The End Of The Year Show

December 31st and the last day of 2015, and it's ending on a disappointing note. Owing to me having a bad cough and cold, I am having to stay in tonight, rather than being out taking photos.

If I wasn't ill, then I would be taking photos of The Disco Prophets, as they bring in the new year at the Pitcher & Piano, with their infectious 1970s classic disco songs. But  instead I have to stay in the warm.

So here's a bokehlicious photo of the Christmas tree lights in the Old Market Square. They are taking you on a journey into 2016. A new year and new photo opportunities.  So it gives me a good opportunity of wishing all my visitors a wonderful new year.

Home Alone

He isn't actually, but I wish he was. As who wouldn't mind having a Minion for a family member?

This is of course Tim, who is one of the cheekiest and the funniest of the Minions.

This Tim is actually an 8gb USB stick, that was a Christmas present from one of Gail's relatives.

My dear wifey bought me a number of presents including some new trainers, a keyboard for my iPad and a giant tub of Liquorice Allsorts.

I hope you have all had a good Christmas too.

Seasons Greetings

Nottingham Daily Photo would like to wish all its visitors a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Lighting The Way

Christmas Eve, and all the food should have been bought, presents wrapped and carrots left out for Rudolph.

Wondering what to put on today, I thought I would bokehrise, if there is such a word some of the lights that we have hung up around the front of the house.

Hope Santa drops off plenty of pressies for you all, and have a great night.

Shopaholics

The present buying people have been busy tonight, as it's the last Wednesday for late night shopping in Nottingham.

I decided to go for a wander with my camera after work, to see if I could find anything of interest to take a photo of, as there are usually events happening to entice the shoppers in.

The Victoria Centre has recently undergone a multi million pound makeover, so I wandered over to see what it looked like in the dark and whether there would be many decorations lit up round it.

They've done a good job on the entrance area. Very bright now after the dull concrete of the original. The area was heaving with people, all vying for those last minute gifts.

Pretty In Pink

In the run up to Christmas, lots of companies are doing all sorts of promotions to encourage customers to buy their products for presents.

A cosmetics company called Soap and Glory were in the Viccy Centre showing off their make up to the passing shoppers.

What attracted me to the stand was this pink painted Vespa. I expect any Mods seeing this will be horrified, as its one of the icons of their movement. They usually have loads of mirrors on them and sometimes a RAF roundel stuck somewhere.  Have a look at the film Quadrophenia to see how the Italian scooter should look.

All Together Now

This is a friend of mine called Russell. We met several years ago when we were both involved in amateur dramatics. Although he is a lot better at it than I am. He's even been in a film; Santa Claus - The Movie, where he played one of the toymakers. His dad was in it too.

Besides having a normal day job, Russell earns a bit extra organising karaoke nights. He came to Beeston tonight to one of our pubs, so Gail and I popped along to see him in action.

The pub was very busy, with only being a week until Christmas. Russell was going through his gigantic CD collection when we entered.  As well as acting, Russell has quite a good singing voice, and I snapped him here whilst he was in full flow.

Russell also does a Sunday afternoon (4-6pm) radio show on Acacia Radio called The Golden Years. He plays all sorts of music, old and new. Eurovision songs and even old editions of Captain Kremen.

The radio is Internet based, so here's a link, should you wish to tune in sometime: http://acaciaradioaw.weebly.com

Full Of Christmas Cheer

I met up with some of the other writers that contribute to The Beestonian magazine that I am involved with.

We all got together at a local pub to celebrate Christmas and how successful the local, almost monthly magazine has become this year.

I usually get an article plus some photos in every month. The latest issue contains my report on the trip to Tuscany that we went on in October.

Whilst we were chatting and drinking, a load of people piled into the White Lion, all dressed up, some in fancy costumes, all with a Christmas theme.

There were a couple of guys dressed as turkeys, a Christmas cake, some Santa's, Joseph and the star of Bethlehem.

But I was drawn to this guy in his bespoke snowman suit. He looks a bit of a joker, with his toothy grin and Christmas stocking.

Empty

Beeston High Road is usually bustling with shoppers, but after about 4pm things tend to die down a little, especially after the 5.30 rush to get home.

I took this at around 6.30, and as you can see the street is empty. Not even any traffic driving past.

The Night Stalker

Beeston's famous Beeman statue. He's usually has his photo taken in the daytime, especially when people pose with him. Children particularly enjoy this.

Well my version was taken at night, with only the Christmas decorations, street lights and shop windows to provide any light.

He was wearing a Santa hat for a short while, before it sadly got stolen. A case of no ho ho then.

Pussy Galore

It's not everyday that you get sent a Christmas card from your pets.

But Gail & I got one today from Oscar & Marmalade.

It was quite clever of them to choose, buy, write and post this card to us. I bet Marmalade chose it, as the cat in the stocking has the same colouring as our ginger one. Besides which, Oscar being so big, I don't think he would fit!

I bet the mischievous pair are now wondering what treats they will be getting for presents. We will probably get the a few packets of luxury meat and possibly some new toys to play with. Although they do seem to like playing with bits of string that they come across.

The Bear Necessities

Oscar asleep again on the settee.

This time he's using the cats' teddy bear as a pillow.

Sweet dreams Oscar!

Lost In Space

Nothing exciting happening in town today, so I had another go at 'shooting from the hip', the action of just randomly taking shots without knowing where you are pointing the camera.

Of course there were many flops; out of focus, nothing of interest, or just plain rubbish. I think this one is ok though. The woman staring into space whilst having lunch, whilst Mary looks on, possibly praying for her soul.

Cannon Fodder

An old cannon on display at Wollaton Hall.

I don't think Batman used it at all during the time that the building was used as Wayne Manor for the Dark Night Rises.

A Touch Of Christmas

Here's a couple of shots from yesterday's visit to Wollaton Hall. Some still life photos from the room where we had our cups of tea and a bowl of turnips in the Tudor kitchen.

Moonlit Manor

There was a special late night opening of Wollaton Hall tonight, It was Christmas themed, and there was the opportunity of visiting the Tudor kitchen, something that only happens on special occasions.

Some of the rooms had been done up with various Christmas decorations, but not as many as I would have expected. Santa was there of course, with his elves.

During our tour, we stopped off for a cup of tea. A blend that was called Christmas Cheer. A blend of black tea and spices. It certainly warmed me up before we went back outside and took some photos of the hall that had been lit up for the occasion.

Up In The World

Now I know that the Christmas market and fairground rides are very colourful, but I wanted to see what they would be like in sepia.

This shot for example looks quite Victorian with the snow covered roof of the gift stall, to the dominance of the helter skelter.

Who Do You Do?

I had the pleasure of meeting character actor Simon Fisher-Becker tonight at the Five Leaves Bookshop in the city centre.

He called in to give a talk about his life so far and to promote the first volume of his autobiography; "My Dalek Has a Puncture".

The intimate setting of the bookshop was just right for Simon to chat about how he was bullied at school, his working life in HR before becoming an actor, the plays and shows that he had been in and the good fortune that he has had since landing the part of Dorium Maldovar, the blue alien in Doctor Who.

He was also in the first Harry Potter film, albeit briefly, as most of the film ended up on the cutting room floor. In fact he joked that his screen credit was on longer than he was.

But it's not all been glitz and glamour, as he was badly attacked one night back in 2009, while he was at a petrol station.  Sadly this has left him with some disabilities. But ironically enough, if he hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have got the part of Dorium, as he would have had a role in a panto, and therefore unavailable.

Isn't like strange sometimes...

Art In The Dark

Here's another shot of the Lakeside Arts Centre at night.

The cutout shapes are of Peter Pan, as there's a show about him that being staged at the moment. It's not a pantomime as such, and it's aimed squarely at youngsters.

Who''s Got A Cold Hand Then?

Someone somewhere in Nottingham's city centre is walking about with a cold right hand, as this sheepskin glove has lost it's owner.

Some kind soul had found it and hung it up on the railings of St Mary's Church, in the hope that the owner will realise where they had lost it and return to the scene of the crime, in a manner of speaking.

Tea Time Treat

You may have recently seen the tv ad for Warburton's giant crumpets which stars the Muppets.Which incidentally is a mini masterpiece, straight down to the adapted Muppet Show song.

I was food shopping yesterday morning in Beeston and came across them in one store that I visited.

As I enjoy eating crumpets anyway, especially with lots of butter in them, so I just had to buy a packet or two.

And yes, they are giant, although as you can see in my photo, they are not as thick as the regular sized ones, but still just as tasty. And so of course I popped two in the toaster, and spread lots of butter on whilst they were piping hot.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Well not Santa exactly, but Toni, Beeston's famous sales lady that can be heard calling out the latest bargains outside Beeston's well known greengrocers Hallams.

Toni always enjoys getting into the spirit of different events and dresses up accordingly. She's a real character and really livens up the weekly shop.

All Bar None

I  paid a visit to Bar Esquina today, which is inside the Alea casino in town.

I wasn't there to gamble, just to see a friend.

Not being a gambler, it's not a place that I go to. There is also a Marco Pierre White restaurant in the building too, which I have dined in, when I went to someone's birthday party.

In A World Of Her Own

If it wasn't for the mobile phone, you could be mistaken that I had taken this in the 1960s, with the girl in her wooly jumper and duffel coat.

War?

Tonight our MPs decide on whether the UK will join in with the bombing of Syria.

I'm not going to go into the yes/no discussion here, just to tell you the there has been a very large 'no' demonstration this evening in the city centre.

People of all ages collected by the Brian Clough statue and some people take about why it is not a good idea to drop even more bombs on the already war torn country.

They then marched around the immediate vicinity waving their placards and shouting "Don't bomb Syria".

It was a peaceful rally. In fact I didn't see any police hanging about. Plenty of people with cameras though; there to capture the moment, just like me.

Carry On Christmas

On occasions I will participate in with the City Daily Photo contest. This month's theme is shop window.

Quite oddly enough, yesterday I wrote about a local charity shop window that had been decorated in a Christmas theme, complete with small Dickensian figures.

So I thought I would show a couple more; a paperboy and musician, who seems to have lost the rest of his band.