“this set is about revisiting my dad’s photo album from the war. he was drafted in 1969 and left in 1971 after 19 months duty (including 4.5 months training). he would shoot film, send it home to his mother (grandma chickens) and then she would process the film and from there, created this album. his pictures take us from cam ranh bay to nha trang and other surrounding areas, and then to da lat, where he spent most of his time during the war.” — courtneyutt

See more of courtneyutt’s then/now set.
Thanks to artolog for the tip.

Sometimes called the “poor man’s Lomo,” the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is my latest camera crush (thank you, George). It’s a dead easy to use (point and shoot) 35mm ultra wide camera with a very slim profile (hence the name), an aperture of f11, a shutter speed of 1/125 and a very low sticker price. In fact, if you find one online, it’s likely that the shipping costs will be more than what you spend on the camera itself. I’ve had better success with 400 speed film and bright light. If you have a small yen for a little film in your digital life, this might be the camera for you.

You can view more photos tagged with “Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim,” check out the vivitarultrawideslim clusters or join the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim group.

Photos from jj look, Christopher Evans, kunel, slimmer_jimmer and SqueakyMarmot.

One of the big switches that lets Flickr talk to the outside world went on vacation without telling anyone about 30 minutes ago. The problem has been fixed and we’re wobbling our way back up, but you might still see some strange behavior for the next 10-20 minutes.

Actual photo serving wasn’t affected so any photos you were showing elsewhere (like on your blog) should have gone on happily showing up.

update 12:58pm: hmmm, still stuck in baggage claim on the way back up. We’re looking at another 20 minutes at least until everything is all shiny.

update 1:33pm: all cuteness aside, our dedicated team of server whisperers are bringing each frightened server up one by one. This is taking a bit longer then they had promised us. Current predictions are 15 minutes. We’ll provide updates as necessary.

update 1:39pm: WE’RE BACK! Thanks for your patience.

Activities around the US this past weekend included dressing up (Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade), dressing up (Atlanta’s Dragon*Con) and dressing up (Black Rock City’s Burning Man).

Photo from EricaJoy.

fjny’s composite photo beautifully records Augst 28th’s total lunar eclipse.

NASA has a list of upcoming events if you want to mark your calendar.
Click here to see more eclipse photos on Flickr.

Oh, to be in Brighton at The World Beard and Moustache Championships. It looks like this is the place to be if one has a veritable plethora of groomed facial hair. If I’m not mistaken, this “young Castro” looks very much a like a certain individual who is close to Team Flickr’s heart.

Photos from Family Williams. See more photos of bewhiskered gentlemen (and ladies) in The World Beard & Moustache Championships group pool.

Team Flickr left Malaysia a couple of days too early, missing Kuala Lumpur’s celebration of 50 years of independence (or Merdeka) on August 31st. See more photos from Friday’s festivities tagged with “merdeka.”

Photos from edachsund, shaman2477, Elly21 and aadsmail.