Thursday, May 13, 2010

mystery

Well, its a mystery whats going to happen in my country over the next few months & years, with our newly notquitestrictlyspeaking-elected government, with its coalition of really notquitestrictlyspeaking-allied parties.

Not so much a magical mystery tour ahead, I suspect, as a gritting of teeth and bearing it.


Here are some other mysteries.
I'd quite like to know the stories behind some of these:




between the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square, London




yes, they are pants




Giant Panda, abandoned in Suffolk




East London, in a Brick Lane car park




pavement find, Greenwich London. why? did he go? did he need a filling?




hubcap impaled. but how?




mystery date




ah, the mystery of abandoned footwear




inexplicably dumped ties




and this remains-of-a-car was encountered on the Thames foot/cycle path



Click here for other Theme Thursday Mysteries

32 comments:

Wendy said...

Marvellous! What wonderfully mysterious pictures. On seeing them, you really are compelled to ask, why?

Baino said...

Aww Sal I've been taking my camera to work all week looking for 'found' objects like this and nothing. Either I'm losing my eye, have too little time for lunch or . . . no . . I have too little time for lunch. Awesome mysteries, there's a blog post in each!

Ronda Laveen said...

I think I saw they guy without pants streak around the corner.

Dumdad said...

Ah, the mysteries of life! The tie looks like an old school tie - perhaps abandoned by the chap in the top photo who also dumped his beloved panda in the forest and chucked away his slipper after having a breakdown after receiving notification of a dental appointment but having lost the date. Perhaps.

Sue Guiney said...

And thus a collection of stories is born. These are great!

Mrsupole said...

Great mystery here.

I was thinking he was a sad Prince who had been searching for his chonies, and was very upset that he lost his favorite toy. So after lording over his parking lot kingdom, while sick of receiving dental reminders, he snagged this hubcap, that he had ordered to be impaled by his lowly fence builders back in May of 2007. As his Cinderella had lost her slipper, he searched through his stash of ties, only to find his carriage had crashed, and by now he was just too tired to find his lost Princess, and so he finally decided to take a long nap.

Wow solving mysteries is a lot of hard work, I think I need a nap.

God bless.

Elizabeth Seaver said...

Oh, great mystery photos! I've always wondered what happened to the people of abandoned articles of clothing. Good story material!

Martin said...

I love this sequence of photographs, especially the chair in the Brick Lane car park.

Leeuna said...

The abandoned panda was my favorite. All the photos are hilarious and they really are a mystery.

Brian Miller said...

after receiving the news about my dental work i tried to medicate, crashed my car...if you follow all the random clothes, you would have found all my furniture moved to the alley and me sleeping it off on the concrete....

really this is no mystery...other than, how do i get home from here? smiles.

Betsy Brock said...

the ties...somebody got a new job where 'casual friday' was the dress code every day of the week! ha.

Love the guy laying down...some people can sleep anywhere! Me..I'd be afraid someone would step on me! ha.

Reya Mellicker said...

OMG. This is awesome!! I wander around and wonder, too. Oh yeah.

As for your new government, at least they are TRYING to collaborate, which is really saying something considering the great diversity in the U.K.

Wish we Americans were forward thinking enough to at least give it a go. We are almost entirely polarized now.

GREAT post.

ArtSparker said...

The panda is provoking atavistic attribution of emotions to inanimate objects...And the chair is so beautiful...

Susan said...

Love your found objets, as usual. I see things like this all the time here but no camera, so I depend on you. Though I've yet to see an abandoned panda, poor dear.

As for the mystery of the govt...I cast a jaundiced eye from across the pond. As one might imagine...I remember 30 years ago. Yes, even then. Hmmm.

I'm not going to sign in as myself. Don't want people chasing me back here to tell me it's not my business.

xo

Akelamalu said...

I imagine the ties were dumped by Year 11 pupils who no longer have to wear them! LOL

Tom said...

i know whose pants those are!

Roy said...

You have a real talent for finding abandoned stuff, don't you? I seem to remember another photo essay of yours a little while back that incorporated photos of abandoned objects. I think you've invented a new art form - Photographie Trouvée.

I think I can explain that top photo, though; poor bugger just did the whole National Gallery, so he was giving his poor, tired, sore feet a much needed rest and airing!

Cheryl said...

I always wonder about lost shoes! Loved all your photos. Each has its own mysterious past.

Gladys said...

I love these. Makes you wonder what the heck happened to that car. Did it collide with a really big pedestrian and burst into flames?

e said...

These were mysterious and quite fun...especially the impaled hubcap and the pants...any streakers in that area lately???

Sorry I'm remiss with blogging lately but I did want to say hello. I hope you enjoyed the weekend away.

Barbara said...

I'm always amazed when you pull a dozen or so pics out of your archives on just about any topic. We leave a lot behind as a society, yes?

Unknown said...

These are great mysteries indeed!

Steve Reed said...

Great photos, as usual! I especially like the panda. Abandoned stuffed animals always look so weird, and on first glance this looks like a National Geographic pic from China!

I must admit I don't quite understand your political situation. Since we have only two real parties, the idea of minority third parties and coalition governments and that sort of thing is very mysterious to me. (Of course, our government's a mess too!)

Shammickite said...

I'm so glad that your Sherlock Holmes commenters have solved the mysteries, it saves me having to do it. And is that a rope ladder hanging from the tree by the giant panda? Maybe there's a giant panda nest up in the branches somewhere.... did you look?

lettuce said...

thanks for all your great and entertaining comments

Baino, I think maybe Australia - or at least Sydney - is just more litter-free than London?

sweet dreams, MrsU

Brian, I'd love to read what you could do with each of these

Roy, there is a great flickr group, http://www.flickr.com/groups/musee_de_sculpture_trouvee/
(as well as quite a few groups for "found" things)

Gladys, I could never figure out how the car got onto the path in the first place

Shammickite, nope, damn, I didn't think to look!

As for the political comment/s..... well yes, cross-party collaboration could definately be a very big step forward for our country - and its more the norm within Europe where it often seems to work pretty well. Its only happened here because there was no alternative, not because of any/much real commitment to the principle.... we'll have to wait and see but I admit I find it hard not to be cynical

North County Film Club said...

The only thing as good as this post were the comments.
Barbara

Jen said...

The guy lying on the pavement reminds of the first homeless person I ever met. She was lying half on the sidewalk and half in the street. I asked if she was ok and she answered, "I'm awful hungry."

Alan Burnett said...

A great collection of mysterious shots. I had to look twice at the picture of the abandoned chair - I am sure I used to have one like that.

Sean Bentley said...

Outstanding! You have not only a great eye but have great luck in being in the right place/right time with a camera -- alas I all too often find myself having neglected to bring the darn thing.

justherdingcats said...

Hi Lettuce,

I met you a few years ago in London with Donna- we were staying at The Hoxton- for the CL fair...........

Anyway I have recently started a blog and am finding my way round the blogosphere and came across your fantastic photos via donnas link ( of course!)

I am going to try and return later for more of a read ( Monday morning - never a good idea to start flicking through web pages first thing!!) but thought I would say Hi and what amazing photos - you have a wonderful eye and have captured them all so beautifully and interestingly.

Back Soon!
Amanda

goatman said...

I just want to sneak up and tickle the feet of the guy in the first shot!
Just to see what he would do.

As for politics: I try to distance myself from that particular nonsense.

tony said...

Britain in all it's Pomp! Some Brilliant Photos.
Ditto Re: The Politics.