Protest For Peace

A big demonstration took place this evening which called for peace in Palestine.

The demo began outside the local BBC studios, as many see the broadcaster as being pro Israeli, rather than being balanced and independent.

The people then made their way in an orderly fashion to the Old Market Square, where a number of speakers related the feelings of people that the war must end, as so many innocent people, including children are dying pointlessly, as they are trapped in a place with no way out.

I do hope there is a ceasefire very soon and that peaceful solution can be found. One where Palestine is given its land and freedom back.

101% Cuteness

This little kitten is one of 15 that I saw on Monday night at a local animal rescue, as I was interviewing one of the carers for an article that I have written for a local magazine.

Of course I had to take some photos of the little ones for the article. And who could resist not taking a shot of this cute little fellow who was resting on top of some shelves, out of the way of all the others.

I understand that he will shortly be leaving for a loving forever home, and I hope that he has a long and happy life.

On The Way Down

Some blocks of flats are being demolished that have dominated the Nottingham skyline since the late 1960s. But piece by piece they are being taken down, rather than being blown up, like usually happens. It must be something to do with recycling the waste, rather than just sending it for landfill.

Warped

There are some serious building works going on in Birmingham at the moment. I was there for work, and it's almost as bad as poor Beeston with its tram works.

They seem to be completely revamping New Street Station, and it looks different every time that I have been. It's taking an age too. Must be getting on for two years now.

I saw this old building reflected into the new covering on some part of New Street Station and thought it would make for a good pic. Just a shame that they have removed one section  for maintenance, as it spoils the overall look of the photo. But I suppose it could be mistaken for a window.

Sundowner

Alright then folks, who wants to guess where this is?

A tropical island? Cornwall? Dubai? What about Skegness even?

Well you'd be wrong on all counts. It's actually Wollaton Park. Standing near the hall and looking over Wollaton and other parts of westen Nottingham.

Glad To Be Gay (2)

Nottingham Pride today. And what a colourful, musical day it was. Met up with a friend who has a band, and they opened the event with a fresh new line up.

There were certainly plenty of characters about, but I spotted these two girls waiting near a tram stop at then end of the day. I like the way they were standing, like Agnetha & Frida did in some ABBA videos from the 70s.

It was a much smaller event this year, and took place in the Lace Market, rather than the Arboretum like last year. Apparently the event lost a lot of money, so they have gone back to basics and scaled things down a bit. I hope this one breaks even, if not makes a bit of money for them, so it comes back next year, as I hand a very enjoyable day.

Glad To Be Gay

It's Pride weekend in Nottingham this weekend. There's an event on tomorrow in the city centre which I will be going to, as there's bound to be some good photographs to be taken, as it's generally a very colourful time.

Although I'm not gay myself, I do have some friends that are, and I have absolutely no problem with this at all, as they are the nicest people you could meet. Probably better than some straight people I know!

I do find it sad that loving someone from the same sex is seen as wrong, immoral, or even sinful. Surely it is better to love someone whoever they are than to hate them, as there's enough hate in this world as it is.

This is actually the first time that I have seen a flag flying on the university's Trent Building. Hopefully there will be lots of other flags flying throughout the coming year.

In Memory Of

I came across this plaque today on the pavement outside a local casino.

Googling the name, I found out that Jamie died whilst travelling as a passenger in a car that crashed into a tree in another part of town. The driver was drunk. Twice the legal limit in fact, and driving at 60mph in a 30 limit.

A sad story, and next month marks the 10th anniversary of his death. I wonder if there will be any flowers left on August 26th?

The Universe In A Jar

£15 seems a cheap price to pay for owning extracts of the universe.

Collecting some of the Earth is fairly easy, and I suppose Neil Armstrong brought some Moon dust back with him when he landed in the Eagle spaceship in 1969. Hope it's not past its sell by date though.

But how do you manage to bottle the sky and the sun. And if the sun is so hot, how come it hasn't melted the container?

Paddling Your Own Canoe

There's nothing quite like messing about on the river, well in this case a lake, on a sunny afternoon.

A Canada goose watches the action from the safety of the grassy bank as three friends are padding around the lake at Highfields.

Ping!

I was quite surprised to see a load of people playing table tennis near the Old Market Square at lunchtime.

Apparently Nottingham is one of about 16 cities across the country that are involved in the project called Ping,and organised by the English Table Tennis Association and money from the National Lottery.

Anyone of any ability can play for free, with bats and balls being provided.  Monday was the launch, and the activity goes on until the end of August.

Poise

Something from the archive today, in the form of this model who was posing for a photographer (not me) at the 1940s weekend at the Brewhouse Yard near the castle in May.

Leaving On A Jetplane

Well what a difference in the weather today. Three torrential rainstorms. I got soaked twice!

Still warm though.

After so much photography recently, I didn't take anything today, so here's a photo that I took last week of a Boeing 737-500 belonging to Thompson Holidays, that was coming into land at East Midlands Airport.

Be great to be on a flight somewhere sunny for a few days. But we haven't got any time off until the middle of next month

Raindrops Are Falling On My Head

It has apparently been the hottest day of the year today, and yes it has felt like it. I actually thought I was in Dubai, it was that hot.

I'm writing this at 11pm (BST) and the clock/date/temperature gauge on the wall is showing 28C, or 82F, for those like me that prefer the old style weights and measures.

I took this photo yesterday evening, as we had just had a shower. Raindrops clinging to a leaf on one of our rose bushes.

Tomorrow's weather has been forecast as having severe storms. So that should be fun!

Tide's Out

After visiting Highfields the other day to see how much water has been lost from the lake, I thought I would do a return visit and see if there has been any changes.

Yes, I would say that some more water has disappeared, and it can't just be down to the sunny weather.

I am still waiting to hear whether anyone has found out what the actual cause is.

Tiles

I took this colourful display of handmade glass coasters at the recent Sunday market which was held at the old Barton's garage.

There were certainly many varied designs on offer, but I resisted buying one. If I did, I would probably go for the heart one, being an old romantic.

Toad In The Hole

Not at work today, so spent the day pottering around in the garden doing some weeding and tidying up the rubbish that's accumulated over the past few months.

Whilst I was chucking some old broken pots away, I removed one that had fallen in a bowl of water. And to my surprise, up popped a small frog. So I thought he would make a good photo for the blog. If he stayed in the bowl while I went to fetch my camera.

Fortunately he was still there, waiting to have his portrait taken.

Greased Lightning

After I had finished taking photos at Donington Park last week, I stopped off at the Aeropark museum close to East Midlands Airport.

It's a relatively small open air museum compared to say Hendon, and is right next to one of the airports' runways, but they have quite an impressive collection of military planes, such as a Canberra, a Nimrod, a Vulcan and this prime example of an English Electric Lightning.

It's A Midnight Special

I had a busy day with my photography yesterday, with most of the day spent recording Beeston's Carnival. Then I went to a 50th birthday party, and finally I went to a local pub to see two friends of mine, who are musicians in their own right, and also perform as the duo Midnight Special.

Joe loves the blues, while Emma is a folkie, but together they are quite impressive with a mix of the two styles. The Hop Pole was busy, as they have quite a following across the area, as they are really very good and should be snapped up by a record company very soon.

A Vintage Runaround

Phew, has it been hot today. The sun has been shining all day long and according to reports, the temperature has been hotter than the Mediterranean.

Beeston's carnival has been taking place all day, with music, stalls, a parade and games to play. There was also a few classic are on show, including this Rover 3500 from around 1973.

The carnival is always a great event and a good opportunity to meet up with old friends. I saw about eight in total and met someone that I only know from Facebook.

Good Time Girl

This is Nottingham singer Ronika, who I saw at an intimate gig on Friday night.

I wasn't sure what she would be like, as I've not really been aware of her music. But I was pleasantly surprised as how good she was and how catchy her songs were.

I would say that she is a mixture of 1980s Madonna, with a hint of Cyndi Lauper. Her debut album is called Selectadisc, and is named after one of the cities' greatest record shops, which sadly closed down a few years ago.

There has been a number of local bands and artists recently that have begun to get their names known. Obviously Jake Bugg is the most famous; then you have London Grammar and Indiana. I'm sure Ronika will soon be playing much bigger places than the Bodega, so in a way I have been lucky to see her while she's still approachable.

Battery Life

Motor racing took a new turn today at Donington Park. Although not as high profile yet as Formula 1 racing with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, electric racing cars are the new kids on the circuit, and go by the name of Formula E.

They look the same, go as quick, but they are a lot quieter and obviously don't use petrol. You just plug them into the mains and an hour later you can go racing again.  As it's a pretty new sport, there are only about 20 cars in existence, and they are all the same model. But no doubt the teams will be able to tinker with them in the future.

The first ever official race is going to take place in Beijing on the 13th of September. If you want to learn more about this exciting new motorsport, then here's a WEBLINK to the Formula E site.

Who Stole All The Water Then?

This is the lake at Highfields Park. Well what's left of it, as for the last couple of weeks, the water has been slowly draining away, but no one quite knows why.  There have been various theories; the warm weather, low rainfall. Even dredging. although none has yet taken place.

But most locals agree that it is down to the nearby tramworks. Apparently they have been building the line on marshy ground, and have diverted the underground streams that fed into the lake, and so the water is disappearing, gallon by gallon.

Keep Out

No, I didn't take this photo at a local prison or school, but is actually an office block that is slowly being knocked down.  They have to be very careful as the building is in a residential area. In fact there are houses right up against one side of the building.

I don't know exactly what's going to be built in its place, but I don't think it will have as many floors, as the present building does.

Artography

Photography takes many forms, from the straight portrait to documentary and street photography. If you've been following my blog for some time, then you would have seen that I have tried them all.

But I came across a new and probably unique form of photography today, when I visited my local Waterstones bookshop.

Howie the artist has taken normal photos of Asian women and then tweaked them in Photoshop so that they look like paintings. He also gives his photos an old sepia look too.

I enjoyed looking at the photos in the exhibition and chatting to Howie about photography. Here's a WEB-LINK to his site, where you can see some more of his fine art photography. And if you have the opportunity, do pop into Waterstones and see the work in real life. You won't be disappointed.

Singing For Her Supper

This is Natasha, the singer from local band One Girl, One Boy. I went to their gig tonight, and very good it was too.

I remember when they won a local music contest about 18 months ago, and they have certainly come on leaps and bounds. And have since recorded an EP, which of course I have.

Their style of music is similar in a way to that of Portished, with a rocking guitar sound and musical effects from a keyboard.

Of course I need to show you a photo of the Boy; Chris, strumming away on his Telecaster.

Market Day

The old garage belonging to Barton's has been used for all sorts of things since it stopped being used for buses.

Today it was turned into an indoor market, which was amusingly entitled 'Not the Camden Market'. There were quite a number of stalls that were selling things ranging from artwork and vintage clothes, to books, plants and jewellery.

The best one was the one that had home made bread and cakes on it. We bought a loaf of yeast free bread, one of the mountain cakes you can see in the photo, a fruit tart and a massive flat cake with chocolate in it, which I polished off, while Gail ate a freshly cooked bacon sandwich.

I couldn't go to Barton's and not take a photo of one of their wonderful old buses. This one which was built in 1947 is soon going up for sale. I don't know how much they will be asking for it, but I'd certainly buy it if I happen to find a few thousand pounds lost down the back of the sofa!

A Little Bit Of Over There, Over Here

Independence Day in the States today, and so I was hoping to come across something American  during my lunch hour walk.

Sadly I didn't come across anything, so instead here's a photo of a 58 Cadillac that I came across at the recent classic car show in Wollaton Park. The guy in the shot looked impressed with the vehicle, as he posed for a photograph.

As we have a time difference of some 5 hours ahead of New York and 7 hours ahead of Los Angeles, I still have time to wish all my American visitors a Happy Holiday.

Military Bus

Spotted this bus today covered in some promotion for the recent Armed Forces Day celebrations.

I wonder how long the transfers will be kept on before they are removed and some new ones are applied for another event or advertising campaign.

A Star Turn

Country's biggest superstar was in town tonight at the Ice Arena. Dolly Parton, fresh from her stint at Glastonbury over the weekend, popped into the city to entertain a sell out concert.

Not really being a Dolly Parton fan, and certainly not willing to pay £60 for a ticket, I passed up the opportunity of seeing Miss 9 to 5.

Instead I happily listened to Nottingham's latest rising star Joy Mumford. Who entertained me and Dolly's loyal fans while they waited to be let in.

Joy sang and played guitar for around 40 minutes, with a mixture of original songs and covers, in a calm laid back style, similar in a way to Joan Armatrading.  The growing audience appeared to be enjoying her style of music while they sipped on their Pimms that was being sold from a stall close by.

Joy recently won a competition where the prize is playing at Splendour, the all day gig at Wollaton Park, whose headlining band are the reformed Boomtown Rats.

Reading Between The Lines

A shot from the inside of Birmingham's new library.

This is taken from the first floor escalator, and you can see some of the greenery on the outside.