Sunday thoughts
I wonder sometimes about politicians, they never seem to have an original idea. Labour is now formulating policies with 99 weeks to go to the general election. They seem to be planning to do the same as the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. More cuts and more clueless action…
Iconic buildings save us money?
Today’s picture was taken last weekend at ‘College Fields’ which is a little housing estate built on the edge of those fields on the site of a former college. The technology college is still there over the other side of those fields, but that’s not the same. That’s for 11 to 16 years olds, not adults; it’s like an High School…
English parks and cream teas
Britain has some beautiful Victorian parks and we need them more than ever now. We live such stressed out lives, we need a relaxing break. What better way to relax than a walk in the park? It can be spoiled though, you do occasionally get loud mouthed yobs. People with uncontrolled dogs annoy me too.
Finance Friday | Breaking away
I read this morning that Amazon will be opening another London office with space for another 1,600 employees. That gets another cheer from Boris Johnson and boos from the North of England. Why does all new investment go to London? Why not Britain’s second city Birmingham or even Newcastle?
The Wednesday moan
There are a few signs of Spring around now in the heart of England. Blossom on the trees, bluebells in the woods and the river is lined with millions of flowers. The weather hasn’t been very good this Spring, we even had snow in March; but the forecasters promise us that it will improve for the weekend.
Greedy, mad, swivel eyed loons
This week the share price of Lloyd’s Banking Group went over 60p and so the government has reached the break even price for it’s shares. Royal Bank of Scotland made some gains too, so the government could get it’s 66 billion back that it pumped into those banks. (more…)
A trip to Walsall
I went to the wonderful town of Walsall yesterday. I used to think Walsall was great. The market used to go up the hill nearly to the church and that street was lined with little interesting shops. Walsall is a shadow of it’s former self.
The farce is strong
George Osborne is claiming that it was his influence that is bringing Lucasfilm to the UK to make another episode of Star Wars. The Downing Street farce is strong and they’re bringing the film over to the dark side.
Reflections on life
Sometimes, I think as a society we take one step forward and two steps backwards. There are lots of experiments that seem to fail. The big pink box on West Bromwich High Street is still referred to as ‘iconic’, but in reality it’s a failed experiment. They intend to use it as a sixth form college now. (more…)
The midweek ramble
That’s Redhouse Park in the picture. It’s about 6 miles from here. I didn’t really want to drive that far, but I’m running out of things to photograph here. People seem fascinated by travelling. It must be some primitive instinct.
A bank holiday day out?
It’s Bank Holiday in the UK today. Traditionally people would have a day out, in the countryside or take a train to the seaside. Now they tend to go to bloody Ikea. People are obsessed with spending money. It’s a rat race, but is it healthy?
Spooky
I’ve used a spooky picture of the churchyard to begin today’s post. I think the original church was built about 700 years ago, replacing a castle and maybe some kind of pagan church. I can spend more time writing my Sunday ramble today, because I don’t have to cook Sunday lunch; it’s already cooked.
Am I getting paranoid?
I’ve used a picture of an English summer from 2011 today. Remember summer? Last year; it was rain, rain and more rain. There was a rumour that they were messing with the weather, trying to stop it raining on their Jubilee and Olympics.
Society today
“Wealthy elderly people who do not need benefit payments to help with fuel bills or free travel should voluntarily return the money to the authorities, the work and pensions secretary says.” (BBC News) I don’t know. Buckingham Palace is a big place to keep warm, they need their winter fuel payments. They hardly use their bus passes anyway…
Mid week moan | Who is to blame?
The building in the picture is the ‘Public’ on West Bromwich, High St. For the benefit of my American readers, we can build you one just like it if you have about a hundred million dollars to spare. It is very symbolic. It symbolises the Orwellian big brother society to me. Notice the CCTV camera on the right of the picture. Whose to blame?
The English eccentric
Today’s picture is of the River Tame, here in the Black Country. There are millions of flowers growing down the sides in Spring; this was last May. Only an English eccentric would know something like that. I shall check again this year and see if they grow along the Tame in Sandwell Valley.
A Englishmans home is his castle
Today’s picture is of the Manor House, West Bromwich, which has a St George’s Day Family Fun Day on today. There will also be a big St George’s Day parade in Stone Cross tomorrow.
Another midweek moan
Today I have used a picture of the churches overlooking the town where I live. When I’m out taking photographs, I often look at them and know I’m still close to home. They stand on a hill with steep sides on this side. A 1,000 years ago a castle stood there and Princess Ethelfreda fought the Viking invaders from there.
A Black Country Sunday ramble
The weather is still very changeable in England. I need sunshine! It was a long winter and then we had snow in Spring. I want to take some photos of this beautiful landscape that we have in the Black Country.
The mid-week moan, again
It would seem that Britain is more divided than ever today. It will be interesting to see whose side everyone is really on when it comes to the crunch. The elitists are having a funeral for their heroine. She saved Britain; gave us Google, Iphones, Windows 7, Tesco value beef-burgers and Wonga.
What class are you in?
Today’s picture is of the church just up the road from where I live in Wednesbury. I took this photo yesterday, it was a little misty, it’s still quite cold. The church is said to date back over 700 years and is a landmark that can be seen for miles. For me it signifies where I grew up, my roots.
Mid-week moan | Times are a changing
Do you remember hand carts? People used to sell flowers from hand carts years ago. They often grew the flowers in their gardens and they made a living out of selling them.
Easter Sunday sunshine
It’s Easter Sunday, the sun’s shining and I’m thinking about photography. I haven’t had a good Sunday afternoon taking pictures for some time. If you’re wondering about today’s picture, those are places around where I live.
Spring in the heart of England
Today’s photo is of Spring. No, not this Spring! This was last Spring, the sun was shining and the River Tame was lined with millions of flowers! There were bluebells in the woods, blossom on the trees and it was Spring. What do we have this year?
