Sailing Around the Isle of Wight

Last Saturday I was crew on a boat that did the round the Isle of Wight race. The entire experience spanned most of the sailing I think you see in the UK. It started off ignobly with a gale force wind, race day dawned bad but turned great and sunday post race sailing was better yet. I'm composing a photo essay on the event.

In the mean time this is a great picture of ME! I'm not really sailing, its totally posed. But that is my new foul weather gear (thanks, Ceri!) and that is my hugely sunburned face. Really great fun.

For an overview of the race see this you tube video

Pawley's Island, South Carolina Beach

This is what Pawley's Island looks like from the back porch of the old beach hotel were we stayed. It was very relaxing.

Best part of the trip was when another guest told me with a completely straight face that they were going down to the beach music festival, taking chars and plopping down around the dance floor to watch couples shag all night.

I've been in Britain long enough to almost fall out of my chair. When I told the retired teacher what "shag all night" implied in UK slang I thought she was going to turn into a beet. But then she had a good giggle and went anyway.

Travels since April

Wow, I've been back from vacation for almost two weeks and still running to catch up. Need to get some photos of friends I visited on my trip back to visit Atlanta. Had a great time seeing old friends and catching up. The trip to South Carolina's Pawley's Island was excellent as well. We stayed at the Sea View Inn. Which has not disappointed for the second year in a row. No phones , no TV; just the beach and a really great porch. Doesn't take much to get me happy at the beach.

A rainy bank holiday later, I'm just headed up to Shrewsbury for a work event. Don't know anything about Shrewsbury except the guide says its the County Town of Shropshire, the birthplace of Charles Darwin and features the Shrewsbury Abbey (which is the mythical home to Brother Cadfael).

As usual I am packing on the fly and cannot find my camera - where does that thing hide. Will try and get some decent pictures from someone else's camera on my walk through the town on Saturday morning.

Hope all is well with everyone - tell me about your summer plans.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

So remember Russell Brand, a member of my grandfalloon and celebrity siting there of? Well, it turns out he's made a movie in the US, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He plays Sarah's recovery boy a British rocker and has a new fake video. I wonder if any one in the US will get the joke?

Its a funny think British humour - plus he's wearing normal clothes and the birdnest hair seems to be under control.

I wonder if he will remain in my grandfalloon and if I'll still keep siting him in the BA lounge and Hampstead. Funny the public people you recognise.

Smithy Beats out Nessa for a BAFTA

Oh - its BAFTA time (well it was when I started this post) and Gavin and Stacy, the show I wrote about a couple of weeks ago swept the awards. While Smithy got the award, Nessa is my favorite character. The actors who play Smithy and Nessa are the writers of the show - so I'm please to see they are getting some recognition.

I think its great that Nessa has that giant Welsh dragon tattoo she has on her arm. That and the fact that she's reading the Satanic Verses and couldn't talk about it because she couldn't afford "another fatwa." I love hearing those Welsh accents and who knew that Barry Island could be so funny?

Do you know about Gavin and Stacey?

Its a comedy on BBC3, second season started here five weeks ago. I believe you can watch them online at BBC's iPlayer here.

I've had a miserable cold for days only falling into staying home when the cough got so bad others begged me to stay home - lots of time on my hand and a friend suggested I watch it, because I'm bored, and I'm terrible and grouchy when I'm bored. Anyway my friend was right it did make me happy to watch it - now if this cough would just go away...

Way too much television in the last couple of days.

Mad Men Mad Men Mad Men

Oh I really love Sunday evenings because that is when BBC is showing Mad Men. Tonight's episode ended up with our hero in a village bar listening to a folk song about the River Zion, meanwhile Mr. Sterling head of the ad agency is having it off with the head secretary at the agency. They leave the hotel separately but end up standing on the street just near each other while they are both rying to get a cab while the folk song is still in the background.

omg the symbolism is like getting hit over the head with a beautifully crafted photograph.

All brings to mind MFNY who used to work at an ad agency and looks a bit like the wife in the story - right, Nancy?!

More Yorkshire Dales

The snow made the dry stone walls really stand out in the landscape. They were interesting mostly because they need to be built by hand. Can you imagine the labour required to build hundreds (or thousands) of feet of these walls which criss-cross the hills and valleys. Truly awesome

Ribblehead viaduct

Easter weekend Robert and I ventured forth for our second annual Easter road trip. This year we went to the Yorkshire Dales -- last year it was Cornwall. This year it snowed; six inches of snow on Saturday night. It was really really gorgeous. This picture is of the ribblehead viaduct which was built in 1874 and is still in use today. Doesn't it look cool in that valley.

I forgot my camera so all pictures are care of Robert's camera. I'm trying to figure our how to get direct links but best I can do is link to his source.

The family that reads together, stays together

The weather was perfect the first day in Paris so we ate a picnic lunch our side and watched Paris stroll by. This scene played out on the bench across from us, they all sat together and just read the paper. Didn't really speak to each other just reading and soaking up the sun. I liked that about Paris, it was like everyone was in their own bubble, they weren't ignoring you they were just getting on with their own thing.

As usual I must give creative credit for the photo, this is from the marcia collection. Here is a link to her Paris pictures, they are so beautiful.

just sitting out on a sunny Sunday, reading the paper on the artists bridge - ain't life grand?

Marcia and Me -Paris - from early March

This was late in the day and we were in citroen park. it was looking a bit shabby, possibly more shabby than it actually was since it was grey and the end of a touristy day. Bailey is the photographer.

The thing I like most about this photograph is that I have NO DEA what we are saying and why it was so funny. It also reminds me that I apparently only travel in the winter because all photographs of me include coats and scarves. This red one is a favorite! we had a great time.

Where does the time go?

Its March 2nd today and I feel like it was just February 2nd! How can it go by so fast - it was even a leap year so we got an extra day! Probably because I've had some friends passing through. Marcia and Bailey are visiting from San Fran. They arrived in London last Saturday and on Sunday I joined them for a short trip to Paris. I'm hoping to get some pictures to post from them because Marcia has a bitchin' new camera.

I took the usual badly focussed tourist pictures including this lovely night shot of Notre Dame. Best part was right after we took it we went in and watched a bit of mass being said (or is it performed?). There was a whole lot of incense; giant billowing clouds. Not exactly the same of the local anglican church here in leafy north London.

The weather was amazing on Sunday. We loafed around the city drinking wine from plastic cups--very bohemian. We stayed in the St. Germaine as lovely a place as you could ever hope to see. My last trip to paris was in 1999, so much had changed; for starters Notre Dame was no longer shrouded, but probably more importantly I could afford my own hotel room. Ah, the joys of aging and achieving more disposable income.

More later once I get some pics of Marcia!

Houston: Mission Control

When I was in Houston at the end of January, as a side trip from the meeting, we went to the Johnson Space Center. This picture is from the gallery at the original Mission Control. As with all pictures from the race to the moon I was struck by how amazing it was that any one actually made it to the moon let alone back. The computers in the mission control were only terminals and the guide says the computing power was something tiny and the main frame took up a whole floor underneath this control room.

Really remarkable. But the most interesting bit was the next picture.

Rocket with boosters

This is one of the two or three rockets left. There is this one laying on its side with stages slightly separated in Houston and apparently there is another one standing upright at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The most interesting thing about the rocket, apart from the scale which no picture can really capture, is the fact that the whole thing looks like it was put together in someone's backyard. Ok a really really big back yard but still.

One of my fellow tour takers said, "Really look like it was made in shop class, doesn't it?"

That really captures the essence. Although they weren't really reused, the enormous rocket was slightly bashed in looking and when you looked at the business end, the end where the giant propulsion occurs, you really get the feeling you are looking at something smushed together slightly badly then covered in tin foil. I really wish I could have captured that in a photograph. All I could get was this shot from near the top end; this thing is huge.

Being there did give you a frisson of pride. If man can do this then surely they can figure out some other stuff. Of course that was ages ago.

Note to Mum and Dad: I still can't believe you wanted to do this Dad or that you were willing to let him, Mum.

Robert is Here fruit stand

On saturday, we went for a walk in the Everglades National Park. On our way there we stopped at "Robert is Here" fruit stand. Neither Ali nor Ules (nor the boys but they are all under five) thought it was odd that this place was called Robert is Here. I thought it sounded like a fruit stand for a guy who could use some therapy. They figured he just used to be out in the middle on nowhere, declaring his availability for fruit purchases.

I highly recommend this fruit stand; they had a key lime pie milkshake that was out standing as well as some really ugly tomatoes which, of course, tasted excellent. Just north of Homested, I believe. Make sure you visit Robert.

Robert has Purple Martins, too

In addition to excellent key lime milkshakes and tomatoes; Robert also claims to have the southern most purple martin house in the continental United States of America. Which reminded me that in all my travels across the world, I have RARELY, nay, NEVER seen another country have such bizarre roadside attractions as you do in my home country.

Why do we do this kind of thing? The best you can get here in the UK is a stand which will sell you cornish ice cream or silly stuff with pictures of royalty on it. But even here in the land of the truly eccentric; you never see anything like a claim to have the southern most purple martin house in the continental USA. Which make me think is Hawaii more southern than Homested? That must be the reason for the "continental" modifier. I wonder if they even have purple martins...

Of course, there were alligators

Who cares about the purple martins anyway. There were alligators to be seen. Here is a view of a few wallowing in the swamp, just feet away from our board walk. very very similar to last year's alligator picture. But this year I was with intrepid boys under the age of five. Who were kitted-out with binoculars. Well, at lest in the begining they were...

Binoculars floating away

Unfortunately for my intrepid fellow alligator hunters. One set of binoculars had to be sacrificed to the alligator gods. After a rather thrilling siting (see previous picture) we clambered up on the railing to get a better look and one pair of binoculars fell off.

Sadly, Ules didn't feel up to wrestling the alligators that saturday afternoon; so, we had to watch the bright yellow and orange, grandma-purchased, best-est of all binoculars float away.

I slept with Superman, Spidey and Captain Jack Sparrow...

After a meeting in Houston, I flew through Miami to spend some time with my friend Ali and her family in Coral Gables. Ali and her husband have three lovely little boys.

Got kicked out of their room so I could sleep in amongst the most fabulous collection of super hero's I've ever seen. This is the view from my twin bed. Superman has certainly got better looking than what I remember of him. The pirates of the Caribbean sheets were also fun. Please not that the planets in front of superman actually glow in the dark, but Ules had some trouble with getting th eorder right so I think they are all revolving around saturn. Ali says that because he didn't go to catholic school. I took umbrage at that, being a public school girl myself...