Latest news with #RichardButler
Scottish Sun
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
80s rock legends announce huge Glasgow show
After Glasgow they will perform across the rest of the UK. A LEGENDARY 80's rock band have announced a huge Glasgow show. The music icons who have spent decades performing spectacular shows for fans will take to the stage in the city later this year. 4 The Psychedelic Furs are going on tour Credit: Getty 4 They will come to Glasgow later this year Credit: Getty 4 The tour will take them across Europe and North America Credit: Getty The Psychedelic Furs are set to kick off their world tour later this month. The band were first formed in the 70s before shooting to fame in the 1980s being led by lead singer Richard Butler and his brother and bassist Tim. They will kick off their tour on June 19 and 20 with gigs in Belfast and Dublin. The Love My Way rockers will then embark on the North American leg of the tour, which will end in Brooklyn, New York, on October 19. Later that month they will start the UK shows with an appearance at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton on October 22. Fans in Glasgow will then get the chance to see the stars at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom on October 24. The band are being supported by German punk star Anja Huwe for the only Scottish show on the tour. After Glasgow they will perform across the rest of the UK. The tour will then have dates in stadiums across Europe. A spokesperson for gig promoter AEG said: "Icons of the original post-punk era The Psychedelic Furs have announced their UK tour plans for later in the year, stopping at beloved venues across the country throughout October. Travis frontman Fran Healy reveals how festival favourite was almost 'never written' "This autumn, The Psychedelic Furs have announced their plans to tour the UK, bringing their British post-punk sound to a number of huge venues across the country. "Playing the hits, such as 'Love My Way', 'Heaven' and 'Pretty In Pink', and more as well as some deeper cuts from their back catalogue, the band promise a dazzling live show decades in the making. "Kicking off in Wolverhampton on October 22, the band will spend the end of October on the road making stops in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and more. "The tour will culminate with a show at the stunning Palladium in London. "The band will be joined on tour by special guest and post-punk icon Anja Huwe, marking her first UK shows in over 15 years." Fans have been given the chance to sign up for presale tickets before they go on sale on Friday at 10am.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
What's the most interesting camera of 2025 really like to live with?
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. During the three weeks I've been shooting with the Sigma BF, a surprising number of people asked me what I thought of it. I'm not necessarily going to suggest you should go out and buy one, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it. Partly because it prompted me to think more about the photos I was taking than I have done in a long time. In principle I was on vacation, but I thought it might be an opportunity to rekindle my love for photography, distinct from my job that requires that I take photos all the time. Winters in Seattle are particularly hard: the skies are reliably gray and I've lived here long enough that I'm rarely surprised by a photo opportunity I've not noticed before. For the past few years, all my best sample galleries have been shot while traveling. Buy now: Buy at Adorama Buy at B&H Photo Buy at B&H Photo So I set myself a challenge: in keeping with Sigma's claims that the Sigma BF is intended as a device to help you capture everyday life, I decided to try to take at least one photograph every day, to document my trip. There are very few contexts in which you can use this combination of words, but the Sigma BF proved it to be an almost perfect tool for the job. I should start by saying that I failed the 'one photo a day' challenge I'd set myself. I arguably failed it in two ways: there were a couple of days where, either due to spending the day in transit, or because I was catching up with friends, I decided to leave the camera in my shoulder bag. But I failed in the opposite way, too: although the challenge was to take one photo a day, there were days on which I couldn't narrow things down to a single photo. For instance, a day spent shooting with a friend from the the Oxford Flickr group (circa 2007) meant shooting too diverse a range of images to be able to limit myself to a single shot. It was one of those days where the act of having a camera with me prompted me to recognize a wealth of photo opportunities I'd have otherwise missed. Sample gallery This widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab. Meeting up with an old photography friend, in the midst of his black-and-white photo challenge, meant I shot far more than my photo-a-day target. Photos: Richard Butler And I'm quite comfortable with these failures: the 'one photo a day' concept was meant to be a source of motivation: not a chore. There was no room in my luggage for a straightjacket. On which subject, I think there was only one occasion on which I found myself feeling restricted by the choice of the Sigma: it was a grabbed shot of a vintage bus, which I was hoping to take for a friend who loves historical transport. It started to pull away in the same instant I'd decided to take a photo. The camera turned on quickly enough but, in the split second I had to adjust the shutter speed to cope with the bright sunshine and its sudden movement, I turned the dial the wrong way, made my overexposure worse and missed the moment. The rest of the time, the BF felt like the right tool for the job. Its exposure-focused interface and pleasantly clutter-free screen constantly asked the questions: "what are you trying to photograph, and how do you want to capture it?" It constantly asked "what are you trying to photograph, and how do you want to capture it?" I packed the BF, a 35mm F2, 24mm F3.5 and 90mm F2.8 into a small bag I could hang off my shoulder, pretty much all the time. There was still room to carry a warm scarf or a jumper, along with my sunglasses: the essentials for spring in the UK, so carrying a bag felt necessary, rather than burdensome. For me, these lenses made an excellent trio. I quickly grew to love the outrageous vignetting of the 24mm, rarely bothering to engage corrections and instead often adding a similar effect to some of my 35mm shots, using the in-camera processing. The 90mm makes an excellent portrait option, letting me capture friends and strangers alike and, like the 24mm, is a suitable small, lightweight addition to the camera body. There are a couple of ways in which Sigma could improve the BF, and I've sent some feedback, following my trip (why isn't it quicker/easier to toggle a setting between automatic and manual control, for instance). But overall, I found the considered approach to shooting that it demands was exactly what I needed to remind myself what sets photography as a hobby apart from smartphone snap shooting. The Sigma BF isn't trying to be a rival or a substitute to most of the cameras on the market, and if judged on their terms, it comes up short. But as a device for encouraging you to capture the world as you pass through it, and engage with the process of doing so, it's an absolute delight. Irrespective of its looks, the way it's so focused on exposure, composition and nothing else is inspiring. Despite what you might assume, if you've not used it, the user interface isn't a series of compromises to fit with the camera's minimalist look, it's an original and seriously-considered attempt to answer the question: 'what do you really need to take photos?' It makes Leica's very exposure-focused UI look cluttered and conventional by comparison, though it's unarguably a little slower and occasionally fiddly, if time's against you. What kept catching me off-guard is how good the autofocus is, both in performance and implementation. I was able to leave the camera in AF-C, knowing that eye detection would do its job if there was a person in the photo and that tapping on the screen would focus on something specific if I wanted, even if I continued to adjust my composition. As with the rest of the interface, it's not a complex system that can be adapted to cope with every possible eventuality: it's a system that's so simple but effective that you don't need to think about it, for the type of photography the BF is intended for. Buy now: Buy at Adorama Buy at B&H Photo Buy at B&H Photo Overall, I loved my time with the BF. A little like the Fujifilm X100 series, it's one of the few cameras it might make sense for me to buy, because it's not trying to do the same thing as most of the cameras I have to use for my job. It's the unusual, though-provoking (and, apparently, comment-worthy) device that lets me capture my life in the gaps between having to take photos for work. Putting together a gallery while on vacation usually risks being something of a busman's holiday. And yet despite spending a couple of weeks constantly thinking about photography, I've arrived back in the office refreshed and ready to see what's arrived in my absence. Sample gallery This widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab. *Approximately
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sleepless night in churches and barns on World War II Long March
The Long March began at Stalag Luft III, in what is now Zagan, Poland. Stalag Luft III was a prisoner-of-war camp built by the Luftwaffe in March 1942 to detain captured airmen who were part of the Allied coalition at war with Nazi Germany. At its peak, the camp housed approximately 49,000 prisoners of war, with around 11,000 of those men participating in the Long March in late January and early February of 1945. During their taxing journey, the soldiers faced freezing temperatures, snow and starvation, and many suffered from illnesses. The Luftwaffe also constantly threatened them. While marching through their ordeal, the soldiers had little chance to sleep or rest. One of the first stops they made was at a church in Halbau, Germany, which is now Iłowa, Poland. This is where soldiers from Stalag Luft III's Center Compound stayed the night. The soldiers crowded into the church and other nearby buildings. Some could not find shelter and had to stay outdoors in the cold. When we arrived at the church, we saw its large clock tower and beautiful stained-glass windows. A plaque inside commemorates a donation made by Maj. Gen. Delmar Spivey and a few others 30 years after the war. This donation paid for one of the windows. The inscription reads, 'Dedicated to the glory of God, donated by grateful American Air Force POWs (from) Stalag Luft III who found shelter here during the night of (Jan.) 28, 1945.' For Richard Butler, whose father was Flight Officer Richard Butler, the experience was especially profound. He was able to sit in the same spot where his father sat 80 years ago. His father had been in a battle over Italy, where he destroyed another aircraft but flew through debris that damaged one of his engines. This caused a fire, forcing him to parachute and land in the Bay of Naples. After escaping Italian forces, Butler was later captured by the Germans. Butler was processed at Stalag VII A before eventually arriving at Stalag Luft III. He participated in the Long March and was among those who stayed in the church. For Richard Butler, revisiting the places where his father had been evoked a deep connection. He said, 'It makes me feel very close to him. I read his journals, and published them, and did a lot of research for background. And I thought about what it was like — but to actually be in this place takes that intellectual knowledge a step further, or several steps, and I feel like he's there beside me.' Another place we visited was the barns in Lipna, Poland, formerly Selingersrüh, Germany. Many POWs spent a frigid night there during the Long March. A restoration of the barns is being done by Wawo and Anya Putkiewicz, along with their two little girls. They are dedicated to keeping the history of the barns alive. They have completed the restoration of one out of the four buildings on the property. Their goal is to maintain historical accuracy while also ensuring safety for visitors. They have also incorporated new elements, including a plaque recognizing the soldiers who stayed there overnight. Bullet holes nearby serve as a reminder of the events that occurred there. Wawo and Anya aim to preserve history and enhance people's understanding of not only the Long March but the impact that communism had on Lipna, Poland, after World War II. To achieve this, they will hold events and exhibitions to educate the public about the history of their city. During the POWs' stay at the barns, we were told, they encountered a German count and his wife. While there, the count provided them with hot water. One family member who was moved by the experience at the barns was Judith Carey Moore. Her father, Staff Sgt. Gerald J. Carey of the U.S. Army Air Corps, stayed in one of the barns while on the Long March. Carey served as a tail gunner on a B-25 aircraft. His plane encountered heavy flak near Bologna, Italy, causing one of its engines to catch fire. As a result, the pilot issued the order to bail out. After his capture, he was sent to Stalag Luft III. Throughout his Long March experience, Carey slept in many barns, including the one at Lipna. He also believed that he had stayed at a pottery factory. On the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Long March, Judith discovered that it was actually the glass factory in Bad Muskau, Germany. When I asked her how it felt to be in the places where her father and his fellow POWs had slept, Judith replied that it was 'emotional to actually see the places and be near the places that they were because these men didn't say anything when they came home. They kept it quiet, they never talked about it. It's good to find out more about what they went through.' This experience allowed her to gain a deeper appreciation for her father's strength. The McCaleb Initiative for Peace has allowed students to travel to many locations where significant wars occurred. This was the first time students have visited sites related to Kenneth McCaleb's wartime experience. In McCaleb's memoir, he recounts being crammed into barns with only straw to sleep on. One night in a barn, he was suffering from a hernia and struggled to move his left leg. The other POWs he was with during the Long March were like family, and they assisted McCaleb while he was injured. Eventually, they all arrived at Bad Muskau, Germany, where they sought shelter. Some people found refuge in glass warehouses, stables and barns in the area. McCaleb ended up in a warehouse, where they were able to build a fire. During this time, everyone in McCaleb's group developed sinusitis. Fortunately, the warmth inside the glass warehouse helped McCaleb recover from his hernia and regain feeling in his leg. McCaleb's experiences, including these sleepless nights, motivated him to gain a deeper understanding of war and emphasize the importance of striving for peace. Judith Carey shares that motivation. '(People) don't grasp the total picture of what it is to be without your freedom and what these men went through to give us our freedom.' When asked if she had any concluding thoughts, Judith said, 'I would like to say thank you to the German people who helped them along the way. I like to thank all the churches that gave them shelter.' Editor's note Kylee Trevarrow is a senior at Missouri Southern State University who will graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in history and a minor in anthropology. She recently traveled to Germany and Poland to participate in an event commemorating the Long March of 1945 with her professor, Steven Wagner, and a classmate, Raylynn Downey. The opportunity was given to them by the McCaleb Initiative for Peace at MSSU. This initiative was established in 1998 by Kenneth McCaleb and his wife, Margaret Baughman McCaleb, to examine the causes of war and discuss ways in which war can be prevented. Since its establishment, the initiative has provided many students with the chance to travel to sites of past wars, study the devastation they caused, and report their findings to promote peace and help prevent future wars. McCaleb was one of the prisoners of war who survived the 62-mile Long March. During this trip, the MSSU group had the chance to meet the family members of several of these POWs and learn the stories of their fathers and grandfathers. This is the fourth article in a series on their trip.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Weigh in: which CP+ announcements do you want a closer look at?
As we enter the second day of the CP+ trade show, we'd like to hear from you: are there any announcements that you think warrant a closer look? Our editors Dale Baskin and Richard Butler are on location in Japan, and have already gone hands-on with Canon's new V1 vlogging compact and the Sigma BF. However, there were several other announcements made during the show, which we've been covering throughout the week. We've started a thread in our forum to see if people have questions about these announcements that could be answered if we went to see them in person – if you have any, be sure to raise them over there. Go to the forum thread Also, if you've seen something floating around that we've missed, be sure to let us know!
