Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]...to all of you sending me your compliments. It is nice to be back, and it would be nice to give you some entertainment as well. But I am afraid I am not in the mood. It is too hot here in Chinon, and I am decompressing after the field work. Roger's continuous, obsessional references to my "political agenda" don't bother me. After all he likes wine, and cannot be THAT bad! He is even welcome to have a glass one day, if he wants... Wine is wine. Politics is politics. Photography is photography. (Leica is Leica, of course). What is nice with this forum is the richness and range of topics. I like this diversity, even if I keep only a few messages. Some flame wars every now and then don't make any harm. It would be rather dull without them. We are all human beings with different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, but here in the LUG we are equal. If this is a new aspect of ur-kommunismus, it is a pity that so few may participate... Computers,E-mail, Internet, Space Flights, and other Hi-tech still excludes over 90% of the humanity. I know that we cannot change anything here in the LUG. But mentioning such matters from time to time is not a crime, is it? Tonight I went to a mess in one of the churches here. I just sat down resting my eyes, listening to the monks singing. I didn't bother about the words, or the message. I just let their voices flood into me. Their songs belonged to another age. The time when Chinon was Kaino, and the Count of Anjou built the church. The Count later became Henri II Plantagenet, King of England, but still continued living in Kaino most of the time. His son, Richard Lionheart, grew up, and also prayed in the church. They both died here, and are buried together in a monastery not far away. I didn't pray. I thought about Columbus, Santa Maria, and the destruction of America. I should like to go back to the West Indies. I should like to understand the spirit of the remaining Caribeans, which is probably a very complex and difficult matter. I know there are a few left on Dominica, and at some small islands closer to the continent. Did any of you ever go there with about the same intentions? I always had a great respect for peoples and civilizations just passing over the earth, not being possessed by the delirium of grandeur and conquest. There are still some of them left, but I am not sure if it is a good idea to disturb them. It is probably better to support them otherwise, or just defend their right to exist. I consider these civilizations as one of the most exemplary heritage in human history. But that is another story. Oddmund