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September 2004

ipswich street cleaner

i was lucky enough to have to go to Ipswich today for a meeting. if that wasn’t excitement enough, i spotted this fantastic cleaning device.
notice the articulated driver’s standing section which moved independently from the main vehicle giving it a nice roman chariot feel.
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vital stadistics

did you notice the hit counter this month ? We’ve had over 10,000 different visitors which is very exciting.
and a few days ago we had our 3,000th comment.
so that’s all very exciting isn’t !
and here is the 3,000th photo i’ve taken with my new camera which i got on the 13th August 2004. I took it a couple of days ago so that’s about 75 shots a day.
it’s a lady with a fancy coat pushing a hospital wheel chair containing her handbag down the street.
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a giant book or a pop-up house ?

this giant carboard contraption was about a metre square and looked like it was under huge pressure. it could explode open at any moment.
i took a chance with getting the photo – my flash could have been the thing which set it free. but it wasn’t. so we are ok.
but it was tempting to undo the tape and see if it popped up in to a giant carboard house.
it’s modern street accomodation for the flat pack generation. ideal for street folk. free with every can of Super Strength Lager.
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jumping for joy

it’s a while since we’ve had any milk pictures. i see a lot of milk bottles and cartons in the morning but haven’t taken many photos of them.
so here are three together. the chaps on the outside are giving the one in the middle a lift up. Is he injured or preparing for an acrobatic feat ? i wasn’t sure whether to look away or stay for the show.
how ambiguous some photos can be.
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frankenstein’s lorry

life is becoming more integrated. cameras on your mobile phone, cars with MP3 players and DAB radios, egg and chips, and of course, diggers on lorries.
it’s a super dooper scooper.
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lamp menders

this lamp is due to be mended.
i was quite impressed the council had been so good with their signs which even explained what was wrong. it’s broken because of electricy supply fault apparently.
i was less impressed when i saw that their charter said it should have been mended by 13 March 2004. i may phone the helpline so we can find out what’s going on.
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keep taking the pils

one way round england’s archaic licensing laws is to buy a couple of cans of strong beer and sit on the benches outside a pub.
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up the tower again

and here

here is an extreme zoom-in showing my office (my window is the middle one on the first floor) and my colleagues john and pilar (john has got an orange shirt on):
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tables with views:
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pictures from my last trip up the tower (when the weather was better) are here and here

lift operator

ok, here’s a little lunchtime competition. if you get the right answer i’ll post some more pictures of where it was.
so, this bloke spends his day going up and down in a lift. but where is it ?
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here’s another clue – he’s driving the fastest lifts in europe (7.5m/s) which take you up 158 metres above london:
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tiny flower on a big street

i had to get down low for this photo. much to the worryment of passers by.
the flower itself was about 5mm long, so this photo is probably actual size.
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decorated gates

i walk past the gates of the Wallace Collection every day but it’s never normally this exciting.
i suspect they’ve either had a fancy corporate event or a fancy private event. Or maybe they had an opening preview for their new collection which starts tomorrow (according to their website).
but i wish it was just completely for no reason. how fantastic it would be if everyone just decorated their front gates for no reason.
so that’s my challenge to you today. find and put up a fancy decoration on your house/flat/caravan front or on your desk at work.
when someone asks you what you are celebrating, just say “life itself” and do a little twirl.
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chair-tastic

i walk from paddington station to tottenham court road in the mornings and i see a lot of stuff no my way. sometimes there’s a theme which only becomes obvious once i reach my office.
today’s theme was obvious quite early on. and continued throughout my journey.
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bollard people

groc sent me a link to a photo of people dressed up as bollards. how cool is that ! click on the picture to see a slightly bigger version (on the excellent bunchofpants photo collection site)
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one million sandwiches

they gave away 1 million sandwiches last year. but is that good i wonder ? 1 million is a lot of sandwiches.
imagine if they all went to one person. initially you’d be pleased and they’d probably be some media interest. but quickly you’d realise the logistical nightmare which would result.
You could sell a few on, but time would be running out before the best before date expired. And then what ? I pity that poor person i really do.
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a quick way to spend some money

if you don’t press the button correctly you have to pay £1000. that’s a lot of money. you’ll probably find that most tube trains stop at the station anyway.
it’s only the emergency trains which don’t stop which is why you need a special button. probably.
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my favourite newspaper vendor

this lady sells newspapers outside St Paul’s Tube Station (why did Saint Paul need his own Tube Station ? Stations of the cross or something maybe).
anwyay, i’d seen her picture on another website recently so i mentioned this to her and she said in a really giggly voice “ooooh, i’m famous” !
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