ugly duckling buildings

Now regular readers will be aware of my interest in architecture and a passion I have for great buildings.  I’m particularly fond of skyscrapers and bridges, especially ones built in the last century. One of my greatest joys is visiting one from my ‘must see’ list for the first time. The day C and I cycled (yes it’s true) up to the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco and stood at its mid-point taking in the beauty of the engineering and the stunning views was one of the most glorious days of my life. Sad I know. But as well as grand structures I also like beautifully designed smaller buildings especially family homes, offices and public facilities. But the flip side of admiring lovely architecture is that I can’t help but notice and complain about really ugly buildings or incongruous planning allowing buildings to sit uncomfortably in a particular setting and I especially hate to see public buildings fall into disrepair. So having moaned in the past about some particularly horrible examples of these in the Teddington area I thought it was time for an update.

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yet another celebrity travel show….

Well this past week saw yet another travelog programme hit our screens hosted by a ‘between commitments’ comedian/comic actor. Sigh. This time it’s Rory Bremner doing a trip round some of Britain’s most interesting locations in an old-style open top sports car (kindly sponsored by the Morgan motor company) in search of Britain’s best views. They even featured a programme from Blackpool the other day and settled on two stunning views; one looking down on the piers taken from the top of the Tower and, yes you’ve guessed it, one from the end of the pier looking up at the Tower. It’s my home town but even I could hear the distant sound of a barrel’s bottom being scraped.

farewell to brrr

You might have seen a strange bright object in the sky this last week accompanied by a weird warm feeling. Yes it was a bit of spring with temps rising to double figures at long last. Hurrah! Jeez it feels like we’ve had a very long and cold winter doesn’t it? And we haven’t had it quite as bad as some places. I wouldn’t say the shorts and pale white legs are out yet but the coats have definitely been packed away again and it’s hats in the air to some sunshine! 

it’s sick man

As well as being one of my grandson’s favourite current phrases, perversely meaning that something’s actually rather good, in old-speak it’s also a literal way to describe my situation and our household’s over the last week or so.  And it kicks off chillingly with my daughter R.

ITV crap and local update

Well it’s been a few weeks without a posting. I felt compelled to write something…anything having spent the last 15 minutes watching ITV’s latest Sunday night concept programme ‘Off Their Rockers’. Apparently some fu**wit in the commissioning department was convinced that getting OAPs to do Candid Camera type stuff would have us rolling off our sofas with hysterical laughter. I’ve seen more comedy on the World at War.