Road Trip

A v interesting photo I think.

In 1947 Miroslav Zikmund and Jiří Hanzelka drove a mass-produced Czechoslovak passenger car, a Tatra 87, through Africa and South and Central America.

There is some more text and a couple more pics here.

I've changed my mind ...

... my karma ran over my dogma.

What the Guardian really means ...

Peas

Pictures on a Page

A pic in friend's Facebook post reminded me of this fab photo. The friend's pic was of 3 school aged boys - the two younger ones bouncing about happily, the older standing somehow separated from his companions' chaos by his calm stance and pristine white school top.

I had seen the above pic ever so long ago in a journalist's photography text book. The formally dressed boys are Etonians on a day trip, doing their best to ignore and offend some locals. After the recent Facebook reminder I spent quite some time searching the net for a soft copy of the photo - finally succeeding (woohoo!).

Ironically - the journalist is my wife and although I had assumed we'd left the book on the other side of the world, it was in fact within easy reach of me all the while. It would have been a lot quicker to scan a copy. Never mind.

I think the genius of the Eton photo is that the pictures' background separates the boys almost as clearly as their circumstances.

So - the book - it's "Pictures on a Page: Photo-journalism, Graphics and Picture Editing" by Harold Evans. Finding a copy on the web is left as an exercise for the reader. If you're lightning fast there is a copy in the Oxfam online 2nd hand bookshop for £14.99 - a bargain for a weighty hardback. Other than that there has been a recent-ish reprinting in softback.

If you like photography I recommend this book. I think I shall re-read it.

But the sign said ...

... crocodiles can't swim.

La Déesse

You see why blogs are for writing, and not for reading? Here's an example.

I had one of these for a while - and dearly loved it. While many, or perhaps most people, find them wilfully repellent - to my eye they are achingly photogenic. So - for my amusement - here are some nice pics of a few pristine examples.

Peak too early.

You will have heard the phrase "peak oil". Whether we are past peak oil yet is something of a matter of opinion.

I put it to you that we passed "peak culture" some time ago. Look at this. The reason you get the view is that the Pizza Hut is 1 floor up - above a KFC.



Oh. Dear. God.

An amusing quote from Harrison Ford

Surely this was intentionally ironic:

"I am relatively frugal, considering my circumstances. I live well but do not live large — apart from the aeroplanes."

Rory Block

Joy! Stumbled across a great contemporary acoustic blues player.

Aurora "Rory" Block.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2YXF6YNr5O3I3uJFo3VAar

If you faff about on YouTube you'll find clips of her unpicking and explaining some of Robert Johnson's deceptively simple torrents of delicate guitar trickery. You have never heard of Robert Johnson.

She sings a little like Margret RoadKnight (sic) - who you've never heard of either.

New MTB Shirts

Brand new shirts, same old flats.

Thursday Night MTB Ride

You would think that given a floodlight and a spotlight that a movie camera could sort out some night pictures.

Well. I chose to lend the flood to a mate whose main (and only) light had developed a habit of cutting out at random points.

So - no v good pictures as it turns out.

Just listen to the relaxing music.


Thursday Night MTB Ride - The most amazing home videos are here