Eight days on as I type this following the seventh anniversary of my Tumblr the world does look somewhat different and I'd add troubled.
Somethings that are apparent to me is we need to go back to coping and being prepared in much the way some of us recall from when we were younger rather than whining and panicking being prepared to do a good turn rather than looking after yourself to the exclusion of all others.
For instance for somethings we like and may be hard to find in the shops they may other things we could use instead even if they may not be what we'd prefer.
You could check on people on their own either in person or electronically, being prepared to get them things they may struggle with otherwise or join a community support group.
You may not always feel like it but it would help people if you tried to be the best you can during this period so we don't add to peoples stress and worries.
Maybe we need to do what we'd of done as a matter of course as a child in hard times rather than being wrapped up in cynicism and selfishness.
While no doubt I'm concentrating on other matters, elsewhere today an element of what will help keep me focused is the time on the field trip of which here's a picture of a traditional working farm premises and a cottage all made from local stone.
Such rustic scenes are things I really love and in that area people seem keen to keep things so rather than important modern urban buildings that simply wouldn't fit in well.
On March 13th 2009 I wrote about getting a new Digital Compact Camera, the Canon A470 Powershot, having outgrown a cheap digital camera and needing something for blogging than my original Vivitar 35mm film compact I'd had since the 1990's.
It's been with me for these last ten years and 11 months taking pictures of scenes some while away to various places, some pictures for blog articles but on the Geography Field Trip it died.
The sensor packed up.
I decided to replace it with the Sony DSCWX350 which is a similar auto only model that has some of things that crept into compact cameras in that time.
The first thing is while the Canon had an optical zoom of 3.4 times giving the 35mm equivalent of 38 to 105mm, this has a 20 times zoom that starts off a little wider at the equivalent of 28mm which is more useful for general views and while I may not feel like using this beyond about 200mm, the fact it does go way way out can be a help in framing images.
The second is while the Canon used a respectable 7.1 pixels more than enough for a A4 print, this uses 18.5 which is just below a entry level digital single lens reflex camera so it will take very high quality pictures that can be cropped with little loss although you'd use a higher capacity SD card than the Canon's which was 4GB, the Sandisk one I bought for it was a Extreme 4K compatible 64gb one.
The third feature is the video mode which is full HD 1080p while the Canons was 720 which when backed by the zoom and stabilization means it can make short movies with stereo sound.
The review, mode setting and movie functions are set on the rear where a 3 inch screen sits to show you what is set up and like most compacts this lacks a viewfinder unlike a DSLR so you compose via the display.
Getting your pictures off it is a matter of plugging the USB to micro USB cable in and switching computer and then camera on then navigating to the image files. Simples.
I'm looking forward to using it.
Yes last week was Geography Field Trip where the weather really decided it didn't want to play nice with all of us really but we did get to see a few things.
Some indication of how naughty Weather was can be seen from this stream near Newby Bridge, Westmoreland where the water levels were high and it was flowing very fast which was taken on a steam train.
They think we're baa'ing mad to leave them out to roam on wet fields but dry stone walls are an interesting feature in and around the Lake District looking at us thinking we'd lost our marbles but actually apart from some muddy bits 1EB made its way exploring and taking notes for return to school without injury or losing anyone along the way.
One thing we looked at was managing woodland and were able to see National Trust forestry workers at work taking out damaged or otherwise dead trees first hand, talking with them.
As you read this I most probably will be making my way back from several days near the upper North West England coastline visiting places I've never been to before with shades of School Geography Field Trip as to be honest I never got north of Blackpool which tended to be more of day visit.
I am hoping to have done some walking and perhaps visiting a few notable places along the way as I really don't like being cooked up although the forecast is a bit all over the place so we'll have to see.
The write up will most probably be on the other blog Monday.
Bye for now.
Well I'm off tomorrow apparently.
The worst thing about being ready to go away for this Geography Field Trip is having sort through all my stuff deciding what to take with me and what not to cos my case is only so big and the groan ups get a bit mad if they see a forest with of carrier bags sat by it going on about "space in the car".
I mean there are such things as trailers so really it ought not to be an issue but in their world it just is so you might as well get on with it.
I mean they surely can't stop me from turning up in my uniform as it is a GHS trip after all they will be there as will be my long socks which you need in the Winter and I will have my lolipops to suck on.
I'll make sure there's space for my camera as field reports always look better with pictures and probably a pair of thick track pants if it's super cold out.
Bye for now.
While preparing to be away next Saturday, I thought I'd revisit an album of mine we last mentioned in late 2010 which is like 9 years and about ten months ago where I had replaced a worn lp with a distressed jacket for a brand new shiny cd issued through Edsel who then had got the rights to the pre 1976 O'Jay's catalogue over here.
In early January this year the pioneering re-issue company Vocalian-Dutton issued a bath of Super Audio cds and interestingly it included that title.
One interesting quirk of their decision to issue it back with the next O'Jay's album was this the original lp jacket wasn't used in any form for the re-issue front cover but shown on the rear.
Most companies tend to set both covers in a two on 1 on front reduced in size in a frame with the titles prominently displayed.
The cover of this album is important because the whole concept of the album is about "The Family" and this reflects their view at the point it was held the family was breaking down structurally not least in African-American society and the feeling this was fuelling other social ills such as criminality, single parenthood as choice (not the result of abuse or other issues within a relationship needing one party to leave) and unwanted babies.
That is the theme of the opening song, a meditation on the meaning of Family appropriately enough called Family Reunion and it includes the singles I Love Music and Living For The Weekend.
Coupled with this was the follow up album, Survival which I had bought a few years earlier home of the singles Give The People What They Want and the title track.
As with the others in this series they are presented with a regular stereo cd layer for standard cd players and cd rom drives for copying to Mp3 or Flac and a higher quality Super Audio cd layer that requires a dedicated player.
Both albums received short lived SQ Quadraphonic and Q8 tape issues in the four speaker form of surround sound at the time and this release includes for players that can access it those original long time unavailable mixes.
It sounds excellent and was well worth the modest cost of buying direct from the manufacture over here.
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