The return of bright spring sunshine means the return of shadows! Woo hoo! They always make pictures a lot more interesting.
Here's some more of what's landed on my iPhone over the past couple of weeks:
Another Olga-tied-to-a-tree photo. I really don't even need to use the leash. If I told her to stand there, she would -- unless she saw a cat.
"Self-Portrait with Demolished Interior" -- a gutted shop on the high street that used to be a shoe repair place. It's a weird little building practically suspended over the railroad tracks. I took this through a front window.
My gin-of-the-month club sent a mixer that for once didn't make a pink drink. It was sort of disconcertingly gold, though. It tasted good but I still prefer a clear gin & tonic!
Interesting shadows cast by a frame that holds an old oak leaf.
More Covid conspiracy talk, from a sticker on an Abbey Road traffic sign.
And this person seems...what? Skeptical of continued public health measures after we've been vaccinated, I guess?
Some remarkable (and yes, real) lilies left on a 1920s-era grave at the cemetery. Every once in a while flowers appear on older graves like this one -- sometimes much older -- and it's interesting to think of someone turning up to pay respects to their ancestors.
And finally, a giant rubbish bin on a truck I saw on my walk home yesterday, thanking the NHS superheroes and other essential workers.
In the "Self-Portrait with Demolished Interior", it is as if there's a strange white-eyed beast coming in from the right.
ReplyDeleteGhost elephant!
DeleteWonderful shadow shots. I'm so tired of the covidiots who think they're clever. I thought that was a glass of scotch. Yes, gin drinks should be clear (imho).
ReplyDeleteUnless it's sloe gin. THEN it can be pink.
DeleteTrue. True. And speaking of clear drinks, have you ever had black vodka?
DeleteNO! Is it literally black? Like, with squid ink?
DeleteIt's black, yes. I don't think there's much difference in taste (if any), except I've always had it in unusual drinks, so that makes me THINK the black vodka itself is superior. With a good brand, you supposedly can detect an extra herbal taste, but I've never had it straight, so couldn't say. It makes for some very cool drinks.
DeleteAnyone who examines the histories of vaccines would know they are effective and rarely have side serious side effects. I can only think those who against vaccines are ill educated, research lazy and ignorant people. Isn't your NHS doing so well with vaccinations, unlike here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not quite as simple as that, Andrew. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take efficacy into account. Which currently lies anywhere between 50 and 95 %, meaning that even if you are vaccinated you are NOT totally immune (albeit that if you attracted Covid you are more likely to get a milder version of it); neither does it mean that you can't pass it on if you are an asymptomatic carrier.
DeleteI guess the above (handwritten) poster laments the fact that even with a vaccine we are not out of the woods. Unfortunately, this will bypass quite a few people. Lull them into a false sense of security. Just as I observed here, in the UK, that no sooner did masks become mandatory in shops the two meter rule appeared to fly out of the window - a rule which I observe diligently.
I also believe it unhelpful to throw Anti-vaxxers into the same pot as those who are, for varied reasons, hesitant to get the jab.
Hesitant,
U
Andrew, there's just so much disinformation out there, and sadly a lot of people are poised to believe it more readily than public health information from the proper authorities.
DeleteThe thing is, Ursula, even if it's 50 percent effective (and I haven't seen any estimates that low), that still cuts the risk of contracting Covid in half. So I don't really get the hesitancy. When I got my shot, the nurse was very careful to explain that it does not confer 100 percent immunity -- nor does any vaccine. I think a vaccinated population that is less cautious is still much better than an unvaccinated population behaving cautiously. If that makes sense.
I get a bit angry with all this NHS business. My Son is a nurse and works so hard and is getting very poor pay. On the other hand my Daughter works for BUPA and earns fabulous money just sitting in front of a computer. Where's the fairness in that?
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, I love you shadow pictures.
Briony
x
I'm with you on the NHS. I think it's great that people show appreciation, but let's REALLY appreciate them and give them adequate pay and better working conditions!
DeleteSteve, hi, I left you the link for Godwin's Law underneath your previous post.
ReplyDeleteAs painful as that Nazi poster reads, its gist is true. As "sales" techniques go you can't beat it - a compelling USP (unique selling point) "for your security" if ever there was one.
U
We hear the same things about seat belt laws and speed limits. "It's TYRANNY!!" Why are people so obsessed with their individual freedoms at the expense of the safety and good health of their neighbors? It's individualism run amok.
DeleteI think there is a difference between the blatantly obvious and provable, say, laws of physics (your seat belt example), as opposed to coercing a whole people into an ideology for whatever gain, be it power, be it financial gain.
DeleteRemember the power of propaganda, today's spin doctors, to bend an agenda into the desired shape. And who was, possibly, the greatest (as in successful) of them all? Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister for Propaganda. His considerable talents were instrumental in Hitler's momentary "success", feeding Hitler's delusion. Morituri te salutant (Hail, Caesar, those who are about to die salute you). And it was ever thus.
You mention being obsessed with individual freedoms. I agree that blind obsession leads nowhere - or into the abyss. However, whilst I do believe that we have a collective responsibility for each other we can't abdicate and hand over all powers to authority, to a government. We are not kids; institutions indeed government are not our parents who have (or should have) our best interests at heart. That's idealistic wishful thinking. The moment we hand over our ability to think critically for ourselves, don't question, don't make our own decisions and take full responsibility for their possible fallout is the moment we have failed. Failed ourselves, failed humanity, failed future generations.
U
I agree we all need to cultivate and maintain critical thinking skills, but those skills include knowing when skepticism is called for. I am not a scientist or a doctor, so on medical issues I defer to the experts. Likening vaccinations to Joseph Goebbels, to me, overshoots the mark.
DeleteThis is where internet communication falls short. If we were in the same room having this discussion I'd have immediately dispelled your notion that I am "likening vaccinations to Goebbels". I wasn't. My observations were on a general note on how the state can channel a populace for, as a cynical friend of mine, a Canadian News Anchor, would put it, "nefarious purposes".
DeleteU
Oh, OK! Yes, I agree, this is not the ideal format for discussion. :)
DeleteInteresting set of photographs. That G&T looks nice. Who cares what colour it is.
ReplyDeleteBlind people.
DeleteI love the tree shadow in that first photo, but what really caught my eye was the Allie Brosh book by your drink :)
ReplyDeleteOMG, have you read that book?! SO funny!
DeleteCan you please go back to the abandoned shoe repair shop and get me that sink? I love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I also love your iPhone pictures. They have a lightness (haha!) about them that I enjoy so much.
I for sure thought those lilies were plastic. Too red to be real! And yet.
As for the vaccination debate- well. It's so easy to make platitudinous statements like the one in your photo above. What has happened to people's ability to follow the simplest science? No. Vaccines are not 100% effective. And yet, if everyone gets them AND can still practice safety measures such as distancing, masks, and hand-washing, we can eventually get to the point where people are not dying of this virus. Is that so hard to understand?
Obviously, it is.
It seems simple to me!
DeleteI love those vacant sort of demolished spaces and yours is really haunting and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI was impressed by how cool it looked when I peeked in the window, especially with the sunlight doing what it was doing.
DeleteThe oak leaf shadow makes me think of the Big Bad Wolf. :)
ReplyDeleteIt does look rather wolf-like and toothy!
DeleteLove these random iPhone photos. I'm so glad you took the one through the window into the demolished interior.
ReplyDeleteIt was kind of hard to do, because the window was so dirty and it had a metal grate over it, so I had to shoot between the openings of the grate. That's one thing the iPhone can do that my camera really can't, because the iPhone's lens is so small.
DeleteI was crumpled over reading 'hyperbole and a half'. You know what struck me about the demolition? The two pictures on the wall. I am dying to know what those pictures are.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read "Hyperbole and a Half," but as much as I loved this book, I now want to go back and read it! I think those are grates on the wall, like for ventilation, and not picures...but use your imagination to make them whatever you want them to be!
DeleteI see when I enlarged the pictures that you are absolutely right. Sorry! But agree with getting that book. Funniest thing I have ever read.
DeleteThere are certainly a lot of skeptics out there. I love those lilies on the grave. They are beautiful. I recently made a drink with gin, Domaine Canton, tonic and a squeeze of lime. It was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThat SOUNDS good! Those lilies seemed way too nice to leave unattended in a cemetery, but who am I to say?
DeleteThe big guy and I were talking about viruses and vaccines on the way home last night. The think about viruses is they mutate, as we've seen. Our own cells do the same thing and cancer cells do too, even after they're cancer cells. It's a part of nature it would seem.
ReplyDeleteSo far we have been lucky that Covid has such a low mortality rate. Although about 15% of people end up in hospital very sick, only about 1% die, which doesn't sound like alot until you times it by millions.
Anyway, Covid could easily mutate into a much more virulent virus, causing much higher death rates. So far, touch wood, it hasn't thank goodness. I imagine every year going forward we'll have to get an updated Covid vaccination to deal with the mutations that will continue to happen.
Good times.
Yeah, I think you're right -- it will be like the flu, and we'll get regular boosters to tackle the newest strains. I can live with that.
DeleteI always enjoy your random photos! I had my 2nd dose yesterday and I am very glad about it. Bit of a sore arm but relieved to have it done with.
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I envy you your fully vaccinated status! My second dose is still many weeks away. (We do them 12 weeks apart here.)
DeleteThat's really a lovely photo of the gravestone and flowers. I think it's nice that someone cares enough to do this. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was nice too, but unusual for such an old grave. Usually the graves that get attention are the newer ones, as you could imagine.
DeleteIn your "Self-Portrait with Demolished Interior" photo it looks like an elephant is sneaking up on that sink for a drink. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see that until people pointed it out here on the blog, but it DOES look like an elephant!
DeleteI like that last photo. I'm confused, however, by the title of the book next to your gin: Solutions and Other Problems?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what it's called! It's a book of humorous cartoons by an artist named Allie Brosh. REALLY funny.
DeleteGreat photos. The iphone camera really is good. I have a samsung which is better than my old htc, but certainly not in your league. The gin picture is really good.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by how well the iPhone photographs, considering its size and convenience. Camera phones have improved a lot over the years, and I don't even have the newest generation.
DeleteSteve, I must echo Allison's compliments on your photos, they are wonderful, I especially like the abandoned shoe repair shop with the "ghost elephant." :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them, Jim! The more I shoot with my phone, the more I wonder why I bother with my "big" camera.
DeleteI love the first photo - makes me want to see the inside. In the second photo, all the cars seem to be going in one direction except the one in the front by Olga! Is it supposed to be a one-way street?
ReplyDeleteNo, it's two ways! Unlike the states, people in the UK often park against the direction of traffic. I don't know what the laws are (since I don't drive here) but I guess it's allowed.
DeleteWhat (too) many people know about vaccines and pandemics would fit on the head of a pin. Then there are the ones who eat up any lie that gets passed around. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's discouraging how much disinformation is out there, and how ready people are to believe it.
DeleteI can't believe you have Allie Brosh's book! I followed her blog for a couple of years until she quit posting. I see one of her drawings now and then made into different memes and I always wonder if she gave people permission to use her art work. probably not.
ReplyDeleteI like the picture of the empty building. and you'd think people would just get over the health precautions by now.