Memento

Moved

2007-08-01T20:57:00.000+01:00

Have moved over to Aminus3 ..... http://memento.aminus3.com/

Watching

2007-07-29T21:05:00.000+01:00

Quiet holiday ? wide open spaces ? a good book and lots of relaxation ? Or being close to lots of other people ?

Lets go surfing

2007-07-27T21:00:00.001+01:00

Would like to have gone but weather and surf not good. Another day in another place and the waves were huge, never seen a person disappear standing up in a wave before.
Only locals allowed at this beach, breathtaking just watching them. If only England had sea and sun like this.

Bad Weather

2007-07-26T20:39:00.000+01:00

Finally moved house, good to be in one place again.

Weather has been interesting over the last few weeks...visited by a tornado last week, fantastic sight and a little surprising being in England. By the time I found the camera most of it had gone....it is there......somewhere.

One step beyond

2007-05-29T20:58:00.000+01:00

At the end of this week we are officially homeless, although thankfully not literally so. No phone, no Internet, no post, no address. Could be interesting. Not sure when I will be back on-line, hopefully not too long.

In England those that are really homeless have a small lifeline in The Big Issue, if you see one perhaps you might like to buy one sometime.

Surf's up

2007-05-28T18:22:00.001+01:00

Reach for the sky

2007-05-27T18:09:00.000+01:00

The mood has been getting a bit heavy so lets lighten up and look on the bright side of life.

Is it a person or is it a rocket ?

On the way up

2007-05-26T20:32:00.000+01:00

Poppies

2007-05-25T20:18:00.000+01:00

Do you believe in fate ? A grand design, a sequence of events where one things leads to another, a bad decision here leads to a good event there ?

Enough philosophising, the sun shines and the flowers grow.

Escape

2007-05-24T21:10:00.001+01:00

Locked in or is the door open ?

Over the edge

2007-05-23T21:34:00.000+01:00

Step over the rail, breathe in the air, imagine what it is like to fly, don't look down.
Imagine the impact, the pain.
Imagine the future, what might be.
Another sunrise, another sunset.
Life's an adventure.

There is hope

2007-05-22T21:15:00.001+01:00

A sign on a famous bridge.
I need hope at the moment but am not yet at the point where I need to make the call.

Early morning exercise

2007-05-21T19:15:00.001+01:00

I have to admire anyone who gets up early in the morning and jumps into cold water for a swim (even if they are wearing wet suits).

Escape

2007-05-20T21:46:00.001+01:00

Content amongst friends

2007-05-19T19:22:00.000+01:00

They may be smelly, make a lot of noise and be the villain in Happy Feet, but they are cute.

On the beach

2007-05-17T20:34:00.000+01:00

Beaches are wonderful places, no matter what the weather. Breathe the air, clear the mind.

On the road

2007-05-16T20:30:00.000+01:00

In the great debate on climate change the car owner is one of the main villains, but the open road can be such a great place to be, exploring the world by modern horse power. If only we could slow down enough to use the real thing.

Avarice

2007-04-18T15:04:00.000+01:00

Thanks for the longest comment I have ever had Laurie :-)

What has happened in Venice is that wealthy people have desired to have holiday homes or have seen the rental potential in owning property in the city, the original inhabitants who have sold undoubtedly profited nicely. The city is pretty crowded so the shop owners probably do not make much more money as only so many tourists can be accommodated. The locals who want to work there lose out because they have to travel in from out-lying areas.

The town near to where I live has 70% of the properties owned by people who do not live there, local providers struggle to do business in out of season times. The locals who live there suffer, unless they sell up and move away of course. Workers in the region do not earn very high wages, they cannot compete with the city bankers who get annual bonuses of several millions of pounds and see the area as their playground.

I seen places in the Caribbean where some of the islanders have profited from global corporations building hotels on the best parts of the islands while many of the other islanders still live in wooden shacks. Corporations are pathelogical entities and so well being of locals is not a consideration (The Coporation ... excellent book and film well worth reading/seeing ).

As a famous jokes goes...
A consultant was at a pier in a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large tuna. The consultant complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied "Only a little while." The consultant then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. Then the consultant asked how he spent the rest of his time.

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, and then stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The consultant scoffed, "I am a very successful business consultant and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and, with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

The consultant replied, "Probably 15 to 20 years."

"But what then, senor?" asked the fisherman.

The consultant laughed, and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public. You'll become very rich, you would make millions!"

"Millions, senor?" replied the fisherman. "Then what?"

The consultant said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

And.. yes I work for a global corporation...and no that's not my Ferarri (I wish!)

Canal

2007-03-31T20:12:00.000+01:00

As Wim said, a lot of the locals haved moved out of Venice as prices soared and people with the money bought places as second homes. It is sad that the wealthy have such an effect on so many places. Judging by the washing someone still manages to resist selling out.

Mask

2007-03-29T20:04:00.000+01:00

Watching

2007-03-27T20:23:00.000+01:00

I want one of these

2007-03-25T21:41:00.001+01:00

I know it's a taxi but I still want one.

Windows

2007-03-24T19:12:00.000Z

Catch a Vaperetto from Venice for a forty minute ride to Burano, an island in the Venetian lagoon.

Take a stroll past the shops selling lace, for which Burano is famous for.

Come out of from the buildings into a mini version of Venice.

There in front of you is the best advert for external house paint you could find.

Many houses painted in bright colours.

Who decides what house is painted which colour ?

Is there a committee that takes the decisions ?

If a person paints a house one colour is the neighbour not allowed to paint their house the same colour ?

Where do they get exterior paint in those colours ?

If the locals re-painted their houses in white would the tourists stay away and the lace industry disappear ?

Who cares ? they just look great.

Burano satellite view

Back street

2007-03-21T19:38:00.000Z

Some streets in Venice, like the Rialto bridge, are always teeming with people, but step off the beaten track and you can be alone. Without cars it is a great place to wander, get lost, explore.

Grande Canal

2007-03-19T21:34:00.001Z

The Grande Canal from the Rialto Bridge.

Gondoliers

2007-03-17T21:01:00.001Z

They get everywhere.

Gondola

2007-03-16T21:40:00.000Z

Gondolas are a great way to take a relaxing, romantic ride through the city....or a cynical tourist rip-off...depending on your point of view.

This is one of the two cavai, there is one on each side of the boat.
Fonditori e Ottonai

Entertainment

2007-03-15T20:34:00.000Z

A great little band, this is the Bass player, if you ever see them give them some money.

Pink lamps

2007-03-14T21:13:00.000Z

I was struck by the pink lamps (not literally). I wonder who chose that and why ?

Souvenirs

2007-03-11T19:07:00.000Z

I reckon the tourist T-shirt trend is going away but not everyone shares this view

Winter calm

2007-02-26T22:09:00.000Z

Sun is out, water is calm, Winter is not all bad.

Happy New Year

2007-02-18T16:48:00.000Z

Happy Chinese New Year Hayley and Daniel.

Sheep

2007-02-17T22:34:00.000Z

Is this an English thing or is straw chewing a global pastime ?

Retro

2007-02-16T20:45:00.000Z

This was taken earlier this week, before the rain came back. I wanted to create a 50's style image so used one of the Photoshop guides (http://freephotoshopguides.com/photo-effects/retro-50s-postcard/1/) but realised what I was actually after was a Kodachrome look. Unable to find any good tips on how to achieve that so ended up with this ....

It's not that different from the original so guess I failed.

Early Spring

2007-02-14T20:53:00.000Z

Winter was late coming and now Spring appears to be here..... in February.

Caneoist

2007-02-11T19:47:00.000Z

Strong winds again today. This possibly foolhardy canoeist braved the waves, minutes after this shot he came out of his canoe and luckily floated to shallow waters.

Windy

2007-02-10T18:59:00.000Z

Kite surfers out today, just out of shot were the serious size waves.

Dartmoor

2007-02-08T20:29:00.000Z

This is a cheat as it was taken last year not today...have moved house since then so did not get the chance to see what it looked like in today's snow. For those that like to laugh at the Brits reaction to a few flakes of snow .... Severe weather warnings continue

Toy Boat

2007-02-07T20:30:00.000Z

A real boat, but it looks too clean to have ventured very far. The weather has changed now so I better stop posting pictures from our sunny Sunday.

Padstow has a famous chef, renowned for his fish dishes, which seems to have encouraged most of the shop owners to turn into restaurants or ice cream parlours. If you ever make it to Cornwall make sure you pick up some Skinners beer, the brewery is based in Truro but most places in the county stock their bottles. Check out the website to view the unique names of their brews. Delicious!

Foot

2007-02-05T20:23:00.000Z

Feet

2007-02-04T19:37:00.000Z

A beautiful sunny Sunday in February, the weather is warm the flowers are already blooming and a walk on the beach in Cornwall is a must.

Ice

2007-01-30T20:47:00.000Z

Reflections

2006-11-29T22:02:00.000Z

Meerkats

2006-11-26T20:40:00.000Z

I could watch this lot for hours, you get the distinct feeling that they view us as the captives just there for their amusment, that all their posing is a joke on us. Of course that had to be a Meerkats.com

Peacock

2006-11-19T18:23:00.000Z

Noisy, over dressed and easily upset.....know any people like that ?

Looking at me?

2006-11-16T20:06:00.001Z

There is a big debate about whether zoos should exist or not, I think there are good arguments on both sides, but either way this guy in undeniably cute.

Opera House

2006-11-15T21:08:00.001Z

Lit blue for Police week, the famous Opera house.

A sister

2006-11-14T19:53:00.000Z

This is one of the Three Sisters, in the Blue Mountains, near Katoomba. Tourists flock here to look out at the valley, "hanging" over the edge as you can see on Neverhappen blog. The plan was to just walk to the rock, but about a thousand steep steps down the rocks later we reached near the valley floor. A few kilometres walk through the forest leads to the Scenic World railway, the steepest in the world....so steep that you almost lie in the seats rather than sit. The Prince Henry Cliff Walk back has some great views across the valle. All three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' are below.

Jamison valley

2006-11-13T21:42:00.000Z

Jamison valley in the Blue Mountains, after the mist has cleared. It is vast, it is beautiful.

Misty morning

2006-11-12T19:50:00.000Z

After a small shower overnight the morning warmth sucks up the mosture in the trees of Jamison valley. The diagonal line is a cable car cable. It doesn't look like it here but Australia is in the grip of a 5 year drought. Global warming a future problem ?

For all those who love clouds you are not alone, join the Cloud Appreciation Society :-)

Hornby lighthouse

2006-11-11T19:32:00.000Z

A lighthouse for Laurie. Hornby lighthouse at South Head by Watsons Bay. The wind speed was about 70mph the day we were these so suspect it is very much appreciated.

Bridge view

2006-11-10T20:37:00.000Z

A glimpse through the railings of Sydney harbour bridge.

Bridge walk

2006-11-09T22:05:00.000Z

I don't think they want anyone to jump, but if you were that desperate would barbed wire stop you ? You can walk over the top of the bridge if you are willing to pay, but you are not allowed to take your own camera so might as well take the footpath.

Webcams are great for a view of the world and this view is no slouch ..... bet the sun is shining too.

Taxi

2006-11-07T19:43:00.000Z

Cab anyone ? Thought this was cool, bit like Bruce Willis's taxi in Fifth Element.

Cockatoo

2006-11-06T20:14:00.000Z

Funny how one person's exotic pet is another person's local wildlife. This cockatoo was just sitting on a telegraph pole wire, ignoring people walking by on the path below.

I was going to crop the picture to the wires but that would have made the bird off centre so left it as taken, Ana is asking on her blog how others would have framed or focused the same subject so to crop or not to crop ?

Bondi art

2006-11-05T19:08:00.000Z

Bondi Beach, one of the worlds most famous beaches, after hearing so much about it, it just seemed like a lot of other beaches, perhaps you have to be in your teens to get impressed. Having said that the sand and surf is pretty good.

On the wall that runs along the beach there is some great graffiti art, a lot of which commemorates the Australian victims of the 2002 Bali bombings. Some of the other art offers some useful advice for the many backpackers.

Rock

2006-11-04T19:31:00.000Z

This rock reminded me of Roger Dean paintings. It really was this colour, a geologists delight.

Plant

2006-11-03T20:03:00.000Z

No idea what it is but there was a tree full of these, about 6 to 9 inches long.

Harbour Bridge

2006-11-02T19:10:00.000Z

One of the world's most famous bridges. A magnificent piece of engineering.

Central at night

2006-10-31T20:38:00.000Z

To save crossing roads there are many walkways above the road in Hong Kong Central district. The light cross on the left is part of the lighting on the Bank of China building, every night the buildings put on a light show to music.

Hong Kong was just a stopover, to somewhere a lot bigger and a lot less populated.

Number 6

2006-10-30T17:36:00.000Z

Two ICF, the sixth tallest skyscraper in the World. Hong Kong boasts 4 of the World's top 15 tallest skyscrapers.

Ngong Ping 360

2006-10-29T18:13:00.000Z

Global wrming is in the news today, if our public transport was as cheap as it is in Hong Kong perhaps we would all use it more. We met a couple who lived on Lantau island, they had no car, they cycled around the island and commuted to work on the ferry. Quicker, cleaner and cheaper than travelling by car.

The Tai O bus leads back to the Big Buddha at Ngong Ping, here you can catch a fantastic 30 minute cable car ride to Tung Chung where the railway links back to the rest of Hong Kong.

To the left of this picture is the new airport, which has the worlds largest terminal building (4 times London Heathrow and Ney York JFK put together apparently), it has won the award for best airport, it is so spacious it deserves it.

To the right of the picture is Tung Chung, which boasts an outlet mall, a favourite place for my daughter to visit :-)

Tai O lady

2006-10-28T17:59:00.000+01:00

The people on Lantau work tirelessly in hot and humid conditions to keep the places clean. Tai O has quite a history (see wikipedia) . The weather here was around 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and up to 90% humidity. A few of the metal houses had air conditioning but not many, although these houses did not seem typical of Lantau island. It is a popular place for tourists to visit but I don't think the locals make much money out of their visitors.

Stilt houses

2006-10-27T18:05:00.000+01:00

Along the river in Tai O are stilt houses, while people are living in small metal buildings the public playgrounds and amenities are generally new and clean. This is the view on the other side of the bridge from yesterday's post. The smell of dried fish is strong here, the streets are lined with shops selling them.

Tai O

2006-10-26T18:53:00.000+01:00

A world away from the sjyscrapers of Hong Kong Central is Tai O, somewhere that seems to have a more authentic feel than the Westernisd districts. Not sure I would eat anything out of that river though.

Drying fish

2006-10-24T21:06:00.000+01:00

The smell of these fish drying in the sun will be with me always, have to admit I never tasted any.

Big Buddha

2006-10-23T20:16:00.000+01:00

At Ngong Ping on Lantau island is the Big Buddha, 34 metres high, the worlds tallest sitting bronze Buddha. You can experience the 268 step climb without the heat and humidity at the Buddhism Depot. Is Buddhism the most peaceful of the major religions ?

Old and new

2006-10-22T19:29:00.000+01:00

A symbol of old Hong Kong in front of the new buildings, taken from The Peak. The Peak Tram has been running since 1888 and never had an accident, at the top station is a new shopping mall, Hong Kong must be the shopping capital of the world.

Life in the Park

2006-10-21T18:50:00.000+01:00

Walking through Hong Kong Park we came across a group of photographers with telephoto lenses crowded around a pond, this was their subject..unfortunately I only had a 200mm lens so could get no closer. Never did work out if they were on a photo lesson or just a bunch of individuals that knew these insects would be at this location at this time.

Architectural art

2006-10-20T20:58:00.001+01:00

There are probably good functional reasons for designing these buildings like this but perhaps it is more art than function.....Terminator ? ... Robot legs ?.... ??

Roof

2006-10-18T20:41:00.001+01:00

You can walk a long way in Hong Kong without coming out on to the street, hundreds or thousands of shops lining walkways, it has the longest covered outdoor escalator system in the world. Outside, looking down you would never guess.

Star ferry

2006-10-17T20:12:00.000+01:00

Had the opportunity to visit our daughter and her boyfriend in Hong Kong where they are teaching English. Just had to take a trip on the Star Ferry where for 2.2 HKD (15p, 25 cents) you can step back in time and sail across from Central to Kowloon .

Saunton Sands

2006-10-16T21:08:00.000+01:00

A typical English Sunday morning in October, grey skies, low cloud , dull and dreary, best thing to do is to stay in bed .... or get some sea air. The sun comes out and the day is transformed. I once worked with a guy from New Jersey, he told me that all the beaches in England where covered in rocks, he should have gone to Saunton Sands.

Pigeon

2006-09-17T20:07:00.000+01:00

Flying off...see you soon

Palio flag

2006-09-15T20:20:00.000+01:00

Flags out for the Palio horse race.

Alley

2006-09-14T19:58:00.000+01:00

Torpedo

2006-09-11T20:48:00.000+01:00

Crikey it's Kharki Friday

2006-09-08T18:48:00.000+01:00

Australians wear Irwin's khaki

Piazza Del Campo

2006-09-07T19:34:00.000+01:00

Get there early, beat the tourists.

Torre Del Mangia

2006-09-06T21:31:00.000+01:00

Zigzag

2006-09-05T20:03:00.000+01:00

Sienna

2006-09-04T20:47:00.000+01:00

Lugano

2006-09-03T20:31:00.000+01:00

Lugano from Monte San Salvatore, a beautiful town in Switzerland. Lucky Fabrizio of Photo-effe works there.

Monte San Salvatore

2006-08-26T20:22:00.000+01:00

The previous post was the Casino at Cassin on Lago Di Lugano, taken from Monte San Salvatore, 912m high on the edge of Lugano. Have to admit that caught the two trains to the top, just did not have time to walk it :-)

Casino

2006-08-21T21:35:00.000+01:00

Cars

2006-08-20T20:07:00.000+01:00

Windows

2006-08-19T19:13:00.000+01:00

Anne Frank

2006-08-18T20:01:00.000+01:00

Away

2006-07-26T17:37:00.000+01:00

Taking a break, enjoy the summer.

Philly

2006-07-25T22:14:00.000+01:00

An attempt at a Slackie style photo, which to me have an Andy Warhol feel about them. This was an old building somewhere in Philadelphia.

The Tower

2006-07-24T21:48:00.000+01:00

Closer to home, another sunny day in England yesterday, in the middle of a field near Forward Point in Devon a navigation tower built in the 19th Century.

Mosaics mad

2006-07-21T21:13:00.000+01:00

Ok so another Gaudi post, these two are from the seats in the previous post.

The mosaic below is in the ceiling underneath the main terrace, the ceiling is covered in mosaics and supported by a set of columns .

At the entrance of the Parc is a magnificent, huge Gecko, if you want to tale a picture of it without another person in the way you have about one and half seconds before the next person who wants to have their photo taken by the Gecko comes along and stands in the way.

Parc Guell

2006-07-20T21:38:00.000+01:00

Last post on Gaudi architecture, this is part of the mosaic seats on the main terrace in Parc Guell, a park made a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1984. The architecture in the park is stunning, as can be seen at this site where the photographer has had access to the park without being surrounded by the numbers of people you are likely to find there.

Casa Mila

2006-07-17T21:40:00.000+01:00

On the rooftop of Casa Mila, another of Gaudi's architectural masterpieces.

La Sagrada Familia

2006-07-13T21:34:00.000+01:00

The cathedral has eight spires, two sets of four. This is the view from one of the towers looking at the other set of four, with Barcelona in the background. Not a good idea to wear a hat as it's a long way down if it is blown off.

Door

2006-07-11T21:01:00.000+01:00

Sagrada Familia is possibly one of the most beautiful and interesting cathedrals in the World (but then perhaps you know better). The entrance doors are decorated with three dimensional writing, many of the huge number of visitors are so keen to do a quick tour of the building that they walk straight past these doors without stopping to take a look. The phenomenon of creating instant crowds can be demonstrated by taking a photograph of the door, suddenly eveyone stops and is interested in what the subject is, it must be important as someone is taking a photo of it. The building started in 1882 and it has yet to be finished, work continues today.

Three

2006-07-10T19:39:00.000+01:00

Three birds at the Hampton Court show, I name them Layla, Hayley and Annika. Ha!...am I going to be in trouble for that :-)

Hampton Court

2006-07-09T18:15:00.000+01:00

Actually it is a show garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower show, the palace is a little different .

Home

2006-07-08T22:01:00.000+01:00

Bananas

2006-07-05T21:54:00.001+01:00

The humble banana, tasty and full of goodness.

The saying "Travel broadens the mind" is very true....I never really thought about where bananas come from or what significance they play in some peoples lives, until seeing them growing in the Caribbean and learning how important they can be the local population.

The banana market is controlled by five large corporations - Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, Noboa and Fyffes. These corporations control huge banana plantations, the remaining banana production is from small banana producers - family owned farms in places like the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.

We take for granted the foods we buy in our Supermarkets without giving much though to where it comes from. Did you know that bananas are amongst the top five most important food commodities in world trade ?

For the workers in the corporate controlled plantations this can mean very low wages, job insecurity and very long working hours. For the Caribbean banana growers this can mean competing against low prices.

Some people (like Fair Trade and Banana Link) are trying to improve the situation. So next time you chose some produce from another country... choose wisely.

Meet the farmers
Story of a banana from grower to shop