Many of you will have noticed that this site has been down for the last few days weeks. Not good I know!

A nasty hacker attack was responsible and I was just too busy getting everybody else’s projects back up and running that this site lacked behind somewhat.

Anyway, a spontaneous day off is the perfect time to have my head filled with code and rebuilds – the result is here before you. We’re back up and running, better than ever at that! And boy have I got some stories to tell you.

New Servers

For starters, I’ve invested in three more servers: IO and HORATIO are my brand new content and database servers for the Guru Network speeding things along.

They’re 20x bigger and faster (and a LOT more expensive) than HUBERT and DREXEL whom I’ve outgrown after only 6 months of service. They deserve a rest and will be integrated into a load balancing cluster I’m currently working on, due later this year.

Server No. 3 is a dedicated box for my friends at Loft London who needed more space. As a little challenge to myself I’ve managed to integrate a funky script that displays the used/free space on that server as piechart diagramme. Check it out here – it works a treat!

Thanks to Rasmus Peters for script.

OSSEC HIDS

With 6 servers on my hands, it’s about time I keep a closer eye on what the Chinese Hacker Mafia are doing with their spare time.

I found a brilliant Log Monitoring System that will keep an eye on idiots attacking my servers. It’s called OSSEC and comes highly recommended by the fabulous folk at WordPress.org.

OSSEC is an Open Source project that detects and prevents unauthorised access attempts to my machines. It’s a little bit complicated, but in fact so good that I’d like to contribute to the project and update the web interface. It’ll be another challenge (if it doesn’t melt my brain).

Changes to versluis.com

While I had a look through this site, I realised that things are a bit too cluttered for my liking. Times have moved on since the last re-design, and I believe it’ll be more beneficial if I re-order some of the content that’s available here.

I have already started this by splitting things up into their own dedicated websites:

Miami Beach Huts and WordPress Guru are two good examples. I think the Lightpaintings Project needs a facelift too.

Hence, I’ll be moving the shop to Lightpaintings.net over the next few weeks.

This site will then become a collection of Lomographic work and Plastic Camera Reviews, with the occasional “can’t really classify into other things” type blog. I believe it’ll be better for readers to see a focussed project per website rather than a collection of seemingly unlrelated bits and bobs.

Arqiva Winchester

If I’m not hacking code on a level my brain can barely comprehend, I’m visiting the beautiful Hamshire countryside a lot these days:

Sport Five from Hamburg have me working several days a week at Arqiva Winchester monitoring several sporting events – mostly UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches. It’s really nice to see Arqiva from the other side, since we speak so often with the colleagues from IMG at weekends.

It’s quite nice to work for a German client doing UK based things – in 10 years of freelancing, my mother tounge was never an advantage in this job until now

Portal – Still Alive

Even though we thought it was impossible, Julia and I have just beaten PORTAL – Valve’s excellent first person puzzle shooter! We fell in love with it ever since we downloaded the demo sometime last year.

It’s the first ever “real” game we completed according to Xbox 360 standards (which means: get all achievements). Usually there’s always something impossible to get like “beat the game in record time with your TV switched off”.

I’m happy to hear that Portal 2 has been announced and will be out early next year. More fun and games for the entire family

Lomography Spinner 360

Thanks to Adam from the London Lomography Store, I did get my hands on one of the most obscure cameras I have ever seen. Had it not been for my scanner currently experiencing some problems, you’d be reading a thorough review of the Spinner 360 already – but I can’t evaluate the pictures just yet.

The “shutter” (read: slit) is always open and exposes the film as soon as you rotate the grip – which in turn takes a 360 degree panorama. It’s mindblowing stuff!

Coming soon to versluis.com – Scanner permitting!

Until next time – love and peace!

Elton John's "Songs from the West Coast" CD cover

Ever since I’ve seen Sam Taylor-Wood’s 360 degree medium format panorama series (title) I know that sooner or later I had to get my hands on one of those cameras.

At 1 picture per single roll of film, scanning would have been a nightmare – not to mention processing costs. Elton John’s CD cover for “Songs from the West Coast” is a good example of her work with this camera.

Pictures look other worldly, as if they are a never ending panoramic shot. They contain weird distortions that do not come from a fisheye lens. It’s like watching a Cinerama movie like How the West was won: I’m thinking of the end sequence of “modern times”.

It’s a shame that these cameras are so rare and exotic that it’s unlikely mere humans like myself would pick one up to play with. Ever.

Cut to July 2010. Enter Lomopgraphy and their new 35mm version of this beast: The Spinner! At £110 it’s not a toy – it’s a dream come true.

First I get the newsletter. Then Adam tells me about it. Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all, and maybe I will get to play in this lifetime.

Before I begin, let me say that my anticipation for The Spinner is in the upper echelons. It’s easy to get disappointed, so I’ll try to calm down. The last time I was this excited to get my hands on a camera was when the Zenit S3 Pro was on its way to my door – a camera that I meant to write a review about for nearly a year.

I remember the feeling of unboxing it. The feeling of holding it in my hands, and the clueless hours trying to work out how to use this thing. I’m looking forward to all this again with The Spinner. Seeing the first roll of film was breathtaking: what were clearly “normal photographic analogue pictures” had a subtext I hadn’t seen before in my work: Casually panoramic I’d call it. A bit like low quality Peter Lik. But I digress.

At the time of writing, I only have a few ingredients: the knowledge that The Spinner exists, a shop where to get it from, the desire to pick it up, the necessary cash, a fistful of film and a belly full of excitement. Weather isn’t on my side by the looks of it, so all I can do is think of some questions while I’m sitting on a train back home:

How many pictures could fit on a roll of film?

I can probably answer this myself with some thinking. If the Zenit S3 Pro has a 120 degree angle of view and produces a negative of 24x58mm, then we’re dealing with 24x170ish negatives in the Spinner. The S3 Pro takes 21 pictures, so that should be about 7 or 8 photos per 36 exposure roll.

How will it deal with exposure?

Probably by slowing down the rotational speed of the camera. It must rotate, and the film must be thread around a round inner film plate of sorts. A slit will produce the exposure. But how long will that take?

What Exposure options will I have?

Will it work indoors?

Is it made of plastic or metal?

How big is it? What’s the closest distance I can take a picture at?

What happens if I move the camera while taking a picture?

All will be revealed when I pick it up tomorrow – come rain or come shine.

… that it takes

• 15.500 litres of water to produce 1kg of beef?
• 2.700 litres of water to produce a t-shirt?
• 1.300 litres to produce 1kg of wheat?

WHOA! I know – it’s shocking to hear.

A new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering found that by 2030, we need 50% more food and and energy to feed the world due to a global population of 8bn people, along with an extra 30% of water.

Good luck finding that!

The report outlines that running the tab while we brush our teeth is not the hot issue (even though it’s important NOT); but the way companies flush our liquid gold down the pan is going to become problematic. The report shows ways for the world’s governments to react to the immanent water shortage, which will ultimately impact everyone’s life.

I know all this because I was working on a job for RIBA Enterprises, who are producing the NBS Learning Channels at MTV. We had both Peter Guthrie from the university of Cambridge and Michael Norton MD in the studio for a chat.

You can read the full report here:

Global Water Security – An Engineer’s Perspective

The MUC-OFF Bucket: contains everything you need to keep your bike clean

We’ve been to an amazing Basic Bike Maintenance course yesterday at the new Evans Store in Crouch End. They run every other week at many of their stores now and are completely free!

It’s well worth popping down to pick up some tips on how to keep your new bike up and running with a little TLC every once in a while. The tools you need are inexpensive and of course they’re available there and then.

Speaking of which, since Evans Crouch End is a brand new store, they’re running a 10% off campaign until the end of July – that’s for accessories and even FULL BIKES as well! Get the voucher here.

Can’t get to Crouch End but still want a discount?
Register for SkyRide and get 15% off accessories at Evans nationwide.

Enough plugging… here’s what we’ve learnt in the Basic Bike Maintenance course:

First things first

Mechanic's Stand for your bike - this one's £99 from Park Tool

I had never realised how much more convenient it is to work and check a bike when it’s on a proper mechanics stand. It makes the world of difference looking at your bike at eye level rather than hunched over or on your knees – not to mention that you can spin the pedals at all times. My next investment will have to be one of those.

The bike is held by its seat post and you can walk around it and look at ever part with ease. For about £90 it’s not the end of the world – and probably one of the most expensive bits of equipment for maintenance.

You also want to get yourself one of those multi tools sometimes known as a Leatherman. For about £10 an investment that should stay with you at all times – on and off the bike. Jason used mine the other day to repair a Digi Beta machine. Impressive!

Dirty Chains

Park Tool Chain Cleaner Kit: contains the Cyclone cleaning device, a bottle of citrus degreaser and a handy cassette brush to clean your sprockets

Your chain is arguably the one thing that gets used the most – apart from the tyres maybe. So it deserves much more care than I’ve ever given it a thought.

Let’s start with the most obvious observation: when your chain is dirty it needs a clean.

Dirty chains contain lots of sand and dirt, even grit and metal you may have picked up on roads you thought were fairly clear. You never know. Those bits grind the chain down over time and will cause damage to your sprockets.

The easy solution: clean it every once in a while. You can do this rather easily with a Park Tools Chain Cleaning Kit. You fill it up with degreaser, pop the chain in and turn your pedals back while the brushes on the inside do the hard work. Don’t forget a linen cloth to wipe off excess degreaser afterwards (that’s an old T-Shirt or a tea towel – but NOT a disposable kitchen towel because they’ll leave bits behind).

Use this "brush" to clean in between the sprockets of your cassette

Once the chain is cleaned, lube it with a thin coat of either wet or dry lube. DO NOT use stuff similar to DW-40 – apparently those things can get into the fine parts of your mechanics and drive the grease out over time.

Dry lube is much thinner but washes off quicker when it rains, wet lube is a bit thicker and stays on for longer in wetter weather. Dry lube repels dust and sand better though, while wet lube tends to pick up a lot of dirt in dry weather. So dry lube in the summer, wet lube in the winter. They’re both about £4 per bottle so maybe we’ll get both and test it out.

How to Lube your Chain

This is a good place to lube your chain at the top...

A classic rookie mistake is to put too much lube onto the chain. Like I do

All we need is a light coating on the top and on the bottom of the chain – above and below the rear derailleur. So get your bottle of lube out, spin the pedals backwards and apply one layer at the top. You’ll see where you’ve been (and if not, stop after about 3 full rotations of the pedals).

... and at the bottom. Rotate the pedals 2-3 times backwards. And don't over-lube!

Next do the same on the bottom where the chain leaves the rear derailleur and is being taken up again my the front derailleur. The cassette and sprockets don’t need lube, only the chain.

Once that’s done, leave it all alone for about an hour. Over time the lube will creep into every nook and cranny of the chain and the mechanics. If you’re in a hurry, you can cycle immediately. Just keep in mind that all kinds of rattling will disappear a bit later. Too much lube isn’t bad though, just be aware that it will just get sprayed all over your frame and you’ll attract more dirt.

Chain Wear

Did you know that your chain is subject to wear and tear? Of course you did. So did I – but I had no idea on how quickly a chain can wear out and what the consequences can be. Ciaran (the guy who ran the workshop) said he’s wearing his chains out every other week – and he’s only cycling 5 miles every day.

A worn chain isn’t actually noticeable to the naked eye, but once it’s worn out it’ll start wearing out the rear cassette and the front gears. Once those are down you’ll notice your gears start slipping (i.e. won’t go in anymore, even with properly adjusted derailleurs).

A Chain Checker will tell you when it's time for a new chain. They cost anywhere between £10 and £24.

How often you need to replace the chain depends on your personal riding style: when you’re hammering it down in a high gear, often standing on your pedals, you’ll put a lot of tension on your chain and it will wear out quicker. If you have a softer approach and you’re taking hills less aggressive it’ll last longer – it all depends on your riding style.

So how can you tell when a chain is wearing out? Well there’s this little gadget called a Chain Checker. It basically has two knobs that can tell over about 10cm how far your chain has drifted apart. If it’s more than 1mm it’s time for a new chain. I’ll have to get myself one of those.

With a Chain Tool you can open and close the links of your chain

If it’s time to replace the chain you can even do that yourself: all you need is a Chain Tool which lets you take your old chain off and screw the new one back on.It’s a rather simple tool that pops the pin out of a chain link and puts it back together afterwards. And all that for a tenner. Nice!

You also need a new chain that fits your bike too (obviously). You need the correct chain for your rear derailleur (if you have an 8 speed cassette you need an 8 speed chain, likewise if you have a 9 speed cassette you need a 9 speed chain and so forth – they vary in thickness you know).

I’m told they’re about £30 and come much longer than you probably need them to be. That’s a good thing! The thing to do is to count the links of your old chain and then shorten your new chain to that amount. Simply putting them next to each other won’t give you an accurate reading anymore as you can imagine.

Adjusting Your Brakes

Unless you’re using Hydraulic Disc Brakes, you’ll have cables that will go from your brake levers on the handle bars to your brakes. When you pull the brake, you stretch the cable. Over time it’ll get longer and no matter how hard you pull the lever you won’t get enough stopping power anymore. The same principle applies to your gears.

On the right you can see the barrel adjusters for the shifters (top) and the brake lever (bottom)

There are two ways to remedy that: for small adjustments, there are two little barrel adjusters on the brake levers. If you loosen those, you’ll tighten up the cable slightly and restore a bit of braking power. I’ve never noticed those before – now I see them on every bike I look at. Those are good for smaller adjustments, but as you can imagine you only have so much thread on the barrels.

Loosen the screw on the right, squeeze the brake together then pick up some cable slack.

The other way is to tighten the cable at the brake. Again that’s not as big a deal as it was 25 years ago when I had my last go at bike maintenance. Before you make any adjustments here, make sure you tighten the barrel adjusters (thereby loosening the cable as much as possible so that you have the most amount of adjustability later on).

Now comes the tricky part:

Push your brake together with one hand and loosen the cable with the other. You can squeeze the pads almost completely onto the rim, and when the cable is loose let go ever so slightly. Quickly tighten the cable and give your wheel a spin. If your brake pads are too close to the rim, just loosen the cable slightly with the barrel adjuster.

Adjusting you Gears

To adjust the rear derailleur, the screw with the cable sticking out is the one to loosen. Don't twiddle with any of the other screws!

The same principle applies as with the brakes: your cable stretches over time. Again you’ll find barrel adjusters either at the shifters on the handle bars, or you’ll find them further back at the gears. Use those for small adjustments and the cable tightening technique if you need to tighten the cable even more.

To see how much slack your cables have, you need to put the front derailleur into lowest gear (i.e. onto the smallest sprocket). That way the cable is most relaxed. The rear derailleur needs to be on the highest gear (i.e. also on the smallest sprocket) for the cable to be relaxed.

Again tighten your barrel adjusters as much as possible (thereby tightening the cable) and see if you need to pick up any slack. Test shift the gears (easy on a maintenance stand) and see if they go in with no hassle. If they slip, keep tweaking.

Conclusion

Well worth the effort. We’ve also covered how to fix a flat tyre (not covered here) and I was under the impression that any question would have been answered (including how to bleed disc brakes and other difficult subjects).

I reccommend attending one of those workshops yourself. You’ll get a lot out of this, and knowing these simple prodecures will keep your bike running much better and you don’t have to shill out on mechanics charges if you do this yourself.

Thanks Evans

Further Reading

• 16 Page Bike Maintenance PDF at the London Cycling Campaign

I’m having quite an exciting week when it comes to cycling: First I get ripped off with a rattling gearbox, then my brand new bike gets stolen, and yesterday my front tyre blew out on me unexpectedly!

The second patch... the first one didn't even make it

I was on my way home from MTV, riding up to Finsbury Park, when I heard a loud “pop” noise followed by a fairly loud and distinct “Pffffffff….” – the tyre was empty in about 10 seconds flat (see what I did there…?). What surprises me is that this came out of nowhere: no curbs, no potholes and I’ve even checked my tyres for debris and glass before I left.

Time for some serous investigating!

Since I’ve just had a bike stolen earlier this week, I didn’t want to take a chance and leave it at Finsbury Park overnight. Good timing too, because this was the one day I did not take my rucksack with goodies such as a pump and patches with me. Excellent! As Nicola said, the bike gods are not looking favourable upon me it seems.

Thanks to the quick release I could take the front wheel off, locked on the bike and wandered home – tyre and water bottle in hand. Not a problem on a sunny evening like this. I met a nice Nicaraguan gentlemen with a screaming child on my way who happened to be my neighbour, so I even had some nice company. It rarely happens in London that you just talk to someone you don’t know. Very nice!

At home I thoroughly checked the tyre for holes or punctures. Nothing. That’s suspicious.

I took the tube out and checked it: a huge hole on the INSIDE next to the valve was the culprit. But how? It’s protected by the rim, which was also smooth and clean. The size of that hole was huge too – directly on a rubber seam so very hard to fix if fixable at all. I tried it anyway.

While waiting for the rubber cement to harden I read what else it said on the tube. “Made in China”, that’s always promising, as well as “suitable for 26″ tyres / 1.75 to 2.1″. Wait a minute… my tyres are 26×2.35″ – they’re balloon bike tyres much WIDER than this tube is made for!

Let’s see here… (cut to flashback effect)

I remember having a slow puncture about 6 months ago. We were doing Milkshake at MTV one Wednesday, we finished early, it was raining heavily. I didn’t have patches or a pump, but Daniel lent me his kit and I tried to fix the tyre in pouring rain. Didn’t work, because I overlooked a piece of glass that was still stuck in the tyre – so I gave up and went round the corner from MTV to an independent bike shop on Kentish Town Road called Chamberlaine Cycles. Yes, I remember now… THEY put the tube in… THEY did… and they charged me £14 for it too!

(cut back to reality – with me holding the tube in my hands)

That's certainly not the right tube for my 2.35" wide tyres

I’ve been RIPPED OFF even before I knew it! My unlucky bike streak started six months ago! It’s a miracle that the tube held on for that long without popping earlier. Chamberlaine is another shop that goes on the Bike Shop Hall of Shame then. I remember that arrogant French Git in the shop too, who laughed at me when I asked him for disc brake cleaner. What a humiliating experience!

Should I go back and demand my money back, or at least a free tube that FITS my bike?

They’ll just laugh me out the shop. Have I got proof? I’m sure I could find the receipt. But then, I could have changed the tube many times over since. They’ll just say it’s wear and tear, or tell me “that tube is TOTALLY FINE for your tyres” while laughing behind my back. They’re all part of the Anti-Jay club, I know that type. I’d rather do nothing and get a little bit more depressed instead. I’m pretty good at that.

So anyway, I take that “now fixed” tyre and my pump and my rucksack and my lights with me, back to where I left the bike. Part of me was thinking that since this is undoubtedly my lucky week, my pink bike is probably not there anymore either. I had left it close to the Auld Triangle pub on the other side of the road. My face brightened up when I saw it still locked tight to that lamp post. Phew!

I fixed the tyre back to the bike, pumped up a little more air, and a little more, and a tiny bit more… when the patch blew again. “Pfffffffffff…..”

Trouble is that without any air in the tyre, I couldn’t even push my bike back home because the tyres were just flapping all over the place, coming off the rim and allsorts. I managed to half carry it to a more illuminated place at the dedicated brand new Finsbury Cycle Park. We’re talking 9pm here so it’s getting dark, and I could do with a bit of light. And quietness. The last thing I need is the attention from some lowlife trying to join me.

I ripped of that patch and tried again… not having eaten since lunchtime and running that little bit low on patience. It worked, and I decided to be really gentle with the air this time – I had already made up my mind that as long as it’s enough air to push my bike home I’ll be OK. I wouldn’t risk cycling back home (plus I still have ear ache from that rattling screwed up Sturmey Archer gearbox which apparnelty sounds so “perfectly normal” that I’m seriously considering some friggin ear plugs… NURSE, I NEED MY MEDICATION!!!)

I made it home for about 10pm for a cold beer and some beans on toast. What a life I lead!

On this note, I’ve decided that moping around isn’t going to to me any good, so I’ve ordered a BRAND NEW Scott Sub 30 Solution from Evans earlier today. Same one as before (aka “The Crime Victim”). Should be here in time for the weekend and ready for a trip to Chiswick on Sunday – when I’m sure I’ll have more tales to tell.

The place from which they stole my bike

Yesterday on the corner of Umfreville Road and Green Lanes, some Fucker stole my bike! It was three weeks old and I loved it. I bought it from Evans for £549 – not to mention accessories worth over £100.

I had lunch at Harran, one of my favourite kebab shops on Green Lanes and had locked it securely against a lamp post on the street corner using a Kryptonite Evolution lock and an additional Kryptoflex band. When I came back after an hour, all that was left on the floor was a piece of Velcro from the Kryptoflex.

Apologies for some bad language in this post, but I feel it best describes my reaction to this incident.

I haven’t seen anything unusual on this fairly busy and well lit street, apart from a “rag and bone” type van that was parked behind me. For a split second I was thinking, “these guys aren’t going to grab my bike while they’re at it, will they?” I didn’t get their registration of course. It probably wasn’t even them.

The only thing that's left is a piece of Velcro from the Kryptoflex cable. They must have cut that too - otherwise it wouldn't have come off

The guys from the off-license store on the corner didn’t see anything either. The police were very helpful and had a look for CCTV cameras around the area, but the only one available was on the other side of the bridge hence it didn’t see anything.

The bike was so new that I didn’t get a chance to note down the frame number – so chances of finding it and proving it’s mine are virtually zero. I wasn’t insured either because I was thick enough not to renew the house insurance (who would have probably told me that I didn’t tell them about the bike and wouldn’t have paid anyway).

My only hope is to convince the Kryptonite people, who offer an anti-theft warranty with the lock I bought (worth a maximum of £900). However I can just hear what they’ll tell me when I send them a piece of freaking Velcro as “proof that their lock failed”. Maybe I should save my energy and the postage.

I have never been a victim of crime before, hence I feel very weird about this whole thing. I keep asking myself “why did this happen?” and “why me?”, together with the usual ideas of “had I not gone to lunch that day…” or “had I parked that bike somewhere else” etc – which doesn’t get me anywhere.

It’s the thing that happens to “other people” – yet mentioning this to my colleagues I learn that bicycle crime in London is one of the most popular pastimes of the Lowlifes.

Test Ride: this was a couple of days before my birthday when I bought the bike

What’s also getting to me is the question “What to do next?”

Am I going to buy another bike? The same one again maybe? Park it in the same place, use the same lock and observe if some other Fucker comes along with bolt cutters? Maybe I’d smash that guy’s skull open and piss all over his pitiful excuse of a brain. That’ll teach him a lesson!

Or maybe I should go down to Brick Lane and buy it back for £200 – if I find it.

And what if I were to actually spot it? Would I call the police and tell them? Would everybody just laugh at me? How would I prove it’s my bike? And are those thieves celebrating their new acquisition, or it it just “another day at the office”?

It was a fairly unusual bike: light blue with white seat and handle bars, white rims, pink bell with blue stripes on the left hand side. It even had the brand new protection sticker on the top bar. My bike was a Scott SUB 30 Solution, and I’ve not seen another one like it on London’s roads.

And I had plans for it too: cycle to Camden twice this week, twice to King’s Cross with my wife so she can get the tube to work, and do a trip to Chiswick on Sunday. None of that is now going to happen now.

Meanwhile, my other bike has a rattling gearbox thanks to Sturmey Archer’s “new and improved” 8 speed hub – the SHITTEST you have ever heard. The old one couldn’t be repaired, but was completely silent before it broke after 8 only months of moderate use. This “new overhauled version” sounds like I’ve got a motorbike with a spanner stuck in the chain. It’s a slow bike compared to my stolen one, and it takes me twice the effort to cycle with it.

It’s not that I’m bitter or anything… I’ve just flushed £167 down the pan to “repair” my old bike, then went and spent £549 on a new one which some Fucker just stole from underneath my nose.

All in all I’m having a really great week!

So here are my choices:

• Get depressed and give up cycling altogether (makes me very sad and angry)
• Get a new bike and forget about the incident (makes me angry to spend the money, but happy to think of getting back on that bike, not to mention the happiness I’ll get while riding it again)
• Use my old bike and get really annoyed for the rest of the year (it would seriously make me mad to listen to that rubbish gearbox, and angry at the same time for having been ripped off by Finsbury-”we-haven’t-got-a-clue”-Cycles and Sturmey-”we’re-crap-and-it-shows”-Archer)

Rest in Peace, bike! I hope the Fucker who stole you dies a painful death very soon

After nearly a year, I finally found the time to get back to work on the Miami Beach Huts project.

Over the last weekend I’ve uploaded all our output to a shiny new website called www.miamibechhuts.com featuring a shiny new WordPress Theme. Each Beach Hut we shot is featured, with (often too many) supplemental images.

Finally!

I couldn’t believe how much time has passed since I’ve last updated the site. Life just got busy I guess and there was just no room for Beach Huts. But they’re back now, and swisher than ever might I add: all pictures are colour corrected and we can get to work on the book we always wanted to make. Once that’s done, we’ll look into exhibitions over here and abroad.

The website facelift and inspiration is partly due to an amazing WordPress Theme I found on Graph Paper Press. It’s called MANSION by Chandra Maharzan from Nepal, with some heavy amendments by myself aka The WordPress Guru.

MANSION was originally designed to work with landscape images. Because all the Beach Hut images are portrait, I had to do some serious tweaking – and now it looks like this theme was made for my project. I’ve explained how to amend the theme here.

Another factor that big contributing factor to getting involved with Beach Huts again is this: looks like we won an application for a Green Card. If we get it, it would mean we could move there for as long as we like, work permit and everything. I’ll tell you more about the details very soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the Miami Beach Huts

My "new used" telly

So I discovered this excellent Panasonic 15” flat screen CRT telly on top of my wardrobe. I hadn’t used it in a few years and had originally bought it for video editing as a third monitor on my desk.

Julia and I decided it would make a nice addition in our house in Birmingham, and should we ever get round to renting it out it would be great in one of the bedrooms. We postponed going up quite a few times though, so I took the TV out of my flat and put it in front of my door. There’s a landing where I put stuff from time to time.

The weeks pass, as they do, and on Tuesday something rather bizarre has happened: my upstairs neighbour took it upon himself to decide that my telly would be classed as RUBBISH… He took it downstairs and put it on the side of our house.

I live in Haringey, so it must have taken about 30 seconds until someone grabbed it. Now it’s gone forever, with only a remote on my desk to show for it.

I was literally gone for one hour while all this happened, because I remember clearly seeing the TV when I left the flat – and it was gone when I came back. Only one question springs to mind: WTF?

He bumped into my wife later that day and told her about “the incident”, being a tad apologetic about it. Apparently it by now it had occurred to him that I may possibly not share his view on my belongings being in need of immediate disposal. He kindly offered to replace the TV, should I “need it after all”.

You think I’m making this up, but the story gets better!

The only thing I have left from my old Panasonic TV: a remote control and a distant memory

I tried to speak to him the next day but didn’t catch him. Instead I left a message with his flatmate, who kindly passed the urgency of this matter on. Classy character – never shows a hint of emotion or interest in anything for that matter. Julia and I had planned to go to Birmingham this coming Monday for a dentist appointment when it’s Telly Transportation Time (not that it’s my neighbours business).

In the evening they both came round and my neighbour apologised. I explained the situation, however I wonder if I made it clear enough that there is difference between “mine” and “yours” and what these two words mean. After a brief discussion about the fact that some cash towards a new TV would probably be my preference, his flatmate decides that used CRT tellies are obsolete and readily available for about £10 on the high street.

Be that as it may, I have no interest in an item from a bargain crap shop. Giving me a “new used” telly is still missing the point that my neighbour effectively STOLE my property and threw it away. What kind of world are we living in?

Anyway, after arguing about screen sizes for a while we agreed that over the next few weeks we’ll come to some arrangement and the two of them went upstairs.  Julia and I didn’t think anything about the rattling upstairs that followed our encounter.

10 minutes later, there’s another surprise knock on the door. It’s my neighbour again with a remote control in his hand. Accompanied by the words “There you go – really sorry about this”, he presents a 22” Sony TV which is now in the same spot that my old TV was in before it was effectively stolen.

Now I find myself in the possession of a “new used” telly.

I’m rather speechless at this point.  All I can do is laugh at the situation. This is classic screwball comedy. Hollywood writers don’t come up with this stuff easily. It’s one of those moments that’ll one day make it into my blockbuster movie.

I should start writing the script soon…

UPDATE: The Story doesn’t end here

The REAL reason for my idiotic numbskull-neighbours TV disposal "accident"

A couple of days later my neighbour’s REAL reason for throwing out my telly becomes clear:

It’s summer, and it’s cycling time!

Now my front door is graced with a couple of (nearly identical) bicycles chained to the railing. Not that him or his boyfriend are actually using them – they’re just parked there now until 2045 I guess. What a frigging numbskull that guy is. I can just see our next chance meeting in the hallway:

“Hey you don’t mind about those bikes, do you?” – That’s when I get that big fat Crocodile Dundee Knife out of my rucksack. Or the sawn-off double barrelled shotgun. We’ll do both versions – that’s always good for the DVD audience. With a swift move I blast his private parts off (we’ll shoot this in slow motion). He looks down in complete shock and I smile at him.

In a distinct Horatio Caine like fashion I put my designer sunglasses on. My last words are “Maybe I do, Alex… maybe I do…”

It wasn’t enough that my 3yr old HP Pavillion Laptop stopped working the other day. I never liked it anyway so maybe it picked up a vibe there.

In an unrealted incident, my trusty hot-pink Saracen Pylon 4 had a gearbox problem this week – which means that the cycling trip with my wife is off this sunny weekend

Or is it?

While we’re choosing a new bike for Julia on Saturday, I may just treat myself to a spontaneous backup bike. Sam and Daniel from MTV are both in favour so that’s a good enough excuse for me

Having put deposits down at both Evans and the Cycle Surgery for Julia’s test rides, I’m now skimming through websites and catalogues to pick something a bit different from my current Hybrid Bike, featuring 2.5″ Big Apple Tyres and enclosed gearbox. It’s only 8 months old so I have no doubt Len from Finsbury Cycles will fix it (at some point – certainly not in time for this weekend though).

I had planned some serious cycling over the next few weeks and months, and this “accident” certainly threw a spanner in the works. Here’s what happened:

The “Incident”

I was on my way back home on Camden Road on Tuesday. Nothing unusual happened while I was riding (no potholes, no harsh driving or switching gears, no external shocks of any kind), but out of a sudden my twister-shifter spit out the end of the cable and the wheels blocked. The only usable gear was something low like 2nd, even though it was showing 4th.

Final Supper before "The Incident": Burger and Chips at The Earl of Camden. Maybe that "Meat Stack" was too high?

I continued my journey to the nearest Cycle Surgery in Highbury, filled with 4 blokes who didn’t look like working that day. “Yeah erm… it’s like hard to say what’s wrong with it – maybe we need to book you in for this” - And what’s keeping you, Dude?

“Could squeeze you in next TUESDAY“ – that’s like 7 days to get an answer as to what’s actually wrong with my bike. Cycle Surgery Highbury = Waste of Time.

It does depend on who you speak to though; we were in that shop a few days before and a few days after and people were very helpful on the other shift.

So I went back to Finsbury Cycles where I bought the bike from, with the spontaneous idea that this may even be a warranty issue. My man Len had a quick look and had an answer for me the next morning:

A new gearbox is needed which IS NOT covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Bo!!ocks! Apparently I won’t be able to prove that this was in fact a manufacturing defect and not “overusage”. Plus, Saracen have been taken over by a Shimano subsidary so they don’t want to know about a Sturmey Archer hub anymore. I’m happy to say though that Len agreed to do the fixing for free and only charge me for parts. That’s nice!

When exactly this new gearbox is going to turn up or how much it’ll be is yet unclear – but realistically it could be several weeks. And I’ve only upgraded to super ergonomic handle bars on Monday!

A day before I had just changed my handle bar ends from these standard round rubber grips...

... to these super ergonomic ERGON grips for £40. They're absolutely amazing and give you a much better grip on the bike, even though they make the handle bar slightly wider.

New Summer – New Bike

Inspired by Julia looking for a new bike that doesn’t give her back ache and strains every time she’s using it, I’m haging round bike shops quite a lot lately. Her current (10 yr old heavy steel frame) never was the right size. New bikes are swish and shiny and exciting, even though I don’t know what model to pick.

Oliver's new Sport Bike - he loves it!

My friend Oliver just bought a second bike, distinctly different from his “City Bike” with enclosed hub. He chose a Flat Bar Commute Bike for some exercise on flat roads, not for getting coffee in town. He says it’s very nice to have an alternative to a thick wheeled city cruiser.

But what shall I get for myself?

Will it be a road bike with proper racing bar? Nah, probably more like a flat bar machine. But that doesn’t come with disc brakes or carbon frame. And it should be light. And I don’t want do spend an arm and a leg.

Component Wishlist

• Carbon Frame or at least a Carbon Fork
• Hydraulic Disc Brakes
• Unpuncturable Tyres
• Flat Handle Bar or ergonomic “figure of eight” thing that Mark Beaumont uses (comes with the Koga Signature Series)
• It’s got to be comfy
• It’s got to be light
• Ideally matte black or a super funky colour

I keep asking myself: do I need new accessories as well – such as

• new lights (preferrably the same as my other ones so I can interchange)
• a new cycle computer
• a new bottle holder

There’s just too much choice on websites and in catalogues. Test riding is the way to go, which is how Julia arrived at her preference of the Globe Vienna bike. I quite like the look of the Trek 7.5 in bronze or black, but then there are hundres of others that are nice too.

Even though it’s annoying to make a big purchase when you don’t want to, I think it’s very exciting to think that I don’t need to sit and wait for my other bike to be repaired. I’m in charge of my own destiny, and I can bloody well choose how often I’m cycling – and if that means a second “backup-bike” then so be it. I’m sure it’ll come in handy in the future.

I’ll keep you posted when I’m back on another bike tomorrow

UPDATES:

• The new hub gear for my Saracen is going to cost £167 and should be here next week
• I’ve test ridden the Cannondale Bad Boy at Evans… it’s AMAZING (and £899)

Pinkstone Pictures, Ltd - live long and prosper

After 10 years of trading with Pinkstone Pictures I’m converting the business into a Limited Company. I’ve been putting this off for years, but tax implications give me the nudge to “get on with it.

Let me explain all the pros and cons, why I’m doing it and what’s changing in my paper trails with HMRC for tax and VAT returns.

I’ll update this article as I go along with this adventurous journey

I founded my sole trader business Pinkstone Pictures UK in June 2000 as a vehicle to start freelancing in the broadcast industry. It’s been going well and my (then) accountant recommended I keep an eye on my turnover: should it ever reach £60.000 or more I could make a significant saving in taxes by trading as a Limited Company.

Back in those days companies didn’t have to pay tax on the first £10k profit, a loop hole that’s been closed in 2006 – shortly after I founded my limited outfit Pinkstone Pictures Ltd. I had crossed the turnover threshold by then and had intended to use the new company for my broadcast work and many other projects i had diversified into. With the potential savings gone, and us withdrawing from high-profile art installations due to time constraints, I carried on being a Sole Trader until now.

Turns out that one of my biggest clients had a visit from HMRC about employment grades and which of those should be taxed at source. Unfortunately many of the TV jobs are not recognised as such by HMRC which means instead of gross payment, IMG would have to start deducting tax from now on.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing though since we all have to pay tax at some point. I’d still end up paying the same amount to HMRC and I’d never get to the point where I’ve already invested the money that I owe them… not too bad a deal then.

But my colleague Paul Weston from MTV knows a bit of a horror story to tell:

He had already paid many years worth of tax to the Inland Revenue back in the days, and because of a paperwork mix up at their end, they wanted him to pay those taxes again! I figure once they’ve got it, it may be more difficult to get it back than to keep it in the first place and only pass on to them what I’m owe.

Trading as a Limited Company has another benefit of course: “me” and “the company” are two different entities now, which wasn’t the case before. That’s where the word “limited” really makes sense: beforehand, if someone had sued the pants off me, my house/car/dog/wife would be classed as “collateral” and potentially be taken from me. A Limited Company however can only be taken to court over its own assets. In my case, that’s not a lot.

The downside of trading this way is the lack of “grey area” which there is now.

Say I buy a camera via the company then it belongs to the company. Strictly speaking, I can only use it for company purposes, not for personal things. That’s true for anything you buy through the company, like a car, laptop, work clothes, etc.

If you use your company assets for a personal engagement (say going shopping in your company car), then you’ll have to hire it from the company… it can get difficult, which is why I’m meeting my new accountant Mark Norden next week to discuss the ins and outs in detail.

My benefits certainly are lower tax payments if my turnover keeps growing and my personal assets are protected in case something goes horribly wrong. I’ll also be able to trade under different names (i.e. Pinkstone Pictures trading as Guru Hosting) which wasn’t possible before. And I’ll be paid gross without there being a PAYE discussion with any of my clients, past present or future.

However, I’ll have to do quite a bit to make that all happen:

• I’ll have to open a new bank account as I can’t convert the old sole trader account unfortunately due to the “separate entity” business. I’ll have to tell every client not to pay the old one anymore. And of course make sure that new account is linked to PayPal and my online banking.
• I’ll also have to transfer my VAT number over to the company, which is straightforward – but yet another form that needs to be filled out (and can’t be screwed up).
• In the future I’ll have to file TWO tax returns instead of one (for me and the company seperately) and I’ll have to work out some kind of salary scheme. And I mustn’t forget to file an annual return with Companies House, which means my earnings are now public property.

I’m sure it’ll be much easier in practice than it appears right now in theory, so I’ll keep you posted as to how I get on. Until then, it’s Business as Usual here at Pinkstone Pictures

To give you an idea of how long this process takes, I’ve given dates where available. As I said, the company is already in place since 2006 and I sem to remember it took only one week from registration to receiving the Certificate of Incorporation from Companies House.

17/05/10

Speaking to HMRC (aka The VAT Office) I understand I need to fill out the following forms:

• VAT 1 to apply for VAT registration and
• VAT 68 to transfer my current Sole Trader VAT number over to the Limited Company.

Both forms can be found on the HMRC Website and can be printed out and sent off by snail mail. They also need a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation from Companies House.

18/05/10

Just came back from a meeting with Spencer at Nat West in Camden, who is now my new business manager. Hurra! I can’t tell you how much it bothered me that my old business account was at the Peckham branch – it’s really hard to get to now that I live in North London.

He needed literally no information from me because I’m an existing customer and had prepared all the research on the company (current and future)so it was a quick and chilled meeting over coffee. Loving this new “Director of a Company” business.

I’m getting a shiny new business account as well as a tax saver account all for free until we decide my current sole trader account is ready for closure (probably within 3 months). On the new account, my bank charges will be 60% LOWER than on the current one – it’s a special “online” trariff for existing companies. Instead of £10 a month it’ll be more like £3.75. Sweet!

However, it turns out that the name Nat West have on file for me is not the same that I’ve opened the Limited Company under. Ugh… it’s that “Jay” vs. “Jörk” scenario again.

So I’ve emailed Companies House to see if we can amend the name there, othewise I’ll have to amend my official documentation… that’ll be a brain teaser all by itself – let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Meanwhile, I’ve received some forms to fill out about that pesky Letter of Authority from the HMRC Film Unit. Reading questions like “what’s in your office” and “please list EVERY engagement that you had between last May and April this year” (that’s about 200 individual days of work) just to be paid gross, I’m glad I’ve decided on the Limited Company thingy.

18/05/10

Just filed Companies House Form No. CH01 – “Change of Director Details”. Apparently the last return was filed by one “Jay George Versluis” (yeah right!) – maybe George is a phonetic misspelling of Jörk perhaps? My correct name should show on thier system within 2 working days.

This needs to go on my list of popular misspellings for sure

I’ve already mentioned this to some of you, but here’s the official release. Last week I introduced a new server to the Guru Network: DREXEL – my THIRD web server in only 18 months!

With it I’m building a dedicted hosting infrastructure optimised for self-hosted WordPress sites. Depending on how well it’ll go from here, I’d like to grow the Guru Network into a multi-server environment across the world similar to that of Automattic and WordPress.com.

It all started with a virtual server called VERSLPZY in 2008 which I outgrew almost immediately due to higher than anticipated traffic on my sites. A virtual server is cheaper than a dedicated server because providers can use one physcal server and split it into 10-20 “virtual copies”. It was great to get started but thousands of hits a day across my then 10 sites was just too much for him.

Six months later I grudgingly invested into a dedicated server (HUBERT) who would take over operations on his own, while VERSLPZY would become a backup and development server. HUBERT was only going to be worth his money though if I could re-sell some of his resources.

To my surprise many of my friends and colleagues needed a WordPress site and I was more than happy to help them out – which makes HUBERT work harder than expected so he can pay for his home in an air conditioned rack somewhere in Slough. In fact, he paid for himself very soon.

Fast forward to last week when I wanted to bring more redundancy and speed to the table. Meet DREXEL, my third server only 6 months later, who will split the workload with HUBERT. All database queries will now be sent to DREXEL, while HUBERT can focus on serving static content. Heavy traffic on more than one site at a time can be difficult for one server alone, so now HUBERT has a little friend to help him out.

DREXEL is already implemented across all sites so you’ll immediately enjoy the benefits of a more responsive WordPress Back End as a side effect, as well as slightly faster page loading times.

Sweet!

My plan from here is to build a dedicated hosting network for WordPress sites with a similar infrastructure as WordPress.com (they however are using one WPMU install, and I want to bring the advantages to multiple self hosted WP sites). Expansion plans include multiple database servers across the globe as well as localised content servers with high availability, load balanced servers with live failover redundancy spread over multiple data centres.

No other hosting provider does this currently, so maybe I’ve found a gap in the market here. We’ll see how it goes – I’ll keep you posted.

Until then: Peace and Love from the WordPress Guru!

OK this one makes me feel a little bit home sick actually… sniff! Spot the deliberate grammatical mistake though: “wurst” already means “sausage” (or “turd”, depending on the context).

Not my favourite flavour of the bunch, even though Julia loves it to bits and has already voted for it. Did I mention you can do that for free via text message? Yes yes yes – all sponsored by O2.

Anyway my verdict is 32 thumbs up – it is a nice crisp flavour, and it is fairly authentic compared to the real thing (i.e. Bratwurst).

Could do with a hint of mustard I reckon.

Here are all the packets we’ve found so far:

[ Funky Slideshow ]

Walker’s have done it again: create a range of brand new Limited Edition flavours just in time for the World Cup Football Qualifiers. And what would this series be without them?

We discovered 8 flavours at the Oxford Service Station and we’ll give you a rundown of them all. To kick off this leg of the series, we’ll begin with American Cheeseburger Flavour.

Seriously, I haven’t got a clue what’s going on in that flavour lab – but this is by far the most authentic taste I have ever had. Not the taste of potato of course, but of real cheeseburger.

If you ever had Johnny Rocket’s burgers in the US, this is what it tastes like.

Even though Julia disagrees, for me this one gets 47 thumbs up for authenticity. Which isn’t to say that this is what I want out of a crisp all the time.

Bring on the next packet: German Bratwurst Flavour

Today is a very special day for various reasons: not only has my Polaroid 600 Extreme camera arrived (the one I bought for £2.50 off eBay). Also, both me and my wife are off together – it rarely happens these days. That alone was reason to celebrate.

But more importantly: The Impossible Project have today released their brand new PX600 Silver Shade Instant Film which is made for just these cameras! I put an order for 12 packs in immediately and can’t wait to give it a try.

In the meantime however, I pondered over the question “does the PX100 work in Polaroid 600 cameras” or rather “does an SX-70 film work in a Polaroid 600 camera” as discussed in my previous post.

I’m happy to say that YES IT DOES – with a minor modofication to the camera.

Let me show you the results and talk you through my experiences with this exciting new material.

The Polaroid 600 Extreme

Camera: £2.50 - Film: £20 for 8 exposures. Ouch!

As I said, £2.50 for my very first Polaroid camera was a bit of a bargain. It even came in its original box and looked brand new to me – even though the rollers inside gave reason to believe it’s seen some use in its time. According to the box it was built in February 1998 in the UK (Vale de Leven, Dumbarton in Scotland to be exact) under license by the Polaroid Corporation in Cambridge, MA (USA).

It’s much bigger than I remember my parents’ Polaroid and I can’t help but feel reminded of my Holga cameras: we’re dealing with a pretty ugly hunk of black plastic here, cheap plastic lens, ridiculous “close-up” slider and a lighter/darker feature which obscures the light meter with a piece of striped plastic (or doesn’t – depending on where you slide it).

I think the seller told me it was £29.99 when it came out so that’s pretty much the price of a Holga too. Great – I love it already, and it’ll feel right at home in my collection!

PX100 Silver Shade First Flush Edition

Trouble is that the Impossible film pack I’ve bought the other day is not made for this camera, but for Polaroid SX-70 models. From what I’ve learnt however the only difference is the film speed: PX100 has 100 ISO and my camera is expecting a 640 ISO film.

Light Meter gets ND2 shades

Easy solution: tape a piece of ND filter over the light meter and be done with it. I’ve used one that darkens incoming light by 2 stops. That should do the trick.

All that’s left is to pop the film in and see if it fits. Listen carefully:

YES IT DOES!

The limited edition darkslide pops out just as expected, so the camera works too. That’s another load off my mind. Just one more thing perhaps: I’m shooting on First Flush batch no. 43 here

Next thing to do of course is hand the camera over to my wife and have her take a picture of me (see below).

Let’s see some pictures

Be my guest! I only had one single pack of PX100 because I didn’t know if anything would come out, so 8 exposures were all we had to test this puppy. On a fairly sunny day with spots of overcast-ness (if that is a word) we took a stroll in the afternoon through the hood and here’s what we shot:

Julia took this first shot of me proudly holding my first ever Limited Edition Darkslide. Shot with flash in front of a sunny window.

My first shot, flash fired, close-up lens used. It's indoors without artificial lights. I think some Flash wet wipe cleaner was still on the rollers hence the smudge on the left. Dark parts of the picture have turned orange, which didn't come out in the scan. Interesting!

Out of the window, the sun is to the right - no flash. This shot looked hopelessly over-exposed before the scanner got to work. Notice the way the white frame got colour corrected - that gives you an idea of how much adjustment was involved. You couldn't make out clouds in the middle of the picture, and the trees were a light grey.

Outdoors without flash. Again this looked over-exposed when I took it. Notice that smudge on the bottom right? I've applied a bit of pressure here with the back of a pen about 30mins after this was taken.

Julia took this one. Again it came out too bright - had it not been for my scanner (well done, Epson). The sun was behind us.

This was in bright sunny conditions. That convenient store was screaming to have its picture taken. Came out too bright again. But when the scanned result looks like this - do I care?

Final picture in the pack - back home, indoors with flash and close-up slider. I used an ND1 filter this time, which didn't really make a big difference.

My first Limited Edition Darkslide - it'll probably be the first of many. Impossible currently have 61 with different little quotes on them and have promised to commission others in the future. What a cool idea!

Conclusion

Just like the man said on the Impossible website, PX100 is very sensitive to light, especially too much or too little of it. The fact that I’ve not used it in the camera it was meant for probably didn’t help matters, conversion filter or not. But here’s what I’ve noticed:

• Indoor shots with flash seem to work better than outdoor shots without. That’s weird because all my other plastic cameras love the outdoors.
• Outdoor shots in strong sunlight come out over-exposed. You can hardly make out detail, yet the PX100 seems to capture it. If I get my hands on a 2nd pack (possibly tomorrow) I’ll replace my ND filter with a 1 stop instead of a 2stop, or try a shot without it altogether. Also there’s of course the light/dark slider that can be messed with.
• We strictly adhered to the developing instructions (i.e. temperature, shield from light, etc) – apart from one picture we messed with which didn’t come out at all. Interesting so see something like white wall paint on the inside of the PX100
• We didn’t have enough material to experiment with and go wild – but I understand there’s a lot of potential for manipulation (i.e. hair dryer, fridge, sharp objects etc)

These scans look much better than the originals I have to admit. I haven’t deliberately photoshopped them, but have set my scanner to auto-correct (it’s an Epson V750 with Silverfast AI). Therefore, contrasts are much harder in the scans. Pictures that I thought were very overexposed actually came out dramatically well. Bear this in mind if your eyes are not overjoyed with the results you get. Unless you intend to frame the original Polaroid you needn’t worry: there’s a lot more in them than the eye can see, like in a slide or negative.

This is what the actual pictures look like, before my scanner got to work.

I’ve noticed some stronger development on the outer 5mm of the picture. You can see this well in some over-exposed scans above due to applied colour correction. I don’t know if this is a Polaroid tradition but I can imagine it is – similar yet less pronounced artefacts are visible in some of our Fuji Instax Shots.

The only real trouble we encountered were tiny white spots on some dark parts of the pictures. I understand this is an issue with dirty developing rollers, even though I have cleaned them several times already. They feel completely smooth now, even though they don’t look it. Is this normal? Is this my camera? Is it the emulsion?

My two cents: I love this film! Black and white Polaroids are one thing – but if you get warmish colours like these, a great exposure latitude (visible after scanning), soft contrasts and living breathing pictures, you bet every analogue photo lover’s heart skips a beat. All that from your old Polaroid camera at an instant? It’s too good to be true.

Florian, I bow before you and your team in deepest awe for having pulled this project off. I know you’ve made me and 300 million Polaroid cameras very happy. You have managed to connect me with a medium I thought had gone before I’ve even discovered it.

I know you have planned a lot for the Impossible Project and I’m already looking forward to see your next emulsion, and shooting some PX600 in the meantime.

Thank you for your hard work!