Queen's Day

Hello again!

Last Saturday was Queen's Day, which is a big holiday for the Netherlands, though some of its festivities seem a bit odd to outsiders. Everyone dresses in orange (an homage to the William of Orange family dynasty), participates in the open air market (the one day where anyone is allowed to sell anything), and enjoys classic Dutch food (oliebollen), all mixed in with concerts and the occasional samba band -- at least, that's what Nijmegen's celebrations were like. The biggest celebrations occur in the larger cities, which includes Amsterdam, of course. To read more about Queen's Day and its associated celebrations, you can read the Wikipedia page by clicking here. For images from our day in Nijmegen, take a look at the photoset here, or start a slideshow of large images here.

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

Edinburgh Concert Photos

Hello all!

I just finished sorting, uploading, describing, tagging and geotagging three new sets of photos. All three are from a concert Dad, Jessica and I attended together in Edinburgh, Scotland on New Year's Day. Although six bands played during the "One Day" (1.1.11) Hogmanay celebrations, I have only finished processing half of them so far (my three favorites).

If you are interested, take a look at the sets for the bands below. I was quite happy with the quality of some of these photos, and will be updating or supplementing the Wikipedia pages of all three bands with these (Creative Commons licensed) pictures.

Lau - A three-piece rockin' Scottish folk band. They have a great level of energy on stage, and are clearly passionate. In some regards, they remind me of the Avett Brothers, especially on stage. [set] [slideshow]

Julie Fowlis - Gaelic Singer Of The Year appointed "Scotland's Gaelic Ambassador" by the Scottish Parliament. [set] [slideshow]

Daniel Thorpe - 2010 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year with a good sense of humor and a comfortable stage presence. [set] [slideshow]

Farrell