[Leica] The Grump rides again (on a cow this time)

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

Why is it that we can discuss the minutiae of finders and serial numbers
interminably, but as soon as we have a decent discussion going about
art--or just about a photograph or two--it deteriorates into a series of
woeful puns about cow udders? I knew this was going to happen. This, or
something like this, always happens, and not just on the LUG. It's the
internet equivalent of a collective nervous fit of the giggles.

I really am puzzled about why it's so difficult for people to discuss
aesthetics.

It happens in the magazine, too. Every time we make a brief,
responsible, and conservative foray into discussing actual
accomplishment, the 'why' instead of the endless 'how,' we get letters
from people pronouncing it 'fluff' or 'filler' and exhorting us to get
back to 'solid technical information.'

Well.

Eggleston uses Leicas, not Hasselblads. He was born rich and continues
to be rich and has many very beautiful and rare antique Leicas. He also,
according to one essay about him, has two wives in two houses and often
answers his doorbell holding a pistol. Another of his passions is
building loudspeakers, and his son, also called William, owns a company
called "Egglestonworks" that builds an extremely expensive speaker
called the "Andra" that won an award from _Stereophile_ magazine a while
back.

Eggleston is a significant photographer. Some people even like his work.
And if you don't, well, _you_ go try to sell your "bad snapshots" for
$4,500 a pop. Better than having to dress toddlers as daisies any day.

One day I'm going to start a newsletter that will discuss _only_
aesthetics and accomplishment, and questions about what one's tripod
legs should be made of will be the ones that elicit the hoots and
raspberries.

End of Eggleston discussion. Let's get back to something vital like
frameline brightness, the durability of camera coverings, whether we
should or should not use filters, or our preferred camera straps--i.e.,
the important things about photography. In the meantime, I can enjoy
these dazzlingly brilliant and creative bovine puns, which I find
delightfully entertaining and so very worth my time.

- --Mike