A Busy Morning

Our weather has changed for the better the last couple of days. Yesterday was so pleasant we took Olga to the park with her egg toy. She has figured out how to carry it around by the narrow end, which looks hilarious -- like she's burping up a big yellow balloon. As usual she attracted lots of attention from adoring passersby, including a trio of Japanese women who stopped to take her picture. "She's smiling!" they exclaimed. (She does sometimes look very smiley.)

This morning is job interview number two -- and of course I had four calls from teachers looking for subs today as well. When it rains, it pours!

I've been meaning to post this for some time. It's a link to a rare color film of London made in 1927 and recently restored by the British Film Institute. It's fascinating. The city itself is much less built-up, much less vertical than it is now, though many landmarks look almost exactly the same. Women are shown visiting the flower-encircled Cenotaph, London's monument to its war dead -- this was just ten years after World War I. There's something incredibly poignant about watching all the people just going about their lives, feeding birds in the park and walking the city streets, knowing that today they are surely almost all gone. Gather ye rosebuds!

(Photo: Morning on Turquoise Island, Westbourne Grove.)

Toy Oven

Olga and I stumbled onto a strange find while walking yesterday morning. On the street behind our local post office -- which has been closed as long as we've lived here -- someone abandoned this old wooden toy oven.

It's really a toy kitchenette, I suppose, since it's more than an oven. There's a fridge unit, a sink, and a stovetop with one remaining burner (above).

I'm thinking it's from the '60s or thereabouts. I mean, who makes anything from wood these days? The graphics definitely seem to date from the "Bewitched" era. Or maybe "The Brady Bunch."

The detailing was neat, like the red ring on the "hot water" knob on the wooden faucet. The cold water knob had a blue ring, naturally.

I toyed with the idea of carrying the whole thing home to try to rescue it.

But on the inside, the oven had been colonized by fungus. From the looks of it, I'd guess the entire unit had spent a few years sitting out in someone's back garden.

In the end, and no doubt to Dave's great relief, Olga and I left it sitting where it was.

Olga Takes a Plunge

Olga and I went for a long walk along the canal yesterday morning. We walked west, away from the city, and into an aging industrial area where there weren't many pedestrians. I spent part of the walk experimenting with HDR photography of the old brick buildings. HDR compiles multiple images taken at different exposures together to form one image with a much more extensive range of light. It allowed me to capture more color and detail in the buildings, water and sky.

Olga livened things up by falling into the water, head first. I'm not sure she'd ever been swimming before. She sank like a stone before instinct kicked in and she dog-paddled to the surface, a panicked look on her face. Meanwhile I shucked my shoes and camera in order to jump in and rescue her. I was able to lean over the seawall and grab her by the harness to pull her out.

Maybe she'll think twice now about getting too close to the edge. But probably not.

A Few Selfies

When our neighbor Chris came over on Monday, he left me with a photography book that includes many self-portraits by famous photographers. I finally got a chance to look through the book yesterday, and it inspired me to try some selfies of my own.

So here I am, in portraits necessarily taken in the bathroom, because that's the location of the only decent-sized square mirror in the house.

We have a very uninteresting medicine cabinet -- mostly empty except for Dave's collection of expired nasal sprays and ear drops. (We really do need to throw those out.) I am fortunate enough, for now anyway, to take no pharmaceuticals, except the odd aspirin or Tums. I do have quite a stash of Tums, as you can see.

Then I got to thinking about that little round make-up mirror attached to the big one, and trying to use that in a self-portrait. I know, I look a little wild-eyed and Charles Manson-ish, but I promise I am not dangerous.

It was incredibly challenging to frame the image and focus the camera, while looking through the viewfinder, and then move myself to what I thought was the best position to be reflected back -- without moving the camera. Sheesh.

I probably won't wind up in a book of self-portraits anytime soon. But it was fun to make the attempt.

Hello, world!

The Chilly Campanulas

It's 43ºF out there this morning -- and it "feels like" 37ºF, whatever that means, according to the people at weather.com. I got my winter jacket back out of the closet. Time to face facts. *sigh*

Despite the temperatures, the campanulas believe it to be spring, as you can see above. They're blooming wildly now. Except ours, which for some reason is a bit moribund. I wonder if bringing it indoors during the winter somehow dimmed its enthusiasm. Maybe it needs the wintry shock to set buds. (In which case it may be blooming just fine a few weeks from now, since it's out on the balcony enjoying our Arctic blast.)

The job interview went well yesterday, from what I can tell, and I've been asked to come back again early next week. So that's a good sign!

I walked Olga over to Latimer Road yesterday, where much to my surprise Mr. Styles' artwork is still unmolested. I guess others like it as much as I do.

I've also been plowing my way through several accumulated back issues of The New Yorker. More dreadful news from Syria -- but written in riveting style -- and a quirky article about "treadmill desks," where office workers can slowly walk while typing or on the phone in order to maintain physical fitness. I felt guilty for sitting on the couch while reading the article! I kind of like the idea of a treadmill desk, I must admit, though I do think at some point in life we all ought to be allowed to sit down.

Disney Rip-Offs and Back-Pocket Beers

This shop on Queensway cracks me up. It doesn't have much character, but look at that sign! Are the Walt Disney people aware of this place?

When I walked Olga this morning it was 45º F. I hope we're not destined to have another summer-that-wasn't. Last year we had a few nice days at the beginning of spring and then got socked with three or four months of cold and rain. Please, Lord -- I know I don't pray to you often -- but please deliver us from that.

Yesterday I took the tube down to South Bank to take some people photos. I got some OK shots wandering around Westminster Bridge and the London Eye, but nothing that really blew me away. Maybe I'll share a few of them sometime soon. On the way to the tube, this guy was walking in front of me in Notting Hill...

...with a full litre of Skol super-strong lager (alcohol 9 percent!) in his back pockets.  Now that is preparation. He was drinking a third can. It was approximately 1 p.m.

Today I have an interview for that full-time position at school I mentioned several weeks ago. Keep your fingers crossed!

The Shock of the New

Flickr, the photo-sharing web site where I store and display all my photography, made some drastic changes yesterday and users are up in arms. The site has been completely redesigned, and I have yet to see any favorable comments. I suppose a certain amount of backlash is to be expected when any web site makes changes, but this seems especially fierce.

I'm trying to adapt, but the new site seems to de-emphasize community activities like commenting on photos, sharing them in groups and tracking view counts, in favor of bigger photo displays. The site also has less negative space, which I don't like. I think every photo needs air around it to be appreciated. And it has endlessly scrolling pages similar to Tumblr, which deprives users of a handy navigation tool -- paging through others' photos. Now you have to scroll, scroll, scroll to get to older content.

So, yeah, not thrilled about that.

But I suppose it's a tiny, minor problem compared to what people face in Moore, Oklahoma or in Syria. I've been reading an especially chilling New Yorker piece about Syria, where people fish dead bodies out of the local river by the dozens and snipers pick off civilians trying to get to work or school. Seriously, we all ought to be thankful we wake up in a secure place every morning. (And who's to say that will always be the case?)

In any natural disaster, photos and stories that involve pets seem to resonate with many people, and that's been true in Oklahoma too. That video of a woman finding her dog in the wreckage during a TV interview went viral yesterday, and the New York Times had a heartbreaking photo of a woman comforting an injured dog. I suppose we feel like people can take care of themselves, but pets really need us.

On a happier note, speaking of pets, I got some requests for a photo of Olga with her Jolly Egg. Here she is, trying her best to fit it into her mouth. Fierce!

(Top Photo: Near the Royal Oak tube stop in Westbourne Park.)