Trophy Wine 5

That knowing look

Those size 13s

Wish he'd poke me...and not necessarily with his finger...


A few I couldn't resist

How to choose between these two?

Trophy Wine 4

Even the New York skyline looks small and insignificant next to Det. Goren.


That serious look.


That fun-loving look. What a great liar - "Very good" - she read Juliet so badly!


I want him to sit next to me on a bench. Or a bed.


The eyes have it.


How bad a hairdresser do you have to be to make a man with a full head of hair look balding?


Rub your stubble over me.

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!

Trophy Wine 1

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).