Gated Community

"Gated Community" står ju egentligen för ett annat "fenomen", men jag tyckte att bildtiteln ändå kunde passa här eftersom det ändå är vid gaten...

- Väntan på avgång från Flughafen Wien-Schwechat till Stockholm ARN på valborgsmässoafton den 30/4, stränga restriktioner om andningsskydd gällde fortfarande! 

För mig var detta en mellanlandning och transfer från flighten från Hamburg, där ännu de allra sista dagarna av munskyddlagen gällde. Kl. 00:00 på måndag morron 2/5 skulle den restriktionen där upphöra...men kom då Tyskland att vakna upp till ett helt nytt "paradis" den morronen?? Vid tolvslaget infann sig ett helt nytt, fritt Tyskland??

Inte ett uns av flexibilitet eller tillmötesgående noterade jag de tre dagarna jag var i Hamburg - trots att jag hade fått 4:e sprutan och ett covid-test gjort i Hamburg den 28/4 visade negativt resultat!

Jag hade svårt att få luft med munskyddet tight påsatt, jag med min KOL-diagnos från förra året. Ett enda undantag från den hårdnackade inställningen mötte jag: En dam som jobbade vid flygplatsens info-desk, som jag flåsande frågade om hur långt jag hade kvar till min gate, sa generöst på eget initiativ att jag kunde gott och väl ha munskyddet nere om halsen!!

Nåväl, min kortsemester i Hamburg var ändå en positiv upplevelse totalt sett (som vanligt - jag brukar åka dit i a f en gång om året) och bl a jazzklubben Birdland, Gröninger Privatbrauerei, diverse fotoaktiviter och förstås besök hos företagen Meister Camera, Wiese Fototechnik mm.

Den sistnämnda är enligt uppgift från "vanligtvis välunderrättad källa" Hamburgs i särklass bästa kameraverkstad för Leica, Rollei, Sinar etc...

Bilden ovan är den sista på rullen Fomapan 200, den första som jag har provat av detta fabrikat. Jag framkallade i purfärsk D-76 1+1, vid 21° enligt Massive Dev Chart-appen,  och jag är klart impad av detta första försök. En av de första bilderna på rullen, dvs "Colonnaden" blev likaså en positiv överraskning, med bra teckning i skuggor osv. Jag kommer helt klart att prova Fomapan 200 igen! 

Måndag morron, en ny vecka har vi framför oss - fylld av nya möjligheter!! Lev väl och fotografera mera!! 

/Börje 

The (Lullaby of) Birdland Jazz Club again..."Ich bin ein Hamburger"

”Hello Music Lovers...” was back in the days, the first you would hear after the opening signature jazz piece had faded out…the familiar, since a long time back subdued whiskey tinted voice of Leif ”Smoke Rings” Andersson  greeting you, always on late Sunday evenings on the steam radio, when I was just a young and inexperienced ”jazz rookie”.

That voice has, sad to say, faded out to infinite silence long ago, but he is well in memory among all us moldy, grey and probably dusty old Swedish jazz freaks. 

But nowadays our ”hearing aid paraphernalia” is technically top class, as always!

Why these retrospective sad thoughts now…?

- Well, yesterday nite, when I was younger and happier than I have been for a long time…, it was the greatest jazz nite Iv’e had for several years! As a matter of fact, I was last nite in Birdland, Hamburg.! The famous  NY jazz club Birdland has evidently a little satellite in Hamburg…by the same name!

This visit at the small, close & intimate jazz club, with seating capacity for 100-150 hungry-for-jazz souls - (apparently also starved for live jazz music during two tough covid-pandemic years, like many of us), was a treat from my dear german friend Jan, who invited me there.

What a great place! What a feeling, great impressive acoustically, and it also superbly lit, made me feel fully at home there in an instant!. Our reserved seats, at the rear of the small stage was not bad at all,  once the musicians got started! And a glass of wine to go with it, was just the perfect setting!

The band for the nite was the fairly new Canadian group, vocally led by the quickly rising star Ms. TIA BRAZDA, and her supportive and inspirational group with Alex Bird at the piano, Alex Bird on base, the drummer Alex Bird, trumpet & flygelhorn (?) player Alex Bird,  and the the eminent guitarist Alex Bird. _{*footnote: I didn´t catch the names of the various musicians, but I believe that one of them was the magnificent Alex Bird....sorry to have failed concerning their names! That´s why I named them all Alex Bird, they were all just great musicians!} 

TIA BRAZDA, the vocalist for the evening was, who have had a pause of a couple of years since her latest stage appearance, and now this gig in Birdland Hamburg was her first in two years. She is fr.o.m. Vancouver BC and Toronto Ontario, and the other band members come e.g also from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Nelson B.C (the drummer had in his early years lived in the Nelson area!). This dream team - a ”six-pack” that was definitely shaped in just my favorite jazz group design! And Tia’s interpretation of Charlie Chaplin’s  well-known “Smile” with that sensitive backing, really brought about a “wee (small) tear” into my eye!

All young musicians - one would of course have expected that given the occasion and the location, ”Lullaby of Birdland” would have been a natural (and prepared) closing number for this enthusiastic Hamburg audience - but, as their answer to concerning my humble request to perform that “jazz standard” was, it was sadly not possible that night - due to a pre-rehearsed "playlist" - a fully acceptable reason! 

Only warm and feelings just the same - I get happy as a child when I hear such good jazz music!

The covid virus safety measures that had been taken by the club management, impressed me as the careful Swede I am, i.e. a careful check of mandatory virus vaccination certificates, and ID-proof for each visitor,  must definitely have contributed to the fantastic  open and  intimate air there and then. Personally I was indeed relieved to be able to place the tedious-to-wear breathing mask in my pocket for a few hours!

Summary:  A really great night - do follow them to Berlin for their next stage appearance within short - you definitely won’t regret it, I promise you!

Lovingly yours, _{(what words did Leif ”Smoke Rings” Andersson close his radio sessions with? - I can´t remember!)}

signed Börje Norhager from Östersund ("the Biathlon WC’s Capital"), SWEDEN

Lullaby of Birdland

My first WAXHOLM visit - in the winter!

Image # 1 The Waxholm Fortress, 16th Century, so far never conquered by Russians! 

I might be surprising you by writing this blog in the English language for a change - it is just to make it a more easily "digestive" for dear relatives and friends in other countries and continents... 

The subject for this essay is, as the headline indicates, that in the normally coldest and darkest season there, a spontaneous trip to the well-known seaside resort Waxholm happened to take place on the 16th of January this year 2022.

"Hm...why in the winter?", you probably think.
Well - the immediate answer is of course - "why not"?

I´ve never been there before - it was about time now, and to be guided there by the eminent "ZeroEight" Tommy Lyngborn who is my best photography- and  traveling buddy (in addition to have the chance to meet up there in Waxholm with yet another analogue-photo freak like Tommy and me - who actually lives out there in Waxholm!) was something I hadn’t expected to be that exiting as it actually was! 

Prospects were surprisingly good - although we did not experience the nice weather that we had in the City of Stockholm on the day before. Gray, overcast, a little chilly (almost freezing) and fairly windy, (i.e.  "the 1/50 bl 5,6 milde-Sweden-weather") and the Sunday started out by getting us out there to Waxholm by a steamer, one of the famous shipping vessels (practically a type of "commuter ships", which the Vaxholm ships today are - a classical passenger shipping line with an extensive and interesting history, going back probably a hundred years or more!!)  

Image #2 A modern "Waxholmsbåt" - this is m/s Nämdö, they all have names that directly refer to the this part of the Stockholm archipelage

I started out with the train trip to Stockholm on the early Friday morning in January - the Östersund weather had been stable and fine for a few days, not much snow, so I thought that walking down to our railway station in Östersund would be easy, not having to have a full arctic winter outfit since I was going to travel light this time - pandemic and all. So a light rucksack and the aircraft-cabin bagage-sized wheeled suitcase would be quite enough.

Image # 3 Not yet really awake on the train...

Getting up that morning at 4:00 a.m., I looked through the window and saw that 6-8" of fresh snow had fallen - "no, I won´t rearrange my baggage...it couldn´t be that bad to walk downhill to the station even if it has snowed some".  I actually had to carry all my luggage - the snow was too deep and mushy for the small suitcase with wheels I have, but I got there to the train in time - however not quite effortless!!

Image #4 "We up here in Jämtland are so used to snow, that some snow on walkways are always a "walk-in-the-park..." This is the place where I live...the photo was taken through my living room window.

I arrived in Stockholm C towards noon - a nice trip, very few other travellers most probably because of Covid restrictions...a face mask was recommended, only every other seat was bookable, but no hugging or close contact with strangers etc was allowed. Fine with me! I never was much for hugging strangers anyway!

Image #5   Rödabergsbrinken, the small local street (inserted view) where my aunt lives in a small but comfortable flat, and the bigger picture is a part of the neighborhood "Vasastan" which has always been very attractive to live in...

Rumour has it, that high up in one of the two towers, the famous Zlatan Ibrahimowicz had one of his apartments - the price level for a high class penthouse up there is assumed to be about 70 million SEK! 

As soon as I arrived, I took the Subway to "the Red Mountains", i.e. in the Vasastan quarters, where my aunt Agda has her apartment. A perfect location for this senior citizen´s somewhat suspicious adventures (me), occurring repeatedly in our Capital - "Auntie" Agda has access to a small single bedroom guest flat, at a very attractive price - and that alternative to a hotel room is always very comfortable and practical for me, as well as it is nice for her to now and then have her nephew visiting nearby for a couple of days.

She is in good health, knows that part of Stockholm well, and she is since many years very active and successful with her genealogy research - our ancestry both in Sweden and overseas , and then we can easily "indulge" in some of our common interests. Her baking skills have also really impressed me several times! Not the least to mention, her the delicious "Apfelstrudel",  the Austrian dessert speciality served warm with vanilla sauce as you well know. 

Image #6 My "Landlady" for the weekend - Auntie Agda, who is very dear to me - and a great "Apfelstrudel" baker! This photo was taken with my old artifact camera - "the one I tried to sell to Tristin",  see Image # 16 below!

Image #7 Another famous view over Stockholm, from "Söders höjder" overlooking the water.

My plans for the Friday were, as agreed with Tommy L, who also is the classic car magazine “MG Bulletin” editor, were that he would pick me up with his car and then we would first drop off my recent "acquisition", the TLR Ikoflex camera at Jonas´s workshop in Sumpan for a CLA service. The photo distance adjustment wheel was somewhat jammed, and might need some professional attention. Quickly said and done - Jonas Vikström is a great analogue camera technician to be helped by.

Further north then by car, to Järfälla half an hour away, where I especially looked forward to meet up with a "long lost friend", Per , with whom I haven´t had any contact with for about 40 years. We were close "study buddies" for 3-4  years during the early 70´s at the Umeå University up north - and we both had a particular interest in classic sports cars - his "cup of tea" was the 356 Porsche series, and my favourite car was the magnificent Alfa Romeo.

Image #8  An old analogue photo - taken in Skellefteå early in the spring 1977, when we both had the opportunity to "pose" with our dream cars side by side. The JP wheel rims on my Alfa 2000 GTV 1973 is not that great looking, but the original wheel rims had tyres with spikes for icy and snowy roads on at the time. Per´s Porsche 356 SC 1965 was apparently newly washed and waxed and obviously shines somewhat brighter than my Alfa! Especially the Bertone GTV line - of which I later came to own several models, was the best at that time in my youth.

We both, Tommy and I, were very welcome home to Per that Friday in January - I had managed to reconnect with Per just a few weeks earlier, and it turned out to be a very pleasant reunion. It is some magnificent two-car garage he has now, of course two different 356 series Porsches - adjacent to his house, including a very useful greasing-pit for a serious classic auto enthusiast!

Image #9 Something really out of the ordinary - the Porsche 356 Carrera (1958) type 547/1 engine - now overhauled and ready to be inserted! 

Image #10 Basically the same type 547/1 engine that I photographed 1976, but slightly dismantled or prepared for storage - then it also was a magnificient piece of equipment even for an Bertone italian car freak like me!  

That was about all that day - Tommy dropped me off in the city centre near Auntie´s address, and on entering her cosy flat, dinner was already on the table and the wine bottle opened when I entered! 

Image #11 A refreshing Saturday mid-day walk downtown through Vasaparken - its skating grounds is amazingly popular and pleasant to watch!

A good night´s sleep in the guest flat - in the other building, and then a Saturday with lots of sun and fresh air!
Another old friend from my home town, and also the Umeå University, had the initial "vernissage" of his photo exhibition in the famous Jazz Club "Fasching" in Stockholm´s City centre - he exposed a great collection of his own jazz photography in that club´s premises .

Picture #12 The exhibition "Curator" and "Exhibition General" Kenth together with another admirer visiting  

Over 80 images, most of them black & white, of various jazz musicians that he had portrayed. Lovely! And a glass of champagne on this opening day while I was trying to get a sublime feel if his photography style now is the same as back then 1970 - and his photos were certainly much appreciated. Awesome!

Image #13 The photo exhibition covering one of the walls in the famous jazz club "Fasching"

The exhibitor Kent Wångklev was also, like me, a Canon enthusiast back in the days - at the end of the 60´s he had the Canon FL lens system, I chose the new Canon FD lens system at the beginning of the 70´s. I have blogged about that earlier,  here on Fs. (www.fotosidan.se) if you recall.

Alright, then Tommy and I discussed what to do on the Sunday - and his idea that "why not make a winter expedition out to Waxholm?" OK - fine with me!

Waxholm is a right famous spot in Sweden - my immediate associations when hearing the name Waxholm was, that the fleet of ships covering a large part of the Stockholm archipelage not only for working people but also for leisure and tourism, is quite unique in its own way - the lyrics of the song "Waxholm Ettan" rings a bell in my mind right away. The well built old steamers here, like our own m/s Thomée and s/s Östersund, (built and "inaugurated" the same year 1875) always interest me, since such vessels then were so important for the infrastructure back then in the middle of the 19th century - also up here in Storsjön, and are well known to Jämtar/Norrlänningar... 

We got off early that Sunday morning, I took the Subway out to Slussen, and met up with Tommy there. Tickets were bought, and even a SL card would well be accepted also for the boat fare.

Image # 14 The Stockholm Subway, the "T-Banan" Green Line end station "Slussen"

Off we sailed, and while waiting on the quay at Slussen for the ship to be ready for boarding, the two apparently far travelled girls ahead of us on the quay, had waited longer, and were very nice to talk to.  A mother and her daughter, from Florida,  that were going up to Nordkap to see the Nordic Lights, "Aurora Borealis" and discover more of Sweden as well as Norway. Of course, one can hardly expect to see the Nordic Lights in the summer up there, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to do such a trip in December.

Image #15 Waiting to get on board and the ship´s departure - a dull rainy day with weak photo light...hence the lack of sharpness 

They had a lot of luggage, but seemed to manage that quite well without any help from nearby standing male "porters". Tommy and I didn´t ask - which we probably should have done, but at least I got the immediate impression that they were quite capable of handling their luggage themselves!

What was especially impressive, was that the daughter, who couldn´t be older than in her early twenties, is a professional civil pilot flying passengers all over the North American continent! Awesome!  

We talked during most of the sea voyage out to Waxholm, and I just had to show my recently acquired Zeiss Super Ikonta 531,  note that the image below looks like I am trying to sell them my old artefact camera!

Picture # 16 Tristin (in full awe!) over the features and the provenience of my old camera! (Smart phone photo by Tommy L)

Now, they showed a true interest in what we told the about Stockholm and how to get to Sigtuna by bus/train or similarly. I receommended them, for travelling up to Nordkap, that to use the Norwegian Hurtigrutten´s great possibilities in Norway and travel along the coast instead of inland by train in Norway, but the travel cost on that shipping line might be fairly high.

I myself have in fact done such a cruise, from Harstad (southbound) to Trondheim via Lofoten islands, so I felt I could well recommend them to cruise with Hurtigrutten northbound up there from Bergen on the Norwegian south coast. The present off-season could even mean lower cruise prices, I thought. 

Image #17 Not many people on the quay this morning - in the background the historically important fortress of Waxholm. 

Well arrived in Waxholm after about one and a half hour sailing, the girls headed off to a part out there that I did not know about, a short ferry distance to another nearby island, I believe. We wished them good luck and a safe onward journey - hoping that parts of their huge luggage would be successfully air freighted back to Florida for their travel conveniance.  

Tommy and I walked around the harbor area of Waxholm - we both took a few pictures (analogue!) across the water, of a comparatively small island opposite of the quay, where the famous big fortress of Waxholm rises. In the year 1548 the first part for protection of the  inlet to Stockholm was finished, and successively there were other extensions added. During the year 1833 a total reconstruction was begun, that led to the present shape of the fortress. Since year 1548 it has been situated there intact, and is one of the few Scandinavian castles that the Russian forces never have been capable to conquer or surpass, not ever, during the more than 500 years of history!)  

However, towards noon we were both very thirsty, hungry and somewhat frozen, so we decided then to have lunch somewhere nice - "Hamnkrogen" seemed to suit us fine. A large draft beer to start with, then a Hamburger plate for Tommy and the classical Swedish Meatballs with a cream sauce for me, it all tasted very good indeed.

Image #18 At last - that beer and the food in addition, was exactly what we needed then!

At the same time we also rang our friend Sigvard Eklund (another fotosidan.se member and analogue photo enthusiast) as promised, who lives permanently in such an interesting environment. I had called him on the phone the day before, to hear if it would be possible for him to meet up with us on the Sunday..."Certainly" he said. "Give me a call some time after 12 - then I´ll catch up with you"... he said. This was also the very first time we met, both for Tommy and me, and thanks to the Fotosidan membership we thought the we probably would have the about the same taste for b/w photography! 

Image #19 This was a very good place - "Hamnkrogen" is definitely no "greasy spoon"...delicious food to reasonable prices!

Yes, by the time we got to the coffe after the luncheon meal, Sigvard turned up at the pub and also had a cup of coffee with us. That was actually the very first time him and me met IRL, so that was about time! He is also a photography enthusiast, owning the same type of camera as  Tommy (Yashica 4G) and my Ikoflex - a twin lens mirror reflex, analogue camera for 120-spool sized film.   He and Tommy told me that visiting Waxholm in the summer is an entirely different thing - jammed with people - lots of life, tourists, yacht owners, sailors and much more to see and enjoy. 

Image #20 Me and Sigvard, enjoying our coffee

After lunch it started to rain - and Sigvard drove us around the tiny centre of Waxholm, to give us a glimpse of the idyllic scenery there and the narrow streets with old but well maintained houses. Must be a real treat to live there in the summer!!

Image #21 The Waxholm City Hall, analog (probably the worst picture in this blog!)

The thing is, that I´m not quite comfortable yet with the special viewer of that camera - I have to rely partly on my experience of focal length and lens angle width - which nevertheless was a complete failure for especially this picture. The least you can expect of a photographer who is trying to portray a certain building, is that the whole building is visible on his final picture. Which I sadly did not manage this time!

The camera is old, so is me the owner - the camera (Tessar 7 cm f3.5) lens was manufactured i Germany in April 1936 - many years before I even could hold a camera safely. But I am confident that I will cope with the viewer in due course, an also always remember to tilt the camera vertically for landscape views! Why? The negative size is 4.5 x 6 centimeters, enabling 16 frames on a 120 size spool - standing! 

Later that afternoon, we boarded the ship back to Stockholm City, and I took the Subway back to Auntie and Tommy returned home to his flat in Kärrtorp. I had some shopping to do during the following Monday, and late that afternoon I railed back to Östersund on the evening train. The summary of this "Big City Stockholm" weekend trip was perfect in nearly all aspects - only the poor b/w Street Photography during the dull weather on the Sunday in Waxholm was maybe a disappointment but can always be justified by the old saying "there is no bad weather - only unsuitable clothing (and too low film sensitivity for any artifact camera)" 

I have now developed the negatives taken - fine, good b/w technical quality in some cases but no real surprises - my initial digital photo of the fortress was perhaps one of the best (digital) pictures I took that weekend.

Tips/recommendations/corrections concerning e.g. facts in my blog are gladly received by me - your comments are most welcome as usual!!

Au revoir...!

/B

Blivande Bildspel / ev Utställning - Tema: Glashyttan!

Jag jobbar just nu på ett bildspel med ca 16 bilder och/eller även eventuellt en utställning här i stan (Ösd) med temat "Glashyttan", dvs den glashytta som vi har här nere i Badhusparken som är inrymt i det gamla elverket från 1890-talet - dom firar f.ö. 25 år i år som glasblåsare här!

Jag har bildunderlaget i stort sett klart i "preliminärt urval" och blandning av svartvita och färgbilder. Nån enstaka bild fattas ännu - och den sista bilden som ska tas om men med det glaset som objekt - ett ensamt snapsglas från just denna glashytta som jag fick i present 1998 (tillverkat 1997).

Så här när det börjar dra ihop isig att slutföra projektet betr. innehåll - så skulle det vara mkt värdefullt att få synpunkter och kommentarer till bildmaterialet! (Hoppas ordningen på bilderna visas här i bloggen som jag tänkt mig!)

T ex.

- innehåll och variation (urval), ordning på bilder*)

- bildkvaliteten (både tekniskt sett och innehållsmässigt/utförande)

- får man blanda färg och svartvita bilder som jag gjort?

- vad saknas? (åtminstone en bild saknar jag, som jag kommer att gå ner dit endera dagen och fota, jag har inte långt dit!) Samt kanske en bild på tjejerna när dom tar fikapaus?

Med mera...

Själv har jag bl a gjort reaktionen att: - dom två innehavarna/glasblåserskorna ser ju inte ut att ha så roligt....men det ska man inte ha som konstnär, va? konstproduktion, det är ju dödligt allvar, eller hur?

Här kommer bilderna - ev. bildtexter skriver jag alltid under aktuell bild (tack vare min erfarenhet i egenskap av yrkesmässigt ha sysslat med teknisk dokumentation i 18 år före min pensionering 2012)

OBS! Puffbilden ovan kommer inte från Storsjöhyttan, utan den bilden tog jag på Skansens glashytta i Stockholm i höstas...därifrån kommer min idé om glashytteprojektet här hemma!

Nu kör vi - dvs bilderna:

Glashyttan_13

Glashyttan_07

Glashyttan_10

Glashyttan_06

Glashyttan_04

Glashyttan_09

Glashyttan_15 Fronten på bilen som syns i den nedersta högra rutan nertill stör mig...klona bort eller ta om bilden - jag får se hur jag gör.

Glashyttan_11

Glashyttan_08

Glashyttan_05

Glashyttan_03

Glashyttan_12

Glashyttan_02

Glashyttan_01

Glashyttan_16 Den här bilden ska ju tas om - snabbfotat igår bara för att ungefärligt få med bildens innehåll. Ref till min forumtråd här på Fs igår - se länk:

https://www.fotosidan.se/forum/threads/ljussättningsproblem-produktfoto-glas.176366/

Glashyttan_14

Jag har ännu inte varit ner till tjejerna i glashyttan och pratat om mitt "embryo/projekt" och visat det preliminära urvalet, men kommer att göra det framöver för att dels få lite fakta - om olika steg i glasblåsarprocessen, företaget historia mm. Jag vill nog själv bestämma vilka bilder som slutligen kommer att utgöra urvalet!! Det kan ju ev också bli en fotobok av det hela?

Tillägg 25/2: En begränsade faktor har ju också varit under fotograferingstillfällena, att jag har hela tiden hållit mig utanför ”avspärrningen” med det tjocka vita repen...det har ju gjort att i stort sett en eller ett par positioner (och därmed bildvinklar) för mig endast varit möjliga. Jag hade ju gärna velat gå innanför repen, men jag förstår säkerhetsaspekten och åskådarsäkerheten som glasblåsarna är angelägna om, till fullo.

Hoppas det har varit intressant - jag ser fram emot att få ta del av era kommentarer/synpunkter!! 

Börje "Canalog" Norhager

PS: Fråga till kodsnickarna på Fotosidan: 

När man lägger in en serie av bilder, varför hamnar dom inte i bloggen i den ordning som filnamnen anger?? Se skärmdumpen nedan...

Eller om det är nån annan bloggläsare som vet, och om jag gör nåt fel när jag skriver bloggen...?

DS