Marking time
Daniel Marquis in Scotland
Four more cartes-de-visite have joined my little collection of the work of the photographer Daniel Marquis (1829-1879). These give us a glimpse of the work he did in Scotland, before he emigrated to Australia.
All four are conventional portraits, mounted on cards with a lithographic backmark of D Marquis: photographer: Barnton Place: Stirling. I surmise from these examples that Daniel was already a competent photographer operating from a properly equipped studio.
Mumbles Lighthouse
Another old postcard (or six), another old lighthouse I want to visit. Mumbles Lighthouse. Mmm, great name.
Dress code
I did think that the old dress code might still apply at the Queensland Club. I should have acted on that thought yesterday, instead of arriving without a coat and tie. Staff of the club graciously took me aside and fitted me with a jacket and tie from the rack of items kept for times like this.
I was at the club to talk to a group of members who gather each month to hear a lecture about some historical subject. Several dozen men, mostly retired professionals, sat down to lunch of salmon and vegetables, then heard my talk about Queensland lighthouse history. We had some excellent discussion, very good-humoured and companionable.
Pro-macassar
I have just re-discovered this portrait in my little box of cabinet photos. How could you look this stylish fellow in the face and remain anti-macassar?
Halal gelatin
I have mixed feelings about accepting comments on this blog. In my darker moments I feel like I should just close down commenting, because the comments add so little value to this site, but cost me some housekeeping time. Almost all incoming comments are spam - these are automatically discarded. Of the few that get through the filters, most are childish vandalism (which I remove one by one), there are a few relevant contributions, and a tiny proportion that I find interesting and diverting. I do find it odd which posts attract the comments. The winner is a piece about my interest in obsolete editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, with 227 comments.
My 16 April 2002 post about animal glue has also been popular with the commentariat. Until yesterday 79 comments had made it through the filters, mostly from manufacturers seeking markets for their products.
Today I was cheered up by the 80th comment, left by a manufacturer in Malaysia who was offering something new: Halal gelatin. Well, I wasn’t expecting that!
New year’s resolution for 2010
I have resolved to compile a checklist of lighthouses I would like to visit some time. I have already said I want to visit Muckle Flugga. Next on the list is in Chennai (formerly Madras) in southern India. The postcard below shows an amazing architectural mashup of lighthouse and courthouse. The building, described as an exquisite example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, incorporates the lighthouse lantern room and optical apparatus in the top of its highest dome. Flickr user NavneethC took a nice telephoto shot that shows the Chance Brothers lantern grafted into the Indo-Saracenic dome.
There have been four generations of landfall lighthouses at the port of Madras, of which three are still standing: A stone tower (1844), the nearby court house (1892), and the current lighthouse (1977) located several km to the south.