urban flowerbed
« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
April 2005 Archives
random shopping list
here's a mad scrap of a shopping list. but what does it say ?
i think i can work out most of the words. but that might because my spelling is of a similar level of accuracy.
you can click the picture for a big version (most pictures are now clickable by the way - i've decided not to tell you each time to save us all time)
domestic rainbow
lucky people who live at the top of this hill - they've ended up with a crock of gold in their front garden
gloves
we're getting towards the end of the glove season in the UK right now, so here's a few i've been holding back.
the royal cleaner
this bit of road is significant as it's where the marathon finishes. my feet remember it well.
last week as i crossed it i saw all these royal guards horses.
that was interesting, but not as interesting as the vehicle which was following them:
i managed to cross the road between the horses and the royal pooper scooper and got this photo looking back towards buckingham palace (where the queen was in residence):
what can happen
i always wondered how this happens. and now we know.
the same can happen on the web apparently. you go to a website, stay their too long, and before you know it the world has grown up around you and you are left stranded on a tiny piece of sand.
two blokes posing on a beach
here's one:
and here's another one:
petty signage
you have to love the person that went to the trouble of making and erecting this sign
mind your head
when you see a sign like this you want to look up and see what the danger is thus risking the danger they warn you against.
they should ban such signs for safety reasons
carved door
this door looked so real you could climb through it. but it was just a carving in an old tree. some little people weren't convinced and thought it was just locked.
charred remains
after the fire i suppose
a man dressed as a wolf dressed as grandma
it just gets better and better. the costumes get more elaborate but the same broken spirit remains within them.
i've even started a new category for this.
darlek ?
i was sent this from reader mike who said it looks like a darlek. and so it does.
are you enjoying the new series of Dr Who by the way ? i am.
greenwich view
click for big
windmill - the bread power dispenser
do you know the secret about windmills ? well, if you promise not to tell anyone, i'll explain ...
early settlers in the england realised to their horror the pure energy that is released when you crush wheat. crushing the germ generates incredible heat which needs to be dispersed otherwise there's a risk of injury, death or even someone hurting themselves.
so how do you get rid of such energy and split the wheat germ in a controlled manner ? well, if you live near a river you crush it near water and let the water's coolness take away the heat.
but what if you live up a hill ?
in this case they crushed the wheat between two heavy stones. the two stones would lift slightly with each explosion thus converting the chemical energy in to heat energy in to kinetic energy. small graduations in the stone would cause it to rotate and turn giant drive shafts connected to windmill wings.
the wings would turn and cause great winds to move across the earth, thus dispersing the wheat power effectively. and that is precisely why windmills are placed on hills - it's the safest place to blow wind from.
the sad pie man
why does this chap look so sad ? it's because he can't reach the pie by his feet.
click to inspect the pie
the campaign trail
i'm proud to say i haven't mentioned next week's election on funkypancake and i plan not to either (d'oh).
here was a bus parked in paddington station. i'll be interested in how much politics i come in to contact with in the next week (other than the usual media - papers/posters/leaflets/telly etc).
here's a labour van at paddington station.
bus driver: "polling station ? i thought you said paddington station"
pants
brother-in-law kev sent me this picture of a sign:
and it reminded me of this which i saw on the beach in norfolk:
is it a flag ? no. it's some pants:
click for big
prison toilet signs
in the prison museum in Kings Lynn
when reality meets graffiti
red balloons (see here for original)
service information
i knew things were bad, but not this bad on the underground.
click to read it big
summer
here is a man dressed up as summer:
he had quite an effect on people around him. click this picture for a big version to see people's expressions:
the globe theatre
have you ever been to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London ? you should do, especially when it's free (like it was yesterday for Shakey's birthday):
the inside is quite amazing (unless you stand in the middle in which case you get wet on rainy days):
and there was plenty of entertainment:
st george's day
it was st george's day yesterday. english people have a bizarre relationship with their nationality.
we have two versions of national pride - football hooligan nationalistic madness and handkerchief waving dancing craziness. i definitely prefer this latter version (though we experienced both yesterday on our trip to london)
flying hanky people:
HMS Belfast
esther and i had a daughter/dad day in london yesterday. after the Globe we went for lunch in a restaurant then we went to HMS Belfast.
there was lots of climbing up and down ladders and i got all confused on the kids quiz. it's a bit of a weird thing to be a tourist attraction, especially for little kids, but it's what esther wanted to do.
in the end she decided it was a grown-ups version of 'soft play'.
daffodils
esther and jane in a daffodil field.
click for big
chair in a forest
there's only so far that castors on the modern chair will take you. this one got grounded in the mud in the middle of this dark forest.
page 76
here's page 76 of the paddington station sign book in the streets behind the station.
anglesey abbey
anglesey abbey is quite beautiful and well worth a visit if you are near Cambridge.
