While going through some random folders, I found a few scans of Mr. X's Instamatics (so generously given to me) that I had deemed to be rejects for various reasons.
WELL, they have now officially been unrejected! This first one was taken on a gray, overcast day, and it was also very dusty and damaged. I attempted to clean it up bit by bit with Photoshop's cloning tool, but at some point I just gave up - it was just too dusty. But it's still worth a look, wouldn't you say?
This one could have been really great, but it was extremely dark; so dark that I had to jump through all kinds of hoops just to get it looking this good - and I know it doesn't look very good. I have always loved the beautiful pirate ship vehicles on the "Peter Pan's Flight" attraction, and we get a tantalizing (but fuzzy) look at the mural on the wall.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThere's something wonderfully surreal about the shot of Peter Pan's Flight. Thanks for unfreezing these images.
Nice. I forgot what Peter Pans Flight looked like before the refurb of Fantasyland.
ReplyDeleteNice shot of the lower elevation point of the monorail track behind the Fantasyland Autopia load area. So what if there's tiny dust specs. It's still a great photo! I'm so glad you un-rejected it. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteBoth definitely worth a second chance! Love the flip hairdo on the gray-sweatered lady in the first pic.
ReplyDeleteMajor, Are these photos dated or does Mr. X know when he took these? If they're both from the same batch then I'd date them between 1964-67 (mid-sixties). A Mark II monorail, Mark VI Autopia cars and center guide rail for Autopia track are present.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I think the lack of people makes that second photo look odd; Disneyland needs to be populated!
ReplyDeleteMRaymond, I only wish that this was a better photo….
K. Martinez, it is true, at least that first one is an unusual angle. I’m glad you liked these!
Melissa, that looks like Leslie Gore.
K. Martinez, I will ask Mr. X if he happens to know the dates, although he actually cut the strips of negatives up into individual images, so they are all jumbled up. If he has a clue, I will add the info in the comments.
Beautiful picture of Peter Pan mural. I remember now that I can see it again. These are so rare to see since they were hard to photograph in the dark shadow and the crowded lines.
ReplyDeleteThanks for un-rejecting these. Seems to imply lowered standards, but not really, since we can now scrape these for details that might be overlooked in more spectacular views.
JG
Here's a nice, sunny, blue sky for your Autopia ride.
ReplyDeleteI figured out why that first pic looks odd. Probably everyone else already did.
ReplyDeleteThe monorail is really riding on the beam "behind" the beam in the foreground, so that's why it looks tilted. You can see the second beam visible past the first one to the left, and the dark gap below the monorail skirt to the top of the first beam is visible because the monorail train is on the back beam.
Whew, I feel better now.
JG
Melissa - your version of the photo appears to be peopled entirely with vampires. Or perhaps their shadows got got ideas after riding Peter Pan's Flight. It's delightfully unsettling in a very subtle way.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I'm just seeing things with the display blown up to 175%.
@ Major-
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you wish for-!
JG, it kills me to realize that these beautiful murals were just destroyed - think of the millions of people who looked at them for years. Part of the reason these were rejected was due to the scratches and dust, or murky darkness - but they still have some value. In the case of the first one, I would have rescanned it - but I can’t find the original negative. It seems to have gone missing.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, ha ha! That reminds me of so many vintage postcards in which a beautiful blue sky was composited in to replace the bland white sky. Nice job!
JG, as usual I wasn’t observant enough to even notice that there was anything “amiss” in the first photo. But you are right, we are not looking at a single track.
Chuck, the blue sky works pretty well, but you’re right, our brains instinctively sense that there is something funny going on! How is your recovery going?
Nanook, true… the “population” is one of the reasons I don’t go so much anymore. I equate it to going to Yosemite. It is beautiful, incredible, etc, but if you go on a crowded summer day, the experience is not what it should be.
Major, recovery is actually progressing pretty well overall, considering.
ReplyDeleteMy wife didn't provide you any details in her e-mail, but I took an aluminum pole to my right eye at about 10-15 mph while setting up a tent with my 12-year-old son. The pole hit the orbit below the eye, giving me a "blowout fracture," then ricocheted up and to my right, removed a chunk of my lower eyelid, and glanced off the eyeball itself. Fortunately, there was only a slight abrasion to the white part of the eye, but the most dangerous damage was the internal bleeding from the blowout fracture, which pooled behind the eyeball and started putting pressure on the optic nerve. I actually went blind in the eye for 15-30 minutes in the ER.
The staff of the six-bed, small-town hospital ER the ambulance took me to was not trained to deal with this sort of injury, and they consulted with the on-call ophthalmologic surgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St Louis. He advised an immediate procedure that I can't spell or pronounce but involves making an incision from the corner of the eye outwards and then down to allow a path for the blood to drain.
The ER doc had never studied, seen, or even heard of the procedure, but the surgeon talked him through it and then sent him to a website where he could watch a quick video on it. I could tell he was scared. The ER nurse was scared (and audibly praying). I'm man enough to admit I was terrified. And then he did the procedure, and I could see light in less than a minute and shapes in two or three. All I can say is that man saved my eye, and I owe him a big box of chocolates come Christmas.
I had another ambulance ride into St Louis (whee!), and the ophthalmologists were amazed and ecstatic that I was recovering so quickly. By the next day, I was seeing 20/30 at distance and 20/20 at distance within a week. I was told "you're one of our success stories." I can dig being a poster child for success.
I had reconstructive surgery on my eyelid two days after the accident, which was no fun at all with just a local anesthetic and a blue rubber contact lens over my eye. I was really tense and started singing in my head to calm myself down, which was eventually effective. I then thought it might be fun to take a side trip to Disneyland in my mind, and I found myself riding the Skyway over Fantasyland towards the Matterhorn circa 1975. It was fun until the wind picked up, the car started swaying, and I started getting really tense again. I went back to singing.
The eyelid is healing and there's just a little bit of purple bruising under the eye now. My eyesight has been gradually improving and this week I've actually been able to read some things at a normal reading focal length, although small print is still a challenge (curse you, over-the-counter medication instructions!). I still have the computer blown up to 175%, my right eye isn't dilating properly and I wear sunglasses a lot more than I used to, and I get double vision when I look all the way to the left, but the docs say I'm probably not done healing yet. We won't even consider a new glasses prescription for a minimum of another month. And there's some talk in the Scout troop about revoking my Safety Merit Badge...
All in all, not too bad for a guy whose second or third thought after the pole impacted my face was "Crap! I won't be able to look at View-Masters anymore."
Thanks so much to you and your awesome readers for the prayers and good thoughts they kindly sent immediately after the accident. My wife read them to me as I lay there in the dark, and I truly believe they made a difference in helping me heal. Just one of the many reasons I love this community.
It's good be back (even if the display's at 175%)!
@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteIt's really great to hear this news. Keep up the positive attitude. And if it will help, I'll even sing louder in the shower...
Chuck - yikes, reading the description of your accident and injury is making me want to put on a helmet of some kind and wear it at all times. And an EYE injury… like I said, yikes. As terrible as it was though, thank goodness that you still have the eye, and that a full recovery seems more than likely. I’m sure that it will just take time, but you will be back to 100 percent. Thanks for the details (I wasn’t sure if you wanted to share those), and I’m glad if GDB managed to help cheer you up, even a little bit.
ReplyDeleteNanook, how’s your singing voice? Nobody wants to hear ME sing!
Chuck - What a scary yet amazing story. And it could happen to anyone no matter how careful. All it takes is a momentary distraction or miscalculation and your world changes forever. I'm glad to hear your eye is improving and that you're doing okay. It's great to have you back. You've definitely been missed around here.
ReplyDelete@Chuck, thank you for the update.
ReplyDeleteWhat a scary story and all-round horrible experience. Good to hear you are on the mend, surely an answer to prayer.
I've definitely found that old memories of Disneyland do have curative properties.
Best wishes for a full recovery.
JG