Keeirid,keeiraght,keeiragh

Twighlight

Abc K

Keeirid is another one of those Manx words. Twighlight to you or dusk. No prizes for guessing I was deep in the woods to get that shot. Where else. Has been a while since we had a Manx word but as I ran into Adrain Cain today, The Manx Language Development Officer, in the big city (now don't laugh Douglas is big compared to Ramsey) and thought why not have one or two tonight. So there you go. Cain by the way is a proper homegrown Manx surname.


Just for a change I will shut up and leave you with some new words to drop into conversation sometime. There you go it's not everyday you can speak a new language. Well you can if it is dusk to dawn. Don't tell the Vampire Hunter though. She might get the wrong idea.

keeiragh - dusky, darkish, twilight, gloaming, nightfall, evening twilight
keeiragh (ny hoie) - dusk
keeiragh yn laa - daylight
keeiraghey ny hoie - nightfall
keeiraght - blackishness, nightfall, twilight
keeiraght ny h-oie - evening just before dark
keeiraght yn laa - break of day
keeirid - twilight, dusk

For more K's in a variety of languages see here

Boys don't cry

Don't think, shoot.

My World - Ramsey Rugby

Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time and better still you have your camera with you. Forget the light being too low for the speed of the game. Forget it's raining casting that misty glow. Forget the light breeze knocking you off balance. Forget you have no tripod. No excuses. If you take images of people, sport photography, your kids school games, listen up. You get one chance and like that rugby ball you had better grab it with both hands and just have faith in your manual setting, and most of all yourself and just shoot the scene in front of you. One second later you've lost the shot, so don't pussyfoot around just point the damned camera and get that classic pose. One second either side of this shot and you've lost it and they are not coming back around for you to create the right conditions. You get the shot. You're onto the next one.


Ramsey are the boys in blue. Unfortunately we lost(well I do actually support them being an honorary Ramsey girl) I still don't get this game in the way I get football(soccer to my American friends out there) but I have an instinct for what is going on. Enough anyway to follow the action and just know when to shoot. If you really want the best advice on how to get this shot other than getting you speed right to freeze the action(novices try sport mode), setting the right ISO for the conditions, choosing the right weather setting remember this. Footwear. You don't wear killer heels(leave those for the pub) you wear your trainers and you run your ass off and follow the action. OK, not for the whole game but, not that committed but you get the gist. So what if you get a ball in the face, you also get the shot. Black eyes lasts for a week, the image lasts a lifetime. Rugby, like photography is not for wimps! Only joking.

Ooh it's good to be back.

More my world images can be seen here.

Black crow is not hard to handle - critters

What is it with me and birds?

Critters

Jealous again are you about the strange image. No you are not seeing things. That is a crow eating a tissue. Not sure that is the best remedy. No, not one iota of manipulation apart from the desaturation to monochrome in Raw. No photoshopped tissues into the already taken image. That's just how it is with me and the birds. Sister luck when it comes to critters and how cooperative they can be. They sit on my hand, they behave oddly around me. Seem to even dare I say it pose for me.Maybe it's Manx magic, little bit of Ginnie Witchcraft. I dunno, but whatever it is but I never find black crows hard to handle. Or should that be Black Crowes?


Yes, yes I'm sort of back. Well posting, rather than visiting. Not really into shooting around Ramsey at the moment, or blogging in general so an archive for you from a batch I shot of this beautiful bird, a carrion crow to be precise, over the local park. Sure the other images to compare will pop up on the links. For other critters around the globe click here. Honestly I don't make these birds do these things, they just do.

J is for Juxtaposition

It's not the ducks.

Abc

Juxtaposition in a nutshell, well in terms of art a photography and Babooshka speak is basically placement of objects or elements side by side. Artistically it is with the intention of highlighting a specific quality or creating an effect, particularly when two contrasting or opposing elements are used within one image. The viewer's attention is drawn (hopefully) to the similarities or differences between the elements depicted within the given scene. That is just the blah,blah speak. Just a fancy pants way of saying this is such a beautiful landscape of the Sulby river spoiled by the ugly discarded tyre in the foreground left hand corner. I could delve deeper into all the juxtaposed reasoning, but you can do a little thought processing too. No I didn't plant it there just to get you thinking. I don't ever walk around with arty rubbish. I just chose to take the image and not crop out the garbage that people throw in the river to create an aesthetically pleasing landscape. What you see is what you get, naturally beautiful, man made ugly. Simple as that. If you prefer to think I am an artistic genius to create such an interesting juxtaposition for you to mull over, go right ahead. I really will not stop you.


Blogging is still not paramount in my life presently.I'm dipping in and out as and when I can. I'm around, but the real world and people in it need a little more attention than I first thought. Watch out though. You never know when I will just jump out at you with a Babooshka rant, rave or otherwise comment. The soapbox is still here. Better the devil you know after all as the rude little old woman in Douglas today would have you believe I am a close friend. Oh that. Another story for another day. If I can just get her picture...... For more J's in the virtual world click here.

Sunshine on a cloudy day - Skywatch

Even clouds have a lighter side

Today not my words of wisdom, just another oh so cloudy day taken in the nature reserve, looking over the hedge. Well more like through at my height. I know you love the thoughts of Queen B, my rants, raves and dark, dark humour, but I noticed this comment left yesterday by a fellow blogger.and as they have a closed blog gives me here the opportunity to answer the question. Yes I am out of breath after that sentence. Sure you are too.

Here's the comment.

I found your blog quite by accident while looking for the name of a fish and chip shop in the center of Ramsey. I'm from the US, and lived on the IOM from early 2005 until mid-2007 and back in the states now. I miss the island incredibly and loved reading your blog. It's brought back so many familiar memories and emotions. Thanks for that.

Ellen

Don't blush Ellen being the star of the blog today. Not often I turn the precious blog over verbally to another. To answer the question the chippy is the Trawlerman. I will have to sneak a pic for you and next time I have a bag of chips I'll let you know. You can email me anytime if you have anything you want to know. Just wanted to reply to this lovely, genuine comment. Now stop blushing Ellen.

More fabulous skies can be seen here

Still a little non bloggy. My real life needs by attention too at the moment. I know it's a drag for you, but I do get to catch up with some very old friends.

I is for icon

Patrick Swayze was here

Patrick Swayze has sadly died. Very sorry to here that around these parts. He is yet another film star who graced our humble shores here filming the rom/com "Keeping Mom" on the island. He described my island as "a magical place with magical people". Now who am I to disagree with a Hollywood Icon? Also chuffed to say he was to be seen doing a spot of the old " dirty dancing" at the legendary nightspot Nightlife, the image you see above.

Some of you may know the alternative names of "Fightlife" or no can't say that one. Put it this way it begins with SH.. Nonetheless it remains as Ramsey's most premier, iconic nightclub. Perhaps premier is manipulating the truth somewhat, but iconic it certainly is. Ramsey only has one nightclub you see. That sort of makes it legendary and iconic. It's a real throwback to a bygone era of sticking to sodden beery carpet twirling lights and people behaving like a whirring dervish. It attracts absolutely all comers. Age, musical taste, locals, tourists, fairy folk, witches, wizards, Frank the rabbit and of course iconic film stars when in town. You will find the population of Ramsey, who haven't stayed in or still standing after the pubs close, doing there own version of dirty dancing into the small hours. Be warned no trainers, but otherwise, if you the entrance fee and a pulse you are most certainly welcome and no one will put you in the corner.


Sorry for the really horrid, poor quality image. Not my usual standard at all. Only one of nightlife I had to hand. For other abc's see here

Living on an island - My World

Dave, this is why

Yes I have been off the blog again. Sometimes it's called having a life, other times it's when the server is being erratic here and I have no time to sit and wait for it to behave. Sometimes that pile of ironing will not iron it's self, and however much I beg the fairy folk here to help with the housework they point blank refuse. A little of all of those things. Island life for you. Has it's upside and certainly it's down.

Good things about living on an island can be many, safety for one. We joke here we live in a time warp. Well who wouldn't want to live in the past a little when today's UK crime rate is at it's peak(despite how they massage the figures)and you still know names of local police, you can walk streets home at night, you do not fear sitting upstairs on public transport. You know your neighbour. Your house will be watched over when you are on holiday. It's quiet. Quieter than big bustling cities. People have time for each other. The scenery in places is stunning. Beaches, woodlands, parks. We have local shops, local produce. Smaller schools. Our news is not dominated with bad things, but community spirited events. Laid back. Time enough as they say here, but of course there is a flip side.

It can be cloying. Everyone knows everyone. It can be hard for new people to integrate into such tight knit communities. Sometimes you want to splurge the cash, or you really need something for the home that is not provided on the island. You need the Internet for these, but the net is not always reliable. Transportation costs to get off the island are astronomical. Cost of living, housing too. To be an artist, a photographer is hard. The market is small, and if you come over like us then the help, the buyers, the clients back away. We need the worldwide market, but as I said the Internet can be erratic. It can be hard to survive, financially. It can be hard to survive emotionally isolated. I am lucky, I did not come over alone, I have the artist. Sometimes you just get cabin fever and crave the anonymity of the suburbs, the big neon garish city Then you see the beach, the woods, breathe the fresh air or take a walk chasing rabbits to photograph by the river and it passes.

Dedicated to my long lost friend Dave. That's why and not why.

For more of others My world's clickety click here