Trophy Wine 3

The many moods of Det. Goren

Confident Bobby


Bobby looking for affirmation


Wine expert Bobby...


...likes some Oomph! (Me too)


Bobby wondering


Bobby dominating (yes please)

Who's the star now?

As part of our 1960s studies, I asked my student if he'd like to see JFK. He agreed, and today we started watching.

Obviously I was expecting this person to appear:

But I'd not quite registered the fact that this man was in there, with quite a big part:

Obviously Vincent is now the big, important name of the two. And he's kept his hair:

Something Fishy

During the Victorian period, there were markets all over London for foods being brought in to feed the people of the capital - Smithfield for meat, Covent Garden for fruit and veg, and Billingsgate for fish and seafood.

This is the old Billingsgate Market building by the Thames, convenient for landing fish from the boats that sailed up the river:


These days, old Billingsgate is used for the business classes, rather than the workers, as a conference venue. A new, less grand market has been built a bit further inland:

Today I took my student to their seafood training school, where he experienced the creation of oriental smoked salmon and seafood stirfry with squid. I forgot to take any pictures (typical!) but this is the same room he had his lesson in:

Not very pleasant for a long-term veggie, but Alex had a good time, and unlike his earlier visits, before he had rods inserted in his spine, he can now try the food for himself, once it's been liquidised.

It's amazing the things you can do when you know about them!

Trophy Wine 2

Eight greats.

Getting ready:


For a tongue display:


You can almost hear the sigh, like with the vet in Zoonotic:


Size 13 moment part 1:


Size 13 moment part 2:


Happy therapy moment (this is where I as the psych would jump him):


Bobby doth protest too much:


Sad, thoughtful therapy moment (this is where I as the psych would jump him):

OK, let's own up, psych or not I would jump him whenever and wherever the opportunity arose.

From New to Old

I just saw a trailer on Universal Channel that they are starting LOCI from S1 Ep. 1 next Monday at 5pm!

And it looks as if it's in widescreen!

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Darling Det. Goren, I only have eyes for you:

If that were me in the picture with you, I'd be kissing those luscious lips right now:

Handsome is as handsome does? Nah, handsome just is:

Another great episode, with some fun Bobby play - coming up in the next instalment.

Westfield West, Westfield East and the BBC

A few weeks ago I went to the Westfield Shopping Centre in west London - bit of a waste of time. I always thought it was called Westfield as some kind of weird reference to its being in the west (though there have been no fields there for a very long time. In fact the site, at a place called White City, was developed for the 1908 Olympics.) Anyway, Westfield is the name of the company responsible for the shopping centre, and it is now busy completing one in east London near the 2012 Olympic stadium. Sort of circular and half-circular process at the same time.

The last time I went to Westfield, I arrived via a different tube station, and had no idea how close it was to the BBC TV Centre.

Of course, when the BBC was founded in 1922, it was purely for radio broadcasting, and when Broadcasting House was opened in 1932, it was a piece of genuine Art Deco architecture:

Not unusually for the Deco period, it is reminiscent of an ocean liner's prow.

TV arrived in 1936, but was suspended for the duration of the war. In its infancy it was broadcast from a site high on a hill overlooking the capital, Alexandra Palace (a place which was also used as an alien detention centre during the war, where German civilians were held before being transported to detention camps elsewhere):

As I passed the BBC Television Centre on my way to Westfield, I was struck by how Art Deco this building also looks. But like so much UK Deco, it's false, a fake from the 1950s, opened in 1960.

I have no idea when various additions were made, but it seems to me that the Deco-style round glass tower in this picture is a 1950s original:



On the other hand, this rather more authentic-looking tower is an what looks like a later extension:



The outside of the building is well-known from its many appearances in photos and on TV shows, but what I wasn't prepared for was that it is situated on a really busy main road. That's one thing the broadcast shots don't show you:

Forget the Irishman

Beware the wrath of the big Italian!

Then watch out for the Vincent D'Onofrio fan whose internet was up the shoot because of a dislodged phone jack, which she corrected, only to find that her phone line was independently busted.

Luckily I don't have an internet connection with the phone company, because you can't report the fault online if you are connected to the internet (???) And obviously you can't phone it in because your phone line is kaput.

Well, the fault tracker tells me that my (unspecified) fault should be fixed by the 9th. That's five days. Five days. Five days!

Magician Needed

You know when you buy flat-pack item, and the cardboard packaging is taped together along every join with really strong cellotape? And it says on the packaging "Do not open with a knife"?

How exactly do they think you are going to open it?

Is that Irishman still alive?

And so is his handsome sidekick:

Cuff me, chain me, any way you want me

A forgotten gem from 3 years ago.

Kill The Irishman Again

Whoever was responsible for the lighting of this nighttime scene knew where to point his lights:

He cuddles the Irishman, he cuddles the soft toy - I wish he'd cuddle me!

Dream Job

Who wouldn't love a job where you get the opportunity to do stuff you really like, while simultaneously enriching the life of a disabled person?

Last term I planned to study US police drama with my student. I had NYPD Blue DVDs for variety - but of course Criminal Intent was on the study list!

This term we're looking at legal drama, and using Boston Legal as a source material. What's more, our music this term is The Beatles - my student has excellent taste, and really loves the Fab Four. We watched Help! last week, and of course two weeks ago it was the film and album that two years ago gave me the inspiration for this video of our hard-working Bobby with his stubble.

Happy Ever After

I've just received some photos of Louis, my orange-winged Amazon, with his new companion Martha. Greg decided to put them in together, in their new aviary, because the signs were so good. As you can see, they are already the best of friends.


The happy couple.


This is the aviary, with Greg giving the birdies a walnut treat.


Louis hasn't been outside in over 14 years - I couldn't handle him to give him a trip to an outside cage. This must be like a return to the jungle he was snatched from all those years ago.

Just as lucky, Greg's partner's handbag arrived home safe and sound on Saturday lunchtime. It must be almost as good as getting a lost limb back (no disrespect to any amputees out there).

Last Street In Manhattan 5

Love that jaw.

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Just one today - but a beauty.

Would you Adam and Eve it?

(For the uninitiated, that's Cockney rhyming slang for Would you believe it?)

Greg and his partner came to collect Louis today. Seeing the poor boy caught was a bit traumatic (more so for him, he's not been caught for going on 15 years). This evening I thought I'd take him a piece of biscuit, then I remembered...

Once Greg and his lady had gone, I found she'd left her handbag slung over the back of one of my chairs. I felt dreadful, but searched inside for her phone to try and call his phone and get them to turn round before they got too far, but his number wasn't in her call list or in her recent calls list. So I left a message on their home phone call minder.

When Greg called, it was from a call box - there have been lots of storms today and their phone line is down, along with their broadband. Apparently he doesn't have a mobile phone, so their only chance to make and receive calls at home is her mobile. Which is still at my house! What are the odds?

Anyway, Louis is in a cage facing his new girlfriend Martha through the glass into her aviary, and they are already showing interest in each other. In a day or two they will be together. I'm so pleased for them.

Now all I have to do is get the handbag home safely!

End of an Era

Tomorrow my orange winged Amazon Louis is going to his new home.

I've had him for about 14 years, and have never handled him - he just hates people. I think he was wild caught and imported under terrifying conditions.

Since Henry died nearly 2 years ago, Louis has spent all his time out of his cages (I never got rid of Rio's or Henry's cages, so he has 3 to choose from) but he never gets to go outside in the fresh air, because I cannot get him into a carrying cage. He sits on the back of the sofa and looks out of the window at the wild birds and the passersby.

Louis is going into a big outdoor aviary with a female friend of the same parrot breed. Unfortunately he has a 3+ hour journey to get there. Always assuming his new owner (a parrot behaviour specialist who is much respected in the avian world) can get him into his travel cage!

Picture of Greg and friend from his website

To be without a parrot after what must be 17 or 18 years will be strange, but it's best for Louis, and in the end it's best for me, too. Parrots can live a long time, and as I get older I realise I have no one younger to care for a creature who may outlive me by many years.

Last Street In Manhattan 3

I think Bobby's enjoying the gentle sparring with his shrink.

I love it when he has tufts of hair sticking up!


The eyelashes are still dramatic.


The gentle smile would make him look handsome - if he were not drop-dead gorgeous already!

Gawd Bless Blogger

For several days I've been posting, and commenting, via Firefox, on account of being unable to sign in to Blogger on Internet Explorer. All I got was a constant "click, click, click" as the tab wouldn't connect. Yesterday somehow I was signed in for commenting but still couldn't get to my Blogger Dashboard! During this time I have:

• checked my script settings


• cleared my cookies


• deleted my browser history


• updated Internet Explorer

all to no avail.

Yesterday I updated Firefox. Terrible idea. I didn't like its way of dealing with favourites before. Now I like it even less, plus I hate the way it now does its tabs.

So I tried IE again, and this time, I couldn't even complete the sign in form. It just acted as if I hadn't put in my password. So in desperation I clicked on the "can't sign in" button, entered my blog's URL, it sent me an email and - bingo! Suddenly everything works. And I still don't know why a few days ago suddenly it wouldn't work.

Last Street In Manhattan 2

Bobby and Vincent having fun.

Running and jumping to arrive first...


...to get to the named chair of one of the "actors".


High-fiving one of the students at Vanessa's school.

I truly believe they've been having the time of their lives making this season's episodes.

Danger! White Tiger At Large

Tourists were alarmed yesterday when they spotted a white tiger in long grass in a field near Southampton. After several phone calls, the police took a look and called out the air support helicopter. A nearby zoo supplied a tranquilliser dart. The golf course next door was evacuated. The forces of good closed in on...

...no, not this.

This is what the helicopter found when it failed to get a reading from its heat-seeking camera:

They're wondering if it was a hoax.

Gee, d'ya think?

Last Street In Manhattan 1

"It picks up after the second million pages."
Well, Alex, you might have given up after the first million pages,
but I stopped reading my Proust set text when I realised
there hadn't been a full stop for a page-and-a-half!


Bobby really looked like he wanted to go on the dating agency books!
He'd forgotten he couldn't afford it. But we all know we'd pay for a
date with him, it wouldn't cost him a penny.

Kill The Irishman

Just love him in specs.

Open Day at the cemetery

People in places like Paris will understand that cemeteries can be tourist attractions. In London, there are a few famous ones - Highgate in particular, which contains the graves of many famous people, including Karl Marx.

As the churchyards filled up, Victorian London expanded to take its dead further and further out. There was even a Necropolis Railway to take the dead to their final resting place.

Nunhead Cemetery in south London is not so far out and not so famous, but it is a protected site, and there is a Friends of Nunhead Cemetery group which has an open day every year.

This is the chapel, which is roofless now.

Most of the site is a nature reserve, the graves overtaken with brambles, nettles and young trees and bushes. Several years ago - perhaps 9 or 10 now - when I started on my family tree, and rediscovered my cousin Percy, he told me our grandfather was buried in Nunhead Cemetery, and gave me some documents he had acquired that showed where granddad's grave was. It was a communal grave, and as such had no headstone, just a marker tablet. I found out where it was and located it, moved with others against a nearby tree. Later I took Percy to see it. We planned to move it to our grandmother's grave in a north London churchyard.

It never happened. But today I decided to go to the open day and have another look, and maybe find someone to help me lug the heavy lump of stone to my car.

Alas, I couldn't get anywhere near the cemetery in my car. The road was too narrow to allow to cars to pass for most of its length, and the number of visitors' cars parked nearby was huge. I parked in a nearby street and limped my arthritic way to the gate.

Sadly, the relevant part of the cemetery is now even more overgrown, and in a skirt and sleeveless top I couldn't have got near it even if I could have recognised it without serious injury.

Oh well, all is not lost - tomorrow is another day.