Just back from the office, that sinking feeling you get when you turn on the radio and the theme tune for The Archers starts.
I went in earlier with the intention of sorting a couple of things out and bringing the archive home - it had stopped raining and turned quite nice, so I took the opportunity to walk down the hill, I also needed a bulk buy of toothpaste (I get through A LOT of toothpaste). Got to the studio - about 4 other people there - not a single one of them raised their head or said hello and for some reason I didn't feel particularly comfortable - the heating was on full too, so I did what I needed and left. Typically - it had already started pissing down again - and by the time I got home I was soaked through to the skin - really could have done without that.
I needed other stuff so I went to the COOP to buy mushrooms and washing powder. The mushrooms were so expensive I refused to buy them - and the Surf washing powder I bought was a very heavily scented one - which explains why it had been reduced to half price. Scented stuff usually causes problems for me but I've had this one before and it's OK. Talking of which, I had a shave earlier - having managed to grow a full beard in 2 weeks. I usually look a lot better after a shave, but today I looked much worse - probably due to the face full of psoriasis underneath. The stuff I use at the moment is water based - when I got caught in the rain I could feel re-forming on my face and probably foaming - I may have looked rabid.
I still needed mushrooms so I went over to the Aldi. I'd love to be able to support an ethical retailer like the COOP - but they are taking the piss, price wise. When I lived in Brighton I did all my shopping in Waitrose - I wasn't so bothered about the cost then - and after being forced to shop in the Tesco under the railway bridge in Brixton - it was a delight. Last week I was talking to a friend in town and someone they knew walked past and joined the conversation, they had been shopping in Iceland and were very enthusiastic about it - I vaguely know them through someone else, they have just spent a fortune on restoring an old house and have plenty of money but couldn't stop talking about how cheap Iceland was and how much they had saved on 'essentials' - the conversation shifted to the Aldi - they have been once but refused to go again because of the ugly artwork outside. Priorities.
Last week I had a conversation with someone I knew through another friend - nice bloke, very friendly - there was one moment when his face stiffened for just a second but he carried on talking, I realised today in a flashback that I said 'Renoir' rather than 'Rubens'. I expect he's still chuckling to himself about that one.
We keep getting flashes of decent weather then sudden, ugly sea squalls with black skies and driving rain. If I had a sea view, I'd probably be enjoying it.
6 comments:
Hi - I tried to post that on the thread yesterday but for some reason it would not have it (probably prob my end) so have tried here and it seems to work
DL
Renoir/Rubens? The naught step for you - shame & degradation!
I'm so pleased that my comment at 1711 was accepted as my BT, gmail, livemail and Yahoo accounts are all blocked plus Facebook and I was blaming the CIA and/or MI5/MI6 for my getting too close to the truth regarding the murder of WPC Fletcher in 1984 outside the Libyan Embassy.
well, it seems my post did not load up (not the one that I refer to above I mean) - a bit strange
DL
Thanks for that further info about the artwork production process. I found that interesting to read, although I don't have the technical knowledge to fully appreciate what it might involve. It must, I imagine, give a great sense of satisfaction to design public art like that, see it made as you describe, and then encounter it in the public realm as it were (or the copies of it).
When I was looking for more details I found this link (also linked off your blog page I think) - which has a lot of the images, but perhaps not all.
(removed link to Network Southeast Society in case this prevented posting)
I looked at the NRM's digitised image archive which I believe is the 'Science and Society Picture Library' but that only generated a poster for Milton Keynes by trains (not a poster shown on the NSE link above interestingly). However, of course they may have other material simply not digitised yet.
I suspect it is the 'cured' bulkheads you mention that get removed/replaced when the trains are renovated and thus a set of those they should obtain, in my view.
Nice to hear that you were able to dedicate a lot of time to help list / archive / catalogue stuff. A great shame that this did not come to fruition as a book etc.
Perhaps some of the artwork made it into this book?
(removed link to NSE book by Chris Green)
Thanks for sharing the info on this and your personal knowledge of the topic. Appreciated.
DL
Hi DL, Eddie's daughter sends her thanks for your comments and will pass them on to her family. Chris Green/NSE was one of the people we dealt with. Apparently - there are still artworks in-situ on the Rochester lines. They are almost totally indestructable and we think that many of them are in a warehouse somewhere and probably will be around after armageddon, still looking good!
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