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Archive for the category “Travel”

29 Apr 2013
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The Rebel Rebels

Over the weekend, I went down to London to see the Rebel Rebels perform their final show.

Conveniently (for me, at least) it was held at the Elixir Bar, just round the corner from Euston – ideal, and meant I didn’t even need to consider overnighting in London.

As it was, I met up with Merialc and Erzsebel beforehand, and went for a curry at the Erzsebel-recommended “Diwana Bhel Poori House“. (round the other corner from Euston)  The food was excellent – although I can honestly say I have no idea what the hell I was eating – and made for a good start to the evening.

The evening itself was a fun time too – and while not being ‘official photographer‘, I still had the camera with me, and got some good shots. I’ve missed the Rebels’ previous shows for a number of reasons, so I’m glad I got to be there for the final one.

The journey home was OK too – albeit incredibly long, due to the train service stopping at every single station on the way. Being sober on the late train’s an experience in tolerance, not rising to any number of inane pisshead conversations and the like, but thankfully there was only one puker, so it could’ve been a lot worse all round.

A great evening all round, and it’s a pity that at the moment there aren’t more planned.

 

Posted by lyle in Domestic, Food, Gigs, London, Music, Photography, Public Transport, Sociable, Thoughts, Travel
15 Apr 2013

Bastardry

Over the last year, one particular section of my daily commute has made me realise two things

  1. People are really fucking stupid
  2. I’m a complete bastard, and still get amused by watching stupid people screw things up

The road section is this one – Junction 13 of the M1.  The particularly bad section is at the top – I come off the Motorway at the bottom right of the photo, have to go all the way round the first roundabout, over the motorway bridge, and straight over the second one to head towards home.

Map of J14 of the M1

Junction 13 of the M1

However, rule #1 above says that people are really fucking stupid. This means that

  • At least once a week, I see people on the first roundabout wanting to turn right (i.e. the same way I go), get confused, and drive back on to the M1, instead of taking the next turn off.
  • Pretty much every day I see people in the wrong lanes on the first roundabout, being in the left-hand lane to turn right, right-hand lane to turn left or go straight-on, cutting lanes across the roundabout, etc. etc.
  • Probably three times out of five, I’ll see people come off the other roundabout, and be totally confused about where to go next. That turn-off has two lanes – the left one to go straight on, the right one to – yes! – turn right. The number of people I follow who are in the wrong lane, and completely bemused by the junction is just unreal.

Of course, with option two there is also the – very minor – justification that it’s a confusing or badly designed junction (and in my opinion it is a bit shit) but it actually isn’t that bad. Slightly obscure, but not bad – so long as drivers read the signs and the roads.  Which is, of course, the underlying problem.

And rule #2 is that I’m still a bastard. I can’t help but laugh at the fuck-knuckles who drive back onto the M1, and also (to a lesser degree) to the ones who fuck up the second roundabout.

I’m not perfect when it comes to driving – and I’d never claim to be – but at least I can read the road and don’t screw up the simple things.

Posted by lyle in 1BEM, Charm School, Commuting, Domestic, Driving, People, Stupidity, Travel | Leave a Comment
09 Apr 2013
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Mileage, and Local Knowledge/Ignorance

Another long day today, with a Devon run and a stop-over in Bristol to deliver some other work-based stuff.

All went well though, and again the Saab’s doing just fine. I’d be happier if the fuel consumption was a bit better, but it’s still not too bad.

Mind you, Bristol is a bag of shit to drive round. I don’t know who designed their one-way system, but I’m pretty sure they were either a) insane or b) a fucking idiot. Perhaps both.  (And I also bet it was the same person who designed the one-way system in Farnham. But that’s another story)

What amazes me with Bristol – and it’s a view based on several visits, and not something I’ve seen as much anywhere else – is how little people in Bristol know about Bristol, and places in it.  I had been given the wrong address for the office I needed, but the security people in the wrong place *and* the people in the right place didn’t know how to get from one to the other.  And it turned out to be a matter of crossing a dual-carriageway to get from one to the other. These two office buildings are within sight of each other. Yet no-one knew about the other.

The final straw was being at the right place, saying I was at [centre] North, and being told – by people in [centre] – that I was in the wrong place. They didn’t even know their own fucking building had two entrances!

Anyway, it all got sorted in the end, so all’s good.

Posted by lyle in Domestic, Driving, People, Travel, Work-related
06 Apr 2013
1 Comment

Ansel Adams, National Maritime Museum

Yesterday involved a trip into London, meeting a friend, and going to see the exhibition of Ansel Adams’ work at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

I’ve been a fan of Adams’ work for a long, long time, and have a couple of books of his work, but have never really seen any of the original work – so when the exhibition was announced, I knew it was something I wanted to go to.

I’m really pleased that I did go – so many of the photos in the exhibit are absolutely stunning. It sounds odd, but I was surprised by how many were actually really small. Logically I knew that they’re mainly taken on a 4″ x 5″ plate, but when you see the huge landscapes he’s taken, you always imagine them being epic in scale. And some of them are truly epic – prints 3 metres high, and absolutely stunning, including a triptych of photos that graced the foyer of an insurance company in San Francisco.

Honestly, I didn’t know some of the story of his work, of how ground-breaking and radical some of it was at the time, his influence and work on changing from the more ‘impressionist’ style of Pictorialism through to the more modern “Photorealism” and the f/64 movement (partly founded by Adams) for landscapes and so on, maximising the depth-of-field for the maximum detail throughout the frame.

It’s a stunning exhibition – there’s only a couple of prints I didn’t like, and so many that would love to have on my walls.

 

Posted by lyle in Creativity, Domestic, Photography, Reviews(ish), Sociable, Thoughts, Travel
29 Mar 2013

Settled In

It’s taken some time, but I’m now well settled with driving the Saab.  The last two weeks have been the proving points, as I’ve done some significant mileage in that time.

Last week involved a trip to Manchester, and this week has involved another Devon run, so in the last couple of weeks I’ve done the best part of a thousand miles.

It’s handled it all fine, I’m pleased to say. No issues at all, and at a decent rate of fuel consumption. Not as decent as Mondeo used to get, but that’s petrol vs. diesel for you.

Indeed the only downside I’ve found – and it’s a tiny one – is that the Saab doesn’t have cruise control.  I rarely use it, but on occasion it’s good to be able to engage it and stretch/exercise my leg, rather than holding it in one position throughout the drive. I particularly noticed it yesterday, having covered the whole 420 miles in one day, and the massive majority all at one speed. (That particular run is 99% motorway driving – out of 210 miles, I think I’m non-motorway for six of them)

But that’s – so far – the only minor downside. All told, not a bad purchase.

Posted by lyle in Bankruptcy, Driving, Travel, Work-related | Leave a Comment
08 Mar 2013

Foggy

Last night and this morning, my drive from/to work was extremely foggy.  This morning was worse, but even last night was pretty entertaining.

What always gets me though is the way people handle foggy conditions when they’re driving – particularly with regard to one of the banes of my life, foglights.

At night, it’s exceptionally rare to need foglights – they’re only for times where visibility is exceptionally low, and you’ve no chance of seeing the vehicle in front of you without the additional lights. The good old Highway Code says

Rule 236 : You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226)

Rule 226 : “You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves.”

With lights on at night, it’s exceptionally rare to not be able to see the car 100 metres ahead of you.Yet most of the fuckknuckle cunts are there, belting along with their foglights on.

And yet this morning, when it was actually really bad visibility, most people didn’t put their lights on at all, let alone the foglights.

I truly do not understand people.

Posted by lyle in 1BEM, BMW Drivers, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Fog, M1, People, Stupidity, Travel | Leave a Comment
28 Feb 2013

Congestion Lane (Again)

Last night, I finally saw the M1 Congestion Scheme in full effect – vehicles in all four lanes, using the whole thing properly.

The only problem?

All the signs were saying “Hard shoulder for emergency use only”, so the scheme wasn’t *actually* active at the time.

Some days I really despair.

Posted by lyle in Commuting, Driving, M1, People, Travel | Leave a Comment

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