The Pitfalls of Figure Skating and Sight

For a married man with an appreciation for the female form and in particular a finely toned backside or as I like to call it, a "peach", I found out yesterday that it is highly advised not to visit the minefield that is the ice skating rink while there is a national figure skating competition in progress.

Within 2 minutes of walking in the door and sitting at the boot changing bench I was surrounded by a multitude of Lycra clad women floating by and bending over within my field of view.

Now don't get me wrong, I am in no way complaining about this situation other than at the time I was sat next to my wife and while I was trying to avert my gaze to avoid the inevitable slap another pert package would materialize as if by magic at the new focal point and as if that wasn't bad enough they all seemed to be deliberately bending over at tables and benches showing the world what was underneath the smallest .

of material skirts that may as well not have been there.

Now this was a major issue until my understanding wife asked why I looked so panicked, then preceded to tell me not to worry about looking and even started to point the nicest ones in her opinion out to me.

While this made things much more relaxed the further notification of derrieres in the imminent vicinity prompted a completely different problem altogether!

Source: George Frey/Getty Images North America)

Sex doesn't always sell

It's a shame that when you watch music videos today that most tend to rely on the sex sells approach to production. This seems to be particularly true of music made with the sole purpose of getting people to move and dance.

Now don't get me wrong there are some very good music videos out there and I as much as the next man don't mind seeing the female form partially clothed on the screen while listening to a bit of music but is it always necessary.

I was quite surprised to find this gem from the summer of 2001. To be honest I had no idea this track was by Planet Funk and if you asked me to tell you what else they produced I would not have the foggiest idea but I do clearly remember this song playing out of car windows in and around the beaches of Devon.

Surprised I hear you say, what is surprising about it. Well for a song that was produced by an Italian dance group for the summer Mediterranean club scene it would seem to have all the ingredients for a testosterone fuelled musical celluloid orgy, but instead chooses to allow the music to do the talking and provides and altogether more artistically biased affair via the medium of contemporary dance. This departure from the norm not being enough it is set in a psychiatric ward with suitably disturbed yet amazingly adept dancers. True brilliance

You may love or hate the song and/or accompanying video but top marks to the production team for not following the crowd and constructing something that was not only brilliant then, but has withstood the test of time so far and is still provoking discussion eleven years on.

Drowsy Beauty ~ Gemer, Slovakia

Drowsy Beauty ~ Gemer, Slovakia, a photo by Martin Sojka on Flickr.

Before meeting my girlfriend I had only ever heard of Slovakia and was completely unaware of its beauty. I think this is a problem we have in the west, We fail to understand the world outside our own window and fear anything that could be slightly different.
The fact of the matter is Slovakia is not so different from the United Kingdom in the sense that it has such a vastly differing landscape. The one thing I would argue is that Slovakia is immensely more beautiful.

I look forward to spending many days with my camera exploring the treasure behind it borders and sharing the wonders that this humble nation keeps quiet.

Love the composition of this shot Martin and the colours are so soothing. So good when a break in the cloud reveals a wonderful sky, makes getting out and about worth while.

Surrounded by Stuff

No inspiration today. I have been sat looking at random images of owls, the moon, women leaning against walls, badly composed pictures of shoes, out of focus pictures of cats. I have tried to see the art inside the shot then realised that I was beginning to be the type of pretentious prat that fills judging panels of art competitions so decided that instead I would take the pictures as they are and leave them to fill the ether. The void must be filled somehow and what better way than with badly made art. A kind of insulation for the soul.

That got me thinking about my imminent move and all the random tat that I still have adorning my home. At what point does an inanimate object stop being just a functional item and take on a value of sentiment?

How can I feel an attachment to a golf score card for instance! It did its job most successfully on the links while myself, my brother and dad were playing and even had the foresight to know that i would need a map to guide me. But my memories of that day are not attached to the spider like scribbles on the inside pages. The logo on the front does not conjure any warm glow of the day, that is all neatly tucked away in my head. A nice brown paper file marked Golf-Tickenham-2005. Inside a hand written transcript of the days conversation, large parts missing but enough sentences to contextualise, a few random photographs of figures playing golf in the morning mist. This all held in a large filling cabinet.

I remember this because I can at any point not because I am holding a piece of card, I could equally have stirred that memory by holding my clubs or talking to my brother. Maybe its time to remove some of this excess baggage because at the end of the day, or in my case at the end of the month that is exactly what it is going to be, excess baggage.

The Labyrinth

The Labyrinth, a photo by TurnipFarmer on Flickr.

Not intentionally sticking with the train theme for this one it just jumped out at me this morning.

This image is mesmerising because if you stare at it long enough you cant tell if the escalator is going up or going down, It actually changed directions on me a few times. Then after all that i decided that in fact it was doing neither and was just a long tunnel going to nowhere and the guy on the left was in fact falling backwards.

Really nice monochromatic photo, there is always more texture and interest in black and white than the hustle and bustle of colour. Kind of apt to have taken that out of a picture of a London Underground station to make it more interesting.

Like this a lot, nice one TurnipFarmer

1986 11-8 33017 Waterloo

1986 11-8 33017 Waterloo, a photo by The Gang of 3 on Flickr.

Found this image this morning while browsing around on Flickr. Waterloo station may not at first be the most inspiring of places to find images that have soul but this just proves that great shots are everywhere.

The reflections really help make this picture along with the typically blue/grey tone to the rest of the shot. I can almost feel how cold it is standing on the platform waiting for the train to stop.

I know trains aren't everyones cup of tea but if your looking for inspiration go somewhere you wouldn't normally, You may be surprise at what you return with at the end of the day.

It has been a long time since I wrote anything here. Partly because the latter stages of my Foundation Degree are underway and partly because when I am in England I feel totally uninspired to write anything of real substance.

I was talking to my girlfriend yesterday about the prospect of getting a BMW GS motorbike at some point in the not so distance future and to my surprise it didn't fall on deaf ears. Not only that but she was actually very excited about the idea too.

Now I'm not expecting to turn into the next Ewan McGregor and disappear on a quick round the world ride but it would be nice to pack up the bike and visit some places at the drop of a hat, and to have someone to share it with is awesome.