Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Long-Overdue Random Photo Post



We haven't had a post of miscellaneous photos in a while -- like, more than a month, I think! So here are some random photos I've taken while wandering with my iPhone.

First, I loved this chicken graffiti found on one of my Thames Path walks.


When I wandered through a vintage shop in Greenwich later that same day, I found this pair of "1960s gold crochet pants" (according to the tag). They look like something a bond girl might wear -- or could they be for men, a la "Rocky Horror"? I did not plunk down the £35 it would have taken to find out.


A fun mosaic of shoes on the floor of an underground pedestrian mall in Canary Wharf.


Some graffiti of a friendly bee, seen on another Thames Path walk.


Surely this is a joke, right? Surely?


And speaking of interesting shopfront windows, this is the front of the Islamic Centre in Kilburn. They have a huge buddleia growing up INSIDE the glass, between the window and an interior wall. Did it grow wild there from a seed, watered by a leak in the glass, or is it being cared for? I have no idea.


Some rowdy rats seen on the dashboard of a pest control truck in West Hampstead. This is pretty much what rats do, I suppose.


I found this bag of unopened "Golden Fish" snacks sitting on a wall on Finchley Road. Based on the writing on the package, they look like Arabic knockoffs of Goldfish crackers. I'm not sure why someone was giving away so many of them, unless they were past their sell-by date. I left them there.


Here's more interesting snack food packaging. I found this on my most recent Thames Path walk, while picking up litter along the path to the train station at the end of the route. I've seen these packages before and I'm always amused by the alien theme. I'm doubly intrigued by the fact that they're "beef flavour cosmic corn snacks." I can't quite imagine what that might taste like, and I don't particularly want to find out.


And finally, one more colorful panel of the Mill Lane Bridge, this one painted by 10-year-old Mohamed. I like the bus bearing the TfL symbol, and he's absolutely right about the way the upper level of a double-decker bus passes the upstairs windows of nearby buildings. It's one of the few panels, possibly the only one, that doesn't show any plants at all.

23 comments:

  1. Some lovely photos, Steve, but the winner has to be the plant in the window. How cool to be able to recreate that.

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  2. All the graffiti made me smile. There's something really sleazy about those crocheted pants. The buddleia is fascinating. Remember Assman the proctologist from Seinfeld?

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  3. You were a Buddhist once so why not become a Muslim so that you can find out about the buddleia in the window of the Kilburn Islamic Centre?

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  4. One in a million shot doc!

    One of my favorite episodes.

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  5. Another great collection of photos. I really like the last one, done by the 10 year old. I am always drawn to art done by children, I guess from my years as a teacher.

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  6. I'm quite sure I would never buy used briefs, but then there's always someone.
    Years back on an episode of Seinfeld, Kramer was accidentally sent someone's vanity license plates that read AssMan ... they belonged to a proctologist!

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  7. A nice collection.
    Are there more mosaics in the station?

    Well painted Muhammad 🙂

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  8. Mohamed has a great eye for color blocks, lovely painting there. Thanks for the gallery.

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  9. I have a strong feeling that those crocheted "pants" were the bottom half of a bikini at one time. If so, I would love to hear the story of how they became separated from the top.
    I love your random photos posts.

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  10. I could probably recreate those crocheted pants if you really really wanted them. Ha!

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  11. A great collection of random photos. Mohamed is quite a painter. You always remind me that there is art everywhere, we just have to keep looking.

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  12. Another interesting assortment of finds. Beef flavored corn snacks sounds a bit strange. I don't think I'd try that either. I love that mosaic.

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  13. There is a used furniture store called the 'Shack of Sit'.

    Interesting discoveries on your strolls.

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  14. Such nice variety in your photos! You have a good eye to spot these things!
    I am feeling better each day. Thanks for your last comment, Steve!

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  15. Great photos! I love the mosaic and wouldn't be able to resist the cheddar goldfish. Crunchy cheesy snacks are my downfall!

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  16. Your photos show that you have a large variety of experiences.

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  17. I think my favorite is the mosaic of the shoes, though I'm really curious about the plant in the window. Maybe you can go in and ask about it next time you pass that way!

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  18. surely someone is caring for that buddleia or it seems it would have died long before it got that big. and those gold crocheted shorts? the way they are hung on the hanger, I can't for the life of me see it. are those round things at the waist? and where are the leg holes? I do like the mosaic of the shoes, ghosts of the people passing through.

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  19. Challenge accepted:

    Assmann is not a joke: https://www.assmann.de/en/
    Manufacturers of high quality office furniture, it seems.

    Assmann is a distinguished German surname: https://www.houseofnames.com/assmann-family-crest#:~:text=The%20distinguished%20German%20surname%20Assmann,used%20as%20a%20personal%20name.

    Truth is stranger than fiction. Imagine using all of that in a novel. No one would believe it could be true. Thanks for the motivation to learn something new and delicious!

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  20. Caro: It is an amazing looking plant, isn't it?!

    Mitchell: YES! I loved that episode. (I loved EVERY episode.)

    YP: As I was taking a picture of the window a guy came out and didn't seem thrilled to find me there.

    Ed: Me too! But as I said to Mitchell, almost EVERY episode is a favorite.

    Michael: You would love the Mill Lane Bridge. (Click back on the link in my post.) It's covered with kids' art!

    Bob: Yes, I loved that episode! I have a feeling those briefs haven't been used much, if at all.

    GZ: This is the only one I noticed but I'm sure there must be others!

    Boud: Doesn't he? I loved his color choices.

    Ms Moon: Ha! Perhaps the top was more useful and thus received more wear, and simply wore out? I can imagine that.

    Bug: Ha! No, that's OK. I'll survive. :)

    Robin: Particularly here in London. I see it all over the place.

    Sharon: Yeah, who wants a meat-flavored snack? Meat is not a snack to me. I never understood the appeal of jerky, either.

    Debby: That is a GREAT name for a furniture store!

    Ellen D: So glad you're feeling better! I've been thinking about you!

    Margaret: Ha! I might have bought them in a store but I wasn't thrilled about picking them up off a wall on the street, even though the packages are sealed. :)

    Red: These were taken over a couple of months, so they make my life seem much more interesting than it really is.

    Kelly: I'm curious about it too. I think, as Ellen said, it must get at least SOME minimal care or it would be dead by now.

    Ellen: Yes, the round things go around the waist. The leg holes are on either side but you can't quite see them because of the way the "pants" are hanging.

    Andrew: I guess it represents the footsteps of all the people criss-crossing the floor.

    Jenny-O: Well thanks for THAT research! I'd be scared to search up "Assmann" on my computer! LOL! Interesting that it's a German company.

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  21. I love the shoes mosaic, I think every shoe store everywhere should have one.

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  22. Mohammad is pretty talented! And I love the shoes -- that's fun. I always enjoy your random photos, Steve. I love the way you see.

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