Closing credits, Despicable Me 2. It’s interesting how the digital photography sort of makes the 3-D come out even if we didn’t see this at a 3-D enabled cinema. Is it a good movie? Well… not as good as the first movie. But better than Man of Steel.
There’s not a lot going on at the moment. It’s still sunny but I’m just sat at home writing, trying to finish my book. So I entertained myself in the evening by watching a film about a middle-aged male academic who is, er, trying to finish his book. I’d say life imitates art, but Michael Douglas’s character struggles with this task more than I am. And yes, that is my foot.
Well, it’s something to do on a nice sunny summer Sunday, isn’t it. Good results, too.
“So we turned up for work this evening, like, and there was this bleedin’ great pile of BRICKS on the board. Well, not my problem. No point asking me to shift it, is there, when I can only move forward one square at a time.”
One of the criteria for choosing which pictures get onto this blog is whether one encapsulates the day on which it was taken. That is not true of this photo. I had a busy day today, visited my parents and then had a Saturday night out with Clare, in Blackpool – and one could do an entire photo essay on the subject of ‘a Saturday night in Blackpool’ (though I think it might be a job more fitting for a war correspondent than a humble amateur like myself). There was great light today, a beautiful high summer’s day, and I took plenty of photos I was happy with.
Nevertheless, this wins. If the art of photography is not about capturing moments, those coincidences of place and time which raise any experience above the mundane and everyday, then I feel happy with what I’ve done here. This place could not be less exotic really, just a tunnel I pass through at least two or three times a week when I am here in town. But this morning I loved the way the light was spilling down the steps and giving it a warm feeling. This photo is exactly what I wanted it to be when I took it, and that happens only occasionally.
While citizens of the USA were presumably celebtrating their Independence Day today, I had a day spent mostly at home writing. These books caught my eye later on though, bathed in a small pool of afternoon sunlight. It would be nice to claim our Joe was a voracious reader but I think these are on their way to the car boot sale. Indeed it would probably embarrass him to reveal to the world there are still around 20 Thomas the Tank Engine books visible here. So I won’t point that out.
As being uploaded on the train to Manchester this morning, by the inefficient but highly effective data collection form known as ‘reading’. The book in the background, by the way, belongs to my fellow Manchester academic Mike, whose surname I can never remember but who teaches English & American literature so reads things far more obscure than my relatively populist novel.
The weather isn’t exactly bad at the moment but the light is consistently flat and grey, hence the prevalence of interior shots at the moment. Little to add except to explain that I don’t normally frequent baby showers, but this one was held in a pub, so that drew me in.
In the 12th century we built castles. In the 15th century we built cathedrals. In the 19th century we built factories. In the 20th century we built shopping malls. We might not like them but sometimes you just end up there.
Went to Newcastle today for a training course. Spent 90% of my time there (including lunch) sat in a computer cluster on said course, 7% of it getting myself to and from Newcastle station through the drizzle, 2% of it in this bar at the station and 1% on the toilet. I think this was the best subject matter. The guy bending down gives it some interest I think.
