8 posts tagged “photograph”

Disqus is the latest site I managed to find a bug with (sigh).
   I have tried to upload an avatar to it. Now, I am pretty sure I had my photo set in Disqus a long time ago, but the site seems to have forgotten that setting and put me on to the default.
   Not a problem: let’s try reloading one.

Based on my experience, getting to this screen is a 2 in 4 chance. But that’s all right: maybe we can put the two failed attempts down to timeouts and other internet issues. I’ve now highlighted the part which I want on my avatar. I click ‘Save changes’.
   There is a 2 in 7 chance that I will get to the next screen, which confirms that the photo is saved. (The other five times, I was taken back to the screen that I had before this, with the old avatar in place. Reloads would not change it.) But on those two times, what’s happened? Did I ask Disqus to squash the photograph?    I don’t know how these websites work. I suspect there is a magic Harry Potteresque sequence of words I have to mumble while drinking spirulina to get the photograph right, which I utter while pressing the ‘Save changes’ button with my little right toe.
   Friends joke that I have a Frank Spencer reaction to computing (and I encourage the jokes, because I find it funny). But I also argue that I am doing what everyone else is doing, but that the sites themselves are imperfect and untested. The difference is I am less willing to tolerate it when websites go buggy, and I expose the errors. (I know our own sites are imperfect, too, but at least we believe people when they alert us.) And since support staff no longer listen to complaints (note: I have not told Disqus of this error yet but their instruction page is a bit hopeless), I use blogging to vent.

Normally I don’t get excited about sci-fi but this intrigues me:

    I am a Willis fan and seeing Rosamund Pike in this helps, too. She’s a real doll.

After chatting with Pete about Von Ryan’s Express and the late Adolfo Celi on his blog, I found this photograph:

The library does not give a caption other than ‘Sergio Fantoni, Frank Sinatra and Adolfo Celi, Von Ryan’s Express, 1965’ but an appropriate one might be, from Signor Celi, ‘Hey, Sergio, can you lend me your eye patch for my next film?’
   If he didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have had Emilio Largo in Thunderball:
which in turn means we would not have had Number Two in the Austin Powers films:

My friend Andrea sent me the following image as a ‘How cute’ animal email, but the first thing I noticed was: darn, these Russians are rich. Check out what’s in the parking lot.
   A far cry from the days of Shigulis and Volgas.
   But, at the same time, sad for the Russian motor industry that all of those vehicles are imports.

[Cross-posted] I know some readers are fascinated about how a cover takes shape at Lucire. Again, before these go into the archives, we present the making of the shoot from issue 24.

Make-up with Emma Foley

Photographer Kelly Thompson discusses the shoot

Vanilla works on the hair

Thompson shoots Kenzy Cheeseman

   If you have been following this blog, then you’ll recognize Kelly Thompson’s name as the illustrator who exhibited her Women of Your Dreams works at Good as Gold last week. The exhibition is still on for those in Wellington, down at Good as Gold in Victoria Street.

Credits for ‘Hypnotize’
Photographer Kelly Thompson
Stylist Laura Ming-Wong/sweetCHILLI
Hair Vanilla
Make-up Emma Foley/Vanilla
Models Emma Weenik/Clyne, Zippora Seven/Red 11, Kenzy Cheeseman/the Agencie
Stylist’s assistant Ephrem Hannah
Assistants Lucy Aitchison, Alex Bull

At the risk of this becoming the unofficial Laural Barrett website and blog, my colleague Kip Brook in Christchurch sent the above photograph to me and gave me his permission to republish. I am not sure of the event, but we can safely say Ford and Adidas are involved. Red is the colour of the local rugby team, the Crusaders. Focus, Jack, Focus. I’m waiting for Kip to get back to me about what Fiesta this was, and whom Escorted Laural there. It looks like a Popular event and one worth Escaping to.

PS.: From Kip:

The Crusaders presented Laural a jersey signed by Dan, [R]ichie and the boys to go to a big [charity] auction at the Miss Uni pageant in Mexico next month. The guy in the photo is Crusaders marketing manager Tim Blake and the other woman is Crusaders promotions manager Brooke Freeman.

Yay, I got my new publicity photo today! Doug Rimington took this, rather late last Sunday. And if you think I look weird, it’s because the Audi Allroad’s very nice leather seats are not made for this pose. My head seems a bit far forward on my torso, like Larry King’s.
   I think it is better than the ones where I am driving the Aston Martin V8 Vantage or the Mercedes-Benz S500 from last year, that the mainstream media almost never touch. Finally, I might have a photo to replace the oft-used ones of me from 2001 and 2003.
   Sending this image off to Brigid. Hopefully the stubble is not a turn-off.

Finally, instead of a magazine cover, a search for my name on Google Images returns a picture of me. Those surprised by their results last month during a Vox Hunt might find things have changed.