Roger Bennion's photos

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Whilst I was busy searching YouTube for music to go with one of my shots of 'The Shard' I suddenly saw this track by Donovan and thought “I have a shot in the archives where I went to town on mellow yellow 'colour popping'. And, guess what? Correct! I have found the shot taken in the Paris Metro very many moons ago :-) I see from Wikipedia that on 14 April 2012 Donovan was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame :-) Apparently, the song was rumoured to be about smoking dried banana skins, which was believed to be a hallucinogenic drug in the 1960's. I don't particularly like bananas unless they are cut up with cream and sugar so there's no chance of me being interested in the skins :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Mellow Yellow ~ Donovan

If I don't hurry up it will be 'Happy Fence Saturday' :-) So, this will have to be my HFF entry! "Happy Fence Friday" everyone :-) This is no longer used as an Observatory. It is now the centre-piece of Green Templeton College.

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Back to another shot of my fave building, taken last year :-)

Was having diffuculty deciding which track to use with this shot...........finally decided upon "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Riders on the Storm ~ The Doors Please view on black :-)

From Wikipedia - “Sark consists of two main parts, Greater Sark and Little Sark to the south. They are connected by a narrow isthmus called La Coupée which is 300 feet (91m) long and has a drop of 330 feet (100m) on each side. Protective railings were erected in 1900; before then, children would crawl across on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge.” I figure this is like crossing the Great Divide hence a tenuous link to “Across the Great Divide” written by Kate Wolf and performed here by Nanci Griffith. We have been so very fortunate to have seen Nanci 'Live in Concert' several times over the years :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Across The Great Divide ~ Nanci Griffith Please view on black............thank you, Gisela :-)

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) This shot was taken at Harvest time and that makes an easy link.........for me :-) …......to “King Harvest Has Surely Come” by The Band. The lead vocal here is by Richard Manuel. Richard was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Tragically, Richard committed suicide when he was only 42 years of age. Below is an extract reproduced from Wikipedia. Link as follows - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Manuel “On March 4, 1986, after a gig at the Cheek to Cheek Lounge outside Orlando, Richard Manuel committed suicide. He had appeared to be in relatively good spirits but ominously thanked Garth Hudson for "twenty-five years of incredible music". The Band returned to the Quality Inn, down the block from the Cheek to Cheek Lounge, and Richard talked with Levon Helm about music and film in Levon's room. According to Levon, at around 2:30 Richard said he needed to get something from his room. Upon returning to his motel room, it is believed that he finished one last bottle of Grand Marnier before hanging himself. Richard's wife Arlie - also intoxicated at the time - discovered his body along with the depleted bottle and a small amount of cocaine the following morning. Richard was buried a week later in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario.” RIP, Richard. Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ King Harvest Has Surely Come ~ The Band

Happy Fence Friday :-) The Radcliffe Camera, a Fence, some Bicycles and lots of Tourists :-)

We haven't had much snow this winter. And, when we did have a little I stayed in the warm :-) So, I am uploading a shot from 2013 taken with my phone. I did some editing in Photoshop Elements......there were some steps here but my editing expertise has made them disappear :-)

I don't normally do Tribute Bands :-) But, last evening was totally different!! We went to The Stables @ Wavendon to see 'The Simon & Garfunkel Story'. All tickets were sold! Massive thanks to - Dean Elliott - Paul Simon Jonny Smart - Art Garfunkel Murray Gardiner - Electric Guitar, Keyboards Bass - Leon Camfield Drums - Josh Powell Not just breathtaking music but anecdotes about their partnership and wonderful photos/film of that era projected onto a screen behind the guys. A magical and emotional evening from start to finish :-) It is almost impossible to say which are my fave Simon & Garfunkel songs but - “Homeward Bound”, “The Boxer”, “America”, “Old Friends”, “A Hazy Shade of Winter” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” are at the top of my list :-) The guys absolutely nailed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and at the end of this song everyone was on their feet :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Bridge Over Troubled Water ~ Simon & Garfunkel p.s. my attempt at a montage :-)

Back to The Shard :-) The Shard rises to 309.6 metres (1,016 feet). It has 95 levels although the highest habitable floor is level 72, the upper viewing gallery, which is 244 metres (800 feet) high.The building, served by 44 lifts, is the tallest building in western Europe. This is another shot taken in the Upper Viewing Gallery.

I was looking thru' some archived shots and was wondering if I could match this shot, taken at the Kop Hill Climb in 2012, to a song about sunglasses! I wasn't for one minute thinking there would be a song about sunglasses on YouTube! Wrong again :-) Nothing against Tracey Ullman.... but, I don't think I will be purchasing this track from Amazon :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Sunglasses ~ Tracey Ullman

I don't expect the non-photogenic metal barriers to stay here in Broad Street for very long but I think they make a not too distracting background....easily pleased I am :-) Not too many days left before we go to see Simon & Garfunkel......well, not them in person but to see the 'The Simon & Garfunkel Story' :-) Leads me to think this young lady is 'Homeward Bound' :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Homeward Bound ~ Simon & Garfunkel

Happy Fence Friday :-) Kenny has suggested I could add this to 'Soundtrack to Life' linked to 'Bicycle Race' by Queen. Yep, excellent idea....cheers, Kenny :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Bicycle Race ~ Queen

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) All Souls College, Oxford Extract from Wikipedia - “All Souls College, Oxford is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become Fellows (i.e., full members of the College's governing body). It has no undergraduate members, but each year recent graduates of Oxford and graduates of other universities now registered as postgraduate students at Oxford are eligible to apply for Examination Fellowships through a competitive examination (once described as "the hardest exam in the world") and, for the several shortlisted after the examinations, an interview. All Souls is one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford, with a financial endowment of £272m (2013). However, since the College's principal source of revenue is its endowment, it only ranks nineteenth among Oxford colleges with respect to total income." Mick has pointed me in the direction of Billy Joel :-) So, here comes - All About Soul ~ Billy Joel Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life

The Andrew Wiles Building dating from 2013. In the background the Radcliffe Observatory dating from 1794.

This shot was taken a very long time ago in Oxford and it was posted to that other site in response to a 'Challenge'. Can't remember the nature of the 'Challenge' :-) Anyway, I figure this goes with “Footlooose” by Kenny Loggins. The video also includes “I'm Alright”. In my humble opinion it is well worth watching the whole video :-) And, thanks to Mick for confirming for me that the mighty fine and very tasty slide guitar playing is by Sonny Landreth :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Footloose ~ Kenny Loggins

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) The Lady is from the 'Gothic Visions' collection of copyright-free images included in the May 2002 issue of 'Digital Photo' magazine. Umbrella and hand courtesy of the February 2015 issue of 'Digital Photo' magazine. Filter effect created using GIMP photo software. 'Tiled Normalisation'.......... I think :-) Leads me to “Who'll Stop The Rain” by John Fogerty :-) I don't immediately recognise any of the band except that the drummer looks suspiciously like Kenny Aronoff to me :-) Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life Listen here ~ Who'll Stop The Rain ~ John Fogerty

Happy Fence Friday :-)