G is for... Glowing

So walking home every evening, either to the tube station, or from the ferry, everything seems to be glowing. Must be the time of year, everything seems brighter and shinier than usual.

Of course the Christmas decorations take much of the credit for that, but at Canary Wharf the other day, these strange 'paper' boats appeared in the water. I wasn't sure what the deal was and I'm still not, but walking back to the tube that night, they were all lit up. They gradually transitioned from one colour to another, however, the day I remembered my camera, they were all mixed for a change. And here's my favourite... Lovely!!

Merry Christmas!!

G is for..... Gump, Forrest Gump

Firstly I want to say that I love this film. I find it's funny, sad and hopeful all in one. I think our society gives up on and lables people who are slightly different far too quickly. I know that the likelyhood of this happening in real life is a long shot, but wouldn't it be great if it did happen for someone...?








I know the 2 really don't go together, but as I put so much effort into this one, this year I would like to share it with you, so....

G is for.... Ginormous Christmas Tree

If anyone is wondering how the hell 1560 fairy lights fit onto a tree... It's easy, buy 21 light sets / chains and then place one bulb on each branch. Oh yeah and place 2 sets as you would tinsel :) The best part as always are the hand crafted bits, made by the kids :)

After I got all 1560 fairy lights on it

Finished

G is for...ghost trees

Tash, I stole your G. What can I say, your amazing poem was weighing on my mind as I stepped outside today.

G is for...

This poem is inspired by what Morgan Freeman is reputed to have said about the sensationalist media making things such as the Connecticut Shooting ten times worse by glamorising the shooter as the villain of the piece, and therefore vindicating their last plea for attention. For more information please see:
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/morgan-freeman-blames-sensationalist-media-for-connecticut-shoot/
This isn't meant to offend anybody, just me using my creativity to try and make sense or voice the feelings of grief such a horrendous tragedy causes across not just the nation of America, but the whole world.

Ghosts

What am I doing here?

Miss said be brave, Miss said be strong,

Said that this man was wrong.

To be making such noise, and causing such pain,

She said he had nothing to gain.

And then she fell down,

And then I did too,

Now I’m wondering what I should do.

Because I want to go home, I want to get up,

But I can’t and I’ve tried, and I’ve hurt and I’ve cried.

What am I doing here?

And now they’re calling his name, baying for his blood,

It’s since been spilled, but it’s not enough.

To heal the grief, a nation’s tears,

Brought on by weak laws and wasted fears.

19 of us live on in our parent’s hearts, forever yearned for, forever apart.

He’s now a villain, his picture engrained,

On the minds of the public, forever ashamed.

But do you remember my name?  

G is for... Go Away

If you’re just coming at me with your Christmas cheer

Let me warn you now I don’t like this time of year;

It makes me feel so lonely. And failing. And fat.

And no one likes to be reminded of all that.

And don’t look back, all wistful, at your single days

Unless you have a wish for my fist in your face.

Don’t dismiss as nothing my intense lack of sex -

If you really mean it, make your partner your ex

Then come back in six years’ time and tell me it’s great

To spend so many New Years with no kiss, no mate.

So go away, festive folk, get out of my hair -

Just get lost far, far away, and when you get there

Keep going further, circle round; then my friend

When you’re back with glad tidings, just fuck off again.

G is for ... Grunge

"Punk rock should mean freedom, playing whatever you want, as sloppy as you want as long as it's good and it has passion"

 

Brought up on grunge at a late stage of 16 years old, like so many it changed my life and I fell in love with the raw, f**king balls out, powerful sound that sends shudders down my back when I hear it and yet it holds so much sincerity and what really shines through is its true passion.

F is for...Fancy Dress

(From my actual childhood. It's a miracle I'm not in therapy.)

I cried as they wrapped me up in orange crepe paper

Round and round they wound the roll

And bound me up

In orange crepe paper

“I don’t want to be a carrot,” I said

“I want to be a fairy instead”

“A carrot is much more fun, hold still”

I cried as they wrapped me up in orange crepe paper

Round and round they wound the roll

And topped me off with greenery, glued to a headband.

F is for...Festive

Christmas Lights

Stand back and flip the switch: turn on the lights.

Roped ribbons form a canopy – red, green –

To bathe a smile free from shade and excites

Clean mint breath; rosy-cheeked future unseen

But sure to shine. From this point, look higher

To snowflake constellations – purple, blue –

Cold distance doesn’t dim them. To inspire

A gasp of wonder, a radiant true

Spotlight falls on an unbroken street. Look,

These lights flicker as they’re meant – simply white –

No black. Don’t believe that the darkness took

Them; they blink stubborn sparks into the night

Of clouds, determined and fleet. Last displayed,

Fray-fused, first remembered - nothing but gold –

Old bulbs that do not match, you can’t evade

Their glow. These lights will have their stories told.

E is for... Endgame

Hi there, I've redrafted my 'conflict' poem (thanks Jaime!) but it still doesn't feel finished - poetry is doing a good job of defeating me lately. Thoughts welcomed - apologies for the delay!

Endgame

Sentinel guards pocket the rockface,

Crush tied deserters. They prickle and drip                                                           

Blood and honey; sheared roles clear faces.

A tarnished army claws up through the crags.

Their weight bears a trace.

Unreal steel creates windows, unopposed.

Torn into submission, infiltrated negative space

Needles the nerve.

Little pitchers open their mouths hungrily

Before they are closed.

A trick to play; morning scatters forces.

Heads locked together to contemplate loss;

A war of clocked numbers for record.

Distant calls echo and reverse as

Numb Aquarians pool their resources.

The shadow of a debt-collector

Declares a winner.

F is for..... Fruit Pyramid

When I thought about F, I first thought about what I had done for E. Then it came to me and I thought this would be quite interesting to try. The fruit didn't behave the way I'd hoped, but I'm really glad that it didn't fall apart.







As it's that time of year again, I've also decided to add to the festive season with a German tradition. So here goes....

F is for..... Festive Season

The modern style advent wreath unlit

I love this time of yer, purely because you can decorate your house with all sorts of nice lights, scenes, figurines, tacky blow up Santas or Snowmen etc etc. I love our traditions and live them out as best as I can in a land where multi coloured lights are the hight of tackiness.

There is one German tradition that I find nice though. The Advent time. Its origines are religious and counts down the time till Jesus was born. Christmas Eve is the time when the Germans celebrate Christmas. For this time and to count down till Christmas, you need to get a wreath with 4 candles. Starting on the first Sunday in December, you light a candle till all 4 are lit, by which time Christmas Eve is just a hop, skip and a jump away.

As a child I learnt a nice song for this time of year 'Advent, Advent ein licht-lein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier. Dann steht dass Christkind vor der Tür'. Translated it means 'Advent, advent a light is a flame. First one, then two, then three, then four. Then baby Jesus will be at your door.'

As I got fed up with the traditional wreaths I decided to make a new modern style wreath this year. On Sunday I will add another couple of pictures with firstly 1 candle lit and then with 2 candles lit :)

As promised and as it is the 2nd Advent today, here are pictures of the 1st and 2nd canle lit.

With the 1st candle lit signalling the 1st Advent

With the 2nd candle lit, signalling the 2nd Advent

F is for Flamingo...

Temple of Literature, Hanoi

Dedicated to Kerry and Zoe, took me bloody ages to get this shot due to annoying public..... I hate those types, they're the worst!

F is for... Festive Fun

I was in Canary Wharf this Saturday, grabbing some food before shooting over to the O2 for the long awaited Jason Mraz gig. Wish I had my camera for that, the graphics on the backdrops were spectacular!

I spotted this amazing Santas Grotto, complete with a Santa that actually looked like the real thing. Sadly I only had my BlackBerry with me, so the quality isn't that great on this one, but it was an amazing Grotto and I thought you all might appreciate it.

Sticking with Canary Wharf, the rest of the shopping centre there has some gorgeous colour co-ordinated, fabulously classy decorations. Ranging from the smaller 'trees' shown here, to the 30ft plus bauble trees and the chandelier style bauble decorations hanging from the ceilings along the walkways. If only I could make something this cool!!

Enjoy!

E is for.... Eggmen

This is an unfinished piece, I would have loved to have given them legs, arms and ears. As I thought and thought what I could do, I remembered the eggs in the fridge on YouTube. A side product from my son surffing through the site looking for Annoying Orange... Which is what then gave me my inspiration for my first post, hope you like it :)

E is for... Empty Words

Write off: no poem
can frame a gun shot wound in
a bullet-proof vest.

E is for... Escalators

So I use escalators quite a lot at the moment, whether I'm running or walking up them, or just standing on them, stuck behind people standing on the wrong side. I use them at the tube station and at the shopping centre when I'm off to get my lunch.

The best ones however, for a view etc, are the ones at Canary Wharf Jubilee station, going up to the outside world. And here they are...

This is another BlackBerry photo, this time it came out pretty well. I decided to convert it to black and white as I thought it looked much better and had more impact. I think I might go back at some point with my DSLR to take a better composed shot.

Can I please have a little pat on the back for having submitted one post for every letter so far, and within deadline?? Not sure how much longer my 'success' will last, but I'm chuffed to be going strong still!

E is for...early morning mist

Taken on the way back from Etropole (our local town) this morning. So, double E points for me!

D is for...Derailed

Derailed
You hit me like a freight-train, and I didn’t even realise,
I’d been missing you all along, but saying I’m cool.

No, that’s wrong.

You sounded an alarm, right tight in my chest,
Heart stretched to burst, saying I’m good.

No, that’s worse.

You rattled by near me, stopping the tracks,
Made when I’d lie, saying I’m fine.

No, that’s why,
I never let go, never relaxed, the face with my friends fake like wax.

And you stopped me right there, in front of that place, the place I’d taken refuge, that place with that pace, that never

Stopped.
You’ve got me derailed. You’ve got me going slow. You’ve got me to look at myself as though,
I’m someone finally with something to say, and you’re there behind me every step of the way.

Ladies and Gentleman, sorry for the delay,
Yes, I think I’ve finally worked out something to say.
Let’s begin… 

D is for... Dice

So I bought a load of dice a while back from a really cool, old fashioned toy shop in Henley when I was working there earlier in the year. I bought a load of plastic goldfish and ducks too, but that's another story!!

Anyway, the intention was to experiment with them and try some tricks out that I've learnt recently. Not had the time until now...

This project has given me the chance to play not only with the dice, but also a small, portable studio I bought last year and haven't played with nearly enough. It's also given me the chance to work on trying out some 'high key' photography. And here is the result. Sadly the lights that came with the studio are not quite powerful enough (you can still see some of the background material in the last version), but I'm OK with the result, given I didn't spend that much time on it.

And as a bonus, I've uploaded a little image of the set-up, so you can see what I was doing. Both images were SOOC (straight out of camera) and I've not played in PhotoShop with either of them.

Let me know what you think!!

D is for...Doorways

Security Prison S-21, Phnom Pehn

D is for... Dram

This moment rests sure and still in amber:

Iceberg stars gleam, the moon bows a blessing –

I swallow gilded swimming heat. I am

Alone; a barrel-cloaked delicate pledge

Cups silence from indifferent hills, offers

A heavy golden disc, paid to the day.

C is for ...Cathedral

Saint Joseph Cathedral, Hanoi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph_Cathedral_%28Hanoi%29

C is for... erm, War

This isn't a C post I guess, but out of the three poems I've been editing today it seemed the most ready to share. Originally drafted back in May at a writing course with Zoe. Feedback welcomed so I can tackle another edit and maybe even finish it.

War

Sentinel guards pocket the rockface,

Hide tied deserters that prickle and drip

Blood and honey, descend into deep red.

Banished dark side measures its losses in rubies and gold;

Scarred crags and banishment.

Light refracts, losing its way;

The nest stirs.

Unreal steel creates window, closes doors.

Thrown stones amplify this battle and shatter;

Nudging the grounded claw.

Little pitchers open their mouths hungrily

Before they are closed.

Light shimmers across the bridge, an aquiline horizon.

Mirror image universe where water cools the crisis;

Numb Aquarians pool their resources.

Heads crack over this naïve nuclear button;

Lying green in this sullied gully.

Organisers retreat underwater;

Over the hill, nothing but watchers remain.

Cyclical justice administers this perennial wipe-out.

The shadow of a debt-collector

Declares a winner.