China week? China century more like

The Beeb is launching a week of programmes about China starting on Monday. It seems a little modest to give just a week to what it looking as becoming the dominant power of the century. However the timing isn't bad, as I've noticed increased awareness and discussion of China of late here in Britain, not least that more or less everything seems to be produced in China these days. The stars of the East, always influential but long rather insular, are now in ascendence.

I've an particular interest in China, in that it's likely to comprise a considerable chunk of my round-the-world trip that's currently in its early planning stages. I'll certainly be following the China-based programming the week ahead, not only to gather an idea of what to expect of my trip, but in examining what we may come to pass in the Chinese century.

Gallery updates

As promised, photos from Ellen MacArthur's visit to Greenwich on Sunday have been added to the January/February gallery, along with some scenes from Docklands. The December gallery has also been expanded at long last, with scenes from around London, going to show that even in the depths of winter the city remains appealing and striking.

Ellen MacArthur at Greenwich

It was completely out of the blue that I came upon the chance to see Ellen MacArthur in Greenwich today, who sailed down the Thames to celebrate her successful record-breaking solo journey with the good people on London. That said, there were well-wishers from all corners of the country who made the effort to travel down to London to pass on their congratulations to Britain's Dame of the Seas.
It's a remarkable effort for anyone, and put into even greater context when I consider that Ellen is a similar age to myself. It shows what can be achieved, and Ellen has becoming a guiding light and inspiration for many, not least with the charity in her name which enables sick children to go on sailing trips around the coastline of Britain.


Ellen MacArthur greets the hundreds of well-wishers and supporters in Greenwich today


Ellen's record-breaking tri-maran, which as I understand it is being donated to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich

I'll add some higher quality photos of Ellen and her boat to the February photo gallery soon.

A varied selection from Sweden

What transpired to be a rather odd selection of photos from my trip to Gothenburg has now been added to the January & February 2005 gallery. Due to the weather being terminally grey for the most part, it wasn't the photos of historic buildings in central Gothenburg that turned out the best. Instead, it was odd shots at the distinctively Scandinavian bus station, which I travelled through each day, and the tiny 'City' airport shortly before leaving which made for the most striking pictures. I've added a few others for interest, including one of central Gothenburg, which needed a good deal of tweaking to remove the layer of grey murk, plus a shot looking Earthwards while airborne.



The compact terminal building at Gothenburg City airport, affectionately nicknamed the 'cattle shed'.

The travelling bear in photos

While browsing PBase, one of the websites that gives digital photographers plenty of free space to host their photo galleries, I came across the pages of "Frimpong: The Travelling Bear". If you've seen the film Amelie, you may remember that Amelie's father has a gnome who goes travelling around the world, much to the owner's bemusement. Frimpong does much the same, and, hosted by a PBase photographer in each destination he visits, the travelling bear sees the world and has a photographic diary to prove it. I would recommend it for children if it weren't for the amount of alcohol this bear gets through during his travels!



http://www.pbase.com/frimpong/

New for February

I was away in Gothenburg for most of the first week of February, which is why there's not been much new on the website for a few days. I've a few photos from the trip, but due the generally gloomy weather there's not much of great moment, and if anything I'll only be adding one or two images to the photo gallery.

On the positive side the days and definitely starting to lengthen. When leaving work in the evening the sky is changed from the black of the nightime to a lighter shade of blue. This means it's only a matter of time before some after-work evening photography will be possible. We're not quite there yet, but each passing day takes us ever further through Winter towards the heady wonders of Springtime.

Well done Ellen!

Ellen MacArthur has broken the solo round-the-world sailing record in 71 days 14 hours 18 minutes 33 seconds, beating the current record by over a day. She's due to arrive back into Falmouth harbour tomorrow morning, after more than 2 months, for what will undoubtedly be some mighty celebrations, and a well earned rest.



I was looking at the AISLive website to check out the shipping heading towards the English channel. I don't think Ellen's tri-maran will be shown on it, but it's good fun to have a look none-the-less. You can see just how incredibly busy the channel is, even at 10.30pm on a Monday evening. Once you register on the site you can even click on individual ships for live information and even a picture of the chosen vessel. Remarkable site, and a well used resource by those in the industry by all accounts.

Historical shopping

Despite the blandness of modern highstreets, London is still home to a good deal of shops that look as if they've come from a previous age; and you can bet many of them have. The above is one such retailer, specialising in old maps, located near the British Museum, a good quarter of town to explore if you're in search of specialist shops.

"I bless this train..."

I've seen some strange things of the tube before: a carriage full of Santas, and quiz time at Earl's Court station; but today was a definite first. A man got into the carriage, where I was stood on my way to Green Park on the Piccadilly line, and with what I assume was a gold Catholic cross started blessing the carriage. He then hopped off and managed to get on the next carriage just before the doors closed. It was absolutely bizarre. Everyone around me gave each other quizical looks with supressed smirking. Words failed me at the time. Did this man know something we didn't? Was he doing what he thought to be his Christian duty, or perhaps he was employed by Transport for London. We shall never know, but it reminded me to always expect the unexpected when out and about in London.

In the past seven days...

Not a great deal of photography has been possible during the past week for one reason or another, even though the weather has been reasonable for the time of year. A visit to Ally Pally in North London at the weekend did however bring some unexpectedly good views across the city and further opportunity to experiment with the telephoto lens.

I've been able to find some time to update a little content, with a reorganised front page and an expanded links page, which can be found in the features section of the site.

More photos soon!