a good bass player

That’s not like any bass I’ve ever seen – does it even have a name?!

Just don’t buy Landing on Water, because it’s crap. Tonight’s the Night is a cracking album as is Old Ways.

^^^ Meant to say, I ordered a few from that US link I supplied above – they work out a lot cheaper that way.

These guys are very good and much cheaper than most but they’re in the States – mine came in about four days though IIRC.

Also, it certainly used to be the case that if you only have a student license, you can’t upgrade at the discounted upgrade price when the next package comes out – that is, you have to pay for it at full price….

Vague and wooly Isle of Skye ride report here;

Glen Brittle and The Fairy Pools…

Nice to hear your dulcet tones Sir!

I have been known to let my hairy lurcher of his lead in a field of cows. Although we do our best to avoid walks where we know there’ll be cows, farmers tend to move the cattle from field to field so you can never be sure.

Cows can, and will attack and trample dogs, especially if they have calves – we’ve been charged several times by whole herds of the bloody things. The easiest and safest thing to do is to slip his lead and let him jump over the stile out of the field. As I said on page two though, sheep are another matter and he’s always on his lead if there are likely to be sheep in the vicinity….

It’s better to clean a £25 Hoya filter 20 times a day than it is to clean the front element of your lens.

Lots of good advice above…. I’m definitely a fan of protective filters. If you’re planning to stand in a studio with your camera on a tripod then, yes, by all means remove the £25 Hoya UV filter from your £1000+ lens.

If however, you’re likely to be out and about in the rain and the mud, photographing 18 stones of bike and rider with a wide angled lens then a filter is a-very-good-idea.

I don’t use them at weddings but I do use the deepest lens hood I can get away with purely to protect the lens’ front element.

Not on a proper MTB (but a Raleigh Grifter) – used to get dragged round Glen Tannar in Aberdeenshire. My Mum on her BSA ladys’ shopper with 3 speed Sturmey Archer and my stepdad on his 1st-gen Saracen.

In the Summers, it was off to Sutherland. I remember doing the route to Sandwood Bay.

First planned semi-planned route was South Top, north of Braemar – a three day epic in the snow, fulled by Heinzs’ ‘All Day Breakfasts’ in a can and a spot of whisky. Fractured a few ribs, came back to civilisation and eat my bodyweight in bacon rolls.

Spent most of the rest of my adult life trying to recreate the early days….

EDIT: does that last sentence sum up STW? 🙂

My guess is it’s something to do with those weirdo geo-cache afficianados.

Doesn’t look like a big cat attack – surely we’ve all seen what the aftermath looks like on nature progs? They tend to grab the throat and smother the victim whilst disembowelling with the back legs / claws.

Disturbing stuff – my dog spends a lot of time on Skye (where there are millions of sheep which no-one actually wants, but the owners receive a pittance from the government) and he has had to be severely trained when it comes to the wooly blighters. Still wouldn’t trust him 100% though, so he spends his whole time on an extending lead on Skye 🙁

‘K’ is for Kasper.

Gibside is nice for an afternoon of wandering – lovely architecture and gardens, and most importantly, a great teashop with massive cakes.

Mine’s from Argos 😀 Really – it was the only one I found which I could see myself wearing forever!

White gold, nearly four years old now and I never take it off. It does have a few, tiny nicks and scratches but as said above – it’s all character!

I must say I generally won’t buy T-shirts from TKM due to the huge BRANDING labels all over them – just screams tasteless to me. I do however buy most of my jeans and jumpers there, because they’re cheap and not covered in the makers’ brand names. Also had a few good pairs of shoes off them over the years….

I have, of late, very much enjoyed a bit of System of a Down. I thought they were one of those bands I hate, like Korn, Limpbizkit etc. Then heard ‘Terracotta Pie’ on a biking video and was hooked!

Bagsy never, ever meeting any of the people who have suggested having sex with / killing a dying woman (if it’s genuine). You really do need to have a word with yourselves.

Rusty Spanner – Member
Great post!

Hearty congrats on both completing the Munro’s and realising the folly of that moustache.

I was more worried about the perm 😯

Youtube then? That crew look very British to me 🙂

Meeting the TV guys in Portree, we had a brief chat then headed off to the bedroom for some filming.

😯

Sorry – couldn’t resist! Great story – when’s it going to be on telly? Had a good ride
round the Forest of Brittle and Glen Brittle in 2009.

That recent job in the Cairngorm (which I may yet be in touch about – they’ve come up with another four viewpoints) led to me having a few good nights in the pub with various munro-bagging characters – a breed apart 🙂

Mercury Rev – Deserters Songs. Can’t be arsed linking 🙂

The dude that ressurected the thread was very obviously trying to sell image recovery software for Macs. And it was probably shite.

EDIT; where the hell are all these people now – marsdenman and SFB in particular?

I’m selling off a fair bit of my old camera kit right now 😥

Don’t really want to, but must raise some extra cash for upcoming wedding fayres (I hate the word ‘fayre’ but seems to be common useage now!).

As has been said above – lots of nice, clear pics and if you can get a bit of cheery personal touch type stuff in as well, you’re onto a winner.

One of my lovely old cameras on ebay

Lots more to follow 😥

Hmmm. The goal posts have definitely shifted. When I was starting out as a photographer I used to cover the British University ski and snowboard comps. The day after the photos were delivered to the organisers, I’d see my photos all over facebook. It annoyed the piss out of me so the next year, I watermarked the websized pics but the organisers handed out the full size images to anyone who asked.

These days, I have come to accept that any photos on the net are fair game, whether I like it or not. Similar to unsigned bands, it’s all about advertising and getting your name out there, if managed properly.

I had a fever when I was about 10 and spent three days thinking I was in a Swallows and Amazons book (according to my mum). In my more lucid moments, the wall of the house next door (which I could see from my bed) grew several human heads which fascinated me – it was utterly horrific but I could not tear my gaze away for hours on end 🙁

Just for a bit of balance…. My wee brother went to the same (good) comprehensive that I did and went on to win a scholarship for Cambridge, where he gained a good degree. He’s now pursuing further studies in the US.

My point is that if you’re a brainbox, your background may be irrelevant, if you’re lucky enough to have pushy and caring teachers / parents. Many fee paying schools also have scholarship schemes.

It’s still a long way from ideal, granted; Cambridge highly recommend that their students do not take on part time jobs, so spending money is expected to come from the parents – mine worked several years past their expected retirement to fund my bro’s education. But it can be done.

Growing up in Aberdeen, when the casuals were at their height, it was impossible not to get in a few scrapes. My mum just couldn’t get her head round it; “You must be doing something to wind them up!”. Nope, just walking along trying to avoid eye contact usually….

“Cougar – Member
user-removed > probably best not to post the original Ceiling Cat, eh? (-:”

Can’t say I’ve seen it is it NSFW perchance?

EDIT ^^^^^ Ah!

Another vote for the scene where Bruce has escaped. The way he picks up and examines the various weapons in a leisurely fashion, whilst someone is getting beggared nearby. You just know that his revenge will be sweeeeeet!

I’ve posted this before, but I think it bears another viewing. Our mutt before and aftyer his first and last haircut. Never before have I seen a dogs’ worldview change so completely in such a short time….

I had an eye-opening moment of clarity last year. One of the young lads I work with occasionally at the ski slope turned up looking flustered and upset. It turned out his dad was in hospital with serious heart problems, mostly down to his habit of downing a bottle of wine every night, sometimes more and smoking heavily too.

Now this guy (the dad) is only six years older than me and I realised my consumption wasn’t far behind his. I excercise vigorously which may somewhat mitigate the damage, but as I said, it was a real eye-opener.

I still drink at least half a bottle of red every night – I very rarely get hammered – it’s more like I have reached a plateau, but I’m very aware it’s not a healthy state of affairs. All the more so as the wife and I are thinking along the lines of babies and she reminds me daily (and forcibly) that cutting back is a necessity.

I’m knocking the tabs on the head on the 1st of February and plan to make a serious effort to drink much less at the same time.

So, in short, and to answer the OP, yes, that much drink is a problem and I share it 🙂

Aye – what psychle said. I don’t have kids so can’t really imagine the whole protective instinct thing, but from what you’ve said thus far, it does rather sound like your good lady has been looking for an excuse from the word go….

I got mauled by my uncle’s alsatian once and bitten several times over the course of its lifetime. Just learned to stay away from it and avoid certain behaviour when near it.

EDIT; Oh! And my beloved rescue dog (who’s now been with us for nearly four years) bit me quite badly the first week we had him. He’s never been aggresive since.

ernie_lynch,

As the owner of an almost 5 metre long car, I would like to know why Micra drivers can’t learn to accelerate beyond 25mph …… or is it as I suspect, that they only do just to wind me up ? ****

You’re kidding aren’t you?! Up here in the NE, where everyone drives Nissans (the factory’s here), I regularly get passed by Micras doing 90. It’s terrifying!

showerman – yes exactly that – just goes cold before slowly returning to normal (set) temp. A bit of afternoon Googling told me I should be replacing the TCO, which I’m guessing is what you’re referring to above (thermal cut out).

The hose is also a bit borked where it meets the showerhead – might the increased pressure cause the TCO to trip?

I had to replace my switch last year – just unscrewed it (isolated power first, obviously!), took it down to B&Q, bought exactly the same one and fitted it in ten mins – and I’m a right cack-handed barsteward.

On a related note, can anyone guess at why my electric shower has suddenly started alternating between normal temperature and freezing cold?! It’s not usually affected by taps / washing machine / dishwasher. Sorry for the hijack….

Sorry, but for the 2nd time tonight, I give you

This;

He wanted an interesting headshot to promote his musical endeavours. The original is off his phone, so apologies for the quality…

He saw my Facebook profile pic and wanted something similar;

Mine’s better 🙂

+1 Lightroom – especially if you’re planning on covering more bike races. Nothing beats it IME for dealing with large numbers of photos.