Sanity Closing In?

Drove past this scary sight this morning.. Frightened me to death in my bleary eyed state. The dude was ginormous and sitting on top of the Marktkauf supermarket. Is it December already? Not quite?

Kunsthalle Bielefeld

We went to Schafer's for a drink at the Art gallery in Bielefeld and then on for a mooch around the Christmas Market stalls.

Better than all the rest.

Young City fan Milo(five years old) stands a foot of the tribute 'brick' to George outside Old Trafford. Cut me in half and I bleed royal blue blood but there is no disguising that he was genius. Total respect to Georgie a superb footballer that delighted me and inspired me in my pre-teen years with his sublime, angelic skill. R.I.P

Wasted Youth.

My Mum first introduced me to Bacardi when I was a teenager.. Whilst doing the ironing and we'd share a glass or few with full fat Coke.. I can see the bottle now balanced and meticulosuly placed on the foldaway ironing board. I remember drinking it profusely at eighteen years old in Calella , Spain.. with the Ner Ner Nineteen.. I don't think they'd allow that many teenage lads on a cheapo tourist intercontinental coach these days. I think the Spanish called it CubaLibre and I've been hooked ever since...
Cheers Mum.

Blizzard

Had to precariously crawl back from Osnabruck on the autobahn due to huge snowfall and hardcore artic conditions. Left the D2X in the strong room so I'm looking forward to taking the Fuiji out tomorrow in the magic whiteness of it all.

figure in the flame

I Took this shot recently at a permanent memorial to the victims of the Berlin Wall near to the Brandnburg Gate. I only shot two frames, as the light was fading fast, the first has the flame in focus. This one has the writing in the background in focus and the flame looks spookily like a human figure..

Starsailor

Starsailor are on in nearby Munster next Wednesday. This is a shot of the lead singer; Walshy, from a set I did a while ago.

First Frost

Had to sort out the car for frost for the first time this morning.. The new machine responded quicker and better than last year's model. I also love the under the car thermometer that allows the onboard computer to inform me of the temperature of the road.. A little snowflake materializes on the dash with a 'boing' sound to suggest caution as the road surface is freezing.. A nice touch.. That's why I love BMW.

The Norseman cometh

Yesterday I was considering going to Norway for my next photo assignment in early December.. After a little consideration about possible weather implications I decided on the Czech Republic instead. strange then, that I licensed an image of Lisa today to a Norwegian health and beauty magazine.

Graf Numero 11

Stencil.

Location: Paceville, Malta.
Artist: unknown.

Block Buster

Looked after Keith's dog Buster all day, whilst working on my new flash site. It's not finished but it's getting there. http://uk.geocities.com/davidcrausby/index.html

Fat Birds

Some excellent birds coming to feed at the moment in my garden. Visitors include a great little Nuthatch and a huge lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I like fattening them up in preparation for survival through a cold German winter.

Temporary powers?

The French Senate is set to pass emergency laws a day after the lower house of parliament voted for a three-month extension.
The laws allow local authorities to impose curfews, conduct house-to-house searches and ban public gatherings.
Hmmm?

Kaylied

The government has beaten off a last-ditch attempt to prevent pubs opening round-the-clock from next week.
A Conservative motion to cancel the part of the Licensing Act allowing extended hours was defeated by 74 votes in the Commons.
Opponents say later closing times for England and Wales will lead to increased anti-social behaviour. Wasted. The breweries will be loving it human livers won't be.

Sale Amsterdam

Sold three images of Amsterdam in the last week. This isn't one of them. This is Heijermann.

Bleeding Radiators

Bled my radiators and now the house is toasty. Loved watching the match.. England win 3-2 against Argentina in a thriller in Geneva.. Massive improvements all round.. Rooney and Owen and gerrard outstanding. Ferdinand still dodgy.

Party

Off to a party in Osnabruck. Who's going to drive????
Hmm, so that will be me then...

90 Days?

I was driving home from Osnabruck in the direction of Hannover while back in the UK Parliament voted against Blair's Government for the first time.
I'm still undecided.. please help me have a resolute opinion?

What is your reaction to the government’s terror vote defeat?MPs have rejected government proposals to allow police to hold terror suspects without charge for up to 90 days.However, the Commons later backed a 28-day detention amendment, winning by 33 votes.What is your reaction to the MPs’ vote? Send me your comments.

The Return of the Saint

http://itv4.itv.com/itv4/programmes.jsp

Checked out itv4 for the first time this evening. Enjoyed seeing such retro stuff as Simon Templar in action.
Could be a surprise televisual hit. I'll definitely be tuning into the new Kojak with Ving Rhames.

All Ablaze

It continues to erupt in Paris..
At least 1,400 vehicles have been burnt out and 395 people arrested in France's latest rioting, while the unrest has apparently claimed its first fatality.
Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, 61, who fell into a coma after being beaten by a hooded man last week, has died.
In Sunday night's violence - the worst so far - 36 policemen were injured, including two who were shot in Paris. It's time for this to stop..The point has been made.
I say; "GO SKATE INSTEAD."

In a jam.

A lazy, autumnal Sunday in Germany. Only one thing to do right now.. Eat toast!

Stag Do

Received an Email off Dom asking if I wanted to go to Simon McGarry's stag do in Amsterdam in March 2006.. They'll be travelling in from Salford.. I can easily take the train from here to Centraal Station..?

Lisa's boots

Lisa bought an ace pair of Camper boots at majorca airport. Bizarre and brilliant

Majorca-Hannover

An early flight back to base.

Endgame

The lads packed the gear away as Lisa and I went for a stroll to Arenal and the Thursday market. Glorious sunshine as the season and our short holiday came to it's conclusion. A bit of sun has come in handy to redress the onslaught of SAD type seasonal disorders.

A New Religion

At Platja De Palma I was fascinated by this massive drinking gaff called the Mega-Park. It's an ancient ruin of a church that has been rebuilt and probably relocated to the coastline. The stained glass has been replaced with modern depictions of Germany's beer culture; frauleins carry ale, fat geezers with steiners of booze, deutsch tankards, etc, A new place of worship..? I guess so.

Graf Numero 10

Location = Palma De Mallorca, Spain
Artist = Unknown

Palma'd Up.

Took the bus to Palma in the glorious sunshine. Walked about for a while in the Balearic capital and shot exterior views of the Cathedral with the fisheye and the 70-200mm.. Looking for something different from the bog-standard architecture shots. I don't see any point in replicating the work of a thousand other photographers so I often go for a weird view of some kind.
Got the tour bus all around the city and loved shooting Castel de Belver. An excellent day's fairly easy shooting in superb weather, great sky, super light.