Right Place, Missed Opportunities

....Photographically speaking.

The day began with a drive past the farms at Robroyston, it was there I spotted a hawk sitting on a fence post at the edge of the road. This was an unusual enough experience on its on because the only time I've previously seen a hawk is when its been flying about 500 feet over my head. I was amazed when the hawk didn't seem to be bothered by the traffic that was passing its hunched shoulder by just a few feet. By the time I got there though it decided it was time to move, but it didn't move away from me, it flew in a parallel direction, alongside the passenger side of the van for what seemed like 30 seconds (although in all reality it was probably closer to 5). I could have sworn at the time when the hawk finally decided it had enough of low level flying and that it was time to move upwards for better prey spotting that we first exchanged eye contact, but that might have been my overactive imagination.
What I do know for sure is that as much as I was enjoying this moment it was also annoying me knowing that my camera was close by just sitting behind my feet but still unreachable because I had to keep my hands on the steering wheel. So I have no image to share just the proverbial fisherman's 'it really was this big' story.
After that experience I came across a red squirrel. Red squirrels are native to Britain but they are getting rarer every year as they cannot compete with the American grey squirrels that were introduced little over a 100 years ago. The grey squirrels have a virus that although harmless to other greys are deadly to reds and the greys are also more aggressive eaters, so when the greys move in the reds tend to move or die out. For years I've seen grey squirrels in huge numbers here but I had never once seen a red squirrel in the area, so when I spotted one I just sat and watched for a while. With careful observation I noticed that any time it felt in any danger it would hide away but would always return to a favourite tree. So I went back to the van and got my camera out and went back to the tree and sat on a very damp rock and tried to remain as still as possible until the red squirrel decided to come back again. Of course when it did so it spotted me right away and was not happy with me being there. It's amazing how something so small can make so much noise.
I wasn't going anywhere though, it could make as many clicking noises as it liked but I was going to continue to sitting on my damp rock no matter how uncomfortable it was. Eventually it decided that I wasn't a threat and it got closer and closer and eventually I got a picture. Unfortunately even with the zoom it wasn't quite close enough but I was determined to sit it out and get a better picture. Slowly but surely the red got used to my presense under the tree and continued to get closer and just when I thought I was about to get a good picture 3 kids ran out of godknowswhere making so much noise doing so that every living thing in the vicinity hid, including the damn squirrel.

Whatever happened to kids should be seen and not heard?
To top it all off, on the drive home a fox thought it would try to outstare the headlights of the van. Eventually it saw sense and moved off the road before I ran it over but again it was another opportunity missed.

Note To Self

When you have stitches in your head do NOT under any circumstances put on a tight T-shirt because it will bloody hurt. Alot.

Sometimes I do some really foolish things.

Yesterday's Post ,Today

Work that one out if you can.

It's quite simple really.

Yesterday was St Andrew's Day, and with St Andrew being the patron Saint of Scotland and I had intended to have a Scottish theme to yesterday's post but then I got myself into a bloody mess and didn't really have the time. So I'll write it up a day late instead, besides I've always been a procrastinator anyway.
The Irish have St Patricks day which involves wearing something green and drinking a lot of Guiness. The Guiness company have done quite well out of hijacking St Patricks day, but here in Scotland we don't really do much for St Andrew's day. In recent years there has been some movement to make it a national holiday but even if it was a day off from working most people would probably only use it to go Christmas shopping or something. The problem with it being so close to Christmas is that most people are saving up for all the Christmas parties that start in the next couple of weeks so its hard to get excited about a St Andrew's Day. That made coming up with a theme for this post difficult so I finally just decided to go with a Scottish music theme by mentioning bands and a song worth checking out.
So here they are in no particular order, download them at your leisure.

The Fratelli's new band this year that seemed to come from nowhere to have one of the best debut albums of the year. Unique sound and very energetic, and would be a great band to see live. Softer track to listen to Everyone Knows You Cried Last Night

The Skid's A punk rock band of the late 70's & early 80s that in truth I had forgotten about until U2 & Greenday got together and remade The Saint's Are Coming

Son's & Daughter's Folk/Rock with Scottish accents. Another unique band that are great live. Track to listen to is Monster's if only for the line 'compassion's just a word in a dictionary on your shelf'.

Arab Strap If you have ever wondered what a Scotsman (no not me) sounded like when drunk then you have to listen to this duo because thats exactly what they sound like. Some bands specialize in singing love songs, not Arab Strap miserable cunts that they are (and I say that in the nicest possible way) they sing anti-love songs. Strangely it works, possibly because he does sound likes he's drunk. The song to listen to is The Shy Retirer, partly for that authentic drunk sound I was talking about and partly for the 'you know i'm always moanin' but you jump-start my seratonin'.

Belle & Sebastian A little bit twee but sometimes twee is ok. If You Find Yourself Caught In Love

Paolo Nutini Another debut act this year. At 19 years of age he has all the ingredients that would make it so easy to hate him, he is good looking and he has talent and a voice beyond his years. I haven't figured out why I haven't been able to hate him yet other than for the reason of not getting a ticket for his shows that sell out incredibly fast. Last Request

Camera Obscura. This was a band I heard a lot about from friends who had seen them live but I didn't pay much heed until I heard them for myself and then I went through a phase where I just played everything they had ever performed basically because I thought that the lead singer's voice was gorgeous and I couldn't get enough of it. Books Written For Girls

Biffy Clyro Before there was the Arctic Monkeys there was Biffy Clyro. Justboy.

The Corries. I have a rather ecletic taste I like most types of music but I was never that keen on Scottish folk music basicly because most of it is (excuse my French) embarrassing shite. Most Scottish folk music seems to me to talk about 'roamin' in the gloamin' and I have no clue what that means but then neither do the Englishmen who write that crap. Not only do the songs have no real relevance to Scotland but most of the singers are bloody awful, where they find them I do not know but it makes for painful listening. The Corries though were different, they clearly enjoyed performing and knew how to work an audience, they could make you laugh, they could make you cry and they could make you sing along. So many bands today could learn a thing a two by watching an old show of The Corries in action. The Corries were a duo who mostly did small venues in the middle of nowhere but no matter where they were they made sure that the audience had fun. Yes they sang about Scottish history, but there was none of this roamin' in the gloamin' crap, they were much more than a folk singing duo they were also a comedy act too. And of them was responsible for writing the now adopted Scottish anthem Flower Of Scotland which seems apt for St Andrew's Day

Jesus & Mary Chain. I was listening to this band for 2 years before I even knew they were Scottish. They were unlike any Scottish I heard up until that point. Just Like Honey

KT Tunstall. Genuine nice girl, great live act and incredibly ballsy. She never gave up on her dream despite being turned down by the industry for 10 years and remained true to herself and her music and was rewarded for it when she made finally made the breakthru. Girl & The Ghost

Idlewild. Scottish Indie band there seems to be a 1000 of them around now but Idlewild showed them how it was done. Love Steals Us From The Loneliness

Anyway thats enough, maybe next year i'll add more.

Royal Exchange Square In Winter

I am determined that one of year I am going to take a photograph that does this scene justice. I'm not normally a fan of Christmas street lighting, in my opinion most displays end up looking cheap, gaudy and tacky but for the past few years the lighting around Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow has looked impressive. I'm not sure whether its the buildings that lend themselves to being showered in light or if its down to the fact that someone has taken the time to design an imaginative sympathetic display but whatever the reason that it looks so good at this time of the year doesn't really matter. What matter's is that I can't seem to take a decent photograph of it.
Last year my pictures came out all blurry, this year they were a little better but I wasn't able to stand where I wanted to for traffic going back So I couldn't get the full scene shot but I'll get it next year. The pictures might even be better too, next year I'll upgrade my compact camera to an SLR. What is it they say about people who blame their tools?

It's Called -The Law Of Averages

The Law Of Averages dictates that you have good days and bad days. A good day may mean that you aren't involved in any accidents, not even close to being involved in an accident. Such days are good they might even be great but fate likes to even up the score a little bit by throwing a spanner in the works and have days where you have many opportunities to be involved in an accident. Those are the types of day that its probably safer to stay in bed.
It turned out to be one of those days for me today. I knew it from the off. I woke up, it was winter, it was still dark my body was saying "Stay in bed." Of course I ignored it and thought about all that work I couldn't get done if I stayed in bed. So I crawled out of bed and stepped into the shower and promptly slid on excess shower gel and narrowly avoided crashing through the glass screen. Fun! Still alive I dried myself off, got dressed and walked out the door. Only to find myself almost run over by the idiot riding his motorcycle on the pavement. I narrowly avoided getting my feet run over by jumping onto a wall. I never knew I had such dexterity that early in the morning but apparently I do when my toes are at risk. Potential accident number 2 averted it was time to go to work. No sooner had I got in the van and the god of fate was playing his little games again. I got myself strapped into the seat and inched the van out of the tight parking space only to find that I obviously wasn't moving fast enough for Mr Minidriver who was determined to reverse into my space before I had the chance to move out of it.
You would think drivers of Mini's would be sensible when choosing who to have an altercation with - white van drivers wouldn't be my choice if I drove a mini but then I have more common sense than that. Personally I avoid fights that I cannot possibly win but then again I can still be an idiot. Despite managing to avoid 3 accidents I still walked straight into one, literally. Once I got to my destination without any problems I got out the van, opened up the back door, and stepped inside remembering to duck my head underneath the ceiling, only I didn't duck quite low enough. Whack!
It was a little bit painful but I checked my head and it was still attached to my neck and no blood was spilled so I carried on what I was doing. Two minutes later though and my head looked like it was trying to recreate the scene the last time that Mount Etna erupted. Blood was pouring out and using my hand to put weight on the wound didn't seem to be having much effect. Strangely enough at first I was more concerned about how I was going to get my jacket clean, there's nothing like a gaping wound in the head to discover the priorities in life. Although when I looked down on the floor of the van and realised I was standing on a puddle of blood I did take things a little more seriously.
Luckily the rugby club was open so I washed out the wound and waited for the blood to clot and went to the hospital. Where I waited for 4 hours before I was seen, getting the chance to wash the blood off my face probably wasn't so lucky after all. Eventually I got seen by a doctor with an Australian accent who stitched up my wound. Sadly I didn't get a lollipop with my stitches like I did for my last set (I was only 5 then). Instead I got the adult equivalent of the lollipop - a four hour fee for using the car park. Excuse me for not using an ambulance!
It's nice how the government kick you when you are down, free health care but only if you don't use the parking facilities. Of course I shouldn't really have drove to the hospital with a head wound but I wasn't exactly thinking straight at that point.
Anyway the reason I told you this story is so that the next time you think it would be a good idea to stay in bed you can tell yourself its not for laziness but for safety reasons.

May I Say Something?

Yes Blogger I am talking to YOU.

When I take the time to type a post or a comment I expect it to be published, I do not expect it to disappear into the dark hidden depths of cyberspace never to be seen again because that is just pointless.

Ok I'm done now, carry on!