Today's morning walk...

A few photos from my walk this morning... a couple of hours into places in Miluo I had not been before....

Life is not a movie

Izak wrote a play this year, that he performed with one of his class mates….

One of the more memorable parts of it

I:  Oh look…. a time portal!!

H:  How do you know it is a time portal?

I:  Well, cause it says so in the script!

But from what I have heard, life in not a movie…. Which unfortunately means we do not get scripts to work out what is going on.

As far as I can work out… if it were a movie, there would need to be more work on the sets!

 

If it was a movie… . I would hope it was something exciting!  Something like a spy movie where you get to paraglide over cities and stuff...

 

It isn't one... cause there are complicated bits, and parts with no scripts.
There are plot twists that make no sense - bits that are tragic or frustrating with no payoff.  There are things that seem important that are introduced to the story, but go no where..

Things that make good stories, are often terrible, confusing or painful to live through.
(but just cause something was terrible, confusing or painful does not necessarily make it a good story!)
People do not come in only 2 dimensions, they come in 3 (or many many more) and cannot be easily read.  (Luckily - this is my favourite type of person! - I must like being challenged or confused [of course being where I am right now, I have a lot of opportunity to be confused!])

But regardless of whether or not there is a director... I am happy to be here!

Wow - obviously feeling all thoughtful today!  I am in hyper-ramble....

Oh Look…. A  time portal!!  (it is not just mogwai and gremlins you find in Chinese shops!)

Away...

Well the set subject for my photography club back home is "solitude"....
If the theme was "birds" or "blue skies" or "family fun" then I would have some trouble....
but solitude.... yeah.... there is plenty of that around if you want it...

Remembering the day

We remember,
there are the solid bits to structure the memory around, then there are parts we think are solid and then the whispy cloudy bits at every single edge, and in all the spaces we did not fill up with details....

Sleepy time....

Quietly snuck up to take a photo of this gentleman catching some Zzzzzzs.
The other customers, and owners of the restaurant were have a great chuckle at it all.

Chaos tamed by averaging...

The view from the window in my hotel.
It is a 6 way intersection where the lights seemingly change in specific sequence to cause maximum carnage and confusion.

Luckily everyone who uses the intersection follows all the road rules exactly, so there are never any issues!


I also took some time lapses that worked pretty well...
For how I did it... it involved a camera and some careful use of straps.

Social Documentary

Topic for the Toowoomba Photographic Society this month is social documentary...
no prize for guessing what country I would be drawing my photos from...

Very serious old lady overseeing her shop in Xian

On our way into Avatar Mountain...

Gentleman resting while digging the trenches for the new subway in Changsha

A bit of serious weather

Huge number of police around because there was a Party meeting in Miluo.  I could feel the increased security and safety in my bones!

Shot in China

Blythe and Russell, shot while shooting in China.
The whole pool hall was stinking hot... people taking turns standing in front of the struggling airconditioner.

I did not see Fast Eddie the pool shark, anywhere!

Sometimes it is a little bit pretty....

The view from my hotel room earlier this week...

Walking around Miluo

I need an exit.

I am reading "The Windup Bird Chronicle" at the moment..... maybe that is why the photo looks like this.....

Probably just a Matrix reference.

Oops.....

A million and one hairdressers

Here in Miluo, there are hairdressers everywhere...
Here is one of them...

Yesterday's morning activities...

Here in Miluo,
out the back of my hotel...
after spending some time ferretting around randomly with my camera and flash...  I worked up the courage to ask the guy I wanted to photograph if I could shoot him while he was working....

He had no problems with it.... and this was the result.  He was shovelling coal from a big pile outside to a smaller pile inside and then from that pile into the boiler that was giving me hot water in my hotel - so I definitely appreciated his efforts!

Temple - Yuelu Mountain

Walking around Miluo

In order to make sure that I did not spend too much time wallowing in my hotel room on the last Sunday in Miluo... I went for a walk in the rain.  All very lovely (and a weird combination of a little hot and bitterly cold)...

my intention was to walk to where all the rice fields started.... I did not quite make it, but found some interesting things on the way.

First one, normal photo run through a vintage process in Silver EFEX.
Second shot... A mum and her child were walking along, at some distance away I pointed to my camera and gestured to ask if I could take a shot...  She nodded and this is what came out...  A little bit of oversharpening to get some detail out of a VERY dreary day...

Riding to work

What a job!

This young lady's job was to sit out in the cold and convince the thousands of people walking past to come in and organise their photo sessions.  It very much appeared she was not to move or interact with anyone.

I am not sure how the cost compared to dressing a mannequin to put out there... but that was definitely what she was.

The 2012 Shop Refit Atrocity.

Oh the plasticity!

Bear with me.

I have been back home for a few weeks and then back here in China again.

Updates have been...  well, non existent...  I think I need to do something about that...

In the mean time..... here is a bear riding a motor bike.