I was browsing the Net in a free moment I had and found this great site for producing South Park Style Characters www.sp-studio.de.
Here is my South Park Version of me, with my Trusty side kick Oz the Snake (yes we have a lovely pet snake).
Was the Death Star Attack an inside job
Every major event in modern history such as the Apollo Moon Landings, seems now to be accompanied by a conspiracy theory.
Despite the evidence, people will always come up with there own ideas. Well on a lighter note, it seems some people do not believe Luke Skywalker really destroyed the Death Star.
Uncomfortable questions was the death star attack an inside job
Landslips at Whitby
Whitby is one of our top three holiday destinations in England. When we visited a few months ago there had been a landslip, resulting in some houses having to be demolished.
Last week there has been another landslip, this time near the church. See the BBC news website for more details.
Lets hope it does not get any worse.
The Official Christmas Party
Tonight was the Official Works Christmas Party.
The theme as you may be able to tell was School Disco and many took this as a excuse to dress up. Free drinks a meal and a chance to let our hair down after a stressful and busy year.
Photography care of my phone. Considering the poor light the images are quite good, you can see why less and less people are using compact cameras and using there phones.
Merry Christmas
Winter; especially December and January is a period of celebration for many regions, so Happy “-insert you region’s ceremony here-“. If your not religious then enjoy your day off, unless your having to work to keep the rest of us safe.
Bodhi Day
December 8th – On Bodhi day some Buddhists celebrate Gautama’s attainment of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India.
Hanukkah
December 9th – Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals.
Yule
December 21st – Yule is the time of the winter solstice, when the sun child is reborn, an image of the return of all new life born through the love of the Gods. Within the Northern Tradition Yule is regarded as the New Year.
Christmas
December 25th – The day when Western Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Oshogatsu
January 1st – Shinto New Year, one of the most popular occasions for shrine visits.
Guru Gobind Singh
January 5th – Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) was the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus. He instituted the Five Ks and established the Order of the Khalsa.
Orthodox Christmas
January 7th – Most Orthodox churches use the Julian rather than the Gregorian version of the Western calendar. As a result, they celebrate Christmas 13 days later than other Christian churches.
Makar Sankranti
January 14th – Makar Sankranti is one of the most important festivals of the Hindu calendar and celebrates the sun’s journey into the northern hemisphere.
A Biker’s Night Before Christmas
On the Biking Blog “Ride it like you stole it!” which is sadly no more by Dave Dragon, there was a poem “The Biker’s Night Before Christmas”.
I have posted this before but as it is Christmas Eve I thought I was worth posting again.
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the pad,
There was nada happenin’, now that’s pretty bad.
The woodstove was hung up in that stocking routine,
In hopes that the Fat Boy would soon make the scene.
With our stomachs packed with tacos and beer,
My girl and I crashed on the couch for some cheer.
When out in the yard there arose such a racket,
I ran for the door and pulled on my jacket.
I saw a large bro’ on a ’56 Pan
Wearin’ black leathers, a cap, and boots (cool biker, man).
He hauled up the bars on that bikeful of sacks,
And that Pan hit the roof like it was running on tracks.
I couldn’t help gawking, the old guy had class.
But I had to go in — I was freezing my ass.
Down through the stovepipe he fell with a crash,
And out of the stove he came dragging his stash.
With a smile and some glee he passed out the loot,
A new jacket for her and some parts for my scoot.
He patted her fanny and shook my right hand,
Spun on his heel and up the stovepipe he ran.
From up on the roof came a great deal of thunder,
As that massive V-twin ripped the silence asunder.
With beard in the wind, he roared off in the night,
Shouting, “Have a cool Yule, and to all a good ride!”
Presents for the Birthday Boy
It was my Birthday recently and I asked for a few unusual presents.
Now me and Chris have an interest in coffee as well as cameras and a few weeks ago Chris emailed me a link to a blog from a guy mad about Leica’s and Coffee; just like me.
The site was CoffeeGeek.
It was while reading this site I spotted an interesting post about shaving. As you may be able to tell in the photograph above, I usually have a few days of stubble showing. Shaving has always irritated my neck and whether I use one of the latest multiblade cartridge shavers or an electric razor, I still get a sore neck.
The post linked to a few shaving forums, and these guys are real shaving geeks. Very knowledgable and trying to put a bit of fun and ritual back into what most consider a chore.
So after a bit of reading up and learning how bad for your skin modern canned saving cream and multi-blade shavers are, I had family members buy me a new shaving kit.
It consisted of a Badger Hair Shaving Brush, a Merkur 34C DE Razor, Traditional Saving Soap, Bowl, Stand and a multipack of different blades ranging from Derby Blades from Turkey right up to Japanese Feathers, some of the most fearsome and sharp razor blades money can buy. While the products are a little more expensive then the standard, the soap is very concentrated and will last a long time. The blades can be found for as little as £11 for 100 blades which means after a year you are saving money.
Though its not the money saving I am interested in. It is whether this stops my sore neck and makes shaving a pleasure instead of a chore. If it succeeds then it will be one of the best birthday presents yet. If I get on well with the DE razor I might take up Caroline’s offer to buy me a straight (ie a cut throat) razor; maybe for my next birthday.
If you are interested in finding out more then you ever wanted to know about shaving, check out www.badgerandblade.com and sharpologist.com.
Oh and thanks for The Shaving Book Andrew, an interesting but also very funny read.
Whitby in Winter – Day Two Part A
Post date Blog Post Day 2 Sunday 2nd December.
The plan for today was a trip to the harbour and the Abbey, I had three shots in my head for the Harbour, but knew that I would likely be only able to get the one. After that we would be heading up to the Abbey, I had three shots in mind here but it was likely I would only be able to get two of the shots.
We were stopping at Hillcrest Bed & Breakfast, and over a breakfast of Whitby Smoked Kippers I checked the iPad to confirm the tide times and also using ‘The Photographer’s Ephemeris’, checked the sun position. Unfortunately it looked like unless i could be in two places at once I would have to give up on one of the shots. To get the Sun and tide in the right spot for one of the harbour shots I would not be able to get across the harbour and up to the Abbey to get another shot I wanted.
Still we would try and get at least a couple of shots.
As a bit of an experiment I had borrowed Caroline’s Crumpler Bag and packed the Ebony Camera, two lens and some dark slides. It’s a lot smaller bag then the ruck sack i usually keep it in. I also had the Nikon V1 with me. While the kit all fitted in the bag, the weight could be telling.
First off we walked into town and across to the other side of the harbour using the swing bridge. Once down onto the beach to the area where I thought the first shot was, I was unsupprised to see that the sun was unable at this time of year to rise to the point where it would illumiate the main focus of my photograph. So it was 0/1 for the first attempts.
In fact it you could say it was 0 for 2 as there was another shot I wanted but it meant being on the other side of the harbour and it just would not have been possible to get across and capture both shots before the sun had moved.
Next I climbed onto the Harbour wall to shoot the stone seabed. There are some interesting features visible at low tide that I wanted to capture.
As you can see in the quick snap I took with the Nikon V1, the sun was not high enough to illuminate what I wanted to photograph. I will just have to go back in the Spring.
It was now time to head up and take a shot of the harbour from part way up the cliff face. The ramp up was somewhat icy and it made the climb up a little tricky, but we managed.
I’ll blog about the next shot which I took with the Ebony 45S later once I have the film developed in Day 2 part B.
Finally it was time to shoot the Abbey. There was two shots I had in mind, but it was unlikely I would get the first one as by the time we got up there the sun would have moved round too far, but we should get the second, which I did. Again I’ll blog about that shot later.
Once the Abbey shot was in the can, we headed back down for a Spicy Mocha Latte and a toasted chibatta.
Then a last walk round the shops and back to the Bed & Breakfast for a rest. My back was by this time killing me. The Crumpler bag while fine for a short while was not good for a full day of carrying the large format kit. Still now I know.
Overall a pleasing day.
Whitby in Winter – Day One
Post date Blog Post Day 1 Saturday 1st December
With a couple of days free in both our calendars, we decided a quick trip up North to one of our favourite holiday spots, Whitby.
We decided to go by car as there was a risk of Snow over the North Yorkshire Moors, so that gave me free rein over what camera equipment to take.
The day before we set off I fired up two useful iOS apps, one to predict tide times, as two of the shots I had in mind needed low tide; the other app shows where the sun and moon will be as we’ll as there height. Things looked promising so I decided to pack the following.
- Large Format Ebony 5 x 4
- Small Format Leica M4 & M8
- Micro Format Nikon Series One V1
We had a gentle start, not rushing, just taking our time heading North. As the toll had been reduced and because of flooding around York we took the Humber Bridge over the river Humber and then headed over the Yorkshire Wolds to Scarborough.
The purpose of stopping at Scarborough was to visit a fabric shop so that Caroline could buy some silk for a project she has been working on for the last year. Hopefully in the next few months i’ll be able to post some pictures. It’s been quite an impressive project with lots of research and even the odd course to learn new skills.
Caroline managed to get the fabric she wanted and we then had a leisurely lunch in Scarborough. It was then time to head further north over the North York Moors.
It was here the weather took a wintery turn with snow and a cold wind. It was a little worrying as the snow started to settle on the roads but as we reached Whitby it started to clear.
We soon found the Bed & Breakfast and settled in. A walk into town followed and a fish supper all washed down with a couple of pint of fine Yorkshire Ale.
No Photography yet but a fine start to the trip.
Christmas Countdown 2012 – Find out how many days until Christmas 2012
Want to find out how many days till Christmas:
Christmas Countdown 2012 – Find out how many days until Christmas 2012.