Weekend At Bernard’s

Posted By Mark on Feb 6, 2012

Betty Boop

Posted By Mark on Feb 6, 2012

The area in Portsmouth in which I live is called North End and in North End there is a shop called Squirrels which sells some antiques but mostly Betty Boop memorabilia, vintage posters/signs, and Christian objects (prayer cards, Jesus statues, etc.) It's a very Christian place with very friendly (if, perhaps, a trifle odd (that's sometimes putting it mildly)) staff and with loads of pictures on the walls of where they help people in Iraq, for instance, and this Christian attitude carried on through to their shop window where – for what must have been a year, at least – there was a board where the smashed glass had been that simply said "God loves you", a message to the vandals who'd taken umbrage at something or other. Obviously, sales finally picked up enough for them recently to enable them to replace the window and you can now see inside which is why I took this shot as I made to cross over the road next to it today. For the +Monthly PAD Challenge, Day 6. Also, for #monochromemonday because it's monochrome and Monday. Yeah, I know these things work. Google+: View post on...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Posted By Mark on Feb 5, 2012

For #SignSunday curated by +walt sprinkle and +Gene Bowker. It's Super Bowl Sunday (come on New England!) and that means one thing in our house: we embrace all things American; coffee brewing, popcorn picked up, bags of M&Ms ready, hot dogs awaiting the signal to be eaten, bourbon giving me that drink me look, and twelve assorted Krispy Kreme doughnuts fresh from the store this morning. Picking up the doughnuts was a bit of a chore today. The encounter went a little like this: Us: We'll have that one, that one, two of those, two of those, that one, that one, two of those, that one, … Doughnut Girl: That's too many. Us: Really? Should only be eleven so far. Doughnut Girl: Look. (Shows us filled box) Us: What are those two? (Pointing at two odd-looking doughnuts) Doughnut Girl: Raspberry. Us: We didn't want them. Doughnut Girl: Oh, okay. (Apparently puts them back) Us: Okay, so we'll finish with that one and that… Doughnut Girl: That will be too many. Us: What? (Looks at box) Is that a raspberry one still there? Doughnut Girl: Yes. Us: But we didn't want any raspberry ones. Doughnut Girl: Oh, you didn't want any? Shall I put it back? Us: Yes! (We finish picking doughnuts) Doughnut Girl: Will you be eating in? Us: Twelve doughnuts between two of us?! Eat in?! Are you mental?! (We pay and leave the store) We're going home to eat them between us. Google+: View post on...

The Dartboard

Posted By Mark on Feb 5, 2012

A processed (no, really!) photo from the Coach and Horses pub in Hilsea we went to yesterday to enjoy some drinks and a meal with my dad, my brother, and his wife. While we were waiting for them to arrive I saw the nicely-lit dartboard behind my wife's head and took a shot. Submitted for yesterday's (day 4) +Monthly PAD Challenge as well as today's #SportsSunday (yes, darts is a sport, damnit!). Because I'm cheeky like that. Google+: View post on...

A Walk Around Chichester

Posted By Mark on Feb 4, 2012

I went for a bit of a wander yesterday lunchtime rather than holing up somewhere for some street photography as that's been a bit disappointing recently. The walk took me first to a bridge over the railway where I spent a bit of time getting up close and personal with the rust, wood, and organic growths. From there I strolled around the walls of the Bishop's gardens and then cut through them on the way back to the office stopping to grab a few shots of some of nature's colour, not that there was very much of that yet. In album A Walk Around Chichester (16 photos) Google+: View post on...

Smoking

Posted By Mark on Feb 2, 2012

Day 2 of the February +Monthly PAD Challenge. We've spent the last few days on the southern side of Chichester Cross as it's bathed in sunlight and sheltered from the wind; this gives us some respite from the weather. Anyone would think it's winter; it's that cold. A woman – sheltering inside the cross – enjoys a cigarette today. Perhaps her lips were cold and needed to feel the burning sensation just to know they were still alive. Google+: View post on...