on the internetz.
In my usual, inimitable style, here’s a link to my pics from the excellent Franklys gig at the 100 club a few weeks back, plus a few extras of the after party when I was playing around with my off camera flash. The Franklys new line-up rocks, and their latest songs are off the hock – so check them out soon. Skol!
Click here for more photos of Kyoto
Ah, the sudden flurry of uploading strikes again. This time for the amazing Japanese city of Kyoto, home to geisha and temples, plus it ranks highly on quality of life and when you visit you’ll see why. Unlike nearby Tokyo, Kyoto mostly stays low to the ground, a few stories high. There are fast moving major streets, but people and bikes take priority on the back roads – and even bikes stop to let people and cars past, there’s something you never see in London. All of which combines together to make an enchanting city that is well worth a visit.
Pictures from Osaka, Japan 2010
Finally, some pictures from last year’s Japan trip. Osaka was the first town we stayed at in Japan. It wasn’t a planned part of our trip, but due to last year’s major event of this time – the volcanic dust cloud – we ended up in Japan over Golden Week. Sounds pretty doesn’t it, but it’s not a pretty experience for anyone wanting to book a hotel in Japan as Golden week is the one week in Japan where everyone goes on holiday. Literally everyone. So Kyoto had no hotels available and Osaka was the nearest town worth visiting on the way. Such is life.
Footnote: A year ago the volcanic dust cloud seemed like a major disaster in our lives. This year, tens of thousands of people have died in Japan due to the earthquake and tsunami and much of the country is still affected by this tragedy with many still missing. You can donate here if you want to help. In the meantime my thoughts are still with those mourning their loss.
Some more exciting news – one of my pictures got picked up by RollingStone.com – and as of this second it’s currently on the front page – woo! Fame and fortune at last.
For those of you interested, the set list for Pearl Jam’s amazing gig at Shepherds Bush:
Encore #1
Encore #2
All this from here.
Like crocodiles? Can’t get enough pictures of them? Then check out African Crocodile Photos for all your crocodile photo needs. Mmm… handbags.
After a long, boring flight (note to Air Canada – finish fitting your trans-atlantic planes with in flight!) I’m now in Oakville for the start of Mathew and Micah’s wedding weekend. Lots to do and not enough cars to do it with, so there’s a complicated schedule of car juggling going on (big thanks to the Johnson clan on that one).
And on an unrelated note I’ve finally gotten around to putting a photo up for vote in JpgMag in their ‘Democracy‘ theme. Please feel free to head over there, check out my ace photo and then vote for me. See, I understand democracy – it’s all about getting the masses to do stuff your way {;)
Super Furry Daft Punk : Super Furry Animals @ Montreal
Originally uploaded by ultrahi.
Another great gig last night – this time the Super Furry Animals at the Just for Laughs hall. After an interesting couple o’ support bands – the monotonal stories of Jeffrey Lewis complete with hand drawn comics, and the wonderful pop punk intensity of Times New Viking – the Super Furries came on with Gruff wearing some kind of space helmet and singing through the eye plate with some great, dark dance beats. It seems they want to be Daft Punk.. but that only lasted for a song before it was helmet off and back to some smashing melodic indie rock. The Furries are on tour right now in the US – so go see them if you can.
I’ve just launched the Matt Hobbs’ photoblog as part of an ongoing re-vamp to my photo site, Diversified Focus. This photoblog will consist of a daily photo chosen for your delight from the umpteen thousands that I’ve taken over the years. Hope you like it.
For those of you who like the surreal – check out the ‘SleeveFace’ group on flickr. They take photos of themselves and their friends with album covers with faces in front of their own faces. Very funny. [Thanks to BoingBoing]
Diving Santa Rosa Wall, Cozumel
As part of my fooling around with Aperture I’ve now gotten around to uploading some pictures from my first ever dive in Cozumel, at the Santa Rosa Wall. A fun dive.