My brother sent me a photo, which I think came from the Sheffield Star newspaper, possibly more specifically from their correspondent here. It’s from last weekend’s Championship match at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, in which Sheffield United played Nottingham Forest.
The weather wasn’t great. The match finished 0-0.
But the photo needed some playing with in Lightroom, in my humble opinion. (See here for details of why I appropriate other people’s photography).
When I saw it, it reminded me of a dramatic painting, so obviously I made it into a dramatic painting.
The blizzard conditions are obviously what makes this photo so eye-catching, but it’s the juxtaposition of that chaos with the stability of the horizontal touchline in the foreground that I really like. It’s almost cinematic.
I’m not an artist, but if I was, I think I’d like to paint something this good.
In the meantime, I’ll just have to content myself by attempting to make artwork out of other people’s photos.
I, like you, was left reeling at the lack of any blog post on here yesterday. And while the so-called experts blamed football and beer, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on Chez 6000 over the weekend.
However, having said that, there was obviously some football involved, and it would be remiss of me not to mention Leon Clarke’s remarkable performance for United, as he beat Hull City 4-1.
There it is a red and white and I won’t mention the fact that the second mention of his name is ever so slightly misaligned with the others if you won’t.
I know. Once you see it… eish.
Anyway, everyone was very happy for Leon, including one Keith Edwards who was working for a local radio station at the match:
Keith was the last United player to score four goals in a game – against Gillingham in August 1983. But being a big United fan, I’m sure Keith was delighted to see his long-standing record repeated.
Of course, the last time that United scored 4 goals in a game was… er… this one. Leon got two that day as well.
Every now and again, I save some (possibly) interesting thing to my Pocket account so that I can either:
a) read it later,
b) blog it later, or
c) forget about it for ages until I realise just how full my Pocket account is and I dump all these (possibly) interesting things into a single blog post.
Yes, this is a c) moment. So let’s not beat about the proverbial here. No water for Cape Town ships
I’ve made that sound worse than it is. Yes, we have got a drought, but the sea is still full. Ships can still come and go from Cape Town. That’s not a problem.
What they can’t do – for the first time in history – is stock up with fresh water for their onward travels. Because that is something that we don’t have much of. I suspect that this is only “the first time in history” thing because of the combination of a bad drought and enough actual organisation to prevent ships from taking on fresh water.
Still, it does show how bad things are.
DroneDefence is a thing
And a company.
I’m not saying that all drone pilots are as pure as the freshly driven snow. Nor that drones can’t be used for nefarious purposes. I’ve told you that already. But the fact that there are now businesses out there who are selling guns which fire drone nets and signal blockers to bring down drones seems a bit over the top. The photograph of the mysterious hooded individual with the remote control in his hand makes a welcome and sinister return.
Sheffield United keep winning
I don’t think many United fans could genuinely have believed that the Blades would start the season so well. But hey, we’ll take it. Reading were the latest victims of our currently continuing success.
And staying in the Steel City: Sheffield gives you wings!
Yep. Soon, the plane taking you from Cape Town to Johannesbegale or Dubai might be flying thanks to wings made in Sheffield. The facility, due to open next year will make (bits of) wings for Boeing’s 737, 737 MAX and 777 planes.
Technically, the bits are called actuation system components, so if you have any systems that need actuating, now you know where to go. Sheffield. It’s Sheffield.
However, since the iPhone came out in 2007, and the painting was completed 70 years previously, you really shouldn’t need me to help you out with the obvious negative response.
Soviet Space Shuttles
If you were thinking of breaking into the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, you shouldn’t, because that would be illegal. However, reading the stories, looking at photography and enjoying the videos of people that have broken into the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is completely legal. And you can do that using the link above.
The Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle program stands as one of the saddest episodes in aerospace history. After NASA began working on its space shuttle program in the early 1970s, the Soviet Union conceived of its own orbiter program, the eerily similar looking Buran shuttle. Ultimately, the vehicle made just one flight, an uncrewed mission in 1988. The Soviet Union’s collapsing economy doomed the program.
Some amazing footage.
And thus ends this quick trip into my Pocket. Not because I have run out of stuff to share, but because the lab is calling. And so there may be more in the near future.
Head to the 6000 miles… Facebook page and click LIKE to stay informed. And tell your friends to do so too. I’m quietly hoping to get to a million LIKEs before the end of the year. Hold thumbs.
Yesterday wasn’t a good day for all Blades, but there was great news for Sheffield United and their fans last night as it was confirmed that midfielder David Brooks – “one of the hottest properties outside the top-flight” – has signed a new contract, keeping him at the club until at least 2021 (or at least securing us a HUGE amount of money, should anyone else want to buy him in the intervening period).
Recently called up by Wales, the 20-year-old has been compared to Gareth Bale, and there’s been plenty of evidence this season for United fans to see why:
Filthy. Rumour has it that Jack Hunt required counselling after this particular brief encounter.
I know that a lot of my readers don’t care much for South Yorkshire football posts, but I spare you from them a lot of the time (And…). Also, you know that thanks to the eclectic nature of this blog, you’re likely to have something completely different and altogether more interesting next time you visit.
However, since the iPhone came out in 2007, and the painting was completed 70 years previously, you really shouldn’t need me to help you out with the obvious negative response.