Friday, April 20, 2007

Rest Day - 14C - Not so Sunny

A completely lazy, ankle recovering, rest day today and already I feel rejuvenated and ready for lots more outings and activity. I realise the 'gay world' has more or less requisitioned 'outing' but my meaning is the more traditional one.

John has reached Lake Garda and Picture 1 is from there. The foreground and pool are part of the camp site and the lake is beyond that.

We love these photos from his camera phone and really feel 'part of it' , because they convey so much more than a postcard. He's prolly reading the blog on his mobile. Wherever will technology take us next? I realise the camera on his mobile is 2 megapixels which is comparatively large for a phone but it does tend to prove Ken Rockwell's point that you don't need an expensive camera to take good pictures. It's the photographer not the machinery. I showed them to the chaps at the camera club last night and they were amazed. Brian suggested printing one at A4 just to see.

Maybe you recall the tree stump in Wednesday's blog. I realised at the time that it reminded me of something; apart of course from being Henry Moore -ish. And this is it - a hand.

If you have a vivid enough imagination that is. I hope this is a permissable use of Photoshoppery. Just to make the point.

I've deliberately left the selection round the hand in a rough state so that there is no suggestion of trying to fake a picture.

A full day tomorrow. I need to go shopping; then to Kimberly Library to help with putting up the exhibition. Then collect Y from the tram. It will be nice to have her home, but I shall have to zoom round and tidy up. I must finally accept that I am an untidy man.

The garden is a joy ! I hope we have some potential purchaser to see it in the near future. Cherry blossom, tulips, forgetmenots, erysium, euphorbia, clematis montana, primula denticulata - I could go on a lot yet but I'm sure you get the picture. And Karen has mowed the lawns which always looks good. One of our neighbours - not a close one or a friend - had his sprinkler on his lawn for a couple of hours two evenings ago. I couldn't believe it. As I've mentioned before I have slight 'global warming denial' tendencies but our moral conscience wouldn't allow us to do that. Not while there are people and kids in the world dying for the sake of clean pure water. And spraying it on a lawn to make the grass grow, so you have to cut it and dispose of it seems almost sinful. And if he reads the blog good, and I don't give a sh*t.

The Notts Police NARPO website and forum is good fun. It only 'hit the streets' a couple of days ago and I think it is going to be popular. I've already contacted/been contacted by 3 former colleagues and friends. What fun ! Yet another forum to attend to.

I'm still keeping an eye on world webcams for a substitute for the Queen Mary 2 one. I had one yesterday from an Hotel overlooking Waikiki Beach but it seems to have vanished before I could blog a link. We were all probably fed up with QM2 one anyway. Watch this space !


My tea has already been consumed. Guess what ? A cheese and lettuce sandwich.

Here's hoping everybody is fine.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I really thought that picture (1) was of an architectural model without the buildings. To me it looks altogether unnatural – I think it is the artificial quality of the trees which all appear to be made from those old student standbys; pipecleaners, fuse wire, foam and baize. Weird! Perhaps it is the absence of people and vehicles.

You are right, of course, about the march of technology. I am just sorry I missed out on Dick Tracy’s ‘Two-Way Wrist Radio’. And I have long suspected that anything higher than 3 megapixels is unnecessary except for detailed photos of insects and the like. The better cameras avoid the distortions of cheaper ones, of course, but I think I could argue even that is often comparatively unimportant and certainly secondary to shot composition, an eye for a picture, and chance.

I think the ‘trickery’ with the stump picture is well justified (although I disagree about the unecessary roughness round the hand as it is so obviously contrived anyway). Whether you think it worth another go, seeking perfection, is up to you, of course. Then you could perhaps go on to search for other stumps with one finger and two finger salutes.

Before someone else says it: the words ’untidy’ and ‘man’ ‘Go together like a horse and carriage’.

I’m glad the garden is in a state of euphorbia and mowed lawns. Although I support WaterAid, I don’t go along with us not using water because people in other parts of the world need it (it’s a bit like the false argument ‘Eat up your cabbage; there’s lots of little Indian children would be grateful for that’). However, I do think there is a good case for not using sprinklers, particularly when we are being told that in the first two thirds of April we have only had 3% of the normal month’s rainfall. What are the odds on drought in May, I wonder?

Webcams? QM2? Watch this space ! Not too closely, thanks!
But good luck to all those who sail on her.

A cheese and lettuce sandwich, hey? Don’t you just spoil yourself while the mouse is away. No, that’s wrong, somewhere …. ي