3 May 2010
John and I have been thinking for a while about adding to our menagerie of pets … we have 2 7-year-old cats (brothers), Tom and Tig and of course Tess, our almost-2-year-old beagle. So we started looking around at puppies over the last week or so. To be perfectly honest, I just couldn’t see myself going through the pain of training a tiny wee thing again (we got Tess at 7 weeks and man it was tough going !) and, rather selfishly, having just redecorated the conservatory where we live in summer, I just couldn’t be bothered with another ruined carpet LOL. I also wanted to see if there was something a little older who needed a good home (puppies sell quickly, older dogs not so much).
So we widened the net a little bit and found a 4-month-old tri-colour beagle not far from us in Coventry (about an hour away). She looked so similar to Tess in many ways and the cuteness oozed through at us. Her owners had a change of circumstances which meant she would be alone all day, not idea for such a boisterous breed. After an initial couple of phone calls, we headed off, with Tess along for the ride, to see her on Saturday.
We were hooked ! She is the most adorable little thing and Tess took to her immediately. Of course, since coming back with us there have been many tussles over who is “the boss” but I think that will settle down … ok, I am PRAYING that will settle down.
And so here she is … our adorable new puppy called Millie … go on, you know you want to … everybody say awwwwwwwwwww …
5 April 2010
Vegas has got to be the single most interesting and diverse place I have ever visited. I love it each time I am there but, to be completely honest, I’m always glad to get home ! It is full on, all the time, with the ding ding ding of the slot machines, the funky air conditioning (they pump stuff into it to keep you awake and keep you gambling), the amount of time it takes to get anywhere, all of it, it gets a bit much after a week. However, if you haven’t been I urge you to go, just make it a short visit LOL.
On the last day of my recent visit my flight wasn’t until 8pm, so I decided to walk the strip. I invited my friends Ian and Louise to come with me, as this was their first time there … they were game, so off we went. The Strip is pretty long, so we grabbed a cab from The MGM up to The Wynn (The Stratosphere is actually the top of The Strip, but we didn’t want to walk that far!), with the goal of only walking one way. Every hotel / casino has some theme or other and they are all very different. There are shops and malls along the way and contained within each hotel (seriously, did I mention how vast these places are?) including Tiffany’s in the Bellagio … I avoided it, I promise !
So, with documentary, here’s my take … all with my trusty Canon G10.
Inside The Wynn …
The view back up The Strip towards The Stratosphere … taken from one of the many foot bridges (these are so cool) …
The roof of the mall where I had my first ever Wendys burger … I prefer Wimpy burgers, still …
Treasure Island … enough said …
The Mirage, where the hilarious National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation was filmed …
Some random shots and gratuitous reminder of what a clear blue sky looks like …
2 of my favourite things on the one sign …
Ceasar’s Palace … the centre section is the original from the 60’s Rat Pack era …
One of my favourite hotels and of course where the Oceans movies were set …
Bally and Paris, complete with replicas of the Parisien sights …
This rather randomly reminded me of the Selfridges building in Birmingham !
Last one … this goes out to my Harley-mad friend, Peter …
Man, looking at these again is making me hanker to be back … looking forward to WPPI 2011 already !
13 March 2010
OK, I am going to immediately apologise to my non-American readers for the Awesome LOL, but honestly I had no other way to express how amazing this trip was.
I spent last week at the WPPI convention in Las Vegas. While there I decided last minute to book a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. I used the company recommended by the concierge at the MGM Grand (where I was staying), Maverick Tours (I took the Silver Cloud tour). The company exuded professionalism and my pilot was informative and fun (to give an example, as we were taxi’ing up the runway, the theme tune to Top Gun came through our headphones … I knew we were in for a fun time !). I had never been in a helicopter before, so before I show you some photos from the trip, let me share a few thoughts with you …
I will NEVER complain about turbulence on a plane ever again …
Taking photos from a helictopter is hard (that’s my excuse for any wonky skylines haha) …
I have an all new respect and admiration for Yann Arthus-Bertrand (check out The Earth from the Air books to see what I mean) …
With all that said … here are a few shots from the air … it is really difficult to convey the scale of this landscape and, actually, seeing it with your own eyes doesn’t make that any easier, it’s a lot for the brain to take in !
Thanks to Jerry Ghionis for lending me a proper camera (5DII) with 70-200 and 17-40, these made my job a little easier !
Additional thanks to Jeff Ascough for his amazing Silver Actions which were used to process these images !
