Saturday, September 18, 2010


My own relationship with the pleasant man who called my name at the planetarium last night has been frequent through the years. They have been photographic in that once I did take his portrait with his beloved lasers. Every time I have returned to the planetarium (I may have been the only person watching his Wall, a laser show based on the music of Pink Floyd who was not influenced by prohibited substances). One time I had to deal with him as his company Roundhouse Productions was involved in a show featuring Rocket Norton and a dazzling young blonde singer who could belt out songs without a sound system. The show incorporated lasers and Harold the Zeiss projector. For the first time I realized that my resulting portrait could not be a conventional one.



Since this picture was circa the beginning of the 80s and there was no Photoshop I took several pictures of the girl (all Craig McCaw can remember of her is that her name was Aleysha Michelle and we are not sure of the spelling) and some of Harold. I then sandwiched them in my enlarger and projected them as on image on to photographic paper. I took another where I did not use any tricks but the picture was much too underexposed for use in Vancouver Magazine where the piece appeared. But now with Photoshop I have retrieved that other image from latent obscurity.



As we left Craig McCaw said there was going to be another reprise of the Roundhouse Production, The Wall and that it opens on October 8. I will be there with Rebecca and I am just dazzled that so many years later, there I will be, and so will she. Thank you Craig McCaw.

As we left I needed to tell Michael Unger that his faith in the existence of extraterrestials might just be dampened if he read Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama. McCaw instantly interjected that it was the only science fiction book he ever read that he started and was not able to put down.

The Ramans do Everything In Threes

The Ramans Do Everything In Threes Revisited