Aiblins

If SFU can play in the arena like they are playing outside the rest of them may go home. Powerful stuff. I got up close and will post video throughout next week if the excitement doesn't kill me.
I love this stuff!!!

I'm not sure I've seen a crowd like it. Nor can I remember being as sweltered.

The place is bunged.

Boghall have just started their MSR and I saw Cullybackey just forming up to get ready for the start of the Medley. A couple of hours and it'll be almost over!

SFU have been practising with ominous determination. Pipers are still at it but drummers are taking a break.
Blogging Live!

Inverary and District hit the line. Another band with an Ulster born lead tip. Steven McWhirter started in Cullybackey and is a world title winner with SFU. Blogging Live!

They have posted the names of the qualifiers on an electronic board this year. Although an improvement on the previous magic marker efforts, it doesn't photograph well!!

Cullybackey will be kicking off Grade One.

Blogging Live!

As part of the build up to the Worlds, various bands are playing in George Square. Now on is the Grade One outfit from Auckland & District.
They are getting a good reception but if they qualify I'll eat my sporran.
Blogging Live!

The day and the build up through the lens...

I have chosen to upload almost every photo taken over the weekend connected with Glasgow and the World Championships. The lack of a discerning editor's eye hopefully makes it a more representative account of the long weekend.

For anyone who might be interested, the lens in question is absolutely nothing fancy - just the camera in an iPhone 4 - which seems to have captured at least the odd pleasing result. I have included the photos which I have posted in the other Blog entries to maintain the integrity of the gallery. I have also chosen not to caption individual images. Some of them were taken for specific reasons and have particular meaning to me - make up your own mind what they mean to you...

Last year I conducted an experiment which (unsurprisingly) went without notice. Undeterred, I intend to try something very similar this year.

At the end of the week, I'll be heading for Scotland. It will be the annual Glasgow pilgrimage to the World Pipe Band Championships. We'll also be taking in the Tattoo in Edinburgh on the Friday night. At least, that's the plan. My recent well-documented problems with BPPV may curtail our activities somewhat, but I should certainly be at Glasgow Green for a while at least.

I have digressed considerably. The point of this all is to say that I intend to try to Live Blog from the Worlds again. In practice, this will mean taking pictures on the phone and sending occasional updates by way of Blog posts. The refinements of the Posterous image posting facility through the iPhone app mean that I should be able to create a gallery and then simply update that same gallery as I go without creating additional posts. In between times I can send other posts by email from the phone if anything dramatic occurs. I'll also have the Flip Ultra with me but will hold off on trying to update the YouTube Channel until I get home.  

Should you care to log on, you should see the gallery growing and be kept broadly up to date with events as they occur. Last year, I am fairly confident I had the results posted before anyone else - although those watching the BBC Stream of the event would obviously have got them at the same time as me. If I can stay upright and untroubled by vertigo until the end of the day, it would be great if you could join me.

The Edinburgh Tattoo people always have a very friendly policy towards photographers, so I should hopefully manage a small gallery of photos from there too.

I enjoy the experiment and the use of technology, so I'll probably keep doing this until I stop going to the events. Even so, it would increase my sense of self-worth if you could at least pretend to be interested.

By the way, due to the nature of the auto posting, I'll need to complete the posts on Posterous before I send them to the other sites and Blogs. For that reason, if you do feel like joining me for the day, point your browser at aiblins.com. The other sites won't be updated until the end of the day.  

To have the chance to see either Field Marshal or SFU on the stage is always a treat - but to combine the two is probably a once in a lifetime experience. In their remarks during the concert, both Pipe Majors seemed aware of the historic nature of the event and it appeared that the capacity crowd was excited from the off.

The evening kicked off wiith a combination of the two bands and then the first half was essentially handed over to FM with SFU taking over in part two. It was rounded off by another "two-hander", at the conclusion of which the bands walked off stage, still playing.

The quality of the music was uniformly high, although it is probably fair to say that SFU had the better "back end" by quite a way and also had provided a more overtly entertaining list of tunes.

The usual nagging of the Waterfront staff about the taking of photos and video was much in evidence. I know that intellectual property rights should be jealously guarded but I had the impression that a lot of the audience were irked by the constantly whinging. Most people just wanted a snippet of video or a quick picture to remind them of a great night out.

The night was scheduled to start at 7.30pm but probably ran about half an hour behind that. It didn't conclude until well after 10pm!

On this evidence, Belfast (and Northern Ireland in general) is certainly able to support the big concert events and it would be nice to see a regular pre-Worlds show to rival the fixture of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall night - which features SLOT this year. Rumours are already abroad that the Northern Ireland Branch of the RSPBA is planning for future events - they should be encouraged by last night!