Hidden Gem On The Forth.

I went for a sail on the Forth last Wednesday and Thursday with my best pal Alastair on his boat, good ship Sonsie. That's Alastair doing his best to look like a character from a Sergio Leone movie.

On crossing over to the Fife side of things, we spotted a cargo ship coming up the river. As it got nearer, we both wondered how these vessels managed to stay upright but they seem to.

After sailing up to the two bridges, we spotted some foul weather coming down our way and decided to to seek sanctuary on Inchcolm Island. What a good move that was, as not only did the weather pass us by but we took the chance to visit the ruined Abbey. It is
fantastic and well worth a visit. I went up what has to be the most narrow spiral staircase ever built to the top of the Abbey but the views were spectacular.

Mardi Gras Hits Town.

Glaswegians are well known for their party antics but give them a platform to further enjoy themselves and all sorts of mad things happen.

On Sunday, Mardi Gras, came to the West End and what a spectacle it produced. I'll let the photos paint the picture.

Harry Benson, A Must See Exhibition.

If you like photographs, then you must get to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery where you can see an exhibition by, in my opinion, the greatest living all round photographer in the world today.

Since I started taking photographs some forty years ago now, I have always greatly admired Harry Benson's work. He is equally at home covering a hard news event as he is taking portraits of Clint Eastwood.

When I was working in New York back in the eighties, I thought it would be a good idea to contact his office and see if I could meet up with him. To my utter astonishment I got a phone call a few days later with an invite to his apartment in Manhattan.

We had a long conversation about photography in general and he told me many tales of his exploits from the past, in particular his early days in the sixties where he had exclusive access to the Beatles on their meteoric rise to fame .

I asked if I could take a photo of him beside his iconic photo of the Beatles having a pillow fight in their hotel room in Paris just after they found out "I Want To Hold Your Hand " had topped the American charts. " Sure", he said, " As long as you take one of me and my wee dug".

The one thing we both had in common, was retirement. Neither of us had any real concept of what it meant and would both keep going until we couldn't pick up a camera any more. It was a real buzz for me to get advice from someone with his track record.
He was very modest about his achievements but when you are in his presence, you know you are with someone who has seen a lot.

I strongly advise that you don't miss his exhibition.

I Thought Squirrels Only Ate Nuts ?

Obviously not, or maybe the heat had got to this one and it was just trying to cool off.

I am well aware of the fact that the Squirrels in Kelvingrove Park are opportunists at the best of times but I have never seen one eating ice cream before.