I am writing this blog entry from my blackberry, using the wordpress mobile app. Previously I have always used the email to blog feature of word press, but I found when I did it from my blackberry it stripped out paragraphs, so I had to spend time fixing the text afterwards.
You can do most of the stuff you would need to do, I.e. You can format the text, insert media from the phone, and even add location information. Drafts can be saved as you go along, so it seems quite comprehensive.
I am going to try to use it from now on and see how I get on. The picture below is from my phone just to prove it works ok.
Tate Britain has had an exhibition on the summer called Rude Britannia, it has bee getting good reviews, so we had made a note to try to get to see it. I checked the Tate website, turns out this is the last weekend so we booked up for an 11am viewing. We were up early so left the house at 8, and were on the 8:30 train from Berkhamsted, which got us to Tate Britain, via the Victoria line, at 9:30. We hung about until the doors opened at 10!
The exhibition was worth the effort, it is all about comic art through the ages, from the first hints of caricatures in political engravings and oil paintings by Hogarth, through the 80’s Spitting Image and Scarfe, right up to today. Helen particularly enjoyed a Heath Robinson cartoon from the war about camouflage in the streets of the city. In the main hall there were two shells of fighter jets, one extremely polished, lying on its back and another drab grey hanging by it’s tail from the roof. Everyone wanted their picture of these objects in an unusual setting. We had a quick look at some of the other paintings then decided to get the boat to Tate Modern.
Over the road we found the jetty and spent our time watching the Thames for a quarter of an hour. We saw the London duck tour boat/road vehicles, and some canoeists, making their way down the river. The boat was a bit disappointing as you could not go out on deck to take photo’s, but the seats were a welcome rest. We passed the Festival Hall which reminded me of the Press Photographer of the Year exhibition (ppye), so I did a quick google and found out it was currently on. We now had a plan, walk along the Southbank, grab some lunch, check out ppye, get the bus to Foyles, and then head back home via Euston. At Tate Modern we saw a sign for RSPB Peregrine watch, we haven’t ticked that bird this year so we took a small detour and scoped both a female and male bird sat on the ledge of the Tate buildings chimney. We then wandered on down to the National Theatre for the photos.
The ppye is an annual event (it’s in the title!) and is well worth a visit, it is always free and the photos are both stunning and thought provoking. The year Haiti featured a lot. I thing I have only missed one year, if that, in the past 10-12 years, and it is often sheer fluke that I manage to be in London when it is on.
We had to take a detour to get up onto the bridge to get the bus, and chanced upon a food fayre, shame we had already had lunch, some of the street food looked delicious. The bus from the bridge took us to Tottenham Court Rd, it was like gravity was pulling me there, but today I gave the technology mecca a miss. We headed over to Foyles for a browse through the books, and perhaps a purchase. I bought a PHP book, The Remains of the Day, and the new Collins complete bird guide, as a thank you to Abida and Connie for their help with the wedding.
We got a taxi from Foyles, because we could not be bothered to find a bus stop that would take us to Euston, it was not the first time we have done that, £6 well spent. I am now on the 15:04 typing this blog entry. All in all a relaxed day wandering around, London with some culture and some purchases to boot.
Angelina Jolie stars in the film where she plays a CIA agent who interogates a former cold war Russian agent. He tells her that she is a conditioned Russion spy from the 197o’s, and that she is going to kill the visiting Russian president, at the funeral of the american vice-president. Things then get very action thriller from then on.
Great action scenes and car chashes galore. Helen gave it 4 stars but I am more conservative so only 3.
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor star in the this film about a guy who is happily married, working for the police, and an upstanding member of the christian community. Living the american dream so to speak. Then things take a complete turn about he finds out that he was adopted and then has a car accident. Suddenly he is gay and commiting fraud to fund his lavish habits.
He then gets cuaght and goe to prison where he meets Ewan McGregor and falls in love. The film then continues with him in and out of jail and going to extreme lengths to be with the person he loves.
When I see Jim carrey in a film I can’t help thinking that it is all a bit tongue in cheek, and to some extent the film is, but it does not distract from what is claimed to be based on the true life events of Steven Jay Russell. Altough there are some seriuos parts to the film the exploits of Mr Russell are so extreme it almost becomes comical.
I have been meaning to do a post about this for some time. Helen and I did a Minsmere guided tour and the guide told us a bout a feature of reeds I have never noticed before. If you put your thumb and forefinger either side and the base of a leaf and then let the leaf slide through your finger you will notice about one third of the way up that there is a bump or ridge across the leaf. All leaves have it.
The guide told us that it is colloquially known as “the devils pinch”, which I think is a great name, somehow fitting and very colloquial. Ever since then I just can’t help running my fingers only the leaf as described above, to feel for the feature. It is just compulsive and impulsive.
I have done some googling on the subject but cannot find any reference to reeds. Some of the things I found are:
There is a canyon some where in Austalia, on the Wolgan River, in Katoomba with the name. Apparently a bad accident with a team of horses pulling logs happened then in the 1870’s
A few references to marks on the body similar to liver spots.
References to a feature in a cave, perhaps where it gets really narrow, again a good name for such a place.
So now we have a reference in the reed’s Devils Pinch. I wonder how long it will take to start appearing in Google searches.
