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)