Life & Times

Another black & white image, edited in Lightroom

This was taken a few years ago and I've always liked the detail around the engine and gearbox. 📷

I have recently started to use Ulysses for all my extended and short-form writing and was intrigued to read that the authors added the ability to publish to micro.blog in the latest release.

I built my website on WordPress using the Extra theme and Divi builder from Elegant Themes. Whilst I’m happy with the features and functionality that Extra & Divi provides, it’s difficult to justify the annual cost of around £85 a year for a hobby blog.

Ulysses posts to WordPress, but the formatting doesn’t work with the Extra theme, so it wasn’t a viable option. This limitation and the cost were why I was looking for an alternative blogging platform.

Setting up Ulysses to post to micro.blog was simple and took less than a minute. Exporting to micro.blog is also straightforward — you select “Publishing” as the export option and select the blog to post to, its status (draft, publish or schedule when it’s posted), and choose a category. 📝

Been playing with black & white in Lightroom.

This was taken in pre-lockdown 2020 when we managed to grab a long weekend in Dorset. 📷

Photos from the Rockefeller Centre, NY viewing platform.

We visited New York in March 2019 and booked a trip up the Rockefeller Centre. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and we were presented with a whiteout, so photographing the NY skyline was out of the question and meant that I had to concentrate on the details.

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Here's my Best of 2021 (So Far) Spotify playlist. Please check back from time to time as I'll be adding to it throughout the year.

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It’s been a tough year for us all, but many artists released some great new music during 2020. I’ve listened to dozens of new albums, and this playlist includes some of what I thought was the best tracks.

My Album of the Year had to be Letter to You from Bruce Springsteen.

I hope you enjoy some of the tracks I’ve chosen. Leave a comment with your suggestions.

 See you in 2021!

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Here’s a list of music and artists that I discovered for the first time in 2020. The list will grow throughout the year, so please come back to see what’s new.

Leave a comment with your suggestions.

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One of my ITfM Radio colleagues challenged his Facebook buddies to list their top 12 go-to albums recently. The aim was not to overthink the list, but to put down whatever came to mind.

That was never going to happen and it took me about a week to come up with this list.

My top 12 Go-To Albums

1. Yes - Relayer
2. Bruce Springsteen - The River
3. Elbow - The Takeoff and Landing of Everything
4. Frazey Ford - Indian Ocean
5. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
6. Anathema - Distant Satellites
7. Darius Rucker - True Believers
8. Dwight Yoakam - Blame the Vain
9. Bob Harris Presents Vol 2
10. Muse - Absolution
11. Ryan Adams - Gold
12. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

I've included links to the album on Spotify where available so that you can listen to my top 12 go-to albums. I'm sure that you wont agree with my choices, but try to pick your top 12 .... its harder than you think it will be.

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