I've nothing against books being released in paperback form for airport sales whilst still in hardback elsewhere but why do these Airport Editions have to be twice the size? Surely the last thing one wants when about to board a plane is any more bulk added to one's hand luggage? It don't make no sense, do it?
Not a bad effort from Michael Crichton though. Do I have time to discuss the story of environmental terrorists playing havoc with nature when they realise the evidence for global warming just isn't as strong as they'd like it to be?
No, not today. Sorry.
20050929 19:54
We're leaving some of the last runner beans on the vine (?) to be saved as seed stock for next year. Wether they'll last and germinate or not we don't know so we'll probably still have to buy some seeds as well. Pretty though, aren't they?
20050928 18:01
Today, or so my former place of work diary informs me, it is the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Fish Fingers to the UK market place. Sadly I have no pictures of any fish fingers as the girls no longer eat such food (well not when we're looking anyway) and I'm not going to buy some just for a picture. Fish fingers used to made from cod or haddock but eventually these fish got wise and stopped swimming into the nets knowing that to do so would mean phalangeal amputation and not everlasting nirvana. So nowadays they're made from Hoki or Pollack. Hoki is an exotic fish which has more fingers than scales so obviously one can see the advantage. Pollack, however, as far as I can remember from catching them off the Isles of Scilly in my yoof, don't have any fingers at all. So that's a bit strange.
I shall miss my former place of work diary and its interesting anniversaries when it expires at the end of the year.
20050926 16:09
Just when you thought it was safe.. more dragonflies! This pair of Common Darters attempting to lay eggs (well the female at the rear anyway) in t'allotment pond yesterday... not very sharp but they don't half move even this time of year!
20050923 11:49
Those not quite so London-Centric as the planarchists may have missed the unveiling of Marc Quinn's 12 foot marble statue of Alison Lapper in Trafalgar Square last Thursday. Actually I missed the unveiling as it was raining but luckily Friday saw much bluer skies.
It's a formidable statue although, as it sits on a plinth some twenty feet up, you can't really get a good view from ground level. I've noticed many of the stories in the press opting for this view which leaves you seeing a pretty straight forward bust with no real sight of her disabilities. To see most of the statue (as above) one either needs stilts or a vantage point from the pavement to the West side of the square. Also having a gander were some of the pigeons that Ken has banned from the square whilst Nelson kept his back resolutely turned. All the thumbnails here.
Striking anyway, a very powerful sculpture of an inspirational woman....definitely worth a look if you're in the area.
20050919 8:24
I have a new mobile phone.
It's not an all singing and dancing model. In fact it doesn't sing or dance at all. Or take pictures, browse t'internet, thresh corn or fly me to the moon. But it can receive and send mobile phone calls which is what I want. And it only cost me £10 (which is a good thing). There don't seem to be many such phones about nowadays.
It's a Nokia 2600 if you're really interested.
20050918 17:01
You don't see many of these nowadays, do you? No, not the Bloodhound Anti-Aircraft missile, obviously all East London neighbourhoods have at least one of these to keep the Police helicopters from flying around one's house all night, I mean the traditional red phone box. The inexorable rise of the mobile is to blame I suppose.
20050916 8:18
So, nearly two hours yesterday at the Orthodontist with pre-teen Kay. And the selection of reading matter in the waiting room isn't nearly as good as at the ordinary dentist, let me tell you. Anyway, after more than two years of "not quite old enough yet" Kay is apparently finally ready to begin the long round of retainers and braces.
And she wants them.
Despite the fact that it means no sweets or fizzy drinks for a couple of years she actually wants to wear a large amount of metal in her mouth. How times have changed! When I were a lad I'm sure it was the ultimate stigma... but now it seems to be the height of cool (or nang, probably). I suppose it's an extension of body piercing... just another way to get a large chunk of metal attached.
Very strange indeed.
20050915 8:31
We don't look close enough at some of our small flowers. Very pretty close up is clover.
20050909 9:36
..and looking forward to the next 14 and the ones after that. Excellent, cool, nang even. Happy Anniversary to us!
20050907 8:48
Another Dragonfly!
Quelle surprise, eh? But there is a happier, or more hopeful at least, story to go with this one. He was snapped perching on the bamboo cane I placed by the edge of the humble little pond we've dug on our allotment. Dragonflies, Darters and Chasers in particular, like to have a vantage point where they can perch and survey their territory and it was with this in mind that I placed this cane by the edge of our pond. So it was particularly satisfying to see this Ruddy Darter using it yesterday. Even more encouraging was the fact that at the end of last week Mrs.Planarchy's mother saw a coupled male and female pair laying eggs in the pond. This is the third species we've seen ovipositing in our little allotment pond in its first season. There are no fish in the pond (or frogs yet!) so the only thing that the larvae need to reach adulthood is a good supply of other insects to eat. It will be interesting to see how many adults emerge over the next couple of years.
20050906 9:00
So, the girls returned on Saturday looking tired ("We're not tired!") and having had a excellent time. So much for my guilty worries about whether they were enjoying themselves. They both want to go for two weeks next year. So we better start saving. Saturday morning, before I left to meet them Teen Dee received a letter from PGL, I assumed it was her unpaid bar bill for the week (apparently these sort of jokes aren't funny anymore) but no, actually it was a youf speak version of the satisfaction questionnaire. We'd already received the parent's one but now here were copies for Dee and Kay too. Whereas ours used the the traditional Excellent, Good, Average, Poor , Very Poor assessment scheme theirs had the much more zany Cool, Quite Cool, OK, Dodgy and Gross grading system.
Excellent (or cool even). Except, of course, our two never refer to anything as "Cool" as that is so last week.... things are Nang these days.
Within two hours of her return to Planarchy Towers teen Dee had, as I'd suspected, negotiated a sleep over at her best friend's house. So only a couple of hours last night to ready herself for school this morning. Yet today both were up earlier than usual seemingly impatient to return to school. This is what we like!
20050905 13:27