365 Project: Photo 181

The theme today was Wings. I got a couple of strange looks waiting for a plane to fly through this gap again having been too slow previously. It's an odd photo; its conventionally wrong in many ways but I still find myself liking it.

365 Project: Photo 180

It's that time again. Get the details on how you can donate here: http://www.blood.co.uk/

365 Project: Photo 179

I was at work today wondering what I could snap for Fresh Produce when I remembered this painting in the British Museum, so off I went at lunchtime to pap it. Look closely and you'll be able to make out offereings of corn, rabbits and a few other things.

365 Project: Photo 178

I'm totally off topic today but I thought this was one of the more imaginative ways I've seen of busking. This guy had set up on the south bank of the Thames and was clearly a talented sculptor. He sat atop his sofa playing a little banjlele type thing. People couldn't resist trying to get coins into his bucket.

365 Project: Photo 177

My first triptych of the project. The theme was Boots. It is essentially the same shot but with the focus shifting progressively down the boot.

365 Project: Photo 176

The theme today was Put It On A Plate and this photo fits it perfectly. I was at a friends house chilling in their garden when I noticed some sort of ladybird crawling up my leg. Excellent, I thought, I'll play with him for a while. You can only imagine my excitement when, a few seconds later, I spotted an aphid on my foot. What eats aphids? Ladybirds!! This would be the easiest meal of the little critter's life. Little did I know, as I benevolently brought the two together on my foot, that this ladybird was full/vegetarian/bloody useless. At one point I even managed to place the beetle on top of the aphid. Did he set about mercilessly devouring his supper, though? No; did he Hell. I don't know why I bother.

365 Project: Photo 175

Last day of the stag party and there were only four brave souls left to return the boat whence we found it. We were just half hour or so from home when we turned a corner to find a boat that looked like it belonged to a serial killer adrift in the middle of the canal right by a bridge, it was completely blocking the waterway. There was no one else about and so we swung into action. I was driving and pulled over whilst a couple of friends started scrabbling about with ropes and whatnot to secure it again. This wasn't really the sort of place to tie boats up, however, it was very reedy and there were no fastenings on the shore so I think they used a tree.

Once the way was clear we tried to set off only to find that in the process we had got the propeller a little tangled in all the vegetation so we began unbeaching ourselves. I decided to quickly step ashore and give us a nudge with my arse but just as I leapt we shifted and all of a sudden my jump was not sufficient. I sort of landed in the reedy bit and took a few stinging nettles to the face, which was fun, but then was immediately off balance and falling backwards so I quickly threw myself at the side of the boat desperately trying to grab that rail that goes around the tiller. My ribs and wrist took the brunt of it where I now have an array of bruises and scrapes and my face was rather sore for the rest of the day; but we were able to proceed and got the boat back just in time. A mere bagatelle. Conveniently, the theme today was A Dramatic Scene.

365 Project: Photo 174

The theme today is Pathway and that fits nicely with my photo that I've taken. I quite enjoy the symmetry in this one but wonder if I should have made the exposure a little darker. Anyway, here it is.

365 Project: Photo 173

Not on theme today but had to have a photo looking something like this given what I'm up to this weekend.

365 Project: Photo 172

I'm on a boat this weekend for a stag do, cruising the canals of the Bath area. This is the back of a beer garden that abuts the river, a very pleasant place to quench your thirst. The theme today was Vines and I figure there are some in there somewhere.

365 Project: Photo 171

This is the backdrop to the musical Book of Mormon which was hilarious, irreverent and very rude; a great night out. The theme was Sparkle and there looks like there might be a few twinkles in there somewhere.

365 Project: Photo 170

Not on topic today, I just liked the parallel tracks stretching into the distance.

365 Project: Photo 169

The theme was Pastoral and this is a shot from near Bath. Very peaceful; apart from when trains plough through. This was taken from atop the Avoncliff aquaduct.

365 Project: Photo 168

A beautiful sunset over Stratford and the Olympic park tonight.

365 Project: Photo 167

The theme for today was Something Masculine, which is just as well because I went to see Behind The Candelabra tonight and if Liberace isn't masculine then I don't know what it is.

365 Project: Photo 166

The theme today was From the Side.

365 Project: Photo 165

Not on theme today but I can't play a game of Risk without putting a little photo up. Sadly, my brave blue men did not prevail.

365 Project: Photo 164

Another grungey picture from Parliament Square. This is the north side of the nave of Westminster Abbey. The theme today was Sand and I reckon there might be some sandstone in there somewhere....

365 Project: Photo 163

No theme today, I just liked some of the decor in the bar we were in to celebrate a friend's birthday.

365 Project: Photo 162

My grunge-ification of Parliament Square continues apace. The theme today was Two and I have decided that the symmetry here clearly fulfils that criteria. Probably. Maybe.

In any case, this is the north entrance to Westminster Abbey.

365 Project: Photo 161

Has anyone ever actually seen a man's arm being broken by a swan?

365 Project: Photo 160

A final picture from my time at the awesome Cheltenham Science Festival. The picture itself, taken in low light, at a distance, on my phone, is a poor one; but the subject is very impressive. No, not the little old lady annoyingly encroaching on the right, focus on the veg. This is actually...... a drum kit! Each vegetable is resting against a nail that pierces its skin and the nail in turn is wired up to one of those electronic, synthetic drum kits that the kids like. If you then touch one of the vegetables the circuit is completed and you get a snare, or bass or whatever. Even the floppy old leaves of the beetroot work which is somehow even more counter intuitive as the softness of them is further removed from the stiffness associated with drumming. Anyway, this wasn't actually related to anything, it was just shoehorned in to a live version of Dara O'Briain's Science Club, which should be coming back for an exciting 2nd series later this year.

365 Project: Photo 159

Whilst I'm here at the Science Festival I'm staying at a friend's place and my penance for my board and lodging is to help him with some DIY; namely the lopping of trees and some brick laying, hence the need to do a bit of cement mixing.

365 Project: Photo 158

Another one from the Science Festival. The local astronomy club had brought down the solar telescopes and was encouraging people to look, safely, at the sun. Most exciting.

365 Project: Photo 157

Today I went to Cheltenham for the Science Festival and, boy, was I excited. It was full on geekery on a level I hadn't experienced before and I was very much in my element. There are 3 session per day; morning, afternoon and evening; and talks/demos normally last an hour or so. Today I went to a talk on how to find exoplanets and the likelihood of finding life there. All branches of science are covered to some degree and I highly recommend a visit if you're in any way interested in science. Most excitingly though, more important than just acquiring new knowledge, is being in an environment where there is such enthusiasm for science, such lust for learning and a sheer joy in the pursuit to understand nature. I'm going to be a regular at this festival for years to come.

Anyway, this photo is of Gustav Holst, a native of Cheltenham. This statue is in the fountain in the main square which is also the site of the festival. the theme was supposed to be Sunset Reflection, this is more like a Sunset Silhouette but, frankly, who cares?

Oh, and there is frequently a debate about which is the best movement of the The Planets; it's Mars. End of.

365 Project: Photo 156

A lazy one from me to day. No theme.

365 Project: Photo 155

Today's theme was Negative Space which, in photographic terms, means that a large portion of the photo isn't really being used. The composition should be simple and uncluttered, the colours few. As I lay in Russell Square one lunchtime the clear blue sky seemed to rather lend itself to the theme.

365 Project: Photo 154

Not even close to being on topic today, but there was a nice view out of the window in the lab. So there.

365 Project: Photo 153

Good God; two in a row. The theme today was Converted. This fine old building is the Pitville Pump Room and is listed Grade 1. It was commissiond by a man named, would you believe it, Pit. it was to be the centrepiece of a new town he intended to found called, erm, Pitville. the town was to rival nearby Cheltenham but things didn't quite work out that way; Cheltenham boomed in the 18th and 19th centuries and rather swallowed up what was to be the eponymously named conurbation. Still, 200 years on this fine building still stands but has now been converted (see what I've done there) into a sort of conference centre-cum-wedding venue.

365 Project: Photo 152

In a rare meeting of photo and theme I'm taking the sun shining through a pint of good beer as a Sign of Summer. Long may it continue.