• Weston-Super-Mare From Our Hotel

    A miniaturized London Eye in Weston-Super-Mare

    Vacation Day 2

    Picked up a rental, and we’re headed off towards Wales and Ginger’s first gig. We’ll be a couple of days getting to Wales and take in some sights on the way.

  • Portsmouth From Fort Widley

    Portsmouth Panorama

    Vacation Day 1

    Portsmouth on a cold wet and windy Tuesday evening. My first attempt at a panorama.

    Portsmouth from Fort Widley.

  • Welcome Home …

    Pork Pie

    Vacation Day 1

    My brother knows how to make us happy. This was waiting for us when we arrived.

  • Vacation!

    Tonight I must sleep, for tomorrow may bring … Pork Pies !!!!!

  • We’re On Our Way to England

    Photograph of Gary and Ginger Allman on board an American Airways 'plane bound for London Heathrow.
    Gary & Ginger Ready for Take-off. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    My sister is getting married.

    So, we’re on our way to England, and we’ll be staying a month. It’s going to be busy as Ginger has a lot of work lined up. We’ll be traveling a lot, and I plan to get in some hiking. We’ll see how that goes.

    And seven hours after this picture was taken we were in England. To make things even better, we had the entire row of four seats to ourselves. This was the first time we’ve tried flying from Charlotte, and we are very impressed, it makes the trip a lot easier.

    Oh, and if my beard looks a bit unkempt, there is a very good reason for that.

    Embarking. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • It’s a Sprink in a Box

    Main Coon Cat - Sprinkles in a small box
    It’s a Sprink in a box. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    No box is too small for our Maine Coon, Supa-dink aka Sprinkles.

  • Steam Punk Wedding Outfit

    Photograph of Gary Allman wearing a Steam Punk outfit featuring a utility kilt and leather vest

    I decided to go all-out on a costume for my sister’s wedding.

    This is not quite the final version as I’m not happy with the shirt and it needs some sleeve bands. The watch chain also needs attention and I ought to pull my socks up!

  • Steam Punk Sidearm

    Photograph of a steam punk weapon / side arm.

    My sister is having a steam punk themed wedding.

    And l have made this steam punk gun for my outfit. After the wedding I’ll give it to them mounted in the frame below.

    I spent a lot longer on making this accessory than I should have, but I’ve never tried making a model like this before.

    Touring the flea-markets looking for parts was fun. I ended up buying and old heat gun and a candlestick. I spent a lot of time working out how to make sure it was TSA friendly for the flight to the UK. The hardest bit was working out how to fix the candlestick in the barrel. The sights are an old transistor and I used a monitor cable, the top of a water bottle and some other bits from my junk box.

    Photograph of a steam punk weapon / side arm.

  • This Weekend’s ‘Compact’ Rental

    Photograph of a BMW Rental vehicle from Enterprise
    The people at Enterprise on South Campbell look after their regular customers. I asked for a compact vehicle for the weekend, this is what they gave me (and unlimited mileage too).

    Grace Church, Carthage, Saturday, and St. Mark’s, Kimberling City, Sunday, here I come.

  • Glendale Speech and Debate Team Banquet

    Lanie & Madison trying not to drop their trophies. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Tonight we went with Lanie to collect her speech and debate trophies

    Apparently it has been a record year – the tables were certainly full to overflowing with all the trophies the team has won. The team is now 13th in the country. Well done everyone!

    Lanie will be going to the National competition in Salt Lake City, Utah in June.

    A record year for trophies and the team is 13th nationwide.
    Glendale Speech & Debate Trophies
    It’s been a record year, and that’s only about two thirds of the trophies the team has won.
    Lanie – Glendale Speech & Debate Team
    Glendale Speech & Debate Team
    Lanie & Madison trying not to drop their trophies. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Lanie & Madison with their trophies
    Lanie & Madison with their trophies
    And of course the teachers deserve lots of recognition too.
    And of course the teachers deserve lots of recognition too.

  • Infinity

    Hotel Eastlund, Portland Oregon. Corridor seemingly stretching to infinity. Black and White Photograph.
    Hotel Eastlund, Portland Oregon

    Clever painting and carpet coordination.

    The areas outside the rooms were painted black and the carpet was also black, creating these visual stripes and making the corridor look like it went on forever.

    You might expect to see two young girls in bloodied party dresses in this corridor.

  • Riverside Walk – Portland Oregon

    Loading Grain – The Ken Mei on the Willamette River, loading near Steel Bridge, Portland Oregon. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Having settled in at the hotel I decided to go for an afternoon walk, and headed off towards the river.

    For some reason, I thought Portland was near the coast, and I was looking forward to seeing the Pacific. But Portland isn’t on the coast, so this was as near to the sea as I got – The Willamette River.

    Cycle Route Road marking – After an hour or more in Portland, I thought the tales I had heard about Portland being full of bicycles were untrue. Then I saw this and discovered the riverside cycle route. I can confirm, bikes abound in Portland. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Blossom. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Riverside Housing. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Riverside Housing. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Steel Bridge, Portland Oregon. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    River Willamette – Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Wet feet – For some reason I thought Portland was near the coast, and I was looking forward to seeing the Pacific. But portland isn’t on the coast, so this was as near to the sea as I got – The Willamette River. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    After spending an hour or more in Portland, I thought the tales I had heard about Portland being full of bicycles were untrue. Then I discovered the riverside cycle route. I can confirm, bikes abound in Portland.

    I can also confirm that you can end up waiting a long time to cross the tracks near the bridge if a train comes through …

  • Rivets

    Rivets - showing detail of Steel bridge, Portland Oregon.
    Rivets. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.


    Detail of the structure of Steel Bridge, Portland, Oregon.

  • Motor Vessel Ken Mei

    Black and White image. The motor vessel Ken Mei on the Willamette River, loading grain near Steel Bridge, Portland Oregon.
    Motor Vessel Ken Mei

    Seen through the structure of Steel Bridge, the motor vessel Ken Mei on the Willamette River, loading grain in Portland Oregon.

  • Railway Sleepers

    Close up of railway sleepers on Steel Bridge, Portland, Oregon.
    Railway Sleepers. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The strong smell of creosote reminded me of my childhood and brought these ‘new’ sleepers to my attention.

    Note that they are composite and are not made from a single piece of wood.

  • Steel Bridge

    Black and white image of Steel Bridge, Willamette River, Portland, Oregon.
    Steel Bridge, Willamette River, Portland, Oregon

    I crossed the river on this novel bridge during my afternoon walk around Portland.

    From Wkipedia: The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries road traffic (on the Pacific Highway West No. 1W, former Oregon Route 99W) and light rail (MAX), making the bridge one of the most multimodal in the world. It is the only double-deck bridge with independent lifts in the world and the second oldest vertical-lift bridge in North America, after the nearby Hawthorne Bridge. The bridge links the Rose Quarter and Lloyd District in the east to Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in the west.

    I can vouch for all the modes of transport mentioned using the bridge. I saw them all while I watched and took my pictures. I got ‘trapped’ for a short period of time on the far side of tracks by a very long freight train, almost immediately followed by a passenger train.

    Steel Bridge, Portland Oregon – detail of one of the counterweights Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Hotel Room, Hotel Eastlund, Portland Oregon

    Hotel Room. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The hotel has been remodeled recently and they’ve worked hard to provide a consistent theme throughout. It’s modern, clean and comfy, with a slight twist in the decor …

    Hotel Eastlund, Portland Oregon. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Bathroom. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    According to Google, getting to the hotel from the airport was fairly straight forward. Catch the light railway into town. Google was right, finding the terminus was fine and the ride on the train was fine. What caused me problems was the ticketing system. I’m used to buying tickets to destinations, but Portland’s light railway works on a time basis. Great if you know how long it takes to get somewhere. I opted for two hours, and that turned out to be more than adequate. The hotel was very near the light railway so I only had a short walk with my wheelie bag.

    Once I’d checked in and got to my room…

    I found two things of note in the bathroom

    First look carefully and you’ll see a hole cut in the shower glass. It took me a moment to realize that it is so that you can turn the shower on and adjust the temperature before you get in.

    Second, take a look at the artwork. Upon first glance, I thought it was just an abstract piece. But then, do you see what I see? I’m sure it’s an abstract nude, complete with nipples and pubis. I thought it quite adventurous for the normally prudish US, so I checked another piece in the room, and it too was slightly risque for public art aimed at (my idea of) the average American. Maybe I’ve spent too much time in the Bible belt, and people are different out here near the west coast.

    Whether intended of not, once seen, I could not un-see my bathroom nude.

    Is that what I think it is? – At first glance I thought this was just abstract, and then I saw a nude. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Artwork detail – In an attempt to decide if my bathroom picture was risque I checked out some of the other artwork in the room. When I found this detail I decided that yes, the picture in my bathroom was an abstract nude. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • The Rocky Mountains from the Air

    Flying over Colorado
    Flying over Colorado

    Portland Day 1. I’m traveling to the Episcopal Communicators’ Conference in Portland Oregon

    The conference runs Thursday and Friday, and I’m here for a pre-conference workshop on Wednesday. Saturday will be another travel day.

    I picked a seat too close to the aeroplane’s wing, and it obscured the view. Shooting below the wing there was a lot of visual disturbance from the jet exhaust.

    I was up at 4:30 a.m. and on a ‘plane to Denver by 6:00 a.m. What with the time difference I ought to be in the hotel by 11:30 a.m. I had a very tight connection at Denver – my ‘plane to Portland was already boarding when I arrived at the gate. The ‘plane was also lightly loaded – I had three seats to myself and I could have laid down for a snooze. The last time that happened I was flying Emirates from India back to the UK on December 22 (I forget what year! I remember the date because Elaine, my first wife, had told me not to bother coming home if I didn’t get back in time for Christmas!).

    Unfortunately on the way back I have a 3 hour layover at Denver, and the time zones will be going against me, so I’ll leave in the morning and not get home until the late evening.

  • Flying over Colorado

    Flying over Colorado – on my way to the 2016 Episcopal Communicators’ Conference in Portland, Oregan. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Shortly after takeoff I got my first real view of the Rockies.

  • Font and Flag

    Subdued color photograph of the font in an Episcopal Church and the US flag.
    Font and Flag – St. James’ Springfield. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Sometimes while I’m working I spot a picture that I want to take for myself,

    this is the second of the two pictures I took while documenting the area confirmation service at St. James’ here in Springfield. I was taking a last look around the church for any little architectural details I might want to get a picture of when I noticed this scene. I immediately thought it might work with a small amount of post processing – it was very dark, with no lights on.

    I am very pleased with the result, though I wished I’d seen how exactly I’d lined up the Paschal Candle with the window frame. If I had noticed, I would have changed the angle slightly.

    While I took the picture for myself, I’ll admit that it was too good to waste, so I’ve used it several times in the diocesan evening prayers on Facebook and Instagram.

    And Here’s the other picture.

Home

Start typing and press enter to search

Scroll to Top