I passed this interesting mural on my walk back from our gay trivia night on Thursday, and I went back yesterday morning on the way to work to photograph it in daylight. Looks like the artist is Mr. X. It definitely brightens up this rather bleak little corner near Kilburn High Street. Our Lady of Pokemon?
Time sort of got away from me this morning! I was doing stuff around the house -- starting laundry, letting out the dog, caring for plants -- and I suddenly realized I hadn't blogged yet. I always write my blog first thing, so I don't know how it slipped past me.
Maybe it's because there's not a huge amount to blog about. We heard lots of fireworks and firecrackers last night for Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire Night), but didn't see anything to speak of. A couple of bright flashes that briefly illuminated the walls as we watched "Impeachment," the newest installment of the "American Crime Story" series about Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. It's very good so far, and definitely takes me back to that crazy and frustrating time in American politics.
Fortunately, Olga is not fazed by fireworks. She doesn't even seem to notice them.
The other day we had yet another case of a kid losing his/her lunchbox in the library. This is my nightmare scenario, because then these boxes sit around for days with food inside them and the situation quickly becomes super-gross. I eventually clean out the lunchbox, throw away everything perishable, rinse out the containers and throw them in the lost & found bin, where they are almost always ignored for the rest of the school year.
In this case, someone left behind a fancy shopping bag containing two thermoses filled with a residue of macaroni and cheese, which actually required me to wash the dishes rather than simply rinse them. Now they're sitting on my desk waiting to be claimed.
My co-workers think I'm crazy, incidentally. They tell me to just throw the whole thing away from the get-go. But how wasteful is that?
Just shows how kids are so preoccupied with things that a lunch box is of no consequence. I bet it will be to the Mum though.
ReplyDeleteLove the mural.
Briony
x
Yeah, you would think that Mom would have asked about it! (My mom certainly would have.)
DeleteI had to come back to see you this morning.....tried about 5 minutes ago and you weren't there, so I have been over to Florida to Mary Moon as she comes next on my list of friends on the computer. We heard some fireworks last night but not too close. Alexi was watching P eating some crisps and didn't flinch once! Tonight I am looking after a friend's little dog ( Yorkie X) and I don't think it will be such an easy evening. There is a half hour big firework display at 6.30 nearby and Molly will be scared. She would have been home alone if I didn't have her here. Hoping that being with Alexi might help her, assuming he doesn't decide to react tonight!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Alexi was preoccupied by the crisps! And I hope Molly came through the fireworks OK.
DeleteWell, if those lunchboxes aren't, as you say, reclaimed there is nothing wasteful to dispose of them unwashed.
ReplyDeleteI could you tell an ultra funny (to me) story involving unwashed plates and maggots (not mine, I hasten to add). But I won't; at least not on a public forum. I have been shredded for less than riding to someone's rescue.
The woman in the mural is the spitting image of . . . who? Can't put my finger on it this minute. An actress? Other than that, is it a piss take on Mary and Baby Jesus?
U
I think it's absolutely supposed to evoke Mary and Jesus. Maybe the message is that too many people now regard video games with religious fervor?
DeleteIs cleaning out lunch boxes written into your contract?...However, I agree with you. I would do the same. The saying, "Waste not want not" is relevant here. How we can we save this planet if we discard its precious bounty without compunction?
ReplyDeleteExactly. I can't stand waste!
DeleteLoving the mural.
ReplyDeleteI would have washed and kept the thermoses, too, just in case.
We're watching Impeachment, too. So much I had forgotten about those days.
It all comes rushing right back, though, doesn't it?
DeleteVery wasteful. At the end of the school year, I'd be collecting those unclaimed things and donating them somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what we do -- everything unclaimed at the end of the year gets donated.
DeleteWay Cool Mural There - Art Such As That Style Amazes Me - Enjoy The Rest Of Your Morning Brother Reed
ReplyDeleteCheers
It's great, isn't it? So colorful!
DeleteI'm glad you went back and photographed that mural. It's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSo many things happen in libraries that I would have never guessed... lunchboxes, thermoses, macaroni and cheese. I'm glad you washed and saved those thermoses. They could be donated somewhere.
LOL -- well, hopefully the macaroni and cheese was eaten elsewhere -- but you never know!
DeleteKids lose a ton of stuff and never reclaim it. They don't even recognize it in lost and found.
ReplyDeleteIt's true! I think somehow seeing it out of context confuses them.
DeleteDoesn't the stuff in lost and found eventually get thrown out if unclaimed? That red container looks worth keeping though if no one claims it.
ReplyDeleteIt gets donated to charity, unless it wouldn't be worthwhile in which case it's thrown out.
DeleteI think it's great that you take and clean up those lunchboxes ... even if they aren't reclaimed by the owners, perhaps a student in need of one might take one!
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope SOMEONE finds it useful!
DeleteThe nimbus certainly alludes to the Virgin Mary, but a Pikachu baby Jesus?? I've seen some cute (and possibly irreverent) takes on the nativity scene, but never a Pokemon version! (if that's even what it is)
ReplyDeleteI was never one to forget my lunchbox!
Ha! It's definitely Pokemon -- that's a new one for me, too! As I told Ursula, maybe it's supposed to suggest the religious reverence some people hold for video game culture?
DeleteMaybe near the end of the year the lost and found box could be relabeled "Free Box" and people could take what they wanted.
ReplyDeleteYou are a good man, Steve, washing those thermoses. Briony is most likely correct in that the mom will surely be asking where they are.
I like Our Lady of the Pokemon. Nice shot.
I've been known to take a few things from Lost & Found at the end of the year myself!
DeleteI can't imagine leaving something like that and never looking for it. But, I guess kids don't think about those things. It's very nice of you to clean them up.
ReplyDeleteI like the mural. You gave it the perfect name.
I can't imagine it either! My mom would have killed me if I'd lost something like that.
DeleteIf I think something will be too gross, I throw the whole thing out. Otherwise, I clean it out. It's amazing what kids don't come back for.
ReplyDeleteWell, I try to intervene before it gets TOO gross!
DeleteI think the lost and found box items that are in decent shape should be donated at the end of the school year or marked "free stuff" like Ms. Moon suggested. I think it is great that you try to save the items by cleaning them up. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteGreat Mural! Great name! Thanks for sharing it, Steve.
Yeah, we DO donate a lot of it -- definitely all the clothing. I think water bottles and thermoses and that kind of thing may get discarded. But who knows -- maybe I'll keep these.
DeleteI agree with you. Throwing away the forgotten things would be wasteful and unkind. You’re a good man! That mural is wonderful. Madonna and Child? I wish we had more of those in the neighborhood. Murals, not madonnas and child. I was going to ask about Olga and the fireworks. So glad they don’t bother her. Even our cats are bothered.
ReplyDeleteGod gave his only begotten Pikachu?
DeleteSteve, Olga and Dave. You too Olga if you are watching the movie impeachment with your parent. (lol) Steve I am not being mean in reference to Monica because she knew Bill was married to Hilary and Bill did too. But my mom taught us that a man can't do anymore than you let him do to you. If he does call the police and put him in jail. Vice versa. He didn't stuff her under the desk. She was searching for fame and money. Every so many years she shows up with something else about the same thing. She need to get on with her life the same as Bill and Hilary has done. She came out with purses and whatever else. To Monica: get a life and leave Bill and Hilary alone. It's so much mess going on with her that she remind me of Donald Trump. Everyday you wake up it's more bullshit. (lol)Bill wasn't her first married man that she had an affair with. Parent should have taught her better.
ReplyDeleteI think you are rather unfair to Lewinsky. Most likely none of what went on under the desk or round the chandeliers would have come out, been published, if it hadn't been for her "friend" Linda Tripp who used Lewinsky (and the trust Lewinsky put into her) for her own purposes.
DeleteIn the wake of Tripp tripping up Lewinsky, selling her out, Lewinsky became notorious. Not because she wanted to be. And now she is. Can you imagine what it must be like to always be associated with, nay defined by, sucking off the President of the USA? I can see her obituary now. Defined by one misdemeanour for the rest of your life.
I can't verify, as I am not really interested, how much capital she makes out of the saga that was, essentially, imposed on her. When life gives you lemons make lemonade. At least she didn't kill herself unlike another President's (JFK) object of lust.
U
ursla, If you came on my blog criticizing others comments I would block you. First of all you didn't see your name on my comment. It was steve and not ursla. You have a bad case of trying to tell others how to think and what to say. It's bad enough to let the blogger know you are reading their comments from others, other than you having a say on what other people are saying and they aren't talking to you. I care not to have any corrections on your behalf.
Delete'a man can't do anymore than you let him do to you' .. seriously?!
DeleteMy name is Ursula.
DeleteAngelicastar, I didn't "criticize" you. I gave a few pointers as to why you may be a bit hasty condemning Lewinsky.
I don't understand your objection to interact with other readers on a blog. I liken a blog to a party where people mingle. Something, surely, to be encouraged by the host. Not to say that it makes for interesting exchanges.
Please do re-read your comment addressed at me and decide for yourself who has "a bad case"; and "having a say on what other people are saying".
Anyway, do not worry, I shan't knock at your blog's door.
U
PS Will you put James and Brigitta into their place too regarding their valid comment? The only reason I myself didn't point out your, frankly bizarre, assertion because I know when to save my breath.
You see Steve it's no dis-respect to you and I doesn't mean to come to your blog dealing with small minded people who life isn't the way they want it to be so they come online to start arguments and trying to tell others what to say and think. If I had a blog they would be blocked. Especially ursla. She dips in everything someone else has to say. I really don't know when I will return because my life is worth something other than dealing with those who have a miserable life. It's quite a few online who is not satisfied with their life so they have to come online and take the stress out on someone else. Ursla is one sick puppy. She should go stick that ugly head in a hole and leave it there. (laughing hard) Ursla screw you and whoever else that don't like what I said. Okay....stop the bullshit on someone else blog. No one is talking to you.
DeleteOK, everybody! Time out! I'm sorry I'm coming to this exchange a couple of days later.
DeleteAngelicastar, I know you mean well in defending the Clintons, who were absolutely treated unfairly (politically) through that whole episode. But I think Ursula is right that Monica isn't entirely to blame. She was young and didn't have the best judgment and Clinton -- who should have known better -- took advantage of her. (As did Linda Tripp, as Ursula pointed out.)
Ursula, I believe that Monica is a producer of this series. So she's definitely cashing in. I personally don't think that's wrong. It's her story to tell.
As for commenting to each other, my only request is that everyone stay civil. I don't want to police comments but I would prefer that they be primarily directed at me and my post, rather than at each other. Some people aren't here to debate. Thanks!
In the mural, is that the young woman from Les Miserables? She looks really familiar. Love the pokemon. I'm very surprised the mother of the child who abandoned the thermos has not sent the kid in for it. They're not inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteOh, maybe! I didn't even make the Les Miz connection. I'm also surprised no one came back for those Thermoses.
DeleteIt's good of you to provide a lost and found for lunch boxes/bags.
ReplyDeleteOh, there's all kinds of stuff in there. Coats, textbooks, you name it!
DeleteI wouldn't be able to throw the stuff away either. That's a terrible waste and we already have enough garbage in this world.
ReplyDeleteI agree! They're still unclaimed and I'll probably donate them to charity.
DeleteThat mural is quite lovely
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? I really like it, especially the colors.
DeleteYou are fortunate that fireworks, and I guess thunder, doesn't worry Olga. One of our dogs was terrified at such things, and the other just ignored the noise.
ReplyDeleteYes, we're very lucky in that respect. I know dogs who are terrified of such noises and it's very hard to comfort them.
DeleteI'd hope the owner comes forward too. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteSo far, no luck -- but it could still happen!
Delete