Paralympics day 1 - check your photos!

So day one is done (and so are my knees, lordy!)
The first of my early starts saw me rise at 5am to journey to Stratford checking in just after 6am.
As expected there was a degree of confusion, mainly because the vast majority of new volunteers were asking each other the same questions expecting immediate answers. Fortunately most things were straightened out and the general positive atmosphere kept people moving along and going with the flow.
We soon got split into teams and I was off to our first posting. In this first team I met Stuart (pictured right) from Wiltshire who also served in the Olympics so he was able to give me a few insider tips which was an excellent start and he was great fun to be with so early in the morning.
Unfortunately this posting only lasted about 30 minutes then plans changed and after another trek I ended up in the area known as Orbit Circus (covering the Stratford Gate, Orbit and Olympic Stadium) meeting and greeting people as they came into the Olympic Park from the Stratford/Westfield shopping centre side.
Later in the day I spent a long time with Susan (pictured left) who strangely kept wandering off standing still looking into the distance and the returning. Curious I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was trying to get into the background of as many peoples photographs as she could. So the photograph on the right is of her at distance (she is circled). Susan will be in 100s of peoples photo albums, just over their shoulder!
So that was my first nine hour shift, there is more to talk about - music, signs, food, questions from the public - but those will be for another day.

Top of the Pops

image courtesy of
Vectorportal Site

It's the end of the year and I thought I would sign off by listing my favourite Music, Films, Books, Photos and Videos of 2011.

Music - I started the year of consciously listening to more music as a way developing my musical appreciation, exposure and growth. As a result this is the hardest category to pick one best band/cd but I will. Before that let me mention three notable bands/Cds
Rend Collective Experiment - Organic Family Hymnal, quite simply it takes me to a place of worship which no other music does, I wrote a post about one of there song why go read it - click here
Texas - White on Blonde, an old album from 1997 but it just brilliant
Jonathan Coulton - Joco Looks Back, if you regularly go to Ikea you must listen to his track of the same name, a fabulously quirky album which I stumbled across by virtue of the social network (seeing a friend listening to it so I listened to it)
But my pick for 2011 is Listener - Wooden Heart, I wrote about coming across this band at Greenbelt and they are just amazing - click here to read my post

Films - I watch quite a few films, I secretly want to be a film critic, but I rarely get to go the cinema so my top films this year are mostly via TV\DVD.
Thor - the best superhero adaptation in my opinion- funny, fantastic, great characters and great visuals and direction - the only bad thing was I had to watch it in 3D
Sunset Boulevard - a film from 1950 with William Holden & Gloria Swanson which I just loved
The Straight Story - a wonderful story about a man on a journey to repair his relationship with his brother
Bronson - a tour de force by Tom Hardy
But my pick for 2011 is A Town Called Panic - a French stop animation film which was just wonderfully surreal. It pops up on Film4 every now and then so try and watch it you will love it.

Books - if you follow my blog you will know that I have had a list of 20 books that I wanted to read this year. Of the eleven I actually finished two stand out.
The Shack by William P. Young -  - a wonderful touching story of God meeting a man at his lowest point it is moving and challenging and made me want to see more of God
My pick for 2011 is Teams of Rivals - the story of Abraham Lincoln's remarkable life and presidency. I reviewed this book back on Feb 12th mine and Abe's birthday!


Photos - this year I have been trying to take all sorts of photos - interesting and creative ones - I'm not going to choose one that is best but I here are some of my favourites.

Videos - I love how we can be inspired, amused and touched through the visual medium, here are some of my favourites - Resurrection by Rob Bell would be my pick for 2011.
 Resurrection by Rob Bell Parallel Parking by Yum Yum London Television is a drug by Beth Fulton John & Joe by the StoryCorps

Today is amazing no matter what you see...

Recently I have been stirred by the beauty of Autumn and the sights and sounds we see all around us at this time of year. It makes me want to look at things that little bit closer.
It also reminded me of this video made by artist Jonathan Harris who on August 27th 2009 turned 30 and began a simple ritual of taking one photo every day and posting it to his website before going to sleep. I found it moving and beautiful in its wonderful simplicity, I hope you do to.

Today - one photo every day

Following on from my last post I thought I would share this film and website I discovered.

Jonathan Harris turned 30 on 27th Aug 2009 and decided to take one photo everyday and posting it to his website

He turned these photos into a short and quite evocative film. I hope you enjoy it and that its creativity will stir yours.

Interesting things I've seen this year

This year I have decided to try to look out for things that interest, amuse or inspire me and capture those images. When you look at these photos like these what do you see? What does it make you think, feel? There are no right answers, or rather everyone has an answer which is right for what they see. Doesn't what we see reflect what is in our hearts, and maybe what is in God's? If I could have recorded every 'interesting' thing I came across this year there would tens of thousands, no tens of millions of images. Every smile, laugh, tear, person, creature and creation has something of the divine in them. Enjoy discovering your interesting things today, tomorrow and the rest of your life.