Update on The Boiler

2:31 AM steve

Update: There is no update.The boiler is languishing in the corner, refusing to work.The boiler fix-it man is nowhere to be found - he went home to his warm, cosy, HEATED home yesterday (probably to have a HOT shower) instead of coming to fix our boiler.We have no hot water.We have no heating.Temperatures are expected to dip below zero over the weekend with snow showers predicted.I am in a state of numb* incomprehension.I tried to express my incomprehension to the lovely (very understanding) telephone operator at Vokera (the boiler manufacturer) this morning. She could not help me. They contract their work out to Crystal Heating Ltd. It was Crystal...


The Boiler

6:16 AM steve

Most Excellent Blog Fans (c'mon- I know there must be at least 3 of you out there!) your blogger has been absent for the last couple of days (actually, is there anyone out there reading this? has anyone realised little 'ole Messy has been absent??) BUT, for once, I have an excuse: DISASTER has struck the Messy Household (cue Dah Dah Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaah music).....................Our BOILER has BLOWN UP. No! I hear you gaspYEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I reply (as an icicle slides it way down my right eyebrow, off my nose and into my coffee cup)Our freakin' naughty boiler has had a tissy fit IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER and is not working. For those...


The Kodak Carousel

1:45 PM steve

I haven't got time to post a long-ish post today (instead I am sitting at the computer procrastinating over an article I should have finished 2 days ago!). Oh, and um, watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackling Tesco on the rearing of poultry (I love his comment about one punter "wanting more cluck for her buck!!" )This photo (another of the merry-go-round in Bordeaux) was inspired by the anonymous blog reader who posted a comment last week on da blog re the hit US show, Mad Men. I confess I hadn't heard of this show before reading the comment and watching the YouTube clip- but now I am intrigued. The show is a drama series set in the 1960's...


Place des Quinconces, Bordeaux

9:26 AM steve

The French Circus, Arlette Gruss, just happened to be in Bordeaux at the same time we were there (I think the season runs from 16 January to 8th February, 2009). The tent looked magnificent, particularly in the late afternoon sunshine, in the Place des Quinconces- the huge square in the centre of Bordeaux. The square is the 2nd largest city square in the EU (according to wiki) and is dominated by a large column on top of which sits a statute representing the Spirit of Liberty (I will post photographs tomorrow).The monument was erected between 1894 and 1902 in memory of the Girondists who fell victim of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution....


Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Chez Karl, Bordeaux

3:59 AM steve

Continuing on the salon de thé theme in Bordeaux, two more places to rest, regroup and sip a milky café au lait or sinfully rich chocolat chaud (and maybe sneak a flaky pain au chocolat) are the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (the courtyard of which I photographed above and below) and Chez Karl.The Musee Des Arts Decoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) is located in the Hôtel de Lalande, a beautiful 18th century building, and houses an exquisite collection of furniture, 18th and 19th century porcelain, glassware, ceramics, silver and wrought iron work. The building was designed by the famous Bordeaux architect, Etienne Laclotte, for the Marquis de...


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Le Samovar - Salon de Thé, Bordeaux

7:55 AM steve

Two hip strangers I managed to snap in the late afternoon in Bordeaux (above and below). Having wandered the streets of Bordeaux for a few hours, and fuelled only by my early morning baguette and Café au Lait, I was delighted (as were my aching feet-all those cobblestones are hard work on the tootsies!) when I stumbled across a quirky little Salon de Thé, Le Samovar, in the quartier Saint Michel. It is a cosy space filled with hundreds of second-hand books, lots of mixed matched sofas and chairs, throw rugs, kitsch objet d'art, and vintage lamps. It feels very much like taking tea in your Great Aunt's cluttered living room, um, except without...


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Bordeaux Photos

1:11 PM steve

Just processing a couple of photos of Bordeaux while I watch my absolute favourite program of the moment- Heston Blumenthal's revamp of Little Chef. It is like watching a car crash in slow motion - mesmerising and horrific all at once.For all you Aussie peeps reading da Blog, Little Chef is a roadside cafe chain here in the UK which hasn't had its food or decor updated since, well, errrr, a very long time (but not in a nostalgic good way!) Brilliant, captivating viewingp.s. I am dying to eat at the revamped Little Chef- I have read super things about it. Anyone been to one since the makeov...


The Merry- Go-Round of Life

5:23 AM steve

Sometimes it feels like life is just one big merry-go-round... endlessly turning and turning and never really getting anywhere - or maybe that is just my life!Starting a new venture and changing careers (particularly in these uncertain economic times) is scary- there are days when I think of packing it all in and going back to a secure, office job as a lawyer where a nice little paycheck comes in each fortnight, with 4 weeks PAID holiday leave, PAID sick leave, an IT department (oh how I wish I had an IT guru to sit by my side and hold my sweaty little hand when things go awry with my computer), a speaker phone (anyone else get slightly frustrated...


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A- Ring- a -Ding- Ding!

5:35 AM steve

Spotted these two Cats while I was wandering the streets of Bordeaux. I clocked the girl first with her fab headgear (I thought she was wearing it just to be hip-I didn't realise it had a practical purpose!!) and then saw that she was heading towards the guy on the bike. Quick as a flash, in my very poor Frenglish, I asked if I could take a photo. Luckily her English was très bonne, she understood what I meant and jumped on the bike. I only had about 20 sec to get these shots before they ring-a-ding-dinged off into the afternoon on their little moped :)p.s. My drowned mobile has been resuscitated. Ph...


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The Curious Incident of the Maxie Cat

11:47 AM steve

This is a little shout-out to Max the meow (whose human parents are Ms Ewah and husband) who was adventuring around the house on Sunday and had an unfortunate incident with a packet of laundry detergent. Despite some rather mournful meowing and protests at being given two painful injections by the vet, Maxie is thankfully now on her way to a full recovery. These photos are not of Max but of a very friendly cat I came across in Bordeaux. p.s. Max the meow is actually a girl cat (despite her name). When we picked her up (read: rescued) from her former home, the lady assured us she was a boy cat. Errr... and then Ms Ewah went to the vet- and found...


Le Plan B

1:30 PM steve

Bonjour Most Excellent Blog Fans, your blogger has returned from Bordeaux, France.... home of great food, even greater wine and perhaps one of the greatest urban renewal projects completed in Europe in recent times.The last time I was in Bordeaux was in late 2003 and the city was so tangled and consumed with construction work as part of the urban renewal project that it was difficult (if not impossible) to appreciate its beauty. Roads and footpaths were ripped up, construction safety fences were everywhere, traffic was regularly gridlocked, the noise of jackhammers filled the air, the Notre-Dame Cathedral was covered in scaffolding, facades of...


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Gone Fishing

12:17 PM steve

Most Excellent Blog Fans- your blogger has gone fishing* Messy transmission will resume in a few days -hopefully with a lot more photos and some interesting tales to tell :)*hee hee, haven't really gone fishing (bait = ick!)Photos are of Valencia, Spain, October 2...


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Horses For Courses

12:20 PM steve

The Nikon had to go for a beauty treatment today- a full sensor cleaning at Fixation in Kennington. One of the "problems" associated with a DSLR (with interchangeable lenses) as opposed to a point and shoot camera (where the lense is fixed) is that the sensor can get dirty with dust particles. This shows up as grey, fuzzy, blobby spots on photographs- most visible on areas such as the sky or light coloured areas. The sensor can get dirty (and trust me it WILL happen to you sooner or later- even if you practice DSLR-Hygiene 101) just through normal use of the camera e.g. changing lenses, putting a dusty cap on the camera body, using a zoom lense...


London Strangers

10:53 AM steve

Thought you might like a peek at some of the "100 Strangers" I have been photographing recently....First up, Polly and Dave from Australia and New Zealand, respectively. I photographed them in Hyde Park near the Pond...they were sitting, quite peacefully, enjoying the sunset until I blithely blundered onto the scene with my camera ;-)Polly and Dave were travelling the UK (Polly is still here but Dave has returned home) when they met and a romance developed (we love that!!) We had a chat about the state of Cadbury chocolate in the UK (I am not a huge fan of the English variety but apparently the Irish bars are smashing), Flight of the Conchords...


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