Category Archives: Stranger

Sep 23 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

The Modeller

Sunday 23rd September 2012, 1.45pm (day 395)

The modeller, 23/9/12

The Boy can still be enthused by models of worlds with trains in them, all lorded over by men of a certain age with, presumably, a slight God complex. But I do admire the skill that goes into their creation and some of them really are very fine miniatures. However, I got more interested today in taking photos of the people (almost, but not quite, exclusively male); this one was the best, I thought, mainly because he had good lighting. They all had this look of intense concentration, however.

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Sep 18 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Welcome back

Tuesday 18th September 2012, 9.15am (day 390)

Purple person, 18/9/12

All the students arrive all at once, and it’s both the most hectic time of the year as well as the most optimistic, in some ways. Everyone’s fresh, we meet people for the first time and learn about their hopes and aspirations. Scary time too, for them at least. Hence the ‘Purple People’ who have dotted themselves around the campus, and they’re being used, as you see here.

Significant academic year for me too. I am on sabbatical in the second semester and from mid-December to late August will not be in Manchester at all. January – June I will be in Australia. Looking forward to it…

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Sep 01 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Just before kick-off

Saturday 1st September 2012, 2.55pm (day 373)

Burnley v Brighton, 1/9/12

As I move into the second year of this blog, some things are going to recur. Some of them at the same time each year (tomorrow, for example, Clare is running Alice’s Run again), others at different times, like this one. Here we are at Turf Moor, Burnley, for this season’s match-up between Burnley FC and my beloved Brighton & Hove Albion. Last season it took place in April, on a cold, grey day – and the match (and result) lived up to those conditions. Today, earlier in the season, much sunnier and warmer, and a happier trip for the travelling Seagulls. Burnley 1, Brighton 3.

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Aug 31 2012
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Daily Post, Interior, Portrait, Stranger

Lunch in Mosedale Cottage

Friday 31st August 2012, 11.45am (day 372)

Mosedale Cottage, 31/8/12

Another walk today. I snuck it in based on a good weather forecast in the morning, and so it was, but after noon we went back to the same old rubbish. Never mind, it was good while it lasted.

A distinctive feature of the walk was being able to have my lunch sat inside on a very comfortable couch instead of outside on some damp mossy rock somewhere. The reason was the existence of Mosedale Cottage, a ‘mountain hut’ or bothy, some three or so miles from any other building. When I turned up there were these three shepherds having lunch there as well, and why wouldn’t you, it’s definitely the most comfortable place to have lunch for miles around. We shared the room for 10 minutes, moved on. It was as good a spot for lunch as I’ve managed on any Lake District walk.

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Aug 19 2012
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Daily Post, Interior, Portrait, Stranger

Preston railway station

Sunday 19th August 2012, 6.20pm (day 360)

Preston station, 19/8/12

This is where the Hebden Bridge trains join up with the West Coast main line, thus, trains for the Lake District and Morecambe. I spend a hell of a lot of time in Preston station – never for very long at a time, but it mounts up, and I’ve spent far longer here in my life than I have in Preston itself.

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Aug 19 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

After the Frou Frou Club

Saturday 18th August 2012, 11.15pm (day 359)

Frou Frou club, 18/8/12

This is becoming a regular event both on the Hebden Bridge social calendar generally and also on this blog, having previously featured in October and March in this regular form as well as the one-off event for the Arts Festival in July. It is enjoyable in its own right and gives plenty of photo opportunities, not all of which can be taken advantage of due to restrictions on photography, plus the added challenge of taking pictures in very low light while tanked up with several pints of beer, like this one. It’s not bad though. Do you need faces to get a mood? The night is over, people are about to go home…

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Aug 10 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Mother and child, Tampere

Thursday 9th August 2012, 6.10pm (day 350)

Mother and child, 9/8/12

Plenty of photo opportunities in Tampere this evening as they are in the midst of some arts festival and there were lots of street ‘happenings’ tonight. But though I thought the capoeira performance would be a rich seam for pictures it turned out mainly to be a kind of monotonous cross between kung fu and hare krishna chanting. This mother and child watching it were much cuter.

Hey, I’ve just noticed it’s day 350 of the blog. 16 to go before I’ve done the full year: and also time to add some to the ‘Best of the Rest’ page. I’ll do that shortly.

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Jul 29 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Lisa and Kara in the Black Sail youth hostel

Saturday 28th July 2012, 10.15pm (day 338)

Lisa and Kara, Black Sail, 28/7/12

It’s Sunday night as I post this; I came back in the afternoon from what I could describe as a ‘weekend away in the Lake District’, but that doesn’t really sum it up very well. Actually I have just spent two days walking, through weather that could best be described as ‘mixed’ (see tomorrow’s post). I have bagged 9 – more than a quarter – of the fells remaining on my project and now have only 23 to go.

I broke the journey at the Black Sail youth hostel. Located at the head of the valley of Ennerdale, this is some two miles’ walk from the nearest other building, let alone road. It sleeps about 20 people and was about two-thirds full on Saturday night. It’s a great oasis in the hills. And it serves beer. These two were part of a group who worked in Edinburgh and were all parasitology researchers, or something. They drank wine with me and we played Yahtzee (Lisa, lying down in this picture, won) and we and the other guests could just forget the rain outside for a little while.

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Jul 21 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger, Transport

Early morning over the Atlantic

Saturday 21st July 2012, 6.15am [UK time] (day 331)

Atlanta-Manchester flight, 21/7/12

I never sleep on planes. The flight passed relatively quickly (a decent movie helped – Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, better than I thought it would be), and there’s the odd feeling of seeing the night flit by in half the time it would normally take, but otherwise there’s no appeal to this mode of travel. Electronic devices are a big help these days, of course. I like this shot because of the light, particularly the rim-light around the head of the guy on the left.

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Jul 14 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger, Urban scene

The banks of the Mississippi

Friday 13th July 2012, 8.15pm (day 323)

Mississippi, 13/7/12

Tough choice of photo today. I saw most of the city today courtesy of a driving tour in the morning from my friend/colleague Sharon, who works at the University of New Orleans, then I walked round the French Quarter in the evening, along with about twenty thousand other tourists. I took the photos everyone else takes, of St Louis Cathedral, inside a jazz club etc., and some I really liked, doubtless one or possibly more will appear on the ‘best of the rest’ page at some point soon.

However, from the five strong candidates for today’s pic of the day I went with this one. This guy was sat by the river, silently, drinking from his can of beer, as I promenaded along the levee which runs along the south side of Decatur Street. He looked so melancholy, a great contrast to all the revelry going on along Bourbon Street just three blocks away. The lights of the city in this, one of the world’s most famous rivers, set his silhouette off very well, so I’m going for this one.

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