posted by Ian Summers on March 21st, 2007
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre
(November 18, 1787 – July 10, 1851)
Dominic Smith’s first novel is a must read for photographers.
From the backcover:
When the vision came to him he was in the bathtub.
So begins the madness of Louis Daguerre, one of photography’s founding fathers. Set against a backdrop of 19th Century Paris, a city prone to Bohemian excess and social unrest, this illustrious novel reinvents the life of Louis Daguerre as he is plagues by inescapable delusions — the result of constant exposure to poisonous mercury vapors used to cure his Daguerrotype images. Believing that the world will end in one year, Daguerre creates his Doomsday List, ten items he must photograph before the final day. Enlisting the help of the womanizing Charles Baudelaire and a jaded but beautiful prostitute named Pigeon, Daguerre scours the Paris underworld for images worthy of his list — and finds himself confronted by both the demons of his past and a new chance to win the heart and mind of the only woman he has ever loved.
posted by Ian Summers on March 21st, 2007
Sales trainers believe that if sales people can get a person to laugh, they’ve put them into a mood to buy. Hearing someone laugh almost always makes others laugh. Laughter is contagious. How about a series of pictures of laughs? Just mouths? Full figure? Belly laughs? Groups of people? Audiences? People who make others laugh? Comedians? Comedy clubs? People watching television? Children? Giggling? Animals? Clowns and mimes?
It is my observation that we take what we do too seriously. This business used to be fun. We laughed a lot more. Why not build fun into your promotions, your shoots, your sales calls?
Ever hear the one about…? In two US studies, doctors have found that 15 minutes of laughter a day is good for the vascular system. They found that the blood flowed more freely in 9 out of 10 people while they were laughing, with average blood flow increasing some 22 percent. The physical benefits of laughing were similar to those people get when exercising, without the aches and pains.?
Dog Laughter
Your dog is not laughing. You are projecting. Or…
The dog-laugh sounds similar to a normal pant. However by analyzing the pant using a spectograph, this pant varies with bursts of frequencies, resulting in a laugh. When this recorded dog-laugh vocalization is played to dogs in a shelter setting, it can initiate play, promote pro-social behavior, and decrease stress levels. In a study by Simonet, Versteeg, and Storie, one hundred twenty subject dogs residing in a mid-size county animal shelter were observed. The dogs ranged in ages of 4 months to 10 years. Each dog was compared with and without exposure to a dog-laugh recording. The stress behaviors measured included panting, growling, salivating, pacing, barking, cowering, lunging, play-bows, siting, orienting and lying down. The study resulted in positive findings when exposed to the dog laughing resulted in the following: significantly reduced stress behaviors, increased tail wagging and the display of a play-face when playing was intiated, and the increase of pro-social behavior such as aproaching and lip licking were more frequent. This research suggests exposure to dog-laugh vocalizations can calm and possibly increase shelter adoptions. (found on Wikipedia)
What else? What makes you laugh?
posted by Ian Summers on March 14th, 2007
Blue collar; Singing the blues; Funks; Feeling blue; Blue in the face; Blue balls; Bluebirds; Blue cross; Rhythm and blues; Blue grass. Blue denim; A chow’s tongue; Oz; Blue blood; Blue moon; Out of the blue; Blueprints. Blue collar; Blue lagoon, Blue matches; Blue coal; Aqua Velva. Blue lips; Fading Tattoos; Bluebeard; Old Blue Eyes; Picasso’s blue period, Bluebird of happiness; the deep blue sea; Superman’s hair; Black and blue. Royal blue; Lapis lazuli; Sky blue; Cyan; Diamonds; Bluestone; Gainsborough’s Blue Boy; Blue Jays; Ultramarine; Ceruleum; Wedgwood; Blue suit; Blue suede shoes; Robin’s egg blue. Blue plate special. Blue ribbon. Blue cheese; Blue Earth; Blue heaven; Bluefish; Blue is America’s favorite color. What else?
