that 'ent rhubub !

the baby noa ...

... soaking up a mass of affection from aunty lesley

mavis has a new admirer ...

... his name is nigel !

the french navy must be on their way ...

... co-incidentally, my sister v. was there on the same day !

simon verity's gravestone for john betjeman

... and, as far as i could see, he never signed his work

sic transit gloria ... the tristan stone

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2247020/Ancient-Tristan-Stone-moved-site-near-Fowey-Cornwalll-make-room-development.html

brainstorming new ideas for alternative energy sources ... treadmills for toddlers ( part ii )

this looks like the ideal site

i'm not completely happy with my previous visualizations for this project

the idea of remote creches where there is plenty of scope for fresh air and noise abatement is important

i once thought of franchising THE NATIONAL CRECHE in the Outer Hebrides but didn't take the idea further because every project needs a little more capital than i could access

maybe we can start up some pilot treadmill farms so that the kiddies can pay for the cost of their own daycare

i'm certain we can rent land off The National Grid adjacent to their existing power stations and distribution sub-stations

in fact the treadmills could be set up INSIDE the barbed wire ...

i thought of several captions for this rarther lovely photograph from 1875, but all were in poor taste

sunday mornings, chez micawber

all dressed up with no place to go

red ...

i'd heard about the project but have only just read the story ... i like it !

... but i confess to including this picture gratuitously ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/nyregion/in-lieu-of-money-toyota-donates-efficiency-to-new-york-charity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

september, ennit ? let's pretend to be melancholy ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ymGIwdD4A

try a little tenderness ... well, am i the lucky one, or what ?

dennis perez, who i am lucky enough to see for a few minutes most days whilst we check in the delivery at alpha/faraday road at six in the morning, has just brought me some

Pimientos de Padrón from his mother's native village of Herbón 

... and a special galician wine from the neighbourhood

go on ! click on the links ...

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/seasonalspanishfoods/a/padronpeppers.htm

http://spanishfood.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=spanishfood&cdn=food&tm=23&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_p830.11.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=5&bts=83&zu=http%3A//revista.consumer.es/web/es/20110901/actualidad/informe1/76081.php

http://www.terrasgauda.com/#terras_gauda/terras_gauda

john mortimer ... might just possibly grow old but age shall not weary him

... the town's new mascot !!!

soon we'll be whizzing down to cornwall to see mavis ... cos she's moved to minions !!!

picture of the cheesewring shamelessly ripped off from ...

http://frugalqueen.wordpress.com

fab video filmed amongst THE HURLERS and just this minute found whilst consulting THE MODERN ANTIQUARIAN ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kI0J8OLSj50

Alfred Brendel's A to Z ... is one of the good things in life

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/31/alfred-brendel-pianists-a-z

fellow fashion victims ! its only a matter of time before the tills start ringing ...

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/javier-perez-en-puntas

gassed ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gassed_(painting)

... but i digress ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Leading_the_Blind

... and gassed again

... this morning, by the war memorial at streatham common

something for the toddlers to trudge to whilst they are chained to their treadmills

https://soundcloud.com/jon-berger/how-to-play-a-show

am i possibly related to doctor johnson on my mother's side ?

... at least, she never seemed to be lexicographically challenged

chilly gonzales talks about working for and with daft punk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc3I0Ent9Zg

and plays ... dot !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-UFfmkkin4

and ... the tourist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIoNExM7g2I

ps thanx to marek at jeanie marshal for the tip

at robert & edwards butcher shop in oxted, chris is the man in charge ...

... no doubt there are tongues in oxted that might benefit from pickling ...

cor blimey, colour me any colour you like ! ... i'd never heard of jean-paul bourdier until five minutes ago

http://catherinelarose.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/jean-paul-bourdier-photography.html

a new carrier bag for the loved one ... made in the lleyn peninsula by her good friend dizzy

what are friends for ? rock the pueblo, jorge !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpZjvbSC9_M

a quote from walter benjamin ...

To historians who wish to relive an era, Fustel de Coulanges recommends that they blot out everything they know about the later course of history.

There is no better way of characterizing the method with which historical materialism has broken. It is a process of empathy whose origin is the indolence of the heart, acedia, which despairs of grasping and holding the genuine historical image as it flares up briefly. Among medieval theologians it was regarded as the root cause of sadness.

Flaubert, who was familiar with it, wrote:

‘Peu de gens devineront combien il a fallu être triste pour ressusciter Carthage.’*

* ‘Few will be able to guess how sad one had to be in order to resuscitate Carthage.’

The nature of this sadness stands out more clearly if one asks with whom the adherents of historicism actually empathize. The answer is inevitable: with the victor. And all rulers are the heirs of those who conquered before them. Hence, empathy with the victor invariably benefits the rulers.

Historical materialists know what that means. Whoever has emerged victorious participates to this day in the triumphal procession in which the present rulers step over those who are lying prostrate. According to traditional practice, the spoils are carried along in the procession. They are called cultural treasures, and a historical materialist views them with cautious detachment. For without exception the cultural treasures he surveys have an origin which he cannot contemplate without horror. They owe their existence not only to the efforts of the great minds and talents who have created them, but also to the anonymous toil of their contemporaries.

There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism. And just as such a document is not free of barbarism, barbarism taints also the manner in which it was transmitted from one owner to another. A historical materialist therefore dissociates himself from it as far as possible. He regards it as his task to brush history against the grain.

Ennit ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Trains/ICC_valuations/Chicago,_Burlington_and_Quincy_Railroad


EDITOR'S NOTE :
without specious and spurious links there'd be no entertainment ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9U4Cbb4wg

to quote more than one dearly departed friend ... i am NOT an addict ! i can give it up ANY time i like !

i fancy a swim in dorset before summer's end ...

creatures of habit ...

long before sunrise, there is a minute's disorientation and delay whilst i am preparing Her-indoors' first cup of earl grey ... her old porcelain mug with the chintzy roses has been given the elbow and i have a sleep-walker's blind spot for the new one with lickle birds ... and i, being born a creature of hard-to-break-habit, will never ever ever be able to throw out my old tea-stained velasquez ... eventually the tea gets made and the new cup stands cooling in the near darkness besides her sleeping shadow

stuff on the south bank

stuff ... nearer to bearhurst than battenhurst

wannabe philosophers seem to believe that if you look at life hard enough then some kind of theme will emerge ...