Category Archives: memes

memes, personal

Ten Things – January

This is the first of a monthly series “Ten Things” which I plan will run all year. Each month I’m going to list one thing from each of ten categories which will remain the same each month. So at the end of the year you have ten lists of twelve things.

  1. Something I Like: Sex
  2. Something I Won’t Do: Play Golf
  3. Something I Want To Do: Visit Japan
  4. A Blog I Like: Katyboo
  5. A Book I Like: Anthony Powell; A Dance to the Music of Time (Well you knew I’d say that,didn’t you? And anyway it’s 12 books really!)
  6. Some Music I Like: Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
  7. A Food I Like: Curry
  8. A Food or Drink I Dislike: Egg Custard
  9. A Word I Like: Cunt
  10. A Quote I Like: If you don’t concern yourself with your wife’s cat, you will lose something irretrievable between you. [Haruki Murakami]
memes, personal, photography, science, topographical

1/52 Solar Eclipse, London Style


Solar Eclipse, London Style [2011 week 1], originally uploaded by kcm76.

This is the view of the solar eclipse just after sunrise yesterday (Tuesday 04/01/2011) from my study window. Like what eclipse? Typical of the UK to cock it up; can’t this country get anything right? Bah Humbug!

This is also my first photo for the “52 weeks” (ie. a photo a week) I’m doing this year. I hope I can keep up the standard of getting something off-beat each week. Watch this space.

memes, music, personal

10 Song Shuffle

OK, Cat tagged me on Facebook, so here goes (after I’ve had a bite of lunch) …

What You Do
Once you’ve been tagged…(1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.(3) Write down the first 10 songs that come up–song title and artist–NO editing/cheating, please.(4) Choose 10 people to be tagged. It is generally considered to be in good taste to tag the person who tagged you.

If I tagged you, it’s because I’m betting that your musical selection is entertaining, or at least amusing. To do this on Facebook, go to “NOTES” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, enter your 10 Shuffle Songs, Tag as many people as you like (under the post) then click Publish. Otherwise post this on your weblog, as here!

The Songs
1. Pink Floyd; Wish You were Here
2. Incredible String Band; No Sleep Blues
3. Scott Joplin; Paragon Rag
4. Queen; Killer Queen
5. Vejvanovský (Pavel Josef, c1633-1693); Beatus Vir (Psalm 112)
6. Trionfi! A Florentine Festival; Canto di Lanzi sonatoridi rubecchina
7. Ludford (Nicholas, c1485-c1557); Gloria from Missa Benedicta et Venerabilis
8. Santo Domingo de Silos; Benedicta es tu Virgo Maria
9. Queen; Bicycle Race
10. Beatles; Here Comes the Sun

I tagged 10 people on Facebook, but from here I also tag Sue L.; Jilly at jillysheep; and Noreen at Norn’s Notebook.

amusements, current affairs, memes, people, pleasures

Snailr Postcard

Yay! I’m one of the lucky recipients of a postcard from The Snailr Project, brainchild of Anna over at little.red.boat. The card arrived this morning having taken almost a month to get here from somewhere in Texas.

Anna’s idea was that as she was doing a long (like 2 week) circular train trip round the US she would send random postcards to random volunteers to build up a sort of travelogue – except any one person got only one snapshot. In Anna’s words:

One journey of almost 7000 miles, six new cities, eight trains, fifteen days, and every vignette, observation and fractured bitty-bit of the travelogue broken up and sent as status messages the old way. By postcard. To a bunch of random people who asked for one. Because travelling slowly is nice. And so is leaving a trail to see where we have been.

Anna used a standard postcard, so she could prepare them in advance and not rely on local supplies.  She then customised each card with description, drawing, or whatever along the way and posted them whenever a mailbox hove into sight.

He’s the card Anna sent me from somewhere in Texas, just after they had been involved in a train crash on Friday 10 September!

Snailr Project Card

The caption to the map (which shows Anna’s route in red and the location with a * and snail logo) says

the snailr project isn’t injured. At all. Not even for insurance.

And the main text reads:

After the train had juddered to a sudden halt, and we pulled to a stop with one side half of a big, silver, grain truck (the front half) on one side of the train, the back half on the other, the rush around to find out who, if anyone, was injured, began. What a dreadful sentence. Sorry. Basically, we were ordered back to our seats and eight sets of people – first Amtrak staff, then paramedics, fire fighters, policemen, walked through the train asking if everyone was OK. They said they were. But half an hour later when people started talking to each other about later claims, all manner of injuries started appearing.

You can find Anna’s pictures from the trip with some commentary at snailrproject.com and also on Flickr.

I’m looking forward to the book of the postcards of the journey!

memes, personal, photography

05-02-10 Meme


05-02-10 Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Here are the 12 questions, and my answers, to this week’s Flickr meme:

1. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? None; in England you don’t watch movies in a theatre; it’s called a cinema!
2. Which parent do you think was the easiest for you to talk to when you were growing up? My mother
3. What shoes did you wear today? Trainers
4. What is your favourite season? Summer
5. Gum or Candy? Chocolate
6. When dismantling a bomb, do you cut the black wire or the yellow wire? The pink wire.
7. Do you whistle? Only when I snore
8. What is your favourite flower? Roses
9. Queen, The Beatles, or Rolling Stones? Late Beatles
10. What languages do you speak? English, maths, science, logic, common sense
11. Which chocolate company do you like the most? Divine
12. Top thing on your “to do” list? Make an appointment with my piercer

1. THE DOME, Cinema Worthing., 2. All About My Mother, 3. Inky trainer, 4. Hot, Air, Balloons … composite, 5. Chocolate heart on a pink gerbera daisy flower for you! (square), 6. Barbed Wire Pink, 7. Snore Graffitti, 8. Shades of ‘Marianne’ (hybrid gallica), 9. 170 – 1969 – Beatles, The – Abbey Road – UK – late 1970s, 10. another day., 11. The Heart Of Every Girl, 12. NEW LABRET PIERCING

As always the photographs are not mine so please click on individual links below to see each artist/photostream. This mosaic is for a group called My Meme, where each week there is a different theme and normally 12 questions to send you out on a hunt to discover photos to fit your meme. It gives you a chance to see and admire other great photographers’ work out there on Flickr.

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

memes, personal, photography

4-18-10 Meme


4-18-10 Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Here are the 12 questions, and my answers, to this week’s Flickr meme:

1. Night Owl or Morning Person? Neither, but slightly more lark than owl
2. What is the one thing that will make you happy? Beer
3. If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be? God, except he doesn’t exist so I can’t
4. If you somehow became the opposite sex, what is the first thing you would do? Have sex; like probably most men I want to know what sex is like for a woman. Oh I’ll do all the other thigs as well, but let’s start at the beginning!
5. What time is it right now? Later than I’d like
6. Random word. Go Vespiary
7. What is the plural form of “Starbucks”? Poisoning
8. If you won 40 Billion in the lottery, what is the first thing you’d do? Faint
9. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Of course but you will never know
10. X-men or Spiderman? Xanthene; makes as much sense as the choices offered!
11. Sword or gun?Penis. Remember “Make love not war”? Or to put it another way: “The penis mightier than the sword”.
12. What do you do for fun on your day off? Be depressed

1. NO ONE LOVES ME & NEITHER DO I, 2. Adnams, 3. nothing, 4. Stephanie1, 5. Beware the Moon, 6. vespiary – under construction, 7. Poison Midnight, 8. faint pink lips, 9. You’ll never know if he’ll have body hair!, 10. The Secret to Cloning — Revealed!, 11. Penis_girl, 12. Soul

As always the photographs are not mine so please click on individual links below to see each artist/photostream. This mosaic is for a group called My Meme, where each week there is a different theme and normally 12 questions to send you out on a hunt to discover photos to fit your meme. It gives you a chance to see and admire other great photographers’ work out there on Flickr.

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

memes, personal, photography

4-4-10 Meme


4-4-10 Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

So here are this week’s 12 questions and answers:

1. In your opinion, which country produces the best wine? France
2. What is your current favourite song? Oh, for today, let’s choose the Moody Blues, “Nice to be Here”
3. How would you describe your sense of humour? Eccentric
4. Adidas or Nike? Neither
5. Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe? Neither have ever done anything for me
6. Lemon or lime? Today it’s lemon, but it’s marginal and depends what for
7. How many megapixels on your camera on your phone? No clue; don’t care; don’t use it; I have a camera!
8. What do you think God looks like? As he doesn’t exist he can’t look like anything – probably
9. Do you like Pirates of the Caribbean? Only if barbecued
10. What’s your favourite pasta? Seafood linguini
11. Apples or oranges? Apples
12. What is the best airline company? Whichever has magic carpets

1. Sarlat – Frankreich – Le Moyen-Âge – france, 2. Corfe Castle, 3. Winnebago DaVinci, 4. WILD DIVA, 5. We Can Do It!, 6. Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat., 7. i don’t care., 8. righteous blasphemy, 9. Pirates of the Caribbean – HMS Interceptor makes way under a Full Moon, 10. Linguini Pescatore, 11. Clouds in my apple, 12. magic carpet ride

As always the photographs are not mine so please click on individual links below to see each artist/photostream. This mosaic is for a group called My Meme, where each week there is a different theme and normally 12 questions to send you out on a hunt to discover photos to fit your meme. It gives you a chance to see and admire other great photographers’ work out there on Flickr.

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

memes, personal

ABC of Me

I found this one ages ago and keep meaning to do it.  So at last here is an ABC of me …

Age: 59
Bed: King size; if the bedroom was bigger we’d probably have a bigger bed
Chore you hate: all of them except cooking
Dog’s name: Sue; went to the great kennel in the sky 40 years ago
Essential start your day item: Tea
Favourite colours: Red, yellow, green
Gold or Silver: Silver; it’s a pity is is so soft
Height: 1.8m
Instruments you [wish you could] play: I always fancied the trombone, or something odd like a serpent, or a jazz-style double bass
Job title: Resident Idiot
Kids: None; phew!
Living arrangements: A house that looks like a jumble sale
Mom’s name: Dora
Nicknames: None that I’ll admit to 😉
Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Not many, actually: sleep clinic a couple of times, appendectomy, sinus operation
Pet Peeve: Politicians and the religious
Quote from a movie and/or book: “It’ll pass, Sir, like other days in the Army” [Anthony Powell; The Soldier’s Art]
Right or left handed: Right and only right
Siblings: None
Time you wake up: 0630 hrs on swimming days
Underwear: Boxers, when I have to; nothing if I’m at home or wearing shorts
Vegetable you dislike: Sweetcorn
Ways you run late: Travel delays are about the only thing which ever makes me late
X-rays you’ve had: Mostly dental; but there have been others: sinuses, bowel, kidneys, foot
Yummy food you make: Curry
Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Make of that what you will.

memes, personal, thoughts

What is this Thing Called Life?

I’ve stolen this meme from both My Life Inside and Bringing up Charlie mainly because I thought it might be a bit of harmless fun.

I’m not going to tag anyone – but anyone is welcome to do this meme and tag others as they see fit.

OK, so …

I collect … all sorts of dross, but mostly books.  Just books, books, books.  Interleaved with the occasional bit of technology and music and dross.  It’s no wonder really our house is a good emulation of a distressed jumble sale: I buy new stuff and Noreen doesn’t throw anything away.  Anybody got a month to spare to come round and sort it all out for us?  If so, bring a skip!

I can’t live without … well let’s be honest we could all live without everything except occasional food and water.  But there are things without which we would struggle to feel life worthwhile.  For me this would include, but may not be limited to, Noreen, cats, good food, beer, books and access to the natural world.

My guilty pleasure is … I don’t have guilty pleasures!  Why are pleasures always supposed to be guilty anyway?  But I do have a few pleasures: sex, beer, erotica, cats, nudity.  If you think any of them are guilty, then that’s your problem, not mine.  Guilt, like obscenity, is in the mind of the beholder.

Our house is filled with … dross.  Piles of it.  And books.  See above.

I treasure my … mind.  I am able to think; logically.  I was trained that way.  It saves me from all forms of Devil worshippers.  And as Noreen has said in the past “mind the size of the Albert Hall and he runs around in it”.  Slight exaggeration, but flattering nonetheless.

Right now I can’t stop thinking about  … well being a bloke the obvious answer is: sex.  After all aren’t all men supposed to think of sex every 4 seconds or something daft.  More prosaically I’m contemplating all the useful things I should be doing instead of this.  Boring!

Currently I am reading … the pile of books about 6 feet high beside the bed.  Books on science, mythology, Chaucer, Anthony Powell, Romney Marsh … it’s all there!

My favourite item of clothing is … nothing.  Yes, that’s right, I’m happiest in the nude.  Well I did have a Bohemian and naturist upbringing!  One of my underlying philosophies is: Nude when possible; clothed when necessary.  Sadly the necessary is all too frequent.

The last thing that really inspired me was … Oh My God, That Britni’s Shameless.  Whether you agree with the young lady or not (and it happens I do agree with a lot she says) she is so outspoken and tells it as she sees it, that she has made me question not only what I believe but also the extent to which, and how, I communicate this.

My comfort food is … errr … food?  Quite a few things fall into the comfort food category: fish and chips; sausages; almost anything in good cheese sauce, beer.  All of them hideously bad for one – but that’s the point isn’t it?

On my desk are … PC, screen, keyboard and mouse; laser printer; backup disk array; filing trays; phone; piles of paperwork; pens; keys; mobile phone; rubber stamps; half a dozen CDs; teddy bear; fax machine; tissues; vase of daffodils; and a large mug of tea.  Yes it is a large desk (aka. worktop).

This weekend I will … catch up on some sleep; try to empty the spare bedroom ready for house guests.

Tonight I must … take delivery of the supermarket order.

I love what I do because … as I’m retired I can do whatever the hell I like!!

So there it is.  Do with it as you will.  After all, it’s free!

memes, personal, photography

3-28-10 Meme


3-28-10 Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

I haven’t done the weekly Flickr meme for a while, for no reason other than it just hasn’t happened. Anyway here are this week’s 12 questions and answers:

1. Do you zip or button first? Button, but only if there’s no Velcro
2. What are you listening to right now? Nothing
3. Which band did you last see live? An Elastic Band
4. What book are you currently reading? A pile about 4 feet high
5. Give one reason why you would hate a person. Stupidity
6. What is your favourite type of music? Medieval Latin Church
7. What food do you dislike? Egg custard
8. Would you rather be a vampire, werewolf, or zombie? Vampire
9. Have you ever smoked? Yes
10. If you were rich, what is the first one of these you would hire: Personal Chef, maid, masseuse, chauffeur, or trainer? Maid
11. What defines you? Y chromosome
12. What do you think of Africa? Boring

1. Belly Button Cow, 2. ‘garden of dreams’ original ink brush pwn sumi-e drawing/painting, 3. A random selection of scattered elastic bands with experimental post-processing, 4. Pile of Books in Prague Library, 5. Stupidity Sign, 6. The 15th Century Ranworth Antiphoner, 7. egg custard tart, 8. София, България. Събота, 25-ти юли, 2009., 9. Yes / Close To The Edge, 10. Sexy Anime Maid, 11. Phalluzoïde ou l’Origine du Sex (Please do not touch, lick, stroke or mount this artwork), 12. www.flickr.com/photos/crustydolphin/2430434405/

As always the photographs are not mine so please click on individual links below to see each artist/photostream. This mosaic is for a group called My Meme, where each week there is a different theme and normally 12 questions to send you out on a hunt to discover photos to fit your meme. It gives you a chance to see and admire other great photographers’ work out there on Flickr.

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys