Inverness in the Rain

June 16, 2005 Inverness, Scotland 49 degrees F. Delightful! The events of this morning are behind us, we are all safely now in Inverness. We will scatter briefly to obtain food from a variety of eateries. We all have our differing views on the "best" food, so off I go to a pub. Because, for me, the best food is accompanied by a good Scottish bitter. Others went to a Thai restraunt they'd espied; others to an Italian/French bistro and yes, some went to McDonald's. There was, after all, a 7-year old with us. This photo was taken down High Street in Inverness while we were establishing where to go & when to meet back. What is more quintessentially Scottish than High Street in the rain in June? Wastrel On! (Listening to: Für Elise (Techno Remix) by Ludwig van Beethoven)

On the Trip to Inverness

The morning started grey & dreary & full of excitement. We were leaving New Milne as an entire group and headed to Inverness. The excitement didn't fade as we neared the train station in Perth; in fact it grew in intensity as we realized that there were no parking spots. Three cars, 17 people and no parking spots. The drivers took off to park. George & Joseph in one car, Desiree in another and I took the third. George & Joseph found a spot pretty quickly and were returning to the depot while I expressed woes & concerns to Marita Beth who had just purchased our train tickets. Joseph jumped in the car with me and directed me to where he & George had just parked. Nearby & handy. Sadly, no sign of Desiree. With 5 minutes til train time, still no sign of Desiree so KyleF & I walked down the street a ways in the direction we were pretty sure she had taken. Eventually we did indeed spot her way off in the distance, a good 800+ meters away. KyleF moved toward her and I went back to teh station to inform our waiting passengers that she was visible, at least, if not close. Less than 2 minutes to go, everyone but Marita Beth, Alison & Kara moved to the platform. We would take a later train, if necessary. I returned to KyleF, Desiree was nearly there, and said, "we can make it, if we run." Desiree took off, up the hill, around the corner into the station. As soon as they saw us, our waiting companions took off toward the platform. MB said, "the train is late, we might still make it." We redoubled our efforts and arrived on the platform. Empty. Devoid of persons and trains. Our excitement turned inward upon itself and mutated into despair. Then, "Kyle! Hurry, the train's coming!" It was Ed and his magnificient booming voice urging up the bridge, over the tracks, down the stairs and onto a different platform. Our legs straining, our lungs heaving, we ran on. To the sound of our friend's & family's applause, we made the platform just before the train did. Despair had again retreated to be replaced by the excitement promised by a train ride through Scottish countryside. And we were not to be disappointed. This photo was taken through the window of the moving train as we slowed down to enter a station (I fear I don't recall the name of the small village). The scenery was only going to get more beautiful as we went. Wastrel On! (Listening To: The Godfather Soundtrack)

Shutterfly | Help

Shutterfly? Run away! The worst photo services company around. Here's my story. I have a Shutterfly account. Opened earlier this year to accommodate the 1400+ photos I took while on holiday in Scotland. I recently contacted Shutterfly to find out how to obtain one of the original high-resolution images that I had uploaded rather than the 96 DPI images they show online. I was informed that I have to purchase it on CD and they would mail it to me, and that there was no other mechanism in place to provide to ME MY original files. It beggars belief! Nor do I find this information in their policies & procedures Lies & Riddles. I feel like I was a victim of the bait and switch tactic I decided to go ahead and try and deal with the lower resolution files, so I took a look at their FAQ to determine the best way to extract the image. The FAQ very clearly says to Right-Click and Save As the image to my computer. To wit: *Note that you can save a lower-resolution version of the picture by using the right mouse button to click on an image in your account and selecting the 'Save picture as' or 'Save image as' option. (If you are using a Macintosh hold down the control key while clicking.)* I did so only to find upon opening the file that what I chose to save and what I received from the Shutterfly server were very different files. Another email to tech support, yipppeee! This time around, the response was, and I quote: "Please note that what you are trying to do isn't a general use feature on our site, so this is probably something that won't be fixed." My response to them, in much more polite & professional terms was "fuck off." It's a very good thing that I burned my holiday images to CD before uploading them. It's a very good thing there are other services out there that accomplish the same thing as Shutterfly. In this age of "everyone's a publisher," I cannot fathom the company that does not do everything within their power to ensure that they keep their customer base happy & placated. Suffice it to say, I have had enough of Shutterfly and encourage everyone to remove your account and shun their business.

The Great Stairs at New Milne

Perthshire, Scotland. New Milne House sits on approximately 700 acres of land that borders on Scone Palace. It was our house for a week, a glorious, short week. This photo is a look up the stairs from the foyer, and down the stairs from the landing outside my room. Exquisite Scottish polished wood stairs & bannisters matched by polished wood walls. When standing looking up the stairs to the immediate left is the game room and just beyond that the formal dining hall. To the right is the sitting room where much of our after-hours gathering was done. Behind the stairs to the right were 2 bedrooms that housed the Fords, Alison & Kara. Up the stairs to the right was Ginger's room while to the left was everyone else except Marita Beth & myself. It was our 10-year anniversary, it was Marita Beth's contacts & planning that made the entire thing possible, so we took the top room. Glorious! Wastrel On! (Listening To: Night Fever by the Bee Gees)

Common Room at New Milne

Not the best photo, but it does show a bunch of the folks that were on this delightful trip with us. It's the first night we had everyone physically in Scotland, although some of them were still mentally elsewhere due to jetlag. Sitting on the floor with her back to me is Missy; she is chatting with Ginger & Marita Beth Kelly with Ed laying across the top of the coach. On the near coach are Adrian and his lovely wife who just happened to be in Perthshire at the same time we were although they weren't travelling with us. KyleF & I had gone down to the Foundry (a local pub in Perth) and picked them up. Belfast, Ireland natives they were taking holiday in Scotland and met up with us. Great fun, great people. They are sitting next to Joseph on the couch with Larry sitting on the floor in front of them. Out of the picture (although you can see her hands) is Alison. Next to Alison, and completely out of the photograph are KyleF, Desiree & Kara. Missy's son Sean is nowhere to be found and undoubtedly stirring up mischief as only a seven-year old can stir. We are sitting in the common room of the New Milne house in Perth and just enjoying each other's company and wine (or beer). Wastrel On! (Listening to: Hollerin' For Haggis by The Rogues)

Scottish Landscape in Perthshire

Scottish Landscape in Perthshire
Originally uploaded by crazyBobcat.

A little heavily saturated, but there's only so much you can do with a photo. Taken out of the side window while driving through a rainy section of Perthsire, I managed to capture some of the truest elements of the Scottish landscape. Queen Anne's Lace in the foreground with beatifully green, rolling hills fading into a mist-obscured background in the mountainous distance. Brilliant. If only I could be there instead of this piece of dirt on the anus of America that they call Texas. As soon as there is a financial opportunity to get out, I will.

Wastrel On!
(Listening to: Honey Bee by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

MB, Ginger & Glamis

Once again integrating my wife into the photo; this time with our very dear friend Ginger of Faire Pair Tights & Such. She made the last minute decision to join us on this trip, and I am so very glad she did. A breathe of wonderfully clean fresh air and a revitilization of wonderful memories. These 2 outstanding ladies and Lisa Oliver & Myself made a Yule Time trip to England some years back. What a wonderful time that was. This trip was all that as well, only additional, different friends and different locations; but very special nonetheless. This will be my last photo of Glamis Castle. At this point we were done with the Highland Games; done with the Tug Of War; done with the caber tossing; done with the weight for height; done with the shopping; done with the beer. No, strike that last one, we're never done with the beer. Just continuing to drink at a different location. So, off we'll trudge from here back to New Milne to meet up with Kyle & Desiree Ford, and Larry & Denise Geisen who had arrived just a little while before, having been delayed in the US over night. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Visions at Night by Lashing Patsy)

Tug of War

Now this surprised me. I had no idea, truly no idea, that Tuf of War was a real, highly-thought-of competition in Scotland. So important is this competition that there are Tug of War associations in various countries throughout Europe and Tug of War competitions at every major and minor Highland Games held in the United Kingdom. It was to my great surprise that watching grown men struggle against each other on a slippery ground would so captivate people for long stretches of time. I guess grunting, groaning, sweaty men hanging onto a large rope for what appears to be dear life, or at least recognition is a real attention grabbler. As surmised, I'm sure, I'm still reporting on the Higland Games. For a relatively small festival, there was a great deal going on and we spent quite a bit of time there. Wastrel On! (Listening to: I'm Ready by Tracy Chapman)

The Caber Toss

What's a Scottish Games without some stick tossing, eh? Here's one of many photos I took of burly men throwing big sticks around while wearing kilts & tennis shoes. None of the photos are outstanding, and this one doesn't really rise above the rest in any way, but it's the one I chose. Wearing a grimace at least as dirty as his sneakers his objective is to toss this 21' long naked tree into the air so that it passes end over end. Judges at the end and side determine it's scoring by means of o'clock hands and protracter degrees. If the caber manages a full rotation it is awarded an o'clock based on it's final position (such as 10:00, 11:30, or the ultimate 12:00). If the caber does not manage a full rotation, but instead falls back toward the thrower, then it is given a degree score based on it's ultimate angle to the ground (45, 60, 85 degrees &c.). This fellow didn't manage a rotation and achieved approximately a 65 degree score. Not too bad considering it's weight and length. I certainly couldn't do any better. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Beaches of St. Valery by Three Pints Gone)

Glamis Castle from the Lawn

Glamis castle taken from the vantage point of the Highland Games on the lawn. The photo was cropped a little oddly so as to not incorporate all the vehicles in the foreground. That would, I think, have destroyed an otherwise rather mediocre photo. No amound of photo manipulation can really clean this photo any more than it is. The day was just too dreary & dark and I was shooting with a 3.2 mp Canon. Live & learn, and in the meantime do what you can with what you have. Wastrel On! (Listening to: The Operations Conference Call (in one ear) & Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World by U2 (in the other ear))

Scottish Fling

One of our favourite things at any given Highland Games is to watch the young dancers perform "traditional" Scottish dances. This Highland Games at Glamis Castle was no exception for us. I spent quite a bit of time watching the young men & women perform their dances. Sadly, after awhile I did have to retreat further away because even in Scotland, they have hideous bagpipers. His pipes should have been taken from him early in the day, but they let him continue to play for the dancers and thus torture those of us trying to watch. Behind these four young dancers you can see the blowup children's area and the umbrella's beginning to come out. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Reggae Remix by Ruff Ryders)

Silhouetted Glamis

Two o'clock in the afternoon just outside Glamis Castle and you'd think it was post dusk. This is the weather to which we would be treated for nearly two weeks. Many of my family & friends believe me odd, but this is my favourite weather. Dreary, dark(ish), cloudy & rainy. I'd rather be a vampire duck, I think. I took this photo just as we left the Glamis Castle yet before we headed across the fields to the Highland Games. What I wouldn't give for this type of scenery & weather in Texas. Wastrel On! (Listening to: For What Reason by Death Cab for Cutie)

Up the Stairs

Up the stairs at Glamis. Loved the patterned imagery created here. The stairs lead up one of the towers of the castle that we were not allowed to enter. Glamis Castle still has residents, along with ghosts. Glamis Castle is known as one of the most haunted castles in Britain. It certainly has more stories and legends attached to it than most any other castle on the British Isles. Vist here for more. Sadly, as many times as I've been to Glamis I've not felt even the tiniest shiver of a ghostly presence. Being a believer, I keep searching & hoping. Wastrel On! (Listening To: Can't Not by Alanis Morissette)

Marita Beth at Glamis

Marita Beth read somewhere that one of the best ways to preserve memories in photogrpahs is to insert yourself into the photo. So, I tried to take a photo of Marita Beth in our environment nearly every where we went. I'm sure it got tiring for her, but not for me. Here's my darling girl standing in front of Glamis Castle. We have arrived, parked, trudged through the soaking wet grass & mud to the front drive. In moments we will purchase our tickets and insert this glorious, stately, remarkeably well-preserved castle. (Modified) Have I mentioned that I don't like Shutterfly very much? It seems that they can't figure out which freaking photos I have. So, the photo I thought I was linking to with the above description, is not the URL they provided me. So, instead, here's a photo of Marita Beth & myself in front of Glamis Castle. Not sure who took this, but I wish they'd included a wee bit more of the castle. Oh well. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson) and (Listening to: Hippityville by John Abercrombie)

Glamis Castle

Glamis (pronounced "glahms") Castle. What a fairytale view, it's such an amazingly preserved piece of history, I love visiting it each trip over. And this year, we had a special treat in that they were having a Highland Games on the lawn. Photos from that later. Back to Glamis Castle: 'A place of legends and fairytales.' Family home of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne and a royal residence since 1372. Childhood home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, birthplace of Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret and legendary setting for Shakespeare's famous play 'Macbeth'. Beautiful isn't it? Wastrel On! (Listening to: Seven Drunk Nights by The Town Pants)