I know, I know, I don’t like the iPhone camera or rather what the software does with the images captured. But when the iPhone is the only camera you have with you then you have to make the best of a bad job. Actually this make it sound like I was suddenly transported into this strange lightshow unprepared but that wasn’t the case at all. We had planned to see the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience at All Saints church in Leicester for a couple of days so I could have taken a better camera – but I didn’t (what does that say about me?). So I can’t gripe about the camera but I will anyway – as anyone who might read the above will see.
The show itself was really quite good, although we did baulk at paying an extra fee for the Virtual Reality experience. I have seen a number of Van Gogh’s greatest paintings in real life so I don’t need to see a ‘virtual‘ version.
For whatever reason I have created more and more art in the digital realm whilst making fewer drawings in the real world. I think it is about time that I changed that just a little. I made this sketch of the Star Wars character Ahsoka this morning (oh I really hope Disney doesn’t screw things up in the forthcoming series – only time will tell) and I think I’m a little rusty. There is only one get rid of this rust – more drawings!
I was wading through the images I have captured using the Lightroom app on my iPhone – the best way I have found to access the RAW (sort of) data of an image – and came across these images I captured over the past few days. This is about a random a collection as you’ll find and say more about my life as anything else!?!
The last two have a strange circularity to them as I have been thinking once more about my camera set up. Around 12 months ago I was going through the same thing trying to answer the same questions as I am now and it cost several hundred pounds to realise I came up with the wrong answer. I don’t think I’m going to do that again…am I?
What does it mean to be a football fan? Nowadays it is really not that clear. Am I a football fan? I really don’t know. What I do know is that when 4:45pm comes around on Saturday (I know football doesn’t work that way the games are spread all over the place but humour me) the one result I look for is Leicester’s. I have done that for most of my life. Would I go to a game? No. I have attended too many games in my life to have had that knocked out of my system. But still Leicester is the only team I really care about.
This is why I don’t believe the long term future of football isn’t in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula nor the boardrooms of financial organisations. Football, as far as England is concerned, is the team you care about. Leicester has been lucky over the past few years but that luck ran out last season and they went down. I read in the Athletic that Brendan Rodgers is a 3 season manager. If he stays any longer then it doesn’t go well for the team he is incharge of at that time. Well guess what he was at Leicester for nearly 4 seasons.
So a new season, a new division and a new manager Enzo Maresca. The first game was a victory – that is good even if they were lucky but 3 points are 3 points. It is a long way to May and hopefully promotion. Leicester are the favourite to win the division and over the past few years 2 of the 3 promotion places have been taken by teams recently relegated from the Premiership. So 66% chance of promotion – not bad odds – perhaps the £44 million Leicester will receive as a parachute payment from the Premiership well help them keep as many players as they can. Let’s hope so
Just some images I captured whilst taking my morning constitutional. Somehow they fit the Coffee Shop playlist in Apple Music – well at least my version, I’m sure your selection may well be different.
July has been one of those months when I don’t seem to have been able keep on top of a lot of things I should have. Well it is the end of the month so I thought I would try and catch up with at least some of my outstanding tasks on my to do list. These images were captured at the Hepworth, Wakefield in the early part of July.
The gallery also has a rather pleasant garden too.
So will the Tories lose all three of the upcoming by elections? I don’t know but that is not going to stop me speculating!
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Chance of Conservatives losing: 90%
What more can be said about Alexander Johnson AKA Boris? I suspect the voters of the constituency want to give him a real kicking for many reasons. However, I suspect that the forthcoming ULEZ implementation might have a factor but I doubt it will have that much. Perhaps turn out will be low but it is the former seat of the artist known as Boris so perhaps not. Given all this I think were the Tories to hold this seat it will be a major upset – hence the 90% chance of them losing it.
Somerton and Frome
Chance of Conservatives losing: 70%
For almost 20 years this seat used to be return a Liberal Democrat MP. The current MP has resigned after being involved in after being involved in misconduct (I’ll let you find the full details for yourself…needless to say they are …well you can find out...). The Liberal Democrats had a very good local council elections in the area this year taking over the running of the council. Former Tory resign in shame, Liberal Democrat on the rise. This should be great opportunity for the Lib Dem gain. The only downsides are that the Conservatives have a nearly 20k majority and it is summer so many voters might be on holiday. Nonetheless I think there is a good chance of a Lib Dem gain.
Selby and Ainsty
Chance of Conservatives losing: 60%
I don’t really know anything about this seat other than its previous MP seems to have resigned in a fit of peek because he wasn’t allowed to go to the House of Lords in Boris’s resignation ‘Honours’ list. Again, this has a 20k plus majority so this might help save it but I suspect not. However, it is an unknown so I have given the Tories a fighting chance but given the national mood I still feel it is likely to fall to Labour
So taken as a whole this would give the Tories around a 60% of at least keeping hold of at least one of these seats, my guess would be Selby and Ainsty. However, I suspect the all the circumstances of these three by elections will mean that they will lose all three. Only the voters know.
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