Sunday 17th April 2016, 11.05am (day 1,697)

Far too lovely a morning to stay in. Fortunately we have these great pieces of countryside short walks from my house. Sping has not yet fully sprung, but it’s getting there.

Far too lovely a morning to stay in. Fortunately we have these great pieces of countryside short walks from my house. Sping has not yet fully sprung, but it’s getting there.

Since being collectively taken out by the floods on 26th December, about two-thirds of Hebden Bridge town centre has reopened. There have been some subtle moves around, as well — like here, with the toy shop, Silly Billy’s, translocating to a new location on Old Gate and reopening in the last week or so. Playmobil Man serves as an advert to draw the punters in — let’s hope it does so.

This rook was looking quite butch in the viewfinder but he rather spoils it with the hair poking out of his beak. No, it’s not on my camera lens, or on your computer screen — it is indeed poking out of his beak.
ERRATUM: Apparently this is a jackdaw, not a rook — my mistake….

OK, it’s a pretty obvious optical illusion, but what the hell, after a long day at work spent almost completely walking around from one place to another (not to mention my standard 5-mile round-trip hike there via two railway stations), it summed up my day.

Teaching has restarted after the Easter break so I guess I should put in the occasional appearance on campus. It’s also that time of year when the assignment kicks in on the video production course, and some students develop an urge to point cameras at me and others for educational ends. Shen (left, from China) and Gatya (Indonesia) here anticipate that I will be able to talk about something interesting over the next ten minutes or so.
A rare appearance on the blog for my office: the sharp-eyed may note the newspaper cutting on the wall celebrating Brighton’s League Cup victory over Manchester City in 2009. And why not.

My friend George featured on the blog fairly recently (in February in fact) — but I like her purple hair, just right for this very pleasant morning in West Sussex, so let’s feature her again…

One reason for going down south was to attend a game at Brighton & Hove’s other football team, Whitehawk FC. Why? Why not? They have an active set of Ultras, anti-racist, anti-sexist, a no bad language policy (exemplified by the chant, “the referee’s a… referee”) and the atmosphere put many much bigger clubs to shame. Right result too — Whitehawk 3, Wealdstone 0. Perhaps I have just found my second team.

Another trip down South, meaning another morning change of trains at Leeds station — so many shots have been taken here. I like the general pinkness of this shot and the everyday stance of the two human subjects. Mundane it may be, but attractive, I think.