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Archive for the ‘Baldy Tales’ Category

Although I have used computers to generate graphics and obviously as a keen digital photographer to manipulate photographs, historically I have rarely needed to print pictures out and as a consequence, haven’t bothered too much with printers in the past however, that had to change.

Looking ahead and contemplating just how I might make a modest income in the near future, selling original prints of work I have created seems an obvious route to explore however and in order to do this, I would need to spend some time in mastering the “craft” side of printing which has a direct effect on how you prepare images for printing in the first place.

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I may just be getting more deluded but I find myself increasingly at odds with the average journalist writing on most subjects. Sure there are times but infrequently, when someone just writes simple common sense stuff such as Matthew Parris in today’s Times, “This stupid child protection law will turn us into outlaws” : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6831413.ece

But the following two examples which are more connected with each other and Matthew Parris’s piece, I have reservations with.

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The following story may well be more one for the “anoraks” than the rest but I hope I can make it interesting for anyone to read and in the process, not over simplify for one or, over complicate for the other so that, is quite a challenge.

But in a sense and although about computer software, perhaps the main ingredients of the “tale” are little different from all those Hollywood Blockbusters in the sense of the “individual” taking on the “big guys”. However, it does all get a bit complicated in the sense of just who are the “big guys ?” I will start my story with a simple description of probably the No.1 software package for web design, Adobe Dreamweaver…

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This has been a difficult week with my Mother’s health but what does one expect when someone is an invalid and coming up for 89 years of age ! Against this background I continue work on my various projects which I apply the same kind of rules and drive that I did to any project I was in charge of for an employer in the past.

My nature is a pretty determined one and I am currently engaged in putting together a web project. This is a battle with web standard technologies which to be honest, is little better than digging the footings for a building, important, must be right but not totally what the project is about and certainly not highly motivational.

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Although I normally avoid Beta Testing of new software – a real pain unless crucial to your business, I did download and install the Beta of Windows 7 and frankly was impressed so when the RC version came along, – RC stands for “Release Candidate”, the final product apart from minor tweaks if you like, I downloaded and installed that too, excellent.

I am not an over enthusiastic “fan” of anything from large “American Corporations”, they only think “our needs” not “my needs” and the only reason Microsoft is being “nice” is because they caught such a big cold over “Vista” the “Edsel” of the software world and gave their loyal customers nothing but “Vista Blisters” but perhaps, a Window of Hope beckons.

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Last weekend was the Gay Pride March in London and as a result, there have been a fair number of articles in the media about ‘gay issues’, Cameron apologising about past Tory attitudes towards gay issues, silly gay Labour politicians trying to smear the Tories as anti-gay and so on. On Sunday Peter Tatchell wrote an article in the Independent challenging David Cameron if he became PM to deliver on a number of “outstanding issues”.

During the late 1980′s whilst retraining, I supported myself by working evenings as a doorman at a London Gay West End pub. Despite my being straight it was not a problem for me nor, once the customers understood the way I worked, for them either. At the time and quite unfairly I thought having some gay friends so that I was ‘aware’ of it, the age of “consent” for gay men was still 21 although the age of majority had been reduced to 18 sometime earlier.

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I am a great Andy Murray fan. Not because he might have a chance of winning Wimbledon this year, that frankly is not that important, at 22 years of age, another year will do. The reason that I love Andy Murray is quite simply that I don’t have to watch him, eyes half-closed from behind the sofa as I do any “England Team” in whatever sport.

Andy does not have to win Wimbledon this year or any other because I know with a ‘certainty’ that he will win a number of Grand Slams during his career and as a consequence, I can happily watch every game he plays and, accept the result. By the same token it is irrelevancy whether he is seen as Scottish or British, he is quite simply a great Tennis player and it is a pleasure to watch him. Yes he is a ‘Brit’ and you want him to win but more than that, he is a young man with talent who has taken control of his life and drives forward to where he wants to be.

All I can say is Go Andy Go and for as long as it lasts, enjoy. For what it is may be worth, my best wishes go with you…

As individuals, there are some things we never think of and yet, for others those same topics are virtually all consuming. I was reminded of this the other week reading someone writing on the web about death and saying that his Father who appeared to have died in his early 70′s telling him that he would have liked perhaps 5 more years. Why I asked silently…as I contemplated my childhood.

As a RC boy who served on the altar in the 1950s, I loved funerals with a simplicity of view that nowadays is long forgotten, an acceptance of reality and a natural leaning to what works best for you personally. As a 7 year old junior altar boy, weddings where the “MC” altar boy copped the cash from the Best Man, the “trickle down” was little short of disgusting.

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Whilst I will no doubt feel inclined to comment on the election of a new Speaker which will I am sure, be a total cock-up with the bookies putting Margaret Becket as the current favourite – “You Really Cannot be Serious…” on that one, as politics crawls uneasily towards the Summer Recess, there is not that much to comment upon.

I have been writing this blog since November of 2007 and have published over 300 articles. For various reasons because I am working on a new project running in a development environment, I needed to feed some data in so copied over essays from this blog to there. I was quite amused looking back over some earlier stuff just how there are really very few themes or major topics in ‘play’ in the political arena over that time.

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A week ago I photographed a family of Canadian Geese in one of the ponds on the flood plain of the River Brue. Goslings like ducklings are very vulnerable and it was quite noticeable just how protective the parents were. Although we have a lot of Canadian Geese around here, they nest elsewhere and normally are found on the lakes in the Apex Park which is beside the River Brue.

This morning riding home I spotted them actually on the River and the parents still had all three, just a little bit bigger and fluffier. Of course I couldn’t get too close and didn’t have a long enough lens but never the less, it was good to see them again.

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