July 2004
the signs of brick lane
street signs can be a good indicator of the life of a street. here are some signs from Brick Lane:
new-media entertainment sticker crazy
multinational
industrial
cultural (spitalfield market in the background)
informal
residential
corporate
non-english
slippery floor
paddington station slippery floor screen anouncement informs us that due to the inclement weather surfaces may be slippy.
street cleaner crazy
here are some actual pictures taken by matt, the funkypancake web-landlord.
it shows the real reason why people packed in to London last night. i can’t believe i missed seeing such a spectacle myself.
at work i have a powerpoint presentation consisting of a variety of streetcleaners i use to demonstrate the evolution of Internet access speeds. i suspect these photo might appear in that presentation (if matt allows me!)
open plan
great view, but a bit drafty
david flowers and plants
they had run out of davids when i got there. or perhaps it was just a statement.
town gardens
walking down a residential street i spotted this rather nice gnome tableau. very attractive i’m sure you’ll agree.
car carriers
no reason for this photo.
bridge house
i thought this house looked good. it’s built in to the underneath of a bridge. it’s now slightly battered but i think that gives it even more character.
beautiful security
this is victorian barbed wire to stop people climbing over walls in to a house’s backgarden. vicious but very pretty.
a late train
i was on a course yesterday quite near to paddington station so i was able to get a train an hour and half later than normal. it’s amazing what a difference it makes to the quality of the customers.
my normal train only contains hardened commuters – those who want to be at work early, and often work late too (i see many of the same faces if i get one of the later trains home). Everyone looks well worn out and haggared, and hardly anyone talks.
the ratio of men to women is probably around 7:3. this became apparent when one morning we arranged a snog lottery for the passengers.
the later train i got yesterday contained happy smiley, very nicely dressed people who were chatting away. the ratio of men to women was probably 4:6 (but i didn’t do a proper poll). When we got to paddington people sprung off their seats and jollied off to their places of employment.
i think i have a late train attitude stuck in an early train body.
update: i looked at the ratio on the earlier train this morning and it’s about 1 female to 20 males. see how the memory distorts these things !
boots
look how leftie is protecting rightie. lovely.
