Frederick Forsyth

I’m a big fan of Frederick Forsyth. That’s not to say I have read all of his books, far from it, but I really like the way he writes, blending fact with fiction. The stories are so much richer for it.

The first Frederick Forsyth novel I read was The Day of the Jackal. I’d seen the brilliant film numerous times before I decided to read the book. If anything the book is better, and knowing what was going to happen did not spoil my enjoyment one bit. If anything it made me want to see the film again.

The following is from a recent article in the Telegraph newspaper 

Forsyth was flat broke, kipping on a friend’s sofa and tired of the hand-to-mouth slog of freelance life. So in the bitterly cold January of 1970, he sat down at the rickety fold-out table in his friend’s kitchen with his battle-scarred Empire Aristocrat typewriter and, in just 35 days, wrote the thriller that broke the mould.

The idea for The Jackal first dawned on him years earlier, while he was working for Reuters in Paris. Between 1961 and 1963 there was a series of assassination attempts on Charles de Gaulle by a French terrorist group, the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS), fighting to prevent Algerian independence. “It was just a question of watching the concentric rings of security around de Gaulle,” he says, “and coming to the conclusion that the OAS were not going to kill him. Most of the OAS were ex-army – which meant they were on file. Or they were white colonists from Algeria – neo-fascists.” If the terrorists really wanted the job done, Forsyth figured, they should hire an outsider: a professional hit man with no ties to them and no file with the French police.

“I went to the British Library and read copies of Le Monde and Figaro from the period. And I bought a street map of Paris.” He didn’t have high literary or commercial expectations. “I’d never wanted to be a writer. I devoured H Rider Haggard and John Buchan as a boy, and as a young man I admired the ingenuity of John le Carré, especially The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, but I never thought of imitating him. Growing up, all I wanted to be was a pilot. I just saw writing a novel – stupidly – as a way of making a bit of money. A means to get me out of a jam.”

Frederick Forsyth uses his experiences to add detail and authenticity to his stories. Advice often repeated to aspiring writers. I’m attempting to write a novel at the moment but, if I wrote it based on my experiences so far it would be about a young football loving lad who works in factories until he ‘finds’ himself after being made redundant, and gets his heart broken many times until he finds true love. Not exactly marketable material in my mind.

The Odessa File was my second book of his I read. Again, I’d seen the film first and, again, it did not spoil my enjoyment when reading the book.

If time was more kind I’d love to read his other novels but they will have to wait. 

Vinyl album covers

I am fortunate to be old enough to remember when the LP was king. There was no CD or download back then. One of the things about LP's that you don't (can't) get with cd's or downloads is the wonderful LP cover art.

Some of the designers for this art became famous in their own right, the late great Storm Thorgerson for example (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel to name but a few of the bands he worked with) or photographer Mick Rock (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Queen) but most never really got the recognition they deserved.

Some of the covers are so intricate they need to be seen full size to be able to take in the detail, Elton John's album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is a good example (See the video above). Others are just simplistic pieces of art that become iconic, the obvious example here being Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

The album art should compliment the music, to perhaps give a clue as to what the music will be about, Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf does this well. Remember, when the LP was king most of us had no idea what the album was going to be like until it was purchased and listened to. So the cover had an integral part to play in enticing the music fan to buy.

Gate-fold sleeves and inserts were further progressions to encourage the buying public, all now lost to the CD/download world. Although, more and more artists are releasing their albums on vinyl now, but I don't see the LP making a large scale comeback.

The video at the top of this post does a good job of exploring the cover of the LP in question. Some of my other favourites are shown as pictures below. Please click on the pictures to see a larger version.

The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager

Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight

Sting - Bring on the Night

Bob Seger - Against the Wind

(I actually bought this on the strength of the cover alone)

Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell

Camel in Concert, Salisbury, 22nd October 2013

This was a concert I had been looking forward to for some months. Earlier in the year I found out Camel were touring again. Initially the venues were too far away, but then I spotted a booking at the City Hall in Salisbury in Wiltshire, about an hour’s drive away. Despite money being tight at the time my lovely wife insisted on purchasing a ticket for me.

For the next few months I purposely stopped listening to their music. I wanted the concert to feel fresh. I also know from past experience that I can overdose on the same music sometimes, resulting in not wanting to listen to it again for a while. I did not want to feel that way at the concert.

As anyone of a certain age knows time goes by so quickly that it was not long before the concert date came around. The weather was very stormy as I set off and the lightning flashes accompanied the music I was listening to (Camel, of course) as I made my way to the venue.

Once there I found my way to my seat and waited in anticipation. For once I was not behind giants where I would only be offered the occasional glimpse of the stage. No, this time I was right at the front, right in front of the speakers in fact. This concerned me a little. Would it be too loud? Would I hear lots of noise but be unable to pick out individual instruments? (I need not have worried, the sound was ace).

After the audience had given the band, and Andrew Latimer in particular a standing ovation before a note had been played I knew tonight was going to be special. Someone from the audience shouted out “Thank you for coming”, a statement I think we all agreed with.

The crowd became quiet and awaited the beginnings of The Great Marsh, the opening track from their 1975 album The Snow Goose which they were playing in its entirety for the first part of the show, dedicated to ex band member Peter Bardens who died in 2002. For the next 45 minutes I was entranced. The performance from the band was fantastic. The sound was perfect and the response from the audience was very mature. No shouting out during the quiet bits, full respect was given to the band to let them perform. All too quickly the first part of the show was over and an intermission was taken. I sat there, taking in what my eyes and ears had just witnessed. That was one of the best 45 minutes of a concert I had ever experienced. Magical!

A large number of the audience took the opportunity to visit the front at this point and took photos of the stage setting. I looked around to take in the venue and, whilst doing so wondered what the average age of the audience was (45 to 50 years perhaps?).

It wasn't long before the band was back on stage. This time they picked tracks from their vast back catalogue to entertain the loyal crowd. Each track was played to perfection. The band came across more relaxed now, chatting to the audience, pulling faces with each other and generally having fun. Colin Bass, a member of the band since the late 1970’s, impressed with his vocals. Denis Clement was brilliant on drums and helped out more than adequately on bass when Colin Bass was on acoustic guitar and the two keyboard players, Jason Hart and Guy LeBlanc excelled. Last but by no means least, the main man, Andrew Latimer was in fantastic form, both with the guitar and the flute. You wouldn't think he’d spent the last 20 years battling against the progressive blood disorder polycythaemia. Apparently this progressed to myelofibrosis and a bone marrow transplant was needed in 2007. I won’t pretend to understand what this does to a person’s health, nor their minds. All I can say is this man hasn't let it beat him. His energy was amazing, as were the faces he pulled during the many wonderful guitar solos he performed.

Camel has never achieved the mass popularity I feel they deserve. However, they have a strong dedicated fan base and, perhaps, this is all the band want. To be able to play their music to people who appreciate it.

The video at the beginning of this post is of one of my favourite tracks off the Snow Goose album. There are a couple of clips on YouTube from the concert I attended but the audio quality is quite poor so I opted for this instead.

If you are thinking of seeing them live this year then my advice is to stop thinking; get a ticket and go. You will not regret it.

I for one look forward to seeing them live again one day and to a possible new album in the future.

The World at War - TV Series

For me The World at War goes down as one of the best documentary programmes ever made.

The theme tune, the empathetic narration by Laurence Olivier and the images portrayed combined to create a fantastic TV series, and one that can still be watched today without sounding or looking dated.

The subject matter alone leads to interesting TV but not always in a way that informs without coming across as demeaning.

I was 11 years old when it was first broadcast in the UK so I probably watched it when it was repeated some years later. That said I think this series should be part of everyone’s education.

The more we learn about what went wrong in the past the better placed we are to make sure the same mistakes are not repeated in the future.

Bruges, Belgium.

I usually visit France a couple of times a year, visiting my wife’s family, whilst there we always try to have a day in Bruges, Belgium.

Smelling the freshly cooked waffles and listening to the church bells or just enjoying the peacefulness this busy city somehow manages to emit, it is a lovely place just to wander around. Over the years I have ventured further away from the main centre and found the lesser known areas to be just as enjoyable to explore.

I’m not one of those who like to sit at a cafe to watch the world go by. As an enjoyable experience I’m sure that is I’d much rather be on my feet exploring. I could hire a bicycle and explore further but I prefer to be on foot. It’s easier to be able to take a photo or three.

Bruges is a photographer paradise. Street after street of photogenic medieval buildings lovingly looked after and restored. The canals break up what could be a monotony of brick and the regular boat trips give a view of the city that is not to be missed. At street level horses pull carriages of tourists on a guided tour around the narrow streets, sharing the cobblestones with the many cyclists.

I’m a country boy at heart but if I had to move to a city to live, then Bruges would be a strong contender.

The photos shown here are just a small selection of the many I have taken over the years. Many more, including 3d versions can be found on my Flickr site.

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

When I started watching the Cosmos I was immediately taken in by the combination of the music and special effects. Today CGI is common place but in the early 80’s what they did here was slick.

To see presenter Carl Sagan stroll through ancient structures and cities made the programme much more entertaining. I liked his delivery too. There was nothing demeaning just straight forward facts and information. You felt he respected his audience and did not want to talk down to them. I was genuinely sad when I heard of his death in 1996.

The series lasted for 13 episodes and left a strong impression on me. So much so that I bought the book (and read it from cover to cover) and the LP (no CD’s at this time). Alas there was no t-shirt to complete the set.

Fast forward some 25 years and I received the whole series on DVD as a Christmas present. Watching the first episode again took me right back in time. The special effects actually held up quite well I thought and didn’t look as dated as I thought they would. It’s no surprise the series won awards.

Now a sequel is in the pipeline called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey. Due for airing in the States sometime in Spring 2014. I look forward to this new series and hope it is as good as the original.

3d Photography

Cucklington, Somerset, England.

(Red & Cyan glasses are required to see the 3d effect)

I became interested in 3d photography (anaglyphs) sometime in the autumn of 2002. I was inspired by PierreGideon's web site and, as soon as I learned how to do it, was hooked.

Initially I took pictures of my house and garden to get the idea, some of my early pictures don't look so good now but its all part of the learning process. I only had one camera so I could only photograph subjects that wouldn't move, churches for example (that's also why so many of the early 3d's I made are void of people). I also fashioned an attachment to connect to a tripod so I could keep the camera pointing in the right direction when I moved it across for the second picture. After getting the hang of this I decided to invest in a second camera so I could take pictures with moving subjects. This proved to be a bit tricky at first as I had to press the shutter on both cameras at exactly the same time. Again, after a bit of practise, I got to grips with it. Eventually I learnt to do away with the tripod altogether. All of my pictures are now taken hand held.

After building up a small collection of 3d pictures a project began to take shape all by itself. I gave it some thought and decided to make an attempt to record all the villages and towns of my home county of Somerset in 3d. Every Sunday I would venture off around the county, turning off of the main highways, and discover lots of quaint and well kept towns and villages.

Eventually I thought all these pictures ought to be available to view to everyone and so the idea of the web site was born. After obtaining quotes that out stretched my income I decided to learn how to build my own web site and eventually Somerset in 3d was born in October 2005. 

For the next 5 years I would upload a new town or village, adding other features along the way, such as; Speakin Zummerzet (How to speak and understand the Somerset accent), a Media page (showing any media interest that had been created) and my very own anaglyph software, the Woolly Anaglyph Maker (created by good friend Phil Hand). I also introduced a second gallery of anaglyphs for other places I had visited outside of Somerset.

Then the recession came along and the economic situation meant the project had to be put on hold.

After a while I took the decision to join Flickr and to upload my 3d's there. It's going to take some time putting them all on as there are over 7,000 of them. All in good time.

I still do normal 2d photography and enjoy that too, but my main interest will always be 3d. I love exploring places and looking for 3d's to take and then creating the photograph once I'm back at home.

If you've never tried it yourself I encourage you to give it a go. It's a lot easier than you may think. 

Below are a few more 3d's to look at. You will need a pair of red & cyan glasses to see the 3d effect.

View from Small Down Knoll, Somerset, England.

Pitminster, Somerset, England.

Bruton, Somerset, England.

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