Tag Archives: 42

Aug 11 2012
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Daily Post, Interior

U-Boat Conning tower

Saturday 11th August 2012, 2.30pm (day 352)

Conning tower, 11/8/12

First day of my summer holiday, finally! I am still in Helsinki so visited the World Heritage site of Suomenlinna, a fortress outside the harbour that is the reason the city grew into the metropolis it is. An interesting exhibit there was the U-boat Vesikko, fascinating to look around but, I bet, a bitch to actually serve on. Should you be in the area I recommend Suomenlinna: though on a sunny August Saturday like today, I’ll be damn sure you won’t be alone there.

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Aug 10 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Fruit stall, Helsinki

Friday 10th August 2012, 5.15pm (day 351)

Berry stall, 10/8/12

Returned from Tampere to Helsinki today and have the weekend here before heading home on Sunday afternoon. This is taken in a market near the square of Hakaniemi. Fish, potatoes and berries seem to be the staples of the Finnish diet, which is fine by me.

Does the plastic bag spoil this shot or help it? I also like the little flag in the background, just in case I forgot where I was.

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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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Aug 08 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Tampere

Wednesday 8th August 2012, 6.15pm (day 349)

Tampere, 8/8/12

Tampere is the largest inland city in Scandinavia and known as the ‘Manchester of the North’ as it was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in this region. Unlike Manchester itself it does still have a sense of industry about it, like things continue to be actually made here. I’m here for a conference (which traditionalists will say has nothing to do with ‘making’ anything, and they’d probably be right). This is the city’s second appearance on this blog, the first being way back in September 2011.

 

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Aug 08 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Four-legged beast, Helsinki airport

Tuesday 7th August 2012, 3.40pm (day 348)

Four legged beast, 7/8/12

I’m away again. When heading east most of the day is spent travelling and there wasn’t much to see today. Snapped this while sat on the Finnair bus waiting to head into Helsinki city centre from the airport.

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Aug 06 2012
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Daily Post, Interior

Affleck’s Palace

Monday 6th August 2012, 2.25pm (day 347)

Afflecks palace, 6/8/12

My leather jacket, of many years’ use (but surprisingly little photographed, once I looked through the archives), died following the biblical downpour of 9th July, when it got soaked and then was never properly dried because I never thought about it as I dashed off to New Orleans. It was knackered anyway, but its fate was sealed when I next picked it off the rack and… you don’t want to know.

Fortunately, if you want any clothes even remotely in that genre and your budget is limited, there is always Affleck’s. Threatened with closure a few years ago because it didn’t meet the profile of the district’s gentrifiers, it’s pleasing to see it still open and still selling good gear of this type for – in my case – £25. Long may it reign.

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Aug 05 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Transport

Hebden Bridge Vintage Car Rally

Sunday 5th August 2012, 12.55pm (day 346)

Vintage rally, 5/8/12

This is one of my town’s more pleasurable regular events and was thankfully blessed by good weather. I no longer have an interest in cars as a means of propulsion but any one built before about 1965 just has such a damn fine look to it. And when they come out to events like this they’re all looking their best, polished and chrome and curvy and well, dammit (Janet), rather sexy. But I only look. I don’t want a relationship with one of these things again. Too complicated.

(PS technically this is a self-portrait: look carefully.)

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Aug 04 2012
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Daily Post, Interior

Blue Pig Beer Festival

Saturday 4th August 2012, 3.30pm (day 345)

Blue Pig, 4/8/12

The Blue Pig sits in the woods and opens at random and unpredictable times. It’s a kind of Harry Potterish pub. I quite like this shot because of the double reflection of the guy in the picture frames.

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Aug 04 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

The CIS building, Manchester

Friday 3rd August 2012, 3.40pm (day 344)

CIS building, 3-8-12

This  building is only a couple of hundred yards from Victoria station but I never have normal cause to go past it. Today, after I had a meeting nearby, was an exception. When built in 1962 it was the tallest office building in the UK, at 399 feet, and it remained the tallest in Manchester until 2006 when the Beetham tower (510 feet) was built on Deansgate. It’s one of the group of buildings around this site that are the headquarters of the Co-operative Group (bank, stores, insurance, etc.).

I’ve never been inside it but it does have a significant role to play in my life. My mother and father both worked for the CIS but in separate buildings and only when this was built (when they were 18) did they begin working in the same place – and thus met. Arguably, then, if this hadn’t been built, I wouldn’t be here.

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Aug 03 2012
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Daily Post, Landscape

Above Oxenhope, evening

Thursday 2nd August 2012, 8.15pm (day 343)

Above Oxenhope, 2/8/12

The landscape shots on this blog tend to have been of the Lake District, but I must remember more often that I live in a pretty decent part of the world, too.

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