Some recent travels yielded a few good photos

-
In the Wreckhouse


Membertou Birches


Sicilian Afternoon


Hanging on in South Dildo


Comments

Unknown said…
Sicilian Afternoon! I love it.
27 May 2017 at 18:08
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two books you should read. Now. Go out and get them. I'll wait.

-
I just finished two excellent books, which, when I started out, didn't seem related at all. The first, Michael Pollan's  In Defense of Food , is an entertaining and fascinating look at the impact of science, business, and journalism on what we eat. The second is Born to Run , by Christopher McDougall, an examination of the nature of humanity wrapped in an adventure story. Both Pollan and McDougall are fine writers, able and engaging storytellers dealing with a complex central argument in a compelling way. Pollan tackles food science and the food industry, McDougall sports medicine and sports footwear.  In its opening section, In Defense of Food traces the rise of nutritionism, evaluating food in terms of its component micro-parts - vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, and the like - the reductionist view of what we eat. Next, Pollan considers what we eat and why we eat it, cataloguing the Western diet and gradual industrialization of food. Finally, he offers what he calls "p...
Read more

Everybody talks about the weather...

-
Most of the time here in Qatar we don't think about the weather. It's going to be sunny and hot, or sunny and warm, or sunny and really hot. But when we start to edge towards December, the weather takes on an edge of its own. While midday temperatures are still reaching the high 20s, once the sun goes down the warmth disappears with it. Evening temperatures are around 22 or 23, but it feels much colder. And early morning can drop to 18 or less; when I left for work on Thursday it was 14. The security guards at the gate have started wearing hats, scarves, and gloves after sunset. They managed to get out quickly; there were news reports this week of some heavy buying of winter wear. So tomorrow I will be going out to buy a heater, since they tend to get bought up rapidly. We don't need a wood stove, just a little something to take the dampness and chill out of the air. Sounds like a strange comment to make in a desert country, but remember Qatar is also a maritime country, a...
Read more

What if she hadn't sung?

-
By now, you have likely seen Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent (if you've been wandering on the outer fringes of Borneo for the last 10 days, click here to see it). The 47-year old was laughed at when she came out on stage and announced her dream of being a singer, hoping to be as successful as Elaine Paige. One young woman in the audience smirked and derisively rolled her eyes. Why this reaction? Susan is not beautiful, slim, young, blonde, or any of the other things we have been conditioned to associate with the music industry, or with the entertainment industry generally. It is that simple. She didn't fit the picture - Christina, Britney, Madonna, Beyonce, and the like - so people expected her to be an untalented joke. And then she sang, and blew the room away. Susan Boyle is a wonderful singer. But what if she wasn't? What if she was tone deaf? Or if she had simply walked off the stage in the face of the reception she received? There probably would not have bee...
Read more