this:
They were viewed in a viewer that looked like this:
The slides were available as canned, commercially produced photos of current events and famous places and landmarks. Think GAF-viewmaster from the 1970′s:
I’m not sure why they fell out of favor. Perhaps WWI, which destroyed so much of what good was happening in the world around 1914.
Anyway, they did commercially produce stereo cameras for the home-gamer and here is one:
All you need is the ability to take TWO images simultaneously, one interpupillary distance apart. Now if you search for these things, you will only find, I believe, film cameras from yesteryear. There doesn’t seem to be any digital stereo cameras available. There are a couple of guys who have hacked together two digital cameras, but the hack is never simple and the mounting and alignment is never easy. Both lenses have to point at the same focal point out in space, or the pictures will look hokey–like mine!
What I want to know is why doesn’t SOMEone produce a decent digital stereo camera? WHY? With PC’s bringing down photography prices and giving us all sorts of exotic ways to display them, it’s a perfect marriage! I have searched, but not recently, so it’s possible that there is something out there now. If anyone knows of a product, comment in please.
For Jackie fans, Jackie may be getting his first paint today on the lower legs and shoes and pants. It’s always the single biggest, quickest change in the statue and for a medium that goes crawling by in the hundreds of hours, this is a welcome thing.
They were viewed in a viewer that looked like this:
The slides were available as canned, commercially produced photos of current events and famous places and landmarks. Think GAF-viewmaster from the 1970′s:
All you need is the ability to take TWO images simultaneously, one interpupillary distance apart. Now if you search for these things, you will only find, I believe, film cameras from yesteryear. There doesn’t seem to be any digital stereo cameras available. There are a couple of guys who have hacked together two digital cameras, but the hack is never simple and the mounting and alignment is never easy. Both lenses have to point at the same focal point out in space, or the pictures will look hokey–like mine!
