DIY Photography repairs (I tightened up my sloppy tripod for $0.69 USD)

[MattKing]

George:

It may help to look at a map of Alaska. Kitimat isn't far south of the most southerly portion of the Alaska panhandle, although it is at the end of an inlet, so a bit east.

You are probably thinking of the "spirit bears".

I would love to see Kitimat (and visit Murray, of course .

Matt

[copake_ham]

George:

It may help to look at a map of Alaska. Kitimat isn't far south of the most southerly portion of the Alaska panhandle, although it is at the end of an inlet, so a bit east.

You are probably thinking of the "spirit bears".

I would love to see Kitimat (and visit Murray, of course .

Matt

Matt,

Yes, perhaps, "spirit bears" is more commonplace. After the last post, I did google "ghost bears" and only found one "hit" that described them - and there were a bunch of "prior" hits for characters in computer games that use that term.

I think I got the term "ghost bears" some years ago from either "Natural History" magazine article - or one in "Canadian Geographic".

I guess "spirit bears" is a cooler and more PC way of describing an in-bred grouping of black bears wherein the recessive "white fur" gene has become prevalent.

And this now also reminds me of back in "the Sixties" when they changed the name of my Catholic school and parish from Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit!

http://www.bcspiritbear.ca/more_about_spirit_bear.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermode_bear

[MurrayMinchin]

Talk about a thread straying from its intended route!

Up here we call them Kermode (Kir-moe-dee) bears; the original name coming from one of the many First Nation Peoples languages on the north coast. My theory on this (gleaned from watching too many nature programs on TV, reading too many short magazine articles and pondering it all while walking my letter carrier route) is that they are a genetic hold-over from the last ice age.

There are islands on BC's outer coast that weren't glaciated during the last ice age, as evidenced by bones found in caves. This leads me to believe that black bears, being omnivorous could have made a go of it, and if your coat was white, well, that would be beneficial to your survival in a snowy environment. As an aside, we had snow on the ground here for six months last winter and there's no talk of another ice age here, yet

Anyways, no bears in BC could be "in-bred" as they are much too promiscuous, too prone to exploring new environments, and too inquisitive to shackle themselves to one area or island. Sounds like fun, eh?

Murray

[copake_ham]

"Up here we call them Kermode (Kir-moe-dee) bears; the original name coming from one of the many First Nation Peoples languages on the north coast."

Hmmm...

According to the BC gov't link I posted:

"It is named after Frank Kermode, former director of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria."

But yes. we have strayed far afield from camera quick fixes - let's return this thread to it's originally scheduled topic!

[MurrayMinchin]

According to the BC gov't link I posted:

"It is named after Frank Kermode..."

Well slap my ass and call me Judy, George! And all this time I thought it was a Native language derived name as there are so many place names up here that begin with the letter "K". There's Kitimat, Kitamaat, Kitwanga, Kitsalas, Kitlope, and a host of others...

Still, the bears aren't "in-bred".

Murray

[copake_ham]

Well slap my ass and call me Judy, George! And all this time I thought it was a Native language derived name as there are so many place names up here that begin with the letter "K". There's Kitimat, Kitamaat, Kitwanga, Kitsalas, Kitlope, and a host of others...

Still, the bears aren't "in-bred".

Murray

Murray,

I did finally get out the road atlas to locate Kitimat. Wow! that is one heck of a roundabout way you have to drive to go South!

Someday, I love to get up that way - particularly to visit the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Too many places to visit, too little time to do so.

[Bandicoot]

"It is named after Frank Kermode, former director of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria."

Is that the Frank Kermode of textual analysis fame?


Peter

[copake_ham]

Is that the Frank Kermode of textual analysis fame?


Peter

Peter,

Not that I have any particular knowledge - but they appear to be two different people. Only references I could find to the Canadian Frank Kermode are with the connection to his position at the Royal BC Museum and the lending his name to the bears.

Your Kermode "googles" with many references to that felow's long academic career and work etc.

[Ian Grant]

Bringing the thread back on topic

I repaired my 5x4 Wista with the heel of a shoe about 20 years ago, it fell of my tripod while I was carrying it and hit the road, big-time, it split apart on one corner, panic stricken I tapped it back into place with a shoe heel. I still need to glue the little bit of wood back into the corner but it's worked perfectly without it for 20 years and must be cosmetic.

Needless to say the quick release tripd mount was consigned to landfill.

Ian

[Christopher Walrath]

And Ian saves the thread!!!!!! Now, back to those Alaskan Curmudgeon bears . . .