Ho! Ho! Happy New Year!

I hope all of you came through the festive period unscathed, and with both kidneys and liver functioning as they should!

I’ll keep this one short and sweet - which won’t be particularly hard, as we’re now in the time of the year where things are pretty quiet! The good thing about this time of year is that there’s time to take stock, clean kit, and cook the books ready for the tax-man!!

So here’s a quick round-up from the end of 2022:

In November, i hung out for Action Press at the Music Dome in Cologne for the premier of Moulin Rouge the Musical. A fairly length red-carpet session, paraded mostly by people i’d never heard of - including this guy. Sky du Mont is apparently a famous face, but Heute.at, and MSN were busy syndicating my image, more interested in the (significantly) younger lady he’s dating these days.

…and elsewhere…

Funke sent me over to Gelsenkirchen to photograph the dedication of what the Germans call ‘Ghost Bikes’. These are white painted bikes that are left in the place of where a cyclist was recently killed.

Another night-time outing came in Mülheim. The in-shore coast guard went on their annual Lantern Swim. Hopping into the freezing cold river Ruhr in the darkness with torches to light their way.

There’s more images from this one over on my Instagram (@antplmr).

Amongst the usual stories about people that can’t park their cars (that’ll be in the gallery below), a cool (yes, pun intended) assignment was dropping by the youth training for Duisburg Fucshe ice hockey team…

Finally, below, some other snippets from the sharp-end of regional journalism. Until next month, stay safe!!