Life of the Rich and Famous

I got a call the other day from Rich in Media Sales (or something like that) at the students union, he needed a photographer to cover the Student Media Awards at the Cardiff Hilton and would I be interested?

Being the curious cat that I am i said of course, since I wanted to see inside the hilton, that i have walked past hundreds of times but never dared go inside for fear of being whisked off my feet by my collar and thrown out the door by a burly bouncer.

Greg James from Radio 1 (one of my favourites for live DJing, he's really very good) presented most of the awards. It all looked very pretty indeed with Peanut's fruity lighting colours and lots of white drape and frippery. On top of champers and other fine details that make an awards ceremony so glitzy, I have to say that the Hilton make a mean lasagne. I could have done with 4 pieces of garlic bread instead of 2 though, get it sorted!

Ignite Hope 2010

As promised here are some photos from the IgniteHope 2010 event in Sophia Gardens.

Top two taken by Marie, with her amazing 10-20mm lens, Bottom photo taken by Ceri, on an unknown but also very wide lens.

Someone left cake by my desk, it wasn't there after the preach...

Lighting Rig consisted of:
Pearl Tiger
4 x Mac 550s
4 x Mac 250 Kryptons
8 x LED Parcans
4 x 2 Cell blinders
2 x 4 Cell Blinders
24 x PAR64s
3 x Betapack3's
4 x Source 4s
Festoon for prettyness
and 6 LED truss warmers (Multiform 1310 Multispots)

Unique Hazer and JEM ZR33 Smoker were used for effects, and lots of it!

Flashy Flashy

As a technician, and especially a lighting technician, its not often that i get recognition from artists or in the press (aka blogosphere), but the last two weeks I've worked on two events where the feedback has been positive and has made me feel like my contributions have been appreciated.

The other week I worked a drum and bass night in the SU's Great Hall, called Hospitality. Hospitality is generally seen as the little cousin of the larger BEDLAM nights that happen at the union, but this last event was the best yet and hopefully will set the calibre of acts higher for next time.


Alongside the regular local and regional DJs and MCs, I had the privilege of lighting a set by Mr David Rodigan, the reggae equivalent of Tim Westwood. Rodigan (blue t-shirt) played some great tunes, was a fantastic MC and all round good fun.

After a big night of bass and "revelry" it was time for a week of tent-based christian music and worship in the form of IgniteHope 2010. 

IgniteHope is the sequel to the national Hope '08 initiative in which many thousands of young christian people did good deeds in their community to show the love of God through their actions, and Hope Local in 2009, which sought to let the churches have a go at organising their own social action, rather than having it centrally controlled by Ignite.

This years event production was provided by PG Sound and was a grand entry into the world of medium scale outdoor events for the company, only a year after its inception. 

The event was held in Sophia Gardens in Cardiff City Centre, (as far as I know we had no noise complaints!) and the site was used as a mustering point for hundreds of young people for the mornings and evenings, and was open to the public during the day.

Pictures From the event will hopefully arrive soon on the internet, I couldn't tell you where because there were so many people with cameras, but when I find some good photos I'll post them here

Lighting was provided by MJ Lighting, Video by Genero, Sound and crew by PG Sound and Staging from Stage Lighting Services.

And relax...

The last few weeks i've been jetting all over the country doing various bits of work and volunteering at a an easter club, but this week was time for relaxation, and where better to relax than a part of the country where nothing happens? That's right, I went to Norwich!

I stayed with two friends in norwich, both showing me completely different sides of the city. Thursday was a quite full but probably the most relaxing day of the week. Starting with a bike ride to the village of Wymondham about 9 miles from the outskirts of Norwich, we had a cooked breakfast from Cafe Creme and some pastries from the village bakery, before leisurely strolling to the nearby abbey ruins.

These ruins are HUGE, the picture really doesn't do them justice, but the arch you can see at the front  is about 4 storeys tall!

Most of the abbey has crumbled and eroded below the ground but at the back there is still a working building which serves a similar purpose to the original.

Following a cycle back to norwich we went to the cinema to see How To Tame Your Dragon in 3D, and I was very impressed.
I became even more impressed when i remembered to put my glasses on so I could see everything clearly. The focus pulls combined with the 3D technology make the whole thing seem very realistic. And although things weren't jumping out of the screen at me it was still a very exciting experience, even for a kids animated film.

Following the cinema we went to a pub called The Murderers, which has various newspaper reports around it detailing history's most famous murders and assassinations. While this might seem a bit morbid the pub itself was almost a blueprint of what pubs should be like (or city pubs at least) It was slightly dark inside, lots of old wooden beams, new technology subtly mixed into old decorations, plus 8 local ales on offer at the bar!

I'll be sad to leave Norwich, every day I spent here i found more things that I wanted to do, maybe I'll come back next year to see what's changed.

Ve vant to suck yur Bluuuud!

I've been neglecting my duty as a blood donor for a while, probably coming up to a year since I last donated.
I went to a mobile donation centre (a big trailer in a carpark), filled in forms, and sat in the waiting room (a minibus parked next to the trailer) patiently awaiting the command for the next donor.

I tend to become hyper sensitive to the way my body feels before giving blood, or just after an injection. Questioning every little thing; like an itch that could turn into eczema, or a mis-timed sniff that could be the starting point for the next international health crisis

Giving blood is a rewarding experience, you get to lie down for a bit, then get given a cup of tea and biscuits while you sit and chat with the lovely nurses, and you walk away with a feeling of having done something positive for humanity.

According to the national blood service website, there is only about 8 days of blood available for the most common type O+.

Click on the links below to find out more.

Welsh Blood Service
National Blood Service

Image by Stuart Buckley

I Met the Walrus

John Lennon is interviewerd by a 14 year old kid. The kid sounds together enough to give a proper interview, and John sounds his usual peace-loving self, but after a while i stopped listening to the dialogue and marvelled at the animation in the video.

If you can, watch it in 720p, its worth it.

The Youth of Today

On the way to the post office to collect my pension I came across this vehicle, carelessly parked after what looked like an accident (note hole in bonnet and loose headlight). The driver was clearly under the influence as they left the roof down on a rainy day, and gave scant regard for the authority of "no parking" signs.

I don't know what they're teaching these kids in school these days, but when i was young, we at least parked parallel to the kerb when we abandoned vehicles.

Rugby? What Rugby?

I heard there was a rugby match on in Cardiff today, Wales vs. Italy. I only know this because we were giving away tickets in the union last night in exchange for dunking people in a tub of murky water.

Obviously I had to make it seem to my welsh cousins that I was taking an interest in the sport that was happening less than half a mile from my front door, so under the cover of darkness I crept into town.

...and took some photos of buildings.

I feel so patriotic, I may shed a tear.

30th Post!

It's not your usual milestone, its not as impressive as 50 or 100 posts, but since I started this blog I wondered how long I would keep it up for. 


At first I thought maybe it would be a summer thing, just something to help me report back to people about my many, many adventures. Then it became a way of getting my thoughts and observations into the big wide world. 


Now though, I try and use it to share interesting bits and pieces that I find lying around, hopefully some stuff will interest you, but if not, please hang up and try again.

Oh...