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Welcome to the world of the Vincent D'Onofrio obsessed - and a bit of real life thrown in.


Saturday, July 07, 2012

What teachers do on training days

Well, quite a lot, actually. Yesterday we assembled near the top of Sydenham Hill at a golf club and all showed the Powerpoints we'd made about our own little areas of expertise.

But if you are a good leader, there is always some kind of team building exercise. We learned a 3-part harmony. Later we played a word definition game.

After a reasonable lunch, we had an art lesson. It was supposed to be outdoors, but though the rain we experience daily had stopped, the ground was too wet to venture out. So we painted the extensive view from the windows.
There were some might fine artists. My own effort was less impressive, but I quite like it:

The big pointy thing on the left, enveloped on the haze, is The Shard, Europe's tallest building, that was only officially opened the day before.

Faithfully - Day 1

Ah yes, the impossible niece and the non-existent family that appeared for one night only in what should have been the first episode of the season, but made no sense as episode 3.

Friday, July 06, 2012

Identity Crisis - Day 10

Is he wondering if he could have done more to save his brother, or considering his own childhood with his schizophrenic mother?

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Identity Crisis - Day 9

Wonder what you're thinking, darling?

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Identity Crisis - Day 8

Happy 4th July, Bright Eyes.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Identity Crisis - Day 7

Full body action shot.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Identity Crisis - Day 6

Thoughtful. And the perfect scruff.

Sunday, July 01, 2012

The woman to thank - or blame!

I've always known that I was delivered by a midwife called Nurse Walkerdine. I remember my mother taking about her, and seeing the article about her death in the local paper.

But until today I've never come across any mention of her in a search engine. It led me to a film clip that cannot be downloaded, but which you can watch here:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/deptford-4-000-babies/query/Colin

The narrator pronounces her name as Miss Walkerdeen but I think my mother, who after all actually met her, would have been correct in calling her Walkerdyne. There is a Valerie Walkerdine who comes up in Google as a nursing professional. I like to think that may be her granddaughter, and that she may have been named after me...

Identity Crisis - Day 5

He looks almost coy when he looks up like that.
 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

I'm Back!

OK, I know you didn't know I'd been away, and indeed I haven't, but it felt like I was in Outer Mongolia. My old computers were so slow!

But now my newest one is back, better than ever. I still have a myriad programmes to download, but the most important (McAfee, Blogger, Yahoo, MSN) are here and ready to use. What is even better is, all my data was successfully rescued.

What a great way to celebrate Vincent's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Handsome

Dearest Vincent

 We all hope you have an absolutely wonderful day.
 

Love and Kisses from Val and the Vixens

Identity Crisis - Day 4

Serious. Handsome. Seriously handsome.
 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Those of a sensitive disposition...

...look away now if you do not want to see a poor defenceless animal suffering.



Yes, folks, this is Alex's poor dog JJ being tortured into crashing out on the sofa during our lessons. Pity the poor mutt.

Identity Crisis - Day 3

Goren in the dark. Dream come true. Though of course, in my dream, he's not fully clothed...
 

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Better Late ThanNever

When I woke up this morning (earlier than I needed or intended) I heard on the news that today the Queen would be unveiling the long-awaited and overdue monument to those who served (and the many who lost their lives) in Bomber Command in World War II. What's more, the only remaining Lancaster bomber that still flies would be doing a fly-past. I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided I needed to find out the time of the ceremony and go. So at midday I was at the Commmonwealth war memorial section of Green Park to see what I could see.

The reason this memorial had never been built before was that the powers-that-be felt embarrassed because British bombers killed around 600,000 German civilians. But they, not the airmen who sacrificed their lives, were responsible for that. Dresden will always be a stain on the Allies' conduct of the latter part of the war, but those who died believing their leaders had a reson for these acts cannot be blames, and should be honoured. The recently late Robin Gibb fought hard to get this memorial built.

The roofs of the nearby buildings carried film crews as well as other observers:
 
The Horse Guards rode past on their magnificent glossy black beasts:
 

Along with the veterans by the monument there were current members of the RAF in their grey uniforms:
   


I saw the Queen's car, but not the Queen (it was empty) but that's no loss to a non-royalist like me. I missed filming the formation of jets that started off the flypast. But I did manage to film the Lancaster and its poppy drop. Remember the Wellington Arch, Maui?


 


 Later, despite the hot weather (at last! but too much! 28 degrees) I went on to Oxford Street, the busy central London shopping street. Bizarrely, a large number of the paper poppies had found their way there, so I was able to collect a souvenir. Now I just need to see a Spitfire fly and I will be happy.

Identity Crisis - Day 2

This picture makes me think of Joan of Arc, for some reason. I'd certainly celebrate his saint's day.
 

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

You Cannot Be Serious!

My energy provider has just reduced my monthly payments by £17. Great news!

Oh, but hang on. They don't seem to be taking much notice of the gas side of the equation, though the monthly payments would be even smaller if they weren't really including it.

However, when I look at the latest bill, I see I am well over £600 in credit.

Yes, that's right, over £600!

They don't mention a refund. It would pay nicely for the repairs to my leaky gutter. Though I'd rather put it towards a new car. But hey, we can't have everything.

But EDF energy, I CAN have a refund. Don't take too long getting back to me.

Identity Crisis - Day 1

It's Goren of the super-fast-growing hair!

 And all because they couldn't be bothered to show these episodes in the right order.
 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

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