Amsterdam Russ

Ooh, that's nice. Off to buy me a copy right now…

Didn't really notice the cold to be honest. Beer can have that sort of numbing effect. ;-) Once I was on the bike my biggest worry was cycling home through patches of snow and ice and making sure I didn't take a fall, especially as I had my DJ box in one of the panniers.

Coming home from our Northern Soul Amsterdam event on Sunday morning, which requires an hour-long journey on the night bus and a short cycle ride home, this is what awaited when I got off the bus at four am. Worse, the front combination lock had seized up, although I managed to get it open after about 10 minutes!

Thanks for that. Not come across it before, but have bookmarked it now and will have a good trawl later. Looks a very inviting little records shop - and with the opportunity to get "something for the weekend" right next door!

Cheers, Steve. In addition to taking the camera out of the case, I need to go a step further and take it out of the house. It's great when a photo opportunity presents itself from the comfort of your own home, but it's something else to be out there in the field. Soon, I hope...

Thanks, Kev. Looking out the window on what was a foggy day, I saw the small boat making its way down the canal and thought there was potential for a half decent pic. I dashed to get my camera out of its case before the boat turned the corner and went out of sight. I also wanted to capture the craft and its occupants while they were in the clear and away from the dark shadows cast by the trees on the bank to the right. I just managed to fire off this one pic before it was too late. Must look out the window more.

Johnny McCall - I need you - on Al-teen went for a smidge under $900 yesterday, and that was for a VG copy! I know we keep having the discussion about how crazy prices are, but every day seem to bring yet another high in bidding craziness. And I'd love to know who these people are - the ones paying well over the odds for the rash of VG and even G condition 45s that are increasingly for sale. The finger's been pointed at retirees with cash to burn; people coming back onto the scene after having cleared their mortgages or whatever, but I can't believe it's only the older generation of soulies who've been driving up prices these last few years and who continue to do so with no sense of financial care. Is it also newbies into the scene - whether in the UK or elsewhere in the world? Collectors from other scenes looking to cross over and make an impact, perhaps? Just who are these crazy people with the deep pockets???

A cold and frosty morning as seen out the front window of our apartment.

Lou Rawls on TV singing the Axelrod-produced classic "Love is a hurtin' thing"...

Pro Deo - run by Kristof Vermeulen and his wife. The soul/popcorn event was just a couple of doors down from their restaurant and Kristof was one of the organisers.

A couple more Brugge pics (again, both taken with my iPhone) with the partially frozen canal a bit more visible on the second one.

Lovely pic. I see what you mean about the second image, although if your partner is also your soul mate, then go for it. A wonderfully picturesque place is Brugge, that's for sure. We first visited about three years back and had a great time then as well. Nice to visit again and take in a soul/popcorn event at the same time.

Went to Brugge last weekend for a bit of a touristy trip and a visit to a popcorn/soul event. No matter the weather (it was cold when we were there - you can just make out ice on the water), I think it's just about impossible to take a bad photo of the town. I took this panorama with my iPhone.

Difficult to say for sure. Even this thread has numerous pics and comments about people chasing rare and unexpected species. More pics would help, of course...

The current cold spell here in the Netherlands has hung around long enough for the ice to set to a sufficient thickness so that the Dutch can take up their favourite winter activity - ice skating. These pics were taken in the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam woods) a handful of years ago, but I know from friends here that the Bosbaan - the 2,200 metre x 180 metre international rowing lake (top pic) – was being skated on today. The 2nd pic shows a youngster skating against the imposing backdrop of St Urbanuskerk (St Urbanus church), which can be found at the other end of the Amsterdam woods.

Looks more like a honey buzzard than your everyday, common buzzard – unless it's one of the pale-plummaged variety. What do others think?

Haha - if it did I'd be in there first without a doubt!

Bit frosty out there this morning. In fact, a hoar frost, which is always wonderful to see. Do excuse the car disappearing into a time vortex or something. It happens all the time round our way.

Haha - after that little display the only way is up!

As we've now crossed over into the New Year, please find the 2017 incarnation of the "Show us your great photos" thread here... https://www.soul-source.co.uk/forums/topic/362829-show-us-your-great-photos-2017/

Haha - London, New York, Sydney… they've all been on the phone after seeing my vid and have begged me… to stay away! Cracking photo. Martyn. A great first photo for this year's thread.