@jcburns March 26, 2018 at 5:46 pm

NTSC waveform. Um-hm.

Sohio.

Monday, March 19th, 2018

If you grew up in the state of Ohio, or if you wandered through the midwest generally, you may remember Sohio.

A gas station chain, part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil empire, a brand that became extinct in the 1980s when BP America bought Standard Oil of Ohio and absorbed them out of existence.

©2018, John Christopher Burns

I liked Sohio stations in the late 1960s because they seemed (in the definition of the time) unmistakably modern, with clean lines and a bright red white and blue color scheme. In the cold Ohio winters, radio commercials with jarring proto-electronic music reminded drivers to fill up with Boron to prevent “fuel-line freeze-up”. (Kind of a 1960s automotive “heartbreak of psoriasis.”)

©2018, John Christopher Burns

That’s why, when I had some spare time, I tried to recreate one completely in a 3D modeling/rendering program, from what I discovered was very limited online reference material.

Now the frames I’ve created—very much idealized and “in my mind’s eye”— have become part of what comes up in internetland when you search for ‘Sohio.’ And as long as you give me credit I have no problem with you linking to or talking about these images (which also show up on Flickr and Instagram.)

©2018, John Christopher Burns

@jcburns March 18, 2018 at 7:18 am

Sure sign of the end of a trip: pictures are back from Fotomat!

@jcburns March 17, 2018 at 11:42 am

Post-travel data wrangling can be very satisfying, especially if the end result is a bunch of perfectly geolocated pictures and financial transactions. It’s an investment in my hazy-minded future.

@jcburns March 12, 2018 at 4:13 am

I like buses that speak in the first person.

@jcburns March 11, 2018 at 6:36 pm

Souvenirs kept dry with yet another souvenir.

@jcburns March 9, 2018 at 4:42 pm

Neighborhood ironwork. No, not our Atlanta neighborhood.

La vie en marche.

@jcburns March 7, 2018 at 4:28 pm

@jcburns March 7, 2018 at 4:26 pm

A world where I can do Photoshop-level work on a responsive, lightweight tablet anywhere is a fine world indeed. (Thanks, Affinity Photo iOS.)

@jcburns March 3, 2018 at 6:24 am

Stay on target.

@jcburns March 2, 2018 at 10:22 am

Feu rouge. Fresnelicious!