Tag: news

B364 – THREE STONE HEAVIER

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ahh Tuesday morning and the end of the four day weekend, its kind of weird because I kind of feel like the four day weekend is kind of like the End and beginning of a new year, I’m not sure if its because of the end of the tax year or if its because the blog ends tomorrow. but for some reason its starting to feel like a new chapter. but before a “new chapter” starts I think its probably best if I just drag out some more easter photos just one last time.

After waking up slowly yesterday and chilling out in the morning, it was time to jump on a train back to London and sort ourselves out for work. I think its fair to say that we all left yesterday weighing at least 2 stone more. Ive had an easter egg for breakfast two days in a row and now I’m not really sure what todo with myself, I kind of feel like its acceptable to have a chocolate bar before 9am today but then again that might not be the best idea. I think I can speak for both Amy and me when I say thank you Auntie Michelle for a really really good easter break and an even better spread of food. We didn’t have the best weather but in a way thats kind of better because then everyone just goes into sleepy mode and we all just sit around chilling out, instead of trying to think of a way to make the most of the weather. kind of what easters all about, even though I wouldn’t of minded some sun and maybe just maybe temperatures above 20. today is a short and sweet post as I really need to get dressed for work, so hope thats ok with you guys.

Anyway, heres some photos from the weekend. I hope everyone had a good Easter and did exactly what they wanted too with the four day weekend.

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– Heading back to london –
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– I wish this was desert every day –
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– weather wasnt on ourside but sometime that makes weekends like this every better –
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– My dad wanted me to post this photo the other day but I forgot, Release the Chimps Beer it made him chuckle –

B362 – THE ANNUAL SPEAR FAMILY TRADITION

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First off let me start by saying Happy Easter I hope everyone is doing exactly what they want this weekend, I plan on catching up with the family and eating chocolate, lots of chocolate. Right now though I have ended up waking up at like 5am and decided that this is probably the best time to sit down and write a half decent post, in about 30 minutes I’m expecting the kids to wake up and a massive game of hide and seek or tag to kick off and I want to be in the best possible position for what ever game we end up playing and not have worry about getting this post done.

Today is the day of the Spear family Easter egg hunt and for those of you that have been reading this post of the past year will know from last year’s egg hunt, its not something that can be done lightly. It’s a full blown Egg hunt by which everyone (the kids) has their own bag and run around the garden collecting eggs, there aren’t any winners or losers just the person with the most eggs is what the adults tell the young ones Flo (age 4) and Phoebe (age 10) but that’s not the way I see it, right now its war and when chocolates on the line it’s every man or toddler for themselves. Watch this space people.

One thing that does feel weird when I think about it, is the fact that I was doing this blogging malarkey and this is now my second Easter post, its crazy to think how much my writing and photography skills have improved. I’ve gone from being that drop out dyslexic kid who struggles with all things grammar and can’t really write, to someone who’s now confident in the content I put out there and actually enjoying the process of writing and getting my ideas from my head. Don’t get me wrong there are still many mistake that make it through but when you think about the first posts I wrote, they were literally 2 sentences long and full of mistakes, to now writing mini essays about topics that I find genuinely interesting. It’s a massive change. I’ve gone from having a writing age of about 7 years old to now probably a solid 16/17 years old and that’s something I’m pretty proud of and I have a whole website where I can show the improvement. I just know that its something I need to keep up and try to push to new levels and see just how far I can take this whole blog thing, I’ve got some really interesting plans / ideas for when this 3 a day is over and I hope that I can continue to interest you guys into reading my posts.

I was going to leave those “cringy” reflection posts for the last day but to be honest I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I just thought I would give you guys an insight into what I think of my writing. Moving on from that, its time for my second cup of coffee and to get prepped for the Easter Egg hunt, they maybe family but its time to get my head in the game and find those eggs, may the best person win, good luck Flo and Phoebe, you’re going to need it.

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– Stopping off on the way to Michelles for a quick beer –
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– And relax –
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– I cant believe ive been doing these post of a whole year and havent taken a picture of Kings Cross or maybe I have and just forgotten –

 

B351 – ALWASY TRYING TO CREATE OR CAPTURE MOMENTS.

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This morning Ive been having a little look at my stats and all those things about my posts to see what it is that you actually read and what you guys think is terrible and after nearly 12 months of these posts it’s becoming pretty clear what kind of posts do well and what kind of ones just suck. so today my plan is to try and understand  how I can keep these posts up and think of interesting techniques and ideas to keep you guys engaged.

I know that some days aren’t going to be as interesting or education than others but thats just the way of the world, each day I am trying to take good photos and keep them interesting and when I started this how 3 photos a day challenge, I never realised how important the writing aspect would become, its now more important than the photos in a way, I need to keep the writing interesting, and use it to explain my photos and my reasons behind them.

Now I could of just post three photos on instagram each day for a whole year, but that would of been easy in my eyes and would probably been so I could build instagram followers. I wanted to push myself and give myself something to dedicate my life too each day for a whole year, no days off and that is what Im pushing myself todo, learning about media management, camera management, learning to think editorially and most of all finding a photo in anything and spotting a good bit of light and just taking the best possible photo. and if you think about it, at the end of the year Im going to having something that not that many people have, and something that did cost that much money to start.

so after than little ramble of mine, how was yesterday? well, I wasn’t out and about or even travelling anywhere, I was just in a studio and then the pub. So taking photos can become generic and I could of just posted three photos of a pint but while I am having some down time, I realised that in the back of my mind I was thinking about photos and ” if that shot will work” and that made me happy, because it was the first time I had realised that my brain is now automatically thinking about photography and lighting, how cool is that!

right I need to get dressed and leave for work any minute now, so sorry to end this post really quickly but I really need to get a move on. heres my photos from yesterday, I hope you like them.

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– leaving work and just caught the last bit of sun for the day –
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– this wall paper is really cool, I kind of what it in the spare room maybe –
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– I lost all four games of pool. –

 

B344 – PREMIER INN HATFEILD – 8/10 – “worth the stay and good food”

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So tonights Premier Inn is somewhere near a motorway around a town called Hatfeild, thats as much as I know about where Im staying to be honest and out of all the Premier Inns Ive stayed in, this one could be the best for customer service. The food was a bit slow but you cant judge a hotel off of one slight mistake, the rooms are clean and the food was actually pretty enjoyable. Today I decided to try something that has been a bit controversial and go for the fire noddles with chicken ( for an extra £2), and it was actually a pretty good choice and right now I know all those Wagamammas fans out there will be saying ” but it doesn’t have a thing on wagamammas” but thats not true.

With a place like wagamammas your standards are a lot higher but with some where like Premier inn its just about getting some sort of food inside you and today thats exactly what i got, good, kind of fresh food at a decent price. what more could you want.

I know this is going to sound like a first world problem and to be honest its not something thats a deal breaker but one thing I dont like about Premier Inn, is the length of their corridors and numbering systems. I know that they need to fit a certain number of room in but please guys add a few short cuts or something because when someone like me who travels with 10 bags and 15 peli cases needs a room we also need it to be easily accessible from the reception which 9 out of 10 times is not that case.

But for all its worth I would have to give this Premier Inn a 8/10 and a 4.5 star travel rating, its a place that does everything it says on the tin and also has a really good sized car park, which is perfect for long wheel base vans.

Hatfeild premier Inn on the M25 you have served me well.

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– these corridors are just a bit too long for someone with so many bags –

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– the best sight someone can see after a long days work, the famous premier inn bed –

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– my dinner the fire cracker noddles with chicken – pretty decent and quite healthy –

B333 – THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY DIFFERENT BLOG POST

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Well I suppose its fair to say that I definitely all kicked off again yesterday right? that snow came out of no where and really started playing with peoples mentions, even Waterloo a train station that has around 250,000 people use it each day, decided that the prospect of snow on a Friday was too much and had no choice but to shut up shop. fair play though, I would probably do that if I knew i could. after all its Friday and I don’t use Waterloo station so I cant really rant about if, but if I did have to use Waterloo last night then it this would probably be a very different blog.

For a friday though it was pretty hectic in a non hectic kind of way, after working in east London and having quite a good finishing time, I then headed into town for a different gig and I have to admit I hadn’t done much research on but turnt out to be a pretty good laugh. Im not really sure if I can say what it was yet, so I might just leave that one for a few weeks and when its out in the open, Ill let you guys know and we can talk about it then. Sorry but thats just the way of the world.

I have got a killer plan today, today im basically doing a really Life admin day, including haircut, gym signing up, clothes shopping and some finances. Im then going to finish up by cooking a meal Ive never cooked before and sitting down to enjoy a good movie, I know that doesnt sound too fun, but I really want to start saving some money for a Leica and maybe going out drinking isnt the best thing for that. I really want to take some cool photos today so I might travel out when its dark and have some fun with the nifty 50mm lens. who knows.

Heres my photos from yesterday.

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– I love seeing bikes with snow on just one side, it looks really cool and abandoned –
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– before the gig, I stopped off for coffee at this really cool cafe in Soho, it was literally full of people speak Chinese and all they served where Marcha cakes –
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– see here are the Match cakes! if you ever walk around Soho and want a coffee / tea / matcha cake, you should stop here. Im not sure what the place is called, but you should try and find it! –

 

B316 – ITS A NATIONAL PRIDE

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With the internet being somewhere I am posting about everyday of my life for a whole year its hard not to reveal things, but there is definitely one topic that is forbidden and will not be spoken about in public or private, in fact its probably my biggest secrete, its something which I feel needs to be left between maybe my closest friends and family.  Ive been doubted and belittled by many and mis understood by a few but one thing is for sure, they may take the piss but they will never take my pancake recipe!!

And then once a year we have a whole day dedicated to this amazing dish and then because tradition dictates, we then get to throw them round our kitchens till we’ve run out of lemon juice and sugar. Im not sure on a lot of things but one thing I know for a fact is that no matter what you go through as soon as you throw that little sizzling mixture of carbs and dairy in the air, nothing else matters, you know you just need to nail the landing, no half flips, no folds, just land the pancake the other way up and you have successfully achieved what probably half the country will fail todo.

its a human right to have a great pancake day and enjoy the fruits of our labour, everyone should have the right to a “flippin” good night and I hope that everyone got in the sprite and showed that shrove Tuesday is something which makes Britain Great. We are a country of culture and diversity and a love for Pancakes. that should be celebrated and enjoyed indulged. So please think of thy neighbour on this holiest of days and celebrate the wonderful thing of flipping pancakes in a kitchen, just don’t try and copy my recipe.

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– Amy doing a flippin good job –
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– I will never reveal my recipe –
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– the early morning call time yesterday, up and out the door by 6am –

B315 – SOMETHING THAT WILL STICK WITH ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE –

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I’m not really too sure how to start this, its something that I doubt will ever happen to me again, for those of you that have been reading these posts of the past few months would know that back in November, a homeless man stopped me in the street and asked me for £10 so he could get a hostel for 5 days, he then told me that for two weeks a hostel is £20. I decided to walk him to the closest cash point and withdraw £20, I didn’t know his name, background or if he would just spend the money on crack. all I had was his word that he just wanted to get a roof over his head and a chance to get back on his feet, if I was him then I would want someone like me to give me a chance.

well after a long 12 hour day a work and feel pretty stressed on the way home, I literally hadnt thought about what I was going to write about or do, this shabby looking man on Bethnal green road stops me and says “excuse me” I assumed it was someone begging for money, he quickly stopped me and told me that he remembers me and just wanted to say thanks and that he now has a door key!!!!! they homeless man I gave £20 four months ago now lives in a house and is getting his life back on track, and just saw me and wanted to thank me. A stranger gave someone in need £20 and that has gone on to help him turn his life around and get off the streets. to me that is incredible, I literally cant think of the words to describe it.

Seeing wayne tonight has really made me think about how we can effect peoples lives and that someone like me who let off fart bombs at school and spent most of my life doing stupid stuff has actually just had a direct effect on someones life and given a complete stranger hope and a second chance!!!

I asked wayne if I could take a photo of him but he was to worried and thought that his family might see it, I completely understand if I was wayne then that would have been my answer. I just hope that wayne carries on getting his life back on track and is someday proud to be photographed!

Wayne if for some reason you read this, I wish I got your phone number or email address! if you do please drop me a message and lets talk! my photos from today don’t really matter, its more about the bigger picture I suppose. thank you wayne for stopping me tonight, its going to stick me with for a long time!

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– looking out the flat this morning was pretty cool –
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– the only reason waking up early is fun, you get to see sky’s like this –
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– heading back to the city after shooting all day –

B310 – THROWBACK THURSDAY !

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So at it is Thursday its probably only right that I do kind of a mini throwback of the past week (that is kind of my excuse for not really taking any photo yesterday), when I first started this blog, I said that the challenge was going to be getting up and taking photos on a really cool winters day and well last night I kind of did fail the challenge. but luckily I had a few cool pictures that Ive taken recently so why not just post them?

Near to where I work theres this canal and as I’ve nearly been there two weeks I think its time that I took a little lunch time walk along it to see if theres anything I can photograph, so I think that is my plan today. especially at Lunch time when the sun is at its highest but because it winter you get really cool shadows, so who knows it could really work out and maybe ill get some cool photos. I think it just comes down to the fact I need to man up and brave the cold, because otherwise I don’t think my photos will be nearly as good as they can be.

Im determined to put more time into my music project and really get that off the ground again, I need to get out to gigs and fully surround myself with music I think, show what can be done in the extra time before and after work. Im quickly running out of days and now its time to step up a bit, I know I keep saying that but its true I really need todo more. Ill spent some time today putting together a plan for gigs and photography ideas and then see about putting them into play. Sorry to all those readers that probably think I’m faffing about at the moment, but trying to juggle life doesn’t seem to be as straight forward as I originally thought.

Heres some photos from the past 7 days. enjoy.

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– Ive seen before photos with water in the bottom of the shot to add some thing extra, I gave it a go and maybe I need to give it another go and try and bit harder –
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– a photo from box park the other day –
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– I dont think theres a better place to take street photos at night, east london is by far my favourite place –

B306 – I GAVE UP AND HEADED TO THE PUB

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The plan yesterday was to get all those jobs done that you need to in preparation for work next week and just to get my life in order, but after a Barclays paying in machine took all my money then going out of service. Meaning that it had swallowed my money and now I have to wait till they sort the machine out and I get my money back. That is how my morning went, so from there I realised that my day was destined for disaster and if Im going to fail I want to fail properly, so Weatherspoons became my next location and somewhere I planned to wait out this bad fortune and even worst weather. Some times its all thats needed, cheap beer and friends that will laugh your bad luck and thats exactly how we went on till it got to that point went vision became impaired and life got lighter. I do need to apologies to Amy who came to meet us, just to be met by the instant realisation that she was now my Saturday night carer. So for that Amy I am really sorry and thank your for the GBK burger and fries, Im sure the meal was amazing if only I could remember it.

We are now up early on Sunday and I feel like yesterday was a terrible idea, but it was good to see some friends and have a good old Saturday day time beer, something I haven’t done for a while, normally I get caught up with photography or some other idea that we come up with. Well anyway the plan for today is to go over to amy’s nan’s house and then onto a family meal with all of her family, some of which I haven’t met before so today will just be a case of making sure I don’t make any bad jokes, spill a drink, knock something over or just generally do something wrong. As you can tell Im not nervous at all.

Heres my photos from today, enjoy.

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– amy and the shop keeper picking up the sweets that amy (or possibly me) knocked over –
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– a great shot of a great support system –
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– Weatherspoons, six nation rugby, Saturday is sorted –

B305 – CANT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH

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I think everyone in the country likes the fact that it was Friday yesterday, probably the only think better about Friday is the fact that tomorrow is Sunday and that means good food and time to chill. Before we start thinking about Sunday we need to appreciate a good Friday, yesterday for the first time since 2017 I had that Friday feeling, you know that feeling that when it starts to get to 3/4ish your plans for the next few days start coming to mind and it all gets exciting.

One reason for me starting to get that Friday feeling was because I was going to see that new movie. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and do you know what it definitely lived up to what everyone has been saying about it, I literally cant recommend it enough. I really wish that I listened more in my media classes at school so I could now go on to write something really interesting about the characters and script, but unfortunately I was probably smoking round the back of the bike shed or causing some sort of mayhem during that lesson. So Ive done what every kid does when they need to give some answer but not really sure what the answer is, Ive gone to google and copied some reviews from there. Here are two reviews that I think really say what I want to say about the film.

“Funny, brutal and breathtakingly beautiful. Two exceptionally raw lead performances, supercharged by a bold script from Martin McDonagh, could make Three Billboards this year’s Awards-upsetter. ” Terry White, Empire – Full review here *** SPOILER ALERT *

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri/review/

“As we watch this wonderful movie we’re able to see who Mildred and all the others really are, and, better still, who they may become.” Joe Morganstern – Wall Street Journal Full review here – SPOILER ALERT – https://www.wsj.com/articles/three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-review-signs-of-life-too-vivid-to-miss-1510253127

I really hope a lot of you get to the cinema and see this film, it has to be one of my favourite films in a while. Today is a good day, Ive got fair amount of things I want to get done as well as tackling the growing pile of washing that has been building up in my wash bin. but first a coffee and maybe a little Saturday morning chill.

Heres my photos from yesterday, enjoy!

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– this dog has definitely got some skills when it comes to drawing –
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– who doesnt love a trip to the cinema –
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– Amy acknowledging it was really cold yesterday –