Mags and books

18 April

I find it strange that some issues of AP that I get are so good and interesting that I read everything in it, while other issues do not grab me so tightly. This week’s issue is of the second group. The letters page News Round-up pages are always well worth reading, in whatever magazine you are reading. The editor’s note is useful and on the same page is a fairly new column called Online Picture of the Week where one image posted on any of the AP website and pages. The Technical support section is like the mag itself; todays didn’t grab me. The review of the new Nikon D7200 was interesting but the Epsom SC-P600 wasn’t for me at all.

This situation happens in most, if not all magazines I suppose. The current issue of NPhoto that I am part way through, again it falls into the second group. Again I read the same sections as I do in AP, but there are a lot more and deeper ‘how to’ articles in there. The one I stopped at the last time I looked at it was Make a Magic Mirror (and Parry Hotter is not mentioned anywhere). The idea is to use a naked model holding a large mirror so as to give a bit more context to the surrounds of the shot. Looking at it again, I don’t think I shall be bothering with trying to it.

So last night I began reading the first of the Game of Thrones series. First impression is, hard work! Why I couldn’t keep my mind on what I was reading, it was time to stop; although it was tiredness that was causing it more than the story itself – I hope. £9 for a paperback that you can’t get on with is a bit much for me. If I do give up on it I have a lot of other books waiting to be read, so I’m not short of reading matter.

There was a question on Facebook this morning about CreateSpace, the Amazon self-publishing set up. I have published all four of my books using that platform. However, they demanded a US tax code number, and I have no idea how to get one. I also don’t see why I should do so. I live and work here in the UK, not in the States! The second issue with CreateSpace is the print copies of my books are printed in Charleston, SC. Delivery time is weeks, I got one in three weeks, simply because I can’t afford the shipping costs for the faster service. In reply to the question I explained all this and I hope it was useful. Now I’m starting to wonder whether I can get them printed here in the UK instead. Something to look into later methinks.

Returning to AP then, Roger Hicks has a weekly page where he writes about an old photo, pointing out the good bits and the not so good bits. This week he’s looking at a photo form the late 19^th century by SG Lee. It’s a portrait of boy of around eight or nine I suppose, dressed in a dress; yes a dress! Why did they dress their boys in dresses I wonder? So today’s photo is … My mother and two of her brothers, Charlie on left and Nut (George Gyndower Stanley), in the middle … 

I think, I’m not totally sure. You see, there is a lot of questions to answer in old photos.

Our Friend the Sage has been good to us again today …

An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn back into a beautiful princess and stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want." Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog - now that's cool."