There's something about seeing your name in print....UPDATE

Author's note: I have updated this article on April 22, 2017. My favorite car magazine: Hemmings SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR ceased publishing with issue #141. I sat down and went through all the issues which I saved in special cases, and found three missing! Being the type of collector called "completist" that just would not do. Thankfully, they have back issues of all 141. So, I ordered the lost ones. Once they arrived, I sat down again and decided to quickly look through all the "Reader's Replies" as they called them. In the back of my mind I just KNEW there was one in there with a letter of mine. I found it! Issue #72, August, 2011. It is placed in chronological order below. I briefly thought of redoing the entire post by scanning each cover and letter's pages, then reality hit: WAY too much work!

Gentle reader,

I think most people like the idea of being famous, at least a little bit famous. What I do and countless millions of others do by blogging is essentially self publishing their work. That's one of the reasons E-books have taken off. No printing costs.

I subscribe to a lot of magazines. Real, paper magazines. So many in fact, that the industry must think that I am in some kind of profession that requires keeping up via print media. I say that because I get crazy discount subscription prices and they often keep renewing them for free.

Obviously I have no problem talking (too much, my best buddy tells me) and writing, in this case to people I will likely never see or get to know. That's why I love it when you leave comments. We can have a little more personal relationship.

Plus, like elbows, which everyone has, I have opinions. Apparently others do like what I write. I know this, because when I write to editors of some of the magazines that I read, they publish my letters. I have kept those issue and thought, why not share with you?

The first time a magazine, called Excellence, published a letter of mine, I was shocked and pleased.  Excellence is a magazine for Porsche enthusiasts and owners. At the time, I had my first, and hopefully not my only, Porsche. It was a 1987 924S. The 924S was a then latest effort on Porsche's part to sell an entry level model. Slated to retail for $19,995 when they came out in Fall of 1986. A bargain in Porsche terms. As was mine, as you will see.....
The 924S is a Porsche 924 body with 944 mechanical components. I'm talking engine, suspension, brakes, wheels, etc. No more Audi-sourced engine, rear drum brakes, four-bolt wheels and VW-sourced other parts. Being lighter and more aerodynamic, it is faster and quicker (there is a difference) than the same model year 944 models are.
Excellence had an article about a recent PCA (Porsche Club of America) get together and one show winner's car was featured. They referred to it as a 944. It was, in fact a 924S. So I wrote to them and they published my entire letter and apologized to the owner of the 924S featured.

For some reason, I did not keep that issue and since I have no idea which one it was.....never mind.

NOTE: All photographs and words are the copyright of the photographers and authors and are used for illustrative purposes only. I do not benefit from their work.

(You know how you tend not to see something because it is always there? I have a wonderful EPSON photo scanner. It is sitting mere inches from me right now. And yet, it never crossed my mind to SCAN these covers and letters....unit today. Those scans will appear at the bottom of this post.)

In the case of the pictures of the letters pages, you'll have to scroll or look around to find the ones by me.

So, starting with the first issue I did keep, dated August 25th, 2008, this issue of AutoWeek magazine.
To make it easier to see the actual letters, I am making those pages full sized. My letter is on the lower right. Of course, Volkswagen did not choose to make this modern take on the Volkswagen-Porsche 914. Too bad.
Next, again in AutoWeek this one dated October 13, 2008. Funny that they included the much maligned Dodge Caliber in the fun rides list.
This time my letter is first. True too. NASCAR sucks.
A superb magazine as all Hemming's titles are, SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR is one I have subscribed to since issue #1. It features fun cars from many eras, unlike most mainline car magazines. Well written and illustrated.
My letter starts in the left column and ends in the right one. A little history you didn't know about.
Next, a pair of Euro-centric car magazines. Owning the fabulous Audi TT started my subscription to eurotuner and european car.
Interestingly, both issues are from the same month, January, 2009, although they are competing titles, they both had "me" in them. I highlighted the text on the page below at the time I noticed it. More history you may not know. Funny, since I now own a Volvo turbo wagon. Not the V70R, but it's little brother.
Here's the other one.
This one had nothing to do with cars. european car and a sister publication had their last page titled: Icon. That month's was GIJoe. This January, 2009 icon was the Airstream trailer.
Back to AUTOWEEK and their new look, dated December 14, 2009.
I did in fact keep that special Audi issue. My letter is the "feature" one this time.
MISSING issue and letter is here:
Back to SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR from August, 2001 which features a very pretty Fiat X1/9 mid-engined sports car on the cover.
My letter is quite long and they did not edit it at all. More than a whole column, it starts below the picture:
 

Only three months later SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR from November, 2001 published me again. That Volvo now has more than 3,000,000 miles and is still going strong. Back when Volvos were not boxy.
My letter is first in line. Again.
Hemmings once again printed a letter in the August, 2014 issue.
 This one is in the left column. I still want a Triumph GT6.

Now to the most recent car magazine printing and the first in Automobile. August, 2016. 
My letter is headlined "THANKS, BUT NO". 
I have a virtual version of the last air-cooled Porsche in my virtual garage in Forza 4. Of the models of which they featured as "affordable", I saw one for sale in a parking lot. White with blue leather interior. Manual transmission, great shape and I couldn't believe how cheap. The point is moot, (or as my ex-wife often said, "The point is mute." Perhaps she was subtly telling me to shut up?) I could not afford it.

I learned the lesson that so many buyers of "previously enjoyed" (my term) German cars: Got that ten-year-old (insert German car name here) for only ten grand? Well, when it needs work it is still a forty grand car. My 2000 Audi TT taught me that. Most repairs, no matter how simple still are quoted in four figures. Fun and awesome though they are, unless you can afford to pay for repairs and maintenance on that fun and/or exotic car, walk away. Just walk away.

I am a photographer and was an avid camera collector. As if you didn't already know that! POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY had an article titled "Elegant Machines". I felt the need to write to the editor:

On Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 10:07 PM, Scott Robb wrote:

Dear MS Leuchter,
    I have been a reader of your magazine for decades. It was frustrating however, because raising a family of four kids took precedent, so I couldn't afford a "real" (35mm SLR) camera, until April, 1995. Soon after, I decided to collect cameras as well. I had a mentor in the form of the late Colonel, Bill Arps, US Army, retired, whose massive collection took up his entire large basement. I helped him and later his widow to sell his collection, one camera or lens at a time. I introduced him to the Internet, and he would follow my sales. He once told me, "You described it so well I wanted to buy it myself. And it was my camera!" I still miss Colonel Bill.
    So, I was delighted to see Elegant Machines by Theano Nikitas in the September issue. I still have articles that I cut out and kept from previous decades such as SLR notebook by Herbert Keppler and the camera collector, later called ASK THE COLLECTOR by aptly named Jason Schneider. Both writers were instrumental in choosing my collection which is considerably smaller than it once was and can be seen in my blog: The Robb Collections: I haven't written about the cameras in a while: Aires, Kiev, Zorki....and Family
    Seeing that card in the mailbox announcing the upcoming camera show was such a exciting delight. What a feast for the senses seeing and handling SO MANY cameras and lenses all in one or two rooms at a local hotel. But as time went by the room numbers decreased as did the number of tables and sellers. The one word repeatedly heard was the reason, "ebay." Frankly, the first time I'd heard of ebay was an ad in your competition. It showed an old camera on an otherwise blank page and "www.ebay.com". That was in 1998. One look at the site and I was hooked. Not only did ebay kill camera shows, it also killed independent camera shops. Much as the Internet did to record stores. Progress isn't always a good thing.

    Well mentioned in the article is the cost of film and developing. I still have film in the freezer, and ache to use it, but for the after-the-shots costs. Plus, gone too are local places to get film developed and printed. The real fun of film is not knowing how the shots are going to turn out. Many times ,years ago, going through the prints caused me to think, "I made this? Wow!" As pointed out in the article, the immediacy of digital has killed the mystery. I used formats from sub-miniature to large in the guise of a Busch Pressman 4X5 camera my father-in-law gave me. Always the excitement of picking up the prints and opening the envelope in the car because I couldn't wait to see how the pictures turned out.

    If only there could be a resurgence in film, Lomo is trying, like there is in analog sound, that is LP records, whose manufacture and sales climbs every year. The key is inexpensive and convenient developing and printing. If not printing, at least good sized images on CD or DVD so one can print the ones they want. Being the leading photography magazine, maybe you can start the revolution. Thinking back, I always preferred the pictures with white borders. Looking at them was kind of like framed art or more modern, the frame around your monitor. The white separated the slice of time and place from the reality of the present. 

    Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading and subscribing.

Scott Robb
Didn't I tell you at the beginning that I like to talk and write? She e-mailed me write back and said:
"On 8/22/2016 7:04 PM, Miriam Leuchter wrote:
Dear Mr. Robb,

Thank you so much for your letter. I always love hearing reminiscences like yours, and I share your sense of wonder, even in this digital age, of looking at a good print and thinking, "I made this? Wow!" 

We've noticed a strong interest in film among our younger readers, particularly online, where photographers who grew up in the digital era seem hungry for information and encouragement. So you can expect to see us continue to cover analog photography from time to time.

We won't have room to publish you full letter in our Your Turn column, but I'll try to fit in a part of it—probably the first paragraph and a bit of the second, if that is OK with you.

Yours,

Miriam"


Miriam Leuchter
Editor-in-Chief
Popular Photography and American Photo
2 Park Avenue, 9th floor
New York, NY  10016
+1 212 779 5463
MY response to her was:
On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 4:22 PM, Scott Robb wrote:
Miriam,
    Thanks for your kind reply. It surprised and pleased me that you would take the time to write. I would be honored if you published my letter! Oh, by the way, I was also a Shutterbug subscriber for a long time, but your mag won out as to my continued reading and enjoying.
    You all are doing a great job and no matter how long one has been making pictures, there's always something to learn in Pop-Photo.
Thanks,
Scott 
To which she replied:
Thank you so much, Scott!

Rather than cut your letter to ribbons, I decided to hold it for a month and try to fit at least a chunk of it into the November issue. 

Miriam

Miriam Leuchter
Editor-in-Chief
Popular Photography and American Photo
2 Park Avenue, 9th floor
New York, NY  10016
+1 212 779 5463
See how this all works? You write (not TEXT) to someone and they write back. Even someone as busy as the editor of a well regarded national publication feels it is necessary to personally reply to a subscriber and then publish at least what she could fit in a following issue. Here is the cover of THAT issue:
ISN'T that an amazing photograph! Such colors. Nature is truly wonderful! Below is her editorial for that issue and her photograph.
Below is the portion of my letter that she could squeeze in. For which I am very grateful.
So, that was the first non-automotive magazine to publish my words. The title "Editor" is very true. BELOW is the cover to one of the "High end" audio publications that I subscribe to. I cannot afford the vast majority of what they review and advertise, but it is still interesting, nonetheless.
I had written to this magazine as well, never expecting to have it published. So, when I turned to page 10, I stopped and thought, "Did I just see my name?" Well, I did:
Despite what I said, my frugal Scottish roots would prevent me from actually spending five figures on a couple of pieces of stereo equipment. I wrote to the editor to thank him for publishing my letter and he replied:
"Hi Scott,

Thanks for the note. It was in interesting letter.


Best regards,
Robert"
So, there you have it. Most of the letters of mine that others felt merited publication.
Thanks for looking,
Scott  

at 2 comments:

Some tweaks to the Den stereo system + Monster Cable MCX

Gentle reader,

The other day, I mentioned to my wife that I was perfectly happy with the sound system in the den. She laughed and said, "Right. Sure you are." "What? I haven't bought anything in a long time!" I replied. "Let's see, last weekend you told me you 'rearranged the stereo'." Well, I did say that and did do that. But for a good reason! As you will see. Please read on.
For the new reader, I have made numerous changes in the sound systems over the years and covered the changes in these digital pages. To make it easy for the readers, I compiled all the sound-related posts on this page: The Robb Collections: ALL my posts about stereo equipment, speakers and more!  I have made nine other posts since then showing changes/improvements. They say change is good and for those that may, I say, may, be slightly OCD, we are simply seeking order and in my case the best sound I can achieve with my humble budget.
I just took a look at the above linked post and the only photo shows the room as it stood then. If you look you will see a number of speakers and only a few pieces of equipment. That is because at that time, I had TWO SEPARATE SYSTEMS in the den or as I like to call it: The Listening Room. The glass and steel rack shown below was once on the left wall. That teak shelf in the linked post above now sits there and holds books and Asian stuff. Well, one of the nine posts showed the return of the subwoofer on which the CD tower rested back then. You see, the second system and the three wall mounted speakers plus the sub and the stacked components on the right plus two unseen rear speakers were strictly for playing the small assortment of six-channel (5.1) SACDs (Super Audio Compact Disc) that I owned. I finally realized that having that WHOLE kit of extra equipment was, well, silly. So, in order to help a buddy choose between buying a surround sound system for his TV/Blu-ray or buying an XBox ONE, I offered to give him that whole kit. Which I did. In return, he gave me his whole XBox 360 set-up which I passed on to my grandson. Some months later, he brought the subwoofer back because his wife thought it was too loud. That was good because I am in love with the little speakers shown below:
The story on those beauties can be read here: 
As you can plainly see, they only have four inch woofers. Thus, bass is less than robust. So, rather that having to buy another subwoofer....

In the picture above, you can see a large black speaker on the left. That is one of the two Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speakers. I am not using them, but will hang on to them because they are amazing and so efficient! Why can Cerwin-Vega! make such efficient speakers and the other makers not do so as well, I do not know. By efficient I mean that it takes very little amplifier power to make them play VERY LOUDLY! 

As to the second part of the subject line of this post: "Monster Cable MCX", M-Series is the second from the top-of-the-line of Monster Cable speaker wires/cables. The top is the "Z Series" which is outside of my budget.
Note the two shades-of-gray (or is it grey?) speaker cables above and below? Those are both MCX Series cables. The lighter colored ones are new and are MCX-1. The larger ones are MCX-2 which are more expensive and complex in their construction. You can Google these cables when you are finished reading if you are confused or seek more information.
To begin, when the subwoofer first returned, I placed it on the left side and neatly placed the Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speakers on the right wall. This looked fine, (as you can see below) but I realized that the classical and movie score music has the Bass and Cello players on the right side of the orchestra. While I have STACKS of speaker wires and cables that I have tried over the years down in the work/laundry room, none were of sufficient length or quality. 
Above shows the subwoofer on the left and the type of wires, twisted-pair ones (I don't recall their name) also made by Monster Cable, supplied the signals to it and frankly didn't look very good. OCD, remember? Plus, you see those two black cables that are heading up the left corner walls? They are one of two pairs I found at The Village Thrift store. They are of Chinese make: XINXIN is the name and while they seemed well made, the actual conductors (wires) inside were quite thin. 
Where are they going? You may wonder. To terminals in the ceiling, through other no-name twisted-pair 10-gauge cables in the attic, to terminals in the ceiling and then attached to one or the other pair of speakers in THIS ROOM, which is next to the den. It is my study/home office/museum/library/simulation-racing-station room. I use Monster Cable XP (their least expensive) speaker wires in here. Confused yet? My wife gave up years ago on trying to understand all the changes. I can't imagine why. 
I was able to score two new 30-foot reels of Monster Cable MCX-1 speaker cables which included the red and black "speaker pants" shown. As you can see, I use a variety of brands of banana plugs. I'm leaning towards Nakamichi BFA N0524E units which are the silver ones above. I like Monster Cables various ones as they are high quality and fit tightly in their respective receptacles. There are knock-off such as the ones seen below, but they only hold tight the first time you plug them in. Eventually, I will replace all of them with those Nakamichi BFA units. 
Above is the MCX-1 cables as plugged into the high level inputs on the subwoofer. The low-level inputs are the silver RCA terminals on the left. That is a PANGEA power cable you see. PANGEA is sold exclusively by Audio Advisor. They are very high quality and are also available in 7 gauge as well. Those are called: AC-9 and are quite unwieldy.  I sold the one I had for that reason. The AC-14 is fine for my subwoofer and Dynaco ST-200 power amplifier's needs. PANGEA is expanding in the High-End (Audiophile) world and offering more and more products. They are showing the rest of that industry that quality audio products do not have to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to satisfy the "golden ear" segment of the population.
Speaking of the Dynaco Stereo 200 amplifier, here is the terminals on the back. It may look confusing because of the glass shelf it is sitting on shows the cables attached to the preamp below it. The blue RCA cables are Liberty Cable brand which I once had the entire system wired with. They are THX certified. (George Lucas in a marketing genius!) They are the input cables, the other ends of them are below the glass and plugged into the Yamaha preamplifier as are the other RCA cables. Almost all are various Monster Cable units. The red and black terminals on the right are the two sets of speaker terminals on the amp. The small yellow, blue, red and black wires lead to the separate Radio Shack power meters. Note the Nakamichi banana plugs on the top. Below are Monster Cable double-banana plugs. The top row (A) hold MCX-2 cables which feed the small wood-cased speakers. The bottom row (B) feed the speaker switch and hold the new MCX-2 cables which go to the speaker switch.
Above is the LEGEND LE412 Speaker Control switch. I reconfigured it so that the red (right) terminals are on top and black (left) terminals are on the bottom The two pairs of terminals are 3/4" apart which is the standard for "double-banana" plugs. I used to use them exclusively. Right to left, the speaker cables are: INPUT L&R, speaker outputs 1 L&R, speaker outputs 2 L&R. #1 connects to the subwoofer. #2 to the speakers in this room. Do you see the difference between the Monster Cable plugs and the knock-off ones? By looks, not much, but quality and holding power. THAT is the difference. Quality costs, but it doesn't have to cost too much. WHEW!

You got all that? My wife is shaking with laughter that I would A: go to all that trouble and 2: to photograph and write about it. But you understand, right? 

Conclusions: I found an immediate difference in the subwoofer due to the replacement of the other M/C twisted-pair cables with the MCX-1 cables. I would usually have to crank the volume on the subwoofer to 50, with the new cables, only to 35 for the same volume. MCX-1 has fairly thin conductors verses the size of speaker cables I usually use. The MCX-2 is constructed with two sizes of conductors; thick and thin. In both cases they too are twisted around each other, but wrapped with two different kinds of covering. I am going to substitute the MCX-2 main cables with the other reel of MCX-1 to see, hear actually, if they make a sonic difference. More to follow.

UPDATE! After test listening with the MCX-1 speaker cables, I was certain that bass was missing. I switched to the thicker cables and found that I was correct! I looked on line for reviews of the MCX-1 and found that others detected the same loss of bass. So, I removed it all and eventually all of my M-Series cables. I now use exclusively Monster Cable Z-Series cables and the sound is superb.

Thanks for looking,

Scott
Updated May 8, 2019 
at 4 comments:

Update on Home Photo Studio and Study in US Military Camouflage

Gentle reader,

Just a few days ago, I wrote:  The Robb Collections: Have a photo studio in our home....on a budget! and since have bought a couple items that make it work better.

I realized that the flash would work better and easier by having an adapter (of which I once had several of) which would mount a regular camera flash and hold the umbrella as well. This works better than the setup shown in the link above. Here is what I used today, got it for $3.99 via eBay:
It's the device that is attached to the top of the light stand and holds the flash via the flash's "foot". That is the flat part at the bottom of the flash with one or more small terminals in it which slides into your camera's hot shoe. The silver piece with the curly wire attached to it is another useful/needed part to making home studio pictures so much easier. More on that, below.
Attached to the front of the flash is a small fold-able "soft box". It attaches with Velcro to the front of the flash head and widens and softens the harsh flash. Thus, the flash's light hits more of the umbrella's reflective surface, which makes that artificial light more like the Sun's. No harsh model's shadows or red eyes as a result. This one is a LumiQuest brand, called PROMAX.
Above and below one can more easily see the new adapter and how it holds the flash foot and umbrella's shaft.
Below, you can see the remote flash cord's foot as attached to the camera's shoe. It has the same number of electrical connections as the flash and camera do. Each serves a purpose. One of which is the camera's light sensor reads off the sensor's surface as the image is being made and cuts off the flash once ideal light has reached the sensor for a perfectly exposed photo. Clever! This is called "TTL" which stands for Through The Lens. "iTTL" is Nikon's term for their digital SLRs. One cannot use a TTL flash designed for a Nikon film camera on a Nikon digital SLR. Too bad as I have a nice one. That just guarantees that one has to buy more equipment. Same thing applies but in reverse for lenses. While Nikon DX (digital lenses for APS-C size sensor DSLR cameras) WILL mount on a film SLR, it will have darkened corners in the photos. This is because DX lens' "circle" of light is smaller than full size FX (35mm film size) lenses do. Thus not all the film is exposed to the light.
There is good news though, because in the case of Nikon and Pentax: almost all lenses designed since the early 1960's for Nikon (and Pentax) cameras can and do mount on digital bodies. The "crop factor" is x1.5. So, my 50mm film lens on my D70S shows an image equal to a 75mm lens on a film SLR. Great for long shots, but not so good for wide angle shots. There are adjustments that need to be made, however. But I am getting off subject. It happens, I tend to run off at the mouth or in this case, my fingers.
So what is the purpose of the silver umbrella? I'm glad you asked that. The Sun, being 93 million miles away still creates stark, crisp shadows. It is both a wide light source and a direct one. A flash pointed right at you is a narrow light source. The softbox I have attached to it widens and softens the light, but it will still make shadows. 
For pictures of my listening room, a frequent subject of this blog, I point it to the ceiling so that the light bounces off and it is widened and softens the shadows. 
The UMBRELLA, especially with the softbox, spreads the light in a great arc that tends to wrap around the subject. When you get to the pictures of me below, you will see only the faintest of shadow over my right shoulder. Had I a taller ceiling, I could have had the flash/umbrella combo directly above and behind the camera and there would have been almost no shadow at all. 
The other item I bought is a infrared remote shutter control. This allows me to start the camera's countdown and (hopefully) hide the remote in my hand before the shutter fires. To see if I succeeded, see the home photo studio's first images.

I am 60 years old now and have always preferred to be BEHIND the camera rather than in front of it. 

First off, I should have shaved, then I should have smiled. In fact, seeing the images, I thought, "I look so OLD! And a little like my late father." In fact, I look like a skinny bald grouchy old man. Oddly, I am not grouchy at all and in fact, I smile a LOT! What I don't understand is why SO MANY women of all ages and skin tones smile at me. I have teens and twenty-somethings young women that I know casually whom are always so HAPPY to see me and gladly engage me in conversation. WHY? I don't know, but do enjoy it. Great for my ego.

The other saving grace for my aging body and face is I'm married to the love of my life and very best friend. So, no young or otherwise nice-to-me woman is ever going to lure me away from my beloved Nancy. 

Are you ready to see the results of my home photo studio? Oh, wait, I forgot. Like so many of my collections, I never intended to collect what you will see me wearing below. I realized a few years ago, that since I like cargo pants, I might as well wear the real thing, so I started buying US Military camouflage uniform cargo pants. Then as time went by, I discovered 5.11 Tactical clothing and started buying those in various colors and stopped wearing camo altogether. 

My son-in-law spent ten years in the Marines and once he got out, gave me some of his uniforms. I am no stranger to USMC uniforms as I wore (then Woodland camouflage) the uniform for six years, plus all the other uniforms. I drew the line at Dress Blues, no civilian is entitled:
Yes, that is Nancy and it was several years ago as the kids you will see below are now 29 and 30.
I don't know who made these two images. I have only one photo of me in woodland camo, so will have to find it and scan it. I was with a famous woman, daughter of a late US President in that photo.
The one on the left is now 30, the one on the right, 29 and she has three kids. Half of all the grandkids we have. As you can see, I was involved in the Young Marines program and started three Young Marines companies (Arlington, Alexandria and Manassas, VA and one battalion: Northern Virginia. I will also see if I can find that picture of my Young Marines and my staff at the White House.

 Some time ago I wrote a blog titled: The Robb Collections: A Study in US Military Uniform Camouflage  and it was quite successfully received. So, feel free to take a quick look at that to see why I have decided to do the continuation of that post today.

A WORD on the photographs below. Rather than stand there like a living manikin, I decided to add a duty belt, holster and Airsoft pistol. I have one Beretta and three Glock pistols. The rifles shown are also Airsoft, but look, feel and weigh like the real things and are capable of full-auto fire. Well, not "fire" more like..... I can't think of an adjective. No fire involved, though. Remember, I did this for fun and to test my digital studio. I'm going to sell almost everything seen once the "holidays" are over and the carriers are not flooded with packages. Because the fun of collecting is the chase and acquisition of the collectibles. Once one has had them for a while, the thought comes up, "What am I going to do with all this?" (The photos at the very bottom of the blog page shows two stages of my camera collection.)

I was going for a "tough" look on my face. Instead, I just look like I'm grumpy! To see for yourself how I have aged, look below:
I always wanted a pair of US Military pilot's coveralls. I came across these in like-new condition in a thrift store and snatched them up. Got the squadron patch at a gun show and the wings are from the National Air and Space Museum. Since I don't know what pilots wear on their feet (I can't imagine combat boots) I chose black Sketchers. I honestly don't know why I didn't smile. Oh well.
OK, so don't I look a little tough above? That same son-in-law is now in the Air Force Reserve and he will be getting this uniform if he wants it. Despite the way they look, there is no PINK in these boots! AF boots are actually green, but I was not going to buy a pair just for a photograph. I also don't know what color tee-shirt they wear under their digi-camo uniforms. That tee-shirt has U.S. Embassy, Bangkok on it and the USA official Eagle with the arrows, etc. Whatever the official name for that is on it.
First off, I forgot to take off my glasses for this shot. I bought a helmet that is normally used for paintball or Airsoft battles. It came with the Air Force cover on it, which fits perfectly. Since I wanted a helmet for the Army uniform, I bought an ACU cover which does not fit well. Remember all "weapons" shown are unloaded and Airsoft.
OK, so the USMC boonie cover above just looks silly. I also have a garrison cover, like below, but chose the boonie for the photo. I kinda look tough in this one, don't I? Sort of? Anyway, above is the USMC digital camo uniform for "sand-land" as they refer to places they've been lately.
Above is the digital camo USMC uniform that replaced the traditional woodland camo BDUs.
Above, as you can see, the US Navy had to get into the digital camo act. I had not seen these until watching the movie Battleship. I thought then, "C'mon, the Navy doesn't wear camo!" Well, I was wrong, as you can see. They do and it is pretty cool looking. 

That is it for Military uniform photographs. Despite the aged model, they turned out well. 

Long before 9/11, there was (and may still be) a catalog company called: U.S. Cavalry. Much like Guide Gear, they sold lots of military and police related items. One of my very favorite places to go as a kid, and now too, is a military surplus store. Ranger's Surplus is about all there is left, at least around here. The gun shows often have collectors selling stuff and I bought some of the pieces above there.

Anyway, as I was saying about U.S. Cavalry, my wife bought me a "FEDERAL AGENT" tee shirt. Something that is not available today. Sadly, if I or anyone else that had such shirts that you will see me modeling below were to wear it out in public they stand a good chance of being shot or possibly stopped and questioned by the law. They would be right in thinking one was trying to impersonate a police or other lawful authority figure. 

That being said, I have NO intention to wear ANY of the items I have modeled above and below outside of my home. In fact, some cannot be resold because some less-than-savory character might get a hold of said articles of clothing and cause harm or terror. I will never be a part of that by selling such things. In fact, they will have to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

So, below, as I said, I am simply modeling these shirts and pants to demonstrate what they looked like on me. 
Looking at these images, I feel silly, but what is the point of having a collection unless one can share it, right? 

 The badge shown is a PROP badge bought via eBay. It is the same one used in the hit TV series NCIS. Again, the pistol, a Glock 17, is Airsoft and unloaded.
So that is what the back of my head looks like. Believe it or not, the shirt and pants match in color almost exactly. For some reason, as you will see below, in these photos, they look quite different.

I am a big supporter and fan of our nations Border Patrol agents and all the hard, hot and dangerous work they do. The National Geographic Channel has an excellent show titled BORDER WARS. It clearly portrays real agents doing the seemingly impossible task of stopping people and things (guns, money, drugs) from crossing our borders, of which we have many. 

I saw the following shirts on eBay and bought them. The blue one and black one are genuine CBP items. HOWEVER, they are not worn on duty. Watch BORDER WARS and see what they actually wear. So how I appear below is only a fan's way of supporting those hard working Americans that put their lives on the line everyday.
The HAT is genuine, I bought it from Guide Gear. The badge emblem on the shirt is what they really look like. The ICE ID is another PROP bought via eBay and wouldn't fool anyone.
Reading the back of the shirt, I do wonder what it IS for. 
See how the shirt and hat look almost brown? They are just as green as the pants. Weird. The hat is NOT genuine, but the patch is. Bought it, oddly, from a company that sells flags. Weird, again.
The image below has the other genuine CBP shirt. It too was bought via eBay. SRT stands for Special Response Team. A much more PC term that SWAT. The shirt is way too big for me and so, I put my vest on underneath. The vest is an out-of-date stab-proof vest NOT a bullet-proof one. I suspect prison guards must have used it. 
So, there you have it, my Walter Mitty (Google that name) moments when I dressed up as our Nation's Finest. Next stop is photographing the items all separately for future sale on eBay, except for the tee-shirts, of course.

 One final photo for you to enjoy. A beautiful young woman named Liah that works at our local grocery store. She is as nice as can be and I shot this a couple days after Halloween. The long hair is costume hair attached to what appears to be a headband. Isn't she gorgeous?
She was actually blushing when I shot this. Surprised that I would want to take her picture. Well, the world could stand to see more beauty, in it's many forms.

Thanks for looking (and not laughing) at my one-and-only effort at being in front of the camera.

Scott 
  
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