today i've been out on site visiting railway substations in glamorous battersea, wandsworth and streatham. it was mostly cold and not all that exciting.
as you can see the modern railway with it's shiny new trains, cappucinos and star-trek toilets is a little more down to (19th century) earth behind the scenes.
y'know that noise you hear before announcements in stations? is actually just an old pipe-smoking man playing a xylophone attached to a really big gramophone. true.
a while back now i applied (rather optimistically it has to be said) for a job as project manager for the restoration of the cutty sark. i don't really know what i was thinking as i don't have any project management skills or experience and know next to nothing about restoration or boats. it really was one of those wild "what the hey" things that i needed to do to kick start my job hunting. obviously i never got an interview.
about two weeks later the cutty sark burned down.
this was obviously pure coincidence.
these wonderful bio-luminescant, nipply jellyfish tents now cover the worst of the damage at the crime scene... errr scene of the tragic accident.
*ahem*
17th Mar 2008, 21:19
comments (5)
shouldn't there be water under there?
1 - jubilee line, southwark station at 8:30pm last saturday night (on my way to rehearsal).
2 - the northern line just outside high barnet at 8:55pm this saturday just gone (on my way to a friend's charity gig)
there was another dead one sticking out of a bin just out of shot to the right but i couldn't be arsed to stand in the cold wind and rain getting it in the pic.
In old street i saw pink one flapping wounded and ownerless along the pavement, and the bin outside london bridge contained four or five mutilated brolly corpses.
why must people persist in taking out their umbrellas in storm force winds? it's brolly cruelty!
besides... JUST WEAR A HAT! it's warmer, more portable, leaves both hands free and much less likely to POKE ME IN THE HEAD!
and another thing, surely it should be BRELLY?
or UMBROLLA?
sorry about the crap pic. it's the only one i've got at the moment. i'll try and replace it with something better later this week.
I got a bit of cash from some nefarious musical dealings and decided to invest in some new wheels for my new longer commute. also i've been into doing longer leisure rides athe weekend lately and it was becoming apparent that my old (hybrid) bike frame was too short for me.
so here's my new wheels! it's a genesis flyer fixed wheel road bike. it's a nice light steel frame with carbon frames and post. it feels really super quick and responsive. of course top speed (especially on down-hills) is somewhat limited by the "egg-whisk effect" of fixed wheel fame but it accelerates like a dream and climbing hills is actually a pleasure rather than a chore.
it's the first time i've ridden fixed in about eight years and the first time i've ridden with cleats ever so it was a little scary at first. i've gone from being a bolshy little nutter cutting between traffic and whizzing all over the place to careful plodding politeness. i've even been hanging back at traffic lights to avoid the terror of attempting track stands while clipped in! i'm getting there though. it's all psychological. i can usually track stand for as long as i need to and i can get out of the spds in a hurry if needs be... i'm just paranoid about forgetting i'm attached and toppling over at the lights in a comical fashion! it's nearly happened a couple of times already.
tell you what though, i'm not sure if it's the fact that you never stop pedalling, the fact that i'm in cleats or the whole new sensation of braking with the legs but even after a couple of short rides my quads were on fire! it's whole different set of muscles being worked out with that technique.
going for a big night ride in the city with another fixed wheel buddy tonight. can't wait!
a
x
11th Mar 2008, 13:25
comments (4)
took these (and the beach pics below) walking back to the office from a meeting on the queen mary no less.
i'd never really given much thought to how you get a beer delivery on a boat but that's what the barge in the bottom pic is doing.
and i just liked the early evening light in the bookmarket.
...southbank.
6th Mar 2008, 10:36
comments (0)
