I know I did other people’s art only a fortnight or so ago, in Toronto. But I’m doing it again. This mural, just outside Doncaster railway station, is magnificent — and so far as I can tell, absolutely the best-looking thing in the town. There should be more of this kind of thing. In fact, there is coming to be more of this kind of thing, and that’s good.
The boys watch the real thing, being played outside (Wakefield Trinity LFC v Hull Utd LFC, as it happens). The man watches the TV version. I watch them all.
These two certainly look like they’re having a jolly time on their respective Saturday lunchtimes in Hebden Bridge. But perhaps they just feel about Halloween much the same as I do — it’s intrusive and over-the-top, and we could probably do without it.
This container of (presumably) liquid nitrogen, behind a protective fence that allows (like this) only glimpses of the whole, is depicted not just for itself, but because now I walk past it every time I go into uni it reminds me of the 90s German electronic band Air Liquide. Listen to their album Nephology — and particularly the track “The Clouds Have Eyes” — preferably while dosed up with something strong, and have your head completely melted. Marvel at the fact I used to listen to this kind of stuff for pleasure. And still do, in fact I’m listening to it right now.
Can’t say I had the greatest day at work today but at least it was sunny outside. A walk in the woods helped, a little. I guess because these trees are more sheltered than most, they’ve barely begun to turn yet — just the merest splash of autumn has hit them, thus far.
The second day in a row to feature a pic of birds asserting their rights over human-designed territory. These geese had decided they were crossing the main road in Hebden Bridge this morning, and that’s just the way it was. In the end, the woman in the dungarees saw them safely to the other side.
Seen in St John’s Gardens, Manchester. This used to be a cemetery, hence the existence of this decorative cross in the middle, and obviously it’s a good vantage point to keep an eye on humans eating their lunch around the garden (as I was at this point). The impression given by these three pigeons, particularly the butch one on the right, is of nightclub bouncers, ready to pounce on any slight infraction of behaviour.
No point claiming that I did anything other than this kind of thing today — and there were almost another three hours of it to go after I took this shot. Jet lag, I seem to have avoided. Work lag, I have.
I have never seen snow falling anywhere as early in a year as 17th October, but Iceland lived up to its name this morning and duly delivered, as my first flight home returned me to Keflavik. This seems even to have caught Icelanders unaware, seeing as it caused my second flight to be delayed two hours while we waited, seemingly endlessly, for the wings of our aircraft to be de-iced (“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking…. We are eighth in the queue for de-icing…. [45 minutes later] We are sixth in the queue….”). But I did get home in the end.
At one level this is a cheap rodent shot, but it does epitomise a particular feature of Toronto’s urban scene — because there are thousands, tens of thousands perhaps, of these critters around every tree and greenish space in the city. They’re all brown, too, rather than grey (as most of the UK’s squirrels are) or red (as a very few of them are). If anything, this example is uncharacteristically pale compared to his city brethren. Either way they’re lining themselves up as the runner-up species locally, I’m telling you.
Last day in Toronto. Home tomorrow, as long as my government decides to let me back into the country.
Being 42 