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June 2008 Archives

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a brown yellow thing on a yellow thing

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the weather was finally nice last weekend as can be seen by this sunbathing beauties at an outside brick-a-brack stall.  batman is firmly keeping his clothes on.

the chap prefers to sunbathe alone.  with his cowboy boots on.

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not quite sure what is going on below.  and the tent is a bit out of context in the photo above.

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we went to a country fayre yesterday.  kezia (second left) got to join in the country dancing

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there was a go-cart race where the parent-pushers were particularly competitive (the poor children are looking on in horror !)

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and everyone's favourite family game of archery

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fly ball at a country fayre

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don't get me wrong, the bible is an amazing book almost beyond description.  as a christian i believe it contains actual words from God.  which is quite amazing when you think about it.

it's also available online

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the flagship range

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popular bible

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mass market bible (paperback)

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pocket gift bible (for those who like to give people pockets)

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london is great

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now you 'c' it now you don't.  City f Westminster lean streets

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i  like this sign a lot.  it's obvious who it's aimed at and what they need (not) to do.  and the final sentence in brackets is very ominous: "If necessary we will telephone Mr Smith".

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"big ben and the houses of parliament".  in quotes.

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the view from my office window

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Here's Kate.  she's the friend i mentioned at the Interesting conference who appeared on the front of Horse magazine which lead to me having the word 'horse' stuck in my brain which when repeated for long enough starts to lose its meaning at turn back in to sounds. 

most words do that if you say them long enough and really think about them.  it's a bit like walking.  if you really think about what you are doing it all gets a bit tricky.

so there you go.  i wasn't making it up !


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i was confused by this for a while.  then i realised.

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extensions are very popular at the moment.  although, the chiltern way is the chiltern way isn't it ?  that like saying the 'stonehenge extension'.  it's just not right.  not that i'm an expert on national footpaths.  just so you know.

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random highland cows on oxfordshire hillside shocker.

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and of course shorely was right

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photography is mostly about light, which is why websites like this are so brilliant.  esther and kezia shouted me to come urgently with my camera yesterday morning as their toys were being lit by a thin slither of light which was coming through the living room curtains and illuminating a piece of string holding a toy balloon.  fantastic stuff which of course completely confused my camera.

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i had the day off yesterday so jane and i attempted to find lots of geoaches (but we got lost and couldn't find any so we went back to the car then managed to find two we'd previously not been able to find.  humph).  anyway, we popped in to an art studio which we passed in the car and found it had been temporarily converted in to a make up studio for some TV program.  which involves crows and people holding kids it seems

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i often wonder if i'd run out of things to take pictures of if i lived properly in the country.  here's an example of the type of pictures i could take - it's a brush in a tree

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raise your glasses

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slow censuses (censii) are more accurate

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no sooner do i publish this then i find this sign

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this rat has been here for a long time but it's nice to see it's not been scrubbed away

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this sign has a brilliant phrase (in brackets) "no food use enquiries".

perhaps they are plagued with people phoning them to ask if Eggs make good hats, or whether you can stand on a potato to reach a lightbulb, or if you can use custard to artex ceilings, or if it's appropriate to threaten a policeman with a runner bean.

what food use would you enquire about ? 

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this is in a window in a charity shop near Farringdon Station in london.  it was presented to david f weinham in reocgnition of achieved sales in austria of 25,000 units of the single des'ree "life". austria 1998.

it was fifty pounds if you're interested.

and i'd like to take this opportunity to say a public thanks to all austria unit shifters.      thanks.

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i like both of these shots, though the one above with the reflection of house behind me has the edge i think.  i like how the lines lead it to her head !

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hotel 6 would like a house keeper.  who is hotel number 2 ?

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you see things when you walk in london.

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nails spas usually have really horrendous 1980s signs and graphics outside their shops, so it was interesting to see these hard built signs.  it does make you wander whether their hands approach applies to their service.

but, i guess if there's one place you do need hands on service, it's a nail spa

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yesterday was our church picnic which was a nice relaxing afternoon after the intensive brain-melt of interesting2008. 

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our church friends really are our family and it's great to just spend time sitting around chatting (whilst others swam and swung (from trees and at balls with bats))

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hassocks from two different churches, but obviously the same design.  and not to scale i think.

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some photos from the most excellent Interesting 2008

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the crowd as seen from the stage during my nightmare of comedy compering

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the man who designed the (back of our) money

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the impromptu recorder orchestra

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a compere's shadow

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a man of faces

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a man of zeotropes

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this year i went to the bar after and chatted with lots of lovely people.  here are damien mulley and annie mole down t'pub after (both legendary bloggers)



i nearly ended up having to sing a song in public yesterday.  i did have a song prepared (not this one) but it was slightly too late as when i was being hassled to do it i didn't remember i knew one.  anyway, the one above is old, but i've just got round to posting to YouTube.  i think i've blogged it before.  but you know. it's a good un. 

it's from the early 90s when i were a nipper.  i was known as spoonchicken (or spoon chicken) back then in the glorious town of Sheffield.

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all this happening in clear view of her royal highness.  sorry ma'am

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do you ever wonder what those funny little circles of metal are in the pavement you occasionally see when you walk past buildings in towns like london ?  for a long time I thought they must be sawn off railings from wartime when they needed such things to make weapons. 

but no.  they are simply boundary markers, as explained by this helpful legally aware piece of pavement.

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as a wise band once (nearly) sang, there is nothing better in life that writing on a banana with a biro.  there really isn't and i highly recommend you try it

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when i went to work this morning this dummy was on a pillar near the train station awaiting rediscovery.  12 hours later when i got back it was on the floor snout down.  i suspect it's is less likely to be retrieved in this orientation

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if you ever get yourself a fancy sign made up, then i advise not putting your price on it as when inflation comes along and you have to raise your prices you'll have to stick a sticker on it and it'll look silly.  same goes for URLs, except with the sticker, obviously.

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this is probably the queen or prime minister or someone.  they tend to zoom through london with a police motorcycle party and some big 4x4s.  i bet you can't believe i get so close to these people !

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now you see me now you don't.

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is smoking by the not smoking sign a red card offence do you think ?

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esther took this photo of me standing in front of a projection demonstrating how autochromes work at waddesdon manor a few weeks back.  i love how the letter 'O' rests on my head like a comedy hat

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i was going to just post the picture above, but then i realised i could make another pop pun title by including a few more.  or perhaps i should have put none up and then the question would have been more relevant.  as it is, it answers itself.  oh well.

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