‘You’ll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind.’
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For GoT Fans only…
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Harbin, Heilongjiang, December 21st 2018
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.
Chao Phraya, Bangkok
“Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind.”
Create your own visited countries map or check out the JavaScript Charts.
– Seneca
Bangkok, oriental setting
“You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you’re lucky then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me”
It’s a phenomenal time to be a chess fan
“Carlsen-Caruana is the matchup that the chess world was hoping for. It’s world No. 1 versus world No. 2—the first World Championship match between the top two since Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov went at it for the fifth and final time in 1990. Caruana only sits three Elo rating points behind Carlsen at 2832 to 2835, both the highest combined rating and the smallest ratings difference in World Championship history.”
‘I don’t see you guys rating
The kind of mate I’m contemplating
I’d let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you”
For Uncle Rodney
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Rupert Brooke (1887 – 1915)
I wish I was in the land of cotton
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing – 天坛
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
It’s Friday…
画龙点睛
“Paint a dragon and dot the eye.”
| ENGLISH | Character | PĪNYĪN |
|---|---|---|
| to draw, painting | 画 | huà |
| dragon | 龙 | lóng |
| dot, (o’clock…) | 点 | diǎn |
| eye, eyeball | 睛 | jīng |
Malus spectabilis 海棠,
Picture taken this week in 西青区 天津
Let us pray
Crataegus pinnatifida
Commonly known as Snow Hawthorn these red fruits which grow up to about 35 mm in diameter are now in season.
The ones in this picture, taken yesterday, are from Xiong Xian County in Hebei Province, near the city of Baotou.
They are used to make a number of deserts and snacks. In Northern China they are often sold dipped in a sugar candy coating on a wooden skewer much like toffee apples are in Europe and are called 糖葫芦 (tanghulu).
They have been associated with various medicinal properties especially as a digestive aid.
Mr Charles Darwin had the gall to ask
By Jove!
See also: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu
Imitation Banksy in Banbury
“…headed for sunset, For the kingdom come”
“Out of my mind’s eye
Out of memory”
August 1st – Yorkshire Day
‘Ear all, see all, say nowt;
Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;
And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt
–Allus do it fer thissen
MV Dublin Swift
https://www.irishferries.com/ie-en/ships/swift/
“My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in observing the manners and dispositions of the people, ”
― Jonathan Swift
The Alpacas must not be fed
In case you don’t know the words…
Fightin’ fire with fire
Watch out, you might get what you’re after
Cool babies, strange but not a stranger
I’m an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
Hold tight, wait till the party’s over
Hold tight, We’re in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house
Here’s your ticket pack your bag
Time for jumpin’ overboard
The transportation is here
Close enough but not too far,
Maybe you know where you are
Fightin’ fire with fire
All wet! Hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown! Dreams walking in broad daylight
Three hun-dred six-ty five de-grees
Burning down the house
It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself
Gonna come in first place
People on their way to work and baby what did you except
Gonna burst into flame
Fightin’ fire with fire, Fightin’ fire with fire, Fightin’ fire with fire
My house! Is out of the ordinary
That’s right! Don’t wanna hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house
No visible means of support and you have not seen nothin’ yet
Everything’s stuck together
And I don’t know what you expect starring into the TV set
Fighting fire with fire
Below the surface
Archaeologists in the Dutch city of Amsterdam found almost 700,000 items left behind when the city’s Amstel river was drained to make way for a new train line.
A place where they’ve been serving beer for 500 years
“Worstward Ho,”
Military History Visualised –
Subscribed!
In memory of Peter Firmin. 11 December 1928 – 1 July 2018
The Soup Dragon and the Clangers
Bagpuss
Basil Brush
Madeleine the rag doll, Gabriel the Toad
Professor Yaffle
The Iron Chicken
Dai Station, Idris the Dragon, Jones the Steam
Noggin the Nog, Thor Nogson, Olaf the Lofty, Graculus, Nogbad the Bad
Pippin, Tog, Mr & Mrs Pogle
“Peter Firmin did more to influence British children in the late 20th century than anyone else.”
Leeds Bridge 2018 & 1888
Leeds Bridge June 2018
Leeds Bridge June 1888
Image by Louis Le Prince. It is claimed Le Prince filmed the first ever moving images on Leeds Bridge in 1888.
Source: http://www.leodis.net
Sometimes you win
