Monthly Archives: March 2017

Mar 10 2017
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Daily Post, Transport

Boarding, Tromsø airport

Friday 10th March 2017, 8.00am (day 2,024)

Tromsø airport, 10/3/17

Last morning in Tromsø. It started snowing. I could say I took the good weather with me, but it was crappy at home too (although not below freezing). Great week though — many good things to enjoy.

It crossed my mind that with Tromsø being on a small island, I have not been on the mainland of Europe at all this week. Small islands (not, like, Great Britain or New Zealand) that have appeared on this blog: Tromsøya, Kvaløy (this week), Snilstveitøy (also Norway), Kangaroo Island, Stradbroke Island, Tasmania (Australia), Stewart Island (New Zealand), Wayasewa and Wayalailai (Fiji), Æbelø (Denmark). None in the UK… perhaps I should make an effort…

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Mar 10 2017
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Dinner, the aftermath

Thursday 9th March 2017, 11.05pm (day 2,023)

Helene after dinner, 9/3/17

I could have uploaded another picture of snowy land- or urban-scapes but let’s pay tribute to the people who have made my stay in Tromsø a highly enjoyable and hospitable one. Helene relaxes after dinner, and deserves to, as she cooked it — elk bourgignon apparently, a new one on me but it was very tasty. With plenty of wine to wash it down as you can see (not an inexpensive proposition in Norway). Thanks to everyone for having me…. back home tomorrow morning.

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Mar 08 2017
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Daily Post, Landscape

Skulsfjord

Wednesday 8th March 2017, 2.25pm (day 2,022)

Skulsfjord, 8/3/17

I guess when I pre-imagined the Arctic, this is what I thought it would look like. Skulsfjord has a cool name and sits in the northern part of Kvaløy (Whale Island), to the northwest of Tromsø. There are worse places to visit on a Wednesday afternoon.

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Mar 08 2017
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Tromsø harbour

Tuesday 7th March 2017, 5.15pm (day 2,021)

Tromsø harbour, 7/3/17

Tromsø is the world’s northernmost city, with 75,000 inhabitants, give or take, and has many of the world’s northernmost something-or-others, such as its northernmost professional football team, cathedral, mosque, Burger King and (the reason why I am here) university. At around 69º 40′ N it is comfortably the northernmost place I have ever been (though as I’m going on a tour tomorrow that will probably be beaten). This view over the harbour takes in the Ishavskatedral — the pointy thing to the left, in the background — and the mountain of Tromsdalstind, lit by the setting sun. Nice place…. I saw the Northern Lights tonight as well but no chance of capturing a photo of it, maybe next time though.

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Mar 07 2017
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Daily Post, Transport

The airport bus, Gardemoen

Monday 6th March 2017, 3.35pm (day 2,020)

Airport bus, Gardemoen, 6/3/17

Ah, the airport bus, a quintessentially 21st century mode of transport: in that it’s a rather pointless extra waste of energy because, let’s face it, we could all just walk to the terminal building. Gardemoen airport, Oslo, makes its second appearance on the blog, but this was not my final destination: I had another couple of hours’ journey north after this. More on that tomorrow.

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Mar 06 2017
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Daily Post, Interior

The agora, Athens (in Lego)

Sunday 5th March 2017, 1.25pm (day 2,019)

Lego agora, 5/4/17

The wife’s Lego fetish took us up to Newcastle for a day out, with the Centre for Life — a science museum, basically — containing a temporary ‘Brick History’ exhibit, with various historical events depicted in plastic. I have always said that should a time machine ever be invented, my choice for a return would be ancient Athens to see how democracy actually got started: I doubt it was quite as orderly as this though. (I’d stop off on the way in Manchester, 1979, to see Joy Division live, too.)

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Mar 04 2017
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Bumblebee

Saturday 4th March 2017, 1.30pm (day 2,018)

Bumblebee, 4/3/17

With due respect to Joe, whose 14th birthday it is today, this had to be today’s shot. Most of all I like the capture of the exquisitely delicate grip it has on the petal. There was just this one, half-hour burst of sunlight today, but it augured well for the rest of spring.

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Mar 04 2017
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

My students at the National Football Museum

Friday 3rd March 2017, 11.10am (day 2,017)

NFM field trip, 3/3/17

I do say that on this blog no pictures are staged or posed, and this is the case — I do not arrange any photos specifically to be a blog post, I just take pictures of what’s happening around me at any given time. This is perhaps on the borderline of acceptability then but I did take this photo anyway, for other purposes, and it was the one that I liked best today. My Educational Technology and Communication students on their annual field trip to the National Football Museum in Manchester, with replicas of the Premier League and FA Cup trophies.

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Mar 03 2017
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Before I die I want to…

Thursday 2nd March 2017, 4.35pm (day 2,016)

Before I die, 2/3/17

An ‘installation’, I guess you’d call this, on campus at the moment…. Probably a huge amount of sociological analysis to be done here.

And how would I answer this question? Well, my bucket list is actually getting a few things ticked off it this year, if all works out (e.g. Japan, midnight sun, eclipse), so maybe I should think of some new ones. Or be all Zen about it, accept that my life could end at any time, and just take what’s coming — while continuing to faithfully record it of course.

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Mar 02 2017
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Market stalls

Wednesday 1st March 2017, 4.45pm (day 2,015)

Market stalls, 1/3/17

March 2017 is scheduled to be an eventful month for me: by the time it ends I will have gone to both Japan and the Arctic (north Norway), so there’ll hopefully be plenty of photographic inspiration. It didn’t start eventfully however — a quiet day working at home. The market in Hebden Bridge runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays, here the stalls have been cleared but remain up in readiness for tomorrow. Plenty of good lines on this shot — which may or may not be perpendicular to each other.

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