Cider survey, take 1

So, what do you do when someone gives you a presentation box set consisting of twelve different varieties of cider? Answer, well... drink them, obviously.

In the interests of science and increased public awareness, and to prevent me from drinking them all in the same evening, I thought I would consume bottle by bottle, posting my expert insight on this site. A suitable scoring system is obviously required to rate each variety.

So, first up, Westons Oak Conditioned Extra Dry. According to the bottle "This cider is crafted from the juice of many varieties of traditional cider apples. It has been allowed to mature and condition in old oak vats for up to six months, where it develops its premium full, rich and fruity character."

Tasted good to me. Scores and scoring system as follows:

Name: Westons Extra Dry, (6.0%)
Label: 3/5
Looks: 4/5
Flavour: 3/5
Texture: 3/5
Total: 13/20

Looked good in the glass but let down by an un-imaginative name and label and taste that was good, but not outstanding in either its' flavour or texture.

Still, a solid 13 out of 20 to get things going. More soon.

And remember kids, respect alcohol, respect yourself.

Satchel Blue TTV

Much to the confusion of everyone in the band, I took my red striped contraption along to band rehearsal on Thursday. The results aren't overly impressive but still vaguely interesting. All were taken with a shutter speed of 1 sec due to the low lighting in the rehearsal room and quite a few suffered from severe lack of sharpness.

I ended up finding one each of Rob, Andy, Mark and Ian to stick on Flickr to add to my growing collection of TTV pics - time to venture outside next time I think!

Through The Viewfinder

Until recently I had no idea what Through The Viewfinder photography was.
Then a photographer by the name of Pete Ashton posted some images on Flickr and I was intrigued by the simple yet fascinating results.

Some quick research on the web revealed this very useful website with all the details, www.throughtheviewfinder.net, and before I knew what was happening I'd purchased a Kodak Duaflex from eBay for under £10.


Some double-sided tape, duct tape and cardboard later I had transformed the camera into the rather bizarre looking contraption on the left.

Sadly I only started my Blue Peter-esque exploits after the sun had gone down so was restricted to inside the house for my first TTV shot - still, I'm quite pleased with the results and there's plenty more to come!

Ahoy, me hearties - it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Tuesday 19th is International Pirate Day, and it's not just the Castle Inn in St Ives, Cornwall who are celebrating. Indeed, there's even a dedicated website at www.talklikeapirateday.com with plenty of additional, pirate related links, including this fantastic instructional video. You'll be talking like a true pirate in no time, Aaarrr. (poster picture on flickr)

Something to talk about

Ok, so i don't really have anything specific to talk about once again but I was getting fed up with pictures of Bethanie's nose on the website all of the time.

The band, namely Satchel Blue, play at the B91 Festival in Solihull recently which, while not the biggest crowd we've ever played to, was certainly good fun.

It even inspired me to create a Flickr group for Satchel Blue photos, although understandably there's not many in there at the moment!

Music aside, I've been putting my creative efforts into random photos recently, trying to take simple photos of almost anything to see what i can come up with. I've even been inspired to get hold of an old Duaflex camera after seeing some of these excellent photos through the viewfinder.