London

Moli and the Brick Lane street art.

February 19, 2017Moli

My search for amazing street art got a boost today with a visit to East London and the streets that surround Brick Lane. Traditionally this was a destination area for a vast multitude of curry houses and bagels but like much of London it continues to change and develop with this area now starting to fill up with trendy hot spot like bars, antique markets, specialist chocolatiers and craft stalls. Along with this obvious gentrification comes a great collection of street art. As I mentioned in a previous blog I’ve become a real fan of this art form and walking around the rough streets of E.1 and in some cases, rubble strewn alley ways I discovered not only some great creations but loads of fellow admirers doing much the same as me.

Normally I’d be fairly concerned about heading down some unlit dodgy passageway with an expensive smartphone or camera for fear of being bludgeoned to death, however in this case I actually had to get into line if I wanted to catch a glimpse of the latest offering. The crowds were impressive and the notion of the traditional gallery is extinct in these cases as the streets become the gallery and you never know what you might find behind the every growing crowd.

I also finally managed to catch someone creating something new.

Here are my favorites from today.

Moli & Street Art

February 10, 2017Moli

During my travels of 2016 I’ve spent an obsessive amount of time looking around for something interesting to photograph. I started to notice that London is actually full of really great street art. Not the shitty graffiti which some brainless millenial created by writing his name all joined up for the first time in his life, that is really just a horrid visual litter but the creations done with thought and talent. I found these creative outlets down alleyways, on shutters outside shops and on walls where you wouldn’t expect it. I’m not aware of a map or guide to London street art and I’m sure if I was to look really hard I’d find one, however not knowing where these designs are located added to the joy of finding them. I’ve always loved the work and social messages created by Banksy the elusive street artist, so I guess it stands to reason that I’d be attracted to similar work.

I’m looking forward to finding more and thought I’d share some examples of what I’ve found so far.

MoliBlog is 7 years Old…

March 9, 2016Moli

It’s MoliBlog’s 7th birthday!!!

I’ve enjoyed writing my blog and sharing my views and experiences. I really hope you’ve enjoyed reading them too. I don’t update as much as I should and very few people ever comment on my posts but the numbers of viewers from around the world lets me know I’m getting myself out there.

Thanks for reading.

Moli

Moli a day…

February 23, 2016Moli

At the beginning of this year I decided to embark on a photographic project that would involve me taking a photograph a day and publishing them of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The first two social media formats are for public consumption and with the right hash tags I can be sure that they get to the right audience that might actually enjoy them. Now, I use the word photograph and not picture for a particular reason. Snaps and Pics in my view are images that anyone can take of anything and often represent little more than the capturing in an instant of what is in front of the viewer. It is in essence what the world looks like at that time and place. Nothing wrong in that and I’ve taken a fair few of those pictures over the years. However, a photograph for a photographer is the capture of the world how the photographer or I see it and wants others to see it. The image can tell a story or highlight an object or character. It isn’t necessarily even the truth but it is an art that communicates a reality I want to project to the world as the photographer. Was that too deep?

The challenge I set myself has a couple of self-imposed rules. I need to take a photograph a day for year and I can only feature once in any of the 365 images. Simple really? Not really! I find myself looking around wherever I go, like a lost tourist, hoping to find that magic photograph and the reality is the daily commute is becoming fairly used up for great shots and I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m over 50 images in so far and I’m enjoying the challenge. Some places are duller than others and my inspiration on a Monday morning can sometimes be lacking. I’m finding that some people have followed me from day one and some groups and companies have started following me too.

Many of the photographs are taken and edited on my iPhone 6 which I feel demonstrates that you don’t need to have an expensive camera to take interesting images. I think it just needs thought, patience and a dash of creativity.

Hear are some of the photographs I’ve taken this year so far. Please leave some comments.

You can now follow Moliblog on Bloglovin. You can download the app from the App store or visit https://www.bloglovin.com/ and sign up.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter & Instagram @moliblog

Please leave your comments. I really appreciate the feedback.

Moli Ships, bikes and Snails…

October 11, 2015Moli

I’m starting to wonder if my blogging world is broken. Along with my Facebook updates I’m struggling to celebrate, lament and comment on my life. I think I know why and I need to deal with it as I really do enjoy writing my blog.

Facebook however, I’m not missing as much. It seems that its mostly videos of people popping 20 year old spots and less than inspirational memes. It’s certainly a far cry from when Facebook started out and friends shared thoughts, pictures and status updates of their own. I guess Facebook has become lazy.

So, what’s been going on with me? Some of you might be interested even if we don’t speak to each other any more or actually never met in the first place.

This year the defence show was at Excel again and as usual I took some pictures of the arrivals that included,

• Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Iron Duke
• Royal Navy River Class HMS Tyne
• Royal Navy Hunter Class MCMV HMS Hurworth
• Royal Canadian Navy Halifax Class HMCS Winnipeg
• Belgian Navy Costal Patrol Vessel BNS Castor
• German Navy K130 Class Corvette FGS Ludwigshafen
• Indian Navy Talwar Class INS Trikand
• Sea Owl Naval Training Ship VN Partisan

All of these ships have to pass through the lock next to my home and some of them sadly arrived at silly O’clock that meant I wasn’t able or willing to take any pictures. I only ventured out once to catch an arrival at 3am that turned out to be a bit of a farce as the bridge that rises to let them into Victoria dock wouldn’t open. So, not very much happened beyond me being very tired and cold.

Having really got into cycling this year I’ve been slowly getting more and more distance as my strength and fitness improve. I’m not like those nutters that can do 150 miles before breakfast but I have managed to get to around 25 miles and I’m proud of myself as I’m mostly made of lard, unfit and with a broken spine. Don’t get me wrong, my legs afterwards are like jelly but I always feel great.

Recently I did a ride from my home in the Royal Docks to Westminster and back. The route used the Greenway to Stratford, Bow to Whitechapel, Tower Bridge to Southbank. Big Ben to Embankment, Tower Hill to Canary Wharf and then back home. Along the route we did get to see Christopher Werkowicz playing a tuba which shoots out fire!

I went to see a play recently called, ‘The curious case of the dog in the night-time’ at the Gielgud Theatre.

It’s a great story and the staging was very different to anything I’ve ever seen. The set was surrounded on all sides including the floor with LED lights that create movement and spaces that the performers can work within. The ticket I had came with restricted view that was fairly restricted unless I hung over the balcony in a way that didn’t feel very safe. It should have also read restricted leg room that made The Royal Court or Easyjet look like luxury. After the interval I moved to an empty seat which gave me direct views of the stage and this made things much more enjoyable. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you any of the plot but I would certainly recommend going to see this play but you really need to be careful with the seating. I would certainly argue that being higher in the theatre would give a better experience than the stalls.

I recently took this picture while walking to the station during a lovely sunset. Hope you like it?

I would love it if readers of this blog left some comments on the writing, the pictures or asked me questions. At the bottom is a little used comments section. Say something nice!

One good thing. Doctor Who is back on TV.

One bad thing, I keep stepping on snails in the dark.

Moli visits HMS St Albans…

July 11, 2015July 11, 2015Moli

Living along the river sometimes allows me to see some amazing things and hear about some interesting activities.

Earlier in the week HMS St Albans paid a visit to London and today I was lucky enough to be able to go on board. The security was very high in these challenging times but they still let me walk around this Type 23 frigate. Royal Navy personnel were on hand as always to offer information about the ship and its operation and they were very approachable and informative. Here are some of the pictures I took today.

Moli walks, crawls and cries…

June 29, 2015Moli

I’ve been staring at my computer for a long time now. The flashing cursor waiting for my input and I have no idea what to write. Its not that I don’t have anything to write about and its not that I’ve been living in a cave for the past few months. The question that’s been burning on my lips or my fingertips is what should I mention and what should I leave out. I love writing my blog and sharing my thoughts, photography and adventures. I’d never want to upset anyone and I think that life’s dirty laundry should stay private and is only for certain ears and eyes. I have been suffering and I have got great friends that have helped me though some dark weeks. I’m not using any of my energy on hate or anger. I just want to use my energy to focus on my life and my happiness. That is and always should have been the priority. Having just watch the final Top Gear in its Clarkson glory I noticed the remaining presenters talking to camera with an Elephant behind them or at least in the room. So, in homage. Here is an Elephant in the blog.

Moving on with my life,

Having most if not all my super powers back like walking and standing I decided to get out and push myself to get well. The previous month or so I was miserable and totally consumed with my back pain and the more I slept and rested my back with the help of various drugs, the less mobile I was becoming. Sure, it didn’t hurt as much when I laid on the sofa or bed but every day activities weren’t really making much progress like getting to the kitchen or loo. I set myself a challenge to photograph food and drink along the Southbank of London from Waterloo to London Bridge. For me it wasn’t the taking of pictures that was important as the fact I was going to walk from these two locations. Given that moving from room to room has been a challenge like climbing Everest I thrust myself into the world again. Arriving at Waterloo, things were going well and I wandered about at a slow pace heading east along the river Thames snapping away. After a couple of hours I had arrived at London’s Borough Market that is an obvious choice for food and drink but a great one. At this point reader I was not so footloose and fancy free. More hanging on for dear life to every and any tree, lamppost and fat child I could find to keep me upright. To say I was in pain and in tears was an understatement and how I got home is beyond me. I assume it was simply down to sheer willpower and the knowledge that I couldn’t really curl up under a market stall for the next couple of weeks. The walk was painful but it did get me going again. I might have pushed myself too hard but it had to be done.

Anyway, here are the pictures I took some time ago. Please leave me some feedback.

Moli meets a Princess…

July 18, 2014Moli

Last weekend in a Galaxy far far away, I attended the London Film and Comic Con. I do like a film fair. Stalls selling all manner of tat and film memorabilia that I love to peruse and occasionally buy from. Now, I didn’t buy an early bird ticket but I really wasn’t ready for the hugely long line of film fans waiting to get in or the nearly 3 hour wait until I finally got a ticket for entry.

When I moved inside Earls Court I was fairly shocked that the big space chosen to host this event was filled with thousands people and at the back was where I needed to go. I had to push my way through, on one of the hottest days of the year and that was truly a horrible experience. Frankly it was far too busy and the organisers were too greedy and not thinking of health and safety. After a fair amount of pushing and shoving I managed to get another ticket to meet one of the star guest, Carrie Fisher from Star Wars. I’ve met loads of Star Wars actors and everyone I know has a Dave Prowse signed photo but I’ve never had the chance to meet one of the big names like Mark Hamill, Harrsion Ford and Carrie Fisher. The ticket number I had was numbered around 800 and currently the line started at 50. So I had a fair wait and was told to come back in 4 hours. I used the time to look around and take some pictures of the people that had spent time and some real effort to dress up.

I returned to the Carrie Fisher line after 3 hours and the numbers were only up to 250 that didn’t bode well for my chances. However I got lucky and begged to be let in which I duly was. The rules for the meeting were fairly strict given how long people had waited. The signing wouldn’t be personalised and you couldn’t take her picture. All this I found fair ridiculous and another example of the greedy nature of the event. It was all about making as much money as possible for the fat promoter with the dyed black hair. However, I didn’t listen to the ‘No photo’ rule and decided to take a picture of her anyway.

I guess it’s a big business now but the over crowding and rushed experience with the guest made me feel a little underwhelmed and cheated out of the experience I and many other should have had. Anyway, I did meet Carrie Fisher.

Moli & Monty…

July 18, 2014Moli

I never wanted to write a blog… I wanted to be…. A Lumberjack!!! Oh, I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay, I sleep all night and I work all day…

Earlier this month I attended one of the live Monty Python shows at the O2 in London. The last live show was in 1982 at the Hollywood Bowl and the TV series itself ended in 1974 so I was fairly excited to say the least to be able to see my comedy heroes that I grew up watching.

The show featured every sketch I loved watching with classic footage and animations from the original series. It also featured the songs from the movies with a very camp and show tune version of ‘Every Sperm is Sacred’ with giant penises for extra emphasis. The two sketches I wanted so see, The ‘Dead Parrot Sketch being one of my favorites and ‘The right room for an Argument’ didn’t disappoint. However it was clear that John Cleese seemed to be the most doddery and less able to be as physical. Eric Idle on the other hand seemed to have more energy than them all put together.

The whole evening felt like a night at the Proms or at a Pantomime. The 20,000 or so audience were singing along to all the songs and joining in with the show.

I can understand why some critics found it boring but you don’t go the Proms looking for something new and original. You want to see the classic sketches performed live and given that its been over 30 years since the last time and probably the last time they will all be together again, I couldn’t have had a better time.

As the curtain came down and a final song of ‘Always look on the bright side of life’ was performed I felt sad that I’ll never see them all together again but happy that I did.

Moli and the Dragon…

July 3, 2013Moli

At the weekend I set myself the challenge to photograph the Columbia Road flower market in Bethnal Green and maybe have a drink and some food at The Royal Oak. However, when the time came and the weather turned to lovely and hot which is a rare and amazing sight I decided that I should make the most of the sunlight. Walking towards the DLR station I noticed that my local boating club was hosting the London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. The dragon boats are long and low in the water with teams all rowing together.

The various teams came from all backgrounds and skill levels but there was a big contingent from the city banks that battled to the finish line in their Dragon Boats, which looked amazing. Clearly fitness is essential but a good paddle technique made the difference between the winners and the loser’s with some big gaps between them.

The festival also included live music, food and the constant playing of the Hawaii Five-O theme tune which after several hours made my nose bleed. However, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and seeing a fairly large crowd come together and have fun in the London Docklands.

MOLIBLOG

Moli and the Brick Lane street art.

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Moli & Street Art

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MoliBlog is 7 years Old…

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Moli a day…

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Moli Ships, bikes and Snails…

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Moli visits HMS St Albans…

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Moli walks, crawls and cries…

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Moli meets a Princess…

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Moli & Monty…

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Moli and the Dragon…

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