Terminal Document IV

I write a manifesto and I want nothing
yet I say certain things
and in principle I am against manifestos
as I am also against principles
-- Tristan Tzara, 1918

I wrote the following on 13 March 1987. No, really.

J.G. Ballard Is Dead

J.G. Ballard is dead. There is no-one left now, no-one we can trust for news of the world. Burroughs, Dick, Baudrillard, they're all gone. And who is here to take their place? Not me. Somewhere along the road I took a detour. I'm part of the twittering blogging classes now. Fuck. Those photos I took of my friend Chris in drained swimming pools. .. where are they?

And where is the dossier I prepared for Ballard? It contained a cassette tape of strange music and overheard conversation, along with some mimeographed sheets of paper, collage art, scattered writings, scattered thoughts. But I froze when the moment came and defaulted to asking him to sign a book. It must have been The Atrocity Exhibition, the most incredible "novel" ever written. So I put the folder back in my briefcase and left the room.

Dear Pentax

Lately there have been a rash of "wish list" postings on the various Pentax forums. I'm not sure why this is... maybe because we're so spoiled that we want more, more, more! Or maybe everyone likes to engage in a little gear fetishism every now and then.

Requests include the usual calls for a full-frame body (won't happen), improved auto-focus (would be nice, but don't real photographers focus manually?), or specific lenses (particularly those Pentax once made for film bodies). I thought I'd chime in, since my wish is of a different order entirely. Some might consider it trivial, but I think that if Pentax follows my lead here they will enjoy a bump in sales.

So You Want To Learn Python?

First, let me congratulate you on wanting to give Python a try! I have used many languages but always return to Python as it is the easiest to read, the fastest to programme, works on any platform and is bug-free. It's very much like an easier Java, in the same way that Java is an easier C++. There are many tutorials and books available to ease you into the language. Read on and I'll recommend my favourites.