35 years in science communication
News and views about photography, cameras, social media, as well as pointers to Dave Bradley’s photographic output. You can also find me on Imaging Storm, Instagram and Flickr as “sciencebase”
Three chill-fractured stones, the story of three world-weary travellers, shipwrecked on a desert coast who follow the stars searching for the final destination across the desert only to learn that the golden light they sought was inside them all along. The book of my prog rock opus Golden Light.
With an Addictive Drum beat from Adrian Hillier I attempted to emulate the Nile style of guitar funk on the verses of this new song. I riffed up the choruses a bit in a Red Hot Chili Peppers style and then did a heavy-handed Geddy type bassline live across the groove. I then ad libbed some lyrics to ad the vocal. Adrian added his take on the guitar for the choruses and did a guitar solo. He also added a virtual horn section and mixed down the track to give us something akin to the b*st*rd offspring of Get Lucky and Californication.
Dawn Chorus
Asking for a favour, but nothing left to say
Churning up my insides still I hoped that I could stay
Making out the liar was the one who told the tales
Pushing back the limits ’cause they’re really in my way
I can’t take the pressure in the morning
But at night I know you’ll tell me how to change
I can’t face the day without a dawning
Would it be so hard for you to play, yeah
You won’t find me at daybreak
Leaving now the light has come, such an easy way to go
Don’t turn your head I’m making my escape
Got to know the time is right now that morning’s come
Asking for a favour, still nothing else to say
Turning my down insights still I hoped that I could pray
Making out the liar was the one who told the tales
Pushing on those limits ’cause they’re really in my way
No, you won’t find me at daybreak
I’m leaving now the light has come, such a lazy way to go
Don’t turn your head I’m making my escape
Got to know the time is right now the morning’s come
Addictive drum groove – Adrian Hillier
Words & Music – Dave Bradley
Vocals, funk guitar and bass – DB
Rhythm guitar on chorus and solo – AH
Virtual horn section and keyboards – AH
Arranged by AH and DB
Production – AH
The Accidental Hipster
It’s lonely at the cutting edge, when you’re sharper than a blade
Finding ways to show you’re fresh. Not slicing lemons into lemonade
The woes of keeping up to date, it wears me out to stay ahead
Watch the crowd behind me now. They’re looking like they’re so-so sedate
I just want to be past it, not their only wannabe chap
My hopes, if I ever dashed them, laying down my old chequered cap
I’m redacting my fashion statements, nothing left to be seen
Being left behind is simple, once a hipster. Now a has-been
Knowing that my empty cup is no longer half as full.
Ripping through a paperback, not ripping up the neighbourhood
The shapes of the fashionista, caterwaul(k)ing with the crowd
No longer strutting in the glare, I’m stay at home and so house proud
I just want to be past it, none of this wannabe chap
My dole, if I ever cashed it, throwing down my old cloth cap
Tearing up early adoption papers easiest thing I’ve seen
Being left behind is simple, once a hipster. Now a has-been
I’m redacting my fashion statements, nothing left to be seen
Being left behind is easy, once a hipster. Now a has-been
Words and Music – Dave Bradley
Guitar and Vocals – DB
You’ll have seen it…the photo of the graffiti that says:
Things I hate:
1 VANDALISM
2 IRONY
3 Lists
Well…back at ya
I am always rather flattered when somebody asks to use my photos in their publication or on their social media etc… I had a request from Mark McG, one of the organisers of Strawberry Fair, to use some of my photos from the famous one-day festival in the Cambridge Edition magazine, very happy for him to do that, with credit. All for a good cause.
The flipside is when you see a photo you took at another event appear on an organisation’s Facebook page where they didn’t ask permission, they didn’t give credit, and worse still they cropped off the logo. Frustrating, irritating, annoying. Doesn’t really matter, you might think, but hey…credit where credit’s due right?
Aside from it being a simple courtesy to credit the photographer, the online or print use without permission may have scuppered the photographer’s chances of selling the photo to another outlet or even just entering it into a photography competition.
So, here are the rules, they apply to all creative output really, words, pictures, music etc:
This post was actually written on 8th May 2019, but I’ve put it back at the beginning of the blog in 1996…
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| Songs | Snaps | Science | Book |
I posted my first web page in December 1995, it was the online version of my first chemistry news roundup, a column I dubbed Elemental Discoveries, the RSC younger chemist magazine formerly known as Gas Jar, which I’d renamed along with Dr Mac as “New Elements”. That column persisted on various free servers until I got patronage from a well-known chemistry software company who began hosting it thereafter until I registered the domain name Sciencebase.com in July 1999. This post is just holding page to give visitors a bit of history. Thank you very much. Come again.
