Phirst Phriday Fotos

I take a lot of photos. In fact I take far too many. And I'm the butt of many a joke for this habit. Like many digital photos they get stored on a hard drive, and rarely, if ever, get looked at again. So I thought I might try just posting up a few of my favourites from the previous month and see how it goes. I might forget next month, it may never happen again...but we'll see!



The boy took this picture of me at Kings of Leon in Hyde Park...I rather like its distorted angles...I'm not that big. Really. No, really.



On the morning of the fateful game against Germany, we ate boiled eggs decorated with stickers of the players faces. Ashley Cole's egg got smashed to pieces by The Cat.



A picture of a picture from The Sunday Times. I'm an Observer man myself, but life changes. This is..as the caption says...a clock in a school in Detroit... It has a very Dali-esque feel to it.



A chandelier of builders lights from the pop up restaurant we went to



This is the view from near my office...I just liked the weird light



Sometimes I make things. I made this from the remaindered kitchen work top and some stone balls from a garden centre. I'm pretty pleased with it!



This is the indulgent look The Cat gives The Boy on a regular basis....it's lovely to see



And to finish...you could call this a family photo

Bits and bobs; odds and sods

The Boy has received a commendation at school...none of us (including The Boy) are entirely sure why. He was given a mini-torch by the headmistress, who said "I know it's crap, but it's all we've got. Well done." I'm not sure whether to be shocked or impressed at her use of the word crap... I like it when people say it as it is!

I recently went to a family reunion. The eldest there was Uncle Jack, who's pushing towards his 100th. He has an e-mail account. I think that's pretty cool.

Tuesday evening riding home on the Mid-Life Crisis, I was overtaken by another biker who was weaving in and out of the traffic and going about twice the speed limit. I thought 'He's going to have an accident'. Indeed he did...about 10 yards in front of me. Given this was the busy A12 dual carriageway in the rush hour, I thought he would die as his bike slid in one direction with sparks flying everywhere whilst he headed in the opposite direction, bouncing between cars. The traffic came to a halt, and he staggered up, quite bruised and battered. Half of me was pleased, the other half thought he deserved what he got and worse. He got torn jeans and bike jacket, a few bruises and scratches...I left before the ambulance and police arrived. But not before giving my contact details to the woman whose car his bike had skidded into - he accused her of pulling out in front of him. What a shame he couldn't take responsibility for his own stupidity.

The Cat has bought some shorts for the summer. The Cat's Mum's eyebrows are raised. I'm looking forward to seeing this develop....

We parked in Loughton yesterday, and the ticket machine wasn't working...which is usual these days. And this is because they are trying to encourage people to pay by mobile phone. Which is fine for those who have them, but not for people (such as many pensioners) who don't. The system is slow and cumbersome, and prone to not working...it took me several goes before their system finally recognised the location number on the parking machine. So for one hour I paid the 65 pence plus however much the call was....and what has really enraged me is the '20pence convenience charge'. Convenient for whom - certainly not for me, nor any of the half dozen people also trying to pay. I can't tell you how much I hate bureaucratic double-speak.

Saw The Kings of Leon last night in Hyde Park. When I say saw, I mean we were so far back that we could watch them on the video screens. I love their music, but his is the second time I've seen them and been completely underwhelmed by their stage presence - so next time I'll save my money. I'm glad my companions brought the gin and vermouth and olives and ice to make martinis because this made my birthday treat very palatable.

Emotions...for Tara's gallery

What a lovely subject for Tara to choose and I could think of no other photo than this one taken at the school sports day when The Boy had just thrown his javelin further than anyone else. Tara has done this week's gallery in conjunction with the Writing Workshop...somewhere I'm yet to venture



This is joy.
Pure unadulterated joy.
The joy of victory.
The joy of friends savouring each other's success.
The joy of the moment.

There will be giants

Me: "Are we doing anything on Friday night?"
The Cat's Mum: "No"
"Let's meet at St Pancras then"
"What are we doing?"
"Not telling"

Friday night
"Why are we here?"
"We're catching a train"
"Oooh how exciting - the Eurostar!"
"No, we're going to Stratford"
"WHAT! YOU MEAN I CAME THROUGH STRATFORD HALF AN HOUR AGO, ON THE HOT, SWEATY, STICKY TUBE, JUST TO TAKE THE TRAIN BACK? ARE YOU MAD?"
"This is a different Stratford. This is Stratford International"

Later
"Ok I think you'd better tell me what's happening...you know I'm not good with surprises"
"We're going to a car park"
"WHAT?"
"Yes. A car park in a shopping centre. But it's not finished yet.

A little later

"We're here"



And magically, this becomes:



We were greeted by an Amazonian giant...I'd say 6'5, but I can't be sure as my neck was stiff from trying to look up.

And inside it's like this:



The views were spectacular:





The food was delicious, and it was an amazing, evening. We were so very lucky to be able to go. I loved it. Read all about it here - what a brilliant idea. And it was a shame to leave at the end of a very lively evening.