My workplace has benefits

 

Taken last Monday morning when I couldn't resist taking a few shots.

More here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cobaltmale/October2010Misc#

Rare photo of me in outdoor sports-related activity this week

Said 'sports' included speed pool (I was laughable), toss the boot (I did rather well at tossing), horse shoes (narrowly avoided injury), giant darts (did pretty good), giant Jenga (didn't really add much), golf pitching on the wii (not bad for first time anywhere near a wii console), command task (we did good but all I did was hold a rope), basketball shoot-the-hoop (we did best but mostly down to Mickey, who's the one in shorts on the left), boules (I was one of the better scores but knackered my thighs with repetitive crouching) and golf ball throwing (I think I got one in a bucket).

I was handicapped first by being an unfit 46 year old who rarely watches sports, let alone gets stuck in any time, and by being constantly distracted by competitors (three of whom may be in this picture). Imagine watching guys in football shorts bending over the pool table ...

Thoughts on the "Doctor Who" 2011 series split ..

Steven Moffat chose his spot at the Edinburgh International Television Festival yesterday to reveal that the 13 episodes of the 2011 series will be broadcast in two blocks, one from Easter and another from September. The Moff also tells us these shall consecutively be known as series six and seven (which is likely to prove as contentious as his initial claim that the 2010 series was to be known as series one). Just to confuse matters further series six will be seven episodes while series seven will be six episodes.

At first my feeling was dismay, but, certainly for next year, it makes sense. Not only do we have a particularly late Easter but it was officially announced the same weekend that a second series of "Sherlock" will be broadcast in Autumn 2011 and this will ease Moffat's shared commitments and deadlines. I suspect the proximity of these announcements is not a coincidence. I don't know what the future holds for "Merlin" if it goes to a fourth series - I presume they won't be ready to go out in spring or summer 2011 instead - more likely they will spill into January/February 2012.

So anyway, I worked out this will be the "Doctor Who" schedule for next year:

"Series Six" - 7 episodes starting 23 April (Easter Saturday) until 4 June

"Series Seven" - 6 episodes starting 4 September until 9 October

then the Christmas special in December.

I would fancy that this will still not satisfy the 'winter fetishists', especially if it's being broadcast before 7pm as it regularly was this year. If "Strictly Come Dancing" hasn't committed suicide this year, then series seven of "Doctor Who" will be the warm-up so 7pm starts would seem unlikely.

NB: photo courtesy of Richard Bacon on Twitter - he was the designated interviewer at the event.

Two more recent photos

Another couple of shots I've taken recently. One is a close up of a rhodedendron on the Dalmeny Estate and the other was taken along the River Cart in Glasgow looking towards Pollokshaws East station above.

The latter was taken last Saturday evening when it was glorious weather in the city.

One of the new batch - Andrew

Following my announcement earlier it seemed apt to give you a sample model from those I've recently recruited to the fold at Cobalt Studio.

First up is Andrew, from Canonmills in Edinburgh. This is from the brief run of test shots I managed last Friday evening, when my camera's batteries ran out. That's on top of the viewfinder still being on the blink, so be glad I managed anything!

Andrew has signed up for full-on shots. He's of Irish and Portugeuse lineage, but was suffering a bit from flu on the day so not looking at his best.

Edinburgh in April pix ...

These were taken last Friday when I was at the castle for work. I'm rather pleased with the results

Here is the late news ...

This all happened last Friday of course, so apologies for not keeping all of you up to speed (though, in one person's case, I was trying to keep this a secret until Monday at least). Basically, out of the blue, I had my new laptop bought and delivered to me by my sister and brother-in-law (those responsible for throwing out my last Mac!) after only half the savings had been accrued towards it.

As some of you may recognise from the not great pic (above) I took last weekend, it's a mid-range MacBook, running Leopard, so I'm pretty bang up to the minute.

I've never had a laptop before and I craved the portability, especially as it's built for wi-fi. That's what it was hooked up to in the photo - turns out The Seven Kings in Dunfermline does free wi-fi access. I'm using it again at this very moment.

I've been very keen to 'divine' where the wi-fi roams over the past few days. Most bizarrely I was surfing on Tuesday morning on the no55 bus and the night before I found my mate PJ had it and didn't know (it was someone else's freely transmitting). And a big shout out to Martin at The Illicit Still (our Doctor Who group venue) who not only has the free wi-fi but let me plug the MacBook in and save my battery. Dunno if that's offered to just anyone.

Other stuff I've been given a buzz by is being able to sync up my iTunes with last.fm, so prepare to see my playlist going off at a new, less random, tangent. And I was able to upload 80 photos at once to Flickr. Impressive. Still getting to grips with the DVD and Movie features and wondering what I can use the iSight webcam for ... anyone fancy a podcast?

And on the same day, my sister confirmed that all the legal gubbins (missives) had finally been signed for my new flat! After so many target flat deals fell at the last, this is a great relief. Not wishing to give myself away completely but I will have a lounge view out to Rex Park in Dunfermline.

29 Feb Update: I'm not quite as 'bang up to the minute' now - along with the iPod Shuffle revamp yesterday, the whole MacBook range got a wee boost, so I'm one iteration behind.

August Fields

Been a while since I shared some of my snaps with you all. Here's some I took last week of the fields near where I work. The top two only just miss off Edinburgh airport to the left of the pictures while the third is actually another view of the field featured in the 'poppies' photo I republished here last week. As you can see, this year it has been given over to a wheat crop.

Edinburgh recommendation: Craigie's Farm & Deli

...

Having done down a local hostelry this week I must balance this out with a recommendation for a rather new, if rather off the beaten track venue.

The cafe and deli only opened at the end of June, and I discovered it on a working lunch in the dazzle of this afternoon. The clear day view takes in everything from Fife to the Pentlands and a fair bit of the capital city. As well as the well presented (normally organic/free range variety) food and drink served there's a shop and you can even pick your own fruit and veg at pretty competitive prices.

I didn't have my camera with me, which was a shame, but the buildings you see top centre of the above shot from last summer are of the farm. Best reached via the Burnshot flyover turnoff of the A90. After that it's the first right turn on the southwesterly road going towards Kirkliston.

Here's the web-page to tell you more

BarWatch: a warning about NBs, Edinburgh

Since I complained of a £5 large glass of wine in Ealing last month I thought it only fair to point out a dearer example nearer home. Just prior to attending the Tattoo last Thursday I arranged to meet my mate Stuart in NBs bar in the centre of town (it's in the Balmoral Hotel opposite Burger King at the east end of Princes' St) and ordered my usual 'large glass of dry white wine' without checking the price list. I had intended to check the place out anyway following it's redecoration earlier in the year. I was told to take a seat and it would be brought over. While waiting I checked the wine list and found the cheapest was a Pinot Grigot at £5.25 a large glass! And some sneaky bar staff don't always decide on the cheapest to serve of course. My wine was brought over by a smart Justin Timberlake lookalike, alongside a pretentious black leather 'wallet' containing the bill plus a pen where I was to sign for it and included a space to add a 'gratuity'. The cheek! At least it was £5.25. Bizarrely It was further complimented by an unwanted dish of cheesy nibbles (I wasn't hungry and I can't stand cheese but did they ask?). Stuart managed to eat some of this 'garnish' upon arrival but the real bonus was he was able to hand out one of his modelling cards to a comely blond barman who I paid the charge to.

I know it's the festival but these prices and 'extras' are a joke. Were I to walk down to the other end of Leith Walk there's a Wetherspoons serving a large glass of (perfectly fine) dry white wine for £2.50. That's my gratuity for any of you visiting Edinburgh who don't want ripped off. Unless you want to check out those 2 bar staffof course ...

Koya Moments Edinburgh

Fantastic wee movie making Edinburgh look magical.

Fringe Sunday in Edinburgh - Novarasa photos

These are some of the pics I took on the Royal Mile of the highly distracting Novarasa troupe. They hail from the Ukraine, supported by musicians from Italy, and perform a mix of martial arts, pantomime and acrobatic dance. They've no website but can be seen at the Hill St Theatre (Venue 41) from 17-28 August.

Edinburgh - July 2006