no ! no ! no ! please don't tickle me ... i'll confess ... it doesn't take much to make me smirk out loud

sir john tavener, since deceased, took part in a fascinating discussion about george herbert broadcast only yesterday ... with andrew marr, john drury, and jeanette winterson

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03gv7xm

i'm lost in space ... as usual !

the other tom jones ...

http://www.arthermitage.org/Thomas-Jones/Landscape-with-Dido-and-Aeneas.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jones_(artist)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3HcOB0Y

born under a bad sign ...

me, when i had a beard, ( i'd forgotten that beard ! ) and had borrowed pete clarke's seersucker jacket to photograph ann brown's wedding ... for which usage i almost certainly never thanked him properly

Art out of context … ( You couldn’t make it up ! )

On my way back in to South London this afternoon, I had to pop in to the warehouse of Brindisa, famous importers of marvellous Spanish foodstuffs, to fetch a big leg of Jamon.

There is a newly framed picture in their despatch and goods-in office

Not terribly appetizing ! … Goya’s painting of Saturn Devouring His Children.

http://www.museodelprado.es/goya-en-el-prado/obras/ficha/goya/saturno-devorando-a-un-hijo/?tx_gbgonline_pi1%5Bgocollectionids%5D=6&tx_gbgonline_pi1%5Bgosort%5D=d

shuddup and go back to sleep ! ( iv )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0xq51sxgM

shuddup and go back to sleep ( iii ) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A7_ZbbKlj8&feature=youtu.be

a sunny sunday morning at the writing table ...

... contemplating an unusually badly neglected letter from the bottom of my satchel ...

... and finally starting it all over again

shuddup and go back to sleep ( ii )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-x42EWSI3Q

still clinging on in battersea ... made in new york ?

https://archive.org/stream/copperweathervan00jwfi#page/10/mode/thumb

weathervane catalogue via feuilleton

these girls'll never be ready for the opening night ... maybe i need a bigger megaphone ...

shuddup and go back to sleep ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1CXY5NHvms

jess-messin

cor blimey !!! ... babies seem to "remember" music they heard in the womb

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/30/babies-remember-melodies-womb-study

the second article is more usefully informative

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/babies_learn_songs_womb-123528

just found this picture in this morning's el pais ... luis bunuel, with his little dog, tristanita

... and elsewhere, whilst googling, i found this lovely picture of bunuel and lorca

A sometimes daft and improbable Friday

Homeward bound at dusk, the platforms at Vauxhall are crowded, the signs aren’t working, the African station announcer is hesitantly struggling with his syntax … and then everyone on the station looks incredulous because a completely clean and completely empty train draws in.

In mid-afternoon, as I slow down for a level crossing by Betchworth Station, a highly polished green steam locomotive thunders past, belching grey smoke and drawing eight antique brown and cream Pullman carriages.

On the three-thirty bus to work this morning, a jolly crowd of well-heeled but penniless Halloween clubbers get on and argue about the fare.  One athletic young man is dressed as a pumpkin … and he is ready and willing, he declares loudly in a public school accent, to fight any passenger that disapproves. “Relax !”, I tell him, “You look great !”

http://www.orient-express.com/web/uktr/british_pullman.jsp?c=ppc&p=uk&cr=uktr_br_bp&gclid=CM-5yanyxboCFRMctAodwxsAZQ