As we were coming back in a taxi from the train station on Sunday, Dave and I rode along the canal in Maida Vale and I spotted this interesting houseboat. I never walk along the south side of the canal -- I'm always on the north side, for some reason -- so maybe that's why I'd never seen it before. Anyway, I went back the next day on my lunch break for a closer look.
It turns out to be a little homage to George Harrison. On the back, next to the Hindu god Hanuman, are lyrics including "All you need is love" and "While my guitar gently weeps."
It's a really unusual houseboat -- not long and narrow like most canal boats. And those windows! Does it even have an engine?
Monday was a beautiful day, so I walked farther and found this gilded chaise longue atop someone else's boat. A novel way to store and/or transport fancy furniture!
And nearby, a pink flamingo frolicked in a very tiny houseboat garden.
I have been having a crazy couple of days at work. I came home looking like the trolls again last night (at least in my mind)! Just crazy, crazy busy.
I did solve one major library mystery. For a couple of weeks now, our copy of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" has repeatedly migrated from the German history shelf into the art corner. I kept finding it on the art shelf and putting it back where it belonged, only to find it in art again later. I figured some kid was reading it and leaving it back there, and I'd never been able to figure out who. But yesterday I caught him red-handed moving the book. Turns out he wasn't reading it at all -- just playing tricks on me. Busted!
Love the cool houseboats and that kid sounds like he loves messing with you and what a book to do it with!
ReplyDeleteYou have a keen eye for quirky things Steve. And that kid... he could have been a psychological torturer in the Nazi ranks. I wonder what his next move will be in his mission to have you committed to an asylum.
ReplyDeleteWhat pretty little boats! The George Harrison one is a work of art. Truly. Love the doors.
ReplyDeleteWTF with that kid? Glad you busted him.
I always wanted to live on a houseboat. another one of those things I will probably never do or have. as for the kid, you should get one of his teachers to assign him that book to read. everyone should read it. I read it in high school (not an assignment).
ReplyDeleteThese are great photos of the houseboats. That small, George Harrison one is quite unusual. It looks more like something that might be towed and not something that travels under it's own power. I LOVE the pink flamingo! That's perfect! It looks so sunny! It reminds me of how lucky I was when I was there. 12 days and only one when it rained and even that didn't last all day.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder about houseboat people. Who are they? Why do they live on houseboats? This sounds like a blog topic. Maybe there's a house boat blogger.
ReplyDeletevery cool houseboats.
ReplyDeletebut why that book, i wonder?
Now the question is, why was the kid teasing you? Hopefully because he thought you were a good head who would see the humour in it :) I love that someone would put a pink flamingo in such a small flower garden - funny!
ReplyDeleteI really don't think there was any great significance to the book the kid chose. It has a prominent swastika on the spine, and I have a feeling that's why he picked it -- a highly visible, controversial symbol, and perhaps one that he thought would alarm or frustrate the librarians. I don't think he was making any sort of statement about me or politics or the world today!
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