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A personal weblog with photographs and comments. Quiet ramblings, quite rambling...

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• How not to serve beer - (1)
  
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• Cycle Lanes of Surrey: 15 metre special - (1)
  
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• U (Berlin cycling) - (1)
  
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• No guts? No glory? - (1)
  
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Sibongile Khumalo, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Childs, Jerome Harris, Byron Wallen and Jason Yarde bow at the end of their performance at The London Jazz Festival last night. Before the break we were entertained by the talented artist in residence, Ayanna Witter-Johnson accompanied by Tom Crawley.

It was good to hear Sibongile sing jazz. She’s actually a trained opera singer but the last concert of hers that I attended was dominated by gospel sounds (my least favourite of the three). The musicians were top and really put life into her song “Little Girl”. Shortly after that they masterfully deconstructed a number by Abdullah Ebrahim.

By the comings and goings of the audience during the performances I suspect there were people moving between the different shows (according to the programme there were twenty shows that overlapped with ours).  I found this a bit annoying - that people walked up and down the aisles and in and out the hall like it was a wine bar. Perhaps the group shouldn’t have chosen to perform under the name of a hotel chain.

I found this small patch in Sevenoaks, near The Shambles. Even if they’re not the most beautiful they are among the more genuine cobbles that I’ve seen. I lit this shot with a combination of street lights and car headlights.

Tonight I’m off to The London Jazz Festival. I wish Sibongile Khumalo and Gilad Atzmon weren’t performing at the same time.

I found myself back here with a friend last night - my first visit here in about 6 months. The decor is pretty much the same. “Captain” wasn’t waiting tables, but “Mr Carpet” was on till duty. It was strangely quiet - we were the only customers. The food was as good as always at this vegetarian joint in Southall. I still prefer their Mysore Dosa to any dosa that is on offer at Chennai Dosa (which has branches in Wembley or Croydon).

I was waiting for my luggage and thinking that the abandoned pile next to me was not an auspicious sign.

On my travels last week I read The Black Swan book - very interesting.

Bringing out merchandise, in this case in the form of a book, provides the answer to your own question.

Background here. I took this photo in a bookshop a while ago.

But the person who took my suitcase does!

On my return from my trip the local shop that I mentioned in my last post looked as if it had been attacked.

I hope it reopens soon.

As I reluctantly travelled last week to a different continent for a business meeting, I considered the small ways that I have been making positive ecological choices.

The Good Food Shop, in Oxted, sells local honey (5 food miles) and local chutney (1 food mile). Apparently in the current economic climate local retailers are benefiting against out-of-town centres and malls.

One of the easiest ways to ruin a perfectly good draft Belgian beer would be to serve it with a wedge of orange on top. Why would anyone want to do that?

Somehow I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore. Despite Chicago being Obama’s home town, the political souvenirs were to be found in Washington not here.

I took this photo coming into the greater Washington City area by plane.

A strange thing happened to me before catching this plane. The front wheel on the plane I was due to catch had to be replaced after it landed at the airport where I was waiting, {and this delayed me, although I ended up taking a different plane). The same thing happened last week. Perhaps it is more common than I had assumed.

There’s a certain face in America that’s being used to sell a lot of merchandise: magazines, books, t-shirts, badges, stickers,... The McCainiacs and Palinists can get their stuff at 50% off though, and they have a greater diversity/more sizes to choose from.

I’ve had my fill of planes and airports the past two weeks. As I’m in an airport now I can’t say I’m suprised there’s a plane hanging down from the ceiling. My meeting with th client went well today. I’m meeting up with a colleague from New York then heading on to Chicago. I deliberately avoided travelling via New York so I can’t really complain that about the cities I’m passing through.

I knew I was back home when I found myself in the “World Bread” section of a local supermarket and it contained only Hovis, Warburton, Alison and the (British) supermarket’s own house brand.

Airlines that serve meals allow one to pick food from a list of “meal options”. As a vegetarian, who is also dairy and wheat intolerant, I have found that none of the choices cater for my precise need. (Airlines don’t seem to think that wheat and dairy intolerance go together).

One option is to request a vegan (dairy-free) meal and throw away the bread roll. Something else I would consider is asking for a “Hindu” meal option. But last week I discovered that BA serves chicken and SAS serves beef as a Hindu meal. Strange that.

I’ve spent last week travelling in Denmark and Sweden visiting a client. The photo above was my ride home, a flight that was delayed because the nose tyre had to be replaced after it landed in Copenhagen. This was good news because my inbound flight was delayed and I would have missed it if it had departed on time.  Also lightening striking twice and all that.