Still Almost Maybe Nearly Famous

Every once in a while, I search "Earl J. Woods" on the Internet to gauge my level of infamy. Fortunately, my infamy remains low, but just a few minutes ago I discovered a new hit: my name appeared on a long list of people associated with something called the Western Front. 

At first, this alarmed me. In an instant, I thought: "Western Front? Either people think I'm a crazed militia member, or I'm on an enemies list of a crazed militia." 

Neither is true. As their website states, "Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver." Whew! My apologies, Western Front. 

As I'm turned out, I'm listed on the site because in 2010 I attended an exhibit put on by my cousin, artist Keith Langergraber, and brought along "Finger Puppet Star Trek" for exhibition, the first and only public showing of a movie I made with some friends from the University of Alberta Star Trek Club. Note that "Finger Puppet Star Trek" was not made in 2009, as claimed above; it was actually made sometime in 1991 or 1992. 

Unhappier Accidents

Here's another collection of photos that went wrong. Poor lighting, bad focus, bad composition, underexposed, overexposed...how many photographic sins can you spot? 

Canada Place as Seen Through a Ferry Window in 1991

Look, there it is. I went to visit Parvesh after we finished university; she was staying with relatives in Vancouver for a while before returning to Singapore. We were on the ferry to visit North Vancouver. It was a good trip! 

All I Need is A Work of Art That Resembles a Tall Ship and a Star to Steer it By

...but alas, on the day this shot was taken on a summer day in 1986, it was cloudy. This is a photo of Expo 86, the World's Fair in Vancouver, British Columbia. There's no World's Fair this year; next year visit Astana, Kazakhstan, for Expo 2017. Oddly enough, Edmonton had considered a bid for that World's Fair. 

Descent of the Jellyfish

I shot these jellyfish photos at the aquarium in Vancouver. I find the colours and forms quite striking. 

Aquarium Selfie

I like to say that as a photographer I make a pretty good writer, but if you take enough pictures, eventually you get something cool. Sylvia and I are captured here along with our friend H. Steven Neumann, who used his connections to take us on a grand tour of the Vancouver Aquarium back in 2009. As you can see by the smiles on our faces, we all had a great time.

Jellyfish '09

While visiting Jeff, Susan and Steven in 2009, I shot this photograph at the Vancouver Aquarium. The composition would have been better had I managed to capture a single jellyfish floating alone, but the creatures insisted on swimming in close proximity. This is as close as I came to the effect I wanted, and while it's not perfect, I'm reasonably pleased.

Neumann in Town

Nothing much to say today because Sylvia and I are busy visiting with our old friend H. Steven Neumann, visiting from Vancouver. Good times!

Long Expo-sure

I was 17 when we visited Expo '86, and I remembered just enough of the camera tricks I learned in grade eight Industrial Arts to try holding the shutter open for a second or so. I had no tripod so the effect is blurrier than it should be, but the lasers, at least, are pretty.

Expo '86

I remain grateful to Mom and Dad for taking Sean and me to see the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver. The fair's theme that year was transportation and communication, perfectly tailored to my interests. A few memories stand out:

• Lunch at the British pavilion was, perhaps predictably, disappointing.
• The Alberta pavilion took a shot at Manitoba, which was one of only a couple of provinces not to build a pavilion of their own at the fair, by displaying an encyclopedia page of Manitoba under glass and calling that "The Manitoba Pavilion." I thought it was pretty crass, personally.
• McDonald's built a floating restaurant - the McBarge - for the fair. It was routinely packed during the fair, though now it lies abandoned.
• The American pavilion featured a walk-through 1:1 scale mockup of the planned Freedom space station, which of course eventually evolved into the ISS. I found this exhibit particularly thrilling, though I was just as impressed with the Soviet pavilion, which also prominently featured its space race triumphs. 

For whatever reason I didn't take many photos of the fair, and none featuring my family. I think I was simply too engrossed in what was happening around me, which I suppose is no bad thing - sometimes you have to live in the moment instead of trying to capture it. But perhaps a few additional photos will stir your memories of Expo 86, if you were among the visitors...