I’m a big fan of live gigs, although my musical taste veers towards the heavier side of things. I like to attend as many as I can, nothing really beats a live performance from your favourite band, and all the better if they have brought along a big stage show for the occasion!
Earlier this week I saw the German band Rammstein play at the MEN Arena in Manchester; it’s not the first time I’ve seen them but they never disappoint, as well as loud music they always pack their show with scary-looking stunts, mostly involving pyrotechnics. How they can play as they do with a near-constant inferno going on onstage beats me, but they really do spare no expense in making their show as loud, as spectacular, and as memorable as possible.
Here are three pictures from the show; my seat was at a 90 degree angle to the stage so it was an unusual view I had, but it did mean we could see a lot of the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff that went on, and see how much work goes into putting on such a huge production.
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- Rammstein with their flamethrowers. Pic © Ronnie Soo
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- Rammstein playing amongst white-hot flame. Pic © Ronnie Soo
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- Rammstein on stage at MEN Arena. Pic © Ronnie Soo
I do occasional write-ups for gigs also; you’ll find a fuller write-up of this gig by clicking here.
Recent reports are saying that the United Kingdom has finally emerged from the recession, although to the man on the street nothing much has changed and all they see are statistics which say things are looking up. The chances are that most people, if they are still in a job, are still stuck in the same office, with the same faces day after day and still with the same hassles from the same bosses. There are still people out there making money, just because some statistics say the economy has slowed, or has slightly picked up, it doesn’t affect the fact that there is still money to be made. Rather than go out and chase down those pennies, why not be in a situation where it comes to you?
The answer is of course with Internet Marketing; many people who were in similarly low-paid, high-stress jobs before have found that their lives have been turned around; with a global marketplace the possibilities are immense. You can earn money online in the UK, the USA, Europe, Asia or Down Under. The global potential of internet marketing means you can make money online in the UK by dealing with people at home or abroad. Let the recession be for others, and have the money that is out there come to you, earn money online while sat on your settee!
You can earn money online from the sofa - even while playing bass!
Downham, Lancashire, Oct 2003. Pic © Ronnie Soo
Many people today are going into business working from home, in order to earn money online. But how do you tell what is worth pursuing and what isn’t? A great way to sort the wheat from the chaff is to look at how long the business has been around. Not everything which is new is a scam, of course, but anything that does turn out to be so, will last little more than twelve months. The reason for that is the fact that on the Internet, word spreads rapidly. Any scam will soon be picked up by bloggers and/or forums – people will speak out if they’ve been conned. The problem with this seemingly self-policing world is that there are marketers out there who purposely ‘cry wolf’ at home businesses which are in fact quite legitimate. However, this in itself is self-defeating, as any good business does not need to put down its competitors in order to thrive, so should you encounter this from marketers who are hoping to lure you into THEIR system instead, tread warily.
If however a company has lasted at least three years you stand a far better chance of hooking up with a genuine business opportunity; it is not a hard and fast rule but serves as a good guide to what is and what is not legitimate. By the time they are three years in, they have got off the ground and are – if they are worthwhile – growing at pace. Also they are not yet at saturation point; this is the best time to get involved.
For those looking to earn money online from home, be they in Lancashire or Las Vegas, they should be looking at a company at this stage. To find out more just add your name and email address to the form on this page and join us on the inside!
Las Vegas from the Eiffel Tower replica. Pic © Ronnie Soo
Here’s a picture I took from Portmeirion last summer. This time from ground level, and this was taken with my 17mm extreme wideangle lens. I mentioned in a previous posting that to buy such equipment for modern digital SLRs may be prohibitively expensive, and this was taken using a conventional 35mm SLR with the wideangle acquired from eBay for a nice price.
Campanile and lawn at Portmeirion, Wales. Pic © Ronnie Soo
The extreme wideangle makes the lawn look much bigger than it actually is, as well as giving exaggerated ‘converging verticals’. For anyone who wants to broaden their scope and is put off by the cost of new digital lenses, do what I did – look on eBay or in your local stores, there are many people keen to offload all their conventional equipment now and there are bargains to be had. If you have not got an SLR camera at all, you can often pick up a whole kit for a good price now.
With the ability to have films ‘printed’ to a CD nowadays, you can still have a digital image to play with – so get scouring the classifieds!
There was a documentary on television tonight about Vegas, which is excuse enough to post a photo from there:
New York-New York hotel and casino, Las Vegas, NV. Pic © Ronnie Soo
When I was there, it was for a conference, and although it was very rewarding and I learned a great deal, there was not that much time to go sightseeing. So I have made it a goal to revisit the place as a tourist, and get more photographs. Most of the ones I did take were done at night, and this one was taken on the last night I was there, once all our meetings were over. Having never visited the USA before, let alone Vegas, it was an amazing experience. From a photography standpoint, it is a Mecca. That’s why I want to go back!
This shot of the New York-New York complex was one of my favourites; I had only a pocket camera with me on this trip and nothing to steady it on, so a lot of the time it was ‘hope for the best’. This came out really well, and I just love the way they’ve compressed a Manhattan skyline into a corner of the Las Vegas strip. It is thanks to the conference I got the chance to go, and to meet many successful people, and it is because I joined this business I got to experience something I would never have had the chance to do otherwise. There is a link to the right of this post; for more details on the business itself, just fill the fields in!
Another photo soon, and again it will be something different!
I thought I’d go back a few years in time for today’s picture, 28 years as it turned out!
This shot, of a Lancaster bomber, was taken in 1982 at an air show held at Liverpool Airport. I found this and several other photos from that day while sorting out some old stuff recently, and as you don’t see too many flying examples of this aircraft today I thought this particular shot was worth scanning in.
Lancaster bomber at Speke. Image © Ronnie Soo
There are air shows held locally still, but it is rare to see such vintage aircraft nowadays. I’ll post a completely different picture next time!
Today’s picture is of a relatively new feature on the Liverpool waterfront; the Arena and Convention Centre complex which opened 2 years ago this month.
Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool. Pic © Ronnie Soo
The complex is in two parts; the first being a convention centre for exhibitions, conferences and meetings. The larger part is the arena, which is already attracting some big names in music and also some of the larger-scale shows which the city previously missed out on. It is a long-overdue asset to the city and one which will hopefully bring many more shows in the coming years. Set against the new building is Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, which took an amazing 75 years to complete from its foundations being laid. Highly recommended for a visit should you ever be in the city.
The cranes? There has been a lot of development here in recent years, anyone who has been away for a while probably wouldn’t recognise the place now!
Here’s a snap I took only three weeks ago, the day before the snow hit us. It wasn’t planned, I just liked the afternoon sky set against the chimneys throwing out the smoke. This is in St Helens, and was snapped using a pocket camera which I usually keep handy in case a picture just ‘happens’.
Dramatic sky and chimneys, St Helens. Pic © Ronnie Soo
It is always worth carrying a small camera around; you never know when that picture might present itself, and it’s not always practical to carry your SLR. Even if all you have is a camera phone, the resolution they have nowadays is sufficient to get a nice picture. So always keep something on you to capture that moment!
This really is cool. Google Earth have just updated their images and this is one of the new views. Amazing !
Screenshot © Google 2009
Google Earth is a fantastic piece of software and it’s free too, but you will find yourself spending hours looking on it!
Been away for a couple of days so I haven’t posted – but here is a new photo (or new-ish, anyway!)
This is a sunset scene, taken last June at New Brighton, just across the Mersey from Liverpool. The windfarm has only been there a couple of years, but it really adds to sunset scenes in my view.
If you get the light, the sunsets are spectacular over there!
Burbo Bank windfarm at sunset. Image © Ronnie Soo
