[Leica] nylug meeting: some info....

[Kyle Cassidy <KCassidy@asc.upenn.edu>]

firstly, lemme point yas to some photos, i didn't take many:

http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/cassidy/pix/2002-06-22-nylug/

It was so good to see so many faces, and to hear so many success stories,
like Gilbert's (aspiring Leica wannabe two years ago, today: professional
photographer with two M7's blasting away), and to know that our little
community has actually changed people's lives. I know it's changed mine.

Linda and Liz and I rode up with Jim Shulman who, upon hearing that formal
dress would be required, appropriated a diamond tierra belonging to linda,
festooned with a LUG button we headed off. Liz, admiring the glitzy tiera,
handed over a pair of stunning azure earrings which offset his gilt look in
exactly the way a cake offsets a road accident. trip up without incident,
made it to the ICP. at the bottom of the stairs i recognized Brian Reid who
recognized me as well. I must say, it was just a great feeling to see him
standing there: the guy who's had such a dramatic impact on most of our
lives these last few years.

Light lunch beforehand -- linda and i picked through the sandwitches and
couldn't find anything vegetarian so we limited ourselves to the plates of
hot peppers and pickles (though i did have a small amount of the potatoe
salad -- what was in it?!) (note for next time: more diet soda! luggers seem
to think that will make an impact in our waistlines!)

Leica had some goodies set up, i got to play with an M7 (drool! drool!
drool! -- the electronics seemed to survive the drooling. shutter seems
quieter than the m6, LOVE the way you just set it on A and the aperture pops
up in the viewfinder. as b.d. said a while back: welcome to the 20th
century!) got to play with a digilux, which i wasn't really impressed with
- -- looks like it was designed by russians. sort of like a kleenex box with a
tiny speed-graphic like lens shade on the back).

brian reid went first, swank little titanium powerbook (drool drool) -- gave
a _fascinating_ and _WITTY_ lecture for an hour on creating virtual
communities, i nearly fell off my seat laughing a bunch of times. he's so
sardonic and extemporanious and well spoken. geez. some guys have all the
luck.

i went next, after sal said nice things about linda. a brief intermission
and jim lager showed an amazing collection of very rare leica cameras,
strange and important serial numbers, weird color schemes, rare cameras made
for the military, lenses that exist in numbers you can count on two
fingers... his capacity for detail and his genuine genuine love for leica
cameras is what creates and maintains the mystique which we all enjoy
reading about. unfortunately he didn't have copies of his books there, but
he did bring a really encyclopediac knowledge of gear. it's no wonder that a
collection of fameous luggers conspired to create for him a truely unique
Lager Leica.

we all left -- brian had vanished by that time, which only added to his
mystique. colin voze went out to dinner with jim, linda, liz and i. that was
about it. 

keep pushing that shutter button, it'll come unstuck,

kc
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