They were generous hosts and a nice bunch of people and I spoke for nearly an hour and a half on a selection of my photographs. They were very complimentary during tea afterwards and they offered me a fee, which I asked to be sent to the Lymphoma Association on my behalf. I have no idea what the fee was, but it will have been gratefully received by the Association.
Unfortunately, the M6 was closed due to an accident in the Stafford area on the way home, so I had to double back and come the long way round via Telford and Wrexham. Still, it was a good evening.
I have also been to Germany this month to the Photokina photography fair. I was invited to attend the private Leica launch party as a guest of the owner of the Leica Forum and happily accepted. I used Eurostar and the DBahn train service to get to Cologne via Brussels with the view to taking in some of the scenery between the Channel and Cologne. Unfortunately, there isn't much to see as it is extremely flat, but the train service was very good and got me to the city at just the right time for the event.
A couple of new cameras were launched, to pretty much universal approval, especially the new "M" model, which looks particularly interesting and, for Leica, at a very good price. Saving up already...
The party was finished with a concert from Seal, a great friend of the Leica owner, Dr Kaufmann. Very good he was too.
The highlight of the evening, though, was an interview with Nick Ut, the photographer who took probably the most iconic photograph of the Vietnam War, that of Kim Phúc, the nine year old girl running naked from the napalm attack.
The rest of Photokina that I managed to see, was vast. It took around 20 minutes to walk from one end of the Halls to the other. Some are on two levels and every camera, film, lens and accessory company in the world seemed to be there, from the global giants such as Canon and Nikon, to small Chinese firms selling replacement lens hoods. No wonder that the hotels were all full and the city was buzzing.
The wedding is now only two months away, so this weekend, some serious shopping was necessary. Two decent pairs of shoes, two suits, two new shirts and a tie later, Ed and I are ready. The girls finished their shopping too, and that seemed to go pretty smoothly too, considering... That's good to have that out of the way, and, from our point of view, it doesn't leave much to be organised. Mustn't forget to sort out some taxis.
Now it's only three weeks until Copenhagen. I have downloaded some information about the Kulturnatten which is an annal event on the 12th October and, while I can't see myself dancing the night away until dawn, I can see a late night in store. It's going to be very interesting. I have wanted to visit the city for years, so this is the perfect reason to go. For the competition shots, I'm probably going to try out some of the high silver black and white film I picked up in Germany this week, but I must try some out first. Next weekend...
Health-wise, I am learning that "watch and wait" isn't so bad. This coming week is the week when I would have been going in for a top-up, so it's from next week that I am really exploring uncharted waters. I have the next check-up at the end of October, and I am sure that everything will be fine then.
I did think that I had had a night-sweat earlier in the week. I woke up convinced that it was happening, but I am pretty sure it was only a dream. Will have to watch for this though, as I suspect that my symptoms will be the same when they return.
That said, there's lots of good things to look forward to!
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