Amsterdam Russ

It was indeed yet another superb show, and extra special with Taco’s great selections!

Just so you're aware, there is no demo of "Mean it baby". It's issue only and the demo of Loma 2086 has the flip "You don't know nothing about love" on both sides.

Fascinating - hat off to you, Ken.

Top-end photography requires top-end equipment, I guess, and if I had the money to buy such stuff – as well as the means to be in some of these locations (for more that the usual two-week summer vacation) – I'd jump at it. I also guess that most if not all of the winning photographers are professionals. Investing in the tools of the trade clearly pays off, which is why, with my bottom-of-the-market Nikon D3200, an entry level GoPro, and an iPhone 5, I've no chance of giving up my day job! 🤣

Another photo competition to check out, and this one's definitely well worth looking at. It's the Underwater Photographer of the Year and all of the winning entries are stunning. Can't say I ever get shots like these with my underwater GoPro! Photo courtesy of BBC News website. Link to story & winning pics here: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-51633570

If the story is correct, and the records and equipment were taken from the house of someone who's recently passed away, then it's not Dave.

In the news a couple of days ago - although the story is somewhat short on actual details - a burglary in Skegness in which a record collection and DJ equipment were stolen from someone's house. https://lincolnshirereporter.co.uk/2020/02/burglars-steal-vinyl-collection-and-dj-set-in-skegness/ One of the few facts available from the sketchy story is that four or five people were involved and shifted the records and equipment over multiple trips. Clearly a targeted and planned crime, and no doubt timed to happen when the DJ/collector wasn't home, perhaps suggesting the possibility of it being organised by a person or persons who know the victim and their movements. <Added> I've just been reading a post on Facebook about this - on the page of the Lincolnshire Police. According to one person who commented, the stolen goods were "Technics decks loads of Northern soul and dance music..." But it gets worse as apparently the stuff was stolen from the house of someone who had died just a few days prior! The Facebook story is here:

Another Friday afternoon trip to the pancake house in the Amsterdam woods... As well as the usual great and blue tits as photographed last week, this time we were treated to a female great spotted woodpecker feeding at one of the bird tables. I tried to sneak up to get a better pic, but the bird was extremely skittish. And even though I cautiously approach with the trunk of a tree directly between me and the bird, thus obscuring me from the woodpecker, it sensed I was there and flew away before I'd taken more than a couple of steps. Colt's foot flowering by the water's edge. While a very common wild flower, I took the pic because it sat so brightly and proudly against the background of the dark and murky water. Weather conditions were also somewhat 'murky', which meant using the widest aperture possible (f5.6) in lieu of a tripod and a preferred setting of perhaps f11 - hence the lack of a decent depth of field and better sharpness. Still, it's all good practice and a bit of fun into the bargain.

A few shots taken at one of our favourite places to go - even in February - the Boerderij Meerzicht (aka Lakeview Farm, or as we call it, the pancake house).A

Not really the place to be dealing with site business, but... Click on your name in the top right. A list of menu items will show, including "Ignored Users". Click on that and you'll come to the page as shown in my screenshot. Type in the name of the user and follow the instructions. Sorted.

Without checking back on the details of the story, I recall reading that the photographer was there with people around - and some thought he was drunk, passed out, or worse. One person, apparently, rushed over to give him CPR! Given the five nights, I presume he was there for umpteen hours at a time - a good part of which was likely after the station had shut (and with the full support of London Transport or whatever they might be called nowadays). Regardless, an unforgettable photo!

I know exactly what you mean! More a case of "down in the tube station at midnight" according to the story:

Another photo competition - this time the "people's choice award" winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Only a small handful of winning pics released to the public as yet, but the outright favourite really is both remarkable and really rather magical... Photo source: BBC News. Full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51465064

Check out the winners in the International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. There really are some stunners! https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-51386024

Interesting read about the environmental impact of producing vinyl for today’s record market. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/28/vinyl-record-revival-environmental-impact-music-industry-streaming

Thanks, Mike. I did have a look round to see if it had been posted already, but obviously missed it.

Just found this article published online by Mixmag. It covers the all-too familiar territory featured in the countless articles that have come before it. You know the drill... working class roots, Dave Godin, Twisted Wheel, Wigan, dancing, drugs, Ian Levine, etc, etc, etc. Your choice whether you decide to read it... https://mixmag.net/feature/northern-soul-and-the-birth-of-the-all-nighter

Too late. Keith Fletcher's been organising a twice yearly soul cruise from Hull to Rotterdam (and back again) for some years.

A very commonplace bird here in the Netherlands, but I thought this young heron worthy of a photo as it posed quite dramatically against a clear blue sky on the terracotta roof tiles of a house opposite. We've seen this particular heron on rooftops and street lamps several times in the last couple of weeks. It should be at ground level where it can catch food, so I think it must have had a recent scare. Possibly, as there's road and water side-by-side here, it was nearly hit by a car when hunting. Certainly it won't catch anything up there.

Perhaps unfortunate in the context of its vinyl events, but I believe the name relates to the bar's prohibition theme.

You're going to this? If so, with Lionel Earlysounds45s (better known as record collector/dealer Lionel Romano) among the DJs, you're in for a treat!

Thanks, guys. As far as I’m concerned, 7:30 in the morning isn’t just a different time, it’s a completely different dimension! should have stayed under the duvet. 🤣

Cold and misty in the Amsterdam woods at 7:30 in the morning!

Undoubtably played “first” by many, many radio stations stateside and wherever the track was issued around the world at the time of release in 1965. Oh, and don’t forget Cal would have performed it countless times on the innumerable jazz circuit venues he would have attended.