"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

"Don't think, feel....it is like a finger pointing towards the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!" -Bruce Lee

Friday, May 28, 2010

Skywatch Friday: a nice evening for some hedge hacking!


James has just made a sterling effort hacking back the huge hedge by our front door! It is such a monster job, we try and avoid cutting it back any more often than once a year. Our compost bin is now completely crammed!

It's interesting hanging around outside the front door for a while, you end up meeting all the neighbours you don't normally see. Tonight was no exception, we met a nice old man, who said we were doing good work - then claimed our second parking space as his own, called me Sarah (?), and talked about our neighbour "Femur" (that's really not his name)! Ah, the characters you meet..

It's actually quite a nice evening, pretty sunny, but not too hot. I can't believe I actually got sunburnt last weekend, while wearing SPF 30?! I think that's unjust, when I did actually remember to wear sun cream!

Anyway, hooray for another bank holiday weekend! =) Hopefully the weather will hold out!

For more skies from around the world, check out http://skyley.blogspot.com

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Skywatch Friday (a little late!)




Well, it's been a busy week, I've been up in Oxford half the week, then down in Salisbury on Thursday, and in Dorking on Wednesday and Friday. I'm exhausted! So much so, I actually fell asleep just after supper and only just woke up - and realised that I forgot to post my Skywatch Friday picture! So, here it is, sunny Dorking! It's set to be a very hot weekend, hotter even than Greece tomorrow apparently. Time to stock up on ice cream and sit in the garden!

For more skies from around the globe, check out http://skyley.blogspot.com

Location:Dorking

Friday, May 14, 2010

More London Sightseeing!


Bank of England
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog
So, as I said, I've spent the last two days up in London on a course. Hooray! Sightseeing for me! It was brilliant actually, the course was in Bank. As it's not really my normal destination for a day trip, it meant I got to explore a whole new bit of London -the financial district, aka The City of London! Funnily enough, it wasn't that far from where the Jack the Ripper tour ended up. Gradually my mental map of London is expanding!

I thought I'd share some photos from my lunch break wanderings with you..

First of all, right next to where my course was, I found The Bank of England! It's an amazingly grand building, I don't remember ever seeing it up close before. I was slightly tempted to walk in and ask if I could take out a fiver, but I managed to resist. I did in fact walk into the Bank of England Museum around the corner though, because I initially thought that it was the Bank of England! I don't know why, it doesn't look anything like it! I was just being nosey really.

On the second day, I managed to get a little further afield, and headed straight for The Gherkin. I love that building! The brilliant thing was, I stumbled across the building site for the newest skyscraper in town, The Pinnacle, soon to be the second tallest building in Europe (after The Shard, currently being constructed at London Bridge), all very exciting! I actually found out about it the other day when I was trying to find out where the tallest viewing platform in London is. I actually cannot wait until these two are finished because unlike all the other tall buildings in town, they will be open to the public!


The Pinnacle
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

If you're interested, this is what it's finally going to look like.. very pretty!



















This is what it looks like so far.. just some big cranes! Ah well, they've got a year to finish it..

The Pinnacle
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Just around the corner from there, and next to The Gherkin, I spied this..

Lloyds
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

After a little investigation, I found out it is Lloyd's of London. Wow. It's such a strange building! It's almost like it's inside out, you can see the lifts running up and down the outside with people in. Very industrial looking - you would never guess that there's an insurance market hiding in there! Looks more like the home of the Borg if you ask me..


Lloyds
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It's strange how it sits behind the facade of the old Roman Forum..


Lloyds
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Turning 180 from there.. The Gherkin sits!


The Gherkin
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I managed to get into the reception, but unfortunately you're not allowed up to the viewing platform on the top floor! Well, what else is YouTube for.. if you want to see the view from the top, check out the video here.


The Gherkin
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Here's the entrance, I'm surprised they didn't try and kick me out, wandering in there in my ski wear, mind you it is the Swiss Re building, so they're probably used to that sort of thing!


The Gherkin
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog


The Gherkin
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It seems to have glass floors?!

The Gherkin
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

On my way back to the Bank of Japan, where my course was being run, (well actually it was SQS, but it was in the same building for some reason), I passed Prince Philip's shirt shop on Threadneedle Street. There was a big sign announcing that it was "as appointed to the Prince of Wales" - £138 a shirt if you're interested! I also spotted this strange bridge. I still can't work out what that thing is! Any ideas?


Bank
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Skywatch Friday: A beautiful day!


Dorking
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog
Wow, what a beautiful sky we have today! It should stay nice for the weekend too I'm hoping! It's strange being back in Dorking today, I spent the last two days in London and I was getting quite used to the commute! I had a nice walk around the field today, and spotted a guy across the river doing a bit of fishing. I keep seeing people over there, and now it's starting to annoy me, I just can't see how you get there! I think you must have to cross over the river quite a way downstream and then walk along. There's an old WW2 pill box right there at the bottom of the hill and I fancy going and having a look at it! I'll find out how to get to it one day!

For more skies from around the world check out http://skyley.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

It looks like the Labour party website needs performance testing!
















Apparently, there has been a 1000% increase in people signing up for Labour membership today. I think people are scared!

Friday, May 07, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Whiteout


Dorking
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog
It's quite a grey day today, either that or I'm just really sleepy from staying up til 2 to watch the election results come in! I'm not sure I should have bothered, I can't believe it has actually taken until this evening for the final constituencies to finish counting! Unbelievable! I wonder how many times they lost count and had to start again..

Anyway, should be a good weekend hopefully, it turns out we have the Horsham English Festival on Saturday, and the Cowpie Ralley on Sunday, just got to hope the rain holds off for a little while longer!

For more skies from around the world, check out http://skyley.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

A walk in Westminster and Wicked!

So, for part of our joint birthday weekend celebrations, we decided to treat ourselves to an evening out in London, and a show! It actually stopped raining for a little while on Monday, hooray for bank holidays, so we booked tickets for Wicked and headed off into London! Somehow, despite public transport conspiring against us, we still managed to get up to Victoria with a couple of hours to spare. For some reason we didn't get travelcards, so we decided it was a good opportunity to go for a wander.

Westminster is just fantastic to walk around, it's a tourist's paradise! It's amazing how close all the landmarks are together if you walk between them, it's very impressive! First of all we stumbled across Westminster Cathedral..

Westminster Cathedral
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We were pretty lucky actually, we managed to sneak in just before they closed for the day..

Westminster Cathedral
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It's quite a grand cathedral, but we both had the same thought - with ceilings like that, they really ought to have hired someone to paint them up nicely! It just seems so incongruous with the rest of the cathedral to have plain black ceilings, topping such highly decorated walls and marble pillars! I'm pretty sure they were aiming for something along the lines of Siena Cathedral, but they must've either run out of money, or ladders. It's a shame we didn't get the chance to go up the campanile, that's something to go on the list for next time!


Westminster Abbey
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We carried on walking along Victoria Road, and next we came across Westminster Abbey! I did quite fancy paying a visit, but just as we wandered over to the entrance, they started locking up for the day! That serves us right for getting into town late on a Bank Holiday!

So, a little way further along the road we went, and there we saw..


Big Ben
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Big Ben, the London Eye..


Houses of Parliament
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and the Houses of Parliament!

We did the touristy thing, and walked across the river to take some photos..


Houses of Parliament
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and then I badgered James into trying to find Downing Street too! We headed back over to the North Bank, and then cut through to Whitehall along Horse Guards Avenue. We did find Downing Street, and there were lots of police! We hurried past, so no photos!

Then, we noticed a nice shortcut through to St James' Park, by nipping down next to the Treasury..

St James' Park
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Beautiful tulips!


St James' Park
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and ducklings!! =D

From there, it wasn't far back to Victoria again. We turned down a street called 'Petty France', really London, it's like a competition to see how many times we can offend the French in one city!

It was really handy, the musical we chose to see was in the Apollo Victoria theatre, literally right outside Victoria station. Now that was extremely useful when we had to catch the train home!


Wicked - Apollo Victoria
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Wicked was absolutely brilliant! All we really know about it before we went was that it was something to do with the Wizard of Oz. It turned out to be the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West, showing how she was indirectly responsible for the creation of the winged monkeys, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the timid lion and the squishing of her sister under a flying house, all because of her strong morals -she wouldn't help the wizard turn all the animals of Oz dumb; ultimately, it shows how she was misunderstood, just because she was born green, and had scary magical powers. She was a nice witch really! It's an interesting concept, I don't think many one dimensional baddies get given the opportunity for quite such an exciting back story. The musical is based on the novel 'The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire.


Wicked - Apollo Victoria
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We were both looking up the cast when we got home, and it turns out two of the leads were in the Andrew Lloyd Webber competitions on TV - 'Any Dream Will Do' and 'I'd Do Anything', while another appeared on X factor. They were all amazing singers! It must be impossible for the judges to decide between people like that!

Anyway, it is thoroughly recommended - excellent story, excellent songs, excellent cast!

By the way, check out this umbrella they were selling in the foyer..


Wicked - Apollo Victoria
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

hehe..

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Is it just me..

or does David Cameron bear an uncanny resemblance to Susannah Harker, who played Jane Bennett in Pride & Prejudice? Hmm.. it's really starting to bother me!

Update: uh-oh, I have just seen that there is a facebook group for 'David Cameron looks like Henry from Thomas the Tank Engine'. How distracting!

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Things to do in the South East - Spring/Summer 2010


Today I've been doing a bit of research, and I've come up with a list of shows and festivals coming up in the next few months in the South, and a few other places too (OK, I know, it also includes some geek conventions too)! That should hopefully keep us busy for a while! If you have any more suggestions, please let me know, this is a growing list!

May
Brighton Festival - 1-23rd May
Horsham English Festival - 8/9th May
Snailwell Medieval Fayre - 8/9th May
Cowpie Ralley, Betchworth - 9th May
Collectormania, Milton Keynes - 28-31st May
Surrey County Show, Guildford - 31st May

June
South of England Show, Ardingly - 10-12th June
Biggin Hill Air Show - 26/27th June

July
Goodwood Festival of Speed - 2-4th July
Polesden Lacey Festival - 2-4th July
Guilfest - 16/18th July
London Film & Comic Con - 17/18th July
Farnborough Air Show - 19-25th July

August
Bristol Hot Air Balloon Festival - 12-15th August
Rudgwick - 28-30th August
Herstmonceux Medieval Festival - 28-30th August

November
Collectormania, London - 27/28th November

By the way, the photo was taken in Rottingdean last weekend. We decided to go for an evening walk along the beach, and I decided to take up the new hobby of rock balancing! This is my first attempt..