Fall McCartney

I Was (Literally) On Top Of The World

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

It’s not often I’m a passenger in a vehicle, so it ain’t often I get the chance to use my camera in a moving car or SUV. Just before Christmas last year I had to go to northern India for five days and that was probably the first time I was able to work on the (considerably challenging) art of photography at high speed.

On that trip, we did the long northern highway from New Delhi to Dehra Dun and then back again - so I got a fair bit of practice. Then a couple of months ago I was in the Yukon and the lessons I learnt in India stood me in very good stead.

We travelled to a very tight schedule in the Yukon, covering just under two thousand kilometres in five days of serious travel. In that time, I shot hundreds of images through the window of an SUV travelling at high speed.


Crikey, it’s not every day you get to drive the Alaska Highway or the rugged Dempster Highway or even the awe-inspiring Top Of The World Highway. These shots were actually taken on American soil, in the US loop of the Top Of The World Highway that takes you from Dawson City in the Yukon, through Alaska and then back into Canadian territory just before Beaver Creek.

It was early fall and I was engrossed in the colours when I suddenly noticed this narrow patch of hillside coming up very quickly to my right. Fortunately we were in a left-hand-drive vehicle (which is crucial to a clear view on the right-hand side!) and I was able to train my lens on this scene.

Even though I spent a lot of time in Indian forests and conservation parks when I was very young, I don’t think I’ve ever seen foliage as dense as this in my life. Honestly, looking at this solitary clump of trees was like looking at the woven pattern on a woollen carpet.

There has been quite in increase in the number of new readers to this blog, so I’d just like to reiterate something that most people know - these images are not edited or enhanced in any way. What you see here is exactly what I saw through my viewfinder.

When you shoot a scene as memorable as this, in terms of sheer density of foliage and the concentration of colour, you don’t need to improve it using electronic means.

When I shot the last image (below) I had the immediate thought that the dark-green treetops, visible at random intervals through the fall colours, looked like asparagus spears. No, they weren’t Britney’s spears.

Bid Me Baby, One More Time

Britney Hair Gets $25 Million Bid On eBay

Have you ever paid $25 million bucks for a lock? No? Here’s your chance. If you have a lazy $25 million sitting around, you can indeed buy a lock - of Britney Spears’ hair. Bidding on eBay started at $12.98 (yes, that’s right, just a tad under thirteen bucks!) and rapidly escalated, topping the eight-figure mark in just a few hours.
According to CBS4.com, several people have posted items on eBay, claiming to have the actual hair that was shaved off of Britney Spears’ head Friday night (US time) at Esther Tognozzi's salon in Los Angeles. One seller, who goes by the name of “Cornorstore” on eBay claims to not only have locks of genuine Spears hair, but also a Red Bull energy can she was drinking from, as well as a lighter.
The seller claims all the items are authentic and are “offering it for sale here at what we feel is a realistic price. This is a piece of history that can not be duplicated.” Another item up for sale on eBay is the alleged clippers that were used the shave Britney’s head. Unfortunately for the owner who put the clippers up for sale, it has only fetched a bid of $20.00, plus $9.00 for shipping and handling.
It reminded me of the furore over another international celebrity three years ago, when Neil Armstrong was outraged at the actions of his regular barber, Marx Sizemore, of Lebanon, Ohio. I remembered that Sizemore had sold some of Arnstrong’s locks - without the knowledge or indeed the permission of NASA’s most famous son - for $3000. I sort of remembered that Armstrong had taken legal action, but I had to do some research to check the facts.
According to Wikipedia, Armstrong threatened to sue Marx Sizemore. He had swept up some of Armstrong’s hair clippings and sold them to celebrity hair collector, John Reznikoff. Armstrong was furious but Sizemore was unable to get the hair back from Reznikoff.
There is an interesting background to this episode, because Armstrong decided in 1994 to refuse any requests for autographs. The same year, he sued Hallmark Cards after the company used his name and a recording of "one small step" quote in a Christmas ornament without seeking his permission. The lawsuit was settled out of court and it was reported that Amrstrong immediately donated the undisclosed sum of to Purdue University.
In this light, I decided to confirm the details of the Armstrong-Sizemore saga and found a report, dated 1 June, 2005, by Dan Majors in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The article quoted Sizemore saying, ``I didn't deny it or anything. I told him I did it.’’ Sizemore said Armstrong, who is known to cherish his privacy, asked him to try to retrieve the hair, but the buyer did not want to give it back. ``I called Neil back and told him that,’’ Sizemore said. ``Then I got this letter from his lawyer.’’
But the one line that really caught my eye was a gem of a comment from Majors. He wrote: ``Sizemore, for his part, cuts hair; he doesn't split them.’’

FOOTNOTE: If you really must bid for Britney Spears' locks on eBay, you'll have to decide on a bald-park figure.