365 Project: Photo 007

There was supposed to be a vague theme of movement today. I decided to be contrary.

365 project: Photo 006

Today I went to the Barbican Centre to see the National Youth Orchestra perform Holst's orchestral suite The Planets. Whilst there was healthy disagreement about whether Mars or Jupiter is the best piece (clearly it's Mars) we could easily agree that they played beautifuly. The design of the centre itself is quite controversial; it tends to divide people. It was completed in 1982 and is surrounded by the Barbican Housing Estate, all completed in the Brutalist style. Some people love it, others hate it; it has been Grade II listed and also voted the ugliest building in London. It's certainly quite unlike anything I've seen before and on a vast scale. The interior is no less unusual and seems to have been based on an NCP car park combined with a 1970s disco with bare concrete and brightly coloured lights being the order of the day. Today's picture is a shot of one of these sections from the roof of the cafeteria as pointed out by Sue. Not as beautiful as Holst's masterpiece, but colourful nevertheless.

365 Project: Photo 005

Today it got to about 5pm and taking a photo hadn't even occurred to me; great to see I still have that Killer Instinct. For those using the CaptureYour365 prompts then today's suggestion was food, however, I had already eaten. But then Sue said she was going to do some baking - back in the game! I had no intention of taking a shot of whatever the final product would be, I totally don't get the taking photos of your food phenomenon, it bores me to tears. The process is far more interesting, that's when stuff actually happens; for example, melted chocolate being poured into the beaten sugar and butter. I have no idea what this will be, it's still in the oven as I post this, some sort of cake I'd imagine; it certainly smells amazing.....

365 Project: Photo 004

Today I had my first real worry that I might not get a photo of anything other than my coffee table but then I remembered I was going down to the South Bank tonight to take a look at the excellent Landscape Photographer of the Year Exhibition, currently upstairs (and free) in the National Theatre. This means that I get to walk along Waterloo Bridge, one of my favourite experiences in all of London. Waterloo Bridge is my second favourite bridge in the capital, after Tower Bridge obviously, as its location is just perfect. To the east is St. Paul's Cathedral; looking south from the north side you have the panorama of the South Bank playing out in front of you with the OXO tower, the National Theatre, the British Film Institute and the South Bank centre all in a row; and to the west you can see the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the building below, Shell Mex House. This art deco behemoth used to be the headquarters of Shell and BP and is adorned with one of the largest clock faces in the country, colloquially known as Big Benzene. It's a shoddy photo but an impressive building.

365 Project: Photo 003

Today at work, for reasons I'm not 100% sure about, a work colleague had a peacock feather that had made it's way over from India; I think it might be for her upcoming wedding. Apparently you're not actually allowed to buy peacock feathers there so she got her visiting parents to just keep their eye out for one that had fallen by the wayside, and this is what they got. Very pretty. We have a vague plan to go to India ourselves in the spring, I'll keep an eye out for one of my own.