This is weird …
Why do I keep thinking today is Saturday?
We’ve done all the things we’ve normally done on a Friday, but my brain has persisted throughout in telling me that today is Saturday.
I really don’t understand time. Or should that be consciousness? But then does anyone understand either? However you look at them, both are just weird.
Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion.
[William Blake ]
The subject of Tara’s Gallery this week is Sunshine. So I offer you this …
This was taken during our September 2009 trip to Washington, DC; actually in the herb garden of the National Cathedral.
The whole garden was swarming with butterflies in the September sun, which was unseasonably hot. There were lots of these ranging in colour from pale cream through canary yellow (as this one) and pale green and pale orange. Don’t know if they were all the same species, but they all looked the same apart from the colouring.
And there were also lots of Monarch butterflies and several delightful hummingbirds, which I totally failed to be quick enough to capture.
Another in my occasional series documenting some of the underbelly of Britain. Britain which we wouldn’t like visitors to see and which we wish wasn’t there. The trash, abused, decaying, destitute and otherwise buggered parts of our environment. Those parts which symbolise the current economic malaise; parts which, were the country flourishing, wouldn’t be there, would be better cared for, or made less inconvenient.
Click the image for larger views
This is London’s iconic Hyde Park Corner, at the junction of Piccadilly, Knightsbridge and Park Lane a couple of Sunday mornings ago. It was taken from the top of the Wellington Arch (now open to the public). What a mess!
It’s auction time again and as usual I’ve been perusing the catalogue of our local auction house. I must admit that they are not as interesting or wacky as they were a year or two back; whether they’ve improved their description writing or aren’t getting so much odd stuff to sell, I don’t know — although this sale does seem to include a lot of good silverware and designer clothes (both men’s and women’s). Anyway here are some highlights of the latest sale which amused me.
An engraving, ‘Actresses Dressing in a Barn’ …
Undressing? I should have expected the opposite of actresses in a barn!!
A large military lot to include two ammunition cases, a radio … headsets, an HF transmitter receiver, a large communication unit, two army hats, etc.
A small carton of plated King’s pattern cutlery, also a pair of berry spoons, souvenir teaspoons, corkscrew, and an unusual giant nutcracks (sic)
A fine large George III silver sauceboat, with gadroon rim, on stepped hoof feet, with half-eagle crest.
How do you step a foot,let alone put a crest on it?
A silver child’s mug of Celtic design …
And there was I thinking children’s mugs were always whinge-shaped.
An Elizabeth II silver waiter with bead rim …
I can think of a few gays who’d quite like that. 😉
A pair of George II silver baluster muffineers …
Well that’s a new name of a gigolo!
A shelf of exotic shells and dried fish, and … a gilt metal leopard
A shelf of interesting figural pieces, including an old cream jug styled as a seated goat …
You mean you don’t already have one? Tut! Tut!
Pottery storage jars styled as houses, china cups, saucers and plates, a bowl of pottery fruit …
Not quite sure how you style a jar as a plate or saucer!?
A pair of Baccarat frosted glass chicks …
Three old green glass dumps (sic), one enclosing a three tiered flower pot, the other two bubbled.
Do what?!?
Nine late Victorian fireplace tiles, variously decorated with birds and flowers, and also with Dutch children in blue relief.
Should think the children might be very relieved to the removed from the tiles.
A collection of ceramic figures, including … a Lomonosov rabbit with carrot and polar bear …
Would have thought rabbit inside polar bear might be more likely.
Five mounted goat skulls with horns, each on a shoeld (sic) mount
A cowboy saddle in red leather and suede.
Now where’s Princess Diana when you need her?
Experiment, week 28. Another week in my continuing experiment in documenting five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful this week. So this week we have …
This week’s selection of links to items spotted recently which you may have missed. And you really didn’t want to miss this juicy selection …
First up here are some awesome illuminated manuscript cookies. Just where does one get edible ink and paper for an inkjet printer?
How is it that we see dark, even when we close our eyes, because apparently the eye gives off more “black body radiation” than there is daylight? It’s all down to Quantum Mechanics. Interesting for you scientists; awesome for the rest of you that someone even investigated this!
Apparently the government may be about to (re)introduce obscenece laws allowing the persecution of buzzards. The birds are allegedly stealing too many pheasants from the idle rich who now want to shoot the buzzards as well as the pheasants.
Why are tomatoes so tasteless these days? Well the scientists think they’ve found out what adds the taste (and it wasn’t obvious!) so they can now breed better commercial varieties. In the meantime the advice seems to be to grow your own.
So just why are harps harp-shaped? It’s physics again.
A Drink to Help You Orgasm? Fantastic idea; shame about the marketing hype.
OK so extended breastfeeding is the norm in most human and primate societies. So why are all you western girlies weirdly not doing it? Ah, I see, not enough Neurogasm. 😉
What? An American designer who hopes his better vibrator can rejuvenate the American sex life? Only if it comes in a plain brown wrapper.
So apparently the urge to sext naked self-portraits is primal. Yeah right; so our distant ancestors had mobile phones!? But seriously, where’s the f***ing problem? Nudity is neither unnatural nor unwholesome — actually just the opposite. If people want to show themselves off, well fine, isn’t that their privilege?
Besides it seems Rihanna (“a nubile chanteuse, m’lud”) is spending a lot of time and energy sharing round what’s between her legs. Again, where’s the problem? Isn’t it her prerogative. Good for her for knowing what she wants and not being afraid to go for it. It’s a pity more of us aren’t so unbuttoned.
Just a quick note of a couple of follow-up pieces on the Fukushima accident which appeared this week.
First off there is a WHO report looking at the likely long-term health effects of the accident. I’ve clearly not read the whole report but there is a good summary of the main findings on Nature News here and here. The main thrust is that, as has always been said, the radiation effects on the affected citizens are likely to be negligible and far outweighed by the psychological trauma.
Secondly Robert Cringely in his blog I, Cringely writes about what he sees as the inevitability of a further major accident at Fukushima — and one which may be far worse. Basically his contention is that a further large earthquake is inevitable before the Japanese manage to clean up the exposed fuel rods from Reactor 4. No only is this a huge project in its own right but Cringely maintains it will be made worse by the totally dysfunctional way in which Japanese business works (or rather doesn’t work). It makes chilling reading; let’s just hope he’s wrong.
Vicissitude
This week is the 100th showing of Tara’s Gallery, and for the theme she has of course chosen Picture Postcard. So here’s a postcard from me …
Double Departure from Alexisbad
This is from a set of Steam in the Harz Mountains, Germany taken on a RailTrail tour in February 2008. It was taken, as the title suggests, at Alexisbad during a steam charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode.
This was a special photoshoot staged for our group; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated at Alexisbad. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service.
It was a fantastic trip with travel entirely by train from London: well organised, excellent and interesting tour leaders, good company, good food and lots of trains! As well as this full day charter the five day trip also included a tour of the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen works, a trip up the Broken Mountain (yes, by steam train) and a stop-over in Wuppertal for a ride on the Schwebebahn, their hanging monorail.
The only thing missing was the snow that we should have rightly had in February!
In five days the only train that was late was the return Thalys service from Köln to Brussels, and that was by the staggering amount of just 10 minutes.
An absolutely first class trip which really wasn’t long enough!
Lots more of my photos from the trip on Flickr.