Brainwave

I want some kind of dark, urban structure to stand at the end of one of the streets on my diorama to draw the eye in the way the big church does in this photo.

But for practical reasons I've ruled out moving my church into this position on the layout and the theatre facade is "too white" to serve the purpose.

The theatre doesn't do the job.

So, the church and theatre are back as they were.

My brainwave was to look for some sort of iron or steel lattice structure that could sit at the end of the street without getting in the way of the church or the theatre. With that in mind I have been searching the internet for suitable Parisian candidates.

So far, they are all railway related but I haven't had time to do much searching today.

The last two are actually in Spain, but that doesn't matter; historical accuracy has never been an issue with this layout; it's impression that counts.

The idea would be to have a supporting tower planted firmly at the end of the street creating the same impression as the church facade does in the very top photograph on this page.

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Currently listening to:

A mix made by my regular drum tutor and his brother (surname: Pitt).

Pitt vs Pitt

https://soundcloud.com/not-moving-1


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Last night's dinner:

Trout and tin of ratatouille

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Currently reading:

Bogey's dead so onto Sinatra.

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Drumming practice update:

Had another specialist lesson with my Caixa tutor, Roddy.

Cycled to the venue on the south side of Glasgow.

Unimpressive from the outside.

And I learned something absolutely crucial about my left hand technique. Basically, I am rotating my wrist to lift the stick from the moment my left arm rises in the air away from the drum. INSTEAD, one should raise the arm first and only when the arm has reached its highest point should one rotate the wrist to give the stick its height.

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Miscellany:

On the way back from church this morning.

A greener view of Glasgow!

More humming and hawing.

Yesterday, I reported my desire to capture a particular view when looking down one of the streets of my diorama - namely, a dark urban canyon with an imposing church facade at the bottom of it.

Comme ca

To achieve this I would have to either move the ceramic church from its current position  - a massive task, or move another building into position at the bottom of the street.

So, I tried the latter and shifted the theatre.

The current situation.

The theatre rotated through 90 degrees to block the end of the street (canyon).

The theatre is not a dark enough presence, I'm afraid.

I've just noticed that in the photograph at the top of this page, the church is not at right-angles to the end of the street. If I decide to move the church then I could try an angled location.

I'll sleep on it.

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Currently listening to:

Soundtrack to the above.

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Last night's dinner:

Supermarket curry.

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Currently reading:

Sticking with it.

Almost weeping as she writes about Bogart's long painful dying at home.

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Drumming practice update:

Usual Tuesday session with my drum tutor.

Today we moved on to doubles ie two quick strokes but only one arm action - a kind of bounce.

Requires practice but is a significant step forward in building an armoury of strokes.

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Miscellany:

Cycled along the side of the Clyde and on a whim called in at the SECC Box Office and bought two tickets for "Still Game" at the Hydro in a couple of weeks. No queues and no booking charges. 

The Hydro

On the way back passed this scooter standing at the side of the road.

They are elegant.

More cycling.

No time for railway today - too tired, one way or another.

But one thought I did have was that I wouldn't like to lose a vista similar in feel to the one in the photo below. This is a view that I have often come across in French cities: looking down a dark canyon of flat fronted buildings to an enormous church facade, dominating, at the bottom.

This is where I want such an effect on my layout.

See red arrow.

The canyon's fine but where is the dominating edifice at the bottom?

I'll have to fix this.

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Currently listening to:

Aphex Twin

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Last night's dinner:

Lamb chops, fried potato in mint sauce.

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Currently reading:

Switching between:

And:

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Drumming practice update:

Despite being leg-weary after cycle, managed 45 minutes in front of the mirror.

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Miscellany:

Went to see Scotland's newest tourist attraction, "The Kelpies", near Falkirk.

Everything is impressive about these statues, except the preposterous sentiment behind them. Kelpies! Nobody in Scotland gives two hoots (mon) about such a load of old cobblers.

Anyway, it gave us a pretext for 2 hours' cycling along the Forth and Clyde canal.

One Kelpie

Two Kelpies.

They are impressive to behold.

As is this operation.

Closing the slats of the gates.

Down she goes.

Opening the RHS gate.

And now the LHS gate.

And off she goes.

And, along the canal we went.

Couldn't get away from the horses.