Can you identify this painting? It looks very old and very damaged. It seems to represent an aqueduct. Let's try taking a step backwards. A city with two stubby, semi-Oriental towers, a clumsy whale, three boats, mansions which seem to be subsiding on a water front. Everything is a bit crooked and murky. It doesn't... Continue Reading →
Africa, slowly, from the sky
The April 19 issue of the New Yorker had an interesting article by Lauren Collins on the American photographer George Steinmetz. His speciality is taking pictures from a motorised paraglider which he flies low and slow (27 mph is the one speed it has). With it he can get the angles which he wants, whereas... Continue Reading →
The future as it was
When I was a small boy I had a book about science which ended with a few pages of illustrations of how life would be in the 21st Century. I am pretty sure that it told me that we would farm the sea. (I think there was some kind of marine combine harvester in action).... Continue Reading →
How our bodies were in the 1950’s
Since this picture has a reference to Stuttgart, I am assuming that it is a German representation ofthe way our bodies work. From the style I would guess that this is from the 1950's. It is all very industrial with lots of cogs and iron. Today we would probably portray things differently with integrate circuits... Continue Reading →
Etceteras for the next 25 kilometers – Good Road Signs
It's the etceteras you really have to watch out for. Hold on to your hats when crossing railway bridges ? Women can dance the samba on the pedestrian crossing. Siblings crossing. Kids kicking the stuffing out of triangles. A warning to people in wheel-chairs ? Or to alligators (wheel-chairs being hard to digest) ? Or... Continue Reading →
Volcanic money
I remember that the first time I was given this 100 rupiah banknote in Indonesia I thought to myself, "Is this really the best way to promote confidence in currency stability?" You can't read the writing clearly in this picture, but I can assure you that the island towards which the sailboat seems to be... Continue Reading →
Wee Klinks 3
It's raining today where I live and it rained so much yesterday that when you ask someone for the time water pours out of their sleeve when they look at their watch. There are glum expressions all around me, but I am actually fond of rain. I think the reason must be my childhood memories... Continue Reading →
Wee Klinks 2
When things don't work properly one classic strategy is to continue doing the same thing and call it by a different name. Having trouble with the Global Strategy ? Launch the World-Wide Initiative. Is the Post Office falling apart ? Forget about repairing the roof, just call it a Data Communications Hub. This was the... Continue Reading →
Juliet’s wall
Wall in front of Juliet's house, Verona.
Wordle Quiz
You can't get away from word clouds by now. Tags, authors and names get pasted into swirls and displayed in patterns everywhere. The presidential and vice-presidential debates were followed immediately by a pictorial analysis of the words most frequently used by each contender. So my subject is not a particularly original thing to write about.... Continue Reading →