silly

winter silliness





and summer silliness



Hoping for more of the later soon, its been quite springlike here lately.....


Happy Theme Thursday

paper

An installation art piece by Lu Shengzhong, an artist from Beijing, using hand-cut paper figures carefully arranged in vistas and landscapes, swathes, crowds - assembled as screens or walls, with blocks of the negative cut-outs.







"I use paper to cut this little red figure to demonstrate he delicate fragility of human beings. Ephemeral. A human's life is shorter than a paper's thickness. The material is not important. What is more important is the process you use to create that material. This is more valuable to me." Lu Shengzhong.


The piece below is entitled The Book of Humanity.





from an exhibition at the V&A in London in 2008.


Theme Thursday - paper

space

where do they come from?




how do they get here?








what do they do when they are here?

they watch......

Books

Brick Lane, London



Islington, London


Reading books round and about the place:


LG, 2009



Greenwich Park, London



Greenwich Park, London


Books round and about our house:






and apologies if this is lazy, but - books being one of the great loves of my life - there are earlier posts on this theme, if you want to see them click here and here.

(no apologies actually, nothing wrong with being lazy from time to time)



thank you to Theme Thursday for the prompt to revel again in the luxury and privilege of having access to so many books

pointless

I was sure I had a photo somewhere of a graffiti-ed "whats the point?"

But, I couldn't find it.

Maybe I shall scrawl it on a wall today?

I did find this, which I felt was close.....




and also, a pointer (pointing at a hen)




and some railway points





More points of interest over at Theme Thursday

Broken

inspiration courtesy of Theme Thursday

sPIRAL

saved from non-blogging, just about, by Theme THursday.......

and a few spirals in my photo collection:

theme thursday JUMP

Kerala, India

Whereas this photo clearly involves some jumping

the others are more ambiguous.

did they jump? or are they about to jump?


St. James' Park, London


Woolwich, South London


Williamsburg, New York


Ipswich, Suffolk


Charlton, South London


Woolwich, South London


Blackheath, London


Happy New Year and Happy Theme Thursday!


I wasn't sure I'd be back here for a while, I'm finding so little time for blogging these days. To be honest, little more than no time at all. But..... here I am, can't quite let go, and will really seriously try to visit some of you too fairly soon.....

map

I know someone who loves reading, but one of his criteria for books he will not read, is if they have maps in the front.
I think he has fantasy books primarily in mind.....


but I love them
this is a favourite - and this is the Middle Earth map I most like, partly because it was framed and on the wall at home when I was growing up:



And here is another favourite:



And another map which immediately came to mind is from Milly Molly Mandy, a favourite childhood book:



from Milly Molly Mandy, by Joyce Lankester Brisley

There is an earlier post here about Milly Molly Mandy, and.... maps
...... and other Theme Thursday map posts here.

Happy Theme Thursday!

test

An indication of the stupid state of affairs in many schools in England : my daughter took her Maths GCSE (Age 15/16) exam a few weeks ago. This is a nationally set, public and externally examined qualification. Today she has to do a mock exam for exactly the same qualification, even though she has already done the actual real test.

England's school system is test-mad.

I am preparing, in a laconic and not at all test-mad sort of way, for my driving test and have been doing some practice for the theory test.
Rather than being a chore, this has been quite entertaining so far.

It is a multiple choice test. Below are some of my favourites:


You lose your way on a busy road. What is the best action to take?

Mark one answer.

Stop at traffic lights and ask pedestrians
Shout to other drivers to ask them the way
Turn into a side road, stop and check a map
Check a map, and keep going with the traffic flow

A vehicle pulls out in front of you at a junction. What should you do? Mark one answer. Swerve past it and sound your horn Flash your headlights and drive up close behind Slow down and be ready to stop Accelerate past it immediately

A person herding sheep asks you to stop. You should

Mark one answer.

ignore them as they have no authority
stop and switch off your engine
continue on but drive slowly
try and get past quickly


Why is it a good idea to plan your journey to avoid busy times?

Mark one answer.

You will have an easier journey
You will have a more stressful journey
Your journey time will be longer
It will cause more traffic congestion


How does alcohol affect you?

Mark one answer.

It speeds up your reactions
It increases your awareness
It improves your co-ordination
It reduces your concentration


You see a pedestrian with a dog. The dog has a yellow or burgundy coat. This especially warns you that the pedestrian is

Mark one answer.

elderly
dog training
colour blind
deaf


A driver's behaviour has upset you. It may help if you

Mark one answer.

Stop and take a break
Shout abusive language
Gesture to them with your hand
Follow their car, flashing your headlights


Your vehicle has broken down on an automatic railway level crossing. What should you do FIRST?

Mark one answer.

Get everyone out of the vehicle and clear of the crossing
Telephone your vehicle recovery service to move it
Walk along the track to give warning to any approaching trains
Try to push the vehicle clear of the crossing as soon as possible


There has been a collision. A motorcyclist is lying injured and unconscious. Unless it's essentially why should you usually NOT attempt to remove their helmet?

Mark one answer.

Because they may not want you to
This could result in more serious injury
They will get too cold if you do this
Because you could scratch the helmet


Which of the following types of glasses should NOT be worn when driving at night?

Mark one answer.

Half-moon
Round
Bi-focal
Tinted


An accident casulty has an injured arm. They can move it freely, but it is bleeding. Why should you get them to keep it in a raised position?

Because it will ease the pain
It will help them to be seen more easily
To stop them touching other people
It will help to reduce the bleeding



how do you think you've scored?

Stone

Being a very big fan of stones, I've posted about them before, so that you can see pictures of some of my stone collection here

and here are some other stones which have caught my eye:



Perpignan, France


Jersey, Channel Islands (UK)


from the banks of the Thames, London


Andy Goldsworthy's wall, in Storm King sculpture park, New York State



remains of the Bishops Palace, Southwark, London



Suffolk, England



Ipswich, Suffolk, England.



happy theme thursday