Sayonara – or possibly Bloodynora

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:

“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...

** 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.

Ricky Lead singer takes to the balcony for

a well earned rest between songs

At least the drums were in focus....

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…

Must de Cartier 21 SS 18K

Price	£1,095
RRP	£2,100
Saving	£1,005

Price

£1,095

RRP

£2,100

Saving

£1,005

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: - 

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. 

The suburban tourist 1 of 6  - I wish I had studied road signs as a cub

The suburban tourist 2 of 6 - Asking Directions

The suburban tourist 3 of 6 - People Watching

What better tourist occupation than People watching?

The suburban tourist 4 of 6 -  Nature Walk

The suburban tourist 5 of 6 - Shoe Shopping

Unusually chew ability scored higher over size,
colour and style for this savvy shoe shopper

The suburban tourist 6 of 6 - Recreational drug taking

Sad to see that drugs seem to be invading
all aspects of modern life.

Category - Creative Visions
This category is for conceptual pictures – original and surprising views of nature, whether figurative or abstract


The small water god

 

Animal Portraits 

This Red Kyte looked so majestic hovering
in the air, waiting to swoop down.



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....



Fox in the Snow

No more than a few meters from our front door this beautiful Fox appeared –
Looking very much at home. I talked to some passing dog walkers who said
he was a regular visitor and they would often find him sitting just a few feet
away from them watching them and their pet.  They described it more like
 a guardian angel than a wild predator.... 

 Animals in their Environment

Spotted Fly Catcher...

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

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....  

 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

Sparrow - Reflections of flight

 
Next week we continue the kitchen revamp - How well do you think it's going?