This time last year, while on holiday in Spain, I was bitten repeatedly by insects. It prompted this piece (Holiday notes: sun, sea, sand, and insect bites) which includes some photos showing the after-effects of insect bites on my skin. It came with a warning, in case you are squeamish about such things. I have,… Continue reading Insect bites (August 2020 update)
Last month I wrote two pieces about the Elephant Parade, an event that took place 10 years ago here in London. As I wrote in the second of those pieces: “Streets, parks, squares and indoor spaces were populated by life-size models of baby elephants, painted by a variety of artists. It captured our imagination, and… Continue reading A few more words about the Elephant Parade, and some more recent pictures
July 1972 was a good time to walk into a record shop and buy your first 7” single. (12” singles did not exist yet.) You might have asked for one of the releases that had been #1 in May or June and was now making its way down the charts, “Vincent” by Don McLean perhaps,… Continue reading The first record I ever bought
Earlier this month I wrote this piece about The Elephant Parade, an event that took place exactly 10 years ago here in London. Streets, parks, squares and indoor spaces were populated by life-size models of baby elephants, painted by a variety of artists. It captured our imagination, and I took photographs of all 250+ elephants.… Continue reading More Elephant Pictures, and reflections on photo albums
Back in 2017 I posted this piece about Dead Pubs of West London. It was based on a round of questions that I had set five years earlier for a Quiz Night at the primary school that my children attended. It featured photographs of buildings in this part of town. Most of them had either… Continue reading Dead Pubs update (June 2020)
If you were around in the 1970s, as I was, you might have heard the following piece of information: “You can fit everyone on earth, standing shoulder to shoulder, in a space no bigger than the Isle of Wight”. I heard this from my older brother, and, as with most information that came from authoritative… Continue reading Everyone on earth standing on the Isle of Wight
10 years ago, in the late spring and early summer of 2010, London’s public spaces were home to hundreds of colourfully painted statues of baby elephants. The Elephant Parade, as it was called, featured over 250 of them in streets, parks, squares and a few indoor locations such as Westfield Shepherds Bush and the Museum… Continue reading The Elephant Parade, 10 years on
How is your visual acuity? See if you can spot the differences between the two bottles of Guinness Export pictured below. I have mentioned Guinness Export on this Blog more than once in recent weeks. It has again become a drink of choice, after a gap of some years. The name on the label is,… Continue reading Spot the difference: Guinness Export
Coronavirus will probably turn out to be the “Word of the Year” for 2020, not just here in the UK but worldwide. It may well become the Word of the Decade. The word Corona on its own has two meanings for me, both recalling the 1970s. First of all, Corona was a soft drinks brand.… Continue reading Word of the week: Corona
When did you first use a cashpoint? When did you first insert a bank card into an ATM (“hole in the wall”) and withdraw cash? For me it was some time in 1983, when I was a student. It involved using my new NatWest Servicecard, which was separate from my cheque guarantee card. Before that,… Continue reading Two things that we didn’t do in April 2020
The Compartments 