Good Work Men January 21, 2010 6:42 PM Subscribe
I just want to point out how fast and accurate the Metafilter Detective Squad was in debunking this deleted post.
Don't patronize me. Oh wait, I had no impute on this. Go team.
posted by nola at 6:47 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by nola at 6:47 PM on January 21, 2010
I could tell by the extra pixels on the n.
posted by Babblesort at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Babblesort at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2010 [4 favorites]
This is a massive coverup by the Cab[[user deceased 1/21/10 funeral services have been arranged]]
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well well. If you click through to the Pixelworks San Francisco Photo Lab site where this was hosted it is a 404 now. Pixelworks is trembling in fear.
posted by Babblesort at 6:54 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by Babblesort at 6:54 PM on January 21, 2010
I'm sure it didn't originate at the linked blog. Snopes says it's been around since 2006.
posted by The Deej at 6:59 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by The Deej at 6:59 PM on January 21, 2010
Replaced by a very sensible mea culpa.
posted by zamboni at 7:02 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 7:02 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
Wow, I assumed the "relative" story was just a framing device that inadvertently tricked a reader into thinking it was real. SO WHO'S THE REAL SUCKER?
posted by DU at 7:04 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by DU at 7:04 PM on January 21, 2010
Dang, the bogus pictures that the FPP linked to are gone. I wouldnt mind seeing them. Anyone have a link to `em?
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:16 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:16 PM on January 21, 2010
It takes a 'detective' to work out that 70 year old film probably wouldn't come out?
posted by pompomtom at 7:18 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by pompomtom at 7:18 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
They're at the Snopes link, Effigy2000. Though I think the blog post just had a subset of the images there.
posted by not that girl at 7:19 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by not that girl at 7:19 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Effigy2000, the Snopes post has the photos, which aren't bogus as such, just not belonging to the backstory of an undiscovered Brownie camera.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:21 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:21 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
the backstory of an undiscovered Brownie camera.
Sounds delicious!
posted by carsonb at 7:28 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sounds delicious!
posted by carsonb at 7:28 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
I used my awesome detective powers to find my ass without a roadmap or a flashlight!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:42 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:42 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sweet, thanks not that girl and Horace Rumpole. A favorite for each of you!
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:11 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:11 PM on January 21, 2010
Yes stavros, but did you use both hands?
posted by TooFewShoes at 8:13 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by TooFewShoes at 8:13 PM on January 21, 2010
Am I the only one who saw the original post and thought "A Brownie's camera? What the hell was a Girl Scout doing taking pictures of Pearl Harbor?"
posted by nooneyouknow at 8:16 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nooneyouknow at 8:16 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
jb says I should post the comment I was writing when the thread was shut down. It doesn't really add anything, but here it is:
"Photo 2: Foreground on the left is the bottom of the capsized USS Oklahoma. Behind it you can just see the fremast of USS Maryland which is sitting low in the water, but still afloat. To the right of that, you can see, in the smoke, the masts of US Ships West Virginia (forground, sunk but upright) and Tennesee (background). The mast on the extreme right is probably from the beached USS Nevada. The space in between is taken up with smoke still pouring from the wreck of the USS Arizona (sunk and the only ship in this photograph which could not be salvaged)."
I was going through the photos for fun because... well because this is my primary area of nerdiness.
Oh, and one of the photos had a Catalina flying boat.
posted by Dreadnought at 8:17 PM on January 21, 2010 [4 favorites]
"Photo 2: Foreground on the left is the bottom of the capsized USS Oklahoma. Behind it you can just see the fremast of USS Maryland which is sitting low in the water, but still afloat. To the right of that, you can see, in the smoke, the masts of US Ships West Virginia (forground, sunk but upright) and Tennesee (background). The mast on the extreme right is probably from the beached USS Nevada. The space in between is taken up with smoke still pouring from the wreck of the USS Arizona (sunk and the only ship in this photograph which could not be salvaged)."
I was going through the photos for fun because... well because this is my primary area of nerdiness.
Oh, and one of the photos had a Catalina flying boat.
posted by Dreadnought at 8:17 PM on January 21, 2010 [4 favorites]
Oh, apparently Oklahoma was never returned to service. Not that it really matters.
posted by Dreadnought at 8:23 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Dreadnought at 8:23 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'll give them credit for quickly pulling the post. Photoworks (the photo lab that runs the blog where this post originated) is my go-to local photo lab in SF when I need good print work done (which is sadly rare nowadays). They do great work and are Good People, even if they got pretty darn well duped on this one.
posted by zachlipton at 8:24 PM on January 21, 2010
posted by zachlipton at 8:24 PM on January 21, 2010
Truthists.
Just because a post is more or less true, does it make it more or less worthy?
posted by qvantamon at 8:32 PM on January 21, 2010
Just because a post is more or less true, does it make it more or less worthy?
posted by qvantamon at 8:32 PM on January 21, 2010
Just because a post is more or less true, does it make it more or less worthy?
Well, if the link's dead (which it is), it makes the post kinda worthless, doesn't it?
posted by daniel_charms at 8:43 PM on January 21, 2010
Well, if the link's dead (which it is), it makes the post kinda worthless, doesn't it?
posted by daniel_charms at 8:43 PM on January 21, 2010
I used my awesome detective powers to find my ass without a roadmap or a flashlight!
I'm hoping this didn't involve a brownie camera.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:15 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm hoping this didn't involve a brownie camera.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:15 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
daniel_charms: “Well, if the link's dead (which it is), it makes the post kinda worthless, doesn't it?”
NOT 404IST
posted by koeselitz at 9:35 PM on January 21, 2010
NOT 404IST
posted by koeselitz at 9:35 PM on January 21, 2010
My Secret Quonsar in 2008 gave me a comic book about the history of the Brownie camera. Not relevant to this post really, but I just like to mention it every opportunity I get as it was so awesome.
posted by Elmore at 11:31 PM on January 21, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Elmore at 11:31 PM on January 21, 2010 [3 favorites]
Elmore: "My Secret Quonsar in 2008 gave me a comic book about the history of the Brownie camera. Not relevant to this post really, but I just like to mention it every opportunity I get as it was so awesome"
That's kind of like how I love to mention the handmade rainbow kitty that annaramma sent me for my first SQ at every opportunity. Oh look, I've done it again.
Dreadknought, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:41 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
That's kind of like how I love to mention the handmade rainbow kitty that annaramma sent me for my first SQ at every opportunity. Oh look, I've done it again.
Dreadknought, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:41 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yo LarryC, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Firefox 3.6 is one of the fastest of all time!
posted by orthogonality at 3:57 AM on January 22, 2010
posted by orthogonality at 3:57 AM on January 22, 2010
I saw this, and thought wow, this guy was really in the right place at the right time. Travelling from the airfield to the harbour, level-headedly snapping away at the EXACT point of explosion. Also - how long does file last?
posted by mattoxic at 4:57 AM on January 22, 2010
posted by mattoxic at 4:57 AM on January 22, 2010
those keys aren't even remotely close to each other. lucky for you it's friday midnight, before an extra-long weekend.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:08 AM on January 22, 2010
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:08 AM on January 22, 2010
Bob, we can see your wristwatch.
posted by fire&wings at 5:20 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fire&wings at 5:20 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I saw this, and thought wow, this guy was really in the right place at the right time.
Especially the one taken from an altitude of several thousand feet, like this one. Perhaps he was thrown upwards by one of the explosions.
As to the longevity of film, this guy seems to do pretty much what the hoaxers claimed to do, so it appears undeveloped film in old cameras can be developed. I will let the results speak for themselves as to quality.
posted by TedW at 5:54 AM on January 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Especially the one taken from an altitude of several thousand feet, like this one. Perhaps he was thrown upwards by one of the explosions.
As to the longevity of film, this guy seems to do pretty much what the hoaxers claimed to do, so it appears undeveloped film in old cameras can be developed. I will let the results speak for themselves as to quality.
posted by TedW at 5:54 AM on January 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Good work, all. My dying dog once told me this story about how pathos with a frisson of the uncanny really adds spice to stories, even to ones that are already pretty incredible in their own right.
posted by OmieWise at 6:37 AM on January 22, 2010 [13 favorites]
posted by OmieWise at 6:37 AM on January 22, 2010 [13 favorites]
There's a woman that comes to the Christmas craft fairs here in Cambridge that recovers old glass plate negatives and sells reprints. She doesn't do much, if any, retouching on them and it's really amazing how well preserved they all are. She does scan them into a computer, though, instead of making direct prints; I suppose it's better for the plates that way.
At any rate, I have two photos of World War I aircraft and I got my dad a picture of a bicycle shop (circa... 1910-ish, I think) from her. They're really cool.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:55 AM on January 22, 2010
At any rate, I have two photos of World War I aircraft and I got my dad a picture of a bicycle shop (circa... 1910-ish, I think) from her. They're really cool.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:55 AM on January 22, 2010
OmieWise, this may sound naive, but, do puppies have Christmas?
posted by jtron at 7:12 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jtron at 7:12 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh crap. Next you're going to tell me that that photo of the guy smiling on the Empire State Building as a plane flies by on 9/11 isn't real either.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:38 AM on January 22, 2010
posted by MuffinMan at 8:38 AM on January 22, 2010
Oh crap. Next you're going to tell me that that photo of the guy smiling on the Empire State Building as a plane flies by on 9/11 isn't real either.
The cabal has cleverly inserted this previous comment in an attempt to discredit you.
posted by zamboni at 8:44 AM on January 22, 2010
The cabal has cleverly inserted this previous comment in an attempt to discredit you.
posted by zamboni at 8:44 AM on January 22, 2010
.i clearly remember the butt on that standing pearl harbor sailor. no way this is real.
This is the kind of thing you can never foresee when planning a good con... MXJ1983's butt-memory.
posted by ServSci at 10:10 AM on January 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is the kind of thing you can never foresee when planning a good con... MXJ1983's butt-memory.
posted by ServSci at 10:10 AM on January 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
There's a woman that comes to the Christmas craft fairs here in Cambridge that recovers old glass plate negatives and sells reprints.
If you have old family photos that include the negatives in an envelope, and have some extra time, be sure to look through those negatives. My dad did this and discovered dozens of cool photos no one knew about -- the originals were probably given away to the person in the picture, or lost or who knows.
posted by msalt at 3:56 PM on January 22, 2010
If you have old family photos that include the negatives in an envelope, and have some extra time, be sure to look through those negatives. My dad did this and discovered dozens of cool photos no one knew about -- the originals were probably given away to the person in the picture, or lost or who knows.
posted by msalt at 3:56 PM on January 22, 2010
It takes a 'detective' to work out that 70 year old film probably wouldn't come out?
Actually, latent images on undeveloped negatives can last a hell of a long time and still come out more or less OK, as long as they're processed correctly. Seventy years is a bit of a stretch, but it certainly wouldn't be out of the question.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:33 PM on January 22, 2010
Actually, latent images on undeveloped negatives can last a hell of a long time and still come out more or less OK, as long as they're processed correctly. Seventy years is a bit of a stretch, but it certainly wouldn't be out of the question.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:33 PM on January 22, 2010
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posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:46 PM on January 21, 2010 [1 favorite]