A lot to show for my session on the Uttoxter roundabout A50 Staffordshire, 3 hours of films and hundreds of photos, a coupler of old faithful ERFs one of the retained JCB duo and one on a hay journey which we have seen and filmed many times but always sets the seal on a good day out. Had all my cold weather gear on from electric gloves and socks through hat, scarf etc and as it got up to around 8 deg I was feeling quite warm in the sunshine.I'm busy trying to get all the cine film scans saved as digital files and DVDs, a few have sections unstable but mostly I can cure and roll with tools on Edius. A busy day all round the latest three PMP DVD releases are already on the shop and I'll put the digital download versions on this evening. Tomorrow I'm filming lorries at Uttoxeter roundabout , an old favourite location but not too far away so I can retreat to the warmth when I've had enough. Next week looks a good one for bus filming and we have Birmingham and York in our sights.
Mandy is out yet again this evening helping her cousin out who has been in hospital for a few weeks now but yesterday moved to a rehab ward nearer their home. It is no problem but we do have to plan meals and nights out around it. The snow is still all about and our estate road a sheet of ice. We went out and bought a lot more rock salt to spread. By the weekend it should be getting less cold, I might even head out with the camera on Friday. A bit short on time but the next two films are edited time has probably run out on getting the covers made. Tomorrow we venture to a question and answer session with our MP. We hope you are all keeping warm and dry. I note that Youtube is still pouring out all sorts of bumpf on their latest Youtube changes, no idea at all what it is about and I even watched a promo video which might as well as been in Serbo Croat for me, perhaps they hope that it will make sense to someone but that isn't going to be me. Is there anyone left who can speak plain English. As I've just finished a programme on Oldham buses lets take a dip back a couple of years in that direction! A fraught couple of days when problem after problem seemed to pop up from nowhere and as so often is the case with technology it is impossible to find the source of the matter. Anyway a busy evening last night using our ( thank goodness we have them) digital files for all our recent productions. The huge file back up exercise came to an end last night so we have two 100% backed up extension drives plus another I'm using as feeders to the main drives. So with relief the East Kent RCC archive film has been completed, I could have kept going on it but enough energy had been spent, it was almost at the end this afternoon when the completed file vanished but I found a duplicate I had made,more luck than judgement but the disc burner has been a source of some of my woes but now works fine again. I got another batch of 3D scanned figures ready to that happy time when I have a few hours to spare painting up the figures for the latest dioramas. I'll stick with Kent for my evenings slide show, I need to take off some stills from the film for the cover then it can be added to the shop tomorrow, glad to see the back of that, then ready to edit Crewe and Oldham bus films. To conclude for tonight the RNCM at Manchester of which we are benefactors has raised £61kon their Engage appeal to support getting young musicians through their training. The college celebrates there 50th anniversary this year and there are many events for us to attend. We are still looking at travel this year, we will go somewhere! I don't know what is happening with the disc burner but the 2023 titles are all coming out as the Birmingham archive. When we got the new computer it had no disc burner nor means of importing film. They sent a disc burner which seems to do nothing but fail to make the correct discs when doing the master. I can find no explanation, I'll try buying another burner it is all very frustrating. I'll have to remake all the 2023 discs thank goodness we are still only in January. Filmed at Oldham today, snowed going there then that stopped and clear blue sky, I did my best to get the filming done then back home to a scribbled note from Mandy that all the recent DVDs are wrong. I'm starting to think seriously that we should pack PMP in. Another tense technology moment when the drive I tried to back up last weekend vanished. I've recovered it and finally got the Seagate 6TB external drive working. It was impossible to transfter the huge files on Windows 10 thus I'm tryping on the super Windows 10 computer while the old Windows 7 is doing al the hard work. If the disks were compatible I'd have use my trusty Windows XP machine. Like everying it is all supposed to be better but when the crunch comes you have to return to more reliable machines. Anyway I'm on the last of the current batch of Phil Tatt film scanning so I can pick up with my own Terry Barker reels of which there are only 4 left to scan. Add to that the rest of the batch from John Bishop when the external drives are finished backing up I can save everything and take a break for a week. I was considering splitting the Kent material into two volumes but I'll just finish the East Kent with what I have as it lasts an hour at least.
The weather for the next week ahead looks a bit challenging for filming but I'm sure I'll get somerthing done this week. We are off to The Crown tonight to bid farewell to Janet and Simon whose five year tenure didn't quite go as planned with two years of pandemic. The cunning plan for the Bells o move to The Crown hasn't happened but could a few months down the line. We felt quite at home this morning as St Wilfreds while they take cautious steps to modernise their services. We are really trying to cut down any reasons for stress as we can well do without it. Not too many DVD orders this week which suits us. I can't go plugging anything in tonight to get photos as I don't want to upset the huge file tranfer. All day working on the Kent bus archive film but I did get distracted a few times and found some more gems I could add but I already have an hour so not really sure what to do, I don't think there is enough to divide it into two pieces although that is a thought. The next archive will be overseas although I've not made my pick as yet but is could be Netherlands. So just in case it is some shots from Netherlands as my slide show tonight. Friday the 13th brought cold windy weather but wasn't too unlucky. I'd had problems with the extension disc I got via Currys in Northwich when I first tried it out yesterday evening but I took it back this morning a the lad there managed to fix it. It was thewn fingers crossed and staying local as the weather was really iffy. I had decided to see what was happening at Crewe as I'd heard or seen nothing on the progress towards the new bus station. Well the old one is almost obliterated, the old depot building well gone. The temporary one has the new bus station road surface in place with temp passenger and staff arrangements. The wind was prety awful but the brick waal alongside offered some perotection. Here are some phoros I do have video which will get edited when the Kent film is finished. Don't expect that much action in Crewe 2023. I bought one Seagate expansion drive and returned one for replacement which was faulty, guess what just got round to plugging on in to back up on several months scanning and it wants to be formatted but the computer won't do that and why would it when I've put nothing on it. Another trip to Currys, once this bunch of drives is finally resolved I will never go near them again. This means I've had a wasted evening, two hours thrown away. I hoped to make progress on the Kent archive but guess that will now have to wait. It was our Polio Fellowship meeting at Ellesmere Port plus get my hair cut, morning coffee etc, Weather still very unreliable, may try for a trip out just in Cheshire tomorrow, I want to see what is happening regards the old bus station, the temporary one should be in place next door, bet it isn't! Anyway lets have some local shots in my lucky dip of photos, drawn down from a drive which does work and has back up drive as well. An editing day also gathering material for next releases I'm now on to the next Kent release as well as getting two more old PMP tapes digitised and another OTA cine film ditto. Yes bouncing around all over the place really. What a day dark, wet, windy not really a day for setting foot outside when I have so much to be working on. I edited yesterdays Leeds film, already a clip on Youtube, I need to make the cover, possibly tomorrow. Meanwhile here are some Leeds photos. |
PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
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