Tag Archives: future

Nostalgia is a…

just another coffee

“nostalgia is a hobby for those not busy making the future”

dvo

PS i am nostalgic as fck

279 draft posts in web archive, do i bother? of course :)

Realizing huge swathes of my life aren’t even addressed (yet)

Convo with pal has me “reconstructing” travels and rambles from 86-96, dang so many miles!

I’m roasting wild boar meat

End of Dispatch

Collection: (Pay)phones (vol. 11) – assorted Japan hotel/ryokan house phones

operational classic black rotary and laser engraved QR code for wi-fi

As part of on-going documentation of various collections of payphones. this gallery features examples of phones in various states of use, captured “in the wild” around Japan, specifically featuring hotel house phones in Shimane and Ishikawa and related devices, plus a few other phone handsets of different circumstances and origins for your edification, lightly annotated.

the Ryokan’s “control center” with multiple faxes and breaker panels, switch boards…
another hotel “control centre” with phones, faxes, batteries and cc machines(?)
i seem to recall this was once a phone i used but don’t recall. can you remember?
room phone at a Ryokan in Shimane
Continue reading Collection: (Pay)phones (vol. 11) – assorted Japan hotel/ryokan house phones

Collection: Payphones (vol. 10) – assorted varieties / Varley Trail, Hong Kong, Bali, Japan

at Rice Lake cabin along the Varley Trail, Lynn Canyon, BC

Pardon any redundancies, this collection definitely includes several that just haven’t fit into previous archives but maybe one or two they already are out there, there’s too many to count anymore. In this wormhole, we range widely however from the Varley Trail in Lynn Canyon, British Columbia, to Indonesia, to Hong Kong, to points around Japan. Of course, you can find many more in various collections of payphones and related communication tools.

on the streets of Hong Kong

Hello to the people in the future,

What follows are public telephones created in a time when phones did not roam freely and in pockets. To make a call, one would either enter a specially-created booth (or box), or simply stand close by as the receivers were tethered to the phone unit by a short cord, then insert a variety of coins depending on the location called (local, domestic or international) or in some cases, use a purpose-made phone card, or even a credit card (though doing so often exposed one to fraudulent actors).

Perhaps you have already imagined the unsanitary nature of sharing a phone handset (placed next/close to ear and mouth of course) with strangers – though perhaps this increased “herd immunity” despite being rather unpleasant. Note that oftentimes the coin return slots were checked for forgotten change but the miner was surprised to find discarded chewing gum, or even-less-savoury items, instead.

ok ok, this isn’t a telephone, its a utility meter in Indonesia
to make up for my tom-foolery above, here’s a payphone in Indonesia
i see you! a accessible size “office ready” unit at a rest/service area en route to Kyoto
Continue reading Collection: Payphones (vol. 10) – assorted varieties / Varley Trail, Hong Kong, Bali, Japan

Collection: (Pay)phones and whatnot (vol. 9) – around Nagasaki & Gunkajima

In the various collections of payphones (as well as hotel house phones and other related analogue communication tools) throughout this archive, the devices are often scattered in variety of locations. However, this installment includes items observed on a visit to Nagasaki in February 2020 and includes payphones, a few phones at restos and inns as well as a few rather destroyed artifacts from “battleship island” (an inland turned mining facility).

as seen at a restaurant, evidently still operational but did not operate
at a Kissaten Café right near the atomic bomb museum
Continue reading Collection: (Pay)phones and whatnot (vol. 9) – around Nagasaki & Gunkajima

Collection: (Pay)phones (vol. 8) – junk shop in Okayama + typewriter

(Pay)phones (vol. 8) – junk shop in Okayama

In the various collections of payphones (as well as hotel house phones and other related analogue communication tools) throughout this archive, generally the devices are in current use and from a variety of locations. However, this installment includes items observed in a single used artifacts shop in my *new home town* of Okayama.

(Pay)phones (vol. 8) – junk shop in Okayama

As for these various phones, most I suppose were used in businesses or public settings, while some maybe were for home use, i dunno. The eras certainly range from early days of telephony, to some classic golden age design, to the rugged utility of 1970s.

(Pay)phones (vol. 8) – junk shop in Okayama

You’ll notice various states of disrepair and jumbled-up-ness of display *and* there’s also a typewriter snuck in here. Carry on as usual, remix as desired.

Continue reading Collection: (Pay)phones (vol. 8) – junk shop in Okayama + typewriter

Postboxes and Payphones, etc (mosty) in Phitsanulok, Thailand

While assembling diaries about hospitals and massages in Phitsanulok Thailand, as well as general “field notes“, sorta rounded-up a variety of documentary images of post boxes (both outgoing and incoming), a few payphones, parking ticket dispensers, and other oddities. So, here they are for historical record, with little/no further annotation although the payphone may be included in existing archives.

Note: to be clear, some *may not* be in Phitsanulok (Chiang Mai?) and i may add some more later as i come across, as such, consider this a “Thai bucket” so to speak. Oh snapped with iPhone 4/5 and Lomo Sardine can camera for the most part. Lousy photos, interesting items.

Continue reading Postboxes and Payphones, etc (mosty) in Phitsanulok, Thailand

Epic Future Awaits

Epicness is in all of our futures, we can’t quite predict how or when… but it’s coming!

Endless goodness awaits, prepare yourself.

##

PS This snap is a bridge across Suez canal built by Japan / Japanese company with various names including: “The Mubarak Peace Bridge” and “Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge”, “Al Salam Bridge,” or “Al Salam Peace Bridge”, + wiki riff: is a road bridge crossing the Suez Canal at El-Qantara, whose name means “the bridge” in Arabic. The bridge links the continents of Africa and Asia.

Collection: Payphones (vol. 7) – assorted / Japan, Whidbey island

Hello to the people in the future,

What follows are public telephones created in a time when phones did not roam freely and in pockets.

To make a call, one would either enter a specially-created booth (or box), or simply stand close by as the receivers were tethered to the phone unit by a short cord, then insert a variety of coins depending on the location called (local, domestic or international) or in some cases, use a purpose-made phone card, or even a credit card (though doing so often exposed one to fraudulent actors).

Perhaps you have already imagined the unsanitary nature of sharing a phone handset (placed next/close to ear and mouth of course) with strangers – though perhaps this increased “herd immunity” despite being rather unpleasant. Continue reading Collection: Payphones (vol. 7) – assorted / Japan, Whidbey island

Collection: Payphones (vol. 6) – assorted varieties / Japan Shnkonryoko ramble

the double double!

Hello to the people in the future,

What follows are public telephones created in a time when phones did not roam freely and in pockets.

To make a call, one would either enter a specially-created booth (or box), or simply stand close by as the receivers were tethered to the phone unit by a short cord, then insert a variety of coins depending on the location called (local, domestic or international) or in some cases, use a purpose-made phone card, or even a credit card (though doing so often exposed one to fraudulent actors).

at a very important house in Noto

Perhaps you have already imagined the unsanitary nature of sharing a phone handset (placed next/close to ear and mouth of course) with strangers – though perhaps this increased “herd immunity” despite being rather unpleasant. Note that oftentimes the coin return slots were checked for forgotten change but the miner was surprised to find discarded chewing gum, or even-less-savoury items, instead.

This gallery is primarily Japan phones seen on our Shokonryoko/honeymoon travel – both current working payphones, hotel house phones, house landlines, antique non-working artifacts. See more of course: various collections of payphones await your amusement.

note: this one is on a Shinkansen train so one can place a call while traveling 200kmph

Additional volumes of similar collections provide additional examples – both international and domestic (to Canada / USA), as well as additional examples of hotel “house” phones.    

love this style so much, i bought one for my studio
a pinnacle of utility design
Continue reading Collection: Payphones (vol. 6) – assorted varieties / Japan Shnkonryoko ramble