RIP, Little Camera?

I am here!

Somewhat quiet as we have a very sick little girl in the house. Oi, you never saw such vomit. Gaming sessions (Werewolf tonight and AD&D char gen tomorrow) are cancelled till further notice.

In other news, I have misplaced or lost the ultra-cool, ultra-small Pentax Optio S kianir sent me. I'e checked the GO Train lost and found - nothing. I have a sneaking suspicion it fell out my pocket a few weeks ago. Those who have met me in real life will know this as "the little camera Pyat kept in an Altoids tin." It took photos superior to all the other point-and-click cameras I've owned, despite being smaller than a closed cell phone. I would happily buy another one, even though it's a bit outdated. I like having a portable camera I can keep easily in my briefcase, for recording random adventures. The Fuji takes better photos, but it's five times bigger than the Pentax, and I don't like subjecting it to the random abuse of being left in my briefcase.

Finding the Optio S rather scarce on eBay, etc., I decided to go as cheap as reasonably possible for the replacement, while still getting a name brand camera. I browsed the Factory Direct ("Guaranteed Refurbished!"), TigerDirect ("Take it and Get Out!")and finally settled on XSCargo ("Probably Not From a Hijacked Container Ship!"). I picked up a Kodak EasyShare C71, because it was cheap, fairly compact, and a brand name. Also, it allows me to use the Easyshare dock/photo printer left over from the camera I got second hand from doc_mystery, and happily used till infant Claire smashed it.

I am mostly pleased with it. Negative reviews on the web seemed to mostly be written by morons. One man complained that he hit the "Format" option and it deleted all his photos. Another person cracked the LCD by sitting on it. However, I'm finding that on every 3 or 4th power on, it tells me that the El Cheapo brand SD card is full. Hopefully, this will be resolved by putting in a name brand card.

Pyat's Neighbourhood

Went to lunch at Rankin's with shadow_maze and his son, who is on March Break. We met at Rankin's Grill, a local institution that serves a lot of notable East Enders. I've seen MPs and city councillors there more than once.


Mostly steel workers and retirees today.


After lunch, I went on a ramble around the block. I visited my old highschool. It still looks like a castle...


...it even has gargoyles!


Across the street there is a wonderful/wretched used bookstore, run by a very strange man. I've been there a few times, but I suspect he'd have chased me out if I'd gone in with a camera. So I took some shots from across the street.


That's the interior of the store. The flashlight is because the overhead lights are off - I don't think he actually has electricity. There are very few actual shelves, just weird heaps of books. He is suspicious of people who go in looking for a particular title. The first time I went to his shop, around 1997, he actually slapped my hands and yanked a book from me, claiming it wasn't for sale. Then handed me a Tarzan book with a ripped cover. According to doc_mystery (who has visited a few times) the owner is afraid of "book scouts," people who find valuable books and buy them for cheap, then resell them. In my case the book was a 1980s spelling and style guide for a Chicago newspaper.


Just down the street is "Weird Stuff", the sort of store that sells jazz 78s from the 50s and art deco furniture and coffee tables shaped like dragons. They also sell old pulp magazines and the like, but I rarely go in there.


The alien glows at night. It actually unnerved me for a few moments when I first saw it, late one night.


My friendly neighbourhood comic book guy! I've been going to his store since 1990. The sign, "Blades and Things", refers to a short-lived "swords and bongs" store that used to be next door. Since then it's hosted a parade of sad businesses, including a thinly-stocked market and a very sad clothing store.

And now, back to work with me!