Amsterdam Russ

A touch of nostalgia for our tree - a clove-studded orange. The scent is filling the room and it smells an awful lot like Christmas!

Another great thread this year - lots of brilliant photos, and never a dull moment. And entirely down to everyone's enthusiastic participation! It doesn't matter whether you lie in wait for a hoped-for photo opportunity or whether you just happen to be in the right place at the right time, much of it is down to luck. At the same time, often with landscapes and the like, the beauty is, quite literally, in the eye of the beholder - the beholder being the one looking through the camera and who sees something worth snapping and then takes the time to share it with us all. Whatever your photos have been of, and however you got them, they are all hugely appreciated and definitely enjoyed!

Caught the second half of the show last night and loved the 'being close, being together' theme for the songs. Here's hoping the days of social distancing, etc, etc, really are soon to start coming to an end.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year - shortlisted selections in the ‘people’s choice’ category. Well worth checking out - there are some stunners! https://news.sky.com/story/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-which-is-your-favourite-image-12147100

Scotland is the focus of a fine selection of photos sent in to BBC News for the week 20-27 November. Here's one of the pics: Source: BBC News / © Morag Allen Click the link below to see all the photos: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-55042969

Thank you kindly. Not much in the way of birds. I did bump into a local birdwatcher who told me (in Dutch) that he'd seen snipe, woodcock, owls and more. I didn't, so must be looking in the wrong places. Next time, maybe! Hawthorn - I'll take your word for it unless told otherwise by our resident expert.

First time out on the bike today since July, and only the fourth time this year. Didn't go very far, but I'm knackered. Still, it was worth it. The light became nicely golden as the afternoon drew to a close, and I managed to get a few pics into the bargain. Magpie Kestrel Autumnal berries (name, please) Moss growing on a bench made from part of a tree trunk Grasses/wild flowers (name, please) - nicely backlit against a dark background Nicely lit reeds against a backdrop of industrial greenhouses One of three windmills on our little 'borough'. This one's Molen de zwarte ruiter (Windmill the black rider)

My pleasure. 👍

There's a thread on the subject here:

If you're tired with everyone's "never get tired of" selections, why not participate and share your own rather than denigrate? Come on... be involved rather than be negative. 👍

Cam Cameron - They say (Capri) Had a copy for maybe 35 years and never tired of it yet.

Heavy shades of Acid-Jazz to these ears, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

I made a point of getting it, so it's lined up to watch one evening very soon. 👍

In European copyright law an unreleased recording goes out of copyright after 50 years. Thus my loose understanding is that if you got hold of an unreleased acetate that had never been publicly broadcast after 50 years of it being recorded, it is free of copyright and therefore you could do what you wanted with the unreleased recording on the acetate. Interesting article on the subject of copyright pertaining to unreleased music performances and EU copyright from Billboard, which states that: Source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7654212/why-unreleased-marvin-gaye-supremes-beach-boys-tracks-are-suddenly Usual disclaimers apply. It’s complicated, I’m no expert, and I’m happy to corrected.

Haha - I wondered whether I’d posted a nearly identical pic before; same situation, same balcony location, and probably same time of year. I know now that I did, because I recall now that you mentioned Saving Grace then as well! Still not seen the film, though. ☹️

Yellow sky at night... not a sunset, but courtesy of a large-scale greenhouse probably a mile or two away and where they'll be force growing fruit and veg or flowers. It's not usually this bright, but the light's reflecting off the evening's thick, low cloud.

My pleasure.

Sound files play without a problem on my 5th generation iPad. The media player’s own volume control doesn’t seem to work, however, although not much of an issue as I suspect most people would favour the volume up/down control on their own device just as I do.

Backing track is same as the “Tingle” acetate that Pete Smith had about half a dozen years back. And wasn’t there a version of “Tingle” reportedly by Inez & Charlie Foxx - or am I getting mixed up?

The two Wane/Wayne Harrel vids on YouTube appear to have photoshopped labels, and the upload by Francosoul is very much of inferior sound quality. In both instances it's possible the sound files came from a charity CD Pete Smith put together a couple of years back. Thread here: <Added>Looks like I could be mistaken as one of the uploads dates to 2015. The other - the one with the better sound quality - was uploaded in September 2017, so perhaps that came from the CD. Either way, both labels are surely photoshopped.

Porsche-built mini train in Amsterdam's Amstelpark. Of course we had to take a ride on it and I was dead chuffed that we did.

Hugely interesting - thanks for sharing!

Got to say that while 'Where will you be boy'/'Even the score' are rightly acknowledged as stand-out Chicago soul gems, the flip to her follow-up single 'I simply love him' seems to have been overlooked by comparison. Can't think why as it's equally as 'one-derful'!

Lammergeier spotted again - this time in Norfolk. The story was only posted by BBC News, but if you read it the bird was actually seen and photographed yesterday. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-54342198

Enjoy and happy hunting! 📸