Get The Picture?

Holiday Sunset

It's not that long ago that advances in photography , to me , was a 36 picture film reel , which I took my pictures on , hoped they'd turn out ok , then happily drop them into Boots or Jessops , or Max Spielman's and then wait a couple of weeks to see the results. Then you could also get them put onto CD which was really impressive. To get a digital camera that came anywhere near your common or garden film camera would set you back the best part of a grand.

Two Horses

Nowadays you can pick up very good digital cameras for around £50 and get the instannt gratification of seeing immediate results, and the luxury of discarding the rubbish. Last week I took 175 photographs and videos which took up a gigabyte of storage . i cand sift through and adjust , picking oout the best ones, or what I think are the best.





However I really don't know what I'm doing , it's a case of point and hope for the best. Professional photographers know what they are doing , and are able to guarantee the best results whereas I just hope for the best. Mark Johnson is and excelelnt example of someone who know's what he's doing and examples of  his work can be found on his website www.shineyblack.co.uk.

Ed Alleyne Johnson - Legend

I was in Chester today , thought I'd wander round and see if I could find an independent record shop. They have an HMV but so does everywhere else. Anyway, heard The Who's Baba O' Reilly playing , but it sounded different. Turns out it was a street violinist , and he was amazing . On closer inspection noticed he had a CD for sale , then noticed the name. Ed Alleyne Johnson of New Model Army fame , as well as a slew of amazing solo albums, Ultraviolet is part of my collection.

Ed Alleyne Johnson - Superb

Had a crack on with him , bought the new CD Arpeggio. then took the video below. There's a lot of his stuff on youtube, but if you get the chance see him, if not buy the albums, Enjoy!!

Mathew Street - L2

Yellow Submarine in Cavern Walks

Beatle Boots For Sale

In the middle of the Mathew Street redevelopment in Liverpool is the Cavern Walks shopping area , which is a lot better than I imagined , with some boutiques , eateries a couple of Yellow Submarines and a Beatles display naturally, I was expecting something quite horrible , but one of the cafes was even serving "scouse", which is good.

Gold Disc Wall

In Mathew (I sure it should have 2 "t"s) Street itself you have the new Cavern Club , the site of the old one , a Beatles shop , more displays and two very good wall installations. The first is a display of all the number ones achieved by Liverpool bands , in the form of gold discs , unfortunately though you get The Beatles and Frankie Goes To Hollywood , you also get Atomic Kitten!!

A section of the name Wall

The Beatles Bit

The second is a very simple idea , but still a brilliant installation , it's a wall and every brick is engraved with the name of a band that's played there , The Beatles themselves receiving individual name checks . A slight sour note on this , they have a gold plaque detail two acts who had their bricks removed , it would have been better to remove the bricks and say nothing. Well worth a visit for anyone with even a cursory interest in pop music history.

Is Ted Baker A Scouser?

Was Probe - Now Ted Baker

Ted Baker Customers aren't that bright

Just visited Liverpool for the first time in 30 years and was a little surprised to see the old Probe Records site was now a Ted Baker shop. This was on top of Littlewoods metamorphosing into Primark!! On further wanderings Ted Baker seemed to be everywhere , shops , concessions , advertising you name it , which begs the question is Ted Baker a scouser.

Obviously the clothes are de riguer for you average charver or scally,

The new Probe

Happily I found Probe were still thriving at a site next to the Bluecoat Chambers , so all was not lost.

Survival Sunday - Quite Incredible

An amazing last day in the Premiership, West Ham were deservedly relegated , nothing that Trevor Brooking could do this season , also Birmingham have gone down another club with dodgy overseas owner though I feel for Alex McLeish. Blackpool went as well , they've been a breath of fresh air but the Premiership doesnt deserve such an entertaining side.

Manchester City got third place after Arsenal self destructed.

Manchester United took their 19th Title as a precursor to next Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley against Barcelona. Roll on next season.....

Eurovision - Youre A Kidding

Suddenly it's Eurovision night again. In recent years we've lost Terry Wogan , due to the continued block voting of the Eastern Bloc countries , so have gained Graham Norton , which will be entertaining. Apparently voting has been changed to make results a little less predicatable , with France in with a good chance , and the UK represented by Blue.

The other thing that has made it less entertaining is the insistence of artists singing in English. What we want is singing in the native language , so we can laugh at the dodgy translations on teletext or whatever the new digital equivalent is!!

I somehow doubt we'll see a new Abba , but , hopefully it should be fun. Oh aye and Ireland have Jedward . I'd still rather have "My Lovely Horse"!!

Modern Music Is Rubbish

Or is it? I buy and listen to a lot of music and people tend to regard the stuff they get into between the ages of 14-18 as the classics. I've for the opinion that 95% is rubbish whenever you listen to music , and the 95% is usually the staple of local / commercial radio . However I was sort of surprised to see there's currently five albums released which I have to buy. Two of these are compilations , so I don't know whether they count , but what the hell.

Having said that we've already had "Let England Shake" by Polly Jean Harvey , and awesome album musing on war and it's consequences , then Noah and The Whale's "Last Night On Earth" a superlative album about coming out of the heartbreak of a break up , Wire's "Red Barked Tree" whic is , well classic Wire , purchased from the amazing Folk Devils in Whitby .I can't comment on the new albums but think that everyon in this list is worthy of your attention , all on the carousel at the top of this post. Listen and enjoy , and I reckon that music is still as vibrant as ever:

• Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
• Red Barked Tree - Wire
• Last Night On Earth - Noah and The Whale
• Catching A Tiger - Lissie (2010 but just found it )
• Rome - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi
• Let Them Talk - Hugh Laurie
• Essential - Martin Carthy
• The Good The Bad and The Dread - Dreadzone