The birds flew past Sutton

Another weekday afternoon in south London. It is still BST. 

A non descript building by the railway station witnesses a flock of white geese slowly rise from the eastern sky.UFOs, said a colleague, unsure of the species.

The dark grey sky on the west, gloriously dotted with moving white silhouettes of the travellers. Rather like a clear night of stars. Croydon to Heathrow, the flight path.

Across and upward, climbing over a rainstorm, spanning large distances in only a few short minutes.

The sky full of birds moves as one towards the north west for possibly a thousand more miles.The city moves on detached and oblivious of this marvellous event!

Clan Fire Place

A rather friendly and laid back colleague went on holiday with wife and two toddlers to a place in North Wales. Let us call him Charlie Evans. So Charlie went on holiday exactly last year with his family to llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf in Anglesey.

Naturally, I was a bit confounded to find out. So I sat down across a coffee table sipping tea and spoke to him. Here is some bits of what we talked.


How do you say the name, Charlie?
I cannot pronounce it, I can only do the beginning and the end.


Is there a shorter name for it?
Yes, can’t remember it though. Something like llanfairgogogoch.


Why did you go there and what did you do there?
Visit a friend who had a Holiday caravan just down the road.


Do you have any pictures from there?
I have a picture of the train station sign on my phone. There is not a lot there. Just a train station, a few shops and a take away.Anglesey has some nice places though, if you are thinking of going.

They also have a website for tourism. As a semi-technical person, jolly good that domain names can take up to 63 letters! This is how to pronounce the name. Some thing like Clan fire...

I have eaten seeds..

..and have passed days in mild terror that any day I could sprout a creeper through my ears. How this idea was planted in my head I am slightly hazy; it could have been an exasperated grandparent or a righteous, god-fearing, finger-wagging child of our neighbours, or well, my mother even, just for laughs; but most certainly watermelon seeds have slid in with the sweet red juice down the throat during the summer holidays. I am sure pomegranate seeds have. In the days of seed-ful grapes and oranges, those too have immigrated successfully. As I grew I up, I took much trouble to reassure myself - it could not possibly happen. The seed would be disposed of sensibly by the body, I have told myself.

Now several years later, I come across this in the Guardian.

The diagnosis? Fir on the lung

16 Apr 2009:

Ian Sample: Medics in the Urals have removed a tiny tree from a man's lung after he complained of chest pains

International Talk like a Pirate Day

Wonder who came up with the idea for such a day?

Dustbins

These colour-pencil shaped marvels are the dustbins. To see them, visit the Roald Dahl museum!

How not to squash the fruit in your bag

This curious thing is a banana guard and can hold a banana of almost any shape. It really does exist!

Christmas and New year decoration

Seems a bit late to put this up. But better than not at all. This little tree stayed on my desk for a month or two after christmas. I don't think that whoever did it was celebrating the year of the pig.

Hot air balloon floating past at seven thirty a.m.

Umbrella vending machine