Sunday Open Mike: Less Than Zero (and Other News Blips)

Winter's here!
Lovely Winter has finally (finally) arrived in Western New York. It's a crispy –9°F (–23°C) this morning, cold enough to make short-coated Lulu want to stay indoors. I'm wearing a base layer (formerly known as long underwear) and flannel-lined jeans, and I've got my HeatHolders ^TM on!

Took long enough. I enjoy a good crispy cold—it's bracing. It's that wet, chilly, hovering-around-thirty-degrees cold that feels unpleasant to me. Went outside five times yesterday. Just not for too long each time!

Bad news about the hat, though. (I asked about a warm winter hat a few weeks ago.) Based on readers' recommendations I bought six hats and have now zero-degree tested them all, and the hands-down winner is the Golightly cashmere watch cap recommended by my brother Scott, whose advice is commonly right on target. (Good thing, because he gives advice for a living—he's a Ph.D. psychologist in Rhode Island.) Sorry to recommend such a flagrantly expensive product, but it's both the most comfortable and the warmest of the hats I tried. Should last a long time at least—multiple reports (including from Scott) say they still look brand new after ten years of use. Just don't lose it.

Ah, winter.

Panasonic messes up
So you remember that looks-too-good-to-be-true deal on the Panasonic 25mm ƒ/1.7 Micro 4/3 lens last Black Friday? Ninety-nine dollars, marked down from $249?

Turns out it might indeed not be true.

Panasonic apparently let retailers fill the orders from existing stocks and said it would honor rebates on backorders, but has kept shuffling its feet about filling those backorders, delaying the ship dates multiple times. B&H Photo for one finally gave up when Panasonic delayed the shipments yet again, this time till April. B&H's Henry Posner (an old friend from CompuServe) stated the company has "no confidence" either that Panasonic will ship the lenses in April or that it would ship enough of them. So they finally pulled the plug and cancelled the backorders.

This appears to be industry-wide, not specific to B&H or any other retailer.

Panasonic has historically been intermittently plagued by problems when it comes to keeping its photographic products in stock. To name two examples, I recall a loooong wait for the Panasonic LX3 when it was a hot item eight years ago, and I watched the Panasonic 12–35mm premium zoom (a great Micro 4/3 lens) go into extended periods of limbo more than once.

Happy Birthday DDD
The redoubtable David Douglas Duncan, one of the 20th century's greatest war photographers, turned 100 last January 23rd. Duncan (a.k.a. DDD)—who, when just a college student, inadvertently photographed an incognito John Dillinger entering a hotel—is revered at Nikon for his crucial early support of the then-fledgling company, and he had a long tenure as one of the top mentors and role models for photo enthusiasts. Late in life he had a falling out with his longtime friend Henri Cartier-Bresson for publishing a book of pictures he and Henri took of each other at a café—Cartier-Bresson was notoriously averse to being photographed.

David Douglas Duncan, photo courtesy LIFE.com

One of the treasures of my photo library is a copy of David's War Without Heroes, his superb book about Viet Nam (thanks to my book dealer friend Andy Moursund for helping with that acquisition). DDD is due for a new career retrospective book, too. Happy Birthday, David.

How to buy a pool table
When we were talking about the lottery several weeks ago, a couple of people asked me what kind of pool table I'd buy if I won the lottery. As you know I never write about pool, but I'd probably pick a 9-foot Blatt New Yorker, which is a modern reproduction of the old "streamline" style Brunswick Centennial. (Streamline is a later offshoot of art deco.) Costs around $30,000, I think—I haven't actually priced it, for the obvious reason that I haven't won the lottery.

But for most people furnishing a game room, for kids, teens, parties, and weekender "ball-bashing," what you want is something like a 7-foot Brunswick Glenwood. Not cheap, but the table is pretty, it can be customized to your taste, and the pockets, as on all Brunswicks save the tournament models, are buckets—they'll suck down any ball that comes near 'em. This is not good for practice or for getting better, but it's better for having occasional fun without getting frustrated.

Long the dominant brand, Brunswick tables are no longer the best—all made offshore* now—but the famous name still holds sway, and every dollar you save buying a cheaper table you'll lose twice over when you go to sell.

The Brunswick Glenwood

Now comes the hard part: for heaven's sake, get the kids a lesson or two. In golf, the tradition of instruction is very strong—only an idiot would set kids on a golf course, hand them a few clubs, and turn them loose and let them have at it on their own. Everybody takes a few lessons. In any kind of billiards, it's the opposite. Not only is there no tradition of instruction, there is a tradition against it—hustlers were always trying to hide their "speed" (how good they were) and nobody wanted to teach anybody else what they knew for fear of giving away a competitive advantage. The result is that everybody flails away on a pool table any old which way, and nobody learns the proper stance or the proper way to stroke. (Even many pros have grooved a bad stroke, including the player widely agreed to be the most talented of the last era, the Filipino Efren Reyes. He copied his stroke from an old man who happened to be the best player in the small out-of-the-way town in the Philippines where Efren grew up. It's a poor one, loosey-goosey and too quick. Efren himself has said he has no idea how good he could have been if only he'd learned a better stroke. Sadly, there was a talented kid at my pool hall in Milwaukee who had copied his stroke from Efren's! That nameless Filipino player's untutored stroke has infected pool players across generations and across continents.) Widespread ignorance of how to play properly has adversely affected the popularity of the game.

How do you find lessons? You almost can't. Your best bet is this DVD set or this book. Good in-person instructors are very few and far between.

Free online photo course from MoMA
Last news item for this Sunday—the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has launched a free online course called "Seeing Through Photographs." Curator Sarah Meister "encourages participants to look critically at photographs through the diverse ideas, approaches, and technologies that inform their making." Haven't seen any of it yet, so this isn't necessarily an endorsement—I'm just passing the news along.

Come back tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET for a nice book offer, exclusively here on TOP! Hope you have a nice rest of your Sunday.

Mike
(Thanks to Scott Johnston, Richard Newman, Ctein, and Ken Tanaka)

"Open Mike" is the Editorial Page of TOP. It often strays off-topic and usually comes along on Sundays.

*American-made tables include Connelly in Texas; A.E. Schmidt in St. Louis, Missouri, a company I like; Golden West in Oregon; and, in Indiana, Diamond, the prevailing manufacturer of tables used at professional tournaments. (And Olhausen, but stay away from Olhausens. In my opinion they play horribly.) There's a brand of table called American Heritage. Now where do you suppose those are made? Asia, of course. With a name like that, how could they be made anywhere else?

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

R. Edelman: "In lieu of a new David Douglas Duncan career retrospective, I would suggest Photo Nomad, published in 2003. As DDD wrote, the book was 'my birthday gift to myself.' Happy birthday, Mr. Duncan!"

Mike replies: Whoops, forgot about that one. I've skimmed but not perused it.

Moose: "Yup, got my cancellation notice for the Panny 25mm ƒ/1.7 a couple of days ago, and a nice, if frustrated, reply when I asked what was going on:

We accepted your order with every intention of filling it. We could not have anticipated that Panasonic would become unable (or otherwise decline) to fill the orders we had placed with them for this lens. We share your disappointment and surprise at their decision.

"But as I live where I don't have to buy a $155 hat, I now feel better about popping for an Oly refurb. I think that the lens I wanted anyway, and was blinded by the deal. I looked at the reviews again, and at Robin Wong's practical examples that the Oly, in spite of similar specs, can get much closer/magnify more, which is a big deal to me."

Ken James: "Another good post, you are on a winning streak (usually are). I was apparently one of the lucky ones to get the Panasonic lens, I have kept it on my OM-D E-M10 since it arrived. I was surprised at how much more I like the camera with this lens on the front. I love it."

sara j: "In 1968, I skipped out of school with a friend and we went to the The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. I came upon an exhibit of David Douglas Duncan photos and stayed there for several hours, mesmerized. The next day, I walked into the journalism room and said that I needed to learn photography."

Comments

[Hugh Smith]

It's been a chilly and wet month in Provence...ranging in at 17 degrees Celsius or about 58-59 here Mike.
The big reason I moved from Philly was the weather. So have at it...without me and mine.

Mi dos pesos

[Romano]

From my all-time preferred book (although in part due to the wonderful Italian translation)... "Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. For them there is no winter food problem. They have fires and warm clothes. The winter cannot hurt them and therefore increases their sense of cleverness and security. For birds and animals, as for poor men, winter is another matter." --- Watership Down, Richard Adams. (I enjoy winter too. Well, I enjoy variety, really),

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

I will not click on the link to your hat. Since your original post when I went to look at what kind of hats you were talking about, it has taken until just recently to get the hat adverts off my browser pages. There were some geeky looking hats and my lovely wife wondered what I was thinking...

[You can stop that, you know. Just disable cookies in your browser preferences. Google it if you need help. --Mike]

[Bob Rosinsky]

I've noted this once before, and I'll note it again: Billiards is about geometry, physics, developing spatial imaging skills, game theory, art, recreation, and psychology. The game sharpens hand-to-eye coordination, concentration, and heightens awareness of one's mind and body. It's engaging and fun. Why billiards isn't taught for high school credit or required to earn a bachelor's degree is a mystery?

[Yes, cue sports are the loveliest of games. Snooker is wonderful. The applied physics is fascinating.

Unfortunately there's no money in the game, anywhere, and the nosedive the game's reputation took during the Great Depression has been insuperable.

However the author of that book I linked, Mark Wilson, teaches a pool program at Lindenwood University, a large (17k students) liberal arts college in Missouri. I believe Lindenwood and the University of Akron in Ohio are the only two colleges in the U.S. to offer scholarships for cue sports. --Mike]

[Hugh Smith]

I can't believe I forgot to wish DDD a VERY happy birthday. Unlike many war photographers he was (and is) a complete gentleman and not at all the prima dona that many were (names not mentioned).
His work was (yes) sharp and filled with pathos and, if one can say this, beautiful imagery.
I spent hours looking at his work in Life Magazine, as a kid and am certain he had a lasting effect on my work.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

Mi dos pesos!

[dd-b]

Wow; I would have guessed pool tables to be one of the things where shipping cost to the final location was a major part of the price for most purchases, and hence that there'd be more local production. Shows what I know!

[dd-b]

"Watch cap" style devices slide up my head and uncover my ears; very not good.

[k4kafka]

David Douglas Duncan's work with Picasso is also a fascinating bit of photo reportage...

[Dan Doviddio]

You'd be better off with these socks: http://www.amazon.com/River-Extra-Heavyeight-Blend-Outdoorsox-Mid-Calf/dp/B0184LAKL0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455473772&sr=8-2&keywords=fox+river+socks+outdoorsox

And I am affiliated. But I know warm socks...

[Joe Holmes]

Wait, Mike, you were a CompuServe guy? I was sysop of the MacUser forum in the ZDNet area in the early and mid-90s! You must have hung out in the photography forums -- I was strictly a Mac guy back then.

It's 9 degrees in NYC right now, but no wind, so completely doable. I'd head out if I didn't have this damned head cold.

[Yeah I think I started in '93, representing "Camera & Darkroom" magazine with a flagged account. Mike ("Wilma") Wilmer was the den mother. Hardworking mod, I might add. His job was a challenge and he did it well. --Mike]

[Terry Letton]

Wait study billiards in school! The game room at South Florida was almost the destruction of my academic career. billiard, snooker, and standard pool tables all there. Thankfully I recovered but seldom play anymore.

[Jon Porter]

Since politics have edged out war as American's topic-of-the-moment right now, I nominate "Self Portrait: U.S.A." as DDD's finest work. Duncan's photos and comments on the 1968 conventions are still timely 50 years later. Duncan met Nixon in the Pacific during the war and that early friendship gained access to the often reserved candidate, resulting in some compelling photos on the eve of his nomination.

[Roy]

$155 beanie...

[David]

I got a great deal (AU $780 / US $560) on a new GX8 3-4 months ago, and got the 25/1.7 on promotion with it - I was quite surprised when it turned up about a week after claiming it on the panasonic site. It seems to be an OK lens - you get what you pay for - but I already had the Voigtlander 25mm, so I doubt the Panasonic will see much use. I feel for those who missed out.

[Daniel]

http://www.furhatworld.com/badger-fur-trapper-hat-p-179.html

Warm and windproof and a fashion statement that will make wildlife refuge takeover idiots jealous.
I have two of these and they work great. One from Cabelas(they no longer have badger fur) and one from fur hat world above. Link is just for the photo, I don't work for them

Would love a real Russian Sable hat from the old KGB years but price is way too high.

[Cyril]

Was one of the "lucky" ones who actually did get the Panasonic 25mm deal before they ran out.
It turns out the lens is *large* for a m43 lens -- even bigger than the Sigma 19mm -- and not noticeably sharper than the kit lens.
So at 99$ this was indeed a cheap lens, but for 249$ I'd keep saving up and get one of the Olys.

[Alan Carmody]

Happy Birthday, David Douglas Duncan!

It's a thrill to know that someone who photographed (and fought) at Bougainville and Okinawa just celebrated a major birthday.

As a footnote, John Morris, the renowned LIFE magazine picture editor who, as a junior editor, helped DDD get a job at LIFE after WWII is also with us, aged 99.

[alex]

I remembered something I should have mentioned on your hat search page about a week and half late, so I'll stick it here: have you ever looked at a merino wool Buff? I'm sure you've seen the bright CoolMax Buffs at some outdoor store, but they make them in wool (and sedate colors) and they certainly meet your stuff-in-a-pocket requirement. The long tube looks too basic to do any good, but it'll perform half the functions of a scarf, but it can also be stretched up over your ears, your chin, or even into a faux balaclava.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amerino%20wool%20buff

[Murray Lord]

I flew from Ottawa to Sydney over the weekend. Minus 27 C as I drove to one airport, plus 27 C as I left the other.

[Yiwu]

Just endured 4 days over 40C and it will be 39C tomorrow.

Hats? I find a 6 metre turband of voile fabric best for both hot and cold. About $14.

[Martin]

I'm part way through another free MOMA course, on modern art. If the photography course is as interesting it is well worth investing the time. There are sample videos if you want to get a flavour.

[Jon]

"only an idiot would set kids on a golf course, hand them a few clubs, and turn them loose and let them have at it on their own."

So you're calling my dad an idiot, huh? This is the same man who once went out one weekend and came home the proud owner of an A.E Schmidt pool table (well, once they built it for us). I also once went to soccer camp at Lindenwood University. (I grew up in St. Louis). Now pool camp, that would be cool.

Pool was fun but I got much better after buying an Ewa Mataya book on playing better. You are right, the grip and stroke being good and consistent were the most important parts. Once you own a pool table, you don't have to pay to play like you do with golf. Ala Mark Twain, I call golf, "A free walk made expensive."

[Dennis]

We like Stormy Kromer hats here in the UP of Michigan. It was -24 Sunday morning in Marquette MI, and even colder in other parts of the UP.

http://www.stormykromer.com/products/the-original-stormy-kromer-cap.asp

[Peter Croft]

Why is it called a watch hat?

[Google is your friend..."watch cap" is a Navy term for a close-fitting knit cap worn by sailors on watch in cold weather. --Mike]

[William Lewis]

Thank you for the update on the Panasonic lens. I got the cancel notice the other day and was extremely frustrated. I had no way to understand WHY this had happened and your posting helps with that. Now if only I could afford the Olympus alternative. Foo...

[Pavel]

I too had my order cancelled after a long wait. At first my fury was directed at B&H but after reading about the details of the "scam" ... I understand B&H's position. As long as my wallet lives - I shall never buy another Panasonic product. The end. Amen.