Okay Kaya Oldham Street,Machester.

i took this photo of a young Norwegian/New York singer called Okay Kaya

https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/G-i-g-s/Okay-KayaCastle-Pub-Manchester/

I went with Cath to see Okay at The Castle Pub last night. Okay has a voice to die for.So much talent & promise.Cath talked to her after the gig. We promised to make an introduction to The Hebden Bridge Trades Club .I could really see her there......and,to be honest, The Castle dont know fuck all about presenting talent.... one of the videos i took tonight.

down at the ancient gate

Love Edinburgh, 
Bonnie  Polish swimming friend,  Joanna   !Farewell. 
Take good care of yourself. Please, have a good life.Admiring your style from the slow  lane.! X .
Fascinating coincidences  .You move from Poland to Halifax and, after five years move again  (today) to live in Edinburgh. 'Like my family history, in reverse......
Below.[ Still playin with my new Canon IXUS 240 HS.] Images taken in Halifax, Burnley, Hebden Bridge & Manchester thru this     week.......
The BBC tv show "ONE SHOW" broadcast live from Hebden Bridge on Tuesday.
My car broke down earlier that day & i got a red courtesy car that day & drove for my daily swim& sauna to Halifax Baths.
I went to Burnley St Peters for a swim& sauna on Saturday.
On Thursday me & Cath went to Manchester Art Gallery: looked around Chinatown & ate stuff........
https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/Dropbox/Various-photos-february-2016/

Joanna J. Sobolczyk    halifax   Edinburgh

the cities in your eyes.

Hi Tony ... hope you dont mind ...
I have joined you to my group which was started by a musical partner of mine who lives in Greece... we have been raising funds for the poor souls fleeing the guns and wars.
I have some friends doing a lot of work out on several islands and we are going there in a few months to do some practical stuff and a concert.
The album isn't everyones cup of tea but my track is getting the most downloads and it has had some really good reviews.   I go under the name of Karyae.

testing my new camera

https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/organize/Dropbox/Mostly-Manchester-28th-January

Some photos i took this week. Testing my new  Canon IXUS 240 HS.
It looks ok.

•  A Good low-light option,so gig pixs might improve this year?
• My old point & shoot ( Fujifilm F70) has been put out to stud for the time being.
• my main camera remains my NIKON D200.
• I also will used my Panasonic HM-TA2 mainly now for audio purposes.

The new Canon was a good buy.Brand New& boxed .£290 list price but i got it for £99 (via Germany)

• These test images where mainly taken in Halifax & Manchester today.
  

  
  

under pressure

I cant imagine anybody is interested in what i thought about David Bowie: besides which , far too much none sense has been spoken on the subject this week.Except to say,he wasn't the Messiah. He was a very naughty boy.........
I went to Halifax tonight.Drinking with Comrade Ken& Phil the Ex-Fireman.

carry on......

a piece without title

The Good News Is

 I Went on a Pub Crawl in Hebden Bridge tonight .

It was a colleague's leaving do (being relocated out of the area for the time being,, because of the floods) The bad news is the only pub still open is The White Lion ( the dearest pub in town .....,oh the irony..I actually paid for a pint tonight.that cost £ 4.80p!.)

 {The Trades was also open ,doing a fund raiser ,but i was on this "do" so I didn't go there......} Prior.I went around Hebden Bridge & took photos of some closed pubs ( I forgot The Crown on my travels.....-& , to be honest, Marshall's doesn't look any more wrecked than before........................!)

https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/Dropbox/Flooded-HebdenBridge-Pubs7th/

St.James's Church.

St.James Church: Mytholm Steeps, Hebden Bridge :today:Service -Flood Support.
Posted by Tony Zimnoch on Sunday, January 3, 2016

Floods of Biblical Proportions Happened.

Photo taken by Martin Parr:1975: Manikinholes Methodist Chapel [near Hebden Bridge].

It was suggested less than two years ago that my town of Hebden Bridge   should be designated the UK's second city.
Today,as I write this ,the only businesses now  left open in the town are Nathan's Barbers:  Marco's Italian Greasy Spoon  

,2 small charity shops: Bonsalls DIY shop; The White   Lion Pub.; Boots Chemist &The Town Hall.That's all that left open/ habitable!

A week ago .Rain Came over a 12 hour period when  Floods of Biblical Proportions happened...

Destroyed in Hebden Bridge alone  are...2 churches;.3 Banks:8 pubs;The Post Office& sorting office; The Library:The Theatre:The Cinema:The Council's Elderly Day Centre:many hundreds of homes wrecked and/or  evacuated: The Coop Supermarket & approx 200 shops & business:factory units:are not habitable :bridges have collapsed:the only road out has a dirty big crack in it between Hebden bridge & Mytholmroyd.
Even 2 days ago 500 other homes in Hebden Bridge were without electricity.

This was just one town ! Others along the valley were just  as broken or,arguably, even worse.The towns and villages of Mytholmroyd:Todmorden;Copley:Sowerby Bridge:Brighouse:Midgley.etc etc all got hit    .......        

View Local Newspaper Images

A Million things happened this week.Here are just a few Vignettes that will have to act as a taste of things.
Over the New Year Weekend, the local  Town Hall is where the volunteers are organised.
 A huge room (the size of a half a football field) has free dry foods that have been donated & you can come in and help yourself.Plus cleaning products.etc:a kitchen & cafe were the Muslims serve the free hot food. Legal Advice etc etc is also  given.
Local People offer their  skills for free so,[Hebden being Hebden ] you can even get free Reflexology!
Today (new year's eve) I went to our only remaining barber to get a haircut.The owner Nathan (with beard) was offering haircuts/beer & disco.A interesting combination........The kids & Mums seemed to enjoy it..!

Loyds Bank: Hebden Bridge: last Saturday morning.

Sadly I have heard some  terrible stories from neighbouring   Mytholmroyd. The (fairly new build) Catholic church The Good Shepard ( a mini Liverpool cathedral / built in-the-round) is totally fucking. I hear the 80 year old Parish Priest was rescued in the dark while wandering dazed & confused down a side street.waist deep in water.
Nearby, in a big posh housing estate , rescue services couldnt reach because of water levels.Local farmers went from door to door to check everybody was ok (apparently a lot of elderly people lived there) .They burst into one Living Room and  found a silent, immobile elderly gent sat upright in his armchair with  water all around his waist.......Two big farming lads had to carry him out  to safety.......
Read *here* how the town is organising how to mend itself (& how you might wishes to help)

Dec 31st 2015.Beer/Disco/Haircut Promotion:Nathan's Barbers,Hebden Bridge.

This week i having been doing my small bit by trying to help salvage the Council's Elderly Peoples Day Centre.

The British  Army are here.So are groups of Muslim volunteers, from as far afield as London, who have been here this week helping us.

A few of the many Muslim Lads from London (300 miles away!)who came this week help us.

The local Muslim Community has been amazing !Halifax Mosques have set up a food kitchen & have been shipping in daily hot free food.

This is another one  of my legendary Sepia Saturday   posts.

from the halifax mosques.......

Volunteers from Halifax mosques join big clean-up in Hebden Bridge .(no sign yet of EDL turning up to lend a hand to help us ...)

Posted by Tony Zimnoch on Monday, December 28, 2015

Season's Greetings From A Flooded Hebden Bridge.( & our amazing fucking curtains)

John Lennon: 1974 studio outtakes :  

2015: my best photos.

https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/Photos-2015/

Manchester German Markets

click * here * to see images from  the Rochdale hamam's visit to Manchester's German Market.

one last singer in the land.....

December 19th marks the 75th  Birthday of Phil Och.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill

PHIL OCHS: Live at Salle Claude Champagne, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; October 22, 1966. This song is from a show long been rumored to have been recorded by the FBI!
 Phil Ochs was one the greatest political (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice.
He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and ’70s and released eight albums.
 The FBI kept Phil Ochs under active surveillance for 13 years.
 The introduction of The Freedom of Information Act revealed pages and pages of information on Phil with the FBI labelling him a “communist” with “un-American thoughts”.
Despite the hundreds of pages in his FBI file, the FBI never found that Ochs ever committed any federal crimes. He continued to be under investigation until his death by suicide in 1976.
 Ochs performed at many political events during the 1960s counterculture era, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City’s Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Politically, Ochs described himself as a “left social democrat” who became an “early revolutionary” after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.
 After years of prolific writing in the 1960s, Ochs’s mental stability declined in the 1970s. He eventually succumbed to a number of problems including bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and took his own life in 1976.

drinks in Halifax