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Jasper AB, Canada Day

Jasper AB, Canada Day
What? Actually posting the same year  as the trip! I thought you just blogged it takes a year to distill the wisdom etc. Well yes it does but for one reason or another there are certain thing that are time sensitive, this is one of them. Having made a contact or two on my last trip I feel I have to provide the goods. I challenged myself could I still photograph a flag raising a parade etc. So I treated this like an assignment put on my photographers hat ( Yes I really do have one can’t miss it brim and all and a badge ). So I found my spots warned neighboring photographers I was going to go crazy run into the road stand in front of them sit in front of the floats and horses and run around like a headless chicken. It was a very hot day,  I crafted and generally kept going until the fireworks ended at midnight. No I didn’t get punched, yes I like the results and I think I can still do it, I could even do it for the local paper if asked and probably as a full time job. (There are more and different photos on the flickr feed but these are the ones I like the most.               To finish off a firework slide show, there is more Jasper 2014 to come and no doubt it will be something more than a photo fest. The Tribe had a fantastic day come out to Jasper next year for Canada Day, absolutely fantastic, great town,  great people. Every year we discover more and more to bring us back time and time again. (See you all at the RODEO)       THE END    ...

Tribe 2014

Tribe 2014
So here we are again ready to set out on our summer camping adventure and still no signs of photos from 2013. Especially if you were looking for how my Landscape              re- emergance is going. For Landscapes you have three years or twenty nine years  of missing Images depending how you look at these things. Is it time for a retrospective? Yes I think so will it be just yet? Probably not but soon images will creep on to Flickr webecised but probably not high enough res to print. Of the photos I like a bit more I guess I should do a posting  because there has been quite a lot of effort invested. As usual with any passion there are doubts, how good do you have to be to have the arrogance that the world wants to see your photographs especially if you are daft enough to demand a persons soul should shine from the results (Post to come, I have recently found out you can prepare posts ahead of time and schedule their release, so 4 posts lined up and this still here post to let you know I have not been sitting around doing nothing)   Of course you don’t mind me showing you pictures of the Tribe…. Yes I know its Jasper 2013 but It appears my official blog style is think about it for 1 year distill its essence and then post.         #1 Son playing for the Longhorns ( That’s him 6’3″ in the $179 Green Shoes ) and # 1 Daughter playing at the Winspear Centre and the Wife in the back yard. I also thought it might be a good Idea to stick a shot of me here in action hunting down those elusive landscapes. They are so hard to capture with all that shyness and moving about.  ...

Go Beaver & Big Ribs.

Go Beaver & Big Ribs.
So what do you do when you turn off Facebook ? Well it looks like you keep tuning it back on, by accident as my Flicker account signs in via Facebook oh yes that’s the feed in the bottom right corner of this blog in case you missed it. So if you want an explanation I build 40K models sort of accidentally  # 1 Son wanted to get into it so I had parts left over and as usual got carried away 5 years later still building stuff. If you don’t know much about this affliction I build Space Marines and all the stuff here is heavily converted or concept stuff. So now you know. Oh and its also on the Games Workshop Group feed too I am the “FunkyNomad” surprise hey and yes I know I can’t paint, but I can build glorious crazy shit and it keeps me out of trouble. So I hear you all begging to have a look at what I am currently building. ( Sure you did)  and while we are at it we can have a little look around the Funky Nomads subterranean lair ( Ignore the box Tsunami, I have a bit of a box fetish) I know you are all excited I will even throw in a hand made PAC MAN Halloween costume that took 5 days to build thanks to a how to on YouTube, #1 Son was a great hit got interviewed by the local radio station and has so many photos taken his buddy stopped talking to him.     Well hardly a Tsunami from this side but if you could just look the other way deffinatley more boxes.  Anyway back to you wanting to see what I have been up to model wise ( Its  a Forge Master Dreadnaught and it aint legal) the sooner we do this the better because I am going to post pics anyway, (Realistically you probably don’t need all the Nerdy details so I will resist you don’t care what this thing is armed with. You do! Surely not, didn’t think so.)   so now that’s done I can get on telling you all about Beavers and Big Ribs. So I asked myself once I did the deed (Facebook disconnect) did important stuff I put on Facebook disappear ? cos I...

Incidents are Bollocks

Incidents are Bollocks
Well to be honest not listening to the Sex Pistols but you have to love the punk and the graphics on this one and its essential Britishness. So here I am 2 days before I board a plane to the UK knocking out part 2 of the blog from # 1 Son and dear old Dads trip to Jasper 2012. Now you may be asking why I am running 1 year behind, and I have been asking myself the same question. Of course having your site hacked and crashed isn’t very helpful and although WordPress is the greatest thing since sliced bread there is a bit of a learning curve involved. There is technical stuff how to admin the site install themes and plugins etc . Then there is the question what are you going to put on it , and why. So read some articles on blogging the do’s and dont’s some blogging etiquette (try not to make an arse of yourself straight off the blocks and off you go.) Whoa Nelly, not so fast have you registered a catchy domain name ? Who is hosting your sight? Where are you getting your content ( Its not good form to steal it, copyright and all that,) do you have enough content ready what about images? are they yours or do they belong to someone else? Just because they are on the internet does not mean they are yours to use as you please ( See copyright and disclaimers for some idea of how it goes,) I spent quite a while trying to get that right before I started. So you have all these ideas how’s your writing style, your tone ,voice etc. Can you keep it consistent do you have time to carefully craft interesting posts ( even if no one is going to read them?) I have 40 odd years of my past to blog about and hopefully 40 odd more to come and as I am defective in an unusual way. ( No, not that way) I have a narrator in my head carefully placing my actions and experience into a story as I go, now I understand not everyone has this going on and can actually sleep at night but what the heck for once this disturbing inner monologue might just come in handy. As...

So who needs GPS…

So who needs GPS…
No we did not get lost and no we don’t have a G.P.S.  I borrowed one once and it told me my house/road did not exist and I was turning into a field which was a bit bizarre as my Town House was built in 1973. I tried at work to order something on line and it was to be delivered by UPS apparently  My place of work does not exist either on the G.P.S and it could not be delivered. Now I know I function in an alternate version of reality but my place of work  does exist, if UPS had a local driver I am sure he could have got the package here, as it is I was so frustrated I cancelled my order. As G.P.S is a military platform I hope it’s a lot better at delivering missiles than it is at mail. So what’s this all about? Those of you who have read my blog before will realize this miserable looking figure is #1 Son. I am sad to announce we have completed our first Tribe adventure without #1 Sons presence, and he was missed but much as we don’t like to think of it our children are on a journey too and at some point,  well I am not going to blather on here may be in the next blog. So “what we have here is a failure to communicate,” not true I just wanted to use that line, talking of lines I just can’t resist what I am about to do next. One of the few Blogs I follow is ” Jay Kristoff- Literary Giant ” It’s a long story that I will not hesitate to tell of in many posts to come. I have to confess to lurking on his pages and following his blog since Nov 2012 never quite mustering up the courage to post a comment or two even though I am in awe. I just have to repeat this one line and dam the consequences ( Now I don’t want anyone to think this is a true reflection of his content but it was the final piece of evidence as to his greatness ( In my eyes anyway) I can feel the tension building…. and now for a disappointment I have just spent the last few days combing through...

Jasper 2012 (journeys end)

Jasper 2012  (journeys end)
Here is our last adventure of the 2012 Father and Daughter trip to Jasper. Still excitedly talking about our  night out at the Jasper Heritage Rodeo from the  day before. We saddle up the Blazer and set off to Pyramid Lake to hire ourselves a canoe for the morning, we have our picnic packed and the sun is out. So we leave Lothlorien our Lembas securely packed away in our reusable Walmart bag……… ? (well Black-forest ham, Havarti cheese and cucumber rolls, Juice boxes and granola bars) and head out on a great adventure to find the end of Pyramid Lake via the fabled picnic beach on its far distant shore. I have always been partial to Lord Of The Rings at times insanely so. To find the giving of gifts missing in  the  film      ( obviously not the only thing missing ) unhinged my delicate sensibilities. ( I was only told this by a second party as I had flatly refused to have anything to do with the watching of these movies.) Which any of you that know the version of me that lives in Canada that never seems to have them out of the DVD player may come as a bit of a surprise. Why is that you ask? and its a good question. We are now in 2001 I am no longer what can be considered young and my life no longer is firmly attached to L.O.R , D&D and other youthful passions. I stopped re reading L.O.R through every summer back in 1989 when I joined the RAF now 12 years later coming out the other side I have some distance between said tome. And I hear that an extended edition is on its way with at least that bit back in ( even if they are the wrong gifts ! My kids must be tired of me mentioning Sam’s Elven rope, and its beyond counting the number of times I have told them it has the wrong ending. But if I focus on the small things and ignore the wider sweep I have come to love it.) So long story short :- Christmas 2002 under the Christmas tree “The Fellowship of the Ring” extended boxed set. Christmas 2003 under the Christmas tree  ” The Two Towers” And Christmas 2004 ” The Return of...

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