I am days behind with my posts — and Tuesday 26th May was not an exciting one, I spent most of it in the flat in Dundee, trying to work but (as is the case most of the time these days) not exhibiting a great deal of mojo. The picture is one of those ‘what can I see out of the window’ moments. Let’s at least speculate as to why this specific chimney pot proved such an attractive home for the foliage. It’s something to do.
Who knows how long The Child will stay in Dundee but for now the place is coming to feel familiar enough. I have developed a habit of ascending Dundee Law each time I come to the city. The view is excellent and the massive memorial on the summit certainly does its job. Making it up to the top from Joe’s flat, without a break, has become a good marker of whether I’m still fit enough for satisfaction.
Never let it be said that I am closed to new experiences, particularly not when they are suggested by the wife, so behold — my first ever ice hockey game. Manchester Storm, in the dark kit, beat Dundee Stars 5-1.
I chose this shot because it illustrates one basic characteristic of the sport, at least from my perspective as a rookie spectator. For a significant slice of the playing time I wasn’t completely sure where the puck was, partly because the sightlines from our seats meant one whole side of the rink was obscured and partly because it just zips around without much pattern or relationship to how the players are moving. I acknowledge the skill, balance and athleticism of the players but based on my having seen some games on TV in the past (particularly in Toronto, where it’s kind of unavoidable) I have previously described ice hockey as ‘like watching a bunch of wasps buzz around in a bottle’. My first experience of watching it live has not changed that opinion.
The Firth of Tay makes a second appearance in a row, though this time, it (rather than a train) is the focus. The tide is definitely out. Taken from the top of Dundee Law, on what has become the mandated Post-Present Christmas Day Walk, as there often isn’t a great deal else to do on the day except the eating, drinking and watching movies part — which did follow. A Happy Christmas to you, wherever you may be and however you spent it.
As seen crossing the Tay rail bridge, more-or-less on schedule. The shot is taken from Newport-on-Tay, on the opposite side of the firth from Dundee. I am feeling minimalist this Christmas Eve, it seems.
Joe’s first appearance since — chainsaw in hand — 4th August. It’s Christmas. It’s time to re-engage.
Re: the title. You do understand Joe is our only child, right? Just checking.
Stop one on a journey to the far north — Dundee. Seen a lot in recent years but with an apartment to use as a stopover, a sensible place to break the journey. I asked Clare about the possible identity of this face and she reckons maybe drag artist The Vivienne; it’s possible. I just liked the image.
Originally I was heading for the Scottish Highlands again today, but a general sense that it was not the right time was confirmed by a dubious weather forecast — not for today, which remained a pleasant day, but for tomorrow, Monday, a forecast of wet weather which I already know as I post this seems to have come to pass. So I made the right decision, stayed in Dundee, and went out on a walk anyway, which included this agreeable stretch of woodland growing along what, a century or more ago, was one of Scotland’s first railway lines. Like many such spots it now exercises legs rather than engines, but is none the worse for it.
The point of travelling to Scotland was to be in attendance for at least one of the sessions of Joe’s final year exhibition, or should I say the Abertay Digital Graduate Show. Not that this piece of artwork is ‘digital’, but it seems that the BA Games Design and Production projects can be in whatever medium one likes. At least you can’t get an AI to do this kind of stuff. Good luck to them all.
The first concealed round number of the day: today I am exactly 20,000 days old. When I first saw the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth (it’s very good and worth watching even if you have no idea who Nick Cave is) I naturally worked out when I would reach this milestone, and, well, it’s today. In my case 20,000 days works out at 54 years, 9 months and 3 days.
The second concealed round number is that this is the 100th blog pic to be taken in Scotland. This last week has seen the country overtake Norway in the all-time table to now stand third, behind only England and Australia. To mark this, let’s feature Joe, and behind him, Dundee — the juxtaposition of person and place being the principal reason that Scotland has kept up its healthy rate of appearance over the last three years (Dundee features on 24 of those 100 shots).
The diorama of Dundee was created by photographer Sohei Nishino, and is a remarkably good piece of work which gives a totally new perspective on the place and which one can lose oneself in: both characteristics of great art, if you ask me. And according to this article about it, it used 20,000 photos. Back to the first concealed round number we go. It must mean something.
Being 42 