H

ere’s a bit of very interesting typewriter lore. We use A4 sheets to type. American novelist Jack Kerouac wrote his cult classic ‘On the Road’ in 1957 on a single 120-foot-long scroll of paper. Someone bought it at an auction for over $2.4 million in 2001. On the Road is based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. I wonder if it has been translated into Sinhala. If not, someone should. The characters bring to my mind another 60s American classic, this time a movie – ‘Easy Rider.’ Kerouak was apparently inspired by a 10,000-word rambling letter from his friend Neal Cassady. A 10,000 word letter! I wonder if it was typewritten. Most people can’t that much today with a word processor. Isn’t it ironical that, long after writers, painters and other artists are gone after a life of struggle, their work is sold at auctions for millions? Among painters, Van Gogh comes to mind.

Part of my museum project is to find people who use obsolete technology. Here’s someone who printed his own books at home with an old letterpress machine.

This is the late Alloy Gunawardhane who wrote more than 1000 songs including hit songs of iconic singer H. R. Jothipala. Over the years, and now especially after the economic crash, I have admired him more and more, because he printed his own song books with this letterpress machine at home. I admire that tenacity and resilience. He was his own printer and publisher. I took this photo in the early years of the new millennium. By then, letterpress was on the way out, used mostly to print cinema wall posters and death notices – and small song books of popular hits. It was a crude poor man’s press, but it did the job. He had the sort of independence that most writers can only dream of. American poet Walt Whitman was a printer too, writing, printing and publishing his own newspaper single handedlyback in the 19th century, challenging big business. Alloy was doing the same. He’s a hero. Now I wish I had done the same. In today’s context, with outrageous paper and printing costs, the time has come for us to print and publish our own books. Desktop publishing (digital) is a fashionable concept, but I discovered long ago but it’s not cost effective when it comes to printing our own books. I bow my head to these forgotten heroes of the letterpress!

Of typewriters and laptops

Writers are dependent on technology as much as anyone else, whether they write by hand or use machinery (This post is repeated in Book Lover, my writer's blog).

You can see here the technology I used as a writer from 1981 till the new millennium. I bought the 1960s Imperial typewriter at the bottom as an antique 10 years ago, but the white Olympia above is my first typewriter, bought in Jordan in 1981 when I was working for the Jordan Times. I used it for a long time until buying an electric typewriter in the early 1990s. On top is my second laptop, a Bondwell 486 using diskettes bought second hand in 1998 or so. It worked for about 3 years before packing up. Typewriters age well. Laptops don’t. Tapping on a typewriter keyboard is a real life experience compared to a computer keyboard. A computer will keep you connected. You can mail your docs, photos, videos. On the other hand, with a typewriter, you have no spam, viruses, malware or ransomware. I can start using my typewriters again after so many years. All I need is a little machine oil and a new ribbon. But I can’t revive this laptop., and they are expensive. When this one crashed, I had to wait more than ten years to buy another laptop. If there’s no power, I can still type, and I don’t need breaking news when I’m doing creative writing. Finally, when I remove the top and look inside, it fascinates me. The laptop is just a plastic box with a motherboard inside.

 More updating! To avoid confusion, I decided to keep the photography, old and new, in my Retroheliographers blog. This blog will remain open to 'junk' as usual. As I'm occupied fully with my photography and writing blogs (Book Lover) there's little time for Junk Lover, but I'll do my best to keep up. Occasional photography posts will appear here. For example, this post is about Kosmo Foto, a very interesting analogue photography and camera blog I discovered yesterday. Enjoy!

Here's the link:

https://kosmofoto.com/

 Hello there, this blog is being revived again, and this time it will keep ticking. As you would have seen from my last post back in 2018, a lot has happened in my life, a lot of water has flowed under the under the bridge since then. But from now on, the blog will be active!

With a few differences, though. Junk is no longer the main theme. I don't collect any more. Covid 19 made me sell what I could. That's good, I feel saner. My interest in old technology is now academic -- enjoy without collecting!

This blog is now mainly about photography. Many of my older posts were about photography equipment. I'm going to add my photos, old as well as what I'm doing now. Junk Lover is a funny name for a photography blog, I know, but let's keep it at that for the time being.

Here's the link:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/4370823715382961356

I'm selecting photographs right now for the MyIsland photography contest organised by the Atra magazine and the French embassy in Colombo. I'm not really competitive (this is the second contest I've entered in my whole life) but I'm doing it because as we get older, we tend to get forgotten. Even if I don't win a place in MyIsland, the effort of sorting out 20 to 30 photos from my selection will re-energise me!

I'll post those photos once the results are announced in mid-July (whether I score or not)!

 This blog isn't all about retro photography. I'm doing a lot of digital work now. This photo of a French photographer using this Olympus film camera was taken with my Nikon digital camera. Now I've switched to Canon, working with a 5D Mark III and 600D. More about that, soon!

Hello there I'm reviving this blog after a break of seven years! Where was I? Not up in the clouds, not in jail, but right here at home, working, working, working. So what happened to the blog?

More like, what happened to me? I'm older, maybe wiser, and still working! But no longer collecting. No more room, and at a crossroads in my life. My living room is my literally that. I sleep there, eat there, along with four dogs and two cats, and (almost) my entire collection is there. What's left in boxes in the garage is rotting at a rate. I'm philosophical about it. No longer collecting stamps. My interests have shifted. I'm trying hard to sell all but one of the five novels I've written (the first one's got to be re-written). It shocks me now that I've been an unpublished author for 25 years! Got plenty of writing ideas but no more novels till I get something published.

Then again, I thought my passion for photography was gone, but it's there. I'm into video now, filming daily life scenes with the Panasonic camcorder which my elder daughter Hiruni gave me as a present when she returned from a scholarship in Australia. I'm thinking of doing a video editing course soon.

Main interest  now is music. I started by studying violin 9 years or so ago. About two years ago, I got serious about guitar, and last year I discovered that I have a singing voice and song writing ability. Not bad for someone who's just turned sixty. I'm serious now about being a singer-song writer (You Tube based). Since I'll need to make music videos for my songs, it isn't a bad idea to learn video editing. I'll have to make my own music videos.

So all this, plus cooking for myself and all these animals, keeps me busy. Plus trying to keep tons of dust away from my crowded living room. Not much time for blogging, but I'm going to keep doing it now. Main thing will be a writing and photography blog as this Junk Lover template looks confusing with too many things in it.

If things go according to plan, there will be a music blog as well.

Bye for now.

Automobiles

This section of my virtual library and archive will display what I have collected on automobiles -- mainly catalogues, owner's manuals, magazine articles and newspaper cuttings, plus my own photographs.  For the books, please check my other blog www.book lover@blogspot.com. I' sorry but I just don't have the resources to scan entire books, so here are a few pages from this (1960s?) Austin LD van driver's handbook to begin with. These workhorses were everywhere in Sri Lanka well into the 1980s. The Postal Department used them as delivery vans in the 1970s. Privately owned examples can still be found occasionally -- there's one parked half a km from my work place at Hunupitiya Cross Roads every day, looking forlornly for short haul hires. Find below the cover and a few inside pages.

Old photographs

Old photographs are valuable historical documents and what I have published here are photos collected by me over the years. The name of the photographer and other details are given if  known. This photo was given to me by Dr. Navamani Selvarajah of Jaffna. It shows the cast of a drama produced by the registrar of the Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai in the late 1960s.

This very old photograph shows a waterfall at Kuttalam, India. It was taken on 14/01/1953. It was given to me by Dr. Selvarajah. She says" "My late sister studied economics in India."

The photo carries the name Thawamanie S. on the back, so the photograph was presumably taken by Dr. Selvarajah's sister.

This photograph shows two actors posing for a publicity shot for Bertolt Brecht's play Puntila, which was produced in Sri Lanka by Finnish director Helena Lehtimaki in the mid-1980s. Seated behind the steering is Mahendra Perera, who is now a top film and stage actor. Standing next to him is the late Nihal Silva, who played Puntila (he was killed a few years later while driving past a military checkpoint).

The car belonged to Mr. Jayasuriya, a collector. Puntila was staged at the Lionel Wendt theatre. The owner drove this car on the stage via an improvised wooden ramp through a side entrance.

 The photo was taken with a Rolleicord twin lens reflex camera by photographer Edmund Gunasekara.

Old cameras and photographic equipment

I never owned a Nikon, when owning one seemed to be every photographer's dream. A Nikon was a status symbol back then (I apologise for the rough picture. This and all that will be featured today were taken by my elder daughter, who is facing an exam. Neither she nor I have the time these days for more careful set ups).
This 70s Nikon full manual camera is as solid as they come. It was gifted to me by Donald Gaminithilake, a keen amateur photographer. Thanks a lot, Donald! Both body and lens are in mint condition, in much better shape than any camera used by me, and those spots on the lens are reflections from the cracked cement.

This is a rare find for me (gifted by Donald. Thank you again!) for magnesium flash bulbs were gone out of use by the time I took to photography in the 1980s. This is an unused set and just looking at them takes me back to my childhood days, when I used to collect spent flash bulbs at weddings. Pity I didn't keep any of those.

This is another find (again thanks to Donald, a million thanks!) the folding type of flashgun which fired those magnesium bulbs. After use, the 'umbrella' can be folded back manually very neatly so that the gun will fit into a small vinyl carrying case.

The Yashica 635 twin lens reflex, an old workhorse camera which took 6 X 7 cm pictures (12 shots per roll). They used to say those who couldn't afford Rolleis bought Yashicas, which is really unfair because this is a very good camera. By the time I got into photography, twin lens reflexes were out except as studio portrait cameras, in which role they used cut film backs. I loved the look of them and bought the first I could find. The lens was still OK then for black and white, though not for colour. The camera still works fine and listening to the precision shutter is a pleasure. You can take pictures from ground level with it and also take them while holding it upside down, high above your head (in crowd situations).
Actually, I feel my daughter took a splendid portrait of this Yashica even though this is a hastily set up shot.

A necessary tool of many photographers a generation ago, though I don't know of any who still use one in Sri Lanka except myself. This isn't the one I use, this is an antique Weston I bought from Mr. Wijetunge, a noted photographer in the 1960s and 70s.

Tsunami pictures

I took this picture of the south-bound 'tsunami train' a week after the catastrophe. The train is back in service now (though at least one carriage is still in the sea) and there was talk of creating a museum at the disaster site. But this being Sri Lanka, it never happened. Most people have no time for yesterday's disasters, they live in fear of what tomorrow might bring...and the 'authorities' are absolutely callous in this regard.

Motorcycle touring/off road riding

I'd been riding motorbikes for twenty years before I discovered that what I'd been doing all my life is called motorcycle touring. This can happen when you have to teach yourself most things. I got into trail bikes and off road riding rather late in my biking life, about seven years ago. Nothing breathtaking, no daring jumps and leaps, just loved riding the bike into places like this rubber plantation. Enjoyed every minute of it. Had to stop this activity two years back due to finances (inflation and petrol sold by what we euphemistically call the government at black market prices).
In the meantime, hanging on to my two old trail bikes because you don't want to give up. You want to hang in there till better times...hope they come along before I get too old.
This old model Yamaha XT250 is a lovely bike but I exchanged it for an equally old Serow, which is a much better machine for off road riding.

Cycling, mountain biking, hiking, just plain enjoying myself

The rider in the picture is Shantha, who joined me once for a mountain biking trip in a tea estate. Mountain biking is still new to Sri Lanka, and village people look at you as if you are aliens, which really puts you off. Luckily, we hardly saw anyone during this trip.

Close up of Shantha.  He's a bicycle mechanic who says he was going to be a doctor, but that didn't happen.  I invited him along because I like him and also because I felt sorry for him. Hope that doesn't sound condescending, but you do feel sorry for people because of their bad luck and circumstances.

Miniature waterfall in full splendour, frozen at a low shutter speed. One of the dividends of getting out of the city and heading for the countryside.

1970s Yamaha RD

This was one of those dream bikes. My only experience with a Yamaha RD was taking a friend's bike for a short spin. It felt formidable. Very nippy in traffic and I enjoyed that two-stroke snarl. Thirsty machine but petrol was cheap. Many RDs are lovingly looked after the world over, but I haven't seen a good classic example in Sri Lanka yet.

Collecting on the postal theme

This is another first day cover on the postal theme. Look for similar issues from other parts of the world.

Stamp collecting on the postal theme

There are millions of stamps printed all over the world every year, and it isn't possible to collect them all. Many collectors select a theme and limit themselves to that. Flowers, birds, cars, trains, famous people, flags -- these are but a few of such popular themes. Here's another interesting theme -- postal items and events. The world post day is celebrated on Oct. 8 every year and provides a theme in itself.

Photography

This may not be the decisive moment but, as I had been sitting there for a long time in the verandah, camera in hand, waiting for something to happen on a desolate rainy day, this felt close to it. There was a moment of jubilation when this couple riding a bicycle, a common enough sight in Sri Lanka, passed my view in the viewfinder. The lamp post looks ugly but I always believed in candid photographs in being, well, candid. This is  a slice of life as it is. The bicycle is framed firmly between the car and lamp post, and it would have passed the car in another moment. So I guess this was the exact moment to click the shutter.

Camera Canon FTbm lens Canon FD 28mm, film Fuji neopan SS100

Motorcycles

This is the Indian version of the much-loved Italian Vespa (vasp). I thought India no longer makes any scooters, but I'm told there is a Sri Lankan agent for this scooter, and someone riding a newly-registered one has been sighted. This old model looks a very sprightly-little machine, and was very popular in Sri Lanka until the Indian motorcycle invasion started in earnest in the late 1990s. . I don’t see any of the early models running around now, but I do hope some enthusiast somewhere is preserving one. 

Pets and other creatures

Another of those cats. This fellow is now sick and survives only due to constant medication. He has a special place in our cat family tree because he is the only surviving offspring of the grand old female mentioned elsewhere in this blog (called Maha Poosi or the Matriach).

Sudu Pusi (white cat) was a neighbourhood stray who took a liking to three cooked meals a day and settled permanently in our garage about three years ago. Soon afterwards, she gave birth to these two kittens. The one on the right got run over by a vehicle but the upright one next to mom showed every sign of growing up into a sprightly cat. Soon after this photo was taken, I saw both mom and son sitting under the street lamp outside our gate one night. Sudu Pusi has a habit of nocturnal walks. There was a thunderstorm late that night and, the next morning, she returned alone. I looked for the kitten all over the neighbourhood without any luck. He must have followed her out and got separated from her in the rain. Very sad.

After this, I got Sudu Pusi sterilised. She's still a permanent guest in our garage.

Philately

It is with infinite sadness that I learn about the death of Mr. Francis Gunasekara, Sri Lanka's foremost philatelic journalist since the 1950s to date. He was 87 when he died.
A man of boundless energy and always passionate about stamps, Francis was the penultimate stamp collector, collecting everything under the sun and always keen on handing over the flame to the next generation -- children.

The news of his death surprised me since it never occurred to me he could die one day. Such people are truly immortal.

The picture shows a booklet he published for children.

Crafts, jobs and working people

This man ekes out a living sharpening knives. He lives in Wellampitiya, a suburb of Colombo, and cycles 20-30 km every day, looking for work. With the grinder attached (an extra 20 km at least) it must be very hard work.
He charges about Rs. 50 to grind a kitchen knife.
On rainy days, he survives by doing manual labour and odd jobs.

The close up picture shows the hammer he uses as a support when operating the grinder, as the bicycle has no stand.