The value of an artist's statement

[32BT]

https://medium.com/tensorflow/predicting-the-price-of-wine-with-the-keras-functional-api-and-tensorflow-a95d1c2c1b03

TL;DR (or way over my head...):
1. They trained an artificial neural network to predict the price of wine based on its description
2. The network seemed to be able to predict the price with reasonable accuracy
3. Apparently there must be some kind of relation between the two.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I'll have to remember to include in my next Artist's Statement that all of my photographs "need decanting and/or further bottle age to show their best."   

[Peter McLennan]

1. They trained an artificial neural network to predict the price of wine based on its description

Hilarious.  Next thing they'll do is train a neural network to automatically generate high-priced text.

[Rob C]

In my website, I proudly proclaim my artist's statement: WYSIWYG.

Who can doubt my honesty?

:-)

[LesPalenik]

That algorithm should obtain somehow also the GPS coordinates and adjust the price accordingly.
During my student years in Germany, I remember buying large bottle of Lambrusco wine for two Deutsche Marks, whereas in Canada and USA the same brand is considered as upscale wine and costs over $10.

[Rob C]

That algorithm should obtain somehow also the GPS coordinates and adjust the price accordingly.
During my student years in Germany, I remember buying large bottle of Lambrusco wine for two Deutsche Marks, whereas in Canada and USA the same brand is considered as upscale wine and costs over $10.

Mirrored in the UK.

During some of our many post-migrant trips back to the UK for shoots etc. in the 80s, stayed at the Post House hotel in Hemmel Hempstead, the town in England where Kodak did pro Kodachrome processing overnight for a small fee. We used to enjoy a good dinner there, and have a bottle of Campo Viejo, a standard, non-exclusive vino from Spain. It cost us £ 12 for a bottle worth under about four in Mallorca. Today, here on the island, the supermarket offers it at just over five euros, decades later... I think that Nikon prices in America and Britain use the same numbers, but in our case, that means a helluva lot more when you make the conversion.

Always an angle by which to screw. Wish I'd had more streets smarts back then! Even now would be cool.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Rob, are you comparing a hotel restaurant price for a bottle of wine (12) with supermarket one (4)?

[Rob C]

Rob, are you comparing a hotel restaurant price for a bottle of wine (12) with supermarket one (4)?

Yes, and also the dates: the 80s in England and 2019 in Spain; about €5 today in Spain. God knows what the 80s pound is worth in today's numbers.

Mark-up is high here, too, in restaurants, but starting from a reasonable base line. Having twice been hit by €4 a glass for a simple house wine in two different eateries this month, at about six glasses per bottle that's approximately €24 a bottle for a bottle you never get to see being opened. (You always have to be aware of the snob value of the place and go or avoid depending on mood.) Probably comes in the barrel; we used to try those out in the 80s: you took along your own bottle to the bodega and they filled it for you. I remember also doing that when I was eleven, in Italy: my grandma's sister lived in front of a bar and I would get sent over to get a fill-up. It was done with vermouth, too. Here, in Spain, we soon gave up on that barrel buying, and bought mainly Riojas. Federico Paternina, Banda Azul was nice, and I can still find it sometimes in the supermarket as well as a zillion other brands.

All in all, that's why it's nice to stay with just a couple of good, reasonable places that get to know you well.

Rob

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Well, 3:1 ratio (restaurant vs. retail) is pretty standard in most countries, nothing unusual there.

You are now paying 4 euros for a glass of house wine!? Must be inflation. I remember paying 6 euros in Barcelona, early 2000's, for a complete lunch (soup, main, dessert), including a glass of house wine.

[Rob C]

Well, 3:1 ratio (restaurant vs. retail) is pretty standard in most countries, nothing unusual there.

You are now paying 4 euros for a glass of house wine!? Must be inflation. I remember paying 6 euros in Barcelona, early 2000's, for a complete lunch (soup, main, dessert), including a glass of house wine.

In the 80s, Ann and I used to go for a drive to a little restaurant by the beach at Son Serra de Marina (Bar Lago) which was where she was shown how to make paella. It was very basic, but very, very good: they would make me what became my favourite there: a dish with sole and squid. Two such lunches, with a bottle of wine, sweet, coffees, came for about 3,000 pesetas, which was about twelve pounds (around 250 pesetas to the pound on a very good day). Not to last: the son went to tourism school in Palma and returned with big ideas that resulted in tarted up restaurant, more complicated food, and much inflated pricing. But the quality was still undeniably good, just too expensive for a weekly jaunt, which was a pain, because the beach was good if dangerous (we discovered).

So it goes, and gets worse as you depend on pensions that were not very great at best. I won't mention how I also thought my pix would be a pension! But all that said, it's been one helluva good ride!

Below, the beach. Who said Kodachrome 64 Pro didn't scan well?

That cloth is a very pale cream; metering by olde Weston Master 111. Old tech didn't mean unreliable: lost no important highlights! Nikon F or F2 and (I think) 4/200 Nikkor.

:-)