the bridge over the canal at stoke bruerne

i've always been intrigued by the way bricks are arranged beneath oblique arches



















and here they have drained the lock, revealing the flat bed of the canal, lined with bricks that are coloured by a yellow clay sediment

hanslope church ... the tallest steeple in buckinghamshire

it was too windy, and the long grass was too wet to set up the tripod ... i'll have to go back !

... "Created by the early manorial family, the Maudits, following the Conquest, a hunting park was established at Hanslope and by Royal agreement several stags were taken from Salcey Forest to fortify the stock. Eventually this was acquired by Basil Brent, by whom in the late seventeenth century the present mansion was built. In time William Watts, an ex governor of Bengal, in June, 1764, bought possession and his tomb may be seen in the local church. Whilst in India, William had been attacked by a rabid dog and he was only saved from a severe mauling, or worse, by the action of a bystander, who fired an arrow through the animal's paw.
As a sign of his gratitude William had the representation of a hound with an arrow through the paw incorporated in the family coat of arms, and on the top of Hanslope church spire the weathervane is shaped in a similar depiction!"

morning has broken ...

herstmonceux observatory

windmill hill near herstmonceux

a windy day at the office

fortunately the nearest man was just out of reach when this two ton steel gate was ripped away from it's restraining chain with such force that the sectional frame ruptured and bent at right angles next to the hinges ... the smallest man in the picture is about six foot four

peonies

superman would have lost

our street is closed for emergency waterworks ...

... how is it the fire brigade always arrive before the water engineers ?

battersea power station again, again ... had to try out the new camera after days of gloom ... little tower bottom right is westminster cathedral

a modest proposal

an idea that might improve the sublime spectacle that is professional soccer

given david beckham's poor disciplinary record in the spanish league this season, and his imminent move to play in america, the question will inevitably recur ... "should football introduce sin-bins ?"

the answer is clearly "yes & no" ...

instead of a boring bench where a vexed player might sit for a few minutes, we need a coin-operated touch-line X-box confessional booth ... linked to giant screens ... virtual priests for ordinary matches ... virtual bishops for the european cup ... virtual archbishops for the world cup ... players may only return to the fray when they have been thoroughly absolved ... the element of suspense as the sidelined players grapple with their conscience will lift the game to new levels of stress

... i used to be an artist's model ...

nuri ... just one of the many great guys working at H&B ... this picture is for his mum !

third in easy-to-read quartet

a brighter sunday

another dark saturday in putney

... and i don't have the heart to take down the last bit of christmas

almost instant gratification ... i'll read the instructions tomorrow

aaargh !

this evening as i was sitting down to edit today's pictures, my phone rang

instinctively i stood up to answer the call, and yanked the usb cable, damaging the socket at the side of the camera

the camera has gone to sleep & i don't know if it can be repaired

woe !

a proper lunch break with laura and nic

i was on my way back from an unexpected and urgent dash to banbury when i realized i could easily spend an hour with some friends who live near the motorway ... so i did !

lewes crown court ( i )

the old pevsner's guide to the architecture of sussex says the three panels represent Truth, Justice, and Mercy ... i'd like more of an an explanation ... any suggestions ?

lewes crown court ( ii )

lewes crown court ( iii )

oxen, pulling cart and plough, at the old lewes town hall

the lamb ... the nicest pub sign in lewes

the higgledy piggledy roofs of lewes station

to greenwich in the rain ...

... and the fabulous national maritime museum

necessity is the mother of invention

ornaments of malmesbury society, sue and james castle loitering in the national portrait gallery

trafalgar square on a rainy night in january

captain james cook maintaining a sharp lookout in front of the admiralty

garrets

the old cabbies' cabin under hungerford bridge

thames, dogger, fisher, humber ... windy and wet

nine elms moon set

fellini satyricon

not a "nice" film ... but possibly a great film

after seeing it thirty something years ago i was troubled and haunted by it's violence and amorality

i wondered if it had been made with a subtext, such as ...

"fellow italians, we've been here before ! do you really want to go here again ?"

of course, i was fatuously wrong

i now know that life and art can't offer us an either/or scenario and fellini would certainly have known that !

people don't juxtapose the words sublime and ridiculous for nothing

bought at hartfield in ashdown forest, a gentle "your turn to make the toast" reminder for the loved one

to the tate britain on millbank ...

... to see a splendidly curated exhibition of works by holbein ...

... reproductions can't to justice to holbein's delicacy ...

... i can't think of a better portraitist than holbein ...