Category Archives: Portrait

Nov 28 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

The Chief Minister introduces our gig

Wednesday 27th November 2024, 9.10am (day 4,843)

St Helena Conference, 27/11/24

Not only did I not leave the house today but I barely left this room. From 9am – 4pm at least my study, and (more specifically) the laptop within it, was the nerve centre of an international network of researchers, contributions from (at least) the UK, USA, South Africa, France, the Netherlands and — most importantly and relevantly — St Helena. Here, the Chief Minister of the latter territory, Julie Thomas, makes her introductions to the day. I have spent quite a bit of time and effort on getting this 2-day event organised and I am very satisfied that it all worked out. As far as we can ascertain this is/was the first online conference specifically devoted to the little island on which I have recently spent plenty of time.

I have met Julie by the way. If all Chief or Prime Ministers or Presidents were like her the world would probably be a better place.

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Nov 23 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Stan the stickerer

Friday 22nd November 2024, 5.45pm (day 4,838)

Stan the Stickerer, 22/11/24

You might not be able to tell this from the photos posted but, work-wise, it’s been a very busy week. Time to let off some steam on the Friday evening. Of course, because we are all middle-aged these days, these high jinks amounted to little more than Stan surreptitiously stickering the back of Mark’s hat, but that is about our level these days.

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Nov 17 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Goat (pagan rock perfection)

Saturday 16th November 2024, 8.50pm (day 4,832)

Goat, 16/11/24

How Goat are good? Sorry…. How God are Goat? Surely the best band ever to hail from Sweden. OK… maybe the second, but only in more general popular opinion.

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Nov 13 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Retouching the bees

Tuesday 12th November 2024, 9.15am (day 4,828)

Retouching bollards, 12/11/24

This scene has been seen a few times in Manchester city centre recently. All the bollards you see here are decorated with little golden bees, the bee having been adopted (I think fairly recently) as the symbol of the city. And it’s some bloke’s responsibility to go round and repaint them now and again. Actually I think they’re doing a pretty good job, but it must be hard on the knees.

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Nov 10 2024
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Daily Post, Family Member, Portrait

Parents

Saturday 9th November 2024, 3.05pm (day 4,825)

80th birthday party, 9/11/24

My Mum was 80 last month — my Dad is 80 next month. We split the difference and held a joint 80th birthday party today (hence the banner across the door), at my sister’s place. Mum and Dad do seem to still like each other after over 58 years of marriage, which, of course, is how it should be. Happy birthdays to them.

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Nov 09 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait

Excessive waiter theatrics

Friday 8th November 2024, 6.10pm (day 4,824)

Waiter with flamethrower, 8/11/24

My PhD student of the last five years, Sara, passed her viva voce examination today — with only minor corrections, a very good result (for a good thesis, I honestly did think) — and so took me out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Manchester. The place’s waiters definitely had an overblown sense of theatrics. Salman, Sara’s son, looks somewhat apprehensively at one of them striding towards us with the kind of flamethrower that, if carried outside, would probably see him arrested for branding an offensive weapon. All this just to put a second or two of extra charring on the spicy meatballs. Food was good, though.

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Nov 05 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Inspecting the manuscripts

Monday 4th November 2024, 2.00pm (day 4,820)

Rylands manuscripts, 4/11/24

Another one of my Palaeography classes in the John Rylands Library. We have moved from Hogwarts (the old reading room) upstairs and into the new seminar room, with tape still on the windows. Checking out the manuscripts themselves is always the best bit, and they need to be ready, and cared for — would that students got to sit on such comfortable-looking cushions.

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Nov 03 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Karaoke setup

Sunday 3rd November 2024, 5.00pm (day 4,819)

Karaoke guy, 3/11/24

A typical Sunday afternoon scene in the Railway, Hebden Bridge. The crow is a bit of added Halloween ambience, but otherwise, we could be on any weekend in the year…. and this guy is here, every weekend.

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Oct 31 2024
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Daily Post, Interior, Portrait

Young Frankenstein (that’s ‘Frahnkensteen’)

Thursday 31st October 2024, 12.15pm (day 4,816)

Young Frankenstein, 31/10/24

You’ve gotta like this movie. Not all the jokes work any more, by any means, but Young Frankenstein must be the finest parody-homage of any genre, ever. And at a completely decadent time of day, too, thanks to the Hebden Bridge Picture House’s Thursday morning “Elevenses” deal.

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Oct 28 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Sport

Steve Gritt: worth my thanks

Saturday 26th October 2024, 3.25pm (day 4,811)

Steve Gritt, 26/10/24

The gentleman in the hat, pondering the action, is Steve Gritt, coach of Hornchurch FC. Though this story is, I am sure, of only the vaguest interest to most people, the reason I depict him on here today is that back in 1997 Mr. Gritt was appointed manager of Brighton & Hove Albion FC (a.k.a. ‘my lot’), when they were 11 points adrift at the bottom of the entire Football League and facing relegation and oblivion. A few months later, however, he had achieved the seemingly impossible, and Brighton survived with an (in)famous 1-1 draw at Hereford, who went down instead. 27 years later and the Albion are playing their eighth season in the Premier League. Not that Steve Gritt had anything much more to do with that part of the tale (he left the club in 1998) but all Brighton fans certainly owe him our thanks.

And so, realising that he was the coach of the club I had randomly come to see, I waited to shake his hand and give him that thanks as he came off the pitch. And I was pleased I had had the opportunity, and took it. OK, random stalker moment over, moving on…

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