A less hunky selection of Kisumu Jua Kali shots from the making of the hot Kenyan mechanics calendar.

I can’t say I was overwhelmed with excitement about this photo session. Jua Kali translates as ‘hot sun’, and the afternoon lived up to that name.

I’m helping put together a tasteful calendar of Jua Kali artisans to help raise money for a training programme which will help train artisans to build small-scale renewable energy technologies. We think it’s an exciting idea. If you would like to buy a calendar, head over to indiegogo.com/accessenergy - hit contribute and choose the calendar. 

Sun beams poking through the clouds on Hampstead Heath, London.

Quite a photo. This is Southern Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano spewing lightning-topped ash. Photo taken by Ricardo Mohr’s and selected as one of National Geographic’s “Pictures We Love: Best of October.

Happy new year!

Moving record collections from one place to another is a strain on the back, sort of dangerous if you have somehow missed out on health and safety training. Each time I move place, I know people are wondering why I still bother with vinyl. My brother who sometimes does a spot of DJing thinks vinyl always reminds me that it’s silly when you can just chuck it all on one laptop or a big CD wallet. He is not alone… but for me, vinyl still has an important place and I love it.

Lugging all my records about yesterday reminded me of some of more obscure uses they have, Sleeveface being one of them, and so I leave you with this one… happy new year!

Credit: Norbert Fougerand. Source: Sleeveface - Joyeux Noël

Is this ordinary Britain without the gloss? It is from a photo book called Welcome to Britain, a book published by a visual arts project called the Caravan Gallery. It goes well with a nice pack of digestives and cup of tea.