I’ve noticed something over the last few months and years – no doubt linked to the rise of social media. Continue reading “Fighting the urge to be critical”
Fighting the urge to be critical
The Book of Elvis – by Lily
Lily goes off from time to time and sites down quietly with her pens – like lots of six year olds do – to create something. Usually it’s a card or a picture, but sometimes it’s something a bit more of a ‘project’.
Last week Lily asked me to print some photos of our dog Elvis and disappeared with some paper to a quiet corner on a wet afternoon. The book she made is just lovely – from the DIY spelling to the use of language – it warms our hearts so much to read. Continue reading “The Book of Elvis – by Lily”
Manchester International Festival – ‘The Great Indoors’
Ace day on Saturday – we took Lily and Elsie into ‘The Great Indoors‘ a wonderful collection of children’s creative activities and performances all over the insides of Manchester’s Town Hall, as part of the Manchester International Festival.
We met up with Sally, Sim and Olly, had a romp, got home early and relaxed – job’s a good un. Some nice photo moments too here.
Danny MacAskill’s work on the Doves latest video
Danny MacAskill’s rise to fame has been rapid this year due to some great viral stuff involving his Edinburgh street exploits on youtube. Top tune, too… Continue reading “Danny MacAskill’s work on the Doves latest video”
Cannondale Six Carbon – my lovely new bike
Had the great pleasure of building up my new bike from Wheelbase on Wednesday night. Just waiting for a slighly nicer day than today to take it for a spin… it’s light, as it looks, and I’m sure it’s going to handle as well as it looks. Decided to stay with the compact chainset for now til the big crits start in the mid summer time. I might as well use those generously twiddly gears for the ridiculously hilly Fred Whitton wide in May. It also needs another 2cm ont he stem – it’s a bit shorter than my last frame – but that’s on order. Continue reading “Cannondale Six Carbon – my lovely new bike”
Lily dancing to Boards of Canada
Had a nice teatime chill with Lily and Elsie last night whilst Katie went out tot he gym for the first time since Elsie was born… including some freeform art dance by Lily, totally unprompted, to my favourite album of all time. Continue reading “Lily dancing to Boards of Canada”
On The Nikon D200
Staying at Phil’s house for a few days over the weekend gave me an opportunity to play with his ‘work’ camera’, the Nikon D200. It was a stunning experience. The inordinately heavy body gave the camera an unrivalled steadiness, meaning that short at low shutter speeds were more likely to come out without camera-wobble. The Tamron lens was reliable and very happy with fast autofocus, even when firing off repeated shots.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the camera over the weekend.
Half term day out: Crosby and Knowsley
Taking advantage of the pretty much unprecedented February clear spell, I took full advantage of a day’s leave booked to spend with Lily. Katie’s half term doesn’t coincide with Lily’s which is a bit crap, but we had such a stonking day together – was really good fun.
We set off bright and early to head over to look at the Anthony Gormley installation on Crosby Sands, between Southport and Liverpool. The vista was so impressive in these clear, crisp conditions; it was inspirational. We returned to the car with one sandy, knackered dog, and had our butties (along with some cheeky scrounging avians, see right)
, then were due to head to the museum in Manchester for the afternoon, when we passed Knowsley Safari Park. The sun was out, it was relatively quiet, and the opportunity just begged us. Some photos here (a mix of proper camera and phone stuff). Ace times.
World War I Soldier Formations
There’s something intriguing about large scale interactive things like these World War I Soldier Formations
For someone to have the balls and patience to organise it is just beyond me. It’s also deeply metaphorical about art; that it only exists when experienced by people.
Flippin’ lovely…. see more here
A great half term day out
It’s Lily’s first ever half term – and yesterday we had the day together – and what a corker it was.
We dropped Katie off at work in the morning then went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to look at the Andy Goldsworthy retrospective – a really good choice. I’ve enjoyed Goldsworthy’s tactile simplicity in his art ever since I first came across his work in the late 80s, but it was lovely to see a five year old girl doing ‘wow’ and genuinely being taken aback by the semi-magical feel to some of the large scale installations. Very satisfying.
Lily was also interested in the other artworks dotted around the sculpture park, and made a point of rushing up to every male bronze figure and ‘touching their diddlers’, almost methodically.
We walked three miles during our trip so were a bit tired when we headed away.
The afternoon took us to the cinema to see Ratatouille – a fantastic film from the Pixarstudios.
Life imitating Google Maps
Oscar Wilde said that Life imitates art more than art imitates life.
Here’s a nice thought
At the Royal College of art in London, Robert Sollis has created Google Carpet. Made from individual carpet tiles, each is a square of 185mm. (This corresponds to one pixel of information on the Google Maps satellite image).
Cats in a record shop
Was sent these by email and they made me giggle.
Cat listening to bluegrass:
Cat listening to rap:
Cat listening to AC/DC:
Cat listening to Techno:
