This weeks BlackLOG covers :-
- The build upto our Japan trip
- Kaiser Chiefs at Hammersmith Apollo
- My entries for "The Veolia environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year - 2012"
Sayonara – or possibly Bloodynora
With our Japan trip only 8 months away I felt it was time to get into the swing of things so sent Mrs B the following email:
- The build upto our Japan trip
- Kaiser Chiefs at Hammersmith Apollo
- My entries for "The Veolia environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year - 2012"
Sayonara – or possibly Bloodynora
With our Japan trip only 8 months away I felt it was time to get into the swing of things so sent Mrs B the following email:
“Mrs B do you fancy getting in the mood for Japan? I can book a table at Roka Restaurant in Canary Wharf.”
This lead to the following exchange:
“はい！そこが、高価で素晴らしいことだ。
Love you, Mrs B”
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Dear clever clogs. My rough grasp of Japanese (said in a loud voice , with accent and slanty eyes *) comes up with:
“It is! There, being expensive, it is splendid thing” **
Which could be a “yes” or “good idea but no, I have spent all my bonus on handbags and all things red***”
So do you want me to :-
A) – Book a table (and for what time)
B) – Contact the bank for an overdraft to get us through to next month
C) – Book you into “RA” Red Anonymous – “Hi my name is Mrs B and I can’t stop buying red things....”
Sayonara – or possibly Bloodynora if you chuck anymore Japanese at me....
Love Me”
* Yes, I'm afraid I'm one of those Brits. While I can fluently fail to speak other languages (some would even say I struggle with English), it does not prevent me from gamely attempting to converse at a very loud level, in English with a strange accents. The accent used may or may not bare resemblance to the language of the poor unfortunate, often bewildered, individuals that is the recipient of my attempts to break down the language barrier. This drives Mrs B up the wall, secretly I think she is jealous of my special talent...
* Yes, I'm afraid I'm one of those Brits. While I can fluently fail to speak other languages (some would even say I struggle with English), it does not prevent me from gamely attempting to converse at a very loud level, in English with a strange accents. The accent used may or may not bare resemblance to the language of the poor unfortunate, often bewildered, individuals that is the recipient of my attempts to break down the language barrier. This drives Mrs B up the wall, secretly I think she is jealous of my special talent...
** You have to love Babel Fish as a translator
*** While Pablo Picasso went through a blue period (1901 – 1904) and Van Gogh went through a yellow period, Mrs B is currently going through a red period – handbags, shoes, kitchen utensils etc are morphing towards red .....I just hope we can stop our bank account going that way....
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We made it to Roka. It was fascinating – expensively authentic, so really getting us into training for Japan.
The staff were quite rude and dismissive – which made me feel a bit like being one of the prisoners on Bridge over the River Kwai
Mrs B was running a bit late (more British rail than Swiss clockwork) and I was sat next to a Japanese woman eating on her own. I watched with fascination as she ate and texted at the same time (I know there is a phenomenon “sexting”, I wondered if this was an example of being “texfed”). If it was me I would probably end up tapping a little rice messages while munching down on my iphone...
It turns out the Japanese diner wasn’t on her own and her date turned up about half an hour later. She briefly stopped eating, stretched out a hand in his general direction but did not manage to look up from her phone...
I have noticed that more and more people don’t appear to be able to function without a smart phone in hand – while walking, talking, driving and, although I might not have witnessed it, probably sex as well – let’s face it there is bound to be an app for it....
There was no apparent conversation from the other table but plenty of texting. So I guess they were communicating just not sure if it was with each other....While the future of the virtual world seems secure I’m a bit concerned about the prospect of actual social interaction.....
I’m delighted to announce that we both managed to survive our Japanese culinary experience – Mrs B managing to avoid raw fish, while I avoided vegetables both raw and cooked (It’s all about vegetable rights ....honest he says, with fingers crossed behind his back). Although I’m not sure how much of a dry run this really was - sitting in a restaurant with English menus and surrounded by English speaking waiters and waitresses is not much of a test for finding ourselves in a restaurant with no English menus and non-English speaking staff....
Kaiser Chiefs
The Kaiser Chiefs made it, the support band made it, I made it, my friend Ediane made it, her husband Costas made it (but not to the support). Unfortunately Mrs B and The Beast didn’t make it. Mrs B got caught up in another work crisis, while The Beast didn’t get an invite, being too big to sneak in, and he was replaced by the Mega Mini Beast.
The Kaiser Chiefs and support (Frankie And The Heartstrings, Fixers) were great.
Ediane and Costas really enjoyed it.
I really missed Mrs B and the Beast - concerts are never the same when they don’t make it.
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Ricky Lead singer takes to the balcony for a well earned rest between songs |
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| At least the drums were in focus.... |
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| Costas and Ediane - The low light ability of the Mega Mini Beast could give a burnt out light bulb a run for its money.... |
Watch of the Week
The regular section in support of Joe (Stunt Cock) and his growing watch business Xupes. Joe mentioned that they had been getting a number of hits via the BlackLOG.
Xupes has been trading for over 2 years and Joe has recently developed some great contacts in the trade which enables him to pick up surplus stock and sell them at great prices. Mrs B is a regular purchaser from his jewellery section, going self service once she finally realised that her husband is not the jewellery buying type…
Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin – Certianly the face to face variety
Xupes has been trading for over 2 years and Joe has recently developed some great contacts in the trade which enables him to pick up surplus stock and sell them at great prices. Mrs B is a regular purchaser from his jewellery section, going self service once she finally realised that her husband is not the jewellery buying type…
Must de Cartier 21 SS 18K
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Click on the watch to find out more
Record of the Week
I Think I'm turning Japanese by The Vapours – Not if my dodgy accent has anything to do with it
Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin – Certianly the face to face variety
Never Miss A Beat by Kaiser Chiefs – Mrs B did...she missed all of them...
Photo Finish
I’ve entered a little photo competition, The Veolia environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2012 – I don’t for one minute expect to win any of the categories, let alone the big one (overall winner) but I would like at least one of my pictures to be selected, blown up to huge oversized proportions and hung alongside the work of some much-respected professional wildlife photographers as an exhibit at the Natural History Museum....I won’t get to find out if any of my pictures make it till later in the year – so wish me luck. In the meantime here are my handcrafted entries: -
When nature comes to you - I looked out of the window one night and saw this beautiful fox walking about like a tourist. I grabbed the camera and shot out of the front door. I was at first disappointed that the street light had given all the shots an amber glow but came to realise it is actually part of the charm of the picture.
The Wildlife Photojournalist Award
This category seeks to develop the visual narrative through a series of six (6) unique images that, together, tell a story without the need for words.When nature comes to you - I looked out of the window one night and saw this beautiful fox walking about like a tourist. I grabbed the camera and shot out of the front door. I was at first disappointed that the street light had given all the shots an amber glow but came to realise it is actually part of the charm of the picture.
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| The suburban tourist 1 of 6 - I wish I had studied road signs as a cub |
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| The suburban tourist 2 of 6 - Asking Directions |
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| The suburban tourist 3 of 6 - People Watching What better tourist occupation than People watching? |
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| The suburban tourist 4 of 6 - Nature Walk |
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| The suburban tourist 5 of 6 - Shoe Shopping Unusually chew ability scored higher over size, colour and style for this savvy shoe shopper |
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| The suburban tourist 6 of 6 - Recreational drug taking Sad to see that drugs seem to be invading all aspects of modern life. |
This category is for conceptual pictures – original and surprising views of nature, whether figurative or abstract
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| The small water god |
Animal Portraits
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| This Red Kyte looked so majestic hovering in the air, waiting to swoop down. |
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| Lioness - Domination I love the way this lioness dominates the picture - she just owns her environment, walking straight towards the camera - You just know you are in her world and playing by her rules....
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| Spotted Fly Catcher... |
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| Southern Boubou in flight When on safari it is easy to concentrate on just the traditional game – Having already seen: lion; elephant; giraffe; cheetah; rhino etc I was looking around to see if anything else was going on and a Southern Boubou caught my eye, perched on a bush. I brought my camera around to take what I thought would be a static shot, just as the Boubou took flight and so managed to track the bird for a more interesting shot. |
Behaviour: Mammals
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| Tempting as it was I decided not to play fetch... After a couple of days watching lions lazing around, barely moving, it was fascinating and rewarding to be able to watch this young lioness, around 2 years old. The way she played with the stick was like watching a family pet, her tongue poking out taunting us for not getting out of the truck and coming over to play with her.... |
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| Elephant - Thou Shall Not Pass We were returning to the lodge for dinner one night when we came across this male Elephant. He was in a bad mood and decided that no one was going to get passed. After a 20 minute standoff he decided enough was enough and decided to charge. Our Ranger threw the truck into reverse and felt it would be best to take the long route home.... |
Behaviour: Birds
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| Sparrow - Reflections of flight |
Next week we continue the kitchen revamp - How well do you think it's going?
