Shadow
What curry, vast quantities of chocolate, range of cakes, wines, and local microbrewery real ales lurk in the joint birthday and housewarming party venue frequented last night in Basingstoke? The Shadow knows! Google+: View post on...
It Must Be Love
Unrelated to the photo, but I thought I'd share something that happened today. It's because I'm a sharer. In addition to the job-stress-relief that comes from whipping the camera out I had a duty to perform this lunchtime; we have a housewarming/birthday to attend this weekend in Basingstoke which necessitated a brief stop in Hotel Chocolat to pick up some goodies. I was accompanied by my colleague. He's male just like me (in case you've never caught on). This will become important. I picked up some gift chocolates for the weekend and some chocolates for personal consumption too (because it's the law) and then proceeded to pay for them at the till. A very friendly woman attended and offered the pair of us some fruit-filled, white chocolate hearts to let melt on our tongues while we waited for the card reader to read my card. Some small talk about chocolates and signing up for emails proceeded along with a few grins and nods and lies about already having signed up. "Ooh! Mojito truffles!" said the woman suddenly, picking up some of the treats I'd picked out for our own use. "These are lovely!" she confided. "We certainly hope so!" I replied with a smile. "Your wife will really like them," said my colleague. Loudly. Deeply. I glanced at him. He looked a little… puffed up. We left the shop – after the transaction had gone through, of course – and I gave my colleague that look that says "what in the name of all that's unholy was all that about?" without using words; it does use an eyebrow and enough muscles to raise one side of the upper lip. "She thought we were a couple!" he hissed. "So?" was my laughter-accompanied reply, but in addition to the laughter there was also regret; oh, the missed fun that could have been had with a sexuality-threatened colleague if only I'd spotted the signs earlier. But I know for next time. Google+: View post on...
Love Books?
Dorothy does. She's so pleased with her new purchase she feels the need to text her friend Mary back at the office. "I've picked up a new book." Dorothy doesn't go in for all that text-speak nonsense. "GR8 WOT?" comes the reply. Mary doesn't share Dorothy's stance on sending messages using full words. Or correctly-spelt ones. And her phone needs a firmware update to fix an annoying issue that only permits uppercase characters. "50 Shades of Grey…" is the reply from Dorothy. She glances nervously at the bag in which her book is located and then around her to ensure nobody has seen over her shoulder at the phone's small screen. There's a man with a camera on the bench over the road but it seems unlikely he'd be able to get a decent shot of her from there. A trill from the phone indicates that Mary's replied. "GOT IT ITS SH1T LOL". Mary's probably not laughing out loud which annoys Dorothy – one should never claim to be doing something that one isn't, after all – but not as much as the missing apostrophe, punctuation, and self-censorship. Dorothy smirks, though, and taps away swiftly on the keypad in her hands. "… the pop-up edition!" she continues. By way of response there's nothing but silence and Dorothy wanders off to find somewhere private for a bit of a read. Dorothy loves books. Just not very good ones. Google+: View post on...
Professor Brian Cox, Drunk in Borneo
Professor Brian Cox‘s latest programme for the BBC starts tonight. Wonders of Life follows the programme formula showcased in Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe taking Brian across the globe in a bid to explain the complexity, simplicity, and beauty of the evolutionary process and the way in which life came into being on the planet. It will be shown in HD so for those couple of people recently searching to see if Brian Cox wears a wig that will be your best chance to get close to the screen and make your own mind up (hint: would he really choose one that looks like that?) I caught up with Brian during a break in filming in Borneo and talked to him about the wonders of life. As we were (and still are) both men it was necessary for us to get out the alcohol in order to discuss a matter this emotive. Brian: Vodka means ‘little water’. Did you know that? Did you?! You need water for life. I think. So… vodka! Me: Vodka! Brian: Vodka! Wait! Water for life… water of life! Think about it chum! Me: Isn’t that whiskey? Brian: Oh, you’re only fucking right! You’re right you are! You know what? You are right! Let’s make some whiskey! Me: Whiskey! Do we have the ingredients for whiskey? Brian: Whiskey has taken millions and millions and billions of years to form… What did you say? Me: Are we making whiskey or what? Brian: Vodka! Me: What? Brian: Vodka and tea and me! I can distill whiskey. Don’t look at me like that! I’m a theoretical physician… physical… scientist! Watch! Me: Well, you are a bloody wonder. Brian: I see what you did there ya cheeky monkey! Me: Heh! Now I’ve seen everything. What sort of whiskey is it? Brian: It’s quite peaty. I was eating soil earlier. Me: Right. Why? Brian: There’s life in soil. Me: You’re weird. Has anyone ever told you you’re weird? Brian: No. Nope. Yes. My wife. And you. That’s two! Me: I’ll drink to that! Champagne! Brian: Down the hatch! Me: Skol! Brian: Do they still make Skol? I have not had Skol in years. Me: Do you want some Skol? I think you can probably get some because you’re a famous physicist… Brian: That’s the word I was looking for! Me: … but Borneo may not be a great market for weak beer. Might have to helicopter some in. Brian: I don’t want any Skol but I do like helicopters. Me: What are we talking about? Brian: Hey! There’s some WKD Blue behind the counter! Me:...
Rejoice
Thanks to Colchester Camera Repair Service (http://camera-repair.co.uk/ – autostarting video, grumble, grumble) I have got my Canon 5D Mark II back. For around £230 inclusive of VAT that got me a replacement shutter unit fitted as well as a full clean of sensor, mirror, etc. and delivery via UPS. I would have got my camera back last week had the snow not caused chaos (I can't really complain about that, though, as it got me a day off work). I would have got my camera back early this week had UPS not forgotten to put it on their van when they went out for delivery (which kinda makes a mockery of the whole tracking service if the website says it's out for delivery but it later transpires it's still in the warehouse). And I would have got my camera back the next day had I been in when they tried to deliver but I wasn't and had to rearrange delivery to my work the day after that. Importantly: I've got the camera back now. I decided to put the camera through its paces and popped along to the Bishop's Palace Gardens in Chichester so that I could play around with macro shots, wide shots, long exposures to test for sensor dust, and so on. I'm happy to report that all is well in the world once more. There wasn't a lot of life in the gardens but you don't need a lot of life to take a nice photo. Google+: View post on...
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