Glasgow – Page 41 – My Photo Blog

Forty Three Years Ago – 17 February 2016

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Zogman

Forty three years ago today the weather was much the same. There was snow on the ground and it was cold. Two young folk, one 22 and one just 18 repeated their vows and became man and wife. How their lives have changed.

Today we took it easy. We had intended going to Edinburgh, but it being the middle of the week and with the prospect of more snow on the way, we decided to cut our losses and go to Glasgow instead. Rather than suffer the long bus journey through the wilds of Moodiesburn and Muirhead, I offered to drive. We eventually got parked in the third carpark we tried, despite the electronic signs telling us that there were spaces in the other two (they lied). Walked down through town me looking at a couple of cameras on the way, but still undecided which or even if I’d buy if it came down to it. Just like a girl can never have enough shoes, a photog can never have enough cameras. Decided on Browns for lunch and were mightily disappointed in the lack of flavour from both our meals. It’s feels like they have a reputation now, so they don’t have to try so hard. I think we’ll try somewhere else next time, but it’s a shame when it was a celebration meal and we rejected a few good restaurants before opting for Browns. Maybe it’s something to do with the name “Browns”: ordinary, nondescript, boring. Sort of sums it up really.

Went from there to the Art Store and picked up a couple of small Pink Pig sketch books and a wonderful bargain of a watercolour box reduced from £79 to £25!! Unfortunately, as I guessed, the Art Store is closing for good at the end of the month. According to one of the assistants, “the company is kaput”. Short term bargains for artists, but long term loss for art in Glasgow. They will be sadly missed.

After we came home, the weather brightened up and I managed an hour in St Mo’s just walking in the snow taking shots mainly with the 9mm. Some of the results are above. No plans for tomorrow, it all depends on the weather.

Booked – 12 February 2016

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Zogman

We finally got a holiday booked for Scamp and I. We were beginning to think that we wouldn’t get away at all, but now we are good to go.

Went in to Glasgow today. Couldn’t decide at first whether to go to Stirling or Glasgow, but I wanted to have a look at a camera and I was pretty sure I could get my hands on it in Glasgow. There was no chance of seeing a camera in Stirling. With that in mind, we headed for Glasgow in the afternoon. Other than visiting the travel agent and then Jessops, it was just a quick trot round the shops, then home. There was one surprise, the Art Store in Queen Street was offering everything in store at 50% off. That may sound good, and indeed there were bargains to be had, but it made me wonder if this is another independent art shop that has gone to the wall.

The camera was not as good as I had hoped it would be. It was an Oly E-M5 and I got my hands on it in John Lewis. First impressions were that it felt a bit clumsy and not as neat as the E-PL5. I then tried it’s newer sibling the Oly E-M10 in Jessops. It was neater and more ergonomic than the older E-M5, but still didn’t make me want to part with my money. I had no intention of buying the camera from either of these shops. I only wanted to use them to get my hands on them and give them a bit of comparison. If I was going to buy one, I’d go to one of the second-hand dealers on the net like MBP in Brighton. Anything I’ve bought from them has been really good quality and was at least a third off the price when new.

Three shots today from our walk around Glasgow. Nothing outstanding, just a few candids.

Cold and bright in Glasgow.

Curry – 7 February 2016

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Zogman

I had to drive in to Glasgow today to go to a curry making afternoon at Cafe India in the city. It was a really interesting two and a half hours which started with making pakora – Potato, Spinach and Chicken varieties. After we sampled them, we moved on to mains. I made the Lamb Lazees (pronounced Layzee) which was really rich and a little bit creamy. I think I’d he hard put to make it myself, but it was an experience discovering just how quick these dishes are to make. Granted the meat was all pre-cooked, but one woman was vegetarian and she made a standard vegetable curry in the same time as the rest of us, which was about 10 minutes. Next was a demonstration of making nan bread and chapatis. We didn’t get a chance to make our own, probably on health and safety grounds as the tandoor oven operates at 300ºc! Finally we had a sit down lunch where we got to eat the fruits of our labours. I’ve told Scamp that the next time she sees this offer, she should go and then we can compare notes.

We should have gone to the Sunday Social today, but I couldn’t be bothered and Scamp was feeling the after-effects of yesterday’s late night at Kul’s surprise birthday party at Gusto in Bothwell Street in Glasgow. Table should have been ready for 7.45pm, but the restaurant were running late. Finally got our mains at just after 10.00pm. I don’t think we’ll be back there again. My main was good – roast chicken, but the meat was finished before they brought the potatoes and veg. Totally disorganized and not cheap either. So, we agreed to forego salsa but did have a practise at the bachata steps we learned last week.

Only got one shot today in a dull rainy Glasgow. It wasn’t raining in Cowcaddens underground where I got today’s PoD. It should have been the full view across both tunnels, but I was rushing and didn’t notice the camera strap obscuring the left hand tunnel. One of the problems of the 9mm lens is the remarkable field of view. Sometimes it’s too big a field.

Saw a couple of lovely paintings in the restaurant (top right) and tried to copy one tonight. Not totally successfully, but an interesting diversion from my usual “style“. Yet another work in progress.

Deep and Crisp and Even – 30 January 2016

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Zogman

It snowed during the night. When we woke it was bright white sunshine that was coming in the windows. Such a nice difference. Yes, I knew it was going to cloud over and there was the chance that we’d have more snow during the day, but for a while it was sunny.

Had a relaxed start to the day, no need to rush on a Saturday now. Let the workers do the rushing to make the most of their weekend. Us retirees can take our time. Finished the book I was reading “Strange Loyalties” by Wm McIlvanney. It was a bit of struggle finishing it, rather like wading through treacle at times, but good use of language. Full review on Goodreads (3/5 stars).

Luckily we had planned on a bus journey to Glasgow because I didn’t fancy driving anywhere today with blizzards forecast for everywhere in Scotland. As it happened, we didn’t see any blizzards, but there was a bit of snow as we were driven in to the great metropolis that is Glasgow.

This being our anniversary, or the anniversary of the day we met, we went for lunch. Today’s choice was Charcoals. I had Rara Gosht and Scamp had Chicken Dopiaza. They were both lovely – not cheap, but lovely. We wandered round ‘The Toon’ for a while and then came home on the bus.

By the time we got back most of the snow had gone. It was a great day.

Today’s PoD, in fact the only one worth talking about, was taken outside the Apple building which is being ‘modernised’. A nice bit of business acumen there.

One day this weary winter will be gone – 28 January 2016

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Zogman

Title comes from a Loudon Wainwright song and it sums up my feelings quite succinctly. Another still life as evidence of the darkness outside from dawn to dusk. Dusk being about 5 minutes after dawn. After that, total darkness reigns.

Today we went to 1 Devonshire Gardens for lunch. It was a retirement present from the Malleys for Sheila. This was a full dress occasion – suit, shirt and tie. I even got shaved. It was worth it. Food was really excellent. Service was excellent too, just what you’d expect in a place like this. Because we knew that “drink would be taken”, we went on the bus, in fact buses because we got the bus from the centre of town to the restaurant. That was a first for us, travelling IN Glasgow by bus, but it was a necessity today because it was a 20 minute walk from the subway station and it was raining.

After our delicious lunch we went back in to the centre of town to pick up my beautiful artwork from Sunday’s class in Cass Art. It’s still sitting in the bag until I have the courage to look at it again. I’m only glad that I didn’t buy the paint they were pushing at the class.

Now we are getting ready to batten down the hatches before Storm Gertrude arrives with its 80mph wind gusts.

A Different Sort of Day – 22 January 2016

Posted on January 22, 2016January 22, 2016 by Zogman

After a downer of a week, weatherwise and otherwise, we woke today to … rain. Woke up at around 6.00am to rain battering against the window. Turned over and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew it was 9.00am and it was still raining. Oh well, I’d decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander and the weather app on my phone said it would be sunny by midday – fat chance says I. By the time I’d got myself organised and finished just one more chapter of Strange Loyalties by the late William McIlvanney, a very introspective novel with wonderful use of language, by the time I finally put it down, it was getting on for 11.30. Scamp had declined my offer of a run into town, so I went myself on the train. Got parked easily for a change at the station.

When I was walking up to the station, the rain had stopped and wonder of wonders, there was blue sky up there. At 12.10, sitting in the Glasgow train, the clouds parted and the sun shone. It stayed that way for the rest of the day. The weather app was right, well, ten minutes late, but we can forgive it that. In Glasgow I went up to JL, but they had no bargains – well, they hardly ever do. Had a play around with one of the Oly 4/3 DSLRs I’ve been watching coming down in price. Second hand of course. Unfortunately I handled the posh V2 version first, so the viewfinder wasn’t as clear in the second, more affordable, one. That said, it has come EVFs have come a long way since the Sony F707, or even the removable EVF of the Oly E-PL5. Sorry for all that technospeak, Jic, it’s over now, you can open your eyes again.

Lots of lovely light in Bucky Street and interesting people too. I have to thank the community policeman who noticed I’d dropped the viewfinder from the E-PL5 in my rush to get a shot. Thank you very much whoever you are, I never really got a chance to thank you properly. I know it’s unlikely you will ever read this, but I feel better now. I walked all the way down past St Enoch’s to the Clyde walkway and found even more photo opportunities.

Back up to the station, back home and a piece ‘n’ cheese for a late lunch before Scamp came home from a “Witches” meeting.

What a difference a bit of sun makes.

A grey day – 20 January 2016

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Zogman

Grey start to the day with mist and the inevitible rain. We had hoped to go out somewhere scenic today as we did last week, but it wasn’t looking like a scenic kind of day. Finally settled on going to the Forge Market in Glasgow. Not very scenic, but it does have a Clarks shoe shop and there are few of them in the countryside. After trying this and that, leather and suede, black and brown, boots and shoes – you get the message, I settled on a pair of brown leather shoes and almost as my debit card was cooling in my wallet changed my mind. That’s about par for the course for me. I’ve got 28 days to cool my heels, or my feet to be more precise, before I have to accept or reject the shoes.

When we came out we tried to get a table at Cotton House, but were too late. They closed at 2.00 and it was just about 1.00 at the time. We were in Glasgow and they were in Bonnybridge – a bridge too far.

After getting lost a couple of times trying to get back on the motorway, Scamp suggested we go to The Fort in Easterhouse. I always did think they needed a fort in Easterhouse, but not one with high fashion shops, just a portcullis and a drawbridge. Had lunch at Wagamama. I had my usual of Ramen, Pork Ramen to be precise and Scamp had Teriyaki Chicken which was quite nice.

Walked along to Hobby Craft after lunch and got myself a daylight light bulb. Fred gave me one a month or so ago and although it was quite good, it was a bit weak and not as blue as daylight should be. The one I got today is much better. It’s a long life spiral bulb 20W which equates to 95W and has a mired value of 6500k which sounds like a perfect daylight level. I’ll give it a try over the next few days. Maybe it would disperse the grey light we are living with at the moment.

Snow! – 16 January 2016

Posted on January 16, 2016January 16, 2016 by Zogman

A late start after the late night yesterday. Couldn’t really decide what to do today and the weather didn’t look as if it was going to be all that good for a scenic drive. That being so, we settled on a drive in to Glasgow and lunch there. On the way there, the snow started falling and by the time we got to Glasgow it was quite thick. I’ve got a dream just now about getting an iMac to replace the Macbook Pro. I asked the Apple rep in John Lewis some questions about it. Some she couldn’t answer, some she could, but she didn’t inspire confidence in either Scamp or me, but she had a good way of moving ‘weans’ away from the expensive ‘toys’. We walked out and down through Buchanan Galleries then down Bucky Street to the Apple store which is closing for “remodelling”. They couldn’t tell me when it would re-open and I found that a bit disconcerting. What I did find out about iMacs confirmed that not only did the JL rep not know much about the computers, but also she just made up some of the answers. Why do JL employ supposed ‘reps’ from companies when these people know nothing about the products and sometimes deliberately mislead customers. It’s not the first time this has happened to me.

I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, so we headed back to the car park, but made a detour to the JL teashop where we had a light lunch. Luckily, Scamp had found a seat with a good view past the Concert Hall and up Sausageroll Street. The snow seemed to abate for a while while we were in JL, but by the time we got back to the car park it was back with a vengeance.

Back home I made good on my promise and dug out the old sewing machine. While it was not exactly the same as the one I’d been using on Thursday, it was close enough to work out the basics. Tomorrow I’m hoping to get some 3in1 oil and get it lubricated at least and hopefully working. Bearing in mind that this is a forty odd year old machine, for once I will have to be very gentle. Let’s hope that tomorrow’s blog is not titled “It’s Broken”.

A bit of culture, sew there – 14 January 2016

Posted on January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 by Zogman

Another bright morning, bright but cold. Since I was going to a sewing machining class, yes, that’s right a sewing machining class in Glasgow tonight and I wanted to see where it was, we decided to drive in to Glasgow. It was really quite easy to find and it was near Kelvingrove Art Galleries, so it made sense to just stop and smell the roses, or look at the pictures. It’s ages since we spent any time in the (F)art galleries, many more ages since I took a critical look at the paintings. I won’t say I learned a lot, but I did see some intersting techniques that I’ll have a go at. Since we were on quite a tight time schedule we left without listening to all of the organ recital, but it didn’t look as if Bowie was on today’s playlist.

I had an hour or two before I needed to get my threads and needles ready, so I went for a walk through St Mo’s. Saw a deer in the distance, but that was it as far as the wildlife was concerned. Even Mr Grey was absent. Got some pics of frozen and snow covered toadstools. We don’t often get toadstools in January, so this is another sign of the mild weather of the last few weeks. Temperature is dipping quite drastically now though. Frosted cars in the morning and the grit lorry making its rounds tonight.

Speaking about tonight, I drove into Glasgow to go to the Sew Macho class. Couldn’t find the actual studio at first. Luckily there were other dressmaking hopefuls there too and one of them knew where we needed to go. Only four in the class and I, of course, was the oldest by far. It was a really, really interesting introduction to the mysteries of the sewing machine. When I was at school I wasn’t allowed to take Home Economics – boys did Woodwork or Metalwork and girls did Cookery or Sewing and never the twain would meet. I’d played about with Scamp’s sewing machine forty odd years ago, but apart from making strings of little ducks and little dogs, I didn’t do anything with it. I was always scared I’d punch a hole in my finger with the needle, or I’d break the needle, maybe even both!
Tonight I learned to:

Set up the machine.
Spool the bobbin with thread and load it.
Do Single Stitches
Do Zig-zag Stitches
Make a Simple Hem
Make a Blind Hem
Sew in a patch
Sew on a button

All taught with good humour and confidence by teacher Jenny. I even managed to patch an old pair of jeans. I think I will dig out the old sewing machine and see if I can remember some of the techniques. You never know, I might even make myself a tee shirt … someday!

Another year over – 31 December 2015

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Zogman

Just another one of the many grey days we’ve had recently. Didn’t want to stay in though, so we took the train to Glasgow. Not looking for anything in particular and everything in general. Ended up walking down Bucky Street, along Argyle Street, coffee in Nero at St Enoch’s and back up Bucky street for the train home. I tell a lie, we nipped in to Waterstones where I got the last ever Terry Pratchett book, a book of Soup recipes (I kid you not) and Scamp, because she was so taken with some of the recipes in the Nigel Slater book Hazy and ND’A gave me for Christmas, got herself another Nigel Slater book! More food books – you can never have enough cook books. By the way, Hazy, your calendar is printed and as we were passing a Ryman, I got the A4 envelopes to post it in. It will be despatched as soon as the post office recovers from New Year.

While we were at Nero’s, I took the opportunity to photograph the futuristic subway entrances there. I must say I really am impressed with the use of steel and glass in the construction. Also impressive is the way Glasgow Council had managed to bung up the drains in front of one of them to create a little shallow pond that reflects their shape perfectly. Artistic but not so practical. Well done again GC.

So, here we are again watching crap TV in the hopes that there will be something worthwhile to pass the time until “The Bells”. It’s unlikely, as it’s never been good before, but there’s a first time for everything.

Until next year, Good Night All.