Friday Photo #3

The main problem I can foresee cropping up in a series largely revolving around the snapshots I take while out walking, is that I tend to obsess over the same subject matter - time and again. So this is a heads-up, expect to see plenty of pathways drifting off into the far distance. Oh, and  sunsets, plenty of sunsets too. Here's an example of the former, taken a couple of weeks ago. Before heading out on that particular day, I had a lengthy circular route planned, but with the option of extending it still further if I was feeling up to it, several miles in. A couple of hours later I picked up the extension and pressed on into the unknown. 

Sometimes landowners play fast and loose with the upkeep of public footpaths that pass across or around their fields. These should be clearly designated and maintained, but it's not always the case. I remember one occasion a few years ago becoming hopelessly lost in the middle of a vast sweetcorn crop which towered over my (not inconsiderable) head height, obliterating what should have been a clear public footpath to the other side. There was no such problem with the one I stumbled upon here though. A consummately maintained thoroughfare, neatly parting the crop and positively enticing this weary rambler to wander on.

------------------------------

Today's soundtrack is a groovy little interlude from German outfit Out of Focus. 'Straight Ahead' was recorded in 1972, but shelved when the band split, before eventually gaining a release on the 'Rat Roads' LP in 2002.

Out of Focus - Straight Ahead

Friday Photo #2

Here's a photo taken on June 18th 1955 - 66 years ago today. Mum and Dad, newly wed, being greeted with a storm of confetti outside St Andrew's Church, situated on the Barking Road in Plaistow, East London. They enjoyed a long and happy marriage until Dad passed away very suddenly in 2007, with Mum re-joining him in 2010. It was only when clearing my parents' house that I found their wedding photos up in the loft, buried in a box of general family ephemera. I'd never seen them before. I've previously shared my absolute favourite of the bunch, a beautiful shot taken at the alter (here) and whereas that one captures the solemnity of their vow-exchanging, today's example really exudes the communal joy and happiness of their big day.

To soundtrack the photo is an appropriately titled slice of the Bakersfield Sound, produced by Buck Ram and released in 1961. 

Georgia Lynn - On Your Wedding Day

Monday Long Song

Spells of hot sweaty weather such as the one we're experiencing at the moment traditionally send me off on a reggae tip - and indeed I had one such selection in mind for this week's long song entry. At some point during an 11 hour shift at work on Friday however, a portion of 'Never Lose That Feeling', the epic 1992 racket by Swervedriver, nudged its way to the forefront of my internal jukebox, where it lodged itself until I could come home that evening and play the whole darned thing for real. Utterly splendid stuff it is too, here complete with the equally marvellous 'Never Learn' coda.

Swervedriver - Never Lose That Feeling / Never Learn 

Friday Photo

In an effort to give my moribund mojo a good kick up the backside, behold - a new series. Actually, the idea is so simple that even if the worst comes to the worst, my mojo can just stay skulking over there in the corner where it's been for the past couple of years, while the post takes care of itself. A photo, probably taken on my phone while out walking, or maybe an oldie retrieved from the family archive, perhaps even an anonymous antique snapshot plucked from what remains of my collection of such ephemera. To accompany it, a tune, ideally one that's at least partially inspired by the image.

It's an idea brazenly half-inched from any number of my blogging chums, not least Swiss Adam who slots one of his own excellent mid-wander shots into the majority of his posts. Here's a recent photo of mine, taken in the middle of nowhere, to kick things off.

Iron & Wine - Tree by the River