September 27th

10pm: The sudden warm weather has brought out the neighbourhood moths for a final fling before winter sets in. This beautiful specimen  was sitting on the hall floor as I locked up this evening.

July 28th

10pm: It wasn't easy getting a shot of Niagara Falls, first the darkness of the surroundings & the constant colour changes projected by the lights onto the water. Secondly the immense crowds of people there for a free firework show. It was a depressing place, ugly, rampant commercialisation of the very worst kind. You are even forced to walk through a horribly, tacky mall to get near the falls. I hated it so much. I am sure when the falls were discovered they were an amazing sight in their natural surroundings, now they are almost a secondary diversion to the casinos, Hortons, MacDonalds, Burger Kings & worse littered all around them & the tack vendors trying to sell glowsticks, beads, photographs etc etc. Horrible!

March 26th

11pm: Just heading out of the Bison in Banff with George & Lesley after a really nice dinner. The food at The Bison is really, really good, lots of local flavours & a really smart, casual ambiance. Better than the food though was the company, George & Lesley are our ex-neighbours & we love them - really enjoyed the night out without the kids - Lesley is pregnant & bold predictions were made by myself, Nicky & George that it's going to be a girl. Tabby this morning confirmed this prediction!

March 22nd

11pm. Another insanely busy day, this time in Vancouver & I am finally back in my hotel - however there is a nightclub by that white van & the music is pumping out. Not good & I need some sleep. Earlier had been to The Lift, a real beautiful eatery on the harbour overlooking Stanley Park - as photogenic a spot as you could wish for, if you had remembered to take your camera with you that is!

March 5th

8pm: What could possibly be more Canadian than barbecuing in the dark on a little bit of a chilly evening in what is still technically winter. Barbecuing in Canada land goes on 12 months of the year, in all weathers.......

January 30th

11pm: The utterly beguiling Meg Baird at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn. Meg is the lead singer of top-notch wyrd-folk group Espers & I could not believe my luck that she was playing a solo set in Brooklyn that coincided with the Saturday night I had to myself in town. The venue itself, an old jam factory converted into a minimalist art gallery and concert space was a beautiful setting & the surprisingly sparse audience - probably no more than 50 people - was perfect. Meg finger-picked her way through her repertoire of old English folk tunes & Gothic Americana - a memorable evening, a dash of culture.

January 27th

11pm: Times Square, New York - another desperation shot after a full on busy day with work colleagues & clients. We ended up in a restaurant just round the corner from our hotel & this was shot as we stumbled back. Times Square is truly, truly horrible but people are drawn to it like moths to a bulb. Everywhere gawping tourists take crappy pictures (much like the one above), whilst hustlers of every description attempt to part them from their cash with shitty comedy shows, bus tours, CD's and god knows what. Awful chain restaurants draw them in for brown, deep fried food & ghastly drinks - what an unmitigatingly fetid hole this place is, in an otherwise magnificent city.

January 26th

11pm: Desperation strikes! Stuck in a miserable hotel near the airport in Toronto, a whole day passed with no photo opportunities, I resort to a quick snapshot of the place. Possibly the dullest photo of the year so far, I can only apologise. The flight over from Calgary was miserable, my flight strangely cancelled so squeezed onto a packed 4 hour flight in the middle seat - not fun.

January 16th

1.30am: You Say Party! We Say Die! at The Canmore Ho. Playing to a large boisterous crowd at about 1.30am - we love The Ho - it's a good music venue, graced over the years by many of Canada's best bands. YSPWSD are a fine group out of Abbotsford, BC. They have made a name for themselves here & in the UK & the set they played tonight was pretty sharp. I need a new camera though for this project though, my little Canon powershot isn't doing this task full justice & I can't lug the big SLR everywhere - time for an upgrade I think.

January 13th

Victoria, BC - the provincial government building in the capital of British Columbia. We had taken the 5pm ferry over from the mainland & headed down to the waterfront in Victoria to take a look at this grand old building. Victoria is more British than most of Britain these days, they enjoy a mild maritime climate & snow is a rarity. Nice place, maybe a touch too twee for my liking.

January 12th

Room with a view. The view from my downtown Vancouver hotel room, on a wet Tuesday night. I think it was about 10pm & we had just finished a long days work, 14 hours or more - not a moment to take a picture all day so in desperation I concocted this shot. BC Place in the foreground with it's distinctive inflated roof, a Winter Olympics venue in a few weeks time. The Science World globe glows in the background.