ironic » Absurd Intellectual

School over-reaction both depressing and ironic

Posted by Amy Breen on 17 January 2010 Modern Life

Jan 172010

I came across a story on Boing Boing that was equal parts depressing and ironic.

Depressing: The vice-principal of a San Diego school called in the bomb squad after seeing a student’s science project, fearing that it was dangerous.

Ironic: The school is Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School, which emphasizes technological skills.

This incident seems to highlight both the ridiculous paranoia taking over our culture, and the obliviousness some educators seem to have concerning what their students are doing.

Even more depressing? This quote from the story from Sign on San Diego:

The student will not be prosecuted, but authorities were recommending that he and his parents get counseling, the spokesman said.

Yes, let’s discourage the kid from creating more science projects by telling him he needs counseling, for, you know creating something for the school that emphasizes technology.

Last Polaroid film and cameras being sold at Urban Outfitters, damn you hipsters

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 20 August 2009 Photography

Aug 202009

Well this sucks. According to Dazed Digital:

When Polaroid stopped production of their Instant Film in 2008, The Impossible Project purchased all the machinery and equipment at Polaroid’s Dutch factory to bring back Instant Film in 2010. Now Urban Outfitters presents a limited edition 700 hand-numbered deadstock Polaroid camera kits. The exclusive Special Edition will include one pack of Polaroid Instant Film along with one of the most sought after analog instant cameras, the Polaroid ONE600 Classic, the last Polaroid camera ever produced.

Urban Outfitters will offer additional deadstock original Type 779 Instant Film saved from the last production runs from the factory in The Netherlands, hand-selected, tested and stored at low temperatures exclusively.

Or, as BoingBoing Gadgets put it:

20th century institutions die not with a bang, but as fashion accessories for hip kids.

I really like Polaroids, and I hope the Impossible Project gets it going. Just because we have digital now doesn’t mean the old-style of photography has to die. I mean, people still paint, right? The only problem is that, with a niche market, producing a mass-product doesn’t always make sense. Polaroid film always was expensive, but it can be worth it, in my opinion.

There’s something about a Polaroid that even an instant-print digital camera doesn’t quite capture.

I will take this opportunity to point you towards the artistic work — using a Polaroid — done by a photographer who shares my name: Grant Hamilton.