And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you...
Current mood: tired
Category: Art and Photography

Funny thing, but I was doing a bit of work on my website the other weekend, having to check the dates I’d originally posted a number of my pages, when it suddenly struck me that, sometime last summer or autumn, the tenth anniversary of my site had whistled by.  And without me even noticing a glimmer!  Crikey, methinks, this is worse than the proverbial forgetting of one’s wedding anniversary! 

1997.  I had to look myself up in the Wayback Machine to winkle out the approximate dates I’d started off some of those pages.  I’d been on the Internet at work since 1992, but it wasn’t until a bit later that I opened my Demon account, which then included 5MB free webspace.  It makes you think, when we take facilities like this almost for granted these days, that offering web space at all was a significant innovation back then - they were certainly leading the field in such areas.  Of course there were no sites like MySpace or Facebook, either - the web was in its infancy, or honeymoon period, however you care to look at it.

In fact when I did start up my site, the idea in my mind was pretty much the same one on which services like MySpace are now based.  I wanted to tell the world a bit about myself, and have somewhere I could share my own thoughts and creations.  Initially this was mainly about the music I listen to and the bands I enjoy, particularly as many of these received little or no publicity back then.

As time went on I started running a few simple websites for one or two favourite bands, because the only way small bands could get websites back then was to find a friend who was prepared to do something.

I’ve never claimed to be the world’s best web designer.  In fact when I started out I made a deliberate decision to make my site as low-tech as possible, because I work in IT and just didn’t want my leisure time turning into a busman’s holiday!  Instead, I tried to concentrate on communicating the things I wanted to get across effectively.  So I eschewed things like frames and lots of javascript.  I’ve also tended not to bother with things like videos and animations because, being of the older generation, I tend to dislike gimmicks and distraction and know a lot of my peers, whom I considered to be my primary audience, have similar views.

As time went on, the photography side established itself as the major focus for the site.  More recently my lifelong interest in British railway signalling came back into the forefront of my life and that is now well represented there.  The site has grown and grown and now counts over 150 pages ... and yet there are still whole subjects I’d like to include that I haven’t had time to get anywhere near yet.

The opus continues, there is plenty more still in the pipeline and coming, as ever, as time permits.  The Internet filled what had previously been a major gap in my life by providing me the outlet I sorely needed for my creativity.  Somehow the time before its coming seems like the stone age nowadays, how on earth did we all survive?

9:34 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Great to hear so much superb new music!
Current mood: hopeful
Category: MySpace

It's been only a few weeks since a friend invited me on here, but I've been well impressed with this site and how it's helped me discover more of the kind of music I like - warm, emotional, tuneful, typically but not necessarily rock-based, and with sufficient musical development you don't get bored after the second listen.

Suddenly it seemed like I had a succession of friend requests, quite out of the blue, from bands who play this kind of music.  Magic! I have been listening to all your samples and enjoying a lot of them tremendously.  I'm sure there must be many more of you out there - do keep making contact and I'll certainly keep listening.

I'm about to kick off a major upgrade of my computing facilities at home, which will include migration to Broadband so I can spend more time here.  As time permits, I will also start adding entries for bands I find I really like to the Bands page on my personal website.

I also love doing gig photography, so if any of you musicians would like me to come and shoot you  do let me know.  This is strictly a hobby, rather than a profession, so it won't cost you a penny.  I normally make a web page from the results and add it to my website, but I'm always happy to see my photos used on band websites, CD covers or whatever suits your purpose.  I have a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR and am steadily discovering how to get the most from it!

Keep shining
Adie

6:09 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment