Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/08/13

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Guns and Leicas
From: philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)
Date: Mon Aug 13 09:58:29 2007
References: <914058.19451.qm@web55906.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <68ACE44F-F079-43D6-9B48-DA7837458ABE@pandora.be> <46BBC62F.7020408@san.rr.com>

Hi Jerry,

I can appreciate the look and feel of a good fountain pen, have a few  
of them, but that's about it. So it's not really a true hobby.
But even then I appreciate its craftsmanship more than that of guns.

Philippe



Op 10-aug-07, om 03:58 heeft Jerry Lehrer het volgende geschreven:

>
>
>
>
> Phil,
>
> FOUNTAIN PENS??  Really?  Are they collectible?  Though I did pick  
> up a used pen at a La Jolla
> estate sale a few weeks ago.  It is a Conklin, though I never heard  
> of it.  Parker, Shaeffer , Waterman
> yes, are the only names I know.   I paid $10 for the pen, though  
> there were other pens there at higher
> prices, with names I never heard of.
>
> Jerry.
>
>
> Philippe Orlent wrote:
>>> How many of us Leica owners are also gun owners?
>> Nope
>>
>>> How many own more guns than Leicas?
>> Nope
>>
>>> How many own more Leicas than guns?
>> Yes. 1 Leica. And always the possibility of a second one, because  
>> you never know.
>>
>>> How many of us shoot more pictures with Leicas than bullets from  
>>> guns?
>> Consequently.
>>
>>> Is there a natural affinity for lovers of precise machinery  
>>> between Leicas and fine firearms?
>> For some it might seem so. But for me there are many others types  
>> of precise machinery that I like a lot more than a firearm:  
>> fountain pens, single malts, wristwatches, meccano, minitiature  
>> trains, airplanes big, small and very small, havanas, etc. The  
>> usual stuff :-)
>> Can't have it all, and guns are very very low on my priority list.  
>> Let alone the fact that you can't own guns over here without a  
>> licence.
>> But then again, I don't live in the US. Of which by now I  
>> understand that for some there are cultural and historical reasons  
>> to own one.
>> I don't think that the deepest driver for gun owning is 'precise  
>> machinery love' or 'cultural and historical reasons', though. It's  
>> a bit more archetypical than that: sheer protection.
>> Which you can't say of a Leica. Or a fountain pen and the lots,  
>> for that matter. The appeal from those is far more cultural. Which  
>> is about societal progression. And not about archetypical standstill.
>> Aren't we at the stage yet that it becomes time to start to  
>> embrace the fact that being human should mean not needing protection?
>> Or are we still more of an evolved animal than we think?
>>
>> IMO ofcourse.
>>
>> BTW: I think that it is this duality that will make such a succes  
>> of Kyle's book. There are only two possible opinions about gun  
>> ownership. By not taking a standpoint in this debate, his book  
>> appeals to both. The same image, different interpretations. His  
>> decision to stay unbiassed in this matter was sheer genius.
>>
>> Philippe
>>
>>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


In reply to: Message from h_arche at yahoo.com (H. Ball Arche) ([Leica] Re: Guns and Leicas)
Message from philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent) ([Leica] Re: Guns and Leicas)
Message from glehrer at san.rr.com (Jerry Lehrer) ([Leica] Re: Guns and Leicas)