Mick Davidson

Far be it for me to be a lone voice in the democratic wilderness, but just what are the Russian and Chinese governments up to vetoing sanctions against Zimbabwe? Of course these two countries are leading practitioners of double-think democracy, so we shouldn't be too surprised. And China's always going to support Zimbabwe -  at least until they've been paid for all those lovely guns and bombs they sold them.

Getting back to nearly normal,  I've managed to get this month's installment of Project 2008 on the website almost before the month has started - that's how good I am! :)  This time it's my friend Rutger's fabulous Gypsy jazz band. Not sure I'll be so hot off the mark in August, assuming I find someone to work with, as volunteers are still remarkably thin on the ground. So let's hope that France pulls out all the stops and supplies me with a whole street-full of performers (though I'll settle for one...).

This month's fotos are a mix of both the old EOS 300D and the new EOS 40D. The 40D works well in shitty light conditions, running it at 1250 asa it produces fairly sharp fotos that have a nice grain to them. I'm looking forward to using it at a gig where I'll be able to see how it copes with coloured lights and extremes of light and shade.

On the music front, I'm strongly toying with the idea of getting a new eclectic guitar, almost certainly a Telecaster of some sort: London City's looking favourite at the moment. I played one yesterday and they're remarkably good for the price.  Great sound, great feel and they look the part - what more could someone hell bent on forming Oosterhout's premier Latin funk freakout band want?

Remember chaps, play it LOUD!

Wimbledon, can this match go on any longer? Check out the new fotos on the new 3rd Floor of Pictures at Exhibitions - far shorter than a Wimbledon final (and less stressful!).

Cheers,

Jasper the Jester just juggled and jogged, jam sandwich jammed in his 'jamas - need I go on? Anyway, to celebrate Spain's magnificent victory of the Germans I thought I'd get Project 2008's June's gallery up, so do run along and check it out.

In other news, today I cycled to Belgium and back. Nothing to weird about that, it's only about 20 miles each way, so hardly a ball-buster is it? No, but the difference is that this is a place Called Baarle-Nasua which is actually part Dutch and part Flemish, but wholly in the Netherlands. How can this be? I've really no idea, but it's a charming place full of shops that open on Sundays. This makes it very popular with people from NL as the shops here only open on Sundays - about four times a year - something many of us are quite thankful for.

Still playing with the new camera, not much to report there, am anxious to try it out on a band, but that won't happen before the middle of July. But August will produce an abundance (perhaps too much of a good thing,  but that remains to be seem) of holiday related fotos. I know, you can't wait can you?

Adios amigos,

A massive 10.1 to be precise -  yes,  at last my EOS 40D has arrived! I've been busy with it for about a week now, and I'm very glad I've got it. The prints are excellent as are the camera and the lens themselves.  I'm not go to rush out and take millions of random fotos, so you'll have to be a patient as far as seeing the results is concerned. I'll do my best to get along to a few galleries for some random people shooting, and also out into the countryside for some skies asap.

I'm also hoping to get some more fused fotos arranged (I'm doing at least one set in a friend's studio) AND to get June's project on the site before the end of June. This project is proving to be more difficult than I expected, as I'm still having trouble finding suitable subjects - so if you and or/your band, dance troupe etc fancy a dash of fame for considerably less than a fortune (e.g. nil), then do get in touch asap.

Hasta la pasta amigos,

It's my birthday today, 50 at last! I'm not depressed about this as yet again it feels no different to other birthdays, though I'm not in love with the idea either. But life and time go on and carry you with them, either kicking and screaming or going with the flow. I'm not surprised to have this many years, it's a lot longer than my mother lived, so in a way it's actually a bit of a triumph. I can think of at least four other people of my acquaintance who died way before their time, one barely out of his teens and at least two others who died by their own hands, so I have a lot to be grateful for.

And as a very good, slightly less old, but very valued friend said, "life begins at forty but your second childhood begins at 50!" And with that thought, I'm off to enjoy a very long ride around the Dutch countryside on my racing bike - what better way to spend my birthday! :)

Feliz cumpleanos na me!