Then more road works on the M5, two long sections and arrived at Gloucester for start of morning rush, nice shots in the lightening sky, it came out just right with light cloud. All the extra buses around at rish hour helped increase my coverage and by mid morning I had a cuppa at Costa and headed over to Cheltenham where again even though by then mid morning it seemed much busier, looks like a weekday visit pays dividends but the weather helped a lot. Today's photos from Gloucester early today. I got home after lunch and got the DVD orders done and round to the post, there wasn't that much but our Christmas cards arrived today, another new classic scene added to the PMP series of cars over the years, very collectable. I got the new bulbs for the LED lamps via Amazon, took forever to arrive and were the wrong ones!
I got up even earlier than yesterday ( don't ask) and took the opportunity of looking out the window at a black as it gets in Cheshire with light pollution sky, as many stars as I've ever seen from here although that doesn't say much. Yesterday I did something I remembered I should mention but then forgot it again, lots more films on EBay and loaded on my Youtube site. I've also got hundreds if not thousands more photos loaded to our Smugmug site, see links page and you can buy then at 50p per print and they come out really well, less than many rallies charge for a 6x4 print, you can get them larger or in many gift presentation ideas. It was a relative breeze , but at Knutsford the M6 must have been shut as there was a continuous stream of wagons coming through Holmes Chapel and all around junction 18 there were hundreds of trucks pulled up andf miles streaming back down the M6. Heading south was no trouble, anytime before 6am and delays are slight going through Walsall section. Then more road works on the M5, two long sections and arrived at Gloucester for start of morning rush, nice shots in the lightening sky, it came out just right with light cloud. All the extra buses around at rish hour helped increase my coverage and by mid morning I had a cuppa at Costa and headed over to Cheltenham where again even though by then mid morning it seemed much busier, looks like a weekday visit pays dividends but the weather helped a lot. Today's photos from Gloucester early today. I got home after lunch and got the DVD orders done and round to the post, there wasn't that much but our Christmas cards arrived today, another new classic scene added to the PMP series of cars over the years, very collectable. I got the new bulbs for the LED lamps via Amazon, took forever to arrive and were the wrong ones! What can I say, got up early, went to Walsall, filmed trucks, it was very cold, then went up a few hundred yards to Bursnips Rd bridge and filmed trucks on M6, came home did DVD orders and then back to getting the Std 8 cine films loaded to Youtube / EBay etc. I also burnt the DVD for Walsall trucks, added it to the PMP shop with of course the cover designed and printed. Then it was dinner time! I'm not that sure yet what tomorrow holds, I'll check the weather forecast tonight as well as the BBC computer story, basically sunshine is a no no, rain is ditto so light cloud and dry perfection! When will this blasted USA election ever be over, why is it a news story here when we have our very own dumbo politicians who are a tad more polite and less given to coming out with remarks like Donal Fart or whatever he's called. I'd sentence him to 100 years in Mexico, I love the place but to him it's hell mind you if he ever works out who it is that actually takes all these drugs that are coming over the border, clues Donald they aren't Canadian, no not North Korean, not from Sweden perhaps it starts with a U and ends with an A, if that's too challenging try putting an s in it. Meanwhile here Great leader Chairman May Blossom continues to take Britain to the right of Attila the humbug. Lots to get on with here at the centre of the universe, trying to get climate change happening a bit quicker for instance, when will hot get to Cheshire. Did anyone ever dare tell Donald Fart what he name in English means? Love the remarks on the Youtube channel, keep em coming but please, please click on an advert or two each visit or I'll stop doing it and take up ballroom dancing, stupid idea nobody would ever be interested in watching that, as silly as thinking that anyone would watch someone bake cakes which is a lot more strange than watching buses or lorries. Strange world isn't it? Tonight pictures from Walsall this morning. Like the village shop and post office I feel like 'open all hours'. Anyway I took advantage of Lawrence's offer and dropped all the post off today so it will be away early Monday then if anything else com,es through today and tomorrow and I get back from Walsall sharpish I'll still be able to get another posting off before the last post around teatime. I responded to George Dutton's appeal to stand in as sides person this morning at St Oswalds so I donned a reasonable attire for the occasion which Mandy would have been satisfied with ( she is in Ireland) . It was very quiet as one of the regulars had a bif wedding anniversary bash which drew away most of the congregation. Keith showed me the ropes to stand in as warden as well so my part time stand in role covers yet more functions, I was able to help Keith with parking etc for Twickenham next week via the end of the tube at Uxbridge where I often park when going in on my own, it's a yomp on the tube but better than being stuck in traffic and you are nearly on the motorway to head home and never have to touch the M25. Last night I changed over from using the mini dv tapes for copying the Std8 cine to one of my older HD video cameras, this seemed to cope much better with darker areas and shadows and I tried out the technicolor setting, interesting but I'm not sure I'd 100% go with it. The HD version looks as if it will be good will need to be stored on the external drive which means I need to put HD items on my database and a back log to conversion to HD for all my transport film needs to be done, jobs for wet winters days line up! Anyway later last night my Eumig projector stopped working, the electrics had blown the block which goes into the bulb but replacing off another old machine and a new bulb didn't resolve it. Too expensive to get them fixed, there was ione on EBay at £80 I got it down to £60 even in original packing so I stopped the Std8 film with just a few reels to go. About 45 to list, the first ones are on EBay and being uploaded to Youtube. I'm working my way through a tape at a timer, thats 2-4 films - it's easier rather than ending up with heaps and getting all mixed up. I've just put the dinner in the oven ready for an early dinner, I haven't put the heating on yet as I'm running around so much it's not that cold although last night it dropped to freezing for the first time this winter. What shall we look at this afternoon, lets recall the summer when I called in at Ipswich It's a cold bright day and with clear sky it will be a super evening for fireworks and the heating is now on and I'll be warm indoors. I only went out to take the post round and pick up some cream to have with my pudding. I've had a Waitrose ready meal pulled park and gratinated veg, very scrumptious indeed. I didn't have the expected lay in after I'd stayed up to watch the soaps and was in bed after 1am as Mandy gave me a ring at 8am! Anyway that got me up and ready for my toasted fruit bread another nice thing from Waitrose, It's Irish fruit bread and spot on first thing on a cold morning. I carried on with copying the Standard 8 cine film, after 10 hours worth I had decided to swap over to HD using one of my older cameras which has a setting for technicolor and by goodness I wish I'd gone over to that ages ago as it deals with darker images much better and renders a very colourful image which can always be tweaked down a bit if a bit too gawdy. There have again a few gems among the humdrum, I've about 50 reels copied, they need processing and stills taken, the loading for resale on EBay. The whole process will be much quicker when the HD images come on stream. I've also been ruining the DVD printing machine in the background which makes some very strange noises. A few more DVD orders have trickled in later in the day, at least I've now got a stock of about 500 printed discs ready, should avoid the nasty women customers who think the unprinted disc is an illegal copy of some Walt Disney sized PMP business! Certainly a job for cold winter nights getting some programmes made out of the ever growing archive of cine films. I've also been filing away more still images and the pile of photos awaiting filing is getting more manageable. I'll have to put on some posh togs tomorrow morning, I've been promoted to temporary stand in sidesman at St Oswalds! The weather looks like carrying on sunny on Monday, I'm aiming to hjave another go at the Walsall turn off on the M6/A34 which was halted by rain first attempt in the spring. Tuesday should be buses again. At the moment I'm filing away Edinburgh from 2015 which shows how far back I am in the process. Here are some samples. Haven't forgotten later I'll put on Youtube clips from latest round of visits. It's bonfire night tomorrow, if it wasn't so far I'd take advantage of my few days of freedom and head down to Lewes bonfire parade etc, if you've never been there it isn't quite as bad as it was once , the bonfire boys and girls wear striped tops, this was to maker them all look alike when the militia was sent in to quell the rioting associated with the raucous celebration and although the parade no longer boasts army bands the spectacle is still remarkable and the good folks remember the protestant maters who died for their faith, that's why it got a politically incorrect slant in modern times before it was just boisterous drunkenness etc. There are actually two parades but you wouldn't be able to spot the second as it joins on the other and marks the different societies and the rebels who wouldn't stop burning the effigy of the pope. Fireworks used to be liberally thrown around and cauldrons of burning tar are still used for effective crowd control to clear the route of the parade(s). Over the years all manner of tableau's got dragged in such as the red indians and as it falls near armistice day they halt at the war memorial for a shot service. We didn't even tell Marion when we went as she still had the horrors over it's many dangers, I'm sure the lost eyes and burns are greatly reduced now. Mandy was on the way to the ferry this morning over to Ireland, I got up with her and followed out but down the M6 etc and to Leamington Spa where it was still damp but suitably cloudy and although the buses thinned out a bit the university traffic picked up at the same time, after getting an hour of film I had breakfast/lunch at Marks & Spencers which was hard to locate as they have two and the cafe is harder still to locate in the store, must be a sort of reverse selling pitch? Then I went to Nuneaton but it was too sunny to get much film plus people just pulled up sand parked on the no loading in front of the bus exit and blocked my shots then I got befriended by a busker cum wino. I finally gave up and stupidly headed on to Hinckley which has a new bus station, unlike most built recently it has heaps of space strung out in a big semi circle and just one element missing, hardly any buses! I'll pop the whole lots together, in the footsteps of Midland Red etc.. Photos from this morning. We had a concert to attend last night at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester hence there was no blog. I had thoughts about doing one first thing today but we had a bundle of cine films to pack up on completion of the latest round of EBay bidding. We had dinner at Brodskys the on site restaurant which has a new menu, the beer was as ever superb at the college, we saw a few people that we know and it was a superb night out. The temperature has now plummeted to winter levels and it's darn mid afternoon. Today I started work on copying a heap of Standard 8 cine film, I'm going to try doing some with the digital video as it's a nightmare working with tape both the cost and the time with rewinding, I'd then if successful keep them filed on the external storage drive which have the HD films. There have been some interesting reels and a few duds but on the whole a pleasing assortment. They should be list by the end of the weekend. I also have a heap of Super8 film,s to treat likewise. Over the winter I hope to be able to release some more DVDs based on this huge cine collection. The stock of discs and DVD covers arrived and the industrial printer is creaking and thumping away 100 at a time, by Christmas many of the DVDs going out will be printed. The weather was nothing at all like the forecaste with cloudy cold conditions giving way to rain which they did predict correctly. I'm going to try and look at the locations I want to film at and see if I can match them up with the weather required over the coming week. Mandy goes off to Ireland tomorrow, we've been to the post office three times today getting as much as possible away as I might well be on the road early in the morning. The central heating is now pumping around some heat, days without heat are now a thing of the past. I have got yet more photos filed and some on the Smug Mug still sales site, link via this site. Photos from Bourlogne on Monday. Greeting from Lower Peover, we got back from France about an hour ago, we were a lot earlier than expected as it was dead there being a bank holiday. The first taste of our work yesterday in the shape of the shots from the sugar beet factory as the trucks unload - they were out and about again today so guess it's a 7 days a week job regardless of bank holidays. I'm going to put all the truck film together which will make a really nice long running programme. The weather in the south of England was very gloomy but Cheshire was sparkling in the late afternoon sun, can't stand this constant messing with the clocks, it's dark half way through the afternoon by December terrible , they left it alone one year way back and it was great. We've a whole heap of DVDs to post out tomorrow, must be about 50 to go, perhaps the start of the Christmas rush. I had a link to Facebook and accepted friend requests, please remember I've no idea how to work it, most stuff just links to posts on Weebly or Youtube etc. I think our time will be taken catching up tomorrow, the weather for next week looks mainluy bright which orientates towards truck film but i think there will be dull days when I can do buses. There are lots of locations lined up thinking of Oxford, Cambs, Yorkshire, Shropshire etc if I do buses, trucks I've the new spot I saw over the other side of the new Mersey crossing and even Stobarts port at Widnes which I only briefly filmed at last month. I need to follow up on the A34 trial session at Walsall. Well here it is, a million sugar beets being shunted around! Greetings everyone from France.. It has continued to be glorious warm sunny autumn weather in France and yesterday we did what we had planned for Tuesday but swapped around because Tuesday is a public holiday here. We went up to Boulogne via the motorway and I tried a new position for filming which worked out quite well next to leclerk supermarket and the roundabout although busy with cars heading for the out of town shops dies lead all the trucking traffic to the motorways, the drivers were great I don't think one declined to return my waves with lots of toots and flashing lights. We had lunch in the supermarket then drove south to the sugar beet factory and luckily the truck tipping point and best stacks was easily filming from the public road above s the hedge was well clipped, the locals seems to pause to watch as well. This will be added to the footage earlier in the day to make a great long running film. Being a holiday there is very little going on today so sell make our way back to Calais, we also did the wine shopping at the leclerk supermarket but it's not as good as such an at Calais.
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