Monday, December 29, 2008

EMPS: Measuring Time in Ages of Clocks

For Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #18: Watching The Clock, Carly (naturally enough wants to see some clocks. I think I've shown off all our clocks in this blog at one time or another, except maybe for the old nonfunctioning mantle clock, and I don't know where that is. But here we go anyway.

Wait a sec - could the mantle clock be in the library closet? It is!


His grandfather's clock's not too tall for the shelf.
From my Picasa album EMPS


Not exactly in a place of honor, is it? But at least it's survived our many purges of old stuff. This belonged to John's grandfather. I don't think there's any more to the story than that. It's a little banged up, and I doubt that it's in working order. But the main reason it's in a closet, aside from the fact that display space is at a premium here at the Museum of the Weird, is that it doesn't fit the MotW's midcentury modern aesthetic.


A 2005 photo of a vintage modern clock, never to run again.

Now here's a clock that suits John's enjoyment of all things retro moderne. Probably close to 50 years old, it's an eBay purchase from nearly a decade ago. Unfortunately it needs a new motor, which is unlikely to happen. But John likes the bright red plastic and the updated art deco look of it, and so this, too, has survived purging. Just last night John pulled it out of a box, thought about whether to keep it, and put it back in the box.


My clock radio celebrates a radio station that's long gone.

This next clock doesn't approach the age of the first two, but it dates back to the 1990s, which is impressive enough for a clock radio. I don't know about your experience in this area, but I find that the alarms on clock radios tend to stop working properly after a few years. This one still wakes me up, though, when I need such things. The stickers on it are for Cool 92.9, the oldies station where I once knew most of the disk jockeys personally, and contributed song lists for their My Three Songs and Top Five at Five features. Then my friend Rich "Brother" Robbin was canned by the soulless corporate overlords, and within a year the station was essentially gone, with no live disc jockeys and a nonsensical and unlistenable playlist. Cool and its oldies later came back on a low power AM frequency, but I couldn't get that on my radio and anyway, the magic was gone.


John's tres moderne clock from Denmark - at Christmas

Retaining a place of honor among the Christmas decorations is this modern teal green clock John bought in the Netherlands nearly a decade ago. (I'm pretty sure it was made in Denmark, though, making it Danish modern.) I've photographed it before, repeatedly, but not usually with such festive surroundings!


John's non-vintage but modern alarm clock.

Here is John's current alarm clock. It's from Target, I think, but he also has a vintage ball clock somewhere that doesn't work as reliably. I've never managed to figure out how to turn this clock's alarm off, which can be a problem if I'm in bed and he gets up before the alarm.


My Rumor, with two alerts from some Facebook malarkey.

Finally, here's the clock I actually use the most: my LG Rumor phone. I got this over the summer. The missed alerts on it were from a Facebook quiz thing. It was trying to sell me some texting game, so I deleted the alerts. The last time I sent and received texts, my cell bill doubled.

Carly also asks for a photo of a clock showing our favorite time of day. I'm not sure I have one right now. It's no secret I'm a night person, and historically I've gotten in most of my computer time between 9 PM and 5 AM. But since my becoming unemployed, my sleep schedule has become even more screwed up, if that's possible. I've been sleeping part of the night, blogging, and then going back to bed at midmorning. Go figure!

Be sure to check Carly's blog Ellipsis every Monday for the week's EMPS assignment, along with links to the previous week's entries. And while you're at it, how about joining in?

Karen

7 comments:

Suzanne R said...

What an interesting variety of clocks! I have one that I didn't show -- my grandfather clock -- because it quit working and has said 9:10 ever since. As they say, it's right twice a day!

Jama said...

You sure have some nice clock there Karen!I'm not much of a hoarder, so when things don't work anymore, out they go!plus I don't have much storage space....

Carly said...

Hi Karen

It's always a pleasure to be able to see the neat things you have collected, and have on display, at Casa Blocher. :) The mantle clock reminds me of one my mother once had, I haven't seen it in years. Cool pictures.

Carly

Terri said...

Ooo, I love that Danish clock! Nice variety you have there.

Sherrie said...

Hi!
I really like all your clocks. But I really like that red one the best! It's my favorite color! Thanks for stopping by my place. Have a great New Year!

Sherrie

MyMaracas said...

You have the coolest stuff.The red one is awesome, but the one from Demark is a close second.

I hope you have a great new year!

Jan AKA Wammy said...

That's really some kind of different collection of clocks you have there. I love the orange one.