Potsdammer Platz

July 16th, 2008

Potsdammer Platz by Paul Swanson

I absolutely love some of the major architecture and city planning that Berlin has to offer. Berlin has seized the opportunity of post-war reconstruction and evidently has not looked back. Potsdammer Platz has to be my most favourite modern city square; it’s expansive, bold and modern. Potsdammer Platz gives you a sense of urban enormity yet it feels open and you can see the sky.

Paul’s Milk

July 16th, 2008

Paul Swanson drinking milk

If you haven’t heard me say how much I would love a litre of real milk then we probably haven’t talked in the last 12 months. Let’s just say that the milk in Ukraine … HAS ISSUES. But after many months of abstenance, broken only by some French long-life I acquired, I am pleased to be back on the real stuff: fresh, full cream milk. Let me just say for the record; the difference is like Diet Coke to Champagne! I know I’m not imagining things, this stuff really is FANTASTIC!!!

Holosievo Park

July 2nd, 2008

Holasievo Lake by Paul Swanson

Believe it or not, I’ve taken up jogging now that holidays are are here; who could resist getting out and about when there are lovely places like this to enjoy? The above photo is my first attempt at high dynamic range imaging, a method of bringing more life to a photo.

The People’s Taxi

June 27th, 2008

A Kiev bus stop

They’re yellow, abundant, crowded and they’ll get you anywhere in Kiev for less than 50 cents, they are the Mashrutky. The most common variety is the smaller mini-bus, although the newer, larger kind are becoming increasingly common. Why am I writing about buses? I needed a subject for some photography practice so I decided that for once congested roads and overcrowded buses should work in my favour.

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A New Camera!

June 27th, 2008

Paul Swanson's new camera

The photographic drought has been broken; I have a new camera! After our last camera got stolen I went through the usual process of denial, anger, grief and so on, but then I decided it was time to move on and find a newer model to take it’s place. I settled on the Canon PowerShot G9. There was much debate in my mind over whether to make the move to an SLR, but I decided that the convenience of the compact format was more appropriate at this point in my life. More poignantly, I concluded that I’d rather a compact that has been designed to be the best can rather than an adequate, yet mediocre, SLR.

A Better Lock-On

June 24th, 2008

Lock-On Gun

Perhaps absence has made this heart grow fonder, or caused the mind to wander, but it’s my opinion that Sega Lock-On is a decent game that was dropped before it’s time. On a few occassions some of us have discussed a DIY version of Lock-On but that’s as far as things went. Now that summer holidays are here my mind has had time to wander even further than usual and this time it has turned to the lofty subject of building a better Lock-On.

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Paradiddles Explained

June 21st, 2008

On request, I explain one of the fills by walking through it at different tempos and showing you the precise sticking. Now you have no excuses; get out there and fill your playing with paradiddles! (You will need Quicktime on your computer view this).

Best Chicken Fillet

June 7th, 2008

Paul Swanson's Best Chicken Fillet

This going to sound a bit strong, but I believe I have cracked the code on serving the best chicken fillet. If you can get past the sketchy photo, courtesy of my web cam, you might just stand a chance of learning how to prepare a chicken fillet that will rival that of many a top restaurant. Best of all, you don’t require any fancy or obscure ingredients, in fact you probably have everything you need already, with the exception of just one thing…

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Thermapen

June 5th, 2008

 

In this video blog I’m discussing a recent purchase of mine; the Thermapen. This little gadget is actually really helpful for perfecting a whole range of dishes from simple roasts through to sauces that contain egg yolk. (You will need Quicktime on your computer view this, I’m fed up with Flash video for now).

More on lies

June 5th, 2008

I had just lied down to rest when no sooner did I discover that I was being untruthful.

This week, whilst teaching on the subject of past tense verbs, I discovered that nestled within my instinctive understanding of past participles there lay a dirty secret; I was lying.  The problem lies in the usage of the two differing verbs. A lie is of course an untruth, therefore one could say, “I lie when I say that I said I lied as I had not yet lied”. My error lay in the past participle of lie, to rest in a horizontal fashion, which should read, “I lie on the bed in which I lay before I had lain down at all”; clearly a lie, or perhaps a mere ambiguity.

I feel this matter has now been somewhat laid to rest.