Glasgow – Page 38 – My Photo Blog

What a grey day – 19 November 2016

Posted on November 19, 2016November 20, 2016 by Zogman

After such a lovely bright, cheerful day yesterday, today dawned dull and uninspiring. After we dropped JIC and Sim off to meet their old friends, we headed into Glasgow. J&S were heading there too, but by train, luckily. When we got on to the M80 the CITRAC lit up with the joyful news that there was congestion after Junction 4. At 1.30 on a Saturday afternoon, congestion on the M80 can only mean football traffic. We never did find out what had caused the holdup because we cut our journey short and left at the Robroyston turnoff just after the queue had started. After a wander around the limited variety of shops and a coffee, we headed back. By this time the football fanatics were all safely ensconced in their seats in the rain watching 22 men chasing a ball while one man, dressed in black, tries to control them. What fun.

When I opened the Macbook Pro this morning it just sat there. As far as I could remember, when I’d closed the lid last night there was about 40% in the tank. Where had it gone, or had it gone and was it just joshing me? When it finally loaded, it proudly displayed 0%. So where had it gone? I looked all round the table where the MBP sits and I couldn’t find any juice lying around. Then I checked Coconut Battery 3, my go-to app for the truth about the battery. First thing to notice that the design capacity bar was red, not good. It read 25.6%. Not good at all. I tried charging it up to 100% and completely discharging it, before charging it up to 100% again and discharging it again. Nope, it sticks resolutely to 25.6% capacity. I’ll overcharge it now and see what it’s like after that. If it doesn’t work, then it’s time to call in the Weemen (Should that be WeeXY now? Naw, it’s Weemen) Repair Team to fit a new battery. That’s why I gave them the opportunity to hone their skill before I need to call them in for the big job.

Meanwhile I’m filling up the new external HDD. It looks like it’ll take more time than I expected, but hopefully it will mean the photos will be more secure for a while longer.

Rough looking weather forecast for our visitors to fly into tomorrow, but it looks like the worst will be past long before they land.

The Traffic Warden – 1 November 2016

Posted on November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 by Zogman

Today we were up bright and early to face the day. It was a bright sunny morning so we headed off into Glasgow to make the most of it. Couldn’t get parked in Cowcaddens 1, but I was sure we’d get into Cowcaddens 2. Nope, there was someone sitting poaching by the entrance waiting for a space to become available. Drove round to Concert Square, but it too was full. There was nothing for it but to use the extortionate Buchanan Galleries where there were plenty of spaces – allegedly. We eventually found some on level 5. A pleasant surprise awaited us by the lifts. Buchanan Galleries prices have gone down by the same amount that Concert Square’s have gone up! Right, coffee awaits us.

After coffee, we went our separate ways for a while. We agreed a separation of an hour and a half and after checking that Scamp had her phone with her this time, I headed for Sausage Roll Street and Scamp went to Bucky Street. These names have been changed to protect the innocent you realise. Nowhere would really have a street called after a lunchtime non-fattening pastry or a bottle of tonic wine, would they? I was going to get the book I’d been meant to collect on Sunday at Waterstones. The much awaited sequel to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. With it safely in the bag, the next path lead to the Flat Iron Building. Again, not its real name, but the shape of this red sandstone monolith always reminds me of the strange NY building. Theirs may be taller, but ours has gravitas and curly bits.

After a few wrong turnings I arrived at the corner of Shamrock Street and New City Road where the Flat Iron Building lives. I chose a sketching position next to the PDSA buiding on Shamrock Street and started. A woman passed me carrying a cat and with a Jack Russell on a lead, but she just looked through me as Glaswegians do when they have no clue what you’re doing there. She and the animals left me to my business and I left them to theirs. After I’d been sketching for about ten minutes, a wee wummin came round the corner, by that I don’t mean she was a diminutive lady. A wee wummin in Glasgow can be a terrifying person capable of facing down Genghis Khan. A nippy sweetie on the other hand would have torn Genghis apart to get into a fight. This was just a wee wummin, a kind of apprentice nippy sweetie. She and her daughter were also cradling a dog each and she was shouting. Shouting at me. “Here, are you giein’ me a ticket?”. “Somebody in there said there was somebody oot here giein’ folk parkin’ tickets.” I turned to her and asked her if I looked like a traffic warden, then realised that I did. Black jacket, bunnet, looks like he’s writing something in a black book. Yes, I did look like a traffic warden. I told her, no I wasn’t a warden and I hadn’t seen anybody giving out tickets. Just then a bloke arrived, also carrying a puppy. [Thinks: Does everybody here carry their dogs around with them? Do they not want them to wear out their wee legs?] This bloke is also shouting about somebody giving out parking tickets. Then realisation dawned. “Was it a wummin wi’ a dug and a cat that told you?” I asked. They agreed it was. Then realisation dawned on the bloke first, then on the wee wummin a split second later. ”She dun that tae get ahead of us in the queue. Aye, well she’ll have me tae answer tae. You jist see if she disnae!” and with that, a magical thing happened. With her words hanging in the air she made the transformation from wee wummin to the fully fledged and fearsome nippy sweetie.
After that exchange I got down to work on the sketch proper, adding the curly bits and the architectural fancies. I quite liked the finished article. I called it Shamrock Street, but in retrospect and in homage to Botticelli, I should probably have called it “The Birth of the Nippy Sweetie”. I hope the woman’s dog and cat are alright and that they found their own way home.

The rest of the day was tame by comparison with this ten minute street opera. I walked down to Cowcaddens subway station and got a couple of shots of a grand tree by the underpass. I got the subway to St Enoch’s and bought a couple of sketch books to replace the rapidly filling Fabriano and some brush markers, then met Scamp and drove back home. We stopped off at Milano for lunch as Scamp and her sister were going to a ‘do’ in Motherwell later.

There’s been a wren hunting in the bushes in the garden for weeks, presumably for spiders and other insects and I’ve never been quick enough to catch it. Today I did. The smaller the bird, the quicker they move.

Off to meet Fred P tomorrow and then on to Falkirk which will be free from traffic. Aye Right!

A Good Day in the Toon – 21 October 2016

Posted on October 21, 2016October 21, 2016 by Zogman

It was Scamp’s suggestion that today we should travel in to Glasgow on the bus and then take the subway (AKA the underground, definitely NOT AKA the tube) to the West End. From there, I could choose between the Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery or to give it it’s posh name, The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I chose the latter.

Walked to Condorrat to get a fast(er) bus into the Toon. Coffee first (in Cafe Nero of course), then the subway out to Kelvin Hall which is about half a mile from the actual Kelvin Hall, but who cares. We walked along to the Art Gallery, although we always called it the Art Galleries and I suppose we always will, and entered this grand space. I remember my dad and my Uncle Jack taking me to this place and amazing me with all the things to see in it. My Uncle Jack as well as being a mine of information about Glasgow in general, was very knowledgable about painters and paintings. He would tell me the back stories of the paintings in the gallery and explain what the painter was trying to say. My dad was from a mining family and he would show me the models of coal mines and explain in detail what all the parts pit head buildings did.

Scamp was delighted to find that the organ recital was at 1pm and it was now 12.45pm. I was delighted because I knew where she’d be while I searched out a piece of armour to sketch. I’d seen a TV program a couple of years ago where they literally took apart a suit of armour and explained what each part did and how the pieces were put together by the armourer and the blacksmith. Since then I’ve intended sketching armour and this was the ideal opportunity.

Once the sketch and the recital was complete, we met up again. Scamp had enjoyed the recital and had found out that they did tours of the organ. She’d like to go, but not today. Next thing, she’s following an information assistant through a side door and motioning me to follow her. Climbed a couple of flights of stairs, through a wrought iron gate along a passage way and ended up in the small balcony where the organist was demonstrating how the organ was played. It’s a massive beast of an instrument when you’re up close. The organist was really great, explaining what all the stops did an the multitude of pedals. The only thing he didn’t do was give her a shot at playing Vidor’s Toccata or something although I could see she was itching to have a go. Yes, yes, Scamp, I know it should be Widor’s Toccata, but that just doesn’t look right and it’s my blog, remember. I took the chance to get some shots from a viewpoint I probably wouldn’t be in again and it was quite a remarkable half an hour.

Anything else would have been a disappointment after that, so we headed for lunch which was in a wee Indian tapas restaurant we had been to before at the bottom of Byres Road. The food was excellent. Fish Pakora and Buttered Chicken were the stars for me. Lovely light nan, but it had cooled just a little bit too much for us. Still delicious.

Walked up Byres Road and had a beer for me, 3 Hop Edinburgh Lager (Poor, very poor) and a G&T for Scamp in Oran Mor. We even sat outside and drank them. It was that sort of day. The sort of day to just take your time and enjoy life.

Subway back to Glasgow City and the bus home. Job done. Had a great time. Brilliant idea Scamp. Let’s do it again some time soon.

Today’s Inktober sketch is of a knight’s helmet from c1620 (which is twenty past four in the afternoon for those who don’t understand the 24 hour clock!) It amazes me that people could not only wear one of these medieval crash helmets, but they could ride into battle in them. They could fight in them. Many of them could die in them. If they were knocked from their horse in a battle, what chance did they have of standing up again? Having said all that, when you examine these pieces of armour, they are beautifully made and the attention to detail is fascinating. Little bits of brass (surely not gold) worked to look like rope that adorned the edges of the eye slit and the neck piece. Exquisite workmanship, and it’s safe to say workmanship, because all the armourers were men.

The remainder of the photos were taken in or around the Art Galleries. If you’ve never been, or if it’s a long time since you’ve been. Go and get some culture for a change instead of wandering down Bucky Street, along Sausage Roll Street or dodging the jakies in Argyll Street. Have a curry in that wee curry shop, it’s called Usha’s at the bottom of Byres Road. Don’t bother with the 3 Hop Lager. It’s basically Heineken who own Caledonian who make 3 Hop Lager, strangely enough. Head back in to town and have a draught Bitter & Twisted in The Horseshoe. That’s the makings of a ‘Good Day in the Toon’

The Weather Fairies Lied – 16 October 2016

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Zogman

They promised us sunshine. I think they must have had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

It started off dull, but we were expecting that. We knew it would brighten up around midday. However, when the wee hand was at 12 and the big hand was also at 12, the weather was much the same. It stayed that way with the occasional bright spell through the afternoon. I risked a half hour walk later in the afternoon and got a fairly decent portrait of a swan and a shot of a ‘Black Panther’ salute from a bush before the rain put an end to play.

Drove in to Glasgow in bright sunshine, but the sun was low and distracting. One of those days where you wish it was dull like in the morning. It might be boring, but at least there’s nothing to blind you. Salsa was very energetic and very, very enjoyable. I think Scamp was wondering what was coming next a few times when I started to string two or even three half moves together in a sequence. It must be really hard being a follower at times.

Tonight’s Inktober sketch is of some Lisianthus flowers in a vase on the table. I keep wanting to call them Lissajous which are a totally different kettle of fish. As far as I can remember, they were produced on an oscilloscope when we were studying AC current at college, back last century some time. Google it, that’s the best idea. Anyway ‘flooers’ as I call them are sometimes a picture of last resort, but these ones were quite a challenge. Pen was a blue Linc Saffron from the Pound Shop. Quite high quality rollerball pen, made in India. It has a tendency to smudge when wet, but dries to a water resisting finish, at least the black does. I’ve been using them for years now. If you see them on sale, buy a pack. A pound well spent. Paper was my favourite Pink Pig sketching book.

Not sure what to expect from the weather tomorrow, but hopefully it will be better than today.

Sketching in Town – 14 October 2016

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Zogman

We took the bus in to the town today and then went our different ways for an hour and a half. Me to do my sketch of the day and Scamp to wander round the shops. Yesterday I had a bit of a hiding place, ensconced beside a wall in the church yard of the old church, you could even say I was hiding, but today was drawing in the middle of Glasgow. No walls, no church yards to hide behind, just me, a sketch book and about half a dozen pens. I got some strange looks, but nobody stopped to ask what I was doing, which was a great relief. I suppose I did have one hiding place, one wall, the wall and hiding place of Inktober which I guess I could use as an explanation for sketching in the open air in Glasgow. Either that or a daft auld bastard with too much time on his hands. Yes, that would work too. Sketch wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be, but I’ll keep trying. Another sketching day beckons tomorrow.

Today’s photo is of a wee lane just off Queen Street. I think it unlikely that Nicola had ever seen this lane, let alone stayed in it. Such is the hyperbole in Glasgow at the moment. I’ve taken this shot before, but this is a different crop to remove the two windows above this one and exaggerate the squalor of Queen Nicola’s Lane.

Lunch, when we met up again, was at Paesano Pizza in Miller Street again. Excellent pizzas. When we left there, the rain was on. Up until then it had been dry and fairly bright. Like I said at the start, we’d travelled on the bus today and on the road home I was pleased that we had. Traffic was backed up and hardly moving as we crossed the bridge where I would have been exiting the M80. I’d have been caught up in at least three miles of standing traffic. Not a good way to end the day. In addition, I had the opportunity to have a glass of wine with my pizza. You can’t risk that if you’re driving these days.

Altogether a worthwhile day.

A day in “The Toon” – 30 September 2016

Posted on September 30, 2016September 30, 2016 by Zogman

It’s been a while since we just went for a wander round Glasgow, a flânerie, just stravaigin, so today we remedied that.

Up (fairly) early and out into the rain to get the bus to Glasgow. Planned the day in Cafe Nero and then headed down Bucky Street. Did a wee detour into the recently reconditioned Apple shop to see what this new OS Sierra looked like. Decide it was alright, but nothing much to write home about. Maybe you need to get down to the nitti-gritti of it to appreciate just what wonders it offers, but there’s not much chance of that any time soon, so we left.

By the time we got down to St Enoch’s square the sun was coming out and lighting up the new entrances to the underground. Needless to say I managed to get some shots there. After that, it was a bit of shopping for both of us separately for once. All the shopping was making us hungry and I’d just the place. We went to a fairly new pizza place, Paseano Pizza. It was judged a success by both of us. The pizzas were good, if a little soft underneath, and the alleged 175ml of wine was generously poured. That in itself helped us say “We’ll be back.”

Wandered up to Sausage Roll Street and I visited Waterstones while Scamp risked the tortuous labyrinth that is Watt Bros. We’d considered having another wee drink to seal the day, but then decided that we should just head for home.

Overall, a very satisfying and relaxing day in “The Toon.” Ye cannie beat it, honest, ye jist cannie. It was a lovely day. Heavy showers but lots of sunshine to make you forget the wet bits. Good company as always.

As always, the photos look much better and larger on Flickr. Click on the mosaic or here to be transported there.

Oh yes, I’ve removed the August gallery and replaced it with the much more interesting Skye September gallery. Do go and have a wee look.

Tomorrow we may do the same in another town, and then again we might not. That’s us, rebels without a clue!

It’s a small world – 15 September 2016

Posted on September 15, 2016September 15, 2016 by Zogman

Went in to Glasgow on the bus this morning to get my locks shorn. It was really well overdue. There are only two barbers in the shop I go to, both of whom have different topics of conversation. The young one is the radical who follows the Russian news channel on the Internet and says they tell fewer lies than the BBC. Not that they are more honest, just that they tell fewer lies. There’s a subtle difference in the semantics I think. The older man is more careworn and sarcastic. He’s on his third marriage I think, which probably explains my description of him. He was in charge of remodelling my coiffure today. Topics ranged from the usual Scottish start: The Weather to remembering Strathclyde Loch being created. It was after we talked about how the loch used to be just a fishing pond at the south end of Motherwell that he made the startling announcement “‘course I’m not from Motherwell, I’m from Larkhall.” “You’re kidding!” I said. We exchanged information about areas of Larky, then streets and realised that we lived about half a mile from each other. His father had been Mr Smart the headmaster at my primary school. Well, not exactly mine, more like my brother’s. I had Mr Crombie as my headmaster. We never called them ‘heidies’ then, we were much better brought up in Larky. It was only when I went into teaching that ‘heidies’ became synonymous with authority. We talked about places we both knew and inevitably pubs. A normal topic of discussion in a town with the greatest number of public houses per head of population in Scotland. I’ve been going to this barbers’ shop for more years than I care to recall and had my hair cut by this man for most of them, only to find out today the he too came from ‘The Town Behind the Wall.’ Maybe I’ll explain that sometime. A small world indeed.

Walked out into the sunshine and went down Bucky Street and out into Exchange Square or Royal Exchange Square to give it its full title, although the royal part of the name ceased to have any meaning when Glasgow Council acquired the Royal Bank of Scotland building which dominates it in the late ‘40s. See, you learn stuff on this blog. Now the grand building houses the Gallery of Modern Art (the GoMA) and is home to all human life … and a few indeterminate other forms of almost sentient beings. “Though I never perfected the simian stroll.” could have been written for this area. Good hunting ground for photos too. The central photo in the above mosaic, with judicious cropping gave the photos at the bottom and the middle left. The other two were just a couple of quick grab shots. They took about 5 minutes total to compose and shoot. Given half an hour here on a reasonably sunny day you could fill an SD card easily.

That was it for the photography for the day. Wandered round the centre of town, but didn’t see anything else to tempt me into digging the camera out of my pocket. Got the bus home and found Scamp happily digging plants out, planting others and generally tidying up the garden. To each his and her own.

Looks like the warm weather is gone for the time being and it’s back to more seasonal temperatures for the next day or so. I blame getting the air-con fixed!

Sunny Sunday – 11 September 2016

Posted on September 11, 2016September 11, 2016 by Zogman

We went to Glasgow today. Since the buses run to their own timetable on Sundays, we drove in. It was a lovely morning and Scamp thought we might manage to have a coffee outside, but by the time we’d finished shopping, the wind was becoming a bit gusty and we settled for a coffee inside.

Dinner for me was a repeat of yesterday’s, Lamb, Chorizo and Puy Lentil Casserole, but this time made at home. It turned out as good as the Loch Leven Larder’s, if not better. Who am I kidding? Of course it was better! Slow cooked for six hours, it was great. Plenty left over for tomorrow’s dinner and maybe some for lunch later in the week.

I went for a walk to St Mo’s in the late afternoon and got a few shots, but the light was poor by that time and that resulted in a lot of digital noise which you can remove quite easily with Lightroom, but the price you pay is a loss of definition, so it’s a double edged sword. I did see a strange pink blossom at completely the wrong time of year. There were thorns on the stems and on the back of the leaves which look like bramble leaves. The plant seemed to be behaving like a bramble by climbing round other tree branches. Couldn’t believe this was flowering in September in Scotland!

No plans for tomorrow, because like most Mondays it’s eaten up with Gems in the afternoon and salsa at night. Might get some painting done. If not on canvas, then at least on the outside window ledges.

Bike Porn – 4 September 2016

Posted on September 4, 2016September 5, 2016 by Zogman

Today, for the first time ever, or at least for a number of years, the Tour of Britain cycle race started from Glasgow.

We drove in early to be sure of getting a good place and spent an hour or so wandering around the pits, with me marvelling at the equipment on display. All of it shiny and clean. Something you can’t say about my own bike. There were bikes everywhere. On the team cars there were wheels, frames, complete bikes. Enough to cover every eventuality. As well as equipment, there were also the mobile homes for the teams. Scamp was wondering why someone called Wiggins needed two mobile homes, and if he was actually in one of them. The enormous crowd round them seemed to think he was. I did actually grab a shot of him later in one of the race pics. Unfortunately, I wasn’t actually focusing on him, but rather on the rider behind him as he was wearing a white top that helped the camera achieve focus better than on the superstar in front.

After our *’pit walk’* we walked over to the corner of George Street and Montrose street to get a good view of them coming along the straight. After the usual preliminaries of motorcycles, polis and team cars, the juniors came through, followed a few minutes later by the professionals. That’s when I noticed the error on the card – not writing! Flicked the card out and wrote to the other card. One big benefit of the D7000 is its two card slots. I got a few shots there, but they were only cruising at this time, just the warm-up for the real race. After the warm-up we had a few minutes to choose a different viewpoint and I moved round the corner a bit to get some shots of the riders coming round that tight bend before climbing up the fairly steep hill towards Cathedral Street. Scamp stayed almost where she was to act as a spotter! We had a bit of entertainment when a guy on the First Aid bike bravely pedaled up Montrose Street to a massive cheer from the crowds.

Scamp tipped me the wink that the peloton was coming and I got ready. Hammered off about ten shots as they rounded the bend and hoped for the best, then the camera jammed. Don’t know yet what it was. Yes, the buffer was full and emptying itself, but the lens wouldn’t focus. Swore for a bit, but I’d got most of the photos I wanted. Then as mysteriously the problem went away and I got some shots of the cavalcade of team cars driving up Montrose Street.

I thought they had another lap to do round the city centre circuit, so we wandered down to Ingram Street, but they had gone past on Clyde Street and over the bridge heading for Castle Douglas and we were heading home. Before we went I got a photo of a bloke standing across the road. We’re both sure it’s Scamp’s cousin, an ex-polis who took early-early-retirement and went to live in Spain. Home on holiday or another Brexit Exit? We’ll never know because she wasn’t absolutely certain it was him.

Had lunch and watched another *’exciting’* F1 GP, at least that’s what the over-enthusiastic Ben Edwards told us. I think he must have been watching a different race, or maybe you just had to be there.

Sunday Social in the early evening was good, except there seemed to be two salsa tracks to one bachata which became boring after a while. One or two bachata dances a night are good enough for me. Tonight was overkill. We think someone wanted extra practise time. Spoke to Carol and Ailsa whom we haven’t seen for ages. Sti.

Rain forecast for tomorrow, but it had been a lovely sunny day today. Just right for a nice bike ride.

Total abstinence is an impossibility – 31 August 2016

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Zogman

Not a lot to say about today, other than the six Auld Guys met up in the Horseshoe Bar for a few drinks, a cheap lunch, a few more drinks and a lot of good natured banter. It was great fun and for once there were no arguments, even when conversation turned to politics. The title of the blog post is one of the quotes painted, properly painted by a skilled signwriter on the inside of the gantry of the Horseshoe Bar. It’s attributed to Queen Victoria, but there is no proof that she drank in this pub.

From visiting one of the oldest pubs in Glasgow I had a look in one of the newest places, the Apple Shop in Buchanan Street. It only opened on Saturday after an eight month refit. It’s now much more open inside, but unfortunately they removed the glass staircase. Such a shame. It also looks as if they have removed the upper floor which housed the ‘Genius Bar’. That’s not such a big deal as I never actually found any ‘Geniuses’ there.

Only one photo today, there were more serious things on my mind today like a few drinks, a cheap lunch, a few more drinks and a lot of good natured banter. The building is the Premier Inn which, like the Apple shop was recently renovated. In my opinion they turned an ordinary building into a really ugly one. Kind of suits this area of Glasgow.

Don’t know what’s on the cards for tomorrow. It all depends on the weather.