Today should see a change of scenery - rain ! The rain should be falling as I write this, but so far it seems bone dry. There is a lot of cloud in the sky, and some looks heavy enough for rain, but there are also still blue patches to be seen, and the sun is still shining through one at the moment. Today should be cooler than yesterday, but a peak of 25° C is still rather warm. Late afternoon and early evening may see more sunny spells. Tomorrow could be dry with lots of sunshine. Tomorrow afternoon may see 26° C.

  Yesterday was all about Chattfest, but apart from showing a few snaps, I can't remember enough fine details to describe the whole day.

  Getting prepared to go out yesterday was made easier by getting my cameras and camera rucksack ready the night before. I washed my hair and had a shower, and that, plus of course getting dressed (!!) was about the only preparation I needed to do in the morning....plus, of course, having some breakfast of a single packet of instant noodles. With hindsight I am wondering is a bigger, or different breakfast may have been a better idea.

  I was ready to go in good time, and I felt confident that after enduring the long and very tedious bus ride, I would arrive at The Chatterton Arms before the first band started on the Chattfest stage. When I arrived I found the first band doing the sound check.

  One thing I intended to do was to measure the distance walked on the journey to the pub. This was to try and prove my point to Michael that apart from the tedious bus ride, it was otherwise simple to get to Chattfest. As I later discovered, getting home again was a more painful affair. Anyway, I measured 0.194 miles from my front door to the 320 bus stop. I started a new measurement when I got off the bus near the pub, but like a complete idiot I forgot to stop the tracker in the excitement of arriving at the pub. I still maintain that the walk from the bus to the pub is very short.

  Yesterday was the first time I could try the combination of my best Canon camera with a Sigma 24 to 70mm lens - part from the fitting, it is exactly the same lens as my favourite lens for my big Nikon camera. I was hoping it would also make great pictures, but I was a bit disappointed. The picture I took using the Canon 600D camera seemed a bit lack lustre. I could make the excuse that the stage is purely lit by sunlight that goes in through the front of the stage, but my big Nikon (D610) seems to still make a good job of it. I am glad I lugged both cameras and took pictures using both cameras so I would know I should at least have half of them good.
  This picture of Brian Bath, wonderful guitarist for The Life Of Brian (the band that made me really want to go to Chattfest), was taken using the Nikon, and on reflection it looks a bit flat. I should have set the camera to leave the background out of focus.
  The Life of Brian almost pulled out of this gig. A week earlier Miranda had her appendix removed, and was obviously a bit sore after such an operation. (It may have been keyhole surgery, and that does leave less trauma, and a quicker recovery). Being professions they decided that "the show must go on", and once on stage the adrenaline killed any remaining pain. I just hope Miranda wasn't in too much discomfort in the evening when the adrenaline had worn off.
  Miranda certainly looks happy in this photo. I also noted that once again she was playing a lot of guitar. Last year, I think, she was complaining that she thought she had forgotten how to play it, but she had no problems yesterday.
  This picture was taken with the Canon 600D camera and Sigma 24 to 70mm zoom lens. I can't help but feeling many mobile phones could get a picture as good as this. I can't quite work out what I don't like about it. It seems fairly sharp, and the colours look OK, but.....something.......
  Maybe what I don't like is the "Gamma" of the picture. Gamma is more often used for TV and video and it is an adjustment to make the blacks blacker, or in some cases lighter to lift more details from dark bits of the picture. Maybe I should make the darker areas even darker - or in effect, increase the contrast.
  Sometimes it works, and sometime not. In this case I think holding the camera above my head made for a more interesting picture. I think in this picture I may have made the darker areas of the picture a bit darker, and it gives a little more depth to the picture. Note how blindingly bright it is outside the stage. The light on the stage is fine for the human eye, but sometimes a bit more for the camera would be nice.
  Another aerial shot. One thing this picture shows is how so many guitar players play their guitar with the neck at the same angle. It is not perfectly exact, but the angle of the neck of Jon's bass guitar is very close to the angle of Miranda's acoustic guitar. You can just see the end of the neck of Brian's guitar, and maybe his is at a shallower angle.
 Brian, Paul (on drums), Miranda, and Jon behind Miranda - The Life Of Brian Band !

  I am not sure where I found the energy to edit these few pictures last night. I have hundreds more to select and edit, and they include all but the last two bands - so 7 out of 9 of the bands. It was while taking snaps of the 7th band, Emma And The Invaders, that I realised that I was fast running out of energy, and even worse was my feet were killing me. I was wearing one of my pairs of Adidas trainers (the pair with the black soles), and they are among the most comfortable for an hour and a bit of walking, but it seems they are not comfortable for standing for hours on end. Today, if I manage to force myself out the door, I will wear my other Adidas trainers (the pair with the light brown-ish soles).

  After one final pee I almost limped to the bus stop. Now I admit that it is a longer walk going to the bus stop because you have to cross the main Bromley Road. I didn't dare to try and see when the buses were due to arrive until I had reached the bus stop. That was because I could only walk at one speed - slow ! Fortunately it was only a short wait (3 or 4 minutes ?) until a 320 bus turned up. I could have caught a 208 bus, but I was hoping for a 320.

  The good thing (at least in this instance) about the 320 bus is that it terminates at Catford Bridge station, and the fried chicken shop is just around the corner. As a general rule I have been avoiding Fried Chicken (and fries) for some time. It is not the most healthy meal, but last night was one of those occasions where I felt I could break the rule. After not eating since the single packet of instant noodles for breakfast, I was starving hungry by about 7.30pm. I was also feeling so tired that it would be an annoyance to have to even pop a ready meal in the microwave.

  I have to admit after the slog from the chicken shop to home, all done with badly aching feet, it was a joy to stuff my face with three pieces of fried chicken and fries, and to follow that with some fruit and ice cream. At that point I didn't even care what my weight or blood glucose would be like in the morning !

  Once I had finished eating I scrubbed the grease from my hands, and started copying photos from both cameras to my PC, and also putting the camera batteries on charge. I felt terrible tired, and just wanted to watch a couple of hours of TV before going to bed. Curiosity made me start looking at some of the pictures I had taken, and I decided to make a start at selecting and editing some Life Of Brian photos. I can't for the life of me remember, but I think I only did a sample from each camera to see how the Canon camera compared to the Nikon - and as mentioned earlier, I was a bit disappointed. It may have to wait until Monday before I have the time and (hopefully) energy to look through the rest of the photos with a less tired eye.

  I have no idea what time it was when I went to bed, but I feel very sure I was fast asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. If I took a guess, I would say it was possibly as early as 10pm, but I have a feeling I watched two episodes of QI, an maybe it was 11pm. What I am sure about is that I slept like a log until almost 7am when I woke up to go for a very large pee. The chicken and chips do not seem to have made their way through my gut yet, but it feels like something is on it's way.

  After my gluttony last night I was quite surprised that I seem to have actually lost some weight - about 700gm. I suspect that I could use that as proof that yesterday was hard work even if it looked like I was just standing around taking pictures. My blood glucose was both good and bad. Of the three readings I took 7.8mmol/l was rather good. 8.2mmol/l is high average, and 9.2mmol/l is slightly bad. I have no idea how all three could be so different, but it is why doctors and nurses really only work to a full laboratory analyse of of the blood glucose.

  I can't say I feel all that good this morning. My feet have not fully recovered, and if I had the chance, and I may make that chance, I feel that an hour's snooze would be nice. Somehow I have to find the energy and enthusiasm to get back to Chattfest today. I have already bought the ticket and I would not like to waste it. I must admit that that there are only a few "nice to see" bands today - yesterday The Life Of Brian was a "must see" band. I think I am going to take it easy, and maybe not rush to be there to see all of the first band on. Of course I won't even consider going until I have had the poo I feel I am going to need sooner or later !