snow train
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March 2006 Archives
giant invisible man walking across a field
bernard sent me this photo with the title 'Giant Invisible Man in trainers'
wordy graffiti
(from brad)
beware pedestrians
watch out, he's got a blade
tree pruning
parking was suspended yesterday due to tree pruning.
i hope they hadn't suspended it from an overhead branch.
princess anne on a train
princess anne is on this train. i know this because the newspaper man told me. newspaper men know everything.
news is their business, see ?
apparently he'd seen her get out of these cars a few moments earlier
amalgamated drive
industrial street names are brilliant
fancy pizza
it's always nice to see a shopping list. this one was for a very fancy pizza - ham, bans (beans or bananas?), satsumas, grapes and cash (last two not to be confused with this
page 10 of the paddington poster book
as a reminder, it seems that many of the Paddington Station posters have page numbers on, suggesting there's some giant book of posters somewhere. i haven't seen any new ones for a while so it was a delight to see page 10.
pete's pot
pete got a new tea pot, and it's got a funny groove on the spout. here's a picture of it. any idea why and how it works ?
snow fight
this little chap took on the might of a snow plough with his snow canon.
he was no match and was soon erased
no snow (or people) were harmed in the making of these photos
negative statue
this statue picture looked a bit boring so i negatived it and it now looks a bit fancier.
happy land
there is actually a place called happy land. you can see it here if you don't believe me
everything you need
in a world where every hotel is equipped with DVD players, Ipod docking stations and wifi Internet access, it's pleasing to see some hotels are proud of their basics. All rooms have clock radios. brilliant.
esther in concert
esther had a concert yesterday where she sang and played her recorder. it was in a proper theatre and everything.
kezia loved watching her older sister and afterwards said "well done Esther, you did well and you did exactly what you had to do". i think that's quite a good compliment coming from a 4 year old.
when the children weren't performing they had to sit on the stage. i noticed two children (a boy and girl) at the back punching each other and having a proper fight which was quite interesting. Meanwhile, the older ones practiced balancing their recorders on their ends which regularly resulted in clonks during other people's performances.
esther was not involved in either of these misdemeanors
esther electric
there's another version here
hands up for chocolate biscuits
the plan is to walk the thames path with jane's parents. jane's mum (known to the girls as poochy) is an expert on wild life which is extremely useful !
here is chris giving blog-land a wave (whilst requesting a chocolate biscuit)
the thames path - part 2 kemble to keynes country park
we continued our walk down the Thames Path yesterday. You may remember that last week's 12 miles were cut short because of kezia misery, so we picked up the walk where we left it - kemble train station.
at this stage the thames is just a small stream and incredibly clear.
wooden bridges provided plenty of opportunities for pooh sticks
the thames continues to snake round the edge of fields. here a telegraph pole spans the width
And near our destination it starts doing some fancy corner-work through some little wooded areas
Unfortunately kezia was ill again and her misery brought our journey to an end at keynes country park
so, we'll pick the walk up again at somerford keynes in a few weeks time when we've next got a free weekend for walking. at this rate we should get it finished by the time the girls leave secondary school !
(and we got rained on lots)
a spanner-like contraption
here's a new category - gate locks. i've noticed there doesn't seem to be a standard method for locking gates in the countryside. it's all very free-style which leads to innovation.
so here's one to get us started. it's a bit like a spanner and provided a great lock. it was quite satisfying to clip it on too.
hassock(s) of the week
a modern medley
a great piece of techno-junk
i just love this machine which was left out in a car park by a hospital.
It's not as good as this classic piece of medical equipment (which i saw in a museum)
not quite abbey road
the art of photography is spotting something which is about to happen and grabbing the moment as it does with your camera. if you are photographing a glove that can be quite easy.
here i saw three cleaning trollies heading for a zebra crossing and i though "aha, abbey road
so i starting taking my photos to capture the moment they all went in a line
and just as they did, two mopeds turned up to block the view
and before anyone says anything, yes, i know there were three of them, and they were pushing cleaning trollies and there was a central reservation and they were heading right to left, not left to right, and it's not actually on Abbey Road.
it was never going to be that beatles cover was it. oh well.
software bug
here's a funny thing. it's a ladybird wandering over my computer screen. it had just walked between 'delete' and 'junk' and was heading for the word 'thunderbird'.
this picture also shows the quality of emails i was receiving on a friday afternoon. someone had sent an email to a mailing list i'm on simply stating 'please ignore'. people didn't.
danger quicksand
quicksand is something you don't see much of in england.
quicksetting cement? yes. quicksand? no
gum busters
here is a gum busters trolley. the helium balloon simply adds to the fun of gum busting
further up the street were hundreds of little gum scars, zapped away by the high pressure gum busting jet
ricky gervais (the second spot)
i walked up tottenham court road yesterday on the way back from a meeting and thought to myself "i'm going to see a celebrity in a minute" and 2 minutes later i bumped in to Ricky Gervais ! I asked him if i could take his photo and he said "of course" in an 'extras
here he is in full holding a cup of coffee walking past NatWest Bank
transparent cutlery
i saw this plastic knife on the floor and it got me thinking about how cool it would be to have transparent cutlery to eat food off a transparent glass plate on a transparent table. it'd be like being in an invisible world.
broken clock outside the jewellers
i saw this clock one morning at 8:21am. not a great advert for the jewellers within.
postbox with a face
you'll need to click this photo to see the big version which clears shows that this postbox has eyes above it's mouth letter slot.
!!!
the explanation for these explanations is a warning of slipperyness. heed it well.
bollard morris dancers
(not quite as dynamic as these chaps)
crashing in public
the service station screen was out of service. the chap in the background picture didn't look too impressed
the nature inspector
esther and kezia have magnifying glasses as part of their going-for-a-walk kit. the idea is they are meant to be used for looking at small insects.
instead esther decided to do some detective work to see if she could fathom which animal had been here recently.
alimentary my dear whats on.
into the inn
this is like a demonstration sentence for how to include the words in and inn in a sentence.
pez
i spotted this pez sweet dispenser in the gutter just as one of the friendly street cleaners was brushing it up. i asked him if i could take a photo of it and he kindly held it up for me.
by right, the street cleaners and i should be enemies as they always steal the good stuff before i get to photo it. but in fact we get on great and always greet each other with hearty shouts of 'morning' as we pass each other in the morning.
except over christmas when they changed the cleaning people and they didn't respond to my shouts.
strange equipment on the platform
there were some train track signalling equipment boxes on a platform on a station i went by yesterday evening. i think it was part of a customer have-a-go-day. regular commutters could have the chance to prove they could run the train service better than the people who do it at presently. the train company are probably hoping the commutters are just all talk. but what if they really could run it better than them ?
ski lift
i hope you're not sick of my mountain snow pictures. here's another one for you anyway. it's of a ski lift in the early morning
meeting up with blog friends
our lovely american blog friends Dan, Michele, Sophie and Susanna were in London so we were able to spend the day with them yesterday.
they were staying at an amazing residential complex in Vauxhall and had a great view from their balcony.
we went to Tate Britain where the girls did some crafting in the galleries
and they continued crafting in the cafe over lunch
we had a great time and the girls did too. it really is a pity we live so far apart
pedestrians look both ways
pedestrians look both ways - happy AND sad. smart AND scruffy ?
this season's must have gallery accessory
why was this chap carrying a green and white rugby ball round an art gallery ?
the thames path - part 1 The Source to Kemble
we've decided as a family to walk the thames path and yesterday we went in search of the source. The walk is 184 miles long and starts here:
we're following the walk using this book
the girls sang a song at the start to mark the beginning of our trail
you'd expect there to be some water whizzing out of this spring at this time of year, but there was no sign of water here, or across the field where the thames sometimes flows
however, once we were over a main road we started to see the path the Thames sometimes takes
actual water started flowing in to the Thames from this ancient spring called Lyd Well. So here we see the watery start of the Thames
and then we were walking along an actual, wet, river Thames
and an attractive little stream it looked too
we planned to walk for 12 miles along the river, but we only managed a couple as it was too cold for little Kezia who was frozen like a lolly. so we went back to the car which we'd parked at Kemble station.
to be continued ...
mad squirrel
squirrelling about outside st paul's tube station
musical chairs
music chairs was just a demonstration sport in this year's winter olympics. this was a warm up where no chairs had been removed.
gloves
blue glove near a blue bin bag
hidden snow glove
yucky glove on a pile of yucky snow spotted as we slid by on a minibus
leather driving glove
virii or viruses ?
now, i'm useless at grammer and spelling. but i was wondering what the real plural of viruses are (is?) when i sawed this on the street.
i think it probably is viruses rather than virii.
but on the other side of the sign it was missing the final 's'
having different spelling on each side suggests they created different versions from scratch. Someone should refer them to a computer centre to tell them they can use computers to avoid having to do such things (they even have speling detecters).
money laundring a speciality
i think it's quite cute how this nice village bobby is telling you to STOP! and bring your dry cleaning there. but at the same time i'm not sure if i like the threat it implies. will we get arrested if we don't bring it in ?
outside amenities
our friend big eye likes to watch telly outside. which is a nice plan. assuming it's not raining.
did prince francis turn up to the closing ?
part of working in london is you see buildings beginning and ending their lives. for every gherkin, there's a middlesex hospital
there must have been much excitement when the Middlesex hospital opened in 1910.
but now it's all shut and moved to the fancy new place on euston road
and the old place looks so sad
i'd love to go in and take some photos. but totally unlikely i suspect.
still filming
i squashed my face against the window where they were filming on tuesday and they were obviously coming back.
it's good to know kitkats are popular in the world of film.
Roger - An Internet Hero ?
here is Roger at an awards ceremony where he was nominated for Internet Hero.
He didn't win, so i think that makes him simply *an* Internet Hero rather than *the* Internet Hero.
the new parking meter phenomena
have you noticed these new things which have appeared on some parking meters ? They are bags with words on.
i noticed this on Monday evening:
and then i spotted this one yesterday morning:
what does it all mean (and more specifically what do they both mean ?)
mass break out
regular readers will know of my fear of plant breakouts. i don't know if it's a triffid
these guys had definately up and left though
big movie stars ?
i occasionally see film shoots around town and sometimes i'm brave enough to ask people what's going on. but i wasn't yesterday.
it was something quite high profile as there were quite a few police keeping guard, even hidden in doorways round the corner. it was either someone important, or someone very attractive.
we paint the door
i love the wording on this sign. it makes me want to give the person (people?) who wrote it a big hug.
great wording, great line breaks (good emphasis of the word 'it').
i can't be doing with all those capital letters though.
strange chap
the chap on this picture is a bit strange. something about his legs and lack of hands i think. i can't work out which way round he/she is facing.
olympic boot
this is an actual british olympian's actual ski boot. note the jack union buckle clips.
a dead cert
a funeral parlour next to a betting shop. what a great idea. you could even play chicken by running across the road between the cars. if you make it you get a payout from Coral. if you don't you end up next door.
food plurals
you say panini i say paninis.
guess the thing
depending on how old you are, this might be a really easy thing to guess (or not).
answer below
permanent house
permanent. rather than temporary
what people do after a lovely sunday lunch
big eye invited us over for sunday lunch yesterday, and plenty of others as well.
here is Big Eye with a Big Pie (built by carolyn)
carolyn chats with dave and richard
esther and kezia get on with some drawing
and finally, big eye wanders off knowing that Em, Piers and Jane are doing the washing up
funkypancake on metro pick-of-the-blogs
welcome if you've arrived via the metro
hassock of the week
an absolute classic hassock this week ! This is British Hassockery at it's best.
graffiti solutions
are they buying or selling ? there's a self perpetuating industry here somewhere.
cycles must stick to the edge
no cycles are allowed in the centre. best stick to the peri-meter instead.
em and dave
em and dave came over for tea yesterday which was very nice. here they are on our sofa.
cleaning up the doofahs
what a great collecting device
the slaughters
jane and i spent our 10th wedding aniversary in the slaughters. good name. great place.
watch children - as regular as clockwork
watch children are really easy to wind up apparently.
once upon a time i saw a watch face. "which way" you ask ?
private amenity lands
i've no idea what amenity land is.
the changing face of retail
i now go to Osterley a couple of times a week and i walk down from Ealing Broadway station. Right near my destination, there's this PC World store.
I like the old Do It All logo, not quite properly removed in the background.
I think it says something about technology progress. From do it yourself, to automate it, to get someone else to sort it (that'll be the PC Clinic)
bush thermometer
bernard sent me this picture of a thermometer in a bush (and his neice's daughters)
here is a close up of the thermometer in the bush. Bernard wondered whether it was an early warning system for burning bushes which would make sense.
why bananas don't make good balloons
why would anyone want to tie a piece of string round a banana.
thinking about it some more. why would anyone not want to.
secret room in the coliseum
i went to the coliseum (home of Eno [not brian] yesterday for a meeting. i needed a power socket to plug my laptop in to send some emails and i was escorted to a little room by the staircase.
in it was a little table and an even smaller room with a sink (and i assume round the corner a toilet). unfortunately it was out of mobile and wifi coverage so it wasn't much use to me.
fancy that.
463
i might miss them sometimes, but eventually i catch them
cuddling frogs
i've decided not to allow comments on this picture. but at least it shows spring is on the way.
walk carefully
i've been abit out of time sequence recently, so to prove we're back on track, here's an underground train slippery floors sign dated yesterday. it asks us to 'walk carefully'. so i did.
trollies on oxford street
i love this photo. not sure why. i think you need to view it big (click on it) to get the trolley depth of field thing.
england's oldest inn
The Eagle and Child claims to be England's Oldest Inn c947AD. I wasn't around then, so can't comment.
an olympic torch bearer
this chap ran with this torch (lit) as part of the chain of olympic torch bearers. interestingly, so did finlay
new style london buses
we had the end of the routemasters, and now they are worried about the bendies. and then there were the steamies
the latest seems to be windowless buses where people are packed in longwards.
bulb
'bulb' is one of those words which quickly loses its meaning if you keep saying it out loud over and over to yourself.
try it. enjoy it. bulb.
the extinguisher man
very exciting yesterday in the office. the fire extinguisher tester man came. he was wearing blue overalls and blue trousers, and a bright red shirt - no doubt to complement the extinguisher
a new dog sign
look, a brand new british dog sign. i suspect this is quite an old one actually, but it's new to us
and here it is in situ
slippery floor sign from Vietnam
how's this for an international slipper floor sign ? this is from vietnam which is where pootlecat spotted it.
stumble is a great international word.
my worst picture ever ?
this made me feel a bit sick so i thought i'd share it with you. it's a pair (?) of grubby looking dentures
they were left on a bin on the southbank in london (in case they are yours and you want to pop back to get them)
actual church cleaning
after yesterday's set up shot, here's some actual spontaneous church cleaning
the best highchair ever ?
here is seb's highchair. is this the coolest thing on the planet or what ? it's like a giant ashtray on a stick. but much more healthy
seb and jane
we had lunch with some friends yesterday and it was lovely. here is their excellent little chap, called Seb, in conversation with my excellent little wife jane.
the church cleaning rota
there's probably something spiritual here about going to church and cleansing yourself, or maybe getting rid of the rubbish in your life. i'm sure there's a good pun i'm missing here though.
andy not playing charades
andy and gill came for tea last night and it was lovely. a proper grown up dinner event with no children.
andy looks like he's playing charades here, but he's not. he's actually recreating the pose of a paper cut out doll in human form.
twitchy
i went for a walk yesterday afternoon with Richard drummer and Big Eye Tony. our walk took us by some bird hides so we decided to become bird experts.
tony big eye is already a bird expert it seems, but Richard was less so, and, as you are already aware, i'm generally clueless on matters of nature.
here is tony with his fancy binoculars (bins/binos/'oculas)
if you want to know what birds we saw then there's a list below:
three legged bird
here's a funny thing. it's a bird with three legs. you might need to click the picture for a bigger view
barcolonical postbox
thanks to Rik for sending me this rather sad postbox from barcelona.
gloves by ealing broadway
a separated pair
on a drain
blending in with the pavement
very high tide
compare the height of this to this.
frosty holly
we've not had any snow where i live, but it has been quite frosty. here's some frosty holly leaves i passed on the way to work the other morning
glove
i can't remember where i saw this glove. i really should write these things down.
how to blend in with a crowd
this chap has had a brilliant idea. he's dressed up as a fish. with a carrier bag.
what a brilliant idea. wouldn't it be great if everyone had to dress up like a fish one day a year. you could choose your own day of course so it everyone wouldn't be a fish on the same day - that would be silly.
shopping web
selfridges window
great sign from ljubljana
this is a great collection of signs sent in by reader johnny, who says they can be found in ljubljana, which is, of course, the capital of Slovenia.
it's a great collection. i love the variations in the similar signs and the girls hair is great too
me skiiing
this is a self portrait i took whilst sliding along. the camera was upsway down, rather than me (at this time)
the only sport i do is walking. and that's not particularly sporty. but when i was off at the winter olympics i got to have a go at skiing
look how relaxed and natural i looked whilst moving slowly on two pointy flat sticks
here is the steepest incline i went down. i nearly dissappeared off down that dip to the right at one point, but managed to catch hold of the rope to stop myself.
i had a great time though and would consider going on a ski holiday. so there.
special offer - men's haircut
here's a funny old sign. men's haircut £10.
i may be wrong but are men's haircuts impulse buys ?
and those pictures off to the left look like the world's worst men's haircuts. unless you are in an 80s heavy metal band.
formal family feast
last saturday night we had a family feast. it was a formal affair and i wore my dinner jacket. we also had a family disco. here are esther and kezia waiting for jane and i to sit down and enjoy the raclette.
british olympians
here are two of the British Downhill Super G atheletes i got to meet last week.
roger cruickshank sat in front of me at the men's slalom
finlay mickel came skiing with us on the last day
