Argyll and Bute Council censoring 9-year-old creativity

Argyll and Bute council yesterday made a very supportive head teacher in a primary school take one of their nine year old pupils out of class to inform her that she could no longer take photographs of her school dinners and rate them in a fun way with fun facts and blog them. As the blog grew to over 2 million hits since it started in April to feature international school dinners as well.

My friend Andrew (aka Scottish Liberal) wrote this excellent post about it, which explains he take on what she has done from a professional photographer and .

Another Scottish twitter Wings Over Scotland talking to Andrew came up with the idea that every  Scottish blogger should blog one of her pictures today.

So while Argyll and Bute council can censor a 9-year-old they can't silence all of the MacBlogosphere

All the best Veg and don't let the heavy handed bureaucrats stop you being creative.

Five on the Fifth December 2011

Sadly Stephen Chapman announced early last month that this was going to be the last month of his 5 on the 5th series. Check on the link to find out what the others have contributed to this grand finale. As for the theme he appears to have been a good predictor of weather systems as early this week he said it would be Winter Weekend on the weekend that a lot of the UK saw its first snow of winter.

Here are my Five for the Fifth for December

Last night my mother shouted out that it was snowing.

It fitted the theme so it had to be captured.

But in the morning I couldn't get a good shot of the snow

it had all gone

but there was other wintery conditions on the car

It may have been cold in church on Sunday morning

but it was looking the part

We also popped into the Christmas shop

People think that Old Saint Nick has a one day a year job

but it appears he works weekends too

at least for part of the year

That's it for another month...indeed that's the last 5 on the 5th apparently. Do check by the rest and see what they have posted, if you haven't before also check through the links to previous months.

Five on the Fifth-ish November 2011

I may be a little late for what turns out to the be the penultimate Five on the Fifth hosted by Stephen. But I had a rather hectic week helping two friends move as well as a hectic time getting applications off for jobs so here, better late than never is my contribution to November's Five on the Fifth. The theme was movement but I may end up digressing here somewhat.

Heading toward the Mournes and the highest point of Northern Ireland is in the middle

I had to move my nephew slightly so he wasn't in front of his reflection in this reflective ball to get the shot I wanted

 This bin for collecting dogs' movements had been illegally moved, but people still acted like it was there. (Yes this was the politician in me!)

 With a spot of wind  these sails might move but the street won't be going anywhere. Each of these has the name of a White Star LineVessel to the road side of them, yes one is for the Titanic.

 Finally this boat heading out of Belfast Harbour under the railway bridge and Queen Elizabeth II Bridge carrying the M3 motorway.

Five on the Fifth October 2011

It is that time of month again to celebrate the 5th of the month with 5 pictures that fit into the theme chosen by Stephen Chapman. Stop by the link to have a look at what everyone else has done.

Therefore it is with great pleasure that I present to you this month's selection on the theme of pleasure.

I cannot tell a little lie, the weather here for the past few days has been terrible, so bar one of these the pictures are not recently taken (wouldn't be much pleasure in that). However all are from the last month.

It is conference season and I get an inane pleasure from getting up in front of people and actually speaking so here I am.

And when our conference is over, well I've been watching the others laptop in hand and sometimes playing chess as I watch.

Of course it no secret that I enjoy a certain sport and play it summer and winter. The weather may have turned but this is what I enjoy.

One thing I wish I could afford to do more, is sail, but every time I have it has given me pleasure.

Finally, a few comments were  that my apparel at a recent family wedding brought great pleasure. So here I am enjoying myself.

Artful Thursday 8 - Christof Plümacher

As I went past the Waterfront Hall in Belfast today the following picture along with a couple of others got my attention. Can't think why. Maybe if you do you can tell me in the comments.

So British....#6

The pictures on display were by Christof Plümacher a German photography that is part of the Belfast Photo Festival. Here are some more of his pictures.

So French....#1

So Spanish...#2

Enjoy! Do a google image search to find some more examples of this work if you do.

Five for the Fifth August 2011

It is that time of month when it is time to take part in Stephen's Five on the fifth. This months theme is My Town so here are some pictures taken around Bangor, not only where I live but where I was born and brought up. Not that I have always lived here.

Parks, houses and retail parks

Old Tower House and Boat House

Reflections on the new Library Extension

Floral Contrast in Ward Park

Seafaring Town

Five for the Fifth July 2011

This is Stephen Chapman's 25th monthly edition of Five on the Fifth in which he invites fellow bloggers to share pictures taken over the last few days. As this is the Silver Annivesary of the idea the theme this month was Silver. So here are my contributions to the party.

Need a card

Baking a cake

Getting Dressed up for the Party

Need transport to the party, as long as it is silver

And relax into the soft furnishings

Five on the fifth June 2011

Thanks to Andrew at oneexwidow for drawing my attention to Stephen's 5 on the 5th project of taking 5 random picture around a topic, this month's topic is new.

Here is the new Sainsbury's being built in Bangor. As you can see not ready for queues of shoppers just yet.

However, it should be open before the new Titanic Museum, due to open next April.

Of course while we were going on the Titanic Tour last Friday we also were recorded and made the News for the Centenary of the launch of the Titanic off her slipway. Here is BBC Journalist Mark Simpson making part of that news item.

Playing bowls last week I played in a new location for me, at a modern venue and on an artificial surface again a new experience. Here is Leinster Sports Club, from the bowling green.

And finally my mother has been planting vegetables in the back garden here are the fresh shoots of growth from the new raised bed in the garden.

The Bowling Greens of Ireland: Part 1 Bessbrook

As some of you know I'm back playing bowls in Ireland so I'm going to start an occassional sedries of the venues that I have been playing at.

First up is Bessbrook one of the longest treks for us within the Northern Irish Bowling Assoccation being all the way down near Newry. However as you can see from the pictures the green is set out in the green surrounded by the old mill cottages on three sides. There are also views of Slieve Gullion and Carnlough Mountain from the green. However, the day we were there as you can see rain not only threatened but came down so hard that for 5 minutes in the middle of the match we all sheltered in the club house.


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Titantic hits the water 100 years on

Exactly 100 years ago today the hull of the second Olympic class vessel to be built on Queen's Island in Belfast loomed large under its Arrol Gantries and over the former Lord Mayor of Belfast William Pirrie, Chairman of Harland and Wolff. He gave the order from the head of the slipway, "Release the triggers"and 62 seconds later the 882ft length of the RMS Titanic's hull, without her upper decks, funnels and engines on board had slid into the water of the River Lagan. Titanic was first afloat and apart from a few short weeks in dry dock in early 1912, she was to be afloat for less than a year when she sank on 15 April 1912.

Titanic hitting the water

 Cornishman and Cornish Telegraph report of the launch

I had the good fortune to be on the Titanic Walking Tour last Friday when the BBC's Mark Simpson joined us on the slipway to record some coverage to mark today's centenary, you may have seen it and me on the BBC earlier. Seen to the left interviewing our guide Rev. Chris Bennett. Yeah, it seems that even when I am having a fun day off with the family I can't help but run into a TV crew. Has it really been 3 weeks since I last appeared on screen, when this camera crew turned up.

Anyway if you are in Belfast or ever get a chance to visit Belfast I would highly recommend taking the walking tour. Try and do it before they redevelop the slip way pictured below when they will lay out the footprints of the Olympic and Titanic to give visitors an idea of the layout and scale, as well as unearthing more of the industrial archaeology of what was the Harland and Wolff car park for many years when we in Belfast were ashamed of the worlds largest yet most ill fated liner.

In fact I would also recommend a second visit after 2nd April 2012 when the new Titanic Museum is opened to the public. Here are some of the pictures I took of that new structure last Friday.

From inside the drawing office

The south corner

With the Odyssey and head of Titanic's slipway