Last year, when our holiday to China went wrong because of Covid-19, I kind of just started writing about a fantasy holiday, which got a little bit out of control. But I really enjoyed doing it, and I knew that this year i would want to do it again. So I made up my mind that for our Fantasy Holiday for 2021, we would visit all of the continental states of the USA.
That trip is happening on Facebook, and we are currently on Week 28 and are busy exploring New Hampshire. I somehow knew when I started this Fantasy Holiday (FH21) that I would have problems with this collection of states, and I also now understand where New England is. There are so many tons names that have been taken from the UK.
The Numbers on the map should be adjacent to the capitals of each state, and you can clearly see the confused order in which we have been dotting about this area.
I have to say that it has been very educational to read about the history of the states, and the towns. This area in particular features very significantly in the early history of America. It’s also taught me about some of the really beautiful parts of the country.
It has been a fascinating exercise and we are only just over halfway through the holiday. And because we are past the halfway point, I am now beginning to wonder if I want to do this again next year, and if I did, I was wondering what to do. I have to admit, visiting the counties of England has potential.
If you read up on street photography the famous street photogaphers produce books of fantastic locations in incredibly lovely situations, and the photos are invariably excellent. I’m sure that if they put their mind to it, they would produce some excellent Street Photography in a small Town.
YouTube is a really interesting resource. I accidentally found a selection of videos about exactly this topic. I think one question is; does a population of 80,000 make Gosport a small town? I’ve just done a check, and no it isn’t. A town with a population of over 75,000 people is classed as large, so we are just over the medium/large threshold.
I was going to ask an inane question about where do artists find their inspiration. Please don’t think for one minute that I think of myself as an artist, I most definitely do not. But things interest me. I lack the imagination. I just don’t “see” things in an artistic way, any photo I have taken and like is almost certainly taken accidentally, and I really don’t understand where this liking of street photography comes from, especially, when I really don’t want to do it, because I am embarrassed to raise my camera in a public place and take pictures of people. I suppose I am running out of excuses in that area if my phone is my camera. Everybody is doing it now, pretty much.
Back to Street Photography In a Small Town; Obviously, Gosport is not the same as London, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t opportunities. Perhaps I should go for a walk in the evenings, there would certainly be more people around. But as the picture at the head of the article is supposed to show (not very well I’m afraid) it is perfectly possible to take B&W pictures in a small town. Why shouldn’t they include people? It’s clearly a thing with me isn’t it? I have written on this topic in several (possibly many) previous posts over 366, why aren’t I doing more about it? My own conservatism (with an extremely small ‘c”)?
It was a lovely walk this morning, the skies were clear, the screaming seagull took a dive at me, I waved my arms and diverted it. I hope I haven’t put it off, I quite enjoy our encounters. The walk down the high street is always interesting I usually see the same people.
There’s a dredger working in the harbour. I missed it this morning, it had left the harbour and was heading out to the dumping ground. When I was in town this afternoon, I needed some air, and walked down to the waterfront, The dredger was Working, and I could see the top of it over the ferry terminal, it was moving. I thought it might be heading out. It was though just turning round. Not going out, so a missed opportunity – perhaps tomorrow. All of the Wightlink car ferries are roll-on-roll-off, I watched the St Claire come in, and just curve around the corner in to her slot. Done, I have to say with consummate skill.
I could say the same thing about the Gosport Ferry Captains, although the crossing is very short, the smoothness and the skill with which the pilots (I can’t think of them as captains although obviously that is what they are) take the ferries across and when they reach the terminal they are so skilled they get the gates lined up so easily, that they make it look simple. That’s professionalism for you.
A few weeks ago, they were emptying the Cockle Ponds. When they refilled it was clear that there was a lot of pond weed. I couldn’t help wondering if it would interfere with the model yachts. Today, as I walked past, there was a man on a machine in the middle of the pond and piles of pond weed around the edge. This is good. I found out this morning that the Gosport Model Yacht Club celebrates its one hundredth anniversary on the First of August – I can imagine there will be a big competition . I shall see if I can go and take a few pictures.
No walk this morning, rain. I think I am likely to go tomorrow regardless of the weather.
I haven’t had a collision of books for quite a while. I think I have given up on Bede for a while. It was just a feeling that although interesting, the book isn’t quite what I expected. Why wouldn’t a book written in the eighth century focus on the important people of that time. Whereas, I guess I was expecting to hear about “normal” people. Whose life’s were pretty much undoubtedly rubbish for the most part.
We were given a book about village life in the 19th century. I only read the introduction and was pretty much hooked. I think it’s because we recently watched Downton Abbey. A programme I didn’t expect to enjoy, but was hooked straight away. You can’t help but wonder about the historical accuracy of programmes like that, but the social structure portrayed in DA are seen in the book.
So, I’ve got that book on the go on the breakfast table. And there are a couple of other books which I can’t make up my mind which book to read in which order. Usually, that order defines itself. It may be that the other books won’t quite pan out. Let’s see how things develop.
I took this picture yesterday, whilst in town. Looking at it in colour, it is a pretty banal shot, so I was on the verge of deletion, but then I thought I would make it mono. That one act, for me, turns it into an interesting picture, but I don’t know why.
I have been wanting to go into a book shop for quite a while now. I know I can look at any book on Amazon, or even Waterstones online. But it isn’t same as walking in to a book shop and being surrounded by all that paper.
I paused as I went in through the entrance to look at the latest releases. Of all of the books that were on that shelf, the one that attracted my attention and I know wasn’t a new book, just a re-print by German Greer. I didn’t pick it up, but is it one I should read? Perhaps put it on the list? I’ll think about.
From the new releases, I walked over to the “books about writing” section. I looked to see if there were any books about creative non-fiction, several on creative writing but they all looked as though they were for fiction writers. Nothing wrong with that, it just wasn’t what I wanted. On the way towards the Travel Writing section I was briefly distracted by the local interest area. Several books about the South Downs Way – walk of which I would at least love to do a bit, but non really grabbed me. At the Travel Writing section, I am always interested in what is there by Bill Bryson, I do like his style of writing. Once again thought there was nothing that made me feel “Buy This”.
The religious section received only a cursory glance. I’m never sure what I’m looking for there. What ever it might have been, I didn’t find it today.
Just on the other side of that set of shelves are the Self Help and Smart thinking sections. After taking a brief look at the history section and seeing that there wasn’t a book called “The life of normal people in Bede’s time” (I know, there is no book of that name, or at least I don’t think there is – just googled it, nope). Resumed the search for the book that will bring clarity to my brain.
There were a number of sections in the Self Help and Smart Thinking area section. I am rubbish at Maths, but I am drawn to it for some reason. I have a couple of maths books, so I don’t need to buy anything there. The Astronomy section had a 2021 guide to the night sky, I thought about it, then thought not – we are halfway through the year, but later I thought maybe because the dark skies of later in 2021 are still to come, but I have something similar at home.
I see that Owen Jones has updated his book Chav’s. I have the original version. Chav’s isn’t a term we hear much these days. Is it still relevant? I don’t know, Nothing to buy there.
I had a look at the computing section. I’ve bought a raspberry Pi, it comes with a book that includes Python & Scratch tutorials. I’ll work my way through that one first.
I’m not sure how long I was in the shop, probably 30-40 minutes. It was an interesting & nice browse, but as usual frustrating. But there you go.
OK, this is not a religious text. The capitalisation is intentional, in this case the EV in EVangilisation means Electric Vehicle. We bought one a few weeks back. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely car and an absolute delight to drive, but it’s an electric vehicle. If the government sticks to its plans, by 2030 these will pretty much be the only vehicles allowed on the road, so eventually if you want the independence you are going to have to replace your petrol vehicle with an electric one.
In my simple mind, there are three components involved;
The car
The Battery
The Infrastructure
The car is a delight to drive, it is quiet, smooth and surprisingly powerful, with excellent acceleration. It has all the gadgets that any petrol car has Absolutely no complaints there.
The battery, ah yes the battery. The Car Requires Active Participation. Now, I’ll give you a clue. I don’t normally swear on this blog, so if you are inclined to take the first letter of the first four words of the previous sentence, you will discover what I think of battery technology today. I am suffering from two afflictions with this car; Range Anxiety and Petrol Envy. In reality, they both boil down to the same thing, the ease with which a petrol car can be refuelled and the lack of need to plan a long journey because of the fuelling requirements. I don’t know how they are going to do it, and I accept that it “may always” take a bit longer to re-charge an EV, but at the moment, it really does take too long.
The Infrastructure, I went to a local fast charging point early this morning. I opened up one of the several different apps that I have to cater for the many different service providers – why isn’t there one app that covers all, which the providers are required to sign up to? There is an app, but signing up isn’t a requirement. There needs to be many more (almost literally millions) – every second or third lamp post should be a charging point for on street charging. The several thousand that are promised are utterly inadequate. This document describes the approach the UK government is taking. I acknowledge that I have only done a cursory read; https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7480/CBP-7480.pdf but what I read do appear to be the right words. What we need is the government to get on and deliver. It has to be a lot better than it is today.
It’s going to be a bit of a journey, and – this is where the evangelistic bit comes in, I intend to keep an eye on it.
It’s ridiculous isn’t it? here were are really not that far from 366, I still don’t really know what I am going to do next. And yet I do. It’s just letting it happen. In a way it won’t matter that I can drop the 366, and it won’t really matter if I don’t do a post every night, but one of the reasons why I started the 366 was because I wasn’t doing any posts at all, and I really wanted to, but I lacked motivation. I needed it and the 366 gave it.
So, (and I apologise for going on about this) I need the motivation, can I get away from the numbers, and translate it to the projects? I am thinking that I have generated my list of interests, I will create a list of interests and write something – even if it is a no progress, but I can be flexible, if there’s a particular interest which is in the ascendancy, there’s no reason that I can’t do a series.
It’s just making sure that I have something to write about. So there’s a little bit of planning to do. I’ve started making notes against each interest, thinking along the lines of a project or task. Not going to write about the projects here, that’s for when 366 comes to an end.
In some ways, the anticipation is almost exciting. It’s definitely a challenge. I need to make sure I am up to it!
A surprisingly pleasant looking little close right in the middle of the town. This isn’t far, less than 10’s of yards from North Cross Street. North Cross Street has become nervously entertaining on my morning walk;
What are the chances that two people would be at the same point of their journey on two days of a week? Actually, it seems the chances are pretty good. Watch the video, the seagull has been buzzing me for several weeks now – I’m assuming it’s the same one. On two occasions this week I have been along here at roughly 6AM when a cyclist passed going in the opposite direction, the first time he watched the gull buzz me, and looked at me as he went past. I said “for some reason it really hates me”. I heard him laughing as he rode on. The second time, this morning we were in almost exactly the same position, it was buzzing me again, he was looking and laughing as he approached I said “Good Morning, It’s got it in for me again”. He was laughing again.
Surprisingly, the smoking lady wasn’t about.
St Mary’s church on the High Street. The church is run by Marian Franciscan Monks. I quite often see them, walking around town, I was stood behind one when I went to the bank a few weeks ago, we exchanged pleasantries.
Looking up towards the Ferry Terminal showing the tower blocks and the water front. It was a very pleasant walk this morning.
It’s B&W photography time, the Magazine turned up a couple of days ago, and as usual I am working my way through it, but it always reminds me how much I like B&W, and how much I love digital!
These two beauties swam past the Haslar Marina Sea Wall. They weren’t in a rush. The water wasn’t really rough, but it was “busier” than normal. I had a vision of them paddling like crazy whilst maintaining the serene image they gave above.
I have two magazines, with a possible third on the way, and three books, one arrived today, and another on the way and one given as a donation. I am keen to read them. I am barely halfway through Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, whilst it’s not true to say I am losing interest, I do feel less dedicated than I did at the start of the book, so I shall take the magazine break as I normally do, and then perhaps a bit of a sabbatical from Bede.
But then I have to make up my mind on the order of the books and the magazines., the mags are easy, I’ll just read them in the order in which they arrived, the books are a bit harder, I’ll have to have a look at them.
I have a bit of a problem with procrastination, one of the books is about defeating that. I’ll give it a read and see if it helps.
First thing this morning, when I woke up it was blowing a gale and absolutely chucking it down. I fell back asleep, and woke up just after the time I would normally be up. I hadn’t expected to get up or go out for a walk.
The second time I woke up, I felt a bit guilty that I was being lazy. I looked out the window and couldn’t tell whether or not it was raining. Well, I have a perfectly good raincoat, it didn’t look like it was raining heavily, so I thought I’d risk it, except because of the raincoat it wasn’t really a risk.
As it happens, it did rain a couple of times, but not too heavily, and not for too long so it was fine. There wasn’t much happening in the harbour, because I was running late, I got to the Waterfront just in time to see the Mon St Michel passing the spinnaker, from a distance that meant I couldn’t get a good picture.
The clouds were quite high, and there was a bit of a breeze blowing. There were a couple of breaks in the cloud. I had previously approximated the amount of cloud as a percentage of the sky covered, but a few years ago a close friend said no, it’s not %ages, it’s 8ths. As you do, tonight I just googled why 8th’s – the actual unit of cloud is an Okta (I get the derivation of the unit). The explanation, which as usual is more complicated than you would expect is copied of Quora in an answer given by a gentleman called Robert Johnston. https://www.quora.com/Why-is-cloud-cover-measured-in-oktavs/answer/Eric-Burns-22?ch=99&share=0de59aee&srid=uYORF
Cloud cover on the visible sky, also known as ‘the celestial dome’ is measured in octas: That is in eighths. If the whole sky is overcast with one type of cloud it would be eight eighths cloud cover. But each of any different type of cloud is estimated in the same way so an observation might record 3 octas cu, at 1000 ft 4 octas sc at 2000, 5 alto cu @ 5000 and so on : The total can be more than 8 or less on a fine day when there is more blue sky. The reason cover is measured in eights is because it is easily divisible: Half cover would be 4, quarter 2 and an eighth 1 in any case the amount of cover can only be estimated approximate. An earlier system divided the sky into ten ‘decas’,.This had two disadvantages: It attempted at over accuracy and also ten is only divisible once by two. Decas were clumsy.
Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.
I'm here to work on fiction. Occasionally I'll blog but that's certainly not my focus. You have a specific fiction genre or format you can't find enough of? Ask me. Maybe I got it. I migh share it with you. Otherwise, leave me alone; I'm toiling away at my workbench.
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