Porridge in the Pale Mountains

Signor Porridge is giddy with excitement.

So much so that he barely knows what’s up and what’s down.

Fortress and Fairytale

Dear John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute,

Thank you for Castell Coch.

Of course, you were not entirely responsible for it – you inherited the ruins and employed William Burges, architect, to rebuild and embellish – but your vision and interest in history (not to mention, vast wealth – weren’t you one of the world’s richest people?) fuelled the project.

Anchovy Ahoy! Part Two

Weeks after the departure of the ss Great Britain from the UK, the fair maid Clare, wandering by a (muddy) Western Australian shore, sighted this raft.

Clearly it was the handiwork of a shipwrecked tin of anchovies (those knots bear all the hallmarks of a deft tab).

But the anchovies had gone!

I Spy Toronto

Toronto is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world with over 140 languages and dialects spoken. Here a street sign sports three – English, Chinese, graffiti/tag.

Toronto is hard to sum up. It’s not just any old city. In fact, it’s ‘not just’ anything, certainly not just noodles or condoms.

Trucking Tidbits

I was tickled by the personal nature and encouraging tone of this sign and others in the series down the hill towards Denver. It was just missing a “Well done. You’ve made it” at the bottom. Who says the Colorado Department of Transportation is an uncaring bureaucracy?

And on the subject of trucks…get a load of this. It looks like a postman’s motorbike with bulging panniers or a bee with pollen-laden sacks.

The Elephant In the Room

Everyone’s talking about, and photographing, the elephant in the room.

There’s nothing like a stroll through the savannah, I always say. Those endless vistas, that wide open space, not a building for miles…

Porridge, Honoured Guest

Mr Chief Justice Porridge pauses before his entrance to the Whitehouse.