A Witches Promise

I noticed this puppet of a witch on one of the stalls at the Pagan Pride fair and couldn't resist taking a photo of it. Usually witches are portrayed as hags or crones, but she looks ok with her blue eyes and purple hat. I wonder what Gerry Anderson would have done with her?

It's usually traditional for me to add some music that ties in with the week's Headbanger Challenge. But I couldn't resist adding a version of the Jethro Tull song by All About Eve, a short lived, but fine 80's band.

Herne The Hunter

How many people do you know that have horns growing out of their head? Not that many methinks. So I was surprised to see this fellow sporting a small pair yesterday at the Pagan Pride festival. I guess they would look bigger if he got a haircut. But then I don't suppose you would want to draw too much attention to yourself, whilst walking through the city centre. His two lady friends, don't seem to mind. You may need to enlarge the photo to see them in their full glory.

Pagan Rites

An unusual event took place today in Nottingham. Hundreds of Pagans descended on the city for a march and festival celebrating their religion. They were certainly very colourful, but very peaceful as they walked through the city centre to the Arboretum, where the festival was being held. There were a number of stalls there, plenty of music, vegetarian food and story telling. I bought a mousemat with a fairy on it as a present for Gail, as she said that she needed a new one. I met up with a few of my Flickr friends and we listened to a couple of the bands; 3 Eyed Fox, a folk pop band and Cryptic Age, a goth prog rock group fronted by a very vivacious singer and keyboard player called Jenny Green. I took loads of photos, many of which will be appearing on my Flickr site. I can't resist showing you this photo of this lady with her pet dragon. He didn't say a lot, and must have given up smoking, as he never once breathed any fire!

Wild Thing

This is Trog, who was in Beeston this morning entertaining me and the shoppers with his excellent renditions of well known songs, together with one or two of his own compositions.
Trog is not his real name, that's David Thornton. Trog was a nickname from his schooldays. I'm not sure if it was a kind name or not, as the only Trog I have heard of is the horror film of the early 70's about this caveman that was captured by scientists! There is a musical connection of course in the form of the Troggs; hence my title.
David's performance is one of four in the Square that takes place every Saturday morning through August. Next week another band will take to the stage with their own brand of music.

Burning Bright

A group of us from work got together this evening for a bit of a party at a local hostelry. The main event was the decree absolute coming through for one the gang, while another had found a new job and finally it was someone's 40th Birthday. Three reasons to celebrate in one. Gail came too, as she knows a number of them through working with them previously, or through other meals that she's been on with me.
We ate inside before sitting outside with our beers. I have changed cameras today, as usually I have my Nikon D90 with me; but today I thought I would take my Panasonic GF1 for an outing. Not that it helped me find anymore subjects, so I took this candle that was on our table.

Greening The Land

Today we have had some rain for the first time in ages. Fortunately it had stopped by the time I was ready to cycle home. As the sun had come out I took another ride through Highfields. I wasn't expecting to find anything new to photograph, so instead tried to see if I could improve on a previous scene that I had captured. Not sure if this is any better than one that I had taken before, as I would have liked to have had a bit more sun shining through the leaves, but I like the reflection though.

Greetings

Today's Headbanger Challenge has been set by Lanny and she has gone for 'greetings'. Now this is another theme which is up for interpretation in quite a number of ways, which I am sure you'll see if you care to pay a visit to the group's pages. Entry by simply clicking on their name above.

My photo shows a number of characters all saying hello, and welcome to the blog in their own particular way. Which is really what I wanted to convey. This idea that everyone should be made welcome by everyone else, no matter who, or what they are, or where they have come from. Alas in this uneven, unequal world, that doesn't always happen. So make sure that you say hello to at least one person tomorrow, and see if we can all make a difference.

Today's photo is a greeting of a different kind. A complete opposite of what I have said previously. This is a poster for the latest exhibition at the Contemporary. A series of art works by Jean Genet about the infamous political group from the 1970s. It's a gigantic poster, that I stumbled across today, whilst looking for inspiration for my lead photo. Hope you like the music. One of my most favourite artists ever.

Watering Point

These makeshift watering cans are to be found at a churchyard in Greasley. People use them to water the flowers that they bring to put on their loved ones' grave. Both my parents were cremated, so I do not have a grave to visit, but their love and my love for them still lives in my heart.

The Cries Of A Not So Silent Hen

All the chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys were left to roam the farmyard yesterday, which added to the atmosphere of a working farm tendered by monks. This rooster was quite noisy in the afternoon. I thought he looked very colourful with his plumage, and so I wanted to take a photo or two. Luckily I snapped him whilst he was in full flow with his latest 'cock-a-doodle-do'!

The Scribe

This is Andy Barrett, the man responsible for writing the plays that I perform in now and again. As I have been mentioning recently, today we were all up at Beauvale Priory giving guided tours and describing what life was like there as a monk around 500 years ago. We had quite a lot of visitors throughout the day, and Geoff and I did three tours altogether. I think that everyone enjoyed themselves and learnt a bit of history in the process.

Andy is dressed the way he is because he had to stand in for one of the actors who couldn't take part in the end. Andy is playing Dr London, an Oxford doctor who was given the task of closing the priory by Henry the Eighth.

It makes me wonder if we would still have the monasteries around today and that our religious history would be different if the king was not such a bloodthirsty tyrant and had happily settled down with his first wife; Catherine of Aragon.

Pulchra Vallis

Today, I and a few others have been up at Beauvale Priory, doing last minute rehearsals for tomorrow's open day, which is part of the Eastwood Arts Festival. It was lovely and sunny, and I felt quite hot in my monks robes, even though I was only wearing T shirt and shorts underneath. The rehearsals didn't go too badly, although I think the swig of beer that Geoff and I had at lunch didn't help. The half of Blue Monkey Evolution beer I drank was very tasty and went well with my egg and cress sandwiches!

I took this shot from the narrow lane that runs by the side of the farm. Ideally, I would have liked to have shot it with a longer lens, but It does show the location of the ruins in relation to being almost surrounded by trees, which perhaps 500 years ago it was.

Flying The Flag

This is Andy, whom I wake up with every morning when I have to get up for work. Don't worry, Gail's not left me. Andy is actually a radio presenter on BBC Radio Nottingham and does the weekday breakfast show. He, and many other presenters were broadcasting live from the Old Market Square, which has now been taken over by the beach. I chatted to him for a short while, as he is a Facebook buddy and asked him if he follows my blog. He says he does sometimes. You need to do it everyday Andy!

The flags that Andy are holding have been specially designed for Nottingham. There was a competition some time ago for local people to come up with an idea that represents the region's personality. One is presently flying about the castle, and another sometimes over the Council House.

Flying Ambulance

I've seen helicopters take off an land quite a few times as I've cycled along University Boulevard, but this is the first time that I have managed to capture one stationary. They use a sports field as a sort of heliport, which is good for this air ambulance, as the Queen's Medical Centre is only a short drive away, so the patient could be getting the care they need in only a few minutes. I'm not entirely sure why this particular helicopter belonging to Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland is there, as Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire have their own. But maybe they share the same ground.

Black And White

'Black and white' is this weeks headbanger theme, and comes from the the fishing guy himself; Tom. Personally I like to see photos in monochrome, as colour sometimes distracts from what the photographer is showing you. Colour obviously has its place. Fashion for one thing. How many ladies want to see a greyish dress in the pages of a magazine? They want to see the hue of the material, the trim and how it fits in with accessories. Unless it's Chanel of course, as their clothes are always black and white. But the great photographers always shot in black and white, and usually with a Leica. I always shoot in colour, alas not with a Leica and then convert the picture in iPhoto. That way you can see if it will work in monochrome, and have still have a colour version too.

My contribution this week is a close-up of the flying chairs ride, that I showed you yesterday. I think it works very well as a silhouette, as the colour version doesn't. Todays blog picture is part of the bar area of the Malt Cross where Gail and I had a very tasty meal last night. Another shot that looks good in black and white.

Please remember to go and have a look at the rest of the team member's contributions, and enjoy this little musical interlude which features some very good black and white photography.

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

The 'Nottingham Riviera' has returned to the Old Market Square for the summer. This is the third year that it has made an appearance. Today was the first time that I got to see it, as I had to go to Manchester yesterday. There are a lot of the same things like the tons of sand, the rides and the cafe. The Titanic bouncy slide is new. I met Gail tonight after work, and after a pub meal, we had a look around and took some pictures.

A Walk Will Do You Good

There is nothing like a stroll in the country. A tramp through farmers fields, over stiles and along wooded paths. Blue skies, green trees and yellow fields are all you need for a great photograph. And to help you with your adventure, a series of metal guides, showing you the right way to go.

Knowing Your Wheat From Your Chaff

Another rehearsal today at Beauvale Priory. And for once the weather didn't let us down. It was wonderfully sunny. The rehearsal didn't go too badly, although my poor braincell (I have only the one) hasn't managed to remember all the words yet. I have 6 days left before the event takes place, so hopefully I will be able to memorise a few more by then.
As usual I had my camera with me, and took some more photos of the fields, trees etc. Here's some ears of wheat ripening in the warm sunshine.

Snowbow

Now that summer has arrived, a lot of narrowboats have started appearing on the canal. Some I have seen before, as I can remember their names, but some like Snowbow here are new. I'm always curious to know how the owners decided on the particular name that they have given their craft. If I owned one, I think I would call it Dreamchaser, while Gail might go for something with 'angel' in the title. What would you call yours?

Ceiling Art

Believe it or not this painting is on the ceiling of a pub. I noticed it the other day when I went out for lunch with a co-worker from the office. The Roundhouse, as the name implies is a round tower. It used to belong to the old General Hospital, which was knocked down many years ago. But some bits of it still remain. The Roundhouse being one of them. It serves excellent and very tasty food and has a few real ales on tap, which is always the mark of a good pub.

Cow And Gate

A few months ago I showed you a photo of a model sheep tied outside a furniture shop in Hockley. Well walking past it today, I saw that he had been replaced by this cow. Yours for £300. Which is I think more than you would have to pay for a real one. I'm not sure how suitable a cow would be as a pet, but at least it would make a good lawnmower, and you would always have fresh milk on tap. Or should that be teat?