Is This A Mental Contest Or A Fiscal Contest?
Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
So there I was, running up the steps. As I always do. I think steps were created just for me. To some people they call out, "Climb me slowly". To me they call out, "Run up me, R U N". So I do what I have always done. I run up 'em. Quick smart, like.
Yes, I even ran up all the steps from the Upper Division playground to the change rooms and lockers and study hall at my boarding school, St Joseph's College, in the Himalayan town of Darjeeling. The steps went all the way up the hillside (the "khud" as we called it) and then they turned around at an angle of almost ninety degrees and went from the road all the way up to Fraser Hall and then there were the broad wooden interior steps (wide enough for ten schoolboys running abreast) to the locker room. Whew!
How many steps were there? Dunno, exactly. Maybe seventy-odd. Maybe there were too many to count. So, yep, I still run up stairs. All stairs.
And while I ran the other day, I noticed this sight. So naturally I got my camera out and took these two shots of the currency exchange outlet. For the first one (above) I waited until the throng of office workers had cleared and I had just one person in the frame. The angle had to be just right so that the person could not be identified - but it worked well because his figure provides a perfect sense of perspective.
Then my inquiring mind wondered why someone had stuck a lolly wrapper right in the middle of one "O" so I took the shot below.
Thank goodness I obeyed The Great Photography Instinct, because on Friday I noticed the place had closed its doors and it was being converted into a shop. The sign had gone.
See this shot below? That's where Abba got their inspiration for the lyrics to their hit song. I think.
(The Odd Shots concept came from Katney. Say "G'day" to her.)
23 comments:
Hi David,
Oh boy, and now I have that song rolling through my head, when I would rather have the green stuff. :) Thanks for stopping by blog and commenting. Glad you enjoyed my crazy squirrels. It's nice to meet you.
Lin
I liked that. First somebody with an eye for design made the "money-thing" , and second - you came along and saw the impossibilities in the first picture.
I suppose it's the difference in age...first thought I had was the O'Jays!
And I thought of Liza Minelli in Cabaret. At least I think I did, but I do get terribly mixed up with songs!
Lovely of you to visit me, hope you drop by again.
Beautiful photography.
Ah, David and his Money Bags, good shot, and great tale to boot.
Nice one David.
pop and see my ODD SHOT now up.
What a great post! I love Abba, so having their song in my brain for the remainder of the day, is just fine.
;-)
I so admire how you manage to do this - great shots, only two and such a story told with them! Love the symmetry. What a shame it is gone now.
Love the song you have running through my head now though. My odd shot(s) will be up in 20 minutes.
Now I've got a line from poet Theodore Roethke bouncing around in my head. Heard a recording of him and he was saying "Money, money, money. Water, water, water." And he didn't even live in the arid southwest. I believe it was Roethke anyway.
Running up all of those steps in the thin Himalayan air--you must have had some powerful lung power. Apparently, you still do. Your powers are many.
And your odd shots are oddly beautiful.
Great photos.
I am curious--with all of that running up the stairs, how many time have you tripped? :)
It's good to obey, isn't it? I had planned to take pictures of an old house I passed by when I cycled last year. I waited all winter for the snow to go and when I went out the first time this year I searched the horizon to say hello to the house that sat back from the road, to say, "I'll be here, soon, to take your picture." I'll be damned. Someone pulled it down in the winter. Who was crazy enough to hike out there through the snow? Never disobey your instincts!
I have that song in my head as well...it was good song! What a good photo of the fellow on the stairs. I run up the stairs as well....I work at a high school and I get really annoyed when the kids are "meandering at a slow pace"...I have a hard time getting by them!
I should find some stairs to run up. It would do me some good.
Glad you shot these photos when you could. Interesting shots.
Great shots! I especially liked the first one!
Greetings,
Odd shot indeed with a cute story. I loved that song.
The person in the photo looks dejected as if he suffered a huge financial setback because of this world economy. I hope I'm wrong. I enjoyed the pattern in the last photo!
May you always be able to run up stairs!
Oh yes, ABBA! Here in Sweden they are crazy about Abba (not me), of course I heard momentary the melody banging in my head ;)
Excellent shots. Looks like someone removed the white centre from that O!
thanks for these good shots... isn't it a wonderful feeling, just being in the right place at the right moment and getting the shot just right :-))
keep well...
Great shots and a cute story!
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich mans world :-)
Good photos David and I do love some Abba. I really do. LOL Hope you are having a great week!
Right place, right time. I have done that and often wonder why things had to change. . . like the orange flowers in one of my postcards at the top of my page. . . they are no longer due to new construction. The water's edge is all ugly now due to progress. Thus, I am reminded daily to take that photo now and not wait.
So simple, so deep.
Love your shots and commentary.
http://www.wanderingwonderinggypsy.blogspot.com/
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