Digital BW, The Print

Bob-

Since one of my prints is in that set, I guess I can respond...

I agree with you about the valuation- both for insurance as well as customs,
it makes sense to label them as NCV.

Your math, tho, I wonder about.  Which Canada is it where "three hundred
dollars Yew Ess" equals $14,000 Canadian, and $20 Canadian equals "fourteen
cents US?" (Tell me, cause I want to vacation there ;-)

Bill

PS-  Glad you liked the prints; they are wonderful, aren't they?

on 2/19/02 4:17 PM, p5198 wrote:

Thanks to the efforts of Jeff Magidson and the generosity of Mark
Tucker, who lent his prints, I've had a week of pleasure with Mark's
copies of the 30-print exchange that concluded around Thanksgiving.
When I sent it on the Sam McCandless today, I included in my
warning post some suggestions for sending prints, especially across
borders. I include the note here in the hope that it may have some
relevance for our European members as well.

*****

Sam, Jeff
Using Mail Boxes Etc., I sent off the travelling show to
Sam this afternoon via UPS.  The tracking number
(follow it at ups.com) is W787 130 1086.

Jeff, it was wonderful of you to set this up for those of
us who neglected the opportunity or were not yet set
up to do B&W work. It gave hours of pleasure to
admire the eye of the photographers, and the
astonishing richness of the materials. Though it's been
said again and again, much of the pleasure we take
from these prints derives from the work of Paul Roark
and the folks at MIS. We can't thank them enough.

FWIW, let me suggest a couple of things with respect
to sending prints, and not only across the border. It's
probably futile to insure them. It adds to the cost --
both the USPO and FedX prescribe expensive transits if
the parcel is insured, and were the prints to be lost, the
insurer would probably collect nothing. The prints are,
after all, amateur photos in the eyes of the couriers.
You might get the return of your carriage, plus a few
cents for a 8x10 sheet of 300gsm Torchon, *IF* you
filled out all the multi-page claim forms correctly.

Canadians have a special interest in all this, of course.
We have lived for generations with a predatory
government and a legion of border ruffians eager to
burden anything of value that crosses the Parallel with
taxes, fees, brokerage charges, tariffs and handling
costs (Canada Post gets an extra $5 beyond the
postage for "handling" a parcel, as well as charging a
15% "sales tax" on the postage itself). The average
Canadian is thus a master smuggler and skilled
dissembler. The bland face we present to the world is
not a function of "nice";  rather it stems from iron
control of the facial muscles as one answers "No" to
the question "Anything to declare?" We learn it from
childhood ("OK, here's customs; you kids keep right still
and read your comic books while your father does the
talking.") 

Now the North American Free Trade Agreement has
made things somewhat easier than it was forty years
ago, but if you have occasion to ship anything up here
(and I'm hoping you won't exclude us poor Northers
from the exchanges because of all this), let me give
you the magic word that will pass a parcel past all
bureaucratic obstacles -- NCV. No Commercial Value.
That's right, you've got to declare all these wonderful
images worthless! Steel yourself. The parcel will get
here quicker and I won't get a note from some broker a
month later saying I owe $50 to Her Majesty's
Government in Right of Canada. Poor Ross Mullins,
who sent me the Travelling Show from Cordova, Alaska
tried valiantly to get round customs by declaring the
parcel a gift. A good dodge if you know what you're
doing. But alas, he insured the photos for $300. That's
three hundred dollars Yew Ess, or roughly $14,000
Canadian. And sure enough, when the package got to
me there was a bright orange sticker attached saying
that since the gift was in excess of $20 in value
(fourteen cents US) I must prepare myself to hear from
somebody soon about a fee ...

Well now; did I not forget there's a Mountie out there
reads this list? All in good fun, eh Tunney?

Best regards,
Bob Bollini









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