#west yorkshire cameras

[liverpoollomo]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Smena 8M. Kentmere Pan 100.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park was opened in 1977 and occupies 500 acres of parkland within the grounds of Bretton Hall near Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

As Kentmere Pan 100 requires a lot of light I took more than one roll of film with me and decided which one to load when I arrived and had had tome to judge the weather conditions.

My friends and I had a really nice walk and packed lunch. We saw a lot of cool sculptures by many renowned artists. I also took my Nikon F65 to take shots of works by individual artists.

[putellasawfc]

exposed !

jen beattie x arsenal!reader

( a/n: omgggg this has been in the works FOREVER, before jen announced leaving arsenal which i am still not over tbh. but it’s finally here! especially dedicated to @mccabeswife since she requested it ! i hope you enjoy ! )

-

another media day at the arsenal training grounds meant a lot of bored footballers sat around waiting for their turn in front of the camera, the current youtube video being filmed was for three pairs only, another one of those ‘guess what the person is saying whilst you wear sound cancelling headphones’ videos that people went crazy over. the lucky girls who had been paired together for said video had been chosen at random, and you had ended up with leah with frida, manu with katie and viv with lotte which meant the rest of you were trying to entertain yourselves elsewhere.

which wasn’t really an issue when you were all shoved into a recreational room with an assortment of snacks, gossip and phones in hand. beth, the self proclaimed quidnunc of the group had been sat in between you and alessia for the last ten minutes, and had yet to stop telling you about the ongoing drama in the west ham team that she had found out about at an event over the weekend. you paid attention for as long as you could, sharing looks with alessia as you both struggled to keep up with the fast paced ramblings coming from the yorkshire woman but beth was none the wiser.

you felt a dip in the sofa to the left of you, the last bit of space being occupied by someone who threw an arm around your shoulder and when you got a whiff of the familiar perfume she sprayed on every morning, you knew exactly who it was.

you turned your head and smiled at the culprit, jen sat sporting her usual messy bun on top of her head and cheeky smile on her face. she pulled you further into her side and gently squeezed your upper arm, “she still talking your ear off?”

you huffed a laugh at that, looking to see if beth had heard but she was still too busy ranting and raving, now focusing her attention on alessia since you were now occupied elsewhere, poor girl.

“something like that.” you hummed, snuggling up to your taller girlfriend who was happy to let you lean on her. “you finished your influencer activities?” you teased, referring to the number of tiktok’s she had forced some of the girls to take part in since they all arrived.

“aye, i get a lot of love and appreciation from the fans for providing them with five star, behind the scenes content i’ll have you know.” she told you, “but yeah. letting steph take over for now, think she’s really getting into those football murder mystery filters.”

you glanced over to where she nodded towards, indeed seeing steph with her phone in her hand obviously recording herself, with kyra and vic sat either side of her laughing at the story that was unfolding on the filter.

“what happens when she steals your tiktok crown?” you asked with a sly smirk, knowing the older woman would have a meltdown if steph’s content starting getting more love than hers.

“don’t jinx it.” she shoved you lightly, “i’d have to post something outrageous to get me my title back. know i have some mugshots of you deep in my camera roll, i’m sure they’d come in handy.”

“you wouldn’t!” you gasped, sitting up slightly in your seat and the scottish woman laughed at your reaction.

you knew she had accumulated a hefty amount of embarrassing pictures of you over the year that you’d been together, ranging from you asleep with your mouth open to you pulling the ugliest faces whilst you awaited the impact of the ball to hit you during games.

“then you better hope steph gets bored quickly.” she shrugged.

you playfully rolled your eyes at that, finally relaxing back down beside her, grabbing ahold of her hand that was hanging over your shoulder, interlocking your fingers as you did.

“you’re so mean to me, sometimes i don’t know why i agreed to be your girlfriend.” you shook your head as if you were disappointed with yourself, trying your best to hold back the smile that was itching to come out.

that didn’t last long though, as only a moment later the defender jumped up from her spot on the sofa and leaned most of her body weight on you, her hands flew to grab either side of your face so she could get a good view of it as she began to lather every inch of your skin in kisses, her lips not leaving one patch of your face untouched. your squealed and thrashed wildly beneath her, your shoulder knocking into beth’s who finally halted in her gossiping at the interruption.

she kept going, stopping for a second to grin at your flushed state. “you fancied me too much to say no to being my girlfriend you goon.” and with that she continued her loving attack on you.

you wriggled around, laughing as you fought for breath and attempted to push her from you but she wasn’t budging.

“jen! stop, i can’t breathe.” you shrieked between giggles, hands gripping at her red jumper, “you’re right! you’re right, please let me go!”

finally deciding you’d had enough, jen let go of you and you caught your breath as you sagged against beth with a hand on your chest. “you could’ve killed me then, i hope you know.”

“so dramatic you are.” she tutted, pulling gently on your arm so that you were sat upright once again. “now gimme a proper one.”

you grinned, and gladly leaned in towards your girlfriend, giving her exactly what she wanted as your lips met halfway and you sunk into the display of affection almost immediately, your lips moving together in unison before you felt a harsh nudge in your side.

you yelped and pulled back, glaring at beth who only looked proud of what she’d done.

“not in front of the children please.”

-

the next day you arrived back at the training grounds, this time with a full day of practice ahead of you rather than a day in front of the cameras which you were very much looking forward to. media day was always fun, especially when you were partnered up with the right person and yesterday you were lucky enough to have gotten cloe as your pal for the day, so you had no complaints.

but you were excited to get back to doing what you loved, especially with an important match ahead of you. you wanted to get your head in the game and make sure you were one hundred percent ready to face the opposing team on sunday.

everything was normal for all of five minutes, you walked in and greeted some of the staff lingering near the entrance before you headed off to the changing rooms so you could change into your training kit, but before you even had chance to push the door open, a body came barrelling into yours, making you stumble on your feet and your arm fly out to steady yourself against the wall.

you looked to the person with furrowed brows, your jaw dropped in shock at the scare you’d just gotten. “christ steph, what’s up with you?”

she looked worried, as her hands gripped onto both of your arms and the aussie looked behind her where leah and lia were approaching, with much calmer demeanours. “i have to tell you something before you find out from someone else, but you have to promise you won’t be mad at me.”

you eyed her warily, your head cocking to the side before you looked over to the two other girls with narrowed eyes. “what is it?”

“no! you have to promise first.”

you rolled your eyes at that, beginning to panic a little as your mind ran wild with possibilities of what information steph could be withholding from you.

“fine, i promise. now tell me.” you told her, not really meaning it, you just needed her to spill the beans before you tired yourself out from overthinking.

“i kind of, may have, accidentally posted a tiktok that had you and jen kissing in the background of it.” she winced, waiting a beat to carry on. “but i promise it was a genuine mistake! if i had known it was in there i would’ve never, ever posted it i know you guys didn’t want your relationship to be public yet, and i am so sorry please don’t be mad at me.”

“what?”

a stupid question, most definitely but it was the only thing that you could manage to say at this moment in time. you didn’t know how to feel or what to say as you processed the information just given to you by steph who was still watching you carefully, as if she was awaiting some kind of wild outburst.

an array of different emotions passed through you simultaneously, you were annoyed at steph for outing your relationship on a platform that spread content like wildfire. no doubt screenshots and recordings of the tiktok had already been shared to the likes of twitter and instagram, posts made that couldn’t be taken back now. how could steph have let that happen? why did she not spot it before she pressed post?

you were also panicking. did jen know? would she be annoyed? would this change things between you? you’d both agreed when you first began dating, after months of mutual pining, that when you got together you would keep your relationship as private as you could, for as long as you could.

something that was unfortunately common amongst women’s football, was how invasive some fans could be in the players lives. you had seen how they could overstep boundaries and pry too deep into stuff they didn’t need to know about many times, which would then jump to them spreading their opinions without a care about who was on the other side of their sometimes vicious comments. you’d been witness to it ruining some of your friends relationships, and you didn’t want that to happen to you and jen. jen who you loved, who loved you back, jen who you could see yourself marrying one day in the future. so you had come to the smart, unanimous decision to keep it hush for as long as you could. but now, it was out there.

“does jen know?” you asked next, deciding that was the priority for you right now.

steph shook her head, “no. i was gonna tell her but she’s been talking to jonas since she got in.”

jen had set off an hour prior to you, with fans sometimes lingering outside the training grounds in hopes of getting a photo with some of you before you came in, you didn’t want to risk them seeing you and jen showing up together a few times too many and start to put two and two together, so more often than not you took separate cars and showed up at different times.

you nodded at that, and took in a deep breathe as you tried to think of what to do next. seeing as it was already out, there was no way you’d be able to backtrack or deny that you were in a relationship with jen, so the only real option you had left was to come clean to the fans about it all. you just weren’t sure how to.

“are you still my friend?” you were brought back into the present by steph’s quiet voice, her eyes were still scanning you warily and you probably would’ve laughed at how silly she sounded if you weren’t the person on the other end.

“course i’m still your mate steph.” you told her, and the blonde visibly deflated in front of you. “just wish you had the common sense to check what’s going on in your tiktok’s before you posted them.”

you were half joking, half serious. but when steph tutted and shoved you playfully, you didn’t have the heart to be upset with her anymore. it’s not as if she had posted it on purpose, and with how she reacted when she approached you, you were sure she’d been beating herself up over it since she’d realised what she’d done.

“see! told you she wouldn’t be mad, got yourself all worked up over nothing.” leah spoke up, and then you remembered her and lia were still lingering in the back.

“yeah well, i wouldn’t have blamed her if she was.” steph said, and you pulled the aussie in for a side hug.

“it’s okay steph, just gotta find jen now and spill the beans.”

-

it was only twenty minutes later when jen joined you all in the changing rooms, already clad in her arsenal training kit and with her water bottle in hand, she spotted you almost instantly and her face brightened when she realised you had arrived whilst she’d been busy.

“when did you get here?” she asked, pulling you into a hug which you gladly reciprocated.

“not too long ago.” you told her, rubbing your hands up and down her back. “got something i need to tell you though.”

she pulled back a little at that, looking down at you with a raised brow. “should i be worried?”

you shrugged, “i mean, it’s not anything to panic about but … i don’t know if you’re going to like it.”

you nodded your head towards the door, gesturing to the empty hallway on the other side where you could both have the conversation privately with nobody there to eavesdrop. jen nodded in agreement, retracting from your embrace and pulling on your hand to tug you in the direction you had just motioned towards.

now standing in the vacant corridor, you leaned your back against the grey wall and watched jen as she stood in front of you with her hands on her hips as she waited for you to speak, which you did after a sigh.

“steph practically ambushed me this morning, she um, did something stupid.” you began, scratching your head as you thought about how to put what happened into words. “you know all those tiktoks she was messing around with yesterday?”

you waited for jen to nod, which she did a second later so then you continued. “well she posted some of them and in one of them, it has you and i kissing in it, in the background. and it’s definitely too late for us to do anything about it.”

you stood with baited breath, similar to how steph had been when she was breaking the news to you, all of a sudden wishing you had the power to read minds as jen’s poker face came out in full force, the brunette not hinting to how she was feeling at all. at least she wasn’t tugging at her loose strands of hair, or biting at her nails, two big tell tale signs that she was stressing which you’d picked up over the months you’d spent together, which was a small win you were willing to take.

“well i guess the secrets out then.” jen shrugged, her hands remaining on her hips as you looked at her slightly puzzled.

“you’re not bothered?” you asked, half expecting a bigger reaction from the woman who was always so careful with how you interacted in public.

“i mean, it’s not great is it?” she asked, “but honestly, a part of me is kind of glad its out there now. i love our little bubble, not having to deal with people we don’t even know deciding whether we’re a good fit or not and all that stuff. but at least now, we don’t have to stress over the littlest things everytime we go out together.”

you listened to the points she made, nodding along with pursed lips in agreement with what she was saying. one of the most annoying things about have a relationship that wasn’t public, was having to be on guard everytime you both wanted to spend time with eachother out of the house, leading to the two of you just ending up having most of your date nights at home instead, not having the energy to make sure there were no prying eyes wherever you went.

“and we don’t have to watch what we post on social media. no more making sure our stories don’t give away that we’re at the same place, or triple checking that none of our stuff’s in the background.” she added on, and your lips quirked up in amusement at the amount of times you’d had to quickly delete a story or instagram post when you realised there was a beattie shirt in the background, or anything else that gave away who you were with.

“so this is kind of like a blessing in disguise?”

she grinned, “yeah something like that. but don’t tell steph i said anything, she’ll be gloating for weeks.”

you laughed at that, finally being able to relax properly for the first time since steph had practically jumped you whilst you were on your way to get changed. jen approached you, clearing the few steps that kept her away from you and pulling you into her warm embrace, pressing a kiss to your forehead as she did. “at least now we don’t have to do any big, relationship reveal post. you know how much i’ve been dreading that.”

you hummed, “think we should get steph to do a big post for us? i’m sure her drafts are stacked with videos of us.”

“we can ask. but not yet, wanna pretend i’m really mad at her for a bit so i can bribe her into pampering me for a bit.”

you scoffed at that, giving the scottish woman a faux disgusted look. “you’re evil beattie.”

“you love me.”

[roominthecastle]

'All Creatures Great and Small' meets 'The Yorkshire Vet' in Christmas special

Channel 5 has announced that it will be bringing together two of its most popular shows this Christmas, in a cross-genre crossover episode between All Creatures Great and Small and The Yorkshire Vet.

The one-hour special, called All Creatures Great and Small Meets The Yorkshire Vet, will see the vets, James Herriot's real-life apprentice Peter Wright and Shona Searson, entering the world of Darrowby and going behind the scenes of filming on the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas episode.

There, they will meet actors Nicholas Ralph (James Herriot) and Rachel Shenton (Helen Herriot), while Peter will also step in front of the camera and appear as an extra in the drama.

Later in the show, Sam West (Siegfried Farnon) and Anna Madeley (Mrs Hall) will enter the world of The Yorkshire Vet, discovering the real people behind their characters, with visits to some the well-known haunts, including the real Drovers Arms.

Greg Barnett, commissioning editor for factual entertainment and unscripted at Channel 5 and Paramount Plus, said: "Both these series command huge audiences and we couldn’t resist putting the actors and the actual Herriot trainee and team together to create some heart-warming and entertaining TV.

"In sort of a 'job swap' way, viewers will get to see behind the scenes at this year's Christmas special, while some of the actors experience Skeldale Practice first-hand and get taken to a couple of James Herriot’s favourite places. It’s a real Christmas treat."

Meanwhile, Wright said: "It’s going to be great introducing Sam West to people who knew Donald Sinclair, the real person who inspired his character Siegfried Farnon."

This one-off programme will air in addition to All Creatures Great and Small's own Christmas special, which will follow on from the recently finished fourth season.

(source: radiotimes)

[blogger360ncislarules]

The residents of Britain’s Yorkshire Dales are feeling the ramifications of World War II as Season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small picks up in 1940. The enchanting PBS series, based on the popular books by James Herriot, begins its new season with rural veterinarian James and his wife Helen (Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton, above) a year into their marriage, wondering if the time is right to start a family, aware that any day he could be called to duty.

“In some ways, it feels like the exact reason why they should have a child,” says Shenton. “And in some ways, it’s the exact reason why they shouldn’t.”

For the actress, this new season is also the chance to show another side to her usually poised character, who moved away from the family farm after her wedding last season to take up residence at Skeldale House, where her husband lives and works.

“I think we see something different from Helen,” Shenton muses. “She’s good at being there for other people, and I think this is the first time that she’s needed a bit of help and had to say, ‘Actually, I’m not OK.’”

Like the rest of the Skeldale gang, Helen misses Tristan, who was called up to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps the previous Christmas. (His portrayer, Callum Woodhouse, doesn’t appear in this season’s seven episodes.) That leaves Tristan’s irascible brother Siegfried (Samuel West) and James overwhelmed at their practice and having to train book-smart student vet Richard Carmody (James Anthony-Rose), whose barn-side manner leaves something to be desired.

Siegfried also takes on an administrator, Miss Harbottle (Neve McIntosh), to try to get the practice in tip-top shape. She’s everything her name suggests. “What I quite like about that particular character and dynamic is that it breaks the house and unites the house,” Shenton previews.

As for the critters, a ferret with a lump, a lethargic tortoise, and a gas-passing dog all have appointments at Skeldale, where a couple of goats get Siegfried’s goat. Fortunately, for the actors they were pros. “They train the goats with food and sound,” Shenton explains. “There were these really loud horns, and then a shake of a food [container], and the goats would know to go to the next bit of their blocking.”

Another pro was a cute gray tabby named Humbug, who plays Oscar, a cat that shows up in the second half of the season and wins Helen’s heart. “He’s worked on sets since he was a very little kitten, so he’s used to being around people and he’s confident,” Shenton says. “He was super good and affectionate.”

One four-legged cast member missed some days because he needed a real veterinarian. Derek, the fluffy Pekingese furball who plays pampered pooch Tricki, had a health issue and this season split the role with a dog named Dora until he was able to return. (According to the folks at PBS, “Derek continues to be the ultimate professional and settled straight back into the business of filming.”)

In quieter moments, the friendship between Helen and housekeeper Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley), who wants to divorce her absent husband, deepens. (Helen is still the only one at Skeldale House who addresses her by her first name, Audrey.) “That was probably one of my favorite strands,” Shenton says. “Anna and I are great friends off-camera, so it was really nice to have scenes with her.”

Madeley and Shenton also performed together on another project, a podcast drama called Gladstone Girls that Shenton wrote about pottery makers in the north of England fighting to be able to wear hair curlers to work on Fridays. The multitalented Shenton and her husband, Chris Overton, are already Academy Award winners for best live action short film, for The Silent Child in 2018.

As for the future of All Creatures, producers have yet to confirm whether there will be a fifth season but Shenton is hopeful. On a show where emotions are understated yet still deeply felt, she appreciates how truthful the series is to the time period and that part of the country.

“These are farmers. Nobody had time to be super emotional, you had to get on with it,” she says. “Often what’s nice is the things that aren’t being said. Your heart breaks sometimes because [characters] either can’t find the words or just don’t need to. They know it, you can feel it, and that’s always lovely.”

[justforbooks]

The writer-activist Wendy Mitchell, who has died aged 68, won hearts and minds by advocating for living positively with dementia. She was determined to remind people that those living with the disease are not “sufferers” and that there is “a beginning, a middle and an end to the disease – with so much life to be lived in between”. She held strong beliefs that people should have the right to choose their own death, and campaigned for assisted dying laws in Britain – one of the subjects of her final book.

Wendy wrote three bestsellers, Somebody I Used to Know (2018), What I Wish People Knew About Dementia (2022) and One Last Thing: How to Live with the End in Mind (2023) – I was fortunate enough to be her ghostwriter on all of them. They were translated into dozens of languages, and her advocacy work won her honorary doctorates from Bradford and Hull Universities, and a British Empire Medal last year.

When I met Wendy in 2016, she was writing a daily blog, Which Me Am I Today? ,which she had started simply to document her day-to-day life, though it soon had tens of thousands of followers. After her diagnosis of young-onset vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in July 2014, Wendy was shocked at the lack of information and support available to those newly diagnosed.

In Somebody I Used to Know, she wrote about her own depression at the diagnosis, until she realised: “I was still the same person I had been the day before my diagnosis.” She threw herself into academic and medical research, speaking to doctors, nurses and other professionals. What I Wish People Knew About Dementia chronicled how the disease affects different parts of daily life, aside from memory, including taste, smell, hearing, gait and vision.

Her tips, such as draping a scarf over a flat-screen television to avoid it looking like a hole in the wall, or sticking photographs of clothes on wardrobe doors as a reminder of what is inside, made all the difference to those who were newly diagnosed.

Wendy enjoyed finding ways to outwit dementia. As she wrote in her final blog post: “Yes, dementia is a bummer, but oh what a life I’ve had playing games with this adversary of mine to try and stay one step ahead.”

Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, to Violet and Ken Draper, Wendy described growing up in their pub in her first memoir. She went to school in Pontefract and was a keen sportswoman, excelling at tennis and running – after her diagnosis, she swapped running for fell-walking in the Lake District. She described the Lakes as her “paradise” and Friars Crag as her favourite place to sit.

Wendy raised her two daughters, Sarah and Gemma, alone after her divorce from their father in the early 1980s (although she continued to use her married name). For many years she earned her living as a cleaner, until she started working in administrative roles within the NHS, gaining promotion to become a non-clinical team leader. Eventually she was forced to retire from her job as a rota manager at Leeds general infirmary, and later campaigned for workplaces to support those newly diagnosed with dementia to continue working: “We don’t lose all our skills overnight just because of our diagnosis,” she said.

In early retirement Wendy discovered other skills, including writing, and enjoyed her “trundles” around the village of Walkington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where she lived, capturing local wildlife with her trusted Nikon camera. She revelled in the fact that villagers unaware at first of her diagnosis described her as “the lady with the camera”.

She met many dementia advocates, and was inspired to take up campaigning when she heard Agnes Houston talk at a women and dementia event in York. Wendy became a guiding light to others, a regular contributor at Innovations in Dementia and York Minds and Voices, part of the DEEP UK Network of Dementia Voices.

She gathered her own formidable team of friends living with dementia, who produced video content chatting about the issues they encountered and nicknamed themselves “the Four Amigos”. She advised on the BBC TV series Casualty and the movie Still Alice (2014), and received a mention from the Hollywood actor Julianne Moore in her Bafta acceptance speech.

Wendy raised tens of thousands of pounds for Dementia UK with her annual “wacky challenges”, as she called them, daredevil stunts that included walking across hot coals, skydiving, wingwalking and, last autumn, a swim in Derwentwater after she was forced to abandon her abseil down the Leadenhall building in London (the “Cheesegrater”) due to technical issues (theirs, not hers). She insisted that she was fearless after her diagnosis, having already faced the worst.

Wendy was a force of nature, but dementia made her life harder and harder. She ended her life by voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED), a subject she discussed in One Last Thing. In her last blog post, written in advance, in which she announced her death, she said: “Adapting to this life with dementia is over, but I don’t consider dementia has won, as that would be negative … it’s me calling time on my dementia – checkmate – before it plays its final move.”

She also pleaded for people to campaign for assisted dying laws in her memory.

Reviewing Somebody I Used To Know for the Sunday Times in 2018, Jackie Annesley wrote: “The world could do with more Wendys.” I couldn’t agree more, but there was only one wonderful Wendy, taking people by the hand and showing them how to live a good life with the disease in tow, or indeed how to talk about the end of life so they can instead focus on living.

Wendy is survived by her daughters.

🔔 Wendy Patricia Mitchell, writer and campaigner, born 31 January 1956; died 22 February 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[ghostlytales]

The Keys restaurant apparition

This spooky CCTV footage appears to show a ‘ ghost ‘ walking through a restaurant built on the site of an underground crypt. Manager Paul Wood got a fright when his phone alerted him to something setting off the security cameras in The Keys restaurant.

But he was shocked when he glanced at the screen to see what looked like a bright white apparition passing through the eatery, based in the crypt Huddersfield Parish church’s vault in West Yorkshire.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Philip Spencer Experience

In the early morning of Tuesday, December 1, 1987, Philip Spencer an ex-big city policeman, recently moved to the Ilkley area of West Yorkshire in deference to his wife’s wishes, set out southward across Ilkley Moor equipped with a compass for navigation and a camera (he was apparently hoping to catch on film some of the strange anomalies that the off time spooky moor is noted for while on the way to visit his father-in-law in East Morton).

Within minutes he was surrounded by a cold, damp Yorkshire fog, the mist itself almost a living thing and it was through a parting of the mist that he allegedly first glimpsed the alien, a diminutive being waving at him as though telling him to leave. At this time Spencer remembering his camera took a shot, then yelled, the creature as though startled moving out of site. A few moments later it was the policeman’s turn to be startled as a strange craft looking like two saucers stuck top to bottom with a domed top lifted off from behind an outcrop and with a loud humming sound disappeared skyward.

Unsure of what had just happened and perhaps doubting his sanity Spencer decided to call off the visit to his in-laws and head instead for the nearby village of Menston a thirty minute walk. On the way he noticed the needle on his compass now pointed south instead of north and upon arrival that the church clock indicated the time to be 10:00 a.m., not the 8:15 a.m. which by his reckoning it should have been.

Thoroughly confused and needing confirmation of what he had just seen he decided to head to Keighley and get the film in his camera developed. A short time later he was looking at what appeared to be an image of a four foot creature with long arms and bluish green skin. An analysis of the photograph by Kodak laboratories in Hemel Hempstead, revealed that as far as they could tell it had not been doctored in any way. The photo was then sent to the United States and computer enhanced, the results inconclusive.

As for Spencer, he purportedly began to have strange dreams. Having already contacted Peter Hough, a UFO investigator, he now agreed to undergo regressive hypnosis, the gist of which was that he had been abducted, given some sort of examination, a tour of the spacecraft and a quick trip into orbit after which he viewed some videos (the first concerning a future apocalypse, the second he was forbidden to talk about) before being returned to the moor unharmed, the snapshot apparently taking place after the abduction, the creature waving goodbye.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

(Edit: This post replaces an earlier version I deleted.)

Local media story from West Yorkshire about a planned road closure as a "new drama" films outside a school.

The name of the show isn't identified, but the article speculates it may be for Jenna Coleman's series, The Jetty, which is filming in the area.

Either way, if The Jetty is being filmed on public roads, etc., maybe we'll start seeing images of Jenna on location?

[tokyotimes]

Warmer Weather Ahead as Arctic Chill Retreats

The UK has seen its first air frost of the season, with some areas catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights on Thursday night. This week’s Arctic blast, driven by frigid northerly winds, has brought unusually cold temperatures and a dusting of snow to Scotland's highest peaks.

Relief on the Way Warmer conditions are set to return as the Arctic air retreats. Temperatures are expected to rise over the weekend, with some areas potentially reaching up to 25°C by next week.

Recent Cold Snap Daytime temperatures have been 2-3°C below September's average, with rain, hail, and snow affecting Scotland’s mountain tops. Nights have been particularly cold, with Topcliffe in North Yorkshire recording -2.7°C, marking England's earliest air frost in five years. Wales and Northern Ireland also experienced their earliest frosts in years.

Weekend Warming Trend The recent chill has been caused by north-westerly Arctic winds. As high pressure builds to the south and low pressure moves north-west, the wind direction will shift to the south-west, bringing milder air from the Atlantic. Expect temperatures to rise to between 14 and 20°C across the UK this weekend, with milder nights. Rain and cloud are likely, especially in the north and west, but the south-east should remain relatively dry.

Northern Lights Viewing Thursday night offered a chance to view the aurora borealis. Space weather forecasts suggest another opportunity on Friday night, particularly after midnight, although the aurora may be weaker and mostly visible in northern parts of the UK. Cloud cover could obstruct views, and a phone or long-exposure camera may be needed to capture the display.

Outlook for Next Week As high pressure strengthens and moves northwards, temperatures are expected to rise further next week. Scotland and Northern Ireland could see highs of 19-21°C, while England and Wales might reach 22-25°C by midweek. This warm-up will mark a significant change in the autumn weather, though it won't be a return to summer.

For the latest forecasts, check online weather resources.

[leicamoments]

Railway Hold A Candle High

Harrogate Railway Ladies’ Day 2024

Sunday and I took the short drive down to Harrogate Railway to cover a day of football – not cricket as had been originally planned. Railway Ladies were putting on, what is now becoming, their annual Ladies’ Day football extravaganza.

Three games had been arranged from midday through to early evening, as well as putting on a BBQ, bar, and raffle. Railway were also supporting Candlelighters – a charity that helps the families of children who have cancer, something that is close to the hearts of a number of people in and around the club.

The first game on the main Station View pitch was Railway Reserves against Huddersfield Amateurs. Both teams play in the West Riding County Women’s Football League – with the visitors starting in Division One and the reserves in Division Three for the 2024/25 season.

This isn’t the place for me to write three match reports, you can find summaries on Railway’s website if you want to read them.

The first game…both teams were determined to win, with the reserves taking the lead initially before Huddersfield hit back. It was a close game and a good advert for preseason football, with the visitors eventually winning 3-2.

The second game featured Railway Devs taking on West Yorkshire Whippets on the second pitch next to the clubhouse; both teams will be playing in the Women’s Beginner League this next season.

Another enjoyable game to watch, with both teams competing for every ball, wanting to win but with smiles on their faces. There was a plethora of chances, but some excellent goalkeeping on both sides meant that the game was finely balanced throughout.

As the full-time whistle was blown, each team had managed to score, and it ended 1-1 – probably a fair reflection of the overall gameplay.

A quick run back to the main pitch and I found that the last game had already kicked off.

Railway Firsts were playing Brayton Belles; Railway being in the topflight of the West Riding County Women’s Football League and the visitors in Division One, the league just below.

I’d missed a goal already…but that wasn’t to prove too pivotal as Railway were to give a virtuoso performance and score freely throughout the 90 minutes. As the first team has progressed over the last couple of seasons, a few promising younger players have been drafted in, and it is having a positive effect.

I’m not too sure how far along in preseason Brayton Belles are, nor if the team that turned out at Station View on Sunday reflects the line-up that will feature in the upcoming season – so there won’t be any conclusions drawn.

What I can say – is that Railway looked very, very good. It was one of those days that everything seemed to click, and they showed how good a team they are. This could be a fantastic season for them – and I have a gut feeling that they will be up there fighting for the title come April/May 2025.

The game ended 10-1 to Railway and as the teams and supporters headed up to the clubhouse to enjoy the remainder of the evening, I packed my cameras away and reflected on how good an afternoon of sport it had been.

Congratulations to everyone responsible for making the festival of football happen, and well done to all the teams and supporters who turned up and supported the day and especially the charity.

[biographygen]

Zayn Malik Biography, Net Worth, Early Life, Career, Girlfriend

Full NameZain Javadd MalikNet Worth $75 MillionDate Of Birth12 January 1993Age31 yearsGenderMaleHeight5 Feet 9 Inches

Zayn Malik Biograph

    Born in Bradford, England, Zayn Malik is the daughter of Pakistani father and English-Irish mother. Her parents are Tricia (Brannan) and Yaser Malik. He developed a passion for singing and acting at a young age, and at the age of 17, he took part in The X Factor, a television competition. The X Factor following judges Nicole Scherzinger and Simon Cowell's decision to combine him with fellow contestants Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson to form a new act. In order to focus on his solo career, Malik left the band in 2015 after they achieved enormous success. After moving to Los Angeles and signing with RCA Records, ZAYN collaborated with James "Malay" Ho (Frank Ocean, Big Boi) on his solo project. His full-length debut album Mind of Mine was released on March 25, He then started working on his Versus Versace link, which is scheduled for release in May 2017. Malik also agreed to executive produce the upcoming television series BOYS with Universal Pictures and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf in August of 2016. With her collaboration with Taylor Swift on the song "I Don't Want To Live Forever" from the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, ZAYN made a comeback to the music scene towards the end of 2016.   Full NameZain Javadd MalikNicknameZayn, DJ Malik, Bradford Bad BoyPorfessionSinger-songwriter, Actor,Physical Height Eye Colour Hair Colour 5 Feet 9 Inches Hazel Brown BrownWeight65 KGDate Of Birth12 January 1993Age31 YearsNet Worth $75 MillionNationalityBritishHometownEast Bowling, Bradford, EnglandBirthplaceBradford, England. United KingdomReligionIslam, (Muslim)Educational QualificationEnglish Degree at UniversitySchoolLower Fields Primary School and Tong High School  in BradfordFavourite FoodChickenFavourite SongThriller By Michael JacksonFavourite AnimalLionFavourite ColourBlackMarital StatusUnmarriedParents Name: Father Mother Yaser Malik  Trisha MalikBrother SisterNon  Doniya, Waliyha & Safaa MalikGirlfriend's NameGeneva Lane (2010) Rebecca Ferguson (2011) Stephanie Davis (2011) Perrie Edwards (2011-2015) Gigi Hadid (2015-2021) Selena Gomez (2023)  

Zayn Malik Net Worth

    British musician Zayn Malik is worth a cool $75 million. Zayn Malik gained notoriety primarily as a member of the well-liked boy band One Direction. In addition, he has had a very prosperous solo career.  

Zayn Malik Early Life

    In Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on January 12, 1993, Zain Javadd Malik gave birth to Zayn Malik. His upbringing was in East Bowling, and he is the son of Yaser and Tricia Malik. He received his diploma from Bradford's Tong High School. Because of his mixed Pakistani and Irish/English ancestry, he was frequently the target of jokes and cruel remarks during his school years, which made them less than ideal. Despite coming from an Islamic family, Zayn no longer considers himself to be a Muslim. He participated in several school productions as an adolescent and took performing arts classes. He got his start in rap writing in high school. His original plan was to become an English teacher before he started his musical career.

Zayn Malik Career

    In July 2015, Malik announced he had signed a recording contract with RCA Records following his split from One Direction. First solo on-camera interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1 on Apple Music. The lead single from the album available in January 2016. The song debuted at number one in a number of countries, including the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and the US Singles Chart. Malik rose to 6 on the "Billboard" Artist 100 Chart thanks to the single. Numerous countries saw it peak at number one, including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, where he made history as the first male solo artist from Britain to debut at number one with his debut album. The lead single from Malik's upcoming album, "Icarus Falls," "Let Me," was released in April 2018. Malik and Zhavia Ward recorded a cover of "A Whole New World" in 2019 for the soundtrack of the "Aladdin" movie. The electropop song "Flames," which he wrote and recorded. November 2019 saw the release of their song. Zayn's third studio album, "Nobody is Listening," features the lead single "Better," which was released in September 2020. His first release, "Vibez," was on January 8, 2021, and his album "Nobody is Listening" followed on January 15, 2021.  

Zayn Malik Girlfriend

  Geneva Lane (2010)  

  After meeting Zayn Malik while they were both on The X Factor, Geneva Lane and Malik had a brief romantic relationship in 2010. It's unclear how long they dated, but it doesn't appear like they ended things well. Malik's abrupt and widely reported breakup with Perrie Edwards, whom he dated from 2011 to 2015, was met with immediate support from Lane for the Little Mix singer. She shared her thoughts on social media, saying that she had expected the relationship to end. There had to be some unresolved matter involving Malik and Lane.   Rebecca Ferguson (2011)  

  Malik and British singer Rebecca Ferguson first connected on The X Factor, and their relationship grew more passionate and flirtatious when the show toured in 2011. Unfortunately, their relationship didn't last long either, as they called it quits on each other after just four months. Ferguson referred to their time together as her "first mistake" in a 2013 interview with The Independent. "I was 23 and he was 18," she said, expressing regret over the age difference. It wouldn't have created a stir if the roles had been reversed, with a 23-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman. But it was significant in our situation. Ferguson acknowledged her ignorance at the time. "You can't always let your heart lead the way," she said in closing.   Stephanie Davis (2011)  

  That same year, Malik moved on to the English actress Stephanie Davis following his breakup with Ferguson. But like his other two high-profile relationships, this one ended after just five months. In 2016, Davis revealed that she was the one who started the breakup during her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother. She also talked briefly about their brief romance. She related an instance in which Malik called her repeatedly while she was out with her friends. She made the decision to update her phone number in response. It makes sense because Davis ended things later. Perrie Edwards (2011-2015)  

  Zayn Malik learned from his run of brief relationships and entered his first committed partnership with Little Mix singer and fellow X Factor alum Perrie Edwards. Edwards was a contestant on the show, and Malik's boy band One Direction made a special appearance. This is how the two first connected.  In August 2013, rumors of the British singer popping the question to Edwards began to circulate, following two years of low-key affairs. August 2015 saw the pop culture couple break up after a two-year engagement. Using the energy she had gained from their breakup, Edwards released the song "Shout Out to My Ex" about Malik in 2016. Gigi Hadid (2015-2021)  

  Following the end of a serious four-year relationship with Edwards, Malik turned to fashion designer Gigi Hadid for comfort. After sparking dating rumors in late 2015, Malik shared an Instagram picture of the two cuddling, and by December, they had officially announced their relationship to the world. After that, Hadid appeared in Malik's first solo music video, the two even shared a kiss. The two made their rather fashionable red carpet debut as a couple at the Met Gala in 2016 after being spotted hanging out in public on multiple occasions. In May 2018, after two years of blissful marriage, there were rumors circulating that Malik and Hadid were taking a break. Selena Gomez (2023)  

  Selena Gomez was the last high-profile person to have dated Zayn Malik. Rumors of a romantic relationship between Sel and Malik started to surface in March 2023 after the two were spotted out to dinner in New York City. Witnesses reported seeing them kissing and holding hands. This dinner date happened soon after Gomez became one of just eighteen accounts that Malik followed on Instagram, after fans on Twitter noticed that he had followed the "Better" singer.

  Read the full article

[yestolerancepro]

Tolerance Ability not in Ability A producers Commentary Part 1 in the Beginning  25th Anniversary Edition

Introduction

Ever watched a film with an audio commentary? Imagine that I am sat beside you at home in your living room on the couch, explaining what happened as we made the Tolerance film. This blog will do just that and give you a more complete story about the making of Tolerance, including new interviews with the cast and crew, behind the scenes stories, and details of deleted scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. 

 The best news is we have managed to find over 107 behind-the-scenes photographs from the original film.  They come from Rob Martin, who was meticulous at labelling these photos; the information includes the date when they were taken the location and which are the best photos to use

Tolerance Member Helen Batty approached me with more photos, which included shots taken on the last day of shooting at the Odeon Cinema in Huddersfield and the Ropewalk Pub. While going through the Tolerance film paperwork I came across the shooting schedule the props and costume lists all added more to the Tolerance story

This new version of the blog written for the 25th Anniversary of the film also includes screengrabs taken from the Tolerance film from a cleaned up digital copy that Ian Medley made in 2020

Background

The Tolerance Project was made up of a group of non-disabled and disabled people aged between 18 and 25 in the West Yorkshire area.

The idea behind the film was one of Jeremy Walkers many ideas and it was a good one we first began talking about making a disability awareness film in 1997 in fact here I am on the front cover of a 1997 edition of CDS news talking about our early plans to Huddersfield Examiner Reporter Jenny Parkin there was even an interview with me inside the booklet

We wanted to make a film that reflected the life of young disabled people in the 21st century. It was important to us as a group that it was funny, and that it would capture the humour within the group. At the same time, we wanted it to deliver a serious message about what it was like to live with a disability day-to-day.

The film has five main themes: Employment, Social Life, Transport, Accessibility, and Relationships. We chose these themes because they were important areas of all the lives of the group members.

If we were going to make the film we wanted to be involved with it as much as possible provide as many of the cast and crew in the finished film as we could. In the end other members of the Tolerance who were not in front of the camera worked behind the camera in the various behind the scenes roles.  

After a couple of false starts we approached a company called Eclipse Productions run by Richard Hellawell. The film itself was shot between the 16th to the 23 August 1999

The script was written by Richard Hellawell with input from Tolerance members; myself and Jeremy Walker were the film’s producers. In keeping with the humour we wanted the film to portray, we included film spoofs of Officer and a Gentleman, Star Wars, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

 So, blog commentary coming up ... Tolerance starts and ...

45 seconds and we begin with our first film spoof, Star Wars, when the film starts with the standard Star Wars opening crawl. Instead of detailing a rebel attack on the evil empire lead by Darth Vader it tells u about the Tolerance group and what you can expect to see over the next 25 mins

Tolerance uses all original music from a number of film and TV shows, raided from my music collection. You can find a complete playlist of all the music used in Tolerance here The soundtrack totals 32 mins of music ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye8KvYKn9-0&list=PLPMadem14HDA4VfaekTC3gszEtwWfyGLQ

The Soundtrack we created for the Tolerance film will be covered in a new 2 Part blog called Thank you for the Music .  

1 minute 22 seconds with the Star Wars music still playing, we get a nice opening shot of our leading man, David Smith, fast asleep, who plays our hero Robert clutching a book about the latest Star Wars film, The Phantom Menace (episode I), with his wheelchair close by.

David Smith (www.davidsmithactor.co.uk) has gone on to do some great things in the acting world appearing in episodes of Moving On for the BBC, Emmerdale for ITV, and the film Electricity. I think he gives a great performance in our film and I would love to work with him again someday.

Please note: unless mentioned in the commentary, all the actors in Tolerance are non-wheelchair users. Tolerance members did insist that all members of the cast and crew should use wheelchairs to get the full experience, before, during, and in some cases after filming was complete.

Deleted scene

The opening of the film was going to be quite different is detailed in the original script.

Scene 3: Princess Leia Dream Sequence

The first deleted scene was the first of the intended film spoofs, taking off the popular science fiction film, Star Wars. In the finished film, there is a Star Wars homage, but the director, Richard Hellawell, shot it differently from the script. In 1999 when we were filming, there was no CGI, nor did we have the budget for anything out of the ordinary!

Robert is in a Star Fighter ready to fire his thermo bombs into the Death Star. Dissolve to Robert, who receives a medal from Princess Leia, but she is not Princess Leia, she is Robert’s girlfriend, Julie.

Interestingly some of the deleted scenes were included in the props list  The Star Wars dream sequence for example has the following list attached to it Star Wars Footage blue screen equipment fighter pilot clothing medal Princess Leia dress

1 minute 47 seconds After the introduction of our leading man, we get the introduction of our leading lady, Claire Abbot, playing Julie. Like David Smith, Claire gives a great performance and I would love to meet her again. If you can help me find Claire, I would be most grateful, as I have not been able to find out any information about what she is doing now. Sadly, this is a recurring theme in Tolerance.

The use of Perfect Day is a romantic theme in the film. I wanted to use the all star Children in Need version, but Richard Hellawell went with the original Lou Read version. I have to admit in hindsight that I think this was the better choice.

2 minutes

Julie Fountain plays Julie’s mother and she would also appear in the party scene at the end of the film. She has worked on many TV programmes and is a lecturer and acting coach. (www.linkedin.com/in/julie-fountain-50968226/?trk=public-profile-join-page)

The scenes where we see Robert and Julie at home were shot at different houses, belonging to the mums of Tolerance members, Liam Centino and Gemma Blagbrough. These shots were recorded on the first day of the shoot. On the 16th of August Unfortunately, it did not go well; we had awful weather; we were nervous; and filming overran because somebody kept ruining the take with his laughing, not naming names.

The shooting schedule also notes how many pages of script we had to shoot each day on that first day we only shot the first 4 pages of the film but it seemed to take forever  

 If you wondering how long a typical filming day was like on the film the first day of filming started at 830am in the morning and we were still shooting at 7pm that day proved to be an exception to the rule most shooting days started at 7 in the morning   

The shooting schedule also has the word Skel written on it most notably in the scenes shot at the Worklink office and town sequences. This indicates that a Skeleton Crew was used in film terms that means a small crew of people required to get up early in a morning, to shoot scenes in a location where a few or no members of public are about to interrupt them a typical Skeleton Crew will include the following people

Director of Photography Directors of photography are responsible for the photographic heart of a production.

They read the screenplay and work closely with the director to discuss the look and feel of a film.

Each shot is marked up for focus and framing by the focus puller and then the DoP oversees the lighting of the set for the first take.

Make Up/Hair

In film and TV drama, hair and make-up designers help actors portray their characters by using hair and make-up to create a look.

 In pre-production, they work closely with the director to understand the style of the story.

Production Assistant Helps prepare the set with lights, props, equipment etc.Assisting costume designers, directors, camera people and other crew members. Printing and distributing daily paperwork (e.g. scripts, call sheets)

Location Audio (Sound Recordist) Sound recordists work intimately, fitting personal mics and monitoring

the sound output on all on-screen talent and contributors.

They communicate with all members of the production and crew, especially camera operators and directors.

Gaffer

During filming, they work out the positioning of the lights and fastest way to change the lighting setups between shots.

Gaffers mediate between the DoP and the rest of the lighting crew.

They're also responsible for safety and need to comply with the law on electricity, driving and employment.

Grips his responsibility is to build and maintain all the equipment that supports cameras.

This equipment, which includes tripods, dollies, tracks, jibs, cranes, and static rigs,

is constructed of delicate yet heavy duty parts requiring a high level of experience to operate and move.

2 minutes 41 seconds Julie’s sister, Mary, appears asking for her cup of tea. Mary was played by Laura Brown, sister of Tolerance member, Sarah Brown. Both Sarah and Laura moved back to Newcastle with their parents about a year after the film was shot, but please get in touch if you read this !* Footage from this scene was used to highlight the issue of Family and Relationships in the Tolerance film

My commentary will continue in part 2, which will look at the aspect of the film dealing with transport.

In the meantime, if you have read this and want to help the Tolerance Project, please click on the above link to our gofundme page

 to find out more info about or to give a small donation 

Or follow us on twitter @TolerancePro

 Coming soon Tolerance Ability Not in Ability Producers Commentary Part 2 Transport

Pictures

An example of one of the 4 photo wallets containing the Tolerance Behind the scenes photo taken by Rob Martin

Me on the Front cover of CDS News talking to Jenny Parkin from the Huddersfield Examiner

The Tolerance/Star Wars Dialoge crawl

Robert played by David Smith reading a book about the making of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace

The Tolerance film prop list note the deleted scene props highlighted in Green

Clare Abbot as Julie

Actress Julie Fountain playing Julies Mother with Tolerance Member Laura Brown playing Julie Sister Mary

The Tolerance film shedule drawn up by director Richard Hellawell

Notes

Thank you to Ian Medley for the Skeleton crew job disriptions and for the nice clean screengrabs taken from the Tolerance film also thanks to Ruth Sharpe for giving me the title for the first chapter for the blog all those years ago and for editing the original blog in the first place

Also Thank you to Doctor who magazine for letting me nick there Fact of fiction format ha ha

[zsproductions]

Award-Winning Wedding Videography and Photography

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[thegeekysnapper]

Years ago I had a Tumblr blog. I don't know how or why I stopped using it, I'm guessing it was probably because of my complete incompetence with any form of social media, and social media like endeavours.

Having read the umpteenth "networking advice for photographers" type article that mentions Tumblr, I though I'd mosey on back over.

Way back when, I used to use Tumblr a little like a repository for my online postings, sharing things such as my blog posts, images I'd shared to Instagram, the occasional funny or insightful tweet, and anything else I may have shared. I thought that, at least for now, that is how I would use it.

To that end, below is the first post from my recently resurrected blog - resurrected because of, as I mention in the post, "helpful" advice I have received - that gives a little information about me, the idiot behind the camera and this Tumblr blog...

Over the years I have produced a number of blogs on various topics. Despite them differing when it came to subject matter they all shared one similarity, much like with a camera, I tried to keep the focus away from myself as much as possible. As I make my way along the journey of turning my photography into a living as opposed to a - occasionally paying - hobby, I have found myself advised that a blog, specifically a blog that focuses more often upon myself, is a must - Oh, for f**k's sake!

Even though I have produced the aforementioned blogs, and I have written articles for a number of others, I have always struggled with the whole 'first post' thing. And so, in an effort to make life easier for myself, but at the same time make me share a little about me, I had a quick Google, found some 'get to know me' questions, and using a random number generator have randomly selected some - Except the first two. I figured my name and where I am based may be useful information should anyone consider my services.

What is your name?

My name is Ian Guffogg (Brits over a certain age, answer me this, did you hear that in "Michael Caine's" voice?), online I also go by the moniker The Geeky Snapper, a moniker that was suggested to me by my late wife because I'm a massive geek and I'm a photographer.

Where are you from?

I was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Until my early teens I lived near Dewsbury in a little place called Littletown (which despite the name is technically a village). In my early teens I moved near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire to a village called Rastrick. In my late teens I moved to Halifax, West Yorkshire. Now I live in Bolton, Lancashire having defected over the border for love in 2010.

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

When I was a young 'un I loved choc mint chip. I do still like it from time to time, but I've found as I've got older I've gone quite boring and vanilla is my favourite.

What is your favourite candle scent?

As long as I've lived in Bolton we've had rescue cats, and somehow we managed to find cats that had no sense of self preservation. Because of this we had to stop using candles but found we could use electric wax melt "burners", my favourite scent for it is salted caramel.

What was your least favourite subject at school?

I've always struggled with the traditional learning methods so I wasn't particularly fond of any subject, but my least favourite was definitely PE because we never played a sport that interested me.

Are you scared of heights?

I'm not scared of heights per se. I'm scared of the sudden stop at ground level should I fall from said height.

Are you a good cook?

I can cook. Does that make me a good cook... I don't know. You'd have to ask someone I cook for. What I can say with some certainty is that I love garlic, so if you aren't a fan of garlic then to you I'm a terrible cook.

What's the weirdest thing you have seen in your life?

I once saw a bloke walking his iguana to my local supermarket. It might not be weird to some but it was a first for me. On the same road another time - although this one is more amusing rather than weird I think - I saw a bloke outside my local pub having a screaming match on the phone, he ended the call rather angrily with "NO! WHY WOULD WE WANT TO COME HOME NOW? WE'RE GOING FOR A DRINK", he hung up and turned revealing that he had a kitten in his arms. He gave it's belly a tickle and said to it - in the voice you do to a baby - "we're going for a drink aren't we" and marched into the pub.

What is your most used swear word?

F**k. Its various word forms can be used for almost anything. It's so versatile, it's like a waffle - I should maybe explain for those not in the know, the frozen food company Birds Eye have a product called a potato waffle and their long running slogan was "Birds Eye potato waffles, they're waffly versatile."

How far from your birthplace do you live now?

According to Google, 41.5 mile.

What store would you choose to max out your credit card?

If it could only be one store I'd need to find a hybrid store that combines a camera store, somewhere like Forbidden Planet, and this Las Vegas shop who's socials I follow - and somewhere I hope to visit one day - called Nightmare Toys.

What flavour of tea do you enjoy?

This used to cause my late wife so much dismay because I'm a big fan of Toast & Jam Brew made by Yorkshire Tea. She thought it was an abomination. She loved their Malty Biscuit Brew, and to be fair so do I.

What is one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up?

I've never understood the concept of feeling guilt for enjoying something. Judging by some people's reaction to finding out I play Pokémon games I should probably say that. At the risk of carbon dating myself, I've played them since the originals came out on the Game Boy.

What time do you usually get up in the morning?

I have a dog who is quite fond of routine, and somehow a 6am wakeup with 6.30am breakfast became her routine, so I wake up at 6am with the pitter-patter of paws dancing on me and her face mere inches from mine.

What was the name of your first pet?

It's neither witty nor clever, though to be fair I was a child, I had a goldfish called Goldie.

That's probably quite enough of that for now. I do hope someone, somewhere, found something of interest.

[wwwdenise]

The Rings of Power 

The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series based on the novels The Lord of the Rings The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien and its appendices, set thousands of years before the novels and depicting the major events of the Second Age of Middle-earth.

I found his description of his work in the description of my favourite concept designer's work: "Concept artwork for a design for Linden. As an art director, I had to design the background for the entire sequence and provide assistance to the integrated team. But my favourite task was the establishing shot of the city. It started as a simple panel and developed into a full cg shot that I animated using Blender. I passed my 3D scene to the Generalist team and they worked their magic to bring it to life. The architectural designs were also interesting, they came from an old sketch (by John Howe) and an arch designed for the set.

I found a guide to the locations in Middle-earth and they say this "The first attraction on our Middle-earth tour was Lindon. Lindon is an Elven kingdom on the west coast of Middle-earth. It is considered in part to be the site of the Grey Harbour, the port city where the elves sailed west to Verinor. Verinor, also known as the Land of the Undying, is home to the powerful creatures known as the Vira as well as elves who chose to leave Middle-earth".

So I will share a scene and map-based concept designer Julien Gauthier. concept designer from France, previously served as art director of Industrial Light and Magic, up to 7 years, involved in the conceptual production of the film, including Aladdin, DC The Sea King, Jurassic World 2 and other scene concept design.

The following set of designs is called Grey Paradise and is known for its good harbours and many ships. Any spirit clan can use these items to leave Middle Earth for Erisia or Verinor. The elves are designed to look vibrant and mysterious in harmony with their natural surroundings, having vertical lines like gothic architecture and more natural forms The buildings are white, as if they are distant, yet in the middle of the jungle. I like this one in the midst of a ridge and waterfall, it looks elegantly crafted with a lot of Art Nouveau lines in the decoration. The soaring arches are easily reminiscent of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire.

His project work is very complete and allowed me to learn well the sequence of specific productions at work. The details and architectural shapes of his work are very fine, and he presents a camera language that makes the images unique and storytelling, which I like very much. I think I am also more inclined to do film and TV set concepts.

The camera image seems to be talking, so a good concept design can also help to do the work of the screenwriter.hh The original concept design, full of story and atmosphere, expresses the thinking concept of the whole work. It not only shows the final picture effect that you want to present, but also lays down the direction and emotional colour of the story.

I didn't realise that reference pictures could be distinguished so carefully. If it were me, I should only be able to think of one effect ……

Harfoots is also a favourite design of mine, but the concept came from another artist, Roberto F. Castro, who said, "In illustrating these, I wanted to give them the look of Native American settlements and the way they are depicted in art. The design of the caravan is based on the idea of a temporary camp; the Harfoots travelled and set up temporary camps, so they made the caravan their home. This called for the creation of carts that were both vehicles and tents.

The nomadic Hairy Feet are humorous human beings with a unique appearance and ancestors of The Lord of the Rings Hobbits, and we can get to see very much Hobbit-like elements, such as nature-friendly headdresses, a variety of crops and compilations made from plants, and especially the small hill-stacked carts and round tent doors that echo the Hobbits' famous round-door mountain houses.

I'm sure this film, which has been described as the "most expensive American drama", will be a good presentation in terms of visual effects.

References：

renart. renart's ArtStation profile. [Online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/renart (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

Tolkien Gateway contributors. Grey Havens. In Tolkien Gateway. [Online] Available at: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Grey_Havens (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

[Rings of Power: What went wrong? The Concept Art is so much better!]. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Skz-3LJ-4 (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

GeekTyrant. (2022). The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Concept Artist Explains This Isn't Middle-earth You Remember. [Online] Available at: https://geektyrant.com/news/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-concept-artist-explains-this-isnt-middle-earth-you-remember

Wikipedia contributors. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In Wikipedia. [Online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Rings_of_Power (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

Mashable. (2022). Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power character and location guide. [Online] Available at: https://mashable.com/article/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-character-location-guide (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

Mashable. (2022). Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer. [Online] Available at: https://mashable.com/video/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-trailer (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

robertofc. (2023). robertofc's ArtStation profile. [Online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/robertofc (Accessed: 23 March 2024).

[forensicated]

The following starts a quintology of episodes centered around Smithy going undercover to bust arms dealers.

Smiffina Episodes: Gun Runner Part 1 - Trigger Happy (1/5)

Ben and Roger are on scene at the Cockcroft Estate as Banksy manages to get a young boy, Emile Grover, to put a loaded gun on the floor without it going off.

Smithy is taking new PC Mel Ryder walkies around Sun Hill after she'd transferred from West Yorkshire Police to the MET. Gina's surprised at their keenness to get out there given Mel hadn't even met the relief at that point.

It's not that long since Emma was killed and now with a young child getting hold of a real gun - Gina's rattled. She warns Smithy to bring Mel back in one piece which he promises to do before taking her to a shout at a secondary school where two estranged parents are arguing about contact. The mother has an injunction against the father. Mel proves she can handle herself, telling the father exactly what to do in no uncertain terms. "Thanks for the help there, Sarge." "Well if you'd given me a chance...!" he smirks, amused. "Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you!"

Emile is worried his dad is going to kill him as he puffs his inhaler. Banksy tells Emile that it'll be OK and that it was a neighbour who spotted him playing with the gun , pretending to point it at the public from the balcony who told them he was in the flat. Emile claims the gun was already in the living room. He denies he broke in to the flat but tells them that it's a known hangout. He then says he can't name names because they're 'older' and he doesn't know their names. His father claims Emile has told him all he knows. Banksy and Max agree Emile was lying but not sure about what part.

Unfortunately the father from earlier, Billy Figgis, has broken into and trashed the home his ex wife lives in with their son and her new partner. They're due to leave for Glasgow though Figgis is refusing to let her leave with their son despite her having permission for it.

Max briefs CID about the gun, explaining it's army issue. It seems there are high numbers of them around in Sun Hill. This gun has had its serial number filed off. Kezia asks why they're not running an obbo on the flat it was found in but Gina explains she already has uniform there and the news has gotten out about Emile so she doubts the owner will return for it now they know the police have it. They're viewing the CCTV and doing door to do whilst also hoping there's fingerprints on it that will give them more information. Sun Hill let the army know that it's turned up and that there was an armed robbery in the last week that matches up with the weapon.

Most of the cameras on the estate had been vandalised apart from one in the lift showing Emile take the gun from his bag and wave it around. "The little...! I knew he was lying!" Max sighs, bringing him in.

Figgis was sacked from his security job after unofficially 'moving in' to one of the storage units on site. Smithy looks through a small box of belongings and finds a military cross which is only awarded for acts of real bravery against the enemy. They take it and the rest to his forwarding address, a B&B.

Emile and his father watch the CCTV footage. He claims he was just playing and had found it at the side of the railway. They ask him again how he got it. "You implying my son is a liar?" his father demands of Max. "No. I'm not implying it. I'm saying it." His father reacts angrily but Banksy calms the situation down and asks Emile again. Emile admits someone told him to take it to the flat. He doesn't know who and says he didn't look at him as he was scared and told not to. He admits he was paid £10 and promises he'll never do it again. He said he'd heard the older boys talk about an Andrew Tyrell.

Terry visits his snout who owns an army surplus store. Kezia asks if he's heard anything about someone using an army weapon. He names Tyrell and claims he was formerly low level but has announced himself more Premier League with a new supplier. He's leasing British Army weapons direct from Iraq.

The army captain has a fun name misunderstanding with Jo, both expecting the other to be male. Captain Charlie Shaw tells them the gun was initially issued in Iraq. With the full serial number she'd be able to tell them who it was issued to and when but without it - much harder if not impossible. She admits a small number have been smuggled back by soldiers but as each one is signed in/out they were always able to trace it and retrieve it. She admits some soldiers have reported weapons as stolen by the enemy during a tour and they were smuggled back that way. Forensics manage to work out some more numbers and Charlie tracks it down to a specific unit.

Uniform visit a normal flat on a normal estate looking for Tyrell. It's not what Ben was expecting for an arms dealer. He's also grumpy because 'New Girl' Mel gets to 'run around with the Sarge' when he and Roger get the grunt work.

Mel and Smithy arrive at the ironically named Sunshine B&B and visit Billy. He's on edge and claims he only left rubbish behind at the unit. Smithy flicks through a notebook of Billy's and notes codes but doesn't question it at first as they are there to ask him about the break in at his ex's. They want him to answer questions and he claims he can't do that so Mel arrests him. They allow him to 'get his coat'. Smithy questions the codes only for Figgis to pull a gun on them instead. He orders them to cuff themselves together. Smithy reassures Mel that they'll be alright and will get it out it in one piece - like he promised Gina. "All promises you can't keep!" Snarls Figgis.

Figgis shouts he only wants his life back and that no-one gives a stuff about him. He sends them flying onto the bed and leaves the room. Smithy gets them back onto their feet and they untangle themselves but are still cuffed at the arms. Mel discovers the gun was a toy. Roger and Ben head over and LOVE winding them up about it!

Smithy and Mel continue searching Figgis' room for anything that could explain what he's up to or where he could have gone. Mel finds a big box of money inside his fridge - at least £10K's worth.

Tyrell is still missing and there's a car waiting outside his ready to bring him in. Unfortunately there are no other prints than Emile's on the gun. Charlie tells CID that they've located the unit the gun was issued to and they are cross referencing soldiers from that unit with both serving and ex soldiers who have links to Sun Hill. Only one is found - Billy Figgis. There are no records of missing weapons from that unit. Charlie confesses they have found stolen weapons ranging from grenades to rocket launchers in the past. Not reassuring!

Smithy reports the notebook to Neil and Gina. He recognised the terms GAT and HP from the Army. GAT is the term for a standard issue firearm and HP is for a Browning 'High Powered'. He thinks the notebook contained a list of British Army firearms with sums of cash beside them and names of people who had leased them. Neil orders Figgis to be found before he does anymore damage.

Sarah Figgis arrives to tell Mel and Smithy that her son has been abducted from school. Billy isn't answering the phone but he's text her to tell her to go home and wait and not involve the police but that their son will be fine. Sarah admits she's terrified about Billy's state of mind since he left the army after potentially accidentally killing a child in Basra. Their vehicle was hit, the Sgt killed outright and everyone else wounded. Billy was deafened by the explosion and almost blinded by the smoke. They were being shot at by insurgents. He fired back and when the smoke cleared there was a body of a child and they couldn't tell who it was who had actually killed him - but Billy felt responsible and has been suffering PTSD ever since.

Max, Terry and Jo find Billy Figgis outside Tyrell's house trying to kick the door in. They bring him in and Sarah launches at him, demanding to know where their son is. Smithy and Mel wrestle her back before he asks Billy where he is. Billy demands they let him go to find him. He tries to attack Smithy who forces him back down. In the upset he admits Tyrell has his son and he has to go find him.

In interview he shows Max and Smithy the video of his terrified son pleading for his life. Tyrell says he'll call at 5pm. He admits he has something that Tyrell wants. Max gets nothing from him but Smithy uses his Army background to tell him he understands how he feels. He explains he is former Queen's Royal Fusiliers and that he mostly served in Northern Ireland but also did a Tour in the Balkans. "I saw things that nobody should ever have to see, things that are going to stay with me for the rest of my life." (They definitely only played lip service to this because the tour he makes out he did 'with the blue helmets' (UN Peace Keepers) only happened IRL a month before PC Dale Smith arrived at Sun Hill - and he wasn't a probationer...! I'm going to side with he was telling Billy what he wanted/needed to hear from what his army mates told him to get him onside). Billy tells him he stole military weapons and that Tyrell is a scumbag who he can't stand. He needed him however to get him in with the right people so he let Tyrell handle them with an agreement to not ever involve kids in handling them/moving them/leasing them. Max winds him up again and Figgis gets angry and paranoid, claiming he's being watched through the mirror in the interview room. He admits his gun was involved that morning and that he told Tyrell where to go after he heard a kid was involved. In exchange for his son, Tyrell wants his other 2 guns and his contacts to get more.

Charlie is clearly weary of Neil placing the blame for Figgis on her and responds to Jo's offer of coffee with "Got anything stronger?"

Smithy and Max march Figgis into the toilet to speak to Tyrell privately and tell him to make out he's in a pub toilet waiting for updates. He agrees to meet Tyrell in 30 minutes at the storage yard where the guns are kept. Sun Hill mount an obbo quickly. Emile has also gone missing as he hasn't returned home from school and he was last seen with Josh Figgis. They suspect he could also have been taken hostage at the same time by Tyrell. Neil reminds them all that the boy(s) safety is paramount over everything else. The plan is to watch everything on the CCTV with Figgis wearing a wire. Smithy and Max are going to double check the guns aren't loaded before Tyrell arrives and then they'll let Billy take Tyrell to the guns. They will be hiding in other units out of view. As soon as he says where Josh is being held, uniform will rescue them. Once they know he's safe then they'll arrest Tyrell. CO19 are less than a minute away, hidden around a corner. Kezia is pretending to unload a unit into her car to keep a watch up outside. Tyrell arrives - walking rather than in a car or van as suspected. Gina calls in a report from a witness of two boys - matching Emile and Josh's descriptions, being bundled into a white van near their school. They're tracing the index of it and ask all units to keep an eye out for it - hoping it's near the unit.

Tyrell tells Figgis he's going to give him the guns and the contacts and then he'll tell him where Josh is. Tyrell scoffs when he finds only two guns, insisting Figgis 'has an arsenal'. Figgis insists that is all he has right now. Tyrell then mentions a deal with a Wallace and tells him he wants 50% and if he doesn't agree now and tell him where the rest is as well as the information, he can forget about ever seeing Josh again. The two men fight as Neil urges uniform to keep searching for the van to get the boys before they steam in. Terry, Smithy and Max can wait no longer when a knife is produced and Figgis is stabbed in the arm. Despite the wound, he holds Tyrell against the wall, demanding to know where his son is. Max and Terry drag Tyrell away and arrest him whilst Smithy holds Figgis back all by himself! (it puts me in mind of how he moves Callum so easily too when everyone else practically just hangs off his arm when they try) Tyrell screams at him that he'll never find his son now. Luckily straight after, Mel and Roger find the van mentioned and get the boys out and safe.

Max and Terry ask Jo and Charlie if they're coming to the pub. Both women instantly say they can't as they're heading off for an early night - even the once in a lifetime offer of Max offering a round can't tempt them. Terry is smirking as he watches. He's picked up on the obvious attraction between the two women, even if Max hasn't.

Gina and Smithy tease Mel about her 'slow first day'. "She might be a bit rough around the edges but as she's here we might as well keep her." Smithy smirks. "You never know she might even surprise us!" "Careful Sarge, you almost sounded optimistic there."

Max, Terry and Banksy almost make it out the door for their pint... but the Superintendent wants a briefing with Max and the DI and he needs them to get on to Trident to see what they know about Kieran Wallace - it seems there might be something in the deal that Tyrell mentioned! Terry's left to get the coffee's in...