The Maltese Camera

I can’t ever remember a time when the dollar was strong around the world, which is ironic considering the cultural and artistic strength of America in other countries. I lived in London for four months back in 1995 and I got less pounds for my buck even then, over 10 years ago. Before Christmastime, the wife and I bought a digital camera over the Internet in order to pimp the good fortune of our musclebound euros. The Nikon, it hasn’t arrived yet.

Short story long, we decided to finally buy a real camera to replace the chipped 3.0-megapixel HP we have now, to take photos of baby Kalel, Paris city shots, etc. The exchange rate here is hard to explain, but I think of it this way: in America, a Happy Meal at McDonald’s costs about $5, and in France a Happy Meal costs about 5€. Same difference. Only when you come here from the US to exchange your dollars for euros, you’re gonna need $7.30 to get 5€ in return. So in a way, the Happy Meal is costing you $7.30, but it’s not costing me 7.30€. Last February, I bought my first 80G iPod from the States via J&R Computer World over the Internet. So instead of paying the 405€ they charge here, I got it for $364 from J&R, which only cost me 285€ with the exchange rate in my favor. That’s like saving 120€, or getting a $364 iPod for $285. This is why Jay-Z is flaunting euros in his “Blue Magic” video; wouldn’t you?

Well. We ordered a Nikon CoolPix (12 megapixels!) that would’ve cost us $375 and only paid 257€. Only it never came. Or rather, it did, but the kind folks at the local post office tried to deliver it twice and never left any delivery slips. The camera sat in the post office for over two weeks before we tracked it down there, by which time they’d mailed it back. To America. Convenience costs, apparantly. Pops used FedEx this time, and the Nikon should finally arrive tomorrow.

(That’s Stanley Kubrick above, by the way, from his Life photographer days. Wonder if he and Gordon Parks ever went out to lunch to bitch about the boss?)