I’ve recently had a go at really ‘cheating the system’ by manipulating some photos to remove distracting elements as well as combining the best elements of different pictures.

The first photo on the left was taken at a skate park on Venice Beach in L.A. While I was really chuffed to get the timing right for this photograph, it bothered me that the two people in the background were distracting and detracted from the distance between that skater’s feet and his board. So using a combination of Photoshop tools I removed the people. I primarily used the clone tool, deleted layers witha very soft eraser and a little bit of Photoshop’s new content-aware fill to remove the people and replace them with the beach, ocean and concrete. A large portion of the concrete was covered so I had to make that up with portions of concrete from other parts of the photo.

The second and third photos I edited were taken over Christmas in Scotland. Trying to freeze active children is quite a challenge, so I got into a habit of taking numerous photos and hoping for the best. In both the examples on the left I had two images of the same scene. Unfortunately neither image was right on its own – someone in focus in one photograph would be blurry in another. So I combined them to get the photograph I was hoping for in the first place.

While I’m pleased enough with the results, I doubt these edits would pass any forensic analysis. I’d rather just capture the image I want in the first place, but it is nice to know that all is not lost if the shot isn’t perfect.

On the Saturday we ventured out across the Gower Peninsula after a surreal stop in Porthcrawl where the entire town was celebrating the life of Elvis for the weekend. Despite the sunny start to the day we were treated to typical Welsh weather by the time we made it to the beach at Llangennith. The rain hadn’t stopped all the eager surfers who were in their 5-10mm wetsuits learning how to stand on a surfboard while your body shivers uncontrollably.

We spent the whole day driving around the beautiful peninsula and ended up in Mumbles, taking photos of the amazing Mumbles Lighthouse. As a last minute decision we decided to head into Cardiff and catch a comedy show at the Glee Club. The comics were hilarious but sadly we weren’t treated to any local acts.

On the Sunday we passed by Barry Island but kept our stay very brief due to the rain. It started clearing up as we approached Coch Castle and then made our way to Caerphilly Castle. We decided to squeeze one more castle (and a cheese festival) into our trip by visiting Cardiff Castle on the way home. Even though we wanted to be brief they wouldn’t let us in half an hour before the cheese festival closed, so we hit the road and made our way back to London.

The weekend was a great introduction to Wales. Next time we’ll be sure to go deeper into the country and experience the mountains and beaches further North.

My cousin gave us gift vouchers to go Zorbing in Dorset so we hired a car and left London on a Friday evening.

We spent the weekend camping and driving around the area stopping off at beautiful beaches and vantage points. Knowing that summer was drawing to a close we made the most of the warm weather and had an amazing swim in the sea near Durdle Door.

On the Sunday morning we took off to the farm that host the zorbing and got rolled down a hill. They offer two zorbing options, the harness or aqua options, fortunately we could do both so we did the harness first. You get strapped into a seat and then take off facing each other as you roll head over feet or feet over head all the way down the hill. The aqua option was much better. They add some water to the inflated ball and as you roll down the hill you slip and slide as if you were on a water slide. It was loads of fun.

We took a brief stroll around Dorchester before making our way to Lulworth Cove for lunch and a final swim before heading back to the big smoke.

View larger versions of my panorama shots below

Weymouth Panorama

Durdle Door Panorama

Lulworth Cove Panorama

We squeezed in a touristy trip to the Joburg Lion Park (a place I never visited during my four years living in the city). We also spent 3 days at my family’s beach cottage in Soutbroom. Waking up for sunrise the one morning was absolutely worth it.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

The Lonely Planet told us that Zuma Beach was “Stunningly gorgeous Malibu’s even more stunningly gorgeous beach”. With a sales pitch like that we were surprised by the dirty water and abundance of plant debris on the beach. There had clearly been a lot of heavy rain recently. We found a clear-enough spot and enjoyed the sunshine and entertainment provided by a stereotypical LA bimbo chasing her ridiculous little dog.

Driving on the other side of the road reaches another level of stress when you hit LA’s massive traffic-laden highways. But we made our way into Santa Monica easily enough. Checking into Hostelling International Youth Hostel for the night reminded me of my European backpacking trip in 2005, except that now, in 2011, a disturbing number of backpackers were carrying iPads and laptops – hardly roughing it.

I challenge anyone to pass Santa Monica Boulevard without singing Sheryl Crow. We took a stroll down to Santa Monica Pier in search of a little fun before the sun went down over Santa Monica Boulevard – apparently we were doing it wrong.

Santa Monica beach is huge, so despite the beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon the beach wasn’t overcrowded. It was very busy but there was enough space for everyone, unlike most European beaches I’ve been to. The Baywatch style lifeguard towers were quite surreal and the funfair on the pier provided a unique beach view.

Santa Monica’s 3rd Avenue is bustling with tourists and locals preparing for a night out. Street performers line the avenue alongside dinosaur shaped hedges and open-till late designer stores. We went in search of a bar with live music and stumbled upon a cosy Jazz & Blues club. The band on stage was incredible. The Arthur Adams Band had recently been nominated for a Blues Foundation Award. He was an exceptionally good singer and an insanely talented guitarist. It was a mightily impressive performance and a great end to our first night in LA.

After a basic youth hostel breakfast we drove out to Griffith Park to check out the Observatory and Hollywood Sign. The top of the hill gave us an all-encompassing view of the huge city. Looking at the Hollywood Sign in real life was another surreal experience.

The Hollywood experience got even weirder as we made our way to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame. History tells us that the studios caused the decline of Hollywood, but we didn’t expect it to be that run down. It’s hard to tell if anyone actually lives in Hollywood. The only people there were tourists or out-of-work actors trying to earn tips with poor impersonations of their better-known contemporaries. The walk of fame risked becoming an addictive stroll as we scoured the path for b-list celebrities and Hollywood legends in amongst ‘stars’ we’d never heard of.

After turning down numerous celebrity homes tours we drove ourselves to Beverly Hills to see what the fuss was about – I still don’t really get it.

I was really keen to visit the Annenberg Space for Photography. After circling the area struggling to find it we were sad to discover the museum was closed for renovations.

Considering the fact that we’d be flying home the next evening we decided to cram in as much beach time as possible.

I read that LA’s Southern beaches were amazing so we braved the highway to reach Hermosa Beach. We mostly had the beach to ourselves as we waited for the sunset. A cycle/skate highway provided some fascinating people watching opportunities, the best being a woman on roller skates ‘walking’ two large dogs that simply pulled her down the strip.

A homeless man started a conversation with us and perhaps I’ve been living in London for two long, but I was waiting for the kicker when he’d ask for some money. Instead he just proved to be an unlikely tour guide, pointing out landmarks and telling us where we could catch the best sunsets – only in America.

We spent the evening people watching and having dinner in Hermosa Beach. It became very surreal when we noticed all the TVs in bars and shop windows were fixed to CNN’s coverage of Bin Laden’s murder. It was very weird being in America for the event and absorbing the reaction to the news. We were slightly concerned about how it would effect our flight home the next day, primarily because security would be increased, slowing everything down, but it wasn’t an issue for us at all.

Our final day in LA and the USA was a fully chilled-out holiday experience. We decided to check out Venice Beach and got there early. So early that the market stalls were still setting up and the crackheads were still lurking about. Ana-Paula really didn’t like it and wanted to go somewhere she felt safer. We spent a few minutes watching skaters take on the beach-front pools and got back in the car. Venice Beach and Venice Marina sit in quite stark contrast to each other. The marina is based on Italy’s Venice and is home to over-priced flats and luxury yachts.

Considering how much we enjoyed Hermosa Beach, we decided to head South again – which also gave us easy access to the airport when we’d have to leave later that day. Manhattan Beach is the kind of place the Housewives of Orange County would spend their time. It’s a beautiful beach and was a great place for our last swim and holiday sunshine. We had a great lunch and were entertained by a very dolled-up women on a loud and heated phone call; “the problem is that you’re always with your wife!”

We made our way to an amazing ice cream shop and spent our last few dollars on milkshakes.

Rinsing the sand and salt water off, we made our way to LAX and the long flight back to London. The trip didn’t answer any questions about whether we’d like to live in the USA, but the country certainly made an amazing holiday destination.

As we left San Luis Obispo, stopped off at Pismo Beach and then ventured into a really beautiful part of California. While most people associate Californian wine country with the area North of San Francisco, there are some amazing wine farms in Foxen Canyon. Apparently the area has become a lot more popular since the Film Sideways was released, I can’t really comment because I haven’t seen it.

We drove alongside some fairly dry and barren cotton fields and grape vines. A lot of the scenery brought back memories of reading The Grapes of Wrath at University.

We settled on Zaca Mesa Winery in Los Olivos for a spot of wine tasting where Ana-Paula was flattered to be asked for ID.

Eventually finding our way back to HWY101, we took off for Santa Barbara. We had booked a room in Parkside Inn, which required us to check in at a larger sister hotel. This worked out in our favour as they upgraded us to stay in the swankier Hotel Mar Monte instead.

As evening settled, we went in search of more seafood and strolled along the incredibly long boardwalk, while skateboarders, roller bladers and cyclists flew past.

The clam chowder and fresh fish we had at Brophy Bros was the ideal meal as we overlooked the Santa Barbara docks and watched a seal playing in the water between luxury yachts.

For after dinner drinks we talk a walk along the peer and went into Longboards Grill. It’s a kitch but cool cocktail bar, serving massive, elaborate cocktails on tables made out of surfboards. Barrels of monkey nuts are always within easy reach and it became apparent, by the mess around the bar, that patrons are expected to simply drop the shells on the floor, adding to the relaxed atmosphere.

The next day started with a visit to the original Santa Barbara mission, which is still in use today. We didn’t go inside but there was some interesting history to be learned from the welcoming area alone.

Leaving Santa Barbara we found our way back to HWY1 for the final league of our road trip to Los Angeles. En route we stopped for lunch in the beautiful town of Ventura. The town clearly appeals to artists; the streets were lined with artwork like an outdoor gallery and with students practising and taking lessons on every corner. After an great Italian lunch we hit the road once more.

Stopping to take in a beautiful view I spotted a spurt of water shooting out of the sea. I called Ana-Paula to come and see the whale which lead to a conversation with a lone American traveller. We got chatting to the Los Angelino who told us about the treacherous road we’d have to take to avoid the road closure. After chatting for a few minutes he pulled a CD out of his car and gave it to us. This was Terry Wilcox’s roadtrip mix No.16. We could have the CD under one condition, if we don’t like it after three listens then we need to pass it on to someone else. The Big Sur has pretty barren airwaves so we graciously accepted the CD and got back on the road. It turns out that Terry Wilcox makes very apt roadtrip mixes. The CD was a great collection of unfamiliar Bluegrass, Folk, Americana and even a few Mexican songs – the perfect companion for our trip through California.

Before leaving the UK we read that part of HWY1 was closed due to heavy rainfall causing a rockslide. Knowing that the road we were on had recently slipped into the ocean was not the most comforting idea. Before setting off from The Sunset Inn we’d been assured that the road had reopened. At the start of the journey I was fairly certain I’d seen a sign warning of a HWY1 closure, but the further we drove the less likely this seemed. It was only when we were approaching our hotel that we saw signs saying ‘HWY1 closed in 10 Miles – Business as usual’. Without being certain how far away our hotel was, we got more and more concerned as we kept driving. Panic set in as we reached the point where the road was closed, until we realised that the hotel was on our left.

The Gorda Springs Resort was the most expensive accommodation on our trip, so we were really disappointed with the state of it. The tap water was undrinkable (2 bottles were provided), the room had been tidied but was grubby and in desperate need of a deep clean. The restaurant was closed so we couldn’t have any dinner and breakfast wasn’t included. While we had booked for two nights, we decided we’d rather spend our second night elsewhere so we checked out the next day.

Having skipped dinner we woke up starving and went in search of a big Big Sur breakfast. After driving up and down HWY1 we eventually found Deetjins, an amazing collection of bungalows buried in the forest. They served up an incredible breakfast and we liked the place so much that we decided to ask if any rooms had become available due to the road closure. Unfortunately they only had a premium cabin available, it sounded amazing but was more than twice our budget so we decided we’d leave the area after a decent bit of exploring.

Big Sur is made up of numerous state parks that all feature amazing walks and hikes. We stopped off and wandered around Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park which is home to a beautiful isolated beach and a waterfall that pours straight onto the beach. Some brave soul had reached the inaccessible beach to write ‘Jessica, will you marry me’ on the sand. It’s hard to imagine her turning him down.

Next we went to check out Sand Dollar Beach. Despite the sunshine, it was a far cry from being warm enough to swim so we just chilled on the beach for a while.

The road closure meant that we couldn’t continue South along HWY1 and the SatNav claimed that our fastest route involved going all the way back to Carmel and taking HWY101. We weren’t looking for the fastest route. the traveller we’d met the day before told us about the mountainous road out of the area so we decided to take the scenic route. It certainly was scenic, but equally terrifying. The road wound all the way up the steep cliff edges, with no trace of any protective barriers. Driving South on the right hand side of the road meant that our car (and particularly Ana-Paula’s window) was on the edge of the road and closest to a deadly plummet. Creeping up the road at 2-5mph was fine until we encountered the occasional massively American oncoming vehicles, which always felt like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle – while an elephant rushed through from the other direction.

Part of our detour included passing through a military training area. It was fairly inconspicuous until we spotted a giant tank in the middle of the field.

Our first stop was the quirky seaside resort of Santa Cruz. We parked next to a hippie van and wandered off along the promenade. The beach-front funfair provided a soundtrack of screams and giggles as we tasted a corn dog and slurped on slush puppies. I braved dipping my toes in the ocean but not even the brain-freeze-inducing slushy was as cold as the pacific this far North.

Back on the road we ambled down HWY1 to Monterey. We followed the sound of barking sea lions along the peer and found a few happily napping in the sun. There’s not much to ‘do’ in Monterey, but we weren’t looking for any tourist attractions anyway. A few photos later we decided to check into our hotel and find a place for dinner.

The Sunset Inn was a little further along the coast in Pacific Grove. Ana-Paula found a deal on trip-advisor that gave us an amazing room at a reduced rate. After a great seafood dinner we went in search of a photo opportunity with the lighthouse. Instead we found ourselves back in Monterey on Cannery Row. The Lonely Planet warned us that the old canning district is a bit tacky, but it made for some pretty good night-time photos.

Pacific Grove is best known for the 17 Mile Drive; a scenic loop that winds along the coast and through a redwood forest. As history has it, the drive was so valued that all the land was bought up by rich folk building mansions. The area now has an entrance fee, which seems a bit odd, but paints a picture that this is the most beautiful way to start your adventure into Big Sur. It certainly is pretty, but I wouldn’t consider it any more beautiful than any other parts of Big Sur. The 17 Mile Drive includes the Lone Cypress, a 200 year old tree that sits all alone on an outcrop of rocks.

From the 17 Mile Drive we continued to Carmel, a really quirky and beautiful town. All the houses, letterboxes, bus stops and even rubbish bins have a unique style. Carmel is an arty town and it shows.

Opting for a chilled afternoon in the Golden Gate Park we embarked on a very thorough public transport tour of the city. A lot of San Francisco’s buses are electric and they stop everywhere, so this is not the quickest way to get from point A to B or, in our case, North Beach to Golden Gate Park.

While checking in to the quirky San Remo Hotel the check-in clerk warned us about entering the park from the Haight entrance. It was perfectly safe but her advice was, “People might try to sell you drugs so don’t let your first impression stop you from going further into the park, it’s really beautiful”. She was absolutely right – about the beauty, not the dealers. There were a lot of dodgy characters but no-one tried to sell us drugs.

We spent ages wandering around Golden Gate Park. With the major roads running through it, it feels more like a collection of parks than one big one.

After another very long bus-ride back to the hotel we went in search of the legendary San Franciscan cuisine in North Beach. The Stinking Rose was a major highlight for me. The restaurant specialises in garlic. Our seafood platter was amazing; crab legs, prawns and mussels with the best range of garlic butter I’ve ever tasted. I fell in food-love and I fell hard.

On our second day we decided to test the strength of our relationship by hiring a tandem bicycle. It is the ultimate lesson in trust, balance, negotiation, relinquishing control and starting every journey on the right foot. After a few entertaining false starts we eventually got the hang of it.

Our route took us along the beach-front and up to the foot of the Golden Gate bridge. Cycling over the bay was both awe-inspiring and petrifying as the wind pushed us around on this giant chunk of dangling steel.

The road to Sausalito was a very welcome downhill slope and scenic ride. Our day out on the bay ended with a sunset ferry ride back to the city. The view was spectacular as we passed The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

Returning to North Beach, we took our rubber legs and numb bums in search of dinner. We found a pretty authentic Irish pub and sat down to explore what the American spin would be. My Irish Stew didn’t live up to the genuine article but the pub was very authentic with odd decorations and a group of musicians singing in the corner.

Celebrating our 3rd anniversary, Ana-Paula and I made a trip we’ve wanted to do for years. Thanks to the Royal Wedding bank holidays we took a few days off work and hopped on a plane for an epic two week holiday in the USA.

Our first stop was the city that never sleeps: New York, New York. Thanks to the time zone change, our flight arrived two and a half hours after leaving London. We decided to brave NYC’s public transport and catch the subway onto the island. Probably not the best idea as we only got to our hotel after 2am. Our hotel was the Union Square Inn, a conveniently located building with no frills. Our first night was terrible. Despite our exhaustion from the long flight, we were kept awake from very loud, dodgy plumbing and some drunk woogirl neighbours. At one point I woke up and flew towards the door to find that the woogirls had stumbled onto the door and still managed to open our room with their key. The hotel moved us into a much better room the next day which made the rest of our stay a lot better.

We spent 4 nights/3 full days in NYC, it really wasn’t enough time for the first visit. There is so much to see and do in that city and we were determined to see as much as possible.

It was quite strange being in a new city and finding it so familiar. Scenes and characters from movies, books and TV shows lingered in almost all the destinations we visited.

Day 1

We started our sightseeing with a plan to chill-out and get into the holiday mood, so we left the hotel with our sites set on Central Park. While trying to find our bearings we started wandering around Union Square and our temporary neighbourhood. As we strolled up 5th Avenue I was daft enough to comment, “It’s a lot closer than I thought” which lead to us walking all the way up 5th Avenue to Central Park.

On the way we passed a huge queue snaking around the Empire State Building, stopped to buy some I ♥ NY memorabilia and took a look at all the flags in front of the Rockefeller Center.

We had a little over an hour to kill before going to the top of the Rockefeller Tower so we decided to try a New York City hot dog for lunch in Central Park. The hot dog we got was extremely disappointing, we figured it was a rip-off and went in search of a chilli-dog instead. It was better but did not justify the fuss by any means. We kept our eyes open for any better looking hot dog stands but perhaps the good ones are hidden for locals and movie-makers only.

The view from the top of the Rockefeller Center was quite spectacular, as we tried to get our bearings and figure out where we’d be spending the next few days.

After picking up a few snacks we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening resting our very weary feet in Central Park.

Day 2

Our second day got off to an early start as we went to meet Lady Liberty. Our City Pass ticket helped us skip a bit of the very long queue to board a ferry to Liberty Island. approaching the Statue of Liberty we couldn’t help but notice she was a lot smaller than she looked in Ghostbusters. She’s large, but TV certainly adds a few tonnes.

Ellis Island is incredibly interesting for anyone who didn’t grow up in the same country as their great-great-great-great-grandparents. The museum provides a fascinating insight into the lives of early US immigrants and New Yorkers.

Lunch in Little Italy sounded like a great plan. It was sad to see that Little Italy is really little these days. It has essentially been reduced to one tourist-trap street. As tourists, we had to try the pizza and pasta so we embraced it and allowed ourselves to be herded in and out of a crowded restaurant. As Little Italy has shrunk China Town has expanded (or visa versa) so we spent a bit of time wandering through China Town too.

The bright lights of NYC are brightest in Times Square. We spent some time taking photos before heading over to the theatre to catch our first Broadway show. While planning our trip Ana-Paula discovered that Ben Stiller was making a return to Broadway. She secured the cheapest tickets in the rafters to watch The House Of Blue Leaves. It’s a fairly mental play set in New York during the Pope’s visit in 1965. The show hadn’t officially opened, but the preview show seemed pretty polished to me. Following our trip to Ellis Island, the show added a great piece of New Yorker character to our day.

Having avoided the massive daytime queue around the Empire State building, we decided that a midnight visit would be far better. We made it to the top of the building in no time at all and had beautiful views of New York at night. Th only downside to being 102 stories above New York streets at midnight in April -> it’s freezing up there.

Day 3

Our final day in the Big Apple got off to a damp start. We decided to skip the hotel bagels, buy an umbrella and make our way to the Lyric Diner for a huge American breakfast.

With full bellies, we rolled on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Concerned by the huge crowd on the museum stairs we were surprised to find a well sign-posted entrance on the side of the building with no queue whatsoever. The Met is huge and has an incredible collection, it was amazing to see the original pieces that are already so familiar.

By the time we’d finished browsing the extensive collection at the Met the skies had cleared so we rested our well worn legs in Central Park, munching on a pretzel.

Our final evening in the Big Apple was one of the best. We wandered into the Lower East Side and found a Cuban bar where the 2 for 1 cocktails flowed alongside a delicious mussel starter while a live Cuban band provided the soundtrack. Despite the barman’s convincing arguments to stay, we found another spot for dinner. A well hidden and cosy Russian restaurant that fed us well and surprised us with a talented solo acoustic artist.

Having insisted the photographs would look better at night, I was very pleased when we made it to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was very quiet and a great photo opportunity. The East River views of the city made a stunning closer to our time in the city.

You can expect to see all my pictures over the next few days, so keep checking back. I also used my commuting time on the London tubes constructively; I’ve written about our trip in a fair bit of detail, so even though it’s three months late, you can see precisely what we got up to.

Our holiday was pretty extensive for a trip that lasted less than two weeks. We flew from London to New York where we spent 3 days trying to absorb as much of the city as possible. Then we flew over to San Francisco hired a car and drove down the beautifully scenic HWY1.

The map to the left shows our journey and all the towns where we spent the night. I hope you enjoy the photos and my stories as I post them here.

Posts:

New York, New York: USA Holiday Part 1	San Francisco: USA Holiday Part 2
Santa Cruz, Monterey, Pacific Grove & Carmel: USA Holiday Part 3	Big Sur: USA Holiday Part 4
San Luis Obispo, Los Olivos & Santa Barbara: USA Holiday Part 5	Los Angeles: USA Holiday Part 6

As much as I loved the show, this write-up is actually about my experience taking live music photos for the first time in ages.

My time in the photography pit has diminished terribly since moving to the UK. The main reason for this was a lack of contacts. In South Africa I had access to the country’s biggest rock band which gave me access to great shows. The industry is small enough to make press passes a breeze to organise. I have taken photos at a few shows in the UK but not as many as I’d like. Now that I’ve settled into my job at Warner I’m eager to get back into it.

This was the first gig and big test for my brand new lens, a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 USM zoom lens. The wide aperture makes it ideal for low-light gig photography.

Fenech-Soler’s lighting was a combination of extremes. The stage was generally very dark with sporadic strobe lights. This looks great to the naked eye but is a serious challenge for any photographic equipment.

I have been experimenting with a technique of shooting on Aperture Priority and underexposing the shot. The theory is that the shutter speed will vary to match the conditions, producing the ideal exposure. This works fine when the lighting is more consistent but is far less effective with flashing lights. The camera would focus and set the ideal exposure but the lights would change so quickly that by the time I took the picture the whole scene had changed. I promptly switched back to full manual settings and got much better shots. I need to trust that I know what I’m doing. There’s no need to rely on auto settings when I know better.

Once I’d shaken the rust off, I made a tragic rookie mistake. The new lens doesn’t fit in my old bag, so I was carrying a Lowerpro backpack that my cousin gave me. When my memory card ran out of space I couldn’t remember where the ‘conveniently located spare memory card pouch’ was. Doh!

I don’t think I got any award-winning shots but it was a good first-run with the 24-70mm. Autofocus struggled a bit in the dark, which was frustrating, but all-in-all the lens performed well in those conditions. I’m looking forward to using it on a bigger stage with less erratic lighting. Watch this space.

I’m really proud of the panorama in this set. View a larger version of it here.

Click on the Panoramas below to view larger versions.

The very short journey from London Bridge tube station to The Tower of London should take no more than 15 minutes. Because Brett and I kept stopping to take photographs, and the cold forcing us to stop for a hot drink, we took 2 hours to cross the bridge.

These photos are the result of that journey Tower Bridge.

The Warner Bros. Digital Team was nominated for quite a lot of of awards, namely:

• Best Group – Muse
• Best Event – D&BTV presents Pendulum ‘Immersion’ live album preview
• Best Music App – Pendulum Witchcraft Experiment Facebook app
• Breakthrough Artist of the Year – Marina & The Diamonds
• Artist of the Year – Muse
• Artist of the Year – Pendulum
• Best Artist Promotion – Muse ‘United States of Eurasia’ USB Treasure Hunt
• Best Official Site – muse.mu
• Best Fan Site – muselive.com

A lot of those nominations were earned on work done before I started at WBR, but the Pendulum Witchcraft Experiment was one of my first big projects. So it was absolutely amazing when we won the award! Powster, the creative agency that built the award, have since picked up another nomination for the Witchcraft Experiment, in the Adobe MAX awards.

Find out more about the Pendulum Witchcraft Experiment here.
Go straight to the Facebook app.

Muse also picked up awards for Best Official Site and Best Fan site. So there was plenty to celebrate.

Photos from our week-long holiday in Croatia.
September 2010.

If you watched just one online video in the last two weeks chances are high it was the hugely successful lyric video for ‘Fuck You’ by Cee Lo Green. It has been a huge viral sensation with over 4.5 million views in 2 weeks. Now here’s a funny story about the lyric video.

Everyone fucks up at work, it’s human nature, but when your job involves musicians with millions of fans you set yourself up for very public fuck-ups. I haven’t made any hugely damaging mistakes yet but I was almost responsible for the Cee Lo Green lyric video going out with the wrong lyrics.

In the early stages of planning around the song I was briefing developers to come up with some ideas. A&R were keeping a tight lid on the song itself but I was allowed to send the lyrics to the developers. The only problem was that no-one had the lyrics on file. So I sat with my headphones on and the song on repeat, transcribing what I heard.

Now I’m the first to admit that I mishear lyrics. I scream gibberish at gigs all the time. So I sent my version of the lyrics on to A&R asking them to have it verified by Cee Lo’s management. No-one was overly concerned and next thing I knew the lyrics I transcribed had somehow become the official document.

This document was passed on, including my exact spelling and punctuation, to Terry Scruby to create the motion graphics video that would become a YouTube sensation. A few hours before it was due to hit the web someone questioned a line in the chorus.

I was almost responsible for this line:
Although there’s pain in my chest, I still wish you the best with a “Fuck You!”

Going out to the world as:
Although there’s pain in my church, I still wish you the best with a “Fuck You!”

Now that would have been a pretty momentous fuck-up.

I put together a list of 30 songs we’ve seen live in the past twelve months. This playlist doesn’t cover all the bands we’ve seen, it’s just the highlights package. I don’t own music by all the support acts or bands we saw at Reading Festival. I also left off Limp Bizkit, because Ana-Paula really didn’t like them. It was quite a task to try and remember all the shows, fortunately I use a site called Songkick to get gig updates, so it was easy to track my gigography. If you’re interested you can listen to a variation of this playlist on Spotify. We already have some great shows planned for the next few months, so hopefully next year’s playlist will be even better!

1. Dear Reader – Bend
2. Gentlemen – Sending cards
3. People In Planes – Pretty Buildings
4. Jukebox The Ghost – Hold It In
5. Nightmare of You – The Studded Cinctures
6. Nine Inch Nails – Hurt
7. The Used – I Caught Fire
8. Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends
9. Bloc Party – Hunting For Witches
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Pin
11. Kaiser Chiefs – Oh My God
12. Metric – Help I’m Alive (Acoustic)
13. Deftones – Change (In The House Of Flies)
14. Maximo Park – Girls Who Play Guitars
15. Billy Talent – Red Flag
16. Jamie T – Sheila
17. The Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
18. Jack Peñate – Run For Your Life
19. Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
20. Radiohead – Karma Police
21. The Rumble Strips – Alarm Clock
22. The Pixies – Gigantic
23. Green Day – Basket Case
24. Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
25. Placebo – Every You Every Me (Live)
26. Them Crooked Vultures – New Fang
27. OK Go – Invincible
28. Finley Quaye – Sunday Shining
29. The Parlotones – Dragonflies and astronauts
30. Lostprophets – Last Train Home

Click here to read the blog and view photos

My first Christmas since moving to the UK was bound to be different. It would be my first Christmas without my family and my first during Winter (aside from a family holiday in 1994). I got a very different one indeed. We’d planned a trip to Scotland to celebrate the holidays with Ana-Paula’s family (her sister is married with two kids).

A few days before the office closed we had our first snow. Snow in London is beautiful for a few hours but quickly turns into muddy slush. The novelty was still very exciting for me but it doesn’t come without problems.

The snow caused serious travel problems that saw many people spend Christmas in the airport. We replaced a cancelled train to Luton by sharing a cab with a more prepared traveller. Our short flight to Edinburgh included 5 hours on the runway before take-off and another hour after landing for crew to clear a walkway for us. I thought Scotland was closer than a 12 hour journey.

Every cloud has a silver lining and our travel disruptions were worth it when we saw how beautiful Scotland was. I was treated to a real White Christmas. We had snowball fights, poor attempts to make a snowman, sledging into hedges, snow angels and the excitement of Santa bringing gifts for two young children.

Our Christmas Day ended in a Karaoke session at the neighbour’s house. They had a decent selection of songs to choose from. Ana-Paula and I totally rocked ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’, ‘Fight For Your Right’ and ‘Living on a Prayer’ (any song that involved shouting rather than singing). I must say it was a little bit disturbing to hear the kids singing, “Yooooour, Yoooour sex is on fire!”

It really was a lovely Christmas and made up for missing a warm Indian Ocean swim after stuffing myself with Mum’s cooking.

I do need to have my say as an angry customer. I was very disappointed that Ana-Paula’s gift didn’t arrive in time. The snow made deliveries difficult for most companies and impossible for the highly incompetent UK Mail courier service. As I write this (3rd January), we’re still waiting for the order I placed on the 10th December. So I advise you to avoid buying anything that will be delivered via UK Mail.

I’m very impressed with the pics I got using my Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. It is an amazing little lens.