Marramgrass

Colourful.

Jaffe Fountain.

(PAW2009 06/52)

I don’t photograph in colour, much. That’s one of the reasons for my continuing use of film: while digital is great for colour, I’ve still to be convinced by it for black and white work. Which is not to say I never do digital black and white or colour film — pixels from a sensor may be more convenient, but remember what Paul Simon sang? “Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away.” Or my Astia, please.

Not only is this image in colour, but I’ve processed it to be a bit bolder and more saturated than I normally would. I generally don’t like the effect, but maybe it suits the subject. I’m not really sure. A side-effect of rarely working in colour is that my judgement is probably a bit off; more practice is needed.

The subject is the Jaffe Fountain at Victoria Square in Belfast; Alan has all the details (as he often does in these parts).

This is the last shot I have to post from my dander around the other week, but it’s my plan to go back armed with something more than the pocket camera I was carrying that day.

Domed.

Domed.

(PAW2009 05/52)

How often do you pay attention to what’s going on over your head? Am I the only one who still looks up every single time I walk into Victoria Square?

There’s another building in the centre of Belfast that I should photograph. I was driving through before Christmas and happened to glance up and notice its dramatic dome for the first time — after years of driving along that street. All around the City Hall are brightly-lit shops, but they stop at the first, or at most second, floor. Above the signs, Belfast is an altogether classier city. Ever noticed?

Perhaps this could be the seed of a project: Belfast overhead.

Nerdery.

I was a grammar nerd before Lynne Truss made it (somewhat) socially acceptable.

Several months ago, I cooked up a slightly silly, mostly-but-not-wholly tongue-in-cheek project. I wrote the copy and put together the basic layout, but never quite got it finished.

Last night I decided to revisit the text, which was awful, and finish off the layout. The main sticking point had been the type, but @irishstu’s www.stewartcurry.ie, which I linked the other day, inspired a go with Palatino. It’s just right, I think. Of course, use of Palatino means that if you’re browsing on a Windows or Linux computer you have almost no chance of seeing the site the way I do. You could view a bit of screengrab, though.

What is it, then? A public service, The Oxford Comma ⋅ PunctuateAware.

Remember: everything in moderation, including punctuation.

Live, two.

(Continuing the occasional series.)

The second of the two live albums I’m revisiting is Across A Wire: Live In New York City by the Counting Crows. The first Counting Crows album I bought — and I went on to buy them all and turn up at many gigs — I listened to it again and again. I still return to it regularly, and it captures me every single time.

Counting Crows studio albums, with the exception of 1996’s Recovering the Satellites and isolated tracks on other albums, tend towards the slightly soporific; the live album is anything but.

Across A Wire is actually more like two albums: the first disc is a selection from a mostly acoustic Storytellers set for VH-1, while the second is a much harder set for MTV. Both are raw and emotional, giving the songs the edge that most of the studio albums lack. These are the recordings with which I can turn out the lights, put on the ‘phones and listen, over and over. Highlights are most of the VH-1 disc, plus “Round Here”, “A Long December” and “Have You Seen Me Lately?” from the MTV disc.

The Counting Crows get a rough ride. Their albums don’t always help, but as a live act they are well-worth making the effort to see. These two discs manage to capture some of that life.

Irregular Linkdump, #15

A long, quite eclectic, list for today.