04/06/2012

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, Day Three

Holy cow! Day Three of the Diamond Jubilee is almost over and I am only just now beginning this post. Big day at the Palace. Ten thousand people were Her guests for a lovely basket lunch in the garden and it didn't rain. Fantastic. We took the tube to central London to visit the Victoria & Albert museum. Overwhelming.

Royal chamber
Royal chamber....or is it?

As lions watch
As lions watch

Lovely lady at the museum
Lovely museum goer

Victoria & Albert museum
The alter of fashion

London chap
Man on the street

Big concert at the Palace tonight. We enjoyed a pleasant walk around Tooting Bec.

03/06/2012

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, Day Two

Rainy day in Tooting Bec
Rainy day in Tooting Bec

A.M. It's raining in Tooting Bec. Too bad. Today is the Queen's grand river pageant on the Thames. We decided not to attend. To begin with, M. Lee's mom is 82 so we thought, with over a million people jostling for a view, we'd do better watching the broadcast from home instead. So, we're taking the tube this morning to the nearest grocery store to pick up some things for our own version of high tea and watch all the fun live online via the skyNEWS feed.

High tea & Jubilee
High tea and Jubilee

P.M.
It is almost 6. Nearly the entire flotilla has now passed by the Queen as she stands in review with her entourage on the Royal Barge in furious rain. They are saying that it's cold enough to see your breath. The fly pass of military jets, the grand finale, had to be cancelled due to the weather but the Queen has stayed strong through it all. My hat is off to her. In the brief time we've been in London I have really come to appreciate the fine standard she has set during her 60 years as Monarch. We have no such thing in America and have torn ourselves apart trying to establish a reference point.

London Philharmonic Orchestra serenades the Queen
London Philharmonic Orchestra and choir's grand finale serenade.

Finally, the London Philharmonic Orchestra boat arrives before the Queen. They serenade her with several rousing numbers including a happy little sea shanty which brings smiles then laughter from Her, Camilla and Kate. And at last they sing the National Anthem which thereby brings this glorious Pageant to a merciful close.

Footnote: An especially big hit around here today was the unexpected appearance along the river of Joey, star of War Horse currently playing at the National Theater. Swami, Ella and Minerva were thrilled.



02/06/2012

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, Day One



Corgie Queen

This morning we walked over to the Saturday market and got og veggies, British pasties and eggs from hens who supposedly spend their days in an orchard nibbling soft fruit and tasty bugs. Last Saturday we went to the Portobello Road flea market instead but regretted missing the local market so today it was at the top of the agenda.

Wild Country Organics, UK
Wild Country Organics, great greens!

After bringing everything home and putting it away we took the tube to central London. Our first stop was a Salvation Army store Kathy read about online. That's M. Lee's mom. The three of us are traveling together. She read that people from the nearby College of Design and Vogue Magazine offices check the place early and often with good results. She's like a bloodhound when it comes to these things and actually did dig up a treasure, a fabulous cashmere top coat for £75 that would sell new for about £1000 but it turned out to be a heart breaker. Too small.

View from the Tate

Sleeping Venus by Paul Delvaux
Sleeping Venus by Paul Delvaux on display at the Tate Modern

But no matter. We went to a nearby park and ate our sandwiches. I couldn't help but share a tiny bit with the pigeons but very much on the down-low as there's a £500 fine for such things. After lunch, we took the tube back to London Bridge then walked along the Thames to the Tate Modern. Wow. What a great place. Like the other museums we've visited in London, we saw only a fraction of what's on display. We'll try to make it back again before we go.

Borough High St. street party
Borough High St. street party

Today is day one of Queen Elizabeth's four day Diamond Jubilee Celebration. I hear she went to opening day at Ascot. On our way back to the Tube and home, pub and street parties were well underway. I'm not sure people were celebrating anything in particular, just having a good time. Tomorrow we'll do our best to catch a glimpse of the historic Thames Jubilee Pageant. The Queen will travel in a flotilla of up to one thousand boats for what is expected to be a seven and a half mile long water parade and largest fleet of ships to be assembled on the River Thames in 350 years.




31/05/2012

Photo dump

Gargoyle
Gargoyle, Windsor Castle
Once again, I'm overwhelmed.

Street market wares
London Saturday flea market
I've already taken far too many photos to manage and we're only just over a week into this trip.

Huron St., London
Huron St., London
The flat we're renting is on this street.

It happens every time.


Chinese bride & St. Paul
Wedding photo shoot.
St. Paul's cathedral.
The groom standing off to the right.
Anyway, we came upon this fun scene the other day while walking to the tube.

Wedding photo shoot

These gigantic, multi-location, muli-costume professional photo shoots are the current fashion at the weddings of young Chinese couples.

Wedding

They didn't seem to mind me taking a few of my own.

Wedding shoot

So, that's it for now. As usual, I'm up too late lost in the hodge podge. 

Reflections with a horse
Chelsea reflections

27/05/2012

English or American

I agree with Ghandi when he wrote, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” and, by that measure, both the United Kingdom and the US are neither truly great nor even very moral. However, since we arrived in the UK, I have been enjoying how differently they use of our common language and am wondering just how deep those differences go.

Perhaps I have merely succumbed to novelty but, at the moment, it seems more polite to ask drivers to "give way" rather than "yield" like we do in the US.

London cafe

And even though I'm vegetarian, I find this unobtrusive window sign both amazing and delightful. "Proper Hamburgers"?

London cafe

American restaurants advertise "fast" food, even "healthy" and "organic" food but "proper" hot food? Never! I believe I speak for the majority of my countrymen when I say that no one shall ever enforce the eating of "proper" food on an American. By god Southerners, cued by their Corporate Overlords, thoroughly vilified the First Lady for merely suggesting that parents feed their children healthy food.

Hyde Park, London.
Hyde Park, London

Perhaps I am belaboring the point here but I also thought the dog poop bins in Hyde Park were pretty civilized.

26/05/2012

Thought for the day

Mind the Gap w/ train
London Tube
That blurry blue line is a speeding train.

Alrighty then.



24/05/2012

The Queen is home but I am out

It's going to be hard keeping track of our experiences in London. Tonight again I am far too tired to retrieve the mental notes I made during the day. All that's left is bits and scraps but I'll do, well not my best, but I'll do what I can.

We took the tube to the center of London. Because I like horses we started with the changing of the Horse Guard. It was not conducted in the regular field as that area is being turned into a volleyball field for the upcoming Olympics. The entire city is preparing, not only for the Olympics in July, but the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June.

Anyway, after watching the Horse Guard, we wandered through Admiralty Arch and ate our peanut butter and banana sandwiches on the steps leading up to a bigger than life sculpture of someone or other then made our way up The Mall, the giant red carpet like road leading to the Palace. Along the way, The Mall passes through Green Park, a lovely area "acquired" in the 16th century by Henry VIII from a colony of female lepers. He desired a convenient place to shoot deer. But what can I say? The grim old structures, the gothic spires rising above the trees, the enormous royal residences and pompous towering halls of government facing The Mall had the desired effect. I was impressed. Even the obviously phallic stylized ship's masts topped by red and gold crowns lining the parade way between the Arch and the Palace hold their own.

As it turned out construction is also underway directly in front of the palace and the last part of the way barricaded. The flag was up on the Palace which means the Queen was in but we were out of luck. No big deal. Even with the construction, barricades and walk arounds, I am here to report that London is still a great show, an extravagant display of great world power, incalculable wealth, ruthless, fearful and magnificent.

But enough of that. M. Lee and I went for bike ride after getting back to Tooting Bec. It was rush hour so traffic was horrendous. The cool thing is that motorists are pretty accustomed to cyclists, much more so than in Nevada anyway, so it seemed quite natural being in the flow. This is partly due to the efforts of London's cycling mayor Boris Johnson who is bent on making London a more bike friendly city. We brought our own bikes with us. I think I failed to mention that before. Bromptons. Folding bikes. They take a little getting used to but are great fun. Along the way we stopped to pick up some maps of bike routes at Crazy Horse, a bike shop in Tooting Bec. We got to talking with the owners and discovered that the woman and I are actually related but more about that later. It's already too late. I've got to try to sleep now.

22/05/2012

London, hello and good-night


A couple of photos is about all I can do for now. It's been over 30 hours since I last slept. We're in London. We arrived around noon today and are staying up to catch up with the new time zone.

London bound. on Twitpic
Travel buddy stowaways, Swami and Minerva.

Our apartment is in Tooting Bec, an interesting, very diverse neighborhood in south London. M. Lee found it on AirBnB.

Arrival... on Twitpic
London customs.
More a concept than a place.

We had dinner tonight at a tiny nearby restaurant our landlords recommended, Chennai Dosa. Yum. It was perfect comfort food. Anyway, it's finally getting dark so, for now, good night.


10/05/2012

Obese magpie

Breakfast in the Bird Park and once again, the magpies are loading up with peanuts, sometimes flying off with two in a beak, while the cautious crows look on. Actually, the magpie are not really obese, well there is one. I just like the image. I want to shout, "Come on! Grab a goodie before everything's gone" as one crow finally begins inching in sideways toward the kibble but no. Can't do that. They tolerate me through the window but otherwise our relationship is pretty tenuous.

The cool thing is that Minerva the crow is here this morning. She's been a Bird Park regular for years. You might wonder how I know but I have my ways. Actually, it's not all that mystical. She has that feather protruding from her right wing and her companion has a distinctive brown feather in her right wing. Her/his? I don't know. Maybe they're siblings but, in any case, they are out there right now and Brownie has finally grabbed a beakful of kibble and flown off. Breakfast in bed for the chillens? I am so going to miss this. Yes. I am looking forward to London and Paris. We leave on the 21st. I'm not addled, for Christ's sake, but I am also very attached to my bird friends. Awww well. It's spring so they won't be out there foraging in the snow anyway and Penny Robin, who had to have her apple first thing in the morning, has already gone back to higher ground.


06/05/2012

Oh. It's just you.

That's the response I get from a lot of the birds out in the Bird Park when I sit down at my computer, as I did just now. Before they figure out it's just me they do that little crouch birds do before launch then they notice it's just me, straighten up and go back to their business. I'm flattered.

Other than that, the feeling in the house among us two humans is as though we are drawn up into a great wave that is, in six days, going to come crashing down around us. Ready or not, we leave on Friday and will be gone until the end of July.

So, last week M. Lee decided to paint the house alone by hand. It's been on the project list for a few years. At this point, were you to ask, he might say he underestimated the job. In any case, it has upped the pressure about a thousand degrees. Other than that, for me, traveling is always preceded by great, amorphous anxiety and I am fully in it. I worry about the birds. Don't even say it. I know how pathetic that sounds, as though I am Mother Nature incarnate.They are wild. They will, somehow, survive my absence. My regret, in part, is purely selfish. Currently, a group of red wing blackbirds are regular customers at Bird Park and all day long they fill the silence with their charming conversation. This is the first time they've been regulars and, of course, they will be long gone when we get back. I know that's nothing but it at least it distracts me from the anxiety of what I'll forget to do or bring and how horrible that 10 hour flight is going to be.

Anyway, thanks for listening, if you got this far. I don't know why but it helps to write about it but it does and, like the message in the bottle, it's comforting to think there is another shore. Now I've gotta go. I've got a list of things to do. Have a great day.

01/05/2012

Ringtones for a weeping eye

My poor left eye is not doing nearly as well as my right eye after its cataract removal last week. I have a post-op with the doctor tomorrow so we'll see but I'm not too worried. The results are still within what he has explained are "normal" even though at the moment it feels like there's a stick jammed into the side of my eye. Last week was simple, in and out, but today I came home with a terrible headache and a blood shot eye oozing rubbery pus and surrounded by dried blood. Sorry for the gory details. I just report. So, I spent the afternoon downloading ringtones for my phone. I got some cool ones, a couple which I will share with you in hope of making up for the gory details I have inflicted you with. I'd post more but zedge.net is currently too busy to access. Sci-fi Creepy is one of my all-time favorites. My daughter has had it on her phone for a couple of years and I was delighted to finally stumble across it this afternoon.


Get this on your phone | Make your own free ringtones


Get this on your phone | Make your own free ringtones

28/04/2012

The difference between crows and magpies.

Here at the Bird Park crows jump down out of the air with a ground shaking, window rattling THUD, straighten their feathers, then assess the situation before committing to anything further. Magpies, on the other hand, careen out of the air, hit the ground running, taper off in a sometimes stumbling bounce to a brief pause before dashing off, grabbing a peanut or bit of kibble and flying away.

25/04/2012

Good-bye smoker's teeth world. Hello London.

At the moment, I'm halfway through the two part process of cataract removal. The right eye was done yesterday. Amazing! The walls in our house aren't smoker's teeth yellow after all. They're white! And the fence in the Bird Park? The wood has a lovely grain. One thing. I have occasionally noticed the curve of the new lens along the outside corner of my vision. I hope that goes away but, no matter what, next Tuesday we're doing the left eye.  

Now for the summer travels countdown part of this ongoing, chaotic account of my life accompanied by a fair amount of anxiety. Not for the trip itself, five weeks in London, five weeks in Paris. That should be really interesting and fun. It's the preparation that makes me crazy and I am currently fully in The Crazy, with an extra dose of anxiety for the flight itself, a two-part adventure beginning with that restless night before the flight. We get up about 4 am for the kick-off flight to LA on May 21 followed by a several hour layover before the 10 hour flight to London arriving 8 hours ahead of our biological clocks so we'll do what travelers do. Stay up to catch up. But more on all this later.

23/04/2012

Moving Day

We were recently in Portland helping my son Jack move his family into their first very own home.


Mista Leo packed right along with the rest of us but took...

Mista Leo's moving day
...personal responsibility....


Mista Leo's moving day
....that his prize soccer ball...


Mista Leo's moving day
...made it safely...

Mista Leo's moving day
 ...to their new home.

Faerie Court

No gender bias in her house so what a surprise when, completely on her own, Thea has fallen in love with the color pink and swirly dresses and takes very seriously the idea of being a Princess in the Faerie Court.

Faerie Princess Thea
Nevada is also a member of the Faerie court. on Twitpic
Faerie Princess Nevada














Of course, Nevada is only to happy to play along. If ever a dog were a faerie princess it would be Nevada.

21/04/2012

Morning from the backroom

Comma Coffee is constantly changing.

Morning from the back of the room on Twitpic

Can you spot the new parlor grand piano?
Clue: look for the shinny flat surface.

Carson City Comma Coffee piano on the wall. on Twitpic

In fitting Comma fashion,
the old upright is now on the wall.

Share photos on twitter with Twitpic

 Back in the back.


15/04/2012

"Women and children first"

MITT ROMNEY:
"THROW 'EM OVERBOARD!
NO LIFEBOAT,
NO LIFE VEST FOR YOU!"

Republican version of women and children first then the world.

Here's Romney's proposal:

  • Make contraception less available to poor women by getting rid of Planned Parenthood.
  • Make the option of abortion illegal by signing a Personhood Amendment.
  • Make access to prenatal care and pediatric care less available by gutting Medicaid.
  • Then force mothers out of the home so that they can't even raise their own children.
  • Gut public K-12 education.
  • Gut grants for College Education.
  • Continue outsourcing jobs to third world countries where people will work for .50 a day.
  • Gut Medicare and Social Security.
  • Gut the environment upon which life as we know it depends.

08/04/2012

The Mizpah at last

I'm just back from my spring trip to the lovely semi-ghost town of Tonopah Nevada. 

The desk clerk told us they sometimes hear
children talking who are not there. That made
the strange miniature furniture look really eerie.

The big news this year is that the Mizpah Hotel has finally re-opened.

Last year...outside in.

I've been photographing the place through the windows for years.

Now I finally got in.

This year...inside out.


There have been other changes around town as well.


That photo I found a few years ago of the guy posing with a beer is gone.

Gone....
It was in the cave/cabin on the floor with all the junk so, for safekeeping, I stashed it between some stones in the rock face of the "cabin". However, this spring it was gone so another face disappears into Tonopah's fading past. Also, the abandoned tailor's shack up the street that still housed some wonderful antique equipment is gone.


Little remained of tailor's
shop from days gone by.

I'm hoping the museum folks rescued the equipment. I don't think it was in the rubble but then I didn't dig around.

Tailor shop today, collapsed and gone.

And, as I mentioned before, the little store Hippies of Tonopah is gone, not the building itself, but Hippy. Graffiti inside reads "Ur Gay". So much for love in diversity. 

But no time to mourn to past.


The ghosts of Tonopah Present haunt us even now...

Goblin of the Fifth Floor

...not only the goblin that accosted us as we explored the hotel...

The Lady in Red

...but the ghost the Lady in Red herself. Legend has it that she was stabbed to death by a jealous lover in the hallway outside of her room, 502, and haunts the hotel to this day. Naturally, we tried reserving her room for our stay next fall but it was already booked. But we will be in room 501. Close enough. I'm already spooked. The building itself is morose and vaguely threatening. I was happy to get back down to the lobby and glad to re-emerge back out under the blue desert sky.

I posted more photos of the Mizpah here.


03/04/2012

New Madhuban

Going through papers on my desk this afternoon, I came across some things I wrote years ago that I'd been thinking about, and forgetting to, do something with. As you might guess, I wrote it during a particularly difficult time in my life. Anyway, I'm posting an excerpt here and at Anna Sadhorse.

New Madhuban
West Virginia


this forest,    
planted for a loaf of bread
and a dollar a day, 
is a solemn place
the hill it has taken possession of
drops sharply
to a holler     too steep for pasture
a place where small skeletons   slowly turn to stone
this is a good place to be alone

the sun seldom finds entry to this grove
is a stranger here     off his path  
from a world that does not exist
his probing beams
only deepen the darkness
and threaten to ignite the brittle trees

one may only be here carefully    
this forest has no need of company
birds know it   they do not nest
or sing among its spiney branches
there is no undergrowth   
nothing pierces the needle mat

and the pines themselves
have shed their lower branches
becoming heartless    
pitch steeped trunks with shattered limbs
they offer no place to rest
who comes here must stand alone
who comes here to dream must dream
indifferent as the dead


asha
West Virginia, 1975 - Excerpt from Sunday Feast
Trees were planted in this area during America's Great Depression of the 1930's as part the New Deal.

02/04/2012

First dance

My niece Maren's wedding last month in Portland was a very sweet affair.

Maren, Thea and Mama

Uncle Papa Jim conducted the ceremony. Before meeting and marrying my sister, he was a fourth year novice at a Catholic monastery so priestly duties are natural for him.


He did choke up though when it came to the part where he put Maren's hand in Drew's. For a moment, we all held our breath.

Papa Jack, Mister Leo, Jeannette and Uncle Papa Jim

Unfortunately, I'm one of those crappy amateur photographers who waves the camera around in the air and hopes for the best. It's like trying to catch a swarm of butterflies with a bucket. I took a lot of photos but, unfortunately, these are about as clear as any of them get.

Big Girl Thea teaching cousin Leo to dance