Detail of a rusted padlock on a cast iron gate, basking in the late evening sunlight.
Category Archives: Social Commentary
Decrepitude (1): PSI
Decrepitude (2): MPG
Decrepitude (3): Surreal
Change to Fair
The fisherman’s barometer, corner of North Castle and North Streets, St Andrews.
A little experimentation in The Gimp, to create a synthetic “scratches” texture layer – using plasma clouds, old-photo simulation, distortions and other trickery.
Wabi-Sabi
Appreciating the aesthetics of brokenness and decay in suburban Yorkshire.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept, an appreciation of beauty in imperfection, seen for example in reconstructing tea cups from broken crockery fragments, contrasting with Western ideals of unblemished perfection.
We all live in a…
…grey submarine. First time I’ve spotted a submarine out in the wild, so to speak. This one was lurking somewhere between Portpatrick and Northern Ireland yesterday lunchtime.
Incidental Impressions
Last Thursday tea-time, the Queen’s Baton came to Stranraer as part of the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. It was quite fun to watch the crowds milling around in anticipation – arguably made for more interesting street-photos than the baton itself.
A Democracy
For the past month or so, my Facebook and Twitter streams have been fairly awash with politics – several positions represented from `at least do something’ to more specific suggestions. And so one’s braincell has been suitably spinning with big ideas of economy and nation-states, social equality, whether proportional representation is the right model for governance, whether one can apply `reduce,reuse,recycle’ to politicians, and all sorts of things.
What you actually get is the local defence budget blown on no fewer than 8 A4 printed direction signs guiding you 20yd into the village hall, finishing with “Queue Here” taped down a table-leg.
“I’m being a queue.”
Ten seconds later the two elderly ladies gave up personning the stall and came out to talk to Dog instead.
An Invasion of Silver Boxes
It’s a bright sunny bank-holiday weekend, which means only one thing.
Of five approaching cars at which I waved, only one young yet surprisingly dour-looking passenger waved back.
Visiting vehicles are easily identified by how caravans clog-up the roads, how cars perform 3-point turns in the mouths of T-junctions.
Avoiding eye-contact becomes the norm, as does the body-language of shying-away from Dog when passing on the pavement. Instead, out come the silver insulated food bags that bring their suburban life to us, their chilled packet contents probably bought from the perceived safety of a generic supermarket en route rather than in one of the local shops.
It speaks of an indifference to the existing social networks within the village being invaded, a separation of us versus the self-centred them.
I do not see merit in the argument that tourism is good for the local economy. It might seem to be, in a short-sighted fashion; but when all visitors see is each other and perceive landscape as pretty, its shallowness does not compare to the depth and quality of soul that comes from involving oneself in committing one’s life and work to a place.
Ringtone
I don’t often “do” street-photography – possibly because I don’t often “get” it. But when I saw this statue in a Carlisle shopping centre, the potential for a photo was pretty clear and it didn’t take too long before the other characters moved themselves into place.
A sculpture by Judith Bluck FRBS of Jimmy Dyer, a well-known itinerant fiddler and ballad singer in a shopping centre, Carlisle.
The Streets of Carlisle
I like to think it’s possible to find serenity – and the odd quirky detail – even in a town.
Storm Damage
Storm Surge
Apparently there’s “exceptional weather” doing the rounds at the moment. From last night until midday the wind speed has been around 40mph gusting to 63mph. On hearing mid-morning of a storm surge coinciding with high tide around lunch-time, Dog and I set out to see what it looked like.
The waves were impressive – the highest I’ve seen around the harbour. The coast-guard were doing an admirable job of directing such little traffic as dared or needed to get close; a small crowd gathered to watch the waves.
I made a small video of the goings-on as well: