Bali Hai's blog

Breezin' Along on a Breeze

It's a lovely summer's day today.  Warm, with a gentle breeze.  In my youth, on a day like today, I would head for the hills on my Vespa.  Despite the giant lollipop-like helmet perched atop my scrawny body, I could feel the rush of the air on my face and smell the irresistible scent of dried grass being watered by giant sprinklers in the fields (pre-water restriction days, obviously).  I'm not a speed freak, but I felt exhilarated by the ride.  I miss those times.  Everyone should have a scooter at some stage in their life; there's nothing that says breezy like whizzing along on a Vespa with a bunch of flowers jammed down the front of your jacket and your groceries in a box tied behind you on the seat.  Here's to being young and breezy:

From the cover of "The New Target Book for Girls".

Technicolor Swoon

Here's a treat: Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary in the 1958 film of South Pacific (vocals dubbed over by Muriel Smith, apparently):

Some Christmas Reading

I came across this sombre photo some time ago and it just sat amongst other nondescript snaps in a large box until one day I was idly sifting through the box and decided to take a closer look.  

I think the reason I bought the photo in the first place was because it seemed so quiet.  It reminded me of the times when I've been alone at home - no tv or radio, no company, no sound at all, or at most the distant sound of the street - and I had a very strong sense of isolation, of being aware that I was alone in the room.  Sometimes it was pleasant, like a meditation, but other times it was like being buried alive where no one knows where I was.  The photo also made me feel slightly uncomfortable because it was prying on this man's quiet time. 

Then I took a closer look at what he was reading. and I laughed out of surprise; it is his quiet time and I am prying!  I love this photo.

From my private collection.

Gentlemen Take Polaroids

Anyone who has even the slightest interest in cameras or photography would be thrilled to visit the International Center of Photography in New York.  As for me, I nearly wet myself.  I was so happy to find it had the best gift/book shop ever.  My partner and I purchased a beautiful gift for Magic Jelly: an old box Brownie with it's flash, converted into a clock.  This isn't very generous of me, but I have to say that it was very hard for me to part with it to give to Magic Jelly. 

But, I soothed my greedy inner child by purchasing a brilliant new toy: a Polaroid Mio.  For myself!  I have long wanted to dabble with Polaroids but was put off by the difficulty in finding film (I understand this may soon change!), so the Polaroid Mio, with it's own supply of Fujifilm, filled this gap in my camera-life. 

My nature is to preserve things in pristine condition for ever and ever (a trait that is the arch enemy of any form of creativity!) and so my Polaroid Mio was sealed in its box for weeks after returning to Australia.  Even when I carefully opened its box, I checked it out but put it back in its box, untainted by use.  

Here is the little beauty:

But that's no good.  I can't wait until the perfect idea for a Polaroid pops into my head, I just have to drag the thing out and snap away.  As I did today.  Well, hardly snap away, but I did take a couple of snaps.  It's so hard to overcome that ridiculous barrier - the thing is made to be used, not preserved in aspic for eternity.  But here is my first snap:

My bedside table.  It has all my favourite features: rich colour, soft focus, cute format.  I love it.

A Country Mile

I don't mind living in a warm dry climate.  But the dread of the inevitable hot weather turns my mind to thoughts of autumn.  It's a long way off yet, I know; a few extended heatwaves, the loss of some lawn, a massive power bill, but I think this is what I will wear come April:

I am a big fan of corduroy and I love it with a check short sleeved shirt.  Thinking about having some trousers made at either Old Town or Bookster with a fishtail back suitable for braces.  Bookster seems more accessible from Australia (their website is very overseas-friendly) but I love Old Town's Vauxhall trousers. 

I love flatcaps, of course, and wear one every day.  This guy's glasses remind me of some I saw by Anglo American Optical.  I recently purchased a pair of Anglo American round glasses and had them made into sunglasses but I should try a pair like nature boy here.

Here's the whole photo:

Found photo from my private collection.  It's dated 1959 on the rear.

How To Wear Bali Hai

Even the palms seem to be swaying when you wear a tie like this:

Original dead-stock, 1940s, hand-painted tie, complete with price tag and maker's card attached (Monterey of California - $2.50 from Latham's in Brownfield, Texas).

I was very happy to receive this from my partner for my birthday.  I might add that I took the photo on my new Gorillapod tripod, a gift from my best friend.  I'm a lucky guy, I know. 

What Your Grandfather Got Up To

I came across a series of photographs (real photograph postcards really) in a junk shop some years ago featuring a troupe of men dressed up in various costumes.  Obviously a music group, a glee club type thing.  In most of the photographs, there is one guy in some costume, such as a rustic farmer, surrounded by a number of other guys dressed in female costumes, such as the Dutch dairy maids below:

I love the costumes, of course, but I love most of all the serious, steady faces of the men.  Big moustaches, heavy eyebrows framed by pretty confections of caps.  Go grandad.

I think we don't dress up enough nowadays.

From my private collection.

A Holga Lot of Happiness

I recently took my Holga 120CFN with me on holiday and tried to take at least one decent photo in each place we visited.  For the most part, this was successful and I'm very happy with the results.  You can see them here if you like: Bloomfield and George   I love the anticipation of receiving the latest batch of Holga prints, wondering whether the nifty angle I tried to take or the vibrant colours would turn out.  It really was the Holga that got me interested in taking photos.  The camera is fairly cheap, it's easy to use, and it really is fun.  On the down side, the film and processing is not so cheap and it's hard to find a place to get them developed.  I had some developed in Brisbane by Fotofast recently and was happy with the results.  When I contacted them, they were enthusiastic about developing Holga prints, which I was relieved about because I had experienced some quite indifferent attitudes at other developers closer to home.  It makes a difference.

So, here is my Holga, showing its grubby masking tape and dodgy neck strap (it comes off when it has had enough):

I try to experiment with different films.  For a while I loved cross processing - taking a film used to create slides and having it developed using the usual film process (there's plenty of information on the net about the more technical side).  The results can be beautiful but unpredictable.  Which is fine!  Here is one I took at the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.  This place was heaven for Holga because of the insanely vibrant floral displays.  Travelling there in late summer, I was fortunate enough to see their displays of tuberous begonias:

Being cross processed, it saturated the colour so much, the lush dark green leaves turned to black. 

Catball

This cracks me up.

IKEA $4.95.