Apex House had their Annual fancy dress. I won two years in a row. This time it was covered in the Apex Choice in-house newsletter. Which was nice!
Peter Bargh
Sights & SoundsPMA 1997 was in New Orleans, United States. We went over four four days flying Continental London to Houston Flight CO 5 Seat 38F and Housten to New Orleans on Flight CO 1631 Seat 25A . We stopped in the Marriott
Agfa invited us on a Dinner Jazz Cruise on the PaddleWheeler Creole Queen and we took ourselves off on Captain Terry’s Swamp Tour on Esperanza Plantation.
I was so ill on that trip from a weird flu like sinus infection were my eyes where weeping and I had the most intense headache.
Memorable moments were the what seamed like plastic alligators on the swamp tour, Roger coming back from a night out totally enthused by a man who could play a tray with his fingers, and Warren playing the flaming Sambuka game and not realising you don’t span your hand out when placing it over the glass.
Press
Peter Bargh, Mike Elliott, Roger Payne, Donald Pollock, David Ogle, Warren Parkinson
Duxford Airfield Flight Simulator with Montrose Aviation Ltd. I think it was with Olympus to simulate 30min flight from Gatwick and back to Gatwick in an MD85
Olympus invited us over to Dublin in Ireland. We flew over on Aer Lingus EI449. I was in Seat 1B
We stop at the U2 owned The Clarence
Lion Dance
Bela Primo (band)
Hosts
Sara Cubitt, Nikki Gordon
Press attending
Peter Bargh, Martyn Moore,
The hotel was great, had a top night dancing with Sara…she nicknamed me Tigger after that.
One guy on the dance floor was mr muscles and pulled his vest over his head dancing as though he was drugged up (probably was).
While we were dancing Martyn was chatting to a bloke he met in the bar. He had no idea who the guy was, apart from the fact all the girls were drooling over him. It turned out to be Ewan McGregor who’d recently started in Trainspotting.
I walked through the shopping streets of Dublin the following day and bought my leather coat that has since been referred to as the drug dealers coat.
Olympus created a Toy Story compact camera kit in 1996 so as part of the package they got to see a Private Screening of the first Toy Story movie at the Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Kensington Village.
The Camera was an Olympus Trip 200
I took my boys Joseph and William for their first trip to London.
Host
Sara Cubitt
Press attending
Peter Bargh, Martyn Moore
Photokina 1996 in Cologne
Flight BA 928 seat 30E
Nikon hosted an event at Palmer PromoSport in England – the Motorsport Experience 96
It was a thrilling day competing against other editors, journalists and retailers in a variety of motorsports events.
Below are the results of all 63 competitors.
And here’s how I did
Circuit 6th
Kart 11th
Off road 10th
Skid control 33rd
Sprint Salon 16th
Super Sprint 20th
Overall 7th!
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Nikon representatives
Simon Coleman, Tim Hunnable
Press attending
Peter Bargh, Nigel Atherton, Doug Harman
Sigma UK invited us on a trip to Japan to visit the lens factory and spend several days with the heads of Sigma.
We flew by Virgin Atlantic VS900 from Heathrow to Narita Airport. I was in Seat 54A
Itinerary
Sigma Factory Tour
Ichimatsu Lakeside Restaurant
Tour of Ginza Akihabara and Asakusa photo retail areas with Mr Kubota
Bullet train to Kohriyama Station
Tsuruga Castle
Nikko
Toshogu Shrine
Yodobashi Shinjuku District
Imperial Palace
JCIA museum
Tour of Sigma Lens factory at Aizu with Mr Michihiro Yamaki
Sigma representatives
Michihiro Yamaki, Mr Kubota, Graham Armitage
Press attending
Peter Bargh, Roger Payne, Keith Wilson, Liz Walker, Neil Whitford
On this trip I discovered trains have seats that swivel 180deg, men set light to their pubes, toilet seats can have auto rotating covers, toilets with jet wash can be messy, Geisha girls can make ants out of leg hair, Japanese food is generally pretty rubbish, there are fish that you eat where one bit has to be avoided to avoid death, blind men do pretty good massages, there are insects that are big enough to touch the back of your throat and still stick out of your mouth, Bullet trains are really fast, McDonalds is not the same in Japan as it is in Europe, Keith Wilson is always late, I laugh more with Roger Payne than anyone else, and Sigma lenses are really well made.
Samsung’s European Convention 1996 was to Marbella in Spain. I attended as editor of Buying Cameras magazine.
British Airways flight BA 2473 – I was in Seat 4E
We stopped at the Melia Don Pepe Hotel
Cipriano Playas Del Doque
Hacienda La Venta
Puerto Banus
It was the famous trip of Prairie Oyster, Finger dancing prawns, clothes swapping by the pool, unexpected karaoke and hangover donkey riding…goes down as one of the best press trips in my career, made extra special by Dan, Rog, Liz and, of course, Mr Gary Banks. I drank some very strange stuff on that event.
Samsung Representatives
Gary Banks, J Lee, H Paik
Press attending
Peter Bargh, Daniel Lezano, Roger Payne, Keith Wilson, Liz Walker, Neil Whitford, Dennis Taylor, M Blackledge
Some of the many European editors included TIPA friends Sylvie Hugues from Reponse Photo (France), Fre Withoff from FotoHandel (Holland), Johan Elzenga Foto-Visie (Holland) Juan Varela FV Actualidad (Spain) and Giulio Forti Reflex (Italy)
Dubstar play Cambridge Junction as part of their Disgraceful album promotion.
I had ticket no 405