... one of the worst sculptures i've ever seen

 

popped along the river bank ...

 

... in case the oxford crew needed some advice on ...

 

... how to handle their oars !

 

three beautiful sounds

the cacophony of an espresso machine
in a tiled & smoke-filled bar
with twenty five spaniards
all shouting at the television

the hiss of the breaking wave
rushing back down the pebbles
on brighton beach

the ear-splitting merriment of
a feasting flock of sparrows

... and a fourth

the turbo-charged,
window-rattling,
organ-loft storm
of George Collinson's voice
in the middle of a joyous rant !

fortnum and mason's window dressing genius?/genii? at it again ...

... i'll have some of what they're on !

 

the aged parents in repose ... honour thy father and thy mother

 

breakfast !

 

... beyond the wildest dreams of avarice ...

 

lewes crescent in kemptown ...

 

... with brighton pier in the distance

 

lewis, a mature adult, has discovered the joys of fart putty

he says it helps him to annoy a lot of people & the only difficulty is getting it back in the pot

friendly ! ... then you'll never walk alone !

microanthropomorphism

this red boat was just swinging around it's buoy as the tide turned to ebb

that's the same cloud as in the picture of hurlingham below, moving on, as they do

at one time, back in 1928, the land over there was flooded to a depth of six feet

i suppose there'll be a next time

 

the hurlingham club, a rare glimpse from wandsworth park

their website includes an interesting history

after WWII, some of their land was nationalised ... today they only hold forty-two acres

 

st thomas a becket church at brightling

with squire jack fuller's tomb

last time i was there, the day was freezing and grey, this morning was just as cold but brilliant

i wanted to go in to photograph some of the fixtures and fittings but a communion service had just begun when i arrived

if it is sunny, i'll try again next week

 

nice fat numerals, formed in 1905

nationalised heraldry

 

no ornamentation here ...

every little piece had a reason and some purpose

 

aaaaah ! a lovely long P !

 

sheffield park station sign

notice how close together the letters have been set

 

here be dragons ... sheffield park station

 

she used to work along the docks in southampton

this little tank engine, Normandy, was built in 1893, and she's still working !

i love her long shadow

 

ouch !

i burnt my fingers on this tiny piece of bread baked by nurielle, the french perfectionist at ockenden manor

 

brighton racecourse

what a joy it must be to gallop flat out towards that distant stadium down this great curve 150 metres above the deep blue sea

and from here, on the very clearest days, you can see the isle of wight on the horizon, and sometimes, even beyond that to the round hills of purbeck

never underestimate a fellow human being

i still haven't figured out how to use links, so apologies for an untidy page

since making a couple of ( VERY SHORT ) visits to the navajo and hopi people i've tried to keep up with some of their issues & achievements via the internet

here are two nice stories, fresh today

http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0609,lalli,72326,15.html

http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/main.asp?SectionID=29&SubSectionID=41&ArticleID=4699

dialogue

i forgot to report this scene from yesterday's blood donor session ...

as i lay down on the comfy blood donors' bed, i was unable to stifle a yawn

first loud nurse ( with needle ):

"Look at him yawning !"

me:

"Sorry, its a conditioned reflex, I'll yawn whenever I lay down"

second loud nurse ( walking past with a bag of someone else's blood ):

"I bet he snores, too !"

me:

"I'm afraid it's true ! I do !"

lady donor with very husky low voice on next bed, gives a heartfelt & theatrical sigh:

"Show me a man who doesn't !"