mashoo
2009-08-01 - 2009-09-12
contents
wolverhampton station

00009083 | 2009-08-01T05:32:00Z | location | -mt4-
shrewsbury station

00009084 | 2009-08-01T06:30:00Z | location | -mt4-

looking tired in my waterproofs on the train

00009010.jpg | 2009-08-01T07:01:26Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

caer caradoc hill from the train; nice and gloomy

00009012.jpg | 2009-08-01T07:01:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

not a good exposure, but i liked the water among the trees by the train

00009014.jpg | 2009-08-01T07:02:14Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
cardiff central station

00009087 | 2009-08-01T08:54:00Z | location | -mt4-
gran and gramps' place, cardiff

00009088 | 2009-08-01T09:14:00Z | location | -mt4-
plough & harrow, monknash

00009085 | 2009-08-02T11:40:00Z | location | -mt4-
as we sat at this central table, i wondered whether there might be something faintly suitable for me to eat; the first thing i spotted on the blackboards on the big beam was vegan chilli; jessica was similarly pleased and impressed; i had it with half rice and half chips;

as on that previous visit with gran and gramps, the ale of choice was wye valley hereford pale ale; it is always there; i had one pint;

we later relocated to the window table, under the metal dragon;

the food was good and promptly served; most people had puddings, which were also very good; and coffees; there was a barbecue shed in the garden; what a great place;

the post-prandial perambulation toward the coast did not last; we seemed to be getting nowhere fast, and the standing places while vehicles passed were usually mucky; but it was nice to be among those broad coastal fields;

while drying gramps' dishes the day before, i had used the phrase `bent as a nine bob note'; since `bobs' were more his era than mine, i was astonished that he didn't recognise it; keith was sure to have used it; he loved sayings; or maybe he didn't know it either; anyway, i intended to mention it to jessica's birthday company, to test how well-known it might be; but i forgot

00009086 | 2009-08-02T11:40:02Z | -no-label- | -mt4-

jessica indicates something to paul in her birthday card, while trevor kisses jean

00009016.jpg | 2009-08-02T11:44:24Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jessica laughs while jean rummages in her bag

00009018.jpg | 2009-08-02T11:47:26Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jean photographs brenda and matthew

0000903b.jpg | 2009-08-02T11:54:30Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jean photographs paul, trevor and mervyn; ma and pa laughed out loud when they saw this on their computer screen

0000903d.jpg | 2009-08-02T11:54:51Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

gatekeeper butterfly

0000903f.jpg | 2009-08-02T14:56:46Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jean photographs mervyn and jessica under the trees

00009041.jpg | 2009-08-02T15:08:08Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

paul and jean under the trees

00009043.jpg | 2009-08-02T15:12:06Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor scowls youthfully in the direction of the pub

00009045.jpg | 2009-08-02T15:12:54Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

pony chews its offspring's arse

00009047.jpg | 2009-08-02T15:14:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

everyone under the trees

00009049.jpg | 2009-08-02T15:18:42Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
gran and gramps' place, cardiff

time unknown

00009089 | 2009-08-02T17:00:00Z | location | -mt4-
cheesy pasta for tea for me; gran and gramps claimed fullness; the next two days were gloomy and wet; i lost 3-0 to gramps at snooker on the tuesday afternoon (after which i noticed a bungalow on cae gwyn road called `bellendean' and thought of james), before we woke to a fine wednesday; the usual large-ish crossword had filled some time; our progress had been better than usual;

i think it was on the wednesday morning, at about 07:30Z, that i happened upon the 40m band on my little bedside radio; i couldn't make much out of the continental voices on sideband, but some of the morse code keying was clear enough to comprehend; i heard g0pwp in yorkshire, which seemed quite a feat for that time of day; in the evening, i heard some russian morse code;

at about 11:00 bst, with gran asking what we might do with such a beautiful day, i suggested that we revisit the plough and harrow, before proceeding to porthcawl for a walk by the sea; i had not remembered being in porthcawl; gran had not been there in decades; gramps had attended some writer's event in recent years;

the previous evening, i had mentioned upon my return from the shops that the juboraj had smelled good; gran had suggested that we go there in the evening; but now i didn't fancy the idea, so i was glad to be able to come up with such a timely plan (we were about an hour from hunger);

we were among the first at the pub, and ordered early; we sat with our beer at the window table, before enjoying butcher's sausages (gran) and thai chicken curry (gramps and i); it was good stuff, as were the summer pudding tiramisus and coffee gran and gramps had afterwards;

gramps drove slowly along the promenade at porthcawl; there were no remaining parking places and people were everywhere; the weather was perfect and the sky a deep blue; we had a good walk to rest bay and back, seeing some new wildlife and enjoying the sea breeze

0000908a | 2009-08-02T17:00:02Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
plough & harrow, monknash

0000908b | 2009-08-05T11:30:00Z | location | -mt4-

trevor studies the pub literature

0000904b.jpg | 2009-08-05T11:37:50Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

a pint and a half of wye valley hereford pale ale and brenda's green shirt

0000904d.jpg | 2009-08-05T11:38:24Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

butcher's sausages on mashed potato, amidst some fine-looking vegetables; this had been jessica's selection on sunday

0000904f.jpg | 2009-08-05T11:51:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

gramps and i opted for the thai chicken curry with half rice and half chips; it was fine

00009051.jpg | 2009-08-05T11:53:22Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

some splendid seaside fungus and brenda

00009053.jpg | 2009-08-05T13:41:56Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor ascends

00009055.jpg | 2009-08-05T13:52:24Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor looks across rest bay through his binoculars

00009057.jpg | 2009-08-05T13:53:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

brenda looks across rest bay through her binoculars

00009059.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:00:36Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor and brenda

0000905b.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:16:38Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor rests on some rocks; upon seeing this image, he suggested that he might be evacuating his bowels on a rocky latrine; the man seated behind had photographed the three of us using my camera

0000905d.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:18:12Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor sated, after his fictitious dump

0000905f.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:18:18Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
rest bay, porthcawl

0000908c | 2009-08-05T14:25:00Z | location | -mt4-

herring gulls on the rocks

00009061.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:27:22Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

bathers and surfers at rest bay red and yellow flags; i don't know why it's so blurred

00009063.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:32:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

my shadow on the rocks

00009065.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:33:46Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

invasion of the giant six-spot burnet

00009067.jpg | 2009-08-05T14:50:12Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

sweet blue sky over a road sign where we had parked

00009069.jpg | 2009-08-05T15:11:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
gran and gramps' place, cardiff

time pretty accurate; gramps had timed the journey along the m4 from the pyle roundabout at 30 minutes

0000908d | 2009-08-05T15:55:00Z | location | -mt4-

pink and white water lily emerges

0000906b.jpg | 2009-08-06T08:52:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

water lilies; outhouse reflected in the pond

0000906d.jpg | 2009-08-06T08:57:04Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

blackbird darts around the back of the garden

0000906f.jpg | 2009-08-06T08:57:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

one of gran and gramps' first two frogs

00009071.jpg | 2009-08-06T09:02:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

brenda listens to trevor in front of the summer house

00009073.jpg | 2009-08-06T10:05:46Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
we were beset by flying ants until we reached the bracken; they were everywhere; there was also a strange gathering of flies and bees at the trig point; i don't remember anything quite like it;

i think it was up here (perhaps at the other end of the hill) that gramps did the routine of the boy who used to call for dave as a boy (robbie something?); `is davy dumin out?' ``no, he's gone to school'' `whyyy?' `because he has to learn' `whyyy?' and so on; something like that, anyway; i know the `dumin' is correct; i don't suppose he said `dady' instead of `davy', but i can't be sure

0000908f | 2009-08-06T12:55:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
garth hill summit

0000908e | 2009-08-06T13:05:00Z | location | -mt4-

brenda suggests that trevor deduce the identity of the insects; he decides that they are bluebottles; meanwhile i try to photograph the flying ants on the trig point

0000907f.ogg | 2009-08-06T13:06:14Z | -no-label- | -mt2-

i suggest that the largest insects are bees; there were about four of them buzzing around each other; but there were bluebottles too; i wonder why so many species were here

00009081.ogg | 2009-08-06T13:06:54Z | -no-label- | -mt2-

trig point, sheep and the brecon beacons

00009075.jpg | 2009-08-06T13:09:42Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

a multitude of flying ants; brecon beacons in the distance

00009077.jpg | 2009-08-06T13:13:28Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor and brenda emerge from the bracken trail

00009079.jpg | 2009-08-06T13:55:56Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
gran and gramps' place, cardiff

time unknown

00009090 | 2009-08-06T15:00:00Z | location | -mt4-
fairwater conservative club, cardiff

00009091 | 2009-08-06T20:00:00Z | location | -mt4-

trevor spanks a ball toward the corner pocket

0000907b.jpg | 2009-08-06T21:05:18Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

trevor handles cue and rest

0000907d.jpg | 2009-08-06T21:07:54Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
gran and gramps' place, cardiff

00009092 | 2009-08-06T22:30:00Z | location | -mt4-
snooker with gramps' writing friends; phil picked us up, before collecting mike; gramps partnered mike; i was with phil; i followed mike into a drink of strongbow; the driver had pineapple and orange; i think gramps had wine; we played 2 frames in 2 hours; it was slow, but not dull; i shook the enemy's hands when they had won 2-0; `well done, the enemy';

gran called gramps and i `dirty stop-outs', of course, when we returned so late; we sat around for a little while before bed; i declined gran's crumble, having had some before setting out; it was the second crumble she had made in the week; i learned once home that they had finished it themselves;

gramps forgot to avoid town when taking me to the station; ``that's talking'', he said; gramps can't talk and drive; but he does like to talk; i hugged him as i fetched my rucksack from the boot; he gave me the usual `always welcome' and i watched him drive away;

the reservation tickets of three coaches had been fitted into two, since the intended train had failed; there was much grumbling throughout the journey, but none of it came from the sweet blonde who sat opposite me; a fresh face, with perhaps too many angles; i got a good vibe, despite her showing me the back of her laptop for the middle part of the journey; in fact, the woman next to her did likewise to her stiff male companion;

the front of wolverhampton station was very busy; lots of strange types, including the girl i passed just before the bridge; tallish, with heavy black hair and dark-painted eyes; a goth or something

00009093 | 2009-08-06T22:30:02Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
cardiff central station

00009094 | 2009-08-07T10:10:00Z | location | -mt4-
shrewsbury station

00009095 | 2009-08-07T12:31:00Z | location | -mt4-
wolverhampton station

00009096 | 2009-08-07T13:10:00Z | location | -mt4-
sainsbury's, wolverhampton

receipt time

00009097 | 2009-08-07T13:30:35Z | location | -mt4-
my bedroom, wolverhampton

time unknown

00009098 | 2009-08-07T14:20:00Z | location | -mt4-
before i lowered the porch blind, i noticed a tiny mouse on the seed on the earth mound; when i was in bed, i heard a loud owl screech on its way past, far closer than i usually hear it; i wonder whether it found the mouse

000090c1 | 2009-08-10T19:30:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
i just archived some of elaine's photographs; i left the exif time data untouched, but set the file system time stamps to the `date time original' values; and then i advanced those file system time stamps by 19 hours, 2 minutes and 50 seconds, to bring them into line with the time stamps of my own images

000090be | 2009-08-12T10:37:03Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
watched the `tsunkatse' episode of `star trek: voyager' earlier; weyoun was an easy spot; as was `the rock'; i recognised the hirogen voice, but didn't think of martok

time unknown

000090c2 | 2009-08-14T21:00:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
i was born to be fed grapes

jonny newell, that time he and jonny leonard were at the cottage

000090c3 | 2009-08-15T19:00:00Z | quotes | -mt4-
well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet

pulp fiction (1994)

000090c4 | 2009-08-15T19:00:00Z | quotes | -mt4-

peacock butterfly outside my window

000090ca.jpg | 2009-08-16T07:48:18Z | photography | -mt1-
i just watched jessica ennis win the heptathlon at the world championships; what a treat to see her shiny smile afterwards; and i hadn't realised she war a sheffield lass; that makes it better still;

and then that nugget-munching bolt bloke broke the 100m world record by the greatest margin in modern times; 9.58 seconds!

000090cc | 2009-08-16T20:17:50Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
it was like living inside tupperware

bill bryson, describing a non-existent british summer

000090cf | 2009-08-17T13:47:10Z | quotes | -mt4-
that's the bugger about tories; they're such nice people

jan

000090d0 | 2009-08-17T18:32:51Z | quotes | -mt4-
i put some seed out before taking some exercise; one of the young robins arrived instantly, showing a nice bit of orange on its breast; very fetching; and then the parent barged it off the food, to feed itself

000090d1 | 2009-08-19T19:14:41Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
i just left a frog in the sitting room; cool

000090d2 | 2009-08-24T21:30:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
at about this time, i was awake, downstairs and telling ma to look out for the frog; however, the reason i was awake was that she had already found it; when i first heard her voice, i thought that she must be dreaming; then i heard pa's voice responding; when i was downstairs, she explained that she had heard the thing moving around the bedroom; she caught it and released it into the garden; apparently that's what i should have done last night; but i wouldn't fancy crawling about under televisions and tables at so late an hour

000090d3 | 2009-08-25T03:30:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-

kitchen half-demolished

000090f0.jpg | 2009-08-26T12:24:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

kitchen half-demolished

000090f2.jpg | 2009-08-26T14:03:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
i just watched `chakushin ari' (2003), aka `one missed call'; it was pretty good;

the inner kitchen wall has gone now; just as the disappearance of the outer wall caused a sticky airing cupboard door, so the absence of this wall has left my room with a new gradient and a door that won't shut; perhaps the floor will take my weight tonight

000090de | 2009-08-28T18:51:13Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
i caught up with a few recorded star trek episodes this evening; i enjoyed `ashes to ashes' and `fury' from `voyager'; and then `visionary' from `deep space nine'; i remembered that one, i think; best of all was `life line', a splendid doctor episode from `voyager'; i laughed out loud a few times; seven's face (again) was responsible for one laugh; as was the line `computer, deactivate iguana' and the voice of the iguana that had drawn his attention to it;

i updated firefox yesterday from the remi repository; version 2.0 to version 3.5.2-1; i think it might be too active in the background for my taste, but i'll give it some time to bed in

000090df | 2009-08-29T20:11:48Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
time unknown; heard se6y on my little bedside roberts; 40m cw

000090e0 | 2009-09-03T06:00:00Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
about now i heard cw on 40 metres from what i thought was oe5zm, but i can't find him online; i've found oe5gm though; perhaps it was him; the station who called him checks out; not that i heard him; maurice f8pfe;

still on the bedside roberts; the feeder for my skywire loop has been disconnected since once of the builders yanked it out of my window on 2009-08-13; i stepped outside and stopped him making it worse; it's now nicely coiled in the cellar

000090e3 | 2009-09-04T07:00:00Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
about an hour ago, lying in bed, i first heard the voice of dk5dr; at least i think that was the callsign; a great big signal on 40m; he took a call from g4gtw and chatted for a while with him; it was good listening, despite not hearing the english station (and despite the ssb); i spoiled the effect just now by switching the router on; the hiss increased markedly; the voice has been talking german since

000090e4 | 2009-09-05T08:50:43Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
just watched `as good as it gets' (1997), possibly for the first time since i saw it new; hoorah!

000090e5 | 2009-09-05T18:48:53Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
in this morning's dream (whenever), i killed an evil boy by dropping him from a 4th floor window; at least i assume he died; i had come to a school where the boy had been causing trouble; in this lofty classroom, glassy and bright, i waited with a member of staff; one or two other teachers guided the boy into the room from an equally glassy corridor; he wore a school uniform; he was about eight years old; i could sense the evil, like something from a movie; i don't know what happened between then and my dangling him by his ankles under the tilting pane; the building appeared to be in an L shape, the other part being to my left; it rose several floors higher than where i was;

the boy has since reminded me of the young lad who came to the door with his bible-pushing dad on sunday; i didn't really look at him, and certainly got no evil vibe

000090e6 | 2009-09-08T06:00:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
oh fuck; it's fucked

uncle john, upon seeing his buttonhole disintegrate into the fireplace before billy and naomi's marriage

000090e7 | 2009-09-08T16:00:00Z | quotes | -mt4-
it's only a bit of piss and shit

uncle john, explaining that handling a cat's litter tray is no big deal

000090e8 | 2009-09-08T16:00:00Z | quotes | -mt4-
on my last visit to gran and gramps, i took no means of recording events; when i returned, i processed the photographs and remembered what i could, but i forgot gramps' accounts of the old days; i heard them in the kitchen, possibly just after breakfast, with gramps sat at the table;

one thing he mentioned was the initiation ceremony of the local gang; it involved running under the bridge that crosses the taff, not far from gramps' childhood home in hafod street; the path was slippery and strewn with methers (bums drunk on meths); naughty boys running through their place would make them angry, but they were rarely in a state to do anything about it;

the other two things i remember concerned uncle norman, gramps' brother;

i had heard before that gramps as a young lad had snuck into the shed to use norman's crystal set without permission (i forget what he used to listen to); but he also found his way into the locked central drawer of norman's desk, and stole at least one cigarette from it; norman had ingeniously employed a meccano set to raise three forward bolts from a hidden handle at the rear of the drawer; gramps found the handle, used it, and reaped the rewards; naughty boy;

norman also had a rather funky personal movie viewer, which played little reels of film; a pile of these reels accumulated by the fireplace, and began to gather dust; when a well-off school-friend with the same movie viewer discovered that gramps had access to these discarded films, gramps slowly began to sell them to him; naughty boy again (but cool)

000090e9 | 2009-09-11T08:21:50Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
contents
mashoo, still photograph, movie clip