A Strange Coincidence?

I'm not really a believer in coincidence, but I came across something strange yesterday.

Whilst at Farnstock, I came across a folk singer, with a touch of punk called Paul Carbuncle. I've not heard of him before, but wouldn't mind again, as his songs were quite amusing. Especially the one about squirrels.

Anyway, when I got home, I logged on, and popped my SD card in, ready to start downloading the photos that I had just taken. While my Mac wad doing this, I caught up with Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter I came across a Tweet from someone that I follow, and guess what; they had mentioned Paul Carbuncle, as some of his songs were being played on a local folk radio station.

Then on Facebook, there was a comment from someone called Helene on the secret Beestonian magazine group page that I am a member of, as that's the local magazine that I write for. She mentioned that she has just met Matt, the chief writer and was keen to write for the magazine herself. She had written a bit about herself and had put in a link to her blog. So naturally I went to have a look, and yes, the first entry that appeared was about Paul, as Helene had seen him perform at recent Oxjam event, and had enjoyed his performance.

Now that is quite odd, don't you think? Three incidences concerning a perfect stranger. As Harry Hill used to say; "What are the chances of that happening?".

A Fond Farewell

Social media has all kinds of uses for me. From keeping in touch with friends, to finding out what's going on in the area. Sometimes you come across something that can be upsetting, for whatever reason. And that's exactly what happened to me a couple of days ago.

I was reading some Tweets on Twitter, when I came across a message about a Douglas McDonald and that it was his funeral on Friday. Now strangely enough I know a Douglas McDonald, a photographer, so I sent the author a message, asking them about this man that shares the same name as this friend of mine.

I got a reply, and they mentioned a link to where there was a photo of him. So I went to have a look. And yes, sadly it was 'my' Douglas. I was also saddened, as I realised that I couldn't go to his funeral, as a couple of people in my team at work were on holiday. So that would just leave me to keep everything moving.

I met Douglas several years ago through photography. He often went to book signings and theatre shows, to take photos of the authors, celebrities and stars that visited Nottingham. And I would be there too. Unlike me, he got paid for his photography, as he worked for the local newspapers, and did some freelancing. But it was good to see him and his Nikon every so often. I sometimes used to call him Donald, rather than Douglas. But I guess he would be used to that, and didn't seem to mind.

I also used to see him sat at a table in Beeston Library most Saturday's, diary open, colour coding events that he had put in. More book signings, events and shows. We would spend a good hour or so chatting about celebrities that we had photographed, or were coming to town soon. We both enjoyed the music of Kate Rusby, and would see each other at her Christmas shows that she put on at the Playhouse. He would also show me the photos that he managed to get printed in the Nottingham Post, on their readers page. Photos of flowers, animals etc. Things that he'd noticed on his travels. Just like me with this blog. He had a chuckle sometimes, as they would use one of his photos, that wasn't even taken locally, but he had sent it in anyway. He also used to write quizzes for the local WEA (Workers' Education Association) branch that he belonged to. And the odd reference book would be on the table as well.

Despite using a digital camera, he didn't seem that confident with technology. Especially mobile phones. He was interested in Twitter, but didn't know how to get it installed on his phone. So I told him how to do it. He finally managed it, but didn't Tweet very often. Unlike me, who Tweets 50 times a day. He often asked who I was following, and wondered who the person with the most followers was. I suggested it was Lady Gaga or Madonna.

So this morning many of his friends and family said a fond farewell to him at Bramcote Crematorium. But I couldn't be there. Going to the library in Beeston won't be the same now, as I'll never see Douglas sitting there again going through his diary, or reading a book or the local paper.

As If By Magic

Roy Bond is a local close-up magician. I have met him a few times now at local Twitter meet-ups that I go to.

He is very good, and I still can't work out how he does his tricks, even though I always tried to watch carefully and closely, and as in my photo, even when he had his sleeves rolled up.

The people who came to the Tweet-ups couldn't work it out either, and were amazed at the results, whether it was a tennis ball appearing from under a small tin cup, writing appearing on a blank card and this mesmerising rope rope trick, where three pieces of rope become one.

On The Tiles

A bit of fun with a game of Scrabble.

I created it for a little contest a few of us photographers have on Twitter. Some are UK based, and other are Stateside. The theme was tabletop games. I thought I would use Olympus, as it's a seven letter word, and also the make of my camera.

Special Guest Appearance

Had an interesting bit of action on Twitter yesterday. I took a photo of the Wheel in the Old Market Square with my iPhone and Tweeted it. One of the producers at Notts TV contacted me and asked if they could use it as part of their news programme.

Of course I said yes, as long as they credited me. No problem they said.  So as you can see, my name's proudly displayed for the world, well Nottingham for all to see.

Tweetfest

After work today I went to meet up with a number of fellow Tweeters who Tweet about Nottingham. It's the first time that we have all gotten together in real life, rather than in the Tweetosphere. I met some new contacts and talked about my blog, as next Friday is going to be special, as it going to be the first ever Nottingham Day. Various things are being planned, so there should be plenty of photo opportunities on offer to record the event.

I wanted to stay longer, but couldn't, as Gail and I were off to a charity pub quiz, to raise funds for Oxfam, and to help support the former Barton's Bus garage in Chilwell, that is now being used as a venue for entertainment and art shows. It was good fun, although the team that I was in didn't win, we had the satisfaction of getting a number of questions correct.

Nottingham Rocks

Well the big day has arrived. The first ever Get Nottingham Trending Day. It officially began at about 7am this morning with the release of the unique Twitter hashtag: #Nottinghamrocks.

I have been making comments and taking photos all day on my iPhone about what is good about the city. So too has many other people. This has led to Nottingham being the number one trending topic in the UK, and number three in the world at various times throughout the day.

Here's a shot of the giant banner that was put up on the Council House informing people of the project and how to get involved.

Getting Trendy

You may have noticed that a new logo has appeared on my blog. I only put it on yesterday. Almost immediately that it became available to download. No, I haven't started taking advertising, but it is promoting a new group aimed at making Nottingham even more famous, attractive and welcoming than it is already.

The brains behind the idea is a guy called Tony Bates. The concept was dreamt up by accident about a month ago, and has now gone huge, and has the backing of the City Council, local companies; both big and small, the local media and many people across the county; if not the world.

Most of the communications or comments that are passed around is through Twitter as it's instant. The group also has a Facebook page. The Trending day is a week on Tuesday (29th) . If you click on the logo, it will take you to their web page, where there's a countdown clock and further information about the idea.

I was at a meeting at lunchtime of organisations etc that have an interest in the project. As I have been promoting Nottingham through this blog for the past six years, I thought I would go along to see what I could do to help.

It was good to finally meet Tony in the flesh, as we have only been communicating through Cyberspace. I made a couple of suggestions of companies and individuals that may be interested in the plan, and Tony typed them in his iPad for further investigation.

I thought I would take a photo of Tony with the Get Nottingham Trending placard. And if you are interested in connecting with the group or Tony, here's the Twitter links that you will need: @NottinghamTrend, @babblingbates.