The View Through My Eyes

Brunch on the South Bank

2007-06-10T18:42:00.001+01:00

Brunch on the South Bank
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK

Jeremy F called last night to see if we fancied doing something today. We still have too much sorting out to do around the house to want to take a day out but we settled on brunch on the South Bank first thing.
I did wonder whether anything would be open at 10am on a Sunday morning but in the end we needn't have worried; the Royal Festival Hall is reopening this weekend after its refurbishment and the riverside was already crowded when we arrived. We were in time to snag an outside table at Giraffe before you had to start queueing for them though and we indulged our hunger whilst watching and listening to a selection of the acts that were being laid on for the occasion. By lunchtime the whole area was packed with people and we were quite glad we had arrived early!
One slightly spooky thing were the statues of people just standing looking down which have been positioned on rooftops all around the area. I recall reading mention of it as some kind of installation art exhibit but it would do equally well as the opening scenes of a Doctor Who adventure; any day now the statues are going to leap from their vantage points and try to take over the world! (After last night's Who episode with the weeping angels - which was by far the most frightening for a while - I really didn't want to take my eyes off them!) If I remember in time I'll take my proper camera along and get some pictures of them next week.

Dinner at Ping's

2007-05-12T23:59:00.000+01:00

The table after we had finished eating.

This is me with Ping & Uwe

Simon (the chef) and Matt, his husband

And of course, my own beloved, Brett

Practice Photoshoot

2007-05-12T17:30:00.000+01:00

Had some tuition and a practice shoot on the male nude at Urban today and it was a great learning experience. Spent some time discussing the problems you can encounter in getting good models and then looked at how to light the male body to show it off to its best advantage.

Unfortunately it was a bit of a scrum as there were seven of us sharing the space but I got a number of semi-decent shots out of it and know I could do a lot better if I controlled the environment.

We started working in silhouette which had lots of arty potential.

Then moved onto more traditional muscle shots

Finally Jonathan brought out a few props for the model to use which opened up a whole new dimension to the atmosphere of the pictures.

Farewell to New York

2007-04-09T14:45:00.000+01:00

Farewell to New York
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Brett and I at the edge of Central Park, New York, just before flying home.

The Abercrombie Chapel

2007-04-09T14:30:00.000+01:00

The Abercrombie & Fitch store on Fifth Avenue has a mural running the height of the store's staircase and the ceiling over it; not quite a modern-day Michaelangelo, but I think there's a certain nod in his direction...

Child at Play

2007-04-09T13:50:00.000+01:00

Child at Play
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

This is me in FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue, New York. I'd just spent half an hour playing with some wonderful magnetic mecano stuff and was fighting the urge to buy a box to take home. I did grab the manufacturer's website details though (www.plastwood.com) so I can see if they sell it in the UK.

At the Rockefeller Centre

2007-04-09T11:30:00.000+01:00

Prometheus in the Rockefeller Plaza...

... and some random gateway decorations, ...

...and finally, the statue of Atlas.

Views from the Empire State

2007-04-09T10:30:00.000+01:00

About the only decent photographable sight visible from the top of the Empire State Building is the nearby Chrysler Building, seen above through my telephoto lens and below in wide-shot.

Below is the view looking northward towards Central Park with the George Washington bridge over the Hudson River in the distance towards the top left.

And here's the view looking in the other direction (south) towards the financial district, with the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River to the left of shot.

Finally, to prove that we were actually there, here's Brett and me...

Easter Bunnies

2007-04-08T11:22:00.000+01:00

Easter Bunnies
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

After spending the morning out and about in the freezing temperatures of a New York April, we headed into Chelsea for some lunch. Brett had found a recommended café/bar/restaurant in the gay guidebook that John Mc had given us as an engagement present so we went along and weren't disapponted. We had some lovely food, albeit in typically oversized portions (I cancelled my steak and eggs entree almost as soon as I saw the size of the chicken cesar salad they delivered for my appetiser!) The service was excellent and the place had a good, friendly vibe to it. I'd recommend it if you happen to be in town; the Food Bar on 8th Avenue between 17th & 18th Streets.

Here we see the staff enjoying the opportunity of Easter to dress up a little...

Pictures on Brooklyn Bridge

2007-04-08T10:03:00.000+01:00

Handwashing 101

2007-04-08T09:41:00.000+01:00

Handwashing 101
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

On our walk around the southern end of Manhattan we stopped off for a warm drink in a Starbucks just off Water Street. Here's a picture of a sign in the toilets. I can understand that they maybe need to remind staff to wash their hands before returning to work, but I'm rather worried that they also feel it necessary to give step-by-step instructions about how to do it. It would seem that standards of parenting really are dropping if you can't rely on people having been taught as a child how to wash themselves!

Brett in Battery Park

2007-04-08T08:24:00.000+01:00

Brett in Battery Park
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Brett, somewhat over-exposed in this shot, waits for me to stop all the photographic mucking about in Battery Park, New York

Brett and Tom

2007-04-07T17:27:00.000+01:00

Brett and Tom
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

While we were in town, we met up with Tom, one of Brett's friends from his university days, who's now a writer/director in New York and has a play opening this coming June.

Times Square Overload

2007-04-07T13:15:00.000+01:00

Times Square Overload
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Times Square is just too busy to be enjoyed. Between the solid crowds on every pavement and the advertising covering almost every surface, you come away from it all thankful to have escaped from all the pressure, both physical and mental.

Central Park Scenes

2007-04-07T12:00:00.000+01:00

Saturday morning we spent strolling through Central Park. It's a very popular spot for New York's joggers, cyclists and roller-bladers and we even saw a couple of roller-skiers!

More traditional pastimes were also going on and we spent a while watching baseball practice on the North Meadow playing fields.

There's also a large section of unmanaged woodlands where you can see quite a bit of wildlife.

Brett Sleeping

2007-04-06T19:15:00.000+01:00

Brett Sleeping
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

The trip over to NYC was quite pleasant - even with the three hour delay on the tarmac at Heathrow. We' had Club World seats which meant virtually our own private cabin we were so secluded. Here's Brett taking advantage of the flat bed that your seat turns into.

Christmas at the Parents'

2006-12-25T17:06:00.000Z

A couple of the better pictures from the Christmas Eve get-together with our old school friends first of all. Here are Pod and Phil,

and Sue and Kath.

And here's Brett and I enjoying Christmas Lunch with the family.

Agter lunch of course, you just have to have a stroll, so we had a wander around the park behind the parents' house. Here's my aunt Pauline with my mum and dad looking backs towards town.

Nativity Porn

2006-12-15T01:49:00.000Z

Yes, I know; it's childish and immature... but you have to amuse yourself somehow whilst in the tea-break of your second Chorus rehearsal in three days.

If you can't see what I'm on about, ask yourself what that Wise Man on the left is doing (and whether the sheep should be nervous!!)

Dallas by Night

2006-11-22T23:59:00.000Z

A couple of night time panoramas of downtown Dallas. Click on an image to see a more detailed version

New Camera - Day One

2006-11-05T23:59:00.000Z

[As ever, click on a photo to see a higher resolution version.]

This one is Brett, sitting on a bench on Wimbledon Common early on a freezing November morning. (Enter what you think is going through his mind in the Comments!)

A warmer shot, a little later on.

And finally, back home and enjoying the Sunday papers.

Bah, humbug!

2006-10-31T19:32:00.000Z

Bah, humbug!, originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

It isn't even November yet and already there is lots of Christmas advertising on Oxford Street!

Bah! Merry fucking Christmas, soulless consumers, one and all!

The Grange

2006-10-18T21:44:00.000+01:00

OK, so above you have The Grange as seen from the cliff tops in Ramsgate. It's the building with the flag on. I managed to forget to take an external shot from within the grounds, but you get the idea...

You enter through this structure which leads you up to the porch.

Once inside you arrive in a double-height hall which unfortunately I don't have any decent photos of (my camera's lens just isn't 'wide-angle' enough to do it justice!). The main rooms of the house all lead off this hallway. Below you are looking from the Drawing Room into the Library,

And here looking back from the library towards the Drawing Room.

The above is a rather poor shot of about half of the Drawing Room, below is David setting the fire there on our first night and below that is Ping, later on that same night, taking his ease.

Here's the dining room; the table would comfortably seat ten.

Pugin was a devout Catholic, so if you are of a religious bent, there is a private chapel for you...

...not to mention you have a crucifix over the bed in Pugin's room and (not visible) a statue of the Virgin Mary!

The Hobgoblin's Taunts

2006-10-14T14:15:00.000+01:00

This made me smile. I even went on and bought a pint instead of the coke I'd been planning on, so I guess the advertisers taunting strategy worked. The pint turned out to be quite tasty though.

Grumpy

2006-10-05T21:10:00.000+01:00

This is me tonight! Although I think having the cute toy to play with is cheering me up...

Up to Easedale Tarn

2006-10-01T22:35:00.000+01:00

Setting off from Grasmere.

Brett by one of the wateralls on the trail.

"The Group Shot"
From Left to Right: Jane, Me, Brett, Brian, Mum, Frank, Rob, Helen, Margaret, Cath, Tom.

Still climbing.

Over lunch we watched a young seagull being taught how to swoop down on the tarn and try to catch fish.

"What do you mean, 'get out of the way'?"
Margaret muscles in on me, Brett and the parents.

The 'A' Group set off for higher things...

...while the alsorans set off for a picturesque stroll home.

It started out with me photographing the view and then my mother wanted to photograph me and then Brett got in on the act. So here I am, trying hard to look rugged while they fumbled with the zoom...

I think my father is auditioning to join the Swiss Guard...

On The Trail

2006-09-30T14:03:00.000+01:00

On The Trail, originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Brett and my mother adjusting their hiking sticks on the descent from Easedale Tarn.

The Banana Protector

2006-09-26T22:20:00.000+01:00

What will they think of next? The talking point in our office today was The Banana Protector, a device for making sure that the banana you’ve put in your bag for lunch doesn’t get squashed before you get a chance to eat it. They are size-adjustable, but I understand they only come in yellow. Here we have a sample, demonstrated for you by the lovely Sid.

LGMC Partying

2006-09-12T23:59:00.000+01:00

As ever the aftershow party proved to be plenty of fun - although unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to catch all the scandal. Here are a few photos from other choristers to give you an idea of the night;

Here's John W, me & Brett supporting Paul L, slightly the worse for wear after celebrating his birthday as well as a successful show!

(Photo by John G)

Power politics as the Chairman, AMD & Small Group Rep get their heads together:

(Photo by John G)

David M, Paul A, Tony C & Nick B having a good time:

(Photo by John G)

Lingotto

2006-09-12T22:59:00.000+01:00

The Auditorium was quite impressive; 1900 seats and a lovely acoustic.

There was the seemingly inevitable hanging-around as our tech-rehearsal was delayed by problems getting the sound system set up.

John and Rich were both suffering from a throat infection while we were in Turin, but managed to soldier on through the show - although here John doesn't exactly look full of the joys of spring...

Advertising

2006-09-12T11:59:00.000+01:00

The Settembre Musica festival had put us on posters throughout the city.

And here's our poster-boy; PK enjoying his publicity...

And Here We Are

2006-09-11T23:59:00.000+01:00

Brett & I at the Civic Reception the city hosted for us on the Monday night.

Around Turin

2006-09-11T11:59:00.000+01:00

On the Monday morning (our first full day in Turin) we took a walking tour around the city.

We eventually ended up by the lovely River Po:

Hadrian's Wall

2006-07-23T12:06:00.000+01:00

Good Morning, Northumberland!

The view from our B&B room on Sunday morning.

Later, at Hadrian's Wall, Brett and Jim stare into the Roman Empire from the Barbarian Wasteland.

I, on the other hand, just sat on the fence.

And here is how the wall looked 1,900 years ago, although I gather the iron railing is a modern addition...

First Day in Edinburgh

2006-07-21T14:12:00.000+01:00

Our hotel, the Davenport House Hotel on Great King Street, has a very plush feel to it; bronze sculptures and ornately-framed oil paintings are everywhere and the whole hotel has a very 'period' style to it. This is the bed in our room.

After getting settled in the hotel, we hopped on one of the different Edinburgh Bus Tours and spent an hour or so being guided around the city's highlights.

You can't really go to Edinburgh as a tourist and not take a photograph of the castle, so here is one of the less familar views, taken from the Grassmarket.

And another of the familiar sights of Edinburgh's skyline; St. Giles Cathedral.

The Cairngorms and Glamis

2006-07-20T18:10:00.000+01:00

We started the day at the picturesque Edradour distillery near Pitlochry.

After lunch we spent a while a the Falls of Feugh, outside Banchory, watching the salmon leap.

Although we didn't get rained on, the view from Cairn O'Mount was mostly obscured by low cloud.

Inevitable picture of Highland Cattle.

We finished the day off at Glamis Castle, ancestral home of the Bowes-Lyon family and not at all where King Duncan was murdered by Macbeth.

Lochearnhead

2006-07-19T20:02:00.000+01:00

The view looking down onto Briar Cottage and the loch.

Looking down onto the back of Briar Cottage. You can see one of the original cottages (the thatched building) and the enclosure for the hot tub in the centre.

Here is the barbeque, summer house and pavillion on the lochside. All very picturesque!

This however was less reassuring...

We barbequed steaks for dinner and washed them down with a light Ruby Cabernet.

The bedrooms look out straight onto Loch Earn.

Glencoe

2006-07-19T17:44:00.000+01:00

No opportunity to sell tourists something covered in tartan is ever missed! (Here at a viewpoint climbing up to Rannoch Moor.)

And the picturesque Moor itself.

Unfortunately because it was evening the sun was in the wrong place to get good pictures down Glencoe (in the mornings it is truly a spectacular view) but this view seemed fairly impressive.

Carlisle Castle

2006-07-19T11:47:00.000+01:00

Jim and Brett on the green outside Carlisle Castle, the border fortress

and here on one of the staircases inside the walls.

The castle has been rebuilt many times over the year. Here, looking at the inside of inner bailey gatehouse, you can see original gothic tracery over the gateway dating to about 1390. The walkway above the gate was added in 1545 and the windows beneath it later in the sixteenth century. The outside of this same structure though is late twelth century! Quite an accumulation of construction. The castle was in use as a regimental headquarters until 1959.

When my sister and I were younger we used to like sitting on the cannons on the walls of the castle, so I just had to have this picture taken. Not sure why Jim was asking how to fire it though...

Two Visitors

2006-07-19T08:57:00.000+01:00

We had two sets of visitors before leaving my parents. The first was a duck and her ducklings who came up to eat some of the hen's corn in the back garden.

The second visitor was Chris C on his way to work.

Windsor Castle

2006-07-16T15:54:00.000+01:00

Caerleon

2006-07-16T12:25:00.000+01:00

The town of Caerleon near Newport is home to an archaeologically significant Roman Legionary Barracks and also an excavated Roman amphitheatre seen here.

Jim sets out to do battle with his video camera

And here is Brett waiting for them to send in the ~~clowns~~ lions.

The site seems to be a popular relaxation spot with the locals; there were a number of couples and families enjoying the sunshine or picnicing around the site and here a group of kids are playing at being gladiators.

Cardiff Bay

2006-07-16T11:05:00.000+01:00

Before leaving Cardiff we spent some time down at Cardiff Bay.

Lots of redevelopment has been going on here.

This giant pillar is a fountain; it has water cascading down it on every side.

This structure is actually the visitor's centre, although it looks fairly temporary and is alongside all the Assembly buildings, rather than at the more touristy end of the bay.

Here, some innovative roofing on a residential block,

and here the old and the new assembly buildings sit side-by-side.

Cardiff Castle

2006-07-15T11:30:00.000+01:00

Brett and Jim in front of the Keep of Cardiff Castle

and the view from the Keep over to the nineteenth-century gothic-revival additions to the complex.

This is Brett in the well-house at the entrance to the Keep.

From the top of the Keep you get a magnificent panoramic view over Cardiff,

Here you see both the old and new aspects of the city; the Earl of Bute's new castle in the foreground and the Millennium Stadium beyond.

We even spotted another stone circle to add to Jim's collection.

Bath

2006-07-14T17:40:00.000+01:00

Late afternoon saw us in Bath. We didn't have a lot of time, so we only did the 'top' central sights, starting at the Abbey.

Jim was very impressed with the soaring ceiling in white Bath Stone. I was equally impressed with the recently renovated organ on which somebody was practicing while we visited.

Graffiti is not a new problem...

After the Abbey we moved on to the adjacent Roman Baths. Here you see Brett standing on the (Victorian) terrace above the main bath with a transept of the Abbey in the background.

and here examining a model of the entire Roman complex ruins.

Finally here's Jim at the edge of the main bath with some of the museum exhibits behind him.

Stone Henge

2006-07-14T14:40:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Stone Henge, a very popular tourist destination...

Fortunately though, further around the monument, things are quieter and you get an occasional unobstructed view.

Avebury Stone Circle

2006-07-14T12:03:00.000+01:00

Avebury Stone Circle is a huge thing surrounding the village of Avebury. We walked around the monument on the encircling embankment before heading into the village for lunch.

We also passed a group of tourists by one of the megaliths getting a lecture on the psychic powers of crystals...

Museum Hopping

2006-07-08T20:08:00.000+01:00

We started off tubing it up to South Kensington and London’s ‘Museum Row’ to visit the Natural History Museum, as Jim had expressed an interest in the dinosaur exhibit there.

Here's Brett and his dad as we emerged from the Tube…

…and here they are as we approached the museum; I think it’s clear that the Japanese-tourist gene is a dominant one in Brett’s family’s genetics.

Once inside the museum it was then necessary to locate the dinosaurs…

The display was quite nicely done; lots of reconstructed skeletons as well as ones displayed still embedded in rock. They also had some convincing animatronics of a couple of the smaller pack-hunting carnivores (whose name escaped me) and, after a bit of a build-up, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Of the two, the smaller ones looked more vicious; the Tyrannosaur was probably too big to move at a life-like speed, so it just slowly waved its tail and swung its head around in a somewhat bovine way while eyeing us up for lunch. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photographs in the dinosaur gallery, so I’ll have to check out Brett’s video footage to see if I can lift any stills.

After we’d tired of dinosaurs and seen the Blue Whale, we headed further east to Bloomsbury for the British Museum.

We started off with a light lunch in the Great Court Café, during which Ping joined us for half an hour.

Then we had a quick look at the interior of the British Library Reading Room (which is in the centre of the Great Court)

After that we joined a 90-minute tour of the highlights of the museum which whisked us through highlights of the Egyptian, Assyrian, Turkish and Greek Collections. This is Jim trying to hear what the guide is saying while taking the weight off his feet.

The tour finished up in the recently refurbished Oriental Gallery. Apparantly the refurbishment was funded by a Hong Kong millionaire patron. The walls are covered in gold-leaf - which was cheaper than the wallpaper originally chosen for the room...

The Blue-Badge guide was certainly very knowledgeable but, although I found a lot of it fascinating, I was ready for a coffee break and a sit down afterwards, as was everybody else!

We spent a while looking at the Elgin Marbles and then the Pre-Historic Europe Exhibition before hopping on a bus to Waterloo and then a train home.

EuroPride 2006 - before The Show

2006-07-02T23:59:00.000+01:00

The Royal Albert Hall is a mightily impressive venue to perform in; quite apart from its size, the rows and rows of red-velvet-curtained boxes that line the hall make it feel very posh. Actually, despite the impressive appearance, the acoustic in the hall is dreadful and we relied totally on the sound system to hear ourselves.

This is a view from the choir stalls up by the (massive!) pipe organ down onto the stage; taken during the sound checking, you can see in the arena that they have a huge hydraulic lift set into the floor to move equipment up to the auditorium level.

Waiting around for your turn on stage is a hugely exciting time, as you can probably tell...

And when our turn finally came to sound-check we spent a while crammed together between the back of the stage set and banks of sound equipment while they worked out the timings for our cue to stage. Temperate approaching 30°C? Sixty people crammed into a tiny space? Standing next to bright stage lights? Being fanned with warm air from the sound kit? Nice!

After we'd done our checks on stage, we headed out into the fresh air to work on a few musical points - and entertain a few passing tourists.

Finally, here's a gratuitous shot of me in my favourite tour t-shirt.

The Laughter of the Gekko

2006-06-18T23:21:00.000+01:00

The whole country has gone world-cup-marketing mad!

I was in PC World today and I came across shelves of England Computer Accessory Gift Packs.

Later I was in Sainsburys and there were several displays of what can only be described as worthless tat!

And yet people buy it. I’ve lost count of the number of houses swathed in often two or three St. George’s Cross flags. They are flying from a fair percentage of cars on the road. People wander by with St. George’s Cross baseball caps on, sunglasses, lapel pins, t-shirts, handbags, mobile phones, wrist watches, shorts and pretty much everything else you can think of – all of which will be binned or forgotten at the back of the closet two weeks after the World Cup is over, regardless of whether England win or lose the tournament.

What’s the point?

It’s not patriotism, it's just another way of extracting money from you for things you really, really don’t need!

I swear I am expecting the Visigoths to come sweeping in from Essex any day now.

Thoughts on the Tube

2006-06-18T23:02:00.000+01:00

Just a couple of thoughts from my journey home on the Tube last night. The first is that I notice the Bakerloo is celebrating its centenary this year.

Hopefully some of the celebrations will involve improving the ride quality of the track so that every journey doesn’t come with free whiplash injuries thrown-in, or maybe the temperature in the cars can be improved so that when it’s 28°C in London it isn’t 32°C on the trains!

The second thought was something of pathos. I spotted this lady a little further along the train.

She was very well dressed; wearing quite fancy shoes, she was well made up without being overdone, she had on some quite smart looking jewellery and all the way from Regents Park to beyond Waterloo she sipped a bottle of cheap lager and looked regally miserable.

She was a sight redolent of pathos and I so wanted to ask her if she was alright and if I could help, but the etiquette of the Tube and maybe some of that double-edged British reserve held me back. Now I’ll always wonder what happened to her when she arrived at her destination (surely it was Lambeth North, or was she really going on to Elephant and Castle??)

…But I’ll never know.

A Study of a Summer's Day

2006-06-03T15:30:00.000+01:00

There are some moments in time that you just want to capture and hold onto forever. This afternoon was one of them as I looked out of my window onto a beautiful, peaceful summer scene. Here is a two-dimensional view of it.

Klingon Weapon Seized in London

2006-05-25T15:48:00.000+01:00

A snippet from today’s Metro talking about the current Knife Amnesty. Although the caption identifies it as “a 5ft blade designed to decapitate victims” anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with Star Trek will recognise the Klingon Bat’leth which police have apparently seized.

I suppose it was inevitable. People have gotten married dressed as Klingons following a Klingon ceremony, speaking Klingon, so why should I be surprised that somebody wants to live the more violent aspects of the Klingon fantasy?

Rosie Before Surgery

2006-05-17T19:41:00.000+01:00

A few minutes before they took her down to theatre...

The LGMC's First Fifteen

2006-04-30T13:25:00.000+01:00

A look behind the scenes at the excitement in the wings during our final rehearsal:

And the minutes of anticipation (and panic?) before we go on stage.

Phil L stars in Pirates of the Salon

2006-04-28T08:11:00.000+01:00

A work colleague recently had corrective eye-surgery that went amiss. As a result he has to wear an eye-patch for at least three months. He seems to be taking it in good humour though, especially when it was suggested that, with the addition of a painted-on moustache, he could do a reasonable impression of Jonny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean...

Mind you, Phil has never been one to take himself too seriously. Not long after I joined the company he and another colleague appeared in a feature in Cosmopolitan Magazine in which the men revealed the techniques they most enjoy when receiving a blow-job. The company noticeboard was quite entertaining for a while after that...

When Marketing Goes Wrong

2006-04-05T15:57:00.000+01:00

I always chuckle when I see expensive Marketing gone wrong. Above is a photograph of the Wimbledon branch of the HSBC. You can just about make out the red strip running along the bottom of their windows. The slogan reads ‘Progress in Store’ and is followed by two triangles which I think are designed to look like a ‘Fast Forward’ symbol and imply the corporate logo.

However, the first time I saw this slogan, I immediately thought they were arrows pointing me towards the shop next door (Coffee Republic) where, presumably, progress had taken place.

Around the corner (out of shot) the advertising is pointing you towards the door of the branch and so, from that side, it works fine, but walking along the pavement in the photo (as I do regularly to get to the station) I am constantly reminded that there is progress in store at Coffee Republic.

As I said, the HSBC marketeers probably intend the double-triangle to imply ‘Fast Forward’ progress and so turning them around to point to the door from both sides would mean ‘Rewind’ or going backwards from this angle but I think probably better that (or no strip at all on this side of the branch!) than to point people away from your business.

Modern advertising is a subtle and fickle thing. Now that I’ve thought about it, I know what they wanted to evoke in my head, but by the time I’d thought about it, it was too late; my initial thought stuck and lodged somewhere, deep in my subconscious, is the impression that the coffee shop has improved somehow and HSBC is no better or worse than it ever was.

I wonder how much it cost HSBC to advertise Coffee Republic (and the host of other stores located to the right of HSBC branches) to me…?

Hotblack Desiato - Estate Agent??

2006-04-05T15:26:00.000+01:00

I grew up reading Douglas Adams' HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. In the series there is a character called HotBlack Desiato, a kind of futuristic MeatLoaf-esque rock star who, we discover, "is spending the year dead for tax reasons."

Imagine my surprise then to see this on my way to a Chorus rehearsal recently:

An Estate Agent?? Surely not!

My first thought was, "How cool is that! Some HitchHikers fan has set up an Estate Agency and paid homage." However further investigation on Wikipedia reveals that the character in the books is actually named after the Estate Agents and not vice versa as I'd assumed.

It's a funny old world.

Hollin Root

2006-03-26T22:33:00.000+01:00

The back of the farmhouse, taken from what would have been the farm yard.

Here’s dad and Margaret sitting in the fireplace nook. When we holidayed here twenty years ago, the area now containing the fire and the flue was entirely filled with an old wood-fired range and the grandfather clock stood in the hallway. On the beam at the top of the shot is inscribed the date 1691, the year the farmhouse was completed.

Here’s mum heading over to the barn, which pre-dates the house and is divided by a wooden screen that would have kept the animals out of the family living-space when it served as the farmhouse.

This is the barn, taken from the rear.

Half a day on the Hill

2006-03-25T23:34:00.000Z

Here’s the view from the guesthouse.

It started out quite grey and damp, but stayed dry throughout the day for us, just beginning to drizzle as we got back to the cars.

There was still some snow lying on the hill, so once we reached a certain height we were tramping through patches of snow or very boggy terrain as a result of the snow-melt; you wouldn’t believe it’s nearly April!

We climbed up from Rosthwaite towards King’s Howe. After lunch we reached Dock Tarn (below) which still had some ice cover, before dropping down quite a steep incline to a bridleway which took us back around to Rosthwaite.

Despite all the snow and ice in evidence, the weather was quite mild and pleasant and although the sunshine was limited we did get some quite stark, striking views of the surrounding fells. We also came across a colourful toad lurking on one of the leeward tracks.

There was one moment of ‘excitement’ when the path gave way beneath Brett and he slid a way down an incline. Fortunately no injuries resulted and he was back on his feet in no time at all, albeit somewhat muddier than he had been.

K-9 Returns

2006-03-19T20:10:00.000Z

I am still a child at heart. Amongst all the lovely gifts people bought me for my birthday, I’m still thrilled with the smallest; this little die-cast model of Doctor Who’s Dog, K-9; one of my favourite robots of all time.

(Seen here alongside a pen to give you an idea of the scale!)

A snowy morning in St. Helens

2006-03-04T14:31:00.000Z

A crisp snowy morning today in St. Helens. Below are a few photos of my parents’ garden. The first two taken by my dad around 08:40 while the snow was still almost pristine and the last one was taken on my phone from the bathroom window around 09:45, after the sun had come out.

As I write there is a clear blue sky with sunshine blazing down. A lovely day.

Blasts From The Past

2006-02-19T23:11:00.000Z

Let’s do these in chronological order. First off is this head-shot which I had taken when I was standing for Vice-President of my Student Union. Everyone else was making do with the mug-shots from the photobooth, but Simon was a bit of a photography buff (back in the days when this meant knowing exposure lengths and swilling bits of paper around in trays of foul-smelling chemicals under infra-red illumination!) and he offered to do me a photo shoot. Here is the shot that was used for the (successful!) campaign. It was taken in 1989, so I would have been a fresh-faced twenty years old at the time.

Now we’re into my travels as a Tour Manager.

This first picture is my first view over Hong Kong; taken from my hotel window, the morning after we arrived, looking out over Kowloon Harbour to the mainland. Sadly the image doesn’t do justice to the impression that Hong Kong made on me that first night. It was only the second country I’d ever visited as a Tour Manager (the first being a season in a hotel in Spain. ) Suddenly I was on the other side of the world, in tropical climes and totally responsible for navigating myself and a group of twenty-odd partially-sighted travellers (which is another story entirely!) around the highlights of the orient; it was quite a moment for me.

A few days later we were in Bangkok where I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the many Temples which litter the city; they literally sparkled, with gold leaf, coloured glass and bright mirror-tile mosaic decoration everywhere you turned. Here you see a close up of the base of Wat Phra Kaew’s great golden Chedi.

We also enjoyed some more ‘rural’ entertainments… here I am playing with a snake.

Later in the trip we drove up-country to Kanchanaburi. We rode on the Death Railway and visited the museum to the prisoners-of-war who built it. We even saw the famous ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ (picture.) However the most poignant part of the trip was the war cemetery; one of the group was a WWII veteran who had lost friends to the Death Railway and, looking around at the endless rows of memorial stones, the realisation that most of the people commemorated were younger than I was at that time brought home the horrible reality of war far better than any of the accounts I’d ever read.

The following month I was in Beijing with a different group. China struck me as odd in many ways; there were the sharp divides between the five-star western hotels lining the main boulevards and the incredibly poor single-story traditional houses around courtyards just a block or two back from the modern splendour. You were constantly reminded that you were in the heart of a communist country; unsurprisingly the face of Chairman Mao was everywhere around his tomb in the vastness of Tiananmen Square.

Yet, at one end of that great square is the decaying imperial grandeur of The Forbidden City, where tourists are encouraged to come and spend their dollars with enterprising street vendors and souvenir stalls, while in the far corner you could eat at a branch of McDonalds; the gross epitome of American capitalism.

We did venture out of Beijing on a couple of trips, the most memorable being to the Great Wall of China; another awe-inspiring, yet sadly much decayed monument of this fascinating country.

First Flight

2006-01-22T19:11:00.000Z

After meeting David my instructor for the day, there was a pre-flight briefing where he explained the flight controls and the instruments: All fairly simple and straight-forward as I would only be in control once the plane was in the air.

Then it’s out to meet the aircraft, in this case a four-seat Piper which went by the handle Golf – Romeo Bravo (the last couple of letters of its registration code)

This is Brett and me before the flight. In the picture the plane looks very small. It looked and felt bigger in reality.

David walked me through some basic pre-flight checks; the fuel, the wings, the propeller and here we are checking under the bonnet (where he showed me how to wind up a very large elastic band!)

Then we got settled in, did a few more pre-flight checks, started-up and taxied down towards Runway 21. Here I am as we are awaiting clearance onto the runway for take-off.

Biggin Hill Airport as we climb out.

Then it’s time for me to take the controls. You may notice my hands are gripping the controls fairly tightly, which is apparently a ‘rookie error’ as the aircraft is fairly sensitive to the controls. To be honest I was pretty nervous with the whole ‘third-dimension’ element of it; every time the nose dropped, it felt like we were plummeting to earth. I thought at first that the aircraft was being buffeted as it seemed to be pitching and rolling quite a bit and required a lot of handling, but as I relaxed into it things became smoother and the plane pretty much flew itself with only minor nudging from me to keep it going the way I wanted it to go.

From Biggin Hill we flew northeast towards the Thames at Dartford, passing the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and the big Bluewater Shopping Centre and then followed the river out into the estuary before turning south again into Medway. We flew down to join the M20 motorway and followed it to Leeds Castle (pictured) before turning around (and very smoothly done, it was too!) and following the motorway back up, branching northwest along the line of the M26 motorway, past Sevenoaks and back towards the airport.

As we came in for landing, I relinquished the controls back to David and was able to sit back and enjoy the ride (and take a few photographs of my own). This is the instrument panel that I spent a fair proportion of the flight concentrating on. (It shows that we are descending towards five-hundred feet at a rate approaching a thousand feet-per-minute. We are heading 135° to magnetic north at a speed of about eighty-three knots. So this shot was taken as we flew around the airport to line up on the runway at 210°)

Here’s Brett in the back seat, looking calm and relaxed. He had been a bit nervous of the flight and said afterwards that his stomach had lurched for a while as I got used to the controls (“way worse than a roller-coaster!”) but as I got the hang of it and the ride settled down, so did he and later on we were talking about the practicalities of possibly flying to Liverpool (to see my parents) or Edinburgh for a holiday.

As we approached the airport, we were asked to circle around as there was a lot of traffic in the area waiting to land, so we got an extra few minutes in the air and also got lots of sightings of other planes coming and going.

Never having witnessed a landing from a cockpit first-hand before, it was probably one of the best moments of the flight. The runway lights just keep coming at you, almost like you are running towards them, the runway grows until it fills your field of view and it feels like an eternity that we hung over the tarmac before the wheels hit the ground.

Us in the Pink Paper

2006-01-14T23:59:00.000Z

Here is the Pink Paper article on the Gay Gordons group, with Brett and I strutting our stuff:

And here's Rula enjoying a moment backstage at the Barbican with a few of the boys (From front-left, clockwise: Russell E, Matt W, Chris M, Mark G and )

As ever, click on the picture for the full-size version.

Interval Drinks at Aladdin

2006-01-07T21:01:00.000Z

John W, David S, Brett & Rich C enjoying interval drinks during the Putney Light Opera Society's production of Aladdin. See here for (slightly) more about the show.

The Family Album

2006-01-02T23:33:00.000Z

Perhaps a bit belatedly here are Brett's family, who have hosted us throughout the festive season.

Firstly the parents; Donna (left) and Jim (right, centre)

Then the siblings;

Susan, pictured here with son, Jesse;

Steven, the eldest brother;

Brett, my man;

And Kevin, the younger/other gay brother;

Finally, not technically a sibling, but close enought for most intents and purposes, Susan's eldest daughter Sarah;

Then come the spouses...
Firstly Ali, Susan's husband;

Kathleen, Steven's wife (pictured here, right, with Kevin [foreground], Ali and Andy (Sarah's husband.) Also pictured above with Jim);

And finally Chris, Kevin's husband, (foreground, with Sarah in the background);

I haven't even tried to capture all of the children of the above though. Maybe next year...

Texan Day

2006-01-01T23:06:00.000Z

A few patriotic Texas pictures from our afternoon...

The State Capitol. Brett informs me that it's actually taller than the US Congress building... not that Texans are trying to assert anything...

And here's the Texas State History Museum. After a week here, I'm noticing a theme with that star...

New Year's Eve 2005

2005-12-31T23:59:00.000Z

This is me about to leave for the New Year's Eve Party:

Rich relaxing not long before the champagne was handed out:

And finally Brett toasts 2006:

Last Day Brunch

2005-12-31T11:47:00.000Z

This morning Rich hosted a "Last Day" (of 2005) brunch for some friends. Pictured are (L-R) Darren, Brian, Rich, Michael and Brett.

Cosy Moment

2005-12-31T11:02:00.000Z

A lovely Christmassy scene in Rich's lounge, with the Christmas tree all lit-up and an open fire burning in the grate. Quite the moment to enjoy before brunch.

Michael & Rich

2005-12-30T23:59:00.000Z

A rather grainy, enhanced picture of Richard (right) and Michael his new boyfriend (left) as we partied on Austin's 4th Street.

Austin: Lake Travis

2005-12-30T12:58:00.000Z

Austin's Lake Travis, looking rather low on water.

Austin Skyline

2005-12-30T12:02:00.000Z

Downtown Austin viewed across the Colorado River

Austin: The Lights of 37th Street

2005-12-29T23:30:00.000Z

In Dallas they did it too, but I didn't see anything on quite the scale of Austin's 37th Street. Most of the residents had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to plan and construct their house's Christmas light display. Most of them seemed to have some kind of a theme (for no readily apparant reason) and would create tableaux or decorate household objects with lights.

This is the view from the end of the street:

This house had an aquatic theme to their display:

And this one was just SO over the top it left my jaw hanging. You were able to walk around the house, through the front and back gardens, to experience this pretty idea run-wild.

Here you see the corner of the house, festooned with sets of Christmas lamps still all lined up in their packaging and nailed to the wall...

I liked the simplicity of this one, although I hate to think how many strings of lights are involve and how much it would cost to run them.

Here's Brett, basking in the warmth given off by the lights.

Bored on I-35

2005-12-29T18:25:00.000Z

The scenery on the road from Dallas to Austin proved to be not very exciting so I started mucking around with the camera on my phone to alleviate the boredom. Here's a picture of how bored I was:

Followed by some slightly better shots of sunset over the plains of Texas:

Share The Guilt

2005-12-29T14:21:00.000Z

Ice cream, cake, chocolate sauce, butterscotch topping? Four spoons please!

An Unusual Christmas Gift

2005-12-28T14:35:00.000Z

After lunch, Chris drove me around some of the different neighbourhoods in their area. Everything from low-rent to grand mansions on 'Swiss Avenue'. Below is a picture of one of the mansions where I thought the Christmas decorations were a little bit over the top - especially gift-wrapping the extension!

Cycling along Turtle Creek

2005-12-28T11:49:00.000Z

A very pleasant ride along the cycle track near Kevin & Chris' home in Dallas took me to a public park area around Dallas' Turtle Creek. A little bit yellow, as their grass dies off over the winter, but the sunshine helped make the morning.

Extra-extra-extra-extra-large

2005-12-27T16:39:00.000Z

Not saying anything about the portion sizes you get served here, but this is a label I spotted on a pile of t-shirts in a Dallas branch of Foot Locker...

Lunch with Alex

2005-12-27T14:08:00.000Z

Here's Alex B driving us back from lunch. See here for more.

Firearms Prohibited

2005-12-26T18:41:00.000Z

This polite sign reminding people not to bring their lethal weapons in with them to watch the movie spotted at a cinema in Dallas.

The Christmas Present Frenzy

2005-12-25T08:19:00.000Z

Last night we were all at Brett's sister's house with the family to have a Christmas Dinner and unwrap the presents.

The 'before' shot. All of the presents under the tree. Roughly six sets of adults buying presents for somewhere in the region of nine children AND each other makes for a lot of acreage required to pile them all up.

The chaos begins; Steve plays Santa and hands out gifts one at a time while trying to maintain an exclusion zone around the tree.

The 'after' shot. Most of the presents are unwrapped by this point and most of the children gone elsewhere to play with the gifts. All that remains is for the adults to clear up the mess. In the end we filled three bin bags just with wrapping paper and had a mountain of cardboard boxes...

Bush: I don't think you're ready for this jelly!

2005-12-19T07:34:00.000Z

President Bush practicing his Bootylicious choreography for a special guest appearance at the LGMC's Christmas Concerts perhaps?

How Christmas Should Be

2005-12-18T14:41:00.000Z

Us enjoying the Christmas season, lazing at home before heading out to the LGMC's Christmas Concert in Brighton.

Oh, Christmas Tree...!

2005-12-11T17:31:00.000Z

Brett and I have been decking the halls ready for the festive season.

Dinner with Friends

2005-12-10T22:05:00.000Z

Had dinner with a few friends last night. We were at The Laughing Gravy on Blackfriars Road, which is becoming a bit of a regular haunt. Nine people were able to make it in the end (Rosie had called-off as she wanted a quiet night in after all of her recent exertions)

It was good to see Rod & Jess again; the book business is going well (it being just before Christmas) so they are very busy – and then there’s the day job!

Dan (looking a little bored here!) is getting settled into his new job working for an investment group. It’s hard work as he is setting up their London office and so working long hours, but it looks like it’s going to be worth it.

Paul has had his teaching contract extended and he and David (who wasn’t there) are shortly celebrating their anniversary. He was also giving us some interesting tips on Housing Associations and shared purchasing options which we hadn’t considered before.

I didn’t get to talk to Ping much, but as we’d only had lunch together the previous day, I expect I already had all of his news.

Russell is busy with his new job, working on the edge of the political sphere near Westminster, while he and his partner Ed are sorting out their new house in Hampstead and standing for the local council.

John is in the country again for the near future and, as well as frittering away this last week that he had taken off, he’s planning on spending Christmas with his family.

It was a pleasant evening on the whole, catching up on the people I haven’t seen in a while and hearing everyone’s plans for Christmas.

Relaxation?

2005-12-08T23:31:00.000Z

On the train home this evening, I spotted this guy:

watching either a movie or a series of music videos on his mobile phone. Two thoughts went through my mind:

He is so showing-off his 3G mobile phone because,
That looks like an such uncomfortable position to keep your arm for a couple of hours!

Am I just becoming an old fuddy-duddy when I think, "why would anyone want to watch a movie - or even a regular TV programme - on such a tiny screen in such an intrusive environment as a commuter train?"

Pass me the pipe and slippers, darling.

Thank you.

Winter's Morning

2005-11-20T09:09:00.000Z

The view from my dining room on a winter's morning. Today it feels like winter, with a hard frost on the ground and a cold mist in the air.

At The Texas Embassy

2005-10-21T22:38:00.000+01:00

Here's my dad and Brett at the Texas Embassy.

Mercedes Blanket

2005-10-21T14:54:00.000+01:00

I suppose if you can afford a Mercedes 4x4, what else might you want to spend your money on but a blanket to keep it warm while it's parked on the street??

Enjoying Lunch?

2005-10-21T14:31:00.000+01:00

Here's me, snapped by my sister, having lunch with my family at the Mulberry Bush bistro on Upper Ground. I was enjoying it more than it looks, honestly! We were just sitting down to a much needed lunch after a very tiring morning around town.

The Autumnal Lake District

2005-10-16T21:44:00.000+01:00

No particular rhyme or reason to these shots. They are simply the one's I liked best from this weekend's walking trip to the Lake District. (They are best appreciated at full-size, which you can view by clicking on them.)

Firstly, sun on the slopes of Helvellyn on Saturday morning.

Sheep may safely graze; a view near Thirlmere.

The slightly misty air bleaches the colours in the distance, but it's definitely an autumnal palette.

A view along the sunny valley floor towards the overcast hills in the distance.

During lunch we watched a group of climbers on a nearby crag. Here you see a couple of them after they achieved the summit.

I just thought it was a pretty view. Taken on the lower slopes of Helvellyn looking towards Thirlmere.

Another view from the base of Helvellyn, this time looking north(ish) towards Skiddaw.

A somewhat brooding view accross Thirlmere in the late afternoon.

Sunday morning was misty and sunny as we drove south towards Kendal.

And finally, a view north from the eastern side of Windermere.

24 x 7 365

2005-10-13T10:04:00.000+01:00

On the train this morning I am sitting opposite this chap. He has his laptop open on his knee and is hunched over his Blackberry, alternately scrolling up and down through his messages and frantically thumbing out replies. He looks stressed and unhappy and he hasn’t even got to work yet! This man represents a lot of what is bad about technology in modern society.

Look into my mind

2005-10-05T09:37:00.000+01:00

Last night I took part in a Market Research discussion group. One of the things we had to do in advance of the session was prepare a number of pictures to represent ourselves and the things that are important to us. Speaking to our lodger, Clare, later (who is in the MR business) this is apparently a really good way of getting a handle on people; seeing what images they use to represent themselves.

So here’s your chance to get more of a peek inside my head. Below are the photos I used, along with the commentary I used while presenting them. Leave a comment to tell me what you think it all tells you about me!

Firstly a picture of London that I took on my lunch hour today. Although I come from the north of England and have lived in several places here and abroad, I now live in London and love it here! The city has a wealth of things to do and see.

It isn’t all wonderful though: I don’t like the crowds or the rushing, particularly when I have to take the train to work.

Most days though I avoid the crowds by cycling to work (this is my bike). An added bonus of cycling is it helps me keep fit.

This is my desk at work, where I seem to spend most of my time! My laptop goes pretty much everywhere with me.

I’m a bit of a gadget freak. This is my MP3 player, it doesn’t go with me quite as often as my laptop, but it also represents my enjoyment of music.

This is most of the team I work with indulging in one of our strange rituals; The Croc. It’s a child’s toy where a different tooth each time causes the mouth to snap shut. We use it as a way of deciding who has to make the tea. It’s great fun; we have a nice relaxed atmosphere at work and they are a good bunch of people.

Outside of work, my friends are important to me and I enjoy my food. This is a recent picture of my partner, Brett, and I having dinner with a couple of friends whilst on holiday.

Photo by Michael Cheetham

I also enjoy singing with the London Gay Men’s Chorus; great fun, plus we get to travel from time to time which is another of the things I enjoy. This last photograph is as an example of that love; me off in an exotic location!

OK, so that’s it. What did your psychoanalysis get from reading between the lines…?

A Day in Montserrat

2005-09-22T23:59:00.000+01:00

Located high on an outcrop in the peculiarly shaped mountains west of Barcelona is the Monastery of Montserrat. You approach it along a very winding road which you can then look back on from the monastery car park.

There are several viewing platforms outside of the monastery itself which allow to you look up to it and back down the valley the way you have come. Here is Rich contemplating the view and the monastery itself

The monastery houses a statue called the Black Madonna and is a popular site of pilgrimage for those coming to seek her blessing. It is quite a substantial complex now with its own post office and police station, as well as a large hotel servicing the pilgrims – not to mention the souvenir shops and cafés to service the tourists.

During the middle of the day the place was certainly filled with tourists. This shot of the courtyard outside the Basilica gives you an idea. We didn’t see a single monk throughout the day, although there did seem to be a group of nuns visiting.

We arrived in time to hear the boys’ choir sing for afternoon prayers. The Basilica was absolutely packed – and very humid – but beautifully decorated inside. Unfortunately the light level was rather low and I didn’t have my new tripod with me, so the photos I took were all too blurred to be interesting. Later, after I had nipped back down to the car to collect the tripod, they had turned the lighting down even lower so the only usable shot of the interior I have is this one:

which shows one of the many varied lamp holders which lined the nave illuminating some of the decoration on the adjacent pillars.

Around the monastery are a number of hermitages, presumably originally reached by further long and arduous climbs from the monastery itself, now there are two funicular railways taking you up and down the mountainside from the monastery to visit them.

The picture above is of the longer of the two funiculars, which takes up to the level of three Hermitages and from where you can get the most dramatic views of the monastery nestled on its ledge in the ravine.

We didn’t quite make it to any of the hermitages, although if we had had more time to spend there I would have liked the trek I think. This last one is a picture of the four of us on the route to the Hermitage de Sant Jeroni, the track which gives you the best views back down to the monastery.

Sitges Sunrise

2005-09-22T08:01:00.000+01:00

We were up early this morning to drive up to Montserrat but for some reason I was awake earlier than I needed to be and took a stroll along the prom with my camera. Didn’t quite manage to capture the sunrise itself, but got this shot shortly afterwards.

Dinner at Al Fresco

2005-09-21T20:36:00.000+01:00

(L to R) Brett, Rich & John

Sitges Festival

2005-09-21T20:04:00.000+01:00

There seems to be a fiesta brewing in Sitges tonight; here were a group of school children outside the Town Hall doing some kind of masque which involved lots of fireworks and bangs.

In a side street we also found these huge mannequins being prepared for a parade tomorrow.

Chilling in the pool

2005-09-21T16:23:00.000+01:00

This is me, relaxing on a lounger in the shallow-end after a dip in the pool. This holidaying is hard work, don't you know!
And yes, I know I'm pasty white, but I am not a sunbather at all; I avoid exposure whenever possible.

Farewell to Jeremy

2005-09-21T15:59:00.000+01:00

Jeremy's holiday finished today, as he needs to be back in work tomorrow. This is him just before we waved him off for his flight.