Sunday 8th March 2026, 3.15pm (day 5,309)
A Sunday afternoon game of cribbage. I won 3-2, by the way. As C pointed out when she first saw this, sometimes a blur is exactly the point of the shot.
Clare deals crib
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Advertising, old and new
Saturday 7th March 2026, 12.20pm (day 5,308)
Shops have always advertised themselves. I mean, they have to, don’t they? All advertising is text, and looking at how texts change over time is as good a way as any of understanding social change. This juxtaposition caught my eye: the shapes, the textures and the words themselves.
Where’s the puck gone?
Friday 6th March 2026, 9.40pm (day 5,307)
Never let it be said that I am closed to new experiences, particularly not when they are suggested by the wife, so behold — my first ever ice hockey game. Manchester Storm, in the dark kit, beat Dundee Stars 5-1.
I chose this shot because it illustrates one basic characteristic of the sport, at least from my perspective as a rookie spectator. For a significant slice of the playing time I wasn’t completely sure where the puck was, partly because the sightlines from our seats meant one whole side of the rink was obscured and partly because it just zips around without much pattern or relationship to how the players are moving. I acknowledge the skill, balance and athleticism of the players but based on my having seen some games on TV in the past (particularly in Toronto, where it’s kind of unavoidable) I have previously described ice hockey as ‘like watching a bunch of wasps buzz around in a bottle’. My first experience of watching it live has not changed that opinion.
Shedding
Thursday 5th March 2026, 1.20pm (day 5,306)
This ladybird first turned up on Wednesday in my home office and might have made that day’s shot — I got a reasonable one of it sitting by the Mac — had the cock-up at the football not happened. It then hitched a ride downstairs on a tea mug; I noticed it miments before it would have got bunged in the dishwasher, so saved its little ass from an unpleasanr death and left it sitting in one of our kitchen’s grimier corners.
24 hours later I saw it again: surely the same one, as it had barely moved. Still sluggish from waking up after the winter, I guessed — except then it sort of wriggled a bit and dumped this crust of old carapace onto, as it happens, the side my plastic lunch box. At this point I went and got the camera. And captured what might be a look of slight disdain: ‘now that stupid thing has gone I can grow a bit more and get back to terrorising aphids’. Fine by me: who wants greenfly in the house anyway. Have a good spring. mate.
The lights have gone out
Wednesday 4th March 2026, 9.05pm (day 5,305)
Five minutes into the second half of tonight’s game at Brighouse Town, half the lights went out. At that point, this picture was taken. About a minute later, the remaining lights went out too, and the game was abandoned: as a football fan, my third ever abandonment, one of them because of a serious injury, one because of rain (at Accrington Stanley) and now tonight. Brighouse have been rather inept on the pitch lately, so perhaps this off-pitch ineptitude is all just part of the bigger picture.
Waiting for the 9:57
Tuesday 3rd March 2026, 9.55am (day 5,304)
Yes, it was a comfortably late start to the day but then again I am still teaching until 6pm on Tuesdays. Much more preferable to go in later, particularly as we are, finally, having some pleasant weather.
Through the doors of the Arndale Centre
Monday 2nd March 2026, 11.55am (day 5,303)
Our Glorious Leaders often tell us how important it is that we are ‘entrepreneurial’, demanding we assimilate a system of meaning in which only if it is for sale, does it have value. This guy has clearly taken this on board: if I am not mistaken that is a wheelie bin that has been converted into his place of business. It’s not as comprehensive as what might found in the Arndale itself but perhaps he is working on it.
Watching the ball
Sunday 1st March 2026, 12 noon (day 5,302)
One could speculate as to just what it is that drives these two guys out on a Sunday morning to spend 90 minutes watching unimportant sporting events but, of course, these days I am just like them. In the background, Wainhouse Tower, apparently the world’s tallest folly, makes its fourth appearance on the blog, allowing this shot to be pinpointed to Halifax. No one was coping all that well with a strong wind, which is why this latest cross has gone over harmlessly and miles off target.
Derelict pub
Saturday 28th February 2026, 1.40pm (day 5,301)
The Lostock Arms, just outside the railway station of Lostock near Bolton, may once have been a busy and thriving place — but it obviously wasn’t busy enough, in the long run. I have no idea how long it has been closed but the longer it does stay empty, the more work it’ll need to return to life. Probably it is caught in some kind of planning limbo: there are a couple of old pubs along the A646 through the Calder Valley that have been in this state for a quarter of a century now (like the Woodman in Charlestown). As a society we seem no better at using our building stock in efficient ways than we do most other aspects of our environment.
New gates for the Canal Street lock
Friday 27th February 2026, 10.20am (day 5,300)
The Rochdale Canal was opened in 1804, so is 222 years old this year. It was closed from 1952 but fully reopened again in 2002. And that means it needs some work now and again, as is currently evident in the centre of Manchester, Canal Street lock having been drained and undergoing a rebuild at the moment.
Being 42 