Ten years ago today, our friends and families were waking to some horrendous news and gut-wrenching unknowns about Claire and I. Owing to a twist of geography and who knows what else, today we are waking safe at home – thankful and perplexed.
Thinking of those who were not so lucky.
Now reduced…
(spotted in Woolies)
From our photography excursion (with Harvest Digital) on the South Bank using “Lomolitos” (mini Lomos), on Wednesday evening…
dew drop bye, originally uploaded by markrocky.
Dew drops on barbed wire, one fine Winter’s morning in rural Somerset.
Chelsea chimneys, originally uploaded by markrocky.
Looking west across London from Peter Jones in Chelsea, on a bright and Christmassy winter afternoon.
Budding taggers learn how it is done..
These young whipper snappers were watching keenly as an older kid scrawled his tag on a wall along London’s South Bank. It didn’t take long. Let’s hope the pupils of this nursery school of graffiti move on to a higher level of street art sooner rather than later. Am I getting old? These pesky kids. Grumble grumble… I’ll be complaining about uneven pavements next.
Anyway – while I am on the subject, when a particular piece turned up at the bottom of Bristol’s Park Street a few months ago (on the side of a sexual health clinic, I should add for the benefit of the picture), I heard Bristol City Council were debating whether it was public art and should be left. Funny that they start to see the potential tourism benefits of leaving this stuff after years spent cleaning it up. They certainly wouldn’t have even considered the fact a few years ago. Well – they eventually decided to let it stay and it promptly made the Visit Bristol tourist guide.
Taken in Somerset at the weekend – near Nunney. Things are starting to happen in the woods right now. Signs of new life abound. Like these guys – standing by, ready to unfurl…
What a life these fat fellows have! Lazying about all day, just soaking up the sun and going for the occasional dip, maybe catching a fish if they can be bothered…
There’s more photos of Skye here (needs password – just ask me).
Wow – that felt longer than two weeks. We’ve just returned from a different world and a very beautiful one at that. A world full of idyllic islands straight out of James Bond, with incredible diving and friendly people. The Philippines has such a bad press here in the UK and I’m almost tempted not to dispell the myths so I can keep the place all for myself… but how could I do that? Island hopping around the remote islands to the north of Palawan by banka revealed some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. Thousands of deserted islands with sheer limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons, secret beaches and turquoise blue waters.
However, it seems tourism “eco-development” and land title disputes are endemic in this area and corruption, at all levels, is rife. It’s a fine balance between tourism alleviating poverty in a place perceived by Westerners as “paradise on earth” and maintaining a pristine environment for future generations. As tourism encroaches on these small islands in this fragile ecology, I really hope this balance can be met.
Some of the people we met along the way (like the folk at Kudugman) were trying to do things the right way- pushing forward low-scale, low-impact and sustainable developments of two or three huts on islands that draw minimal resources and offer a very basic yet completely serene break from it all. However, the terms “sustainable” and “eco-tourism” are used all too rashly and I hope that recent measures to develop these small islands do not lead to their destruction.
Anyway – here’s some more photos. Not that I need to convince you of the beauty of the place!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillsearching/111609501/
Taken in South Devon, last weekend. At last, the signs of Spring are starting to show. Whoop!
why buck a trend at a geek fest?
everyone else is blogging here, so here’s my quick notes to self:
For those of you who wondered where our evangelist friend with the loud speaker at Oxford Circus station had got to recently during these cold winter weeks – this photo was taken in Sydney last week. He certainly gets about. It looks like he flies south for winter to find warmer preaching grounds.
Going under the railway into Tooting Bec Common – a nice park for Winter walks in London.
Fireworks, fat scarves, tasty warm soup, seeing your breath in the air, crackling log fires – all these things make the approaching winter fun. Rain, colds and the complete lack of light after 4pm do not.
Although at the moment, I am enjoying the crisp, clean air – with its frosty mornings and blue skies. It’s quite a change from last year and all rather exciting really. Who knows – it might even snow in London this year…
Walking round the corner during my lunch break today I stumbled into a kind of flash mob going on inside the Starbucks on Oxford Street, led by the infamous Reverend Billy . Bizarre – one moment the coffee shop was packed full of “worshippers” and then they instantly diluted into the crowd of shoppers and passers by. This was followed by a theatrical rant against consumerism/iraq/bad coffee by the reverend himself. It’s good to see some humour injected into protests. I can’t help but think the messages are a bit confused though – it’s a very tongue in cheek approach to some potentially serious issues. I mean – good coffee is important.
I like england in the summer.
somewhere in south india. my first impressions of india were mainly the stark contrasts. old ways and new ideas sit quite happily next to each other. take this broadband internet cafe i am in – looking all swish and air conditioned – while oxen lead wooden carts in the mud roads outside. it is constantly hectic yet surprisingly easy going. though it doesn’t seem as different as i thought it might – mainly i think due to the cultural barriers that can be crossed by sharing a common language. whereas south america was constantly a battle to be understood or to understand, here it is much easier. even though the place is completely crazy at times. a particular ruse that i am becoming aware of is something we have taken to dub “the elaborate faff”. it goes something like this: 1) identify a problem that everyone knows the solution to but won’t admit; 2) create a particularly elaborate diversion – ideally involving lots of running around and people getting busy; 3) faff plenty; 4) solve original simple problem behind the elaborate smoke-screen diversion. all this is done most knowingly – with lots of smiles and yes sirs and no sirs and dippings of the head. talking of head movements – one thing that has caused a few confusions is the sideways rocking of the head that indicates agreement when it looks like a negative shake at first glance from a westerner’s perception. i think we’ve gotten used to that one though – after only a few minor mis-interpretations.
anyway – i have a few photos to share with you from the last few days.
this way please… go check it out, fred’s been busy.
EDIT: more here
now that i have a brand new digital camera in my hand, i can’t stop snapping again. i think it’s only right i try out some open source image browsing code. take a peek at what i have mostly been doing this summer🙂
It seems the only time I have had lately to casually browse or blog has been very brief – usually during a lunch break in between mouthfuls, slobbering over my keyboard. I paint a pretty picture for you, I’m sure. We have not had decent Internet access at home either, due to our recent move (from Brighton back to London). But all that has changed – I’ve got a new wireless network up and running at home and I’ve just finished my latest project at work.
So – I can finally upload those photos from the states. Some classics from the tubing… but I doubt Cab and Phil will think so!
While I’m recovering from my ACL reconscruction operation, I might as well put some time into this site. So here’s the new design, using XHTML and CSS. A lot is still under construction and probably always will be…
Anyway – feel free to check out the different sections. I try to keep the photos up-to-date but you know how it is – there’s new photos from Belize just up.
Oh and why don’t you see what happened at the latest G8 summit in Evian, France …
not sure if this deserves a blog but seeing as it has been a good 9 months since my last entry it seems as good a reason as any… had a break between projects at work today and was able to make my first fledging steps towards creating myself a fully xhtml/css playlab site. oh yes. it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
winter is here – which means plenty of time to play with the site. check out the recent wintery photos in the album
i still haven’t scanned in all those snaps from south america. i must do that soon – before it all becomes a distant memory. *sigh* – winter hey.
After several months of travelling, I’m back in the UK – wondering what to do next…
Haven’t really been any good at this blog thing. After Peru, went to Bolivia – then made my way to Australia for another four months. It’s been fun – the photos say it all » https://www.playlab.co.uk/photos/
although, as always, a photo can never totally capture the magic of the places and people i have encountered along the way. it’s been good.
