No fireworks - Dictionaries - Photography, Again - Work Out with Molly

I wanted to go to the fireworks tonight, take the auld Chinon along and get some photos. But the end of my first term for the MA is approaching (end of January), and I've a lot of work to do, so instead I've been analysing learner dictionary entries, which is no more nor less fun than it sounds.

On the subject of the Chinon, I put my first film into the chemists in Jarrow on Thursday, then went full of anticipation to collect the CD yesterday... And the bloody shop has half day closing Saturday. I muttered some very rude words. Still, never mind. I finish early Tuesday, so I'll give myself the afternoon off studying to look at the photos and probably do a wee bit of post processing.

The Which Camera decision is now made, finally. There's a discussion with Brendadada here. It's to be the D70 with the 18-70mm lens - though I'll go for the D50 with that lens if it works out cheaper.

And then I'm going to try to take photos like Tony Ray-Jones did. Or something.

Incidentally, I noticed that 60 Labour MPs might rebel over the smoking-in-pubs issue. I'm all for a ban. It's worked in Ireland, and it'll surely happen in England. But whilst smoking tabs is a very bad thing, it makes for great pictures. It'll be quite something to catch this over the next year or so - end of a social habit. When Molly's grown up, smoking in public places might seem as ancient as the wearing of top hats does to us now.

Speaking of Molly, she seems to be exercising almost every waking moment: shuggling her arms and legs, as if she were doing baby-aerobics. I've started to join in with her, and I'm thinking of marketing the exercise DVD...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there
Read more

LTPTP XXV: We Shall Overcome

Image
We shall indeed.  It's a lovely wee tune to learn.  I've almost memorized it this morning, the idea being, when I encounter a piano, I want something to sit down and play on the bugger.  I've a feeling that my keyboard's keys are lighter than a proper piano's, and there'll be a bit of effort transferring the skills I've gotten so far.  Probably, at some point this year, I'll be in workplace with a piano.  I'll print off some simple music and scales, and work at it, but it's likely to be in a public place so I want something to avoid making a twat of myself initially. It feels right that this should be the first tune I learn by heart.
Read more

"Chevy Chase. Fuck ever happen to him?"

Image
As Paulie Walnuts said in The Sopranos. It got me thinking. As it happens, he's been working steadily , but you can see what Paulie means. It's like that with film and television actors: you don't see them in anything for a year or two, and you wonder if they're dead or perhaps on a lengthy charlie and booze session. Or maybe doing proper acting on the stage? Only appearing on the telly gives them meaning to us. That video with Paul Simon was on one of the cable music channels the other day. It always makes me smile. As for Paulie and the rest of the crew, the clock's ticking. Of course, America already knows how things finish, but we don't. My mate Ian was telling me about a friend of his, visiting the States a few weeks ago, flicking through the channels in his hotel bedroom, he hit on a repeat of THE final episode, just beginning. What a quandry! He watched it, as it goes, but kept shtum when he came home.
Read more