Grumpy & Farting

2008-06-03T18:46:00.003+01:00

Meaning of life

2007-12-17T09:42:00.001Z

Such is life. Think about it then click here

YesBut - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

2007-09-11T08:25:00.000+01:00

And the skies opened and a voice spoke.

“Be gone YesBut and show your face no more on this blog”.

All future postings will be made on YesBut Thinking Aloud blog. Click here

Thank you for visiting this blog in the past, I hope you’ll visit me when I’m YesBut Thinking Aloud.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-09-10T08:11:00.000+01:00

Another week of captions and yes, yet again some gems posted.

The following are just a few captions which caught the eye of YesBut’s Editorial team, (I use the term ‘team’ very loosely, more of a rabble).

Saturday:
Doug’s caption –
Construction worker to boss:” Wasn’t the wider section supposed to go on the bottom?”
Boss: “Looks fine to me so shut up and no one will probably notice”.

Sunday:
Shecky R. Love’s caption “Having found the bottle on the beach Gregory opened it and read . . . .’Congratulations you may have already won our sweepstakes . . .’”

Doug’s caption in the form of a letter -
“Dear John,
I’m sorry to write this letter but your rock collection has become more important than me. I’ve taken the house with me and left you the rocks.

Signed,
Your former wife,
Mary

Lin’s caption – “Drats, according to this, piece 4157 is missing but I think I can cobble something together “

Monday:
Chertiozhnik’s caption – “For all their training, they still hadn’t got the hang of the Basic Pantomime Horse”.

Thursday:
Chertizhnik’s caption – “ Cindy didn’t really understand what a ‘plectrum’ was, but she was delighted to have been offered the job anyway.”

Friday:
Chewy’s caption – "Keep up the act . . . once those two ladies are gone, it’s back to spray" painting.

Click here to see the winner of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 1st to 7th September.

Where have I seen that picture before?

2007-09-09T08:27:00.000+01:00

The picture above, is part of a picture posted between 1st & 7th September on YesBut’s Images.

Click here to see if you can identify which day’s picture its from.

While you are there, join in the fun and post a caption for today’s image.

YesBut was she there? - Part 3

2007-09-08T08:20:00.000+01:00

Continued from yesterday

For 26th June 2007 YesBut’s Image Doug suggested the caption –

”What a nice view...wait, isn't that the bridge that Uncle Bill jumped off last year?”

The photo suggested the following story to me (continued from yesterday) : -

David looked around the room as he waited for the old lady to return with coffee. The furniture was old but well kept, original paintings hang on the wall each illuminated by its own light. The room itself was lit by four matching table lamps. He was struck by the number of books in the room, on shelves on tables. He loved books, he knew he would like the old lady.

She shuffled back into the room carrying a tray with cups, saucers spoons, cream, sugar and a large pot of coffee. After she had poured out the coffee, she questioned him about his meeting with Elaine. After he had told her about his encounter and her request for him to help her. She saw a tear appear in the corner of her right eye.

“You might never find out how, but my dear you’ve been very lucky.”
“What’s happened, where’s Elaine?”
“Elaine died seventeen years ago. She was killed in a train crash. It was the same express train you took today. It was derailed when it collided with a truck at a crossing, seven people were killed, Elaine was my only child, she was one of them”.

He stared uncomprehendingly at the old woman.

“I don’t understand, I met the girl in that photograph this morning”.

She smiled. “Your not the first one who has visited this house expecting to meet Elaine, there have been six others previously”. “All I can tell you is, and I have no evidence, is she intervened for a purpose to delay your journey home”.

He sat talking with the old woman. She seemed genuinely interested as he related his journey around Europe, and the minor adventures he had had. He judiciously avoided giving an account of his more amorous encounters. It was the chiming of the ornamental clock that reminded him of the time, and he had a flight to catch. At the front door he thanked her for her hospitality, and promised to keep in touch. She smiled, the others had said the same think, but she had never heard from them again.

To him he seemed to wait for ever for a bus to take him back to the city centre. It had started to rain again and there was nowhere to shelter. Finally the bus arrived. He climbed aboard, but has the bus drove off he realised he had left his bag in the old woman’s house. Turning quickly he jumped off the bus. Under those conditions there was no way the motorcyclist following the bus could have braked in time.

The old lady picked up the strangers bag and carried it upstairs, she opened the door of her daughter’s bedroom and placed the bag with the others. She smiled, it was nice for Elaine to have friends.

YesBut was she there? - Part 2

2007-09-07T18:18:00.000+01:00

Continued from yesterday

For 26th June 2007 YesBut’s Image Doug suggested the caption –

”What a nice view...wait, isn't that the bridge that Uncle Bill jumped off last year?”

The photo suggested the following story to me (continued from yesterday) : -

When the train had finally stopped, she stood up and looked at him,

“You’ve been staring at me”.
“Yes, sorry . . . Very rude, sorry”.
“It doesn’t matter.
Will you help me?”
“Sure, help with the luggage . . .?”. He looked, but unlike the other passengers she had no bags.
“No, not that, something else”.
“Sure, what?”
“Let’s go for a coffee and I’ll tell you”.

He pull his bag down from the rack and followed her out of the train and into a café in the station concourse.

“Coffee?”.
“No, tea please”.

She returned to the table with two cups.

“What do you want?”
“Not here, can you meet at this address?” Handing him a slip of paper.
“I’m due to catch a flight to London at 07.0pm.”
“Ho, I thought you said you’d help”.
“Yes, No problem I’ll change my flight. By the way, I‘m David”
“Hi. I’m Elaine, I‘ll see you at 8”.

With that she got up and left. He sat there with half a cup of cold tea trying to workout what had happened. Had he agreed to cancel his flight home to meet a total stranger, had he gone mad? “What on earth was that all about“?

Looking around the station and saw a travel agency where he changed to the last flight that evening. He didn’t know how he knew, but he just did, that whatever she wanted him to do would be accomplished in time to catch the flight. He left his bag in the left luggage office and spent the afternoon idly walking around the centre of the city. After eating a snack he collected his bag and made his way to the bus station. Finally he found the correct bus to take him to Elaine’s home.

It was raining by the time the bus got to his destination, he pulled the anorak hood up over his head as he stepped off the bus. It was a tree lined street, the street lamps reflected in pools of water. A young man passed. “Excuse me number 56?”. The man nodded across the road. He hitched the bag on his shoulder and walked across the road. Number 56 was a well kept two story town house, a slit of light immerged between the drawn curtains of a ground floor room.

He climbed the two steps and rang the front door bell. After a few moments he heard shuffling feet coming towards the door. It was opened by a grey haired stooping old woman. She looked puzzlingly at him.

“Good evening Madam, is Elaine at home“?
“Elaine”?
“Yes, she asked me to meet her at 8pm“
“Are you sure it was Elaine?”
“That’s what she told me”
“You better come in from the rain”.

He followed her down a hall and into a warm elegantly furnished lounge. The first thing he noticed was a photo of Elaine on a side table. At least he knew he was in the right house.

“When did you see Elaine?”
“We travelled on the same train this morning”
“I think you’d better put down your bag, and sit”

(To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page)

YesBut was she there? - Part 1

2007-09-06T08:03:00.000+01:00

For 26th June 2007 YesBut’s Image Doug suggested the caption –

”What a nice view...wait, isn't that the bridge that Uncle Bill jumped off last year?”

The photo suggested the following story to me: -

“People are so stupid they stand in your way, they leave there luggage in the middle of walkways“.

He cursed all those around him as he rushed, barged his way through to the train.

“What time, what platform?”
He saw a monitor with arrival and departure data, 11.50 platform 5.

“Shit I thought it was 11.55, I’m not going to make it. Platform 5, that way”.
More barging past crowds.

”Stupid foreigners get out of my way”.
He bounded up the stairs to the platform, station staff were slamming the train doors shut.

“Stop wait“ he exhaled.

He dived through the closing door, landing in a heap. He laughed, “close call”. He picked himself up off the floor and unhitched his rucksack off his back.

Having regained his breath he strolled into the carriage and stored his bag on the rack. The train was making its way through the suburbs passed office blocks and car parks. He loved travelling, but this was the penultimate leg on his homeward journey. A few hours stopover at the next city, then out to the airport for the flight to London. Now the train was passing small workshops and garages, soon it would be houses and back gardens before reaching the countryside. He sank back into his seat and made himself comfortable.

It took him some time to see her. He had been looking out of the opposite window and didn’t at first notice her. She sat unmoving in the shadow. As he became more accustomed to the light her features became more discernable. He was embarrassed when he realised he had been staring. But she didn’t move, just stared into space. He was fascinated, there was something ethereal intangible about her. She sat there transfixed waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. But she did not move.

He was brought back to the present moment by the other passengers preparing themselves for the arrival at the terminus.

(To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page)

Memorial day - 13

2007-09-05T08:32:00.000+01:00

Walking up Northumberland Avenue from the Victoria Embankment London, instead of continuing to Trafalgar Square turn left into Whitehall Place, towards the Old War Office. At the junction with Whitehall Court there is a shady group of trees, on sunny days you do not see, until you are nearly upon them, a group of figures in the deep shadow. The five figures are turned away looking towards Whitehall as if expecting to see something or someone coming towards them. Their body language clearly says they are friends and comrades, they are the members of a tank crew.

Click the “view show” tab if the slideshow doesn’t open automatically

The Royal Tank Regiment Memorial statue was originally designed by G.H. Paulin and reworked in bronze by Vivien Mallock. It was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 13 June 2000. It commemorates all ranks of the Machine Gun Corps, Tank Corps and Royal Tank Regiment. The figures look towards Whitehall and the building in which the first tank was designed. The trees were brought from Canada to signify the country’s relationship with the regiment.

Though the figures are 1.2 life size, set at ground level the statue is one of the most realistic, “friendly” and “at ease with its surroundings” statues in London.

Two bronze plaques are set in the pavement before the statue. One reads:

In tribute to the Crewmen who have served in the Heavy Section and Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps the Tank Corps Royal Tank Corps and Royal Tank Regiment since tanks were first in combat at Flers on 15th September 1916.

The other:

Royal Tank Regiment Memorial Statue.

This memorial statue depicts the crew of a World War 2 Comet Tank which was issued to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1945. The Comet had a crew of five: Commander, Gunner, Loader, Hull Machine Gunner. Driver. It was equipped with a 77mm high velocity gun and powered by a 600 horse power Rolls Royce engine. The Comet proved to be highly effective against enemy tanks of the day.

At the other end of Whitehall Court stands the memorial to the Gurkha Soldier the subject of 27th June 2007 blog.

Click here to see YesBut’s Image of the day, and leave your suggested caption.

YesBut is sex overrated

2007-09-04T08:47:00.000+01:00

There has been a debate in the UK on whether it is morally correct to run an immunisation program to inoculate 12 year old girls against cervical cancer. Opponents say it would encourage promiscuity. The medical profession point out the vaccination is only affective if given before girls become sexually active. The results of recent surveys in the UK showed 50% of 16 year old girls were sexually active and 10% of 14 year old; hence the need to inoculate girls as young as12 year olds.

What is the cause of change in moral attitudes that has occurred in the last sixty years? Even as late as 1960, young women would “reserve themselves for the wedding night”; and men would expect to marry a virgin. Undoubtedly the contraceptive pill, with the resultant decrease in risk of pregnancy, had a major impact. But that cannot be the sole reason.

In the last twenty years there has been a fundamental change in attitude, not only towards the loss of virginity, but also with respect to having children out of marriage - no longer is illegitimacy a stigma.

In magazines and on television, sex is projected as “the ultimate source of pleasure”. People have forgotten that the anticipation is far better than the realization. A moral barrier no longer exists. Mothers no longer counsel their daughters “not to have sex“, but rather “to take precautions”.

But has the breaking down of barriers been a positive influence in society? Certainly in the UK, the number of unmarried teenage mothers has skyrocketed. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the mothers, their children will be born into a socially and economically disadvantaged household - there the vast majority will remain for the rest of their lives.

The pendulum has swung fully from advocating complete abstinence to not only indulging in sex being the norm to advancing the message “if you haven’t had sex by the time you are 16 you are frigid and a weirdo”. While it would be unrealistic to re-establish the former norm, there needs to be a re-alignment, where young people do not feel pressured to having sex. Rather they make love to the person they really want to make love to at the time they really want to, without feeling any compulsion.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-09-03T08:09:00.000+01:00

Another week of captions.

There was no need to draw up a short list this week.

The winners this week’s Caption of the Week Award jumped out of the screen. They were posted for Thursday’s image (which when I posted I thought no one will ever think up a caption for – wrong again!)

Click here to see the winner of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 25th to 31st August.

YesBut how many words?

2007-09-02T08:13:00.000+01:00

How many words can you make from the letters in the word PARENT? Words must be at least three letters long.

31 words - good
47 words - great
62 words or more - excellent.

Then make a meaningful sentence using as many of the words.

If you want another puzzle, then click here to go to YesBut’s Image and select the caption of the week - leave your nomination as a comment

Sudoku 2

2007-09-01T08:04:00.000+01:00

If bloggers have problems finding things to write about so do newspapers.

The main purpose of the newspaper isn’t to report news but to sell advertising space! To do that they need to publish a paper with a given number of pages. One easy way of filling the gaps between the adverts is to have a puzzle page: Sudoku, crossword, chess puzzle, etc.

Yesterday I suggest Friday should be made a fun day.

Why stop there?

Why not join in the fun and post a caption on YesBut’s Images, or give your brain cells a workout with a Sudoku puzzle.

Better still, do both, first post a caption, then return to do the Sudoku puzzle.

Leave a comment and let me know how long it takes you to finish the puzzle.

Have a fun day.

Let’s make Friday a fun day.

2007-08-31T08:42:00.000+01:00

There’s the Monday morning blues - back to work after the weekend.

But why not make the weekend arrive a day early, by making Friday a fun day. Steps to be taken:

Tell your: husband, wife, partner, lover (whichever is appropriate), how much you love them. Give them a cuddle. The same with your children, yes even those obnoxious teenagers, also give them a hug and show how much you care.

If you haven’t seen a friend for sometime, give them a phone call or send an email.

Show some consideration to your work colleagues, even the “grumpy old fart” - it could be me. Fetch them a coffee, avoid for one day having disagreements. - you might be surprised by the reaction.

Share in the fun of posting a caption on YesBut’s Images blog. Also encourage others to participate, even if they do not want to post their own captions, they can have a good laugh at those posted by others.

Click here to go to YesBut’s Images

Yes But its so refreshing

2007-08-30T12:03:00.000+01:00

For YesBut’s Image on 2nd July 2007

Doug suggested the caption -

"I like this city. Every park bench includes a free girl."

The photo suggested to me the story: -

It became so much easer to travel when Romania joined the European Union. While there wasn’t a significant increase in tourists to Transylvania, it enabled Transylvanians to visit and work in previously restricted countries. Not that he sought employment, he was happy to travel and indulge his requirements in new countries.

He so loved London, the populace was so diverse Africans, Asians, South Americans and Europeans. Like wine, each with its own flavour, which a connoisseur could detect and appreciate. The African was so strong and refreshingly pungent, something new to his taste buds.

In the summer evenings he wandered by the riverside on the South Bank. He would look for a young lady sitting alone on a bench, and join her. Often they were lonely secretaries on their way home to their dreary depressing bed-sitters. They were so grateful for someone to speak to them. With his accentuated accent he would turn on the charm. It worked every time it was so easy, they would almost fall into his arms.

“You must be tired, rest your head on my lap”.
As he leaned forward they expected to taste his sweet lips brush their lips. They were surprised then thrilled when they felt his lips on their neck, followed by an almost undetectable pinch as his teeth broke their skin. There was a swooning feeling as their life blood was drained out.

He was never greedy and overindulgent. He never drained all the blood, not that he was showing any compassion; but getting rid of empties was time consuming and such a tedious bore, not the pursuit for a Count!

Memorial day - 12

2007-08-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

Every Wednesday for the last couple of months, I have posted blogs on memorials and public art works. These are normally prestigious works of art located in prominent locations. Today’s memorial is very different, and is probably the most moving.

A hundred metres south of Waterloo Bridge, London, there is a roundabout at the junction of four roads. To allow access from the South Bank to Waterloo Station there is a warren of underpasses radiating from the roundabout. In the 1970’s, 80s and 90s these underpasses were the site of a large cardboard city; the home for hundreds of homeless, drug addicts and mentally ill patients prematurely discharged from hospitals as part of Margaret Thatcher’s discredited “Care in the community program”. The existence of the homeless squat was an embarrassment for the “well-to-do”, passing men and women sleeping in cardboard boxes, as they made their way to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall, or to watch a play at the National Theatre.

The cardboard city was removed in 1997 to allow an IMAX cinema to be constructed in the centre of the roundabout. The homeless were dispersed, some to hostels, others to find new nooks and crannies to sleep in.

About two years ago, a few started to drift back to the underpasses, to beg for money.

Early this year a very simple memorial was painted on the walkway from the National Theatre.

The words are heart felt and poignant.

Boy's with new toys

2007-08-28T08:41:00.000+01:00

On Saturday I wrote in the blog, the reasons for putting my hand in my pocket to buy a new camera.

Well I've finally worked my way through the 150 page instruction manual. Understood some of it, think with time I'll understand other parts, and know there are other sections that will continue to pass none stop over my head.

So I took the camera out for a test run.

For the summer (what summer?), a merry-go-round has been set up on London's South Bank. The shot on the left was taken with it going at full speed. I'm pleased with the crispness of the image.

Between the Royal Festival Hall and the London Eye, there are always buskers and "human status" entertaining the tourists.

The "Bubble-man" is a new addition. I like the way the camera captured the colours of the soap bubble; and the depth of field which allows the details of the building on the Thames north bank to be clearly seen.

On the way home I passed the National Theatre, where a Tea Dance was being held.

Elvis and partners dancing prowess matched their dress sense!

Finally there was only one more thing to test - the camera's video mode. And now that Mr Google has made it so easy to post videos on blogs I'll finish with the short clip of the merry-go-round.

I'm very pleased with my purchase.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-08-27T08:30:00.000+01:00

This week there were some difficult photos to think up captions for, but yet again witty and humorous captions were posted each day.

But which one should be awarded the accolade of caption of the week?

Saturday, Pope Terry suggested the caption - I left my training wheel back there can you get it for me, I don't think you can miss it.

Tuesday, there were four great captions posted:

B.T.Bear (esq.)'s - Unable to find one on the tacky souvenir stalls, Mabel decided to steal a hat off a small boy.
Pope Terry's - Still drunk from the night before Margery, decides to try her luck on that nice midget on the bench... Only to have him leg it a few seconds later yelling "I need and adult".
Chewy's - Leave me alone, you smell like old people.
Doug's - Lady, if I told ya once I told ya twice...Buy your own cigarettes and quite bumming mine.

Thursday: Pope Terry 's suggested caption - Funnily enough, 7 pints ago this was a bad idea! and
Siddharth Khandelwal' s - Hey, those guys have the cool next generation bikes with two tyres.

Friday, and the week finished on a high note with the following captions:

Pope Terry 's - Tex so wanted to buy the pink one, but the rest of the guys back at the ranch really would of picked on him for it.
Chewy 's - The girls wear the pink hats and the poofs wear the lavender. Doug 's - As Buffalo Mary adjusted his fab new pink cowboy hat he barked to the bartender:" A thick chocolate milkshake Mister and skip to it!"

Ten captions to choose from, narrowing the choice, I drew up a short list of:

Pope Terry 's - I left my training wheel back there can you get it for me, I don't think you can miss it.
B.T.Bear (esq.)'s - Unable to find one on the tacky souvenir stalls, Mabel decided to steal a hat off a small boy.
Doug's - Lady, if I told ya once I told ya twice...Buy your own cigarettes and quite bumming mine.
Doug 's - As Buffalo Mary adjusted his fab new pink cowboy hat he barked to the bartender:" A thick chocolate milkshake Mister and skip to it!"

Click here to see the joint winners of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 18th to 24th August.

YesBut they look familiar.

2007-08-26T08:14:00.000+01:00

Who are the two subjects of the distorted pictures?

If you want a clue, click on comments to see.

YesBut that was the fourth week of August

2007-08-25T08:21:00.000+01:00

One word sums up this week - blur.

The week started with Mr & Mrs YesBut visiting Holland. We returned by overnight coach on Tuesday. Ten hours in a coach is enough to scramble anybody’s mind.

I did learn, or rather one thing was confirmed while I was in Holland - my dear old camera which I love dearly, while being adequate for taking shots of mountains that haven’t moved for millions of years, or buildings that remain relatively stationary, is wilfully inadequate when trying to photograph a one year old granddaughter.

I always knew it was slow. When I say slow, I mean positively sluggish. When photographing a tortoise, if the shutter button is pressed just as the tortoises head appears in the viewfinder, the shutter opens just as the tortoises tail is disappearing out of view.

So at my granddaughters first birthday party, she’d give me a broad smile - press shutter button >>>>> click. Look at photo, she’s either turned her head or has disappeared out of view completely.

So when I got back to London, I invested in a new camera. According to the reviews its “ace”.

I cannot understand people who enjoy shopping, I hate doing it intensely. I can’t just wander around shops, I need to know what I want before leaving the house. So before buying a camera, I had to spend hours on the internet researching cameras. That’s where the trouble started. First, there are all those model numbers. Not only is there a Fujuo A600, there’s the Fujuo A600x and the Fujuo A600x - fd. All very confusing.

I’d read a glowing report on a camera; think, “this is the one for me”. Do a quick check, and find another review if not rubbishing it, doesn’t rate it highly. Finally, I selected the make and model I wanted. Went to London’s Tottenham Court Road, (the location of all the camera and computer shops), only to be told that the camera has been superseded by a new model. OK, you might think, newer hence better, no it doesn’t work like that. The new model doesn’t have the same features the older model had. Which should I buy the old model with all the glowing reviews, or the new model, which hasn’t been tested yet? YesBut’s brain couldn’t take the stress and strain - went for the old model.

Looking forward to trying it out, once I’ve finished reading the 150-page instruction manual. But at least it looks as if it’s written in English. I think the manual for the last camera was written in Japanese and translated into English by someone who knew neither Japanese nor English - total gibberish.

What’s EV and White Balance?

Did you know that “When the amount of light striking the CCD doubles, the EV increases by 1”? I think this is going to be a struggle.

YesBut she was beautiful once - Part 2

2007-08-24T08:08:00.000+01:00

For the photograph posted on YesBut’s Image on 21 May 2007, Ozlady suggested the caption - “Hag drags bag while havin' a fag!”

Story continued from yesterday

All was well until Doug was recalled unexpectedly to the US - he had no opportunity to contact Sophia before leaving. Tragedy struck the first night he arrived back in the States, eating a hotdog he keeled over and died. The results of the post mortem were not made public - the CIA didn’t want it known that one of their operatives had been poisoned. But some in the Agency were suspicious that he had been called back to the States in the first place - was the Agency involved in his death? To cover-up his death the CIA sent messages to all the field operatives Doug was handling (in truth there were many Sophies‘), telling them to continue sending their messages, but for security reasons Doug had to maintain radio silence.

And so Sophie continued to be Aleksei’s lover, cooing in his ear encouraging him to talk about his work. Then one day he broke the news. He was to be transferred to the London Embassy. What was she to do? She sent a shortwave radio message asking for advice. But unfortunately for her there had been an administrative error made at the CIA section of the American Embassy and they had lost Sophia’s code book. So all the information she had passed on had disappeared unused into the ether. Receiving no reply she used her own initiative and told Aleksei that she would follow him to London.

In London they continued to be lovers, and Sophia continued to send her reports, up until the fall of the Soviet Union. As suddenly as Doug had disappeared, so did Aleksei, recalled to Moscow to assist in the destruction of KGB files.

Sophia hoped that one day he might return. As for the CIA, she still waited for them to contact her. Not wishing to risk missing the message she carried her old valved shortwave radio with her everywhere. It was inconvenient especially having to drag around in her bag a 12v car battery to power it.

Click here to submit your caption for todays photo on YesBut's Image

YesBut she was beautiful once - Part 1

2007-08-23T04:52:00.000+01:00

For the photograph posted on YesBut’s Image on 21 May 2007, Ozlady suggested the caption - “Hag drags bag while havin' a fag!”

The photo graph suggested the following story to me:

Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Sophie Holstein-Gottorp, to be correct by the time she was born she wasn’t an Imperial Highness - the empire had ceased to exist with the Russian revolution. And being the youngest daughter of a Russian refugee family (albeit related to the Russian Royal family) living in 1950s Paris, she wasn’t much of a Grand Duchess. But there was something about her, not just her stunning beauty, but there was an air of sophistication, which drew men to her like bees to honey.

She was working in a bar when Doug met her. They exchanged a few words, he was intrigued by her accent - she might be the one he had been looking for. He sat sipping his bear till he had the opportunity to talk to her. Once he heard of her Russian ancestry he knew he was onto a winner. Over the next three weeks he took things very slowly, now that he had found her the last thing he wanted was to be scare her off. He took her to dinner, to the ballet - even though he was bored and nearly fell asleep.

It was only after he had slept with her, and was confident she was well and truly hooked, did he reveal he worked for the CIA. Up till then he had maintained his cover story of being a young footloose American writer in Paris. Slowly he nourished and coached her until he knew she was ready to do his bidding. She was to ingratiate herself with Aleksei Machitov, the 2nd Secretary at the USSR Embassy - and assumed by the CIA to be the KGB Head for Western Europe.

He orchestrated a meeting at a dance given by the British Embassy to celebrate a victory of their croquet team against the Argentinean Embassy. She was beautiful and he was charming and they soon became lovers. For months on her love bed Sophia extracted reams of top secret information. This she passed on to Doug using a shortwave radio he had given her.

(To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page).

Click here to submit your caption for todays photo on YesBut's Image

Memorial day - 11

2007-08-22T08:12:00.000+01:00

The Buxton Memorial located in the Victoria Tower Gardens, west of the Houses of Parliament, looks more like a Victorian spaceship designed by Jules Verne than a monument erected in 1835 by Charles Buxton MP in commemoration of the Emancipation of Slaves in1834 and in the memory of his father Sir T. Fowell Buxton and those associated with him in the struggle for the abolition of slavery in the British colonies: Wilberforce, Clarkson, Macaulay, Brougham Dr. Lushington and others.

The memorial was originally erected in Parliament Square, but was removed to its present site in 1957 to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1807Act abolishing the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It received extensive restoration work in 2007, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Act.

The memorial was designed by S.S. Teulon in the then popular Gothic style. The spire is timber framed clad with enamelled sheet steel. Many techniques are used in its decoration including wrought iron work, mosaic, rosso marbled enamelled metalwork and terracotta. The memorial predates by 35 years the far larger and grandeur Gothic style Albert Memorial designed by Sir Gilbert Scott.

It now appears incongruous, and in no way exemplifies the abolition of the slave trade, but it is a perfect example of Victorian public art.

YesBut is it sculpture?

2007-08-21T08:30:00.000+01:00

My Wednesday postings are devoted to looking at memorials and public sculptures. One of the attractions on London’s South Bank last year was Jeppe Hein’s Appearing Rooms. It was so popular that it has been brought back and will be on view on the Royal Festival Hall terrace until 16th September.

But can something that doesn’t exist be classed as sculpture? Does it exist? What is certain, it is always changing, never the same, influenced by wind and water surface tension. Now you see it now you don’t.

Danish artist Jeppe Hein’s interactive installation draws in the viewer to participate to laugh and have fun. Appearing Rooms is made up of walls of raising water, randomly raising and falling resulting in a continuously changing pattern of rooms. Step into a room and it no longer exists, or get your timing wrong and be caught as the jet of water rise.

Click here to see YesBut's Images blog and leave a caption for the competition.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-08-20T08:19:00.000+01:00

Yet another week of witty and humorous captions.

But which one should be awarded the accolade of caption of the week?

A tough call. However, as always when the going gets tough the tough get going - Mrs YesBut and Mrs Mop were last seen disappearing down the road on a tandem, arguing who should be sitting on the front seat. Leaving Big Bev (YesBut‘s Fashion Correspondent), Dai “Watch the Birdie” (YesBut’s ace photographer) and myself to decide on the winner.

Sorry this week’s review of the captions is short and sweet – I assure you this does not reflect the quality of the captions, rather the difficulties I’m incurring using an unfamiliar Apple Mac, with all the tool bars in Dutch!!!

So in brief, this week there are three joint winners. Cue trumpets and drums.

They are (in order of time posted), cue more trumpets -

Click here to see the winner of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 11th to 17th August.

Stop wait for me!

2007-08-19T08:21:00.000+01:00

Just missed the bus. But no problem, I have plenty of time to get home to count the votes for YesBut’s Images, Caption of the Week Award.

There have been some great captions this week which will make the decision difficult. I hope plenty of people vote.

Have you voted? No, then click here to go to YesBut’s Images site and cast a vote for the best caption posted between 11th to 17th August inclusive.

I say dear, stop police!

2007-08-18T08:06:00.000+01:00

For YesBut’s Image on 24th May, Ozlady’s suggested the caption -

“We all knew the police were a bunch of skirts, but don’t u think this is taking it a bit far?”

London had suffered a spate of audacious jewellery thefts. The robberies were all performed by a gang following the same modus operandi. Breaking into exclusive jewellers in the middle of the day, they made their getaway by running into Ladies Toilets; the police being gentlemen were unable to follow them into the establishments.

To counter the robber’s tactic the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair formed a specialist squad made up of transvestites. The limitation of the squid became apparent when members wearing high heal shoes twisted their ankles when chasing the gang. They refused to wear flat healed shoes, saying “they had their image to think of”.

Sir Ian was forced to form a quick response support unit consisting of one woman on a mountain bicycle. To date the strategy has been successful, with a reduction in the number of robberies. Although there have been complaints from the general public that the special force were using too much makeup, and refusing to perform any duties that might risk them laddering their tights..

Fact, (honest its true), in 2006 a special Police squid was set up to patrol London’s Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park. They were provided with rollerblades to chase after petty thieves operating in the parks. The trial didn’t last very long - thieves found it easy to escape, they merely ran across the grass, the rollerblading police were unable to follow.

YesBut can we trust it?

2007-08-17T10:47:00.000+01:00

In the preparation of my Wednesday blogs “Memorial day”, I have to research the history both of the memorial’s subject and the sculpture. To do this I rely heavily on the internet. But how reliable is the information posted on web sites?

I have in previous blogs decried the accuracy of reporting in both newspapers and television.

In the main, non fictional books go through a review procedure to ensure the facts are correct - even if the subsequent interpretation is questionably.

But there is no peer review of information posted on the web. The result of this is the perpetuation of miss- and dis-information.

I enter into Google a name > a list of relevant web pages appears > click on what is judged the most pertinent and read the information. Unfortunately the author of the web site has made a typo, the date quoted is 1998 when in should have been 1989; I do not spot the error and quote 1989 in my blog. The next person comes along reads my blog sees 1989, thinks that’s not correct, checks the web site I had looked at sees 1989, shrugs thinks it must be correct, and quotes 1989. Now there are three sites which say 1989 so it must be correct!

Even Wikipedia isn’t 100% correct! This is due to genuine errors by the contributors; but unfortunately also due to the perverted actions of dingbats who think they are clever in corrupting published information.

So a word of caution, if you are relying on information obtained from the web:

Ensure the reliability of a site - you can be fairly (but not absolutely) confident of information provided by official sites but treat with extreme caution information stated in blogs, (especially this one!).
Try to verify any information, using independent resources - go back and check original source data.

Having said all that, take the opportunity to add further to the store of erroneous information. Click here and enter YesBut’s Images caption competition.

YesBut I’m all alone.

2007-08-16T08:09:00.000+01:00

David MacMahon suggested the caption -

"Landlord to tardy tenant: `You're behind on your Wren cheques again’'

for YesBut’s Image on 23rd June 2007.

The photograph suggest the following story to me: -

By all recognised measures she was successful. Governments sought her advice. Multinational Companies invited her to become a non-executive member of their board of directors. She was the first woman to become the Chief Executive of a multinational oil company. Yet as she looked down on the City from her penthouse apartment inwardly she felt a failure.

She was too old now to become a mother, even if she had a partner, which she did not. She realised that while she commanded respect, there wasn’t a single person in the whole world who loved, even cared for her as herself. They merely respected the posts and positions she held. Her father had died when she was seventeen, she thought he might have loved her, but he was an aloof person who never showed his emotions. Her mother had died three years ago; she had been proud of her success, but when they met, it felt like meeting an acquaintance on a train. She truly regretted, she had been an only child, if only she had a young brother to love or an older sister to confide in. But she was alone, all alone.

She walked to the window clutching a cut glass tumbler half full of whisky in her hand. She had noticed over the last year, she was more and more seeking solace in a glass of whisky. The sound of the tinkling ice was reassuring. She looked down at the ants scurrying across the bridge on their way home. Home to what? Would there be a wife, husband or lover waiting for them? Would they quietly climb the stairs and peep through the half open door at their children sleeping? Or like her would they be returning to a lonely box, with the only comfort found going to the fridge getting the ingredients of a snack and a drink. Out there beyond the double glazed window was life, inside there was deathly ear shattering silence. She walked over to the TV and switched it on, not caring what channel it was tuned to, she just wanted the presence of another person in the room, even if it was only an electronic image on a plasma screen.

Returning to the window she saw the train leaving the station, on its way to suburbia and normality. She shuddered at the thought of normality: 2.4 children, a mortgage, sex on Sunday mornings, car in the drive, clean sparkling kitchen and bathroom. She knew she didn’t want, never had wanted normality. What did she want? She wanted people to see her as a person who wanted affection; who wanted people to talk to her as a person and not as a Chief Executive.

What was it all about? Not the money, she scoffed she didn’t even take a holiday - there was nobody to go with, she didn’t want to be pitied as a lonely spinster. Was it for the prestige? How many of those ants crossing the bridge would recognise her? Probably none. The power? Yes, it was nice to make decisions which would have long term consequences. But is that what life is all about? How you earned your livelihood! She was frightened. She realised there was only one way to step off the tread mill - to empty the Aspirin tablets into her whisky, sit in her favourite armchair drink the contents of the tumbler and wait for oblivion.

Memorial day - 10

2007-08-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

The Robert Raikes memorial is located within the shadow of the Savoy Hotel in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London. The statue was erected in July 1880, under the direction of the Sunday School Union and paid for by contributions from teachers and scholars of Sunday Schools in Great Britain.

Robert Raikes was born in Gloucester, England, in 1736. His father was the founder of the “Gloucester Journal”. On his father’s death in 1757, Robert took over as the Journal’s Editor. He used the newspaper to campaign for prison reform. He realised that prisoner’s lives had been shaped by their deprived childhood.

In July 1780, Raikes and a local Anglican curate, Thomas Stock, started the first Sunday School at St Mary le Crypt Church, in Gloucester. The schools while a success were not universally accepted and were criticized by some for educating ragged dirty urchins and running schools on a Sunday, considered an inappropriate activity for the Sabbath.

Robert Raikes died on 5th April 1811.

By 1831, weekly 1.25 million children were attending Sunday Schools in Great Britain.

It is worth noting the monuments sculptor Sir Thomas Brock R.A. (1847 - 1922), most famous work is the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-08-14T08:01:00.000+01:00

From the Chronicle Herald, published in Halifax, Nova Scotia:

Gone fishin’:

No girls allowed. 9-year-old wants to join boys-only outdoor day camp, but girls offered only day at the spa. -

Nine-year-old Lydia Houck was looking forward to a day of fishing, hiking and golfing when she browsed through a list of summer day camps offered near her Nova Scotia home, but the only option that fit her interests was just for boys.

In contrast, the only all-girl camp, dubbed Glamorous Girls, offers jewelry-making and a trip to the spa for manicures and pedicures for girls aged five to 12. Lydia says she’d rather be fishing.

"It was really frustrating that they were being discriminatory and they were saying that boys should look forward to doing this and that girls shouldn’t do this," Lydia, who will be entering Grade 4 in the fall, said in an interview from her home in Windsor. "My brother and I go fishing a lot and I enjoy going outside a lot, and this camp seemed to fit that description and it was pretty much the only day camp that did."

The Municipality of the District of West Hants offers three other day camps that are co-ed — a trip to an amusement park, a day at the waterslides and a pirate-themed excursion into Halifax — but Lydia said none of them sounded as fun as the camp for boys.

The municipality says the idea for next Monday’s spa day came from similar all-girl day camps elsewhere in Nova Scotia, with at least one Halifax-area community staging its own spa event for young girls this summer. West Hants recreation director Kathy Kehoe denied the camp lineup is discriminatory and said there are no plans to reverse the decision before the event for boys takes place on Tuesday.

From the Milton -Ulladulla Times, New South Wales, Australia.

Shed 'inappropriate'

A MEN'S Shed, planned for the grounds of the Milton-Ulladulla Baptist Church, is inappropriate according to neighbouring residents.

Opponents of the workshop support the need for such a facility in the district, but believe it would be better suited to an industrial or commercial area, rather than a residential estate in Narrawallee.

The Men's Shed is planned for a site on the corner of Matron Porter Drive and Leo Drive adjacent to the existing church building.

The project is part of the national Men's Shed network and will provide an opportunity for local men to work on timber and metal projects for local charities and community groups, while fostering men's health and providing a meeting place seven days a week.

I have only one question: What about the girls and women?

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-08-13T07:56:00.000+01:00

The captions that caught the eye last week were:

From Saturday:
Pope Terry 's caption - "if all these people weren't around I could eat that pigeon"

Siddharth Khandelwal's caption - "The two guys telling the girl, 'Now you dye your hair Green so that we can pass off as the Lithuanian flag'"

Sunday:
ozlady 's caption - "How on earth am I going to play that?"

madkatmom 's - “The sign here says this sculpture was formed from the millions of bits of Pete Townsend's smashed guitars from 1968 to 1978.”

Monday:
Pope Terry 's suggested caption - 'oh look its one of those flea ridden mangy parasite birds..... and a pigeon' Take that backpackers!

ozlady 's caption - “Having slayed the dreaded Backpacker, the pigeon sauntered across the railway station, disappearing into the flock of docile pigeons like the trained assassin he was.”

Doug 's caption - “Well that's the last time I date a human. Interspecies erotica is way
overrated!”

judyduncan 's suggestion - “Wow I guess my breath IS that bad....anyone have a Tic Tac?”

Tuesday:
Pope Terry 's suggested caption - Guy in Orange: "So if she said meet me on the second floor, does that mean I've been stood up again!"

david mcmahon 's caption - “Bottom falls out of the building industry.”

Siddharth Khandelwal's caption - “This building could be a perfect office for the "Top Heavy" company I work for.”

Wednesday:
Doug 's caption - “My bag of Limburger cheese did the trick. The beach is all mine now!”

Pope Terry 's suggestion - “After a long time from home Odyseus finally gets some good news or so he thinks: "HA, Poseidon be damned I have the bag of winds.... oh no I don’t, this is just Billy’s lunch..."

Thursday:
dadvid mcmahon 's suggestions - Does my (gun) butt look big in this?

Friday:
Chewy 's suggested caption - "Old Mother YesBut went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone."

Doug's caption - "Y2k Supplies! 1/2 off on 1999 vintage Y2K Supplies. Still freshly sealed. Stock up now for the next phony Apocalypse while supplies last!"

The first task was to produce a shortlist:

ozlady 's caption - “Having slayed the dreaded Backpacker, the pigeon sauntered across the railway station, disappearing into the flock of docile pigeons like the trained assassin he was.”

judyduncan 's suggestion - “Wow I guess my breath IS that bad....anyone have a Tic Tac?”

Siddharth Khandelwal's caption - “This building could be a perfect office for the "Top Heavy" company I work for.”

Doug 's caption - “My bag of Limburger cheese did the trick. The beach is all mine now!”

dadvid mcmahon 's suggestions - Does my (gun) butt look big in this?

Chewy' s caption -"Old Mother YesBut went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone."

It doesn't get easier 16 to 6, then to 1!

Click here to see the winner of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week4th to 10th August.

YesBut I know that place.

2007-08-12T08:24:00.000+01:00

The image is taken from Google Earth, what is the building marked X?

If you want a clue, click here to see the photo of the start, it finishes close to X.

If you want another clue, click on comments to see.

YesBut that was the second week of August

2007-08-11T08:49:00.000+01:00

Poor old Gordon Brown, two days after becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, suicide bombers tried to blow up a London nightclub. The next day they tried to blow up Glasgow Airport. Then there came the rains, resulting in flooding and billions of pounds damage. Now we have a Foot & Mouth outbreak. As the “Son of the Manse” I bet he’s wondering

“Is this a Divine revelation? Was the blessed Tony truly the Chosen One, and I shouldn’t have got rid of him”.

Gordon had one days holiday before having to return to London to manage the Foot & Mouth emergency. If Tony was still PM, by now he would have been sunning himself on some private beach owned by a geriatric pop star.

This week its been noticeable how the days are getting shorter. Two weeks ago it was still light at 10:30, now its dark by 10pm, with sunset at 8:30. Even now I hope we will get an Indian Summer to compensate for the dismal one we’ve had.

India has been very much the theme of the week. With festivals throughout the country and programs on BBC television and radio to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the creation of Pakistan and Indian independence.

I have visited both India and Pakistan; a challenge - not places to go to relax. But I would really like to re-visit Pakistan, to judge for myself the degree of radicalism that exists. General Perez Musharraf, intones one message to the outside world “you must support me, if I’m deposed the Muslim fanatics will take over”. Is that the true situation? Is the West being conned to support a dictator, who opposes democracy? The image I have perceived this week is of a very conservative but not fundamentalist country.

YesBut clean-up your act.

2007-08-10T08:39:00.000+01:00

Mrs YesBut accumulates kitchen gadgets. You know the things I mean, advertised on TV as the chefs answer to grating cheese, or the ultimate lettuce dryer. In the kitchen cupboard we have food processors, fruit blenders, bread makers, rice cookers. Used once then stored as they take too long to clean, compared to conventional kitchen utensil’s.

I have to hold my hand up, I am equally delinquent, with computer program downloads. I see a write-up for a program or a Google widget and I download it. And there it sits collecting cyberspace dust and clogging up my computer.

Its worth taking some time to review the programs on your computer and asking are they necessary? When was the last time you used them? If you don’t use them get rid of them.

But before starting take the precaution of saving the programs installed, then if anything goes wrong you can undue your actions. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore > Create a restore point. Simple!

To get rid of unwanted programs Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Change or Remove Programs. And remove unwanted programs - but be cautious be sure you know what you are removing. But if anything goes wrong use System Restore to get back to the previous status.

Having said that, I am going to advocate downloading another, albeit small program. Its worth looking at the programs that start-up when you switch on your computer and continue to run in the background. If a program isn’t required, then why run it?

If you go to http://www.mlin.net/ you can download a program written by Mike Lin, which allows you to see which programs run when your computer starts, and allows you to select which programs you require. I wish it was that easy to persuade Mrs YesBut to get rid of all her unwanted kitchen utensils.

YesBut the camera never lies.

2007-08-09T08:57:00.000+01:00

British Security Services have foiled a daring plot by a gang with a crane to steal Westminster Bridge. It is believed the gang had sold the bridge to a town in Arizona. Well Robert McCulloch founder of Lake Havasu City did buy London Bridge when he thought he was buying Tower Bridge.

If you are interested in buying the Tower of London, I can do you a good deal, tell you what I’ll throw in the London Eye for free.

Every photograph tells a story.

Before I forget, Why not join in the fun and post a caption for YesBut’s Image, just click here to participate.

Memorial day - 9

2007-08-08T08:05:00.000+01:00

Each Wednesday this blog is dedicated to looking at memorials and public sculptures - objects we might pass in our daily lives, without considering either their artistic merit or the story lying behind the commissioning of the work.

Click the “view show” tab if the slideshow doesn’t open automatically

"Full Stop Slipstream" is a bronze sculpture by Fiona Banner. It is one in a series of site-specific giant full stops produced for the More London site near Tower Bridge, London. Each sculpture represents a full stop from different fonts: Courier, Chancery, Century, etc.

The sculptures are very much part of the More London complex. As can be seen from the photograph it interacts both with the architecture and the general public passing through the site. The leaning sculpture counter balancing the abstract shaped City Hall.

Fiona Banner was born in Merseyside in 1966 and studied at Goldsmiths College. In 2003 she was short listed for the Turner Prize; one of the most prestigious awards for visual arts in Europe.

All too often, public works of art are ignored by passers by, this can not be said of Banner’s Full Stop. Standing in the middle of the riverside walkway, the leaning sculpture screams out to passers-by “touch me, push me upright”. Since its installation in 2003 thousands of photographs have been taken each year of tourists leaning against, or pushing the sculpture. I doubt that they consider the artistic merits of the work. But is that really important? Surely it serves its purpose by bring joy into peoples lives.

You too can bring joy to peoples lives, click here and leave a suggested caption for today’s YesBut’s Image.

YesBut bottom up

2007-08-07T07:49:00.000+01:00

There are a number of “star” buildings on the City of London skyline: St Paul’s Cathedral and representing modern architecture The Swiss Re Centre, 30 St Mary Axe, known affectionately as “The Gherkin”. But the building which is the current centre of attraction is the immediate neighbour of the Gherkin, but very soon will no longer exist.

It’s the very nature of its disappearance that’s making it such a show-stopper. How do you demolish a building without knocking it down or blowing it up?

You demolish it from the bottom up!!! But why? The Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall Street was constructed by hanging all the floors from a load bearing beam located in its roof. If normal demolition methods were used - removing the top floor first - the building would have collapsed.

You can click on the photo on the right to read the details about the demolition, including the removal of a bank vault in the lower basement, with concrete walls 1.5 metres thick and steel plates cast inside.

The building is to be replaced by a 48 floor building designed by Richard Rogers. Even before its built its been nicknamed the “Cheesegrater”.

So in a couple of year’s time the Gherkin will be joined by a Cheesegrater, that sounds like a recipe for indigestion.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-08-06T08:52:00.000+01:00

Another week of great captions, those that particularly caught the eye were:

On Saturday:
Doug 's caption - "Next the killer trees appeared at a hootenany. It was a day the park visitors would never forget."
Chewy 's - "‘The Birch is Back’ by Elton Lawn”

Sunday:
Doug 's caption - "Installing their big screen tv in the backyard turned out to be a big mistake for the Smith family."

Monday:
David Mcmahon 's caption - "They'll do anything to dig up `rock' stars"

Tuesday was a bumper day with:
Siddharth Khandelwal 's caption - "At the moment this ought to get me a place in the English Cricket Team" (This caption was rather cruel but appropriate because England had just been thrashed by India).
David McMahon 's - "How to look cool while your balls are in the air"
Ozlady 's - "In his undercover disguise as a street juggler, Secret Agent Alfonzo was taking aim to knock the poisonous beer from the hands of the lady in the crowd to prevent a virus outbreak that would kill the world..."
Pope Terry 's - "Hehehehe.... five pints and I'll watch anything..."

Wednesday:
Siddharth Khandelwal' caption - "ha ha... beat you!!"
Ozlady 's - "Hi Harry! How were your holidays? Looking forward to another year at Hogwarth's?"
David McMahon 's - "Three finalists in the Paddington Pair lookalike contest"

Thursday:
Pope Terry 's caption - "Oh man, 5 miles and a stupid outfit and that marching band are still following me."
david mcmahon 's - "All right, soldier - show us ya military tattoos."
Siddharth Khandelwal' s - "If the wrong species keep following me, I just might lose my Piped Piper status."

With fourteen captions on the short-list, as per last week, I thought I would be smart and choose a “stinker” of an image for Friday, that would be difficult to think-up captions for. Again, I underestimated the Captionists, what gems they came up with on Friday.

This week the choice of Captionist to receive the Caption of the Week Award was unanimous, with members of the YesBut team deciding, for the first time to award joint winners, click here to see the names of the winners and the winning captions.

The green green grass

2007-08-05T08:34:00.000+01:00

I’m feeling lethargic, all I want to do today is sit and watch the grass grow. Actually I’m resting, because at midnight tonight I have to count the votes in the YesBut’s Images Caption of the week Award.

That reminds me, I hope you’ve voted for the YesBut’s Image’s Caption of the Week?

Please show your appreciate of those who have submitted captions and vote for the best caption posted between 28th July to 3rd August inclusive. Click here now to go to YesBut‘s Images site.

YesBut that was the first week of August.

2007-08-04T08:37:00.000+01:00

August the 8th month, 2007 seems to be flying by.

Unfortunately, the summer will soon be over without starting. June and July being complete washouts - record rainfalls in both months. While parts of the UK were submerged under floods, people were dying in Southern Europe from heat stroke. What a topsy turvy world we live in. I gather the high rain falls was due to the Jet Stream flowing further north than normal, scooping up moisture over the Atlantic and dumping it on England.

Stuart Kennedy, aged 24, a genetics student at Aberdeen University was arrested while performing his part time job as a stripper. He was arrested for wearing a police uniform and equipment in a public place. If the police had been more patient, he would have divested himself of all clothing!

Mr Kennedy is getting well acquainted with the Police; in May while performing his striptease act dressed as a police officer, he was arrested and charge with having an offensive weapon - you would expect a police officer to have a truncheon, but there again he shouldn’t swing it in public.

Tony Blair always thought he was the son of God. He could be right, look at the facts.

As soon as he left:

Attempted suicide bombers in London and Glasgow
Flooding throughout the Country
Now petulance in the form of Foot & Mouth disease.

Come back Tony and save us. (I think not)

This week I’ll leave you with two puzzles, both are connected:

What is the subject of the photo on the left?

How do you demolish a building without pulling it down or blowing it up?

I’ve got some interesting photos to show you, so bookmark this page and visit on Tuesday.

YesBut tails you win, heads I lose - Part 2

2007-08-03T08:14:00.000+01:00

Continued from yesterday

Two weeks ago I related a story that arose after reading a caption posted by Bart on YesBut’s Images blog. This week the source of inspiration was the caption posted on the 4th June 2007 by Catmoves: -

“I’m going bowling after I finish this food. The ball’s in the bag”.

“It’s where she asked”?

If looks could kill, Eugene would be laid out in his coffin. Esmeralda wasn’t at all pleased with his purchase, but he managed to persuade her the dye was far better quality than the one she normally used. As for the colour, everybody knows every manufacturer has their own names for colours. This one would suit her perfectly.

He sat to enjoy his favourite program on TV, when the peace was shattered by a horrific scream emanating from the bathroom. When Esmeralda immerged, it was difficult to tell which was the brightest red, her hair or her face. It was like a pulsating flaming globe. Now he truly was dead-man walking. He quickly kissed goodbye to any hope of buying anything for himself, he gave a broad smile “darling, it’s wonderful you look twenty years younger”.

She was cut short in her tracks, “really”?

“Yes we have to go out to celebrate”.

She was delighted, “yes let’s go out for a meal”.

Um, that was a risk, what if someone recognised him with this woman with that horrible hair.

“No dear it would be more romantic if you make some sandwiches and we have a picnic”.

To avoid recognition, as they left the house, he handed her some sunglasses.

“Here dear put these on, now you really look like a Film Star“.

He put on a pair himself, as looking at her hair was giving him a migraine. He had wanted to take her to the cinema, at least in the dark no one would see them, but she was adamant she wanted to do something different, something new. He thought the most unlikely place to meet anyone they knew would be in a tenpin bowling alley. As they ate she asked what they were going to do next. He told her of his plan to go tenpin bowling, and that he had brought a ball especially for her.

“The ball’s in the bag”.

“It’s where she asked”?

Looking at the bag she realised it wasn’t the bag they had left their house with. They had been in a rush as they left the train that brought them to London. Eugene had mistakenly taken the wrong bag from the luggage rack.

Esmeralda and Eugene were to have a shock when they opened the bag; inside was the head of Alfredo Garcia - but that’s another story.

Click here to leave your entry for YesBut's images

YesBut tails you win, heads I lose - Part 1

2007-08-02T08:01:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago I related a story that arose after reading a caption posted by Bart on YesBut’s Images blog. This week the source of inspiration was the caption posted on the 4th June 2007 by Catmoves: -

“I’m going bowling after I finish this food. The ball’s in the bag”. “It’s where she asked”?

When Esmeralda sent her husband Eugene to purchase some hair dye she was very specific on the colour she wanted “Silver grey”. On the way to the store Eugene walked by a shop selling Lottery Scratchcards. As soon as he saw the advert for the Pirates of the Caribbean card he just knew today was his lucky day. But unfortunately the only money he had was what Esmeralda had given him. He debated what to do: he could use the money to buy the card, pocket the winnings and still have money to buy the hair dye; but that was risky, far too risky if he lost and couldn’t buy the dye.

Muttering he went on is way, then as if it was meant to be, he saw on sale in a shop window, hair dye at half the price of the make Esmeralda normally used. He told himself he couldn’t ignore the favourable omens. He went into the shop; there he encountered his first problem, he hadn’t bothered to remember the colour his wife wanted, he knew he would recognise the box. But with a different manufacturer he had to remember the shade. He thought it was something to do with metal, “not gold or bronze, now what was it rust, yes bright rust”.

After purchasing the dye he hurried back to purchase a scratchcard. His hands were shaking with excitement as he tried to scratch the card with a coin. He thought his heart nearly stopped when he saw he had won £188. He nearly did a little dance. He knew precisely what he wanted to buy with the money. He would get a new lens for his camera, and if there was some money left he would buy some flowers for his wife.

To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page

Click here to leave your entry for YesBut's images

Memorial day - 8

2007-08-01T08:26:00.000+01:00

Without doubt my favourite memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, is for the Imperial Camel Corps. It consists of an exquisite two foot high statue of a camel and rider. The bronze statue stands on a six foot high stone base. Carved on the base is:

To The Glorious And Immortal Memory Of The Officers NCOs And Men Of The Imperial Camel Corps.
British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian Who Fell In Action or Died Of Wounds And Disease In Egypt, Sinai And Palestine.

1916 - 1917 -1918

A bronze plaque lists the names of the fallen.

The Allied forces were evacuated to Egypt after the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign. Egypt which was then under British rule, was threatened by the Ottoman armies in Sinai and the Senussi confederation of tribes in its Western deserts.

In an attempt to suppress the tribes in January 1916, four companies of camel mounted infantry were formed from volunteers from Australia. The campaign was a success with the Senussi forced into submission towards the end of 1916. Indeed the camel companies had been so successful that a further fourteen companies were formed. Six companies were drawn from Australian Light Horse units, six British companies from Yeomanry mounted units and New Zealand personnel formed two companies. The companies were eventually organised into four battalions.

Because they were cheaper to purchase only male camels were used!

In 1917 the Corps took part in several battles for Gaza, suffering heavy casualties After Gaza, it took part in the attack on Jerusalem. After the capture of Jerusalem the corps was withdrawn for rest.

In May 1918, under General Edmund Allenby, the army in Palestine was reorganised. As a result both the Australian and New Zealand companies were remounted on horses. Their camels were given to the Arab forces under the command of Emir Feisal and T.E. Lawrence “Lawrence of Arabia”

(In 1921 Britain ensured that Feisal was selected King of the newly created country Iraq, which he ruled until his death in September 1933)

Part of the Corps 2nd Battalion took part in action in Jordan in August 1918.

The Imperial Camel Corps was formally disbanded in May, 1919.

Click her to see YesBut’s Image of the day.

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-07-31T08:36:00.000+01:00

Last week I missed doing my weekly review of local newspapers. So it was nice this week to surf the net to see what stories were reported Worldwide last week.

From the Geelong Advertiser, Australia - “Perfumed night gets Marmalade on the carpet”.

“PERFUME wafted through the air, purple lighting set the mood as Geelong's business leaders strolled down the red carpet anxious, nervous and excited.
It was the night of nights for the business community The Geelong Advertiser Business Excellence Awards and the tension was thick.
Prestige, honour and prominence were words used to describe the award as penguin suits and sparkling dresses strolled the red carpet.
Tui Pickett was lapping up the glitz and glamour. Her staff members at Shannon Park Industries joked the red carpet would be rolled out for her, and it was, as she stood posing for a photograph to prove to them she was right.
``I got a letter telling me to write a speech but I haven't had time,'' Ms Pickett said with a nervous laugh, as the reality hit she may just have to make that speech.
Dirty nappies and crying children were a distant memory for the women from City Learning and Care.
They had spent a good couple of hours frocking up, attending hair appointments and getting ready for the big night, of which they had entered three awards.
``This would be great for our business. It would give us recognition within the community that we are doing a great job and that what we are doing is important in working with children and families,'' childcare co-ordinator Julie Thompson said.”

The Vulcan Advocate, Alberta, Canada - “Vulcan home to one and only Scrapbook Café”.

Found no where else in the country, Vulcan has recently become home to the first cafe geared towards scrapbooking.
“It’s not just a cafe, it’s a social,” said Lillian Duxbury, 57-year-old owner of Scrapbook Cafe. Operating the business with her husband, Tim, also 57, the couple packed up and left Calgary in 2002 in search of a new home outside the city.
Third time was a charm, as their house in Vulcan was the last of three attempts to settle in a new residence and community.
“I love Vulcan, I think it’s a great little town,” Lillian said.
Having delved into the art of scrapbooking over two years ago when her daughter introduced her to the craft, Lillian has spent her share of time in other scrapbook stores that ended up giving her the direction she needed to create the best possible atmosphere.
Previous experience included cramped conditions in dark rooms hidden away in the back of a store, so Lillian knew exactly what not to do.
“I turned all the negatives into a positive,” she said.
Remembering cramped conditions, she made sure the Scrapbook Cafe had plenty of spacious tables and lots of light to work with.
Although not yet available, plans are to be offering scrapbook lessons by September. Once that comes to pass, memberships will be available, offering members access to a scrapbook tool room on hand in the cafe.
“So they don’t have to bring their own stuff,” Lillian said, “they come work whenever they want to.”

From the Evening Post, Swansea, Wales - “SHAMBO MONKS PROTEST IN VAIN”.

A Group of 20 police officers broke up a day-long vigil at a Carmarthenshire temple after monks and protesters gathered to protect Shambo the bull.Worshippers at the Hindu temple in the Skanda Vale religious community surrounded the sacred animal to stop officials putting him down. However, their attempts were in vain as vets destroyed him yesterday evening.

Brother Alex, one of the monks at the community where Shambo was worshipped, said: "We have done our duty and we have a clear conscience in this. Shambo is all right. I know the Lord will take care of him, I have no worries about that.

"It is the the Assembly that is going to pay. The consequences of their actions will haunt them for generations to come. That is the Karma in action."

The bull had tested positive for TB and Defra officials ordered it to be destroyed to prevent the infection spreading.

However religious leaders at Skanda Vale, near Llanpumsaint, mounted a legal bid to save him and when that failed they formed a human chain round the bull.

But their efforts were in vain as a warrant was served and police moved in.

One of the worshippers, 65-year-old Verena Blum, said: "It's bad, but I don't blame the police because they were friendly and they did their duty.

"There is no way that you desecrate a temple in that way."

Police had originally wanted to remove Shambo at 8am yesterday but the Hindu monks at the temple began a vigil which prevented officers from getting to the six-year-old Friesian.

At around 2pm they again tried to remove Shambo. But with around 100 protesters at the site they decided to pin a warrant to the door and "take advice".

Returning two hours later police began to remove worshippers and used bolt cutters to open Shambo's stall.

Speaking after she had been moved, Christine Hough said there was no need to put Shambo down.

"He is sacred to these people - he is not in the food chain," she said.

An attempt by the community's monks to stop the the Assembly destroying Shambo failed at the Court of Appeal this week.

Worshippers laughed as Brother Alex said the Assembly had asked the gathering to disperse because "they are worried it might be upsetting Shambo".

Well that’s the local news for another week, finishing on the sad news that Shambo is no more - well at least not in the reincarnation of a sacred bull.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-07-30T08:42:00.000+01:00

And the captions keep on coming.

Those that particularly caught the eye and brought a chuckle to the throat and a smile to the face and a feeling of contentment in the heart and a rumble in the belly were:

On Saturday
David’s - “Me Dad’s a soldier in this, er, crack regiment”.

Tuesday
Pope Terry’s - "If I stand here long enough, I'm sure a decent man will come for me"
Chewy’s - “All the lovely sidewalk paintings have washed away.”
and David’s very clever - "From yawning chasm to awning chasm in one easy step"

Wednesday
Doug’s - “The concept of ice floors at the rail station was a dismal flop."
and David’s - “Passengers rail against curling rink”.

Thursday was special for some very funny captions, including -
ozlady 's - "Where is that draft coming from? I feel like I'm doing a bad Marilyn Munroe impression!"
Chewy 's - "Is THAT Big Ben?"
Doug 's - "After seeing her long lost brothers, Trish realised she was the black sheep of the family."
and David's - "Big Ben shows the time as forty minutes past tutu", and "You clowns should be in Parliament."

With more than an adequate number of great captions to select the Caption of the Week from, I thought on Friday I’d slip in a more difficult photo to think up captions for. Another underestimation of the talents of the “Captionists” (the name I have decided to call participants). What a wonderful collection of captions posted including:

ozlady 's - "I told you not to buy that timeshare!"
Pope Terry 's - "Dave... Dave over here, theres still some shrimp left at the bouffet"
david mcmahon 's - "Simon and Garfunkel classic: ``I'd rather be a hammer than a snail''
Chewy 's - "Es-car-go beep-beep."
Doug 's - "Oh great Frank! Move the family to France you said and we'll be safe!"

The list was narrowed down to two captions. So the final choice:

The Runner-up comes from Friday’s postings and it is (cue the trumpets) -

ozlady 's - "I told you not to buy that timeshare!"

And so to the Winner of the Caption of the Week Award, from Saturday (cue trumpets and drums) -

David’s - “Me Dad’s a soldier in this, er, crack regiment”.

And now I’m looking forward to reading this weeks captions.

YesBut smells the flowers

2007-07-29T08:03:00.000+01:00

YesBut all I want to do on a day like this is smell the flowers.

But you have other things to do. Have you voted for the YesBut’s Image’s Caption of the Week?

Please show your appreciate of those who have submitted captions. Vote for the best caption posted between 20th to 27th July inclusive, click here now.

YesBut that was the fourth week of July

2007-07-28T08:31:00.000+01:00

With the flooding that occurred in England at the beginning of the week, Noah and his ark would have been a welcome visitor. This time the weather forecasters had it right; for a week in advance they predicted heavy rain, but the Government failed to react adequately, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people left without electricity and drinking water supplies - well done Gordon (I'm the Prime Minister now) Brown .

On Thursday, I wrote about blogging for pleasure, without pressure, and how bloggers can become obsessed by the number of daily hits on their blog. I must say I was supprised when I visited the Saatchi Gallery web site, which claimed to have had 48,800,468 hits in the previous 24 hours. I know the extensive BBC web sites have a massive number of hits everyday, but 48 million for an art gallery! Palls Yesbut’s Images into insignificance - quality rather than quantity say I.

At the beginning of the month I wrote about the start of the Tour De France in London. This was to be a “drug-free” Tour. The “sport had cleaned itself-up”. Well 16 days into the tour and the pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov was the first to withdraw after testing positive for blood doping. Whose fault is it that the Goose-that-lays-the-golden-egg (and believe me the Tour is a massive money spinner), is being killed? The riders, the team managers, the commercial sponsors or the race organiser? All. But ultimately the good name of the event is the responsibility of the organiser.

YesBut watch the birdie

2007-07-27T08:20:00.000+01:00

People have been kind enough to complement YesBut’s photographer on the photographs published on YesBut’s Images, and have asked how he goes about getting the shots. He tells me it’s very simple in London point the camera in any direction and you get a good photograph. Whether it’s a building or tourists. Tourists!! Last week I was walking north along Tower Bridge; three women were standing across the entrance to the stairs down to St Katharine’s Dock.

“Excuse me you are blocking the stairway, I would like to get past”.

”It’s alright we’re on vacation”.

Tourists are totally oblivious of other people.

Back to YesBut’s photographer, he says he has more difficulty, when not in London. He had a particularly difficult time when visiting Holland - not the place to go to photograph mountains! But he sees it as a challenge. He says since he has been looking for things to photograph he has become more observant, and also has improved his reflex actions. Reflex actions? Yes, when there is a dearth of things to photograph, every opportunity must be taken - it’s no good saying, “I’ll come back later” - later rarely comes.

Talking about lost opportunities, today is the last day to post a caption for the photos posted on YesBut’s Images on 21st to 27th July.

So put on your thinking cap and think up captions.

But your participation doesn’t end there. It’s up to you to select the Caption of the Week. Your vote of the best and runner-up caption should be posted on YesBut’s Images blog by midnight Sunday 29th July.

To remind you of the rules:

Visit the blog and review the captions for the postings 21st to 27th July inclusive.
Select your wining caption and runner up
Post your choices on the blog (some times contributors submit more than one caption each day; so please clearly identify which caption you are nominating).
Voting will close at midnight GMT Sunday 29th July.

First nominations will be given 2 point, 2nd nominations 1 point. The caption having the highest total of points will be awarded the “Caption of the Week Award“.

Results will be posted on this blog and YesBut’s Images.

Join in the fun cast your vote even better post a caption - click here.

YesBut do it because you want to.

2007-07-26T08:45:00.000+01:00

OK you’ve followed advice given to you, done everything you can think of doing, but yet you cannot increase the number of visitors to your blog. There appears to be an invisible barrier or door that slams shut as soon as you have twenty visitors a day. What can you do?

You’ve tried everything. Tweaked the appearance of the blog: changed the template, even adjusted the size of the fonts to the extent the words appear to be shouting out of the screen. Changed the font style, but all in vain.

What can you do next? A lot of bloggers just give up. In May 2006 Technorati reported 13,720,748 blogs it tracked were updated in the proceeding 90 days. That was 36% of all blogs tracked by Technorati. By March 2007 the number of active blogs had increased to 15, 534,430 but this only represented 21% of all tracked blogs. So in the year the number of tracked blogs had nearly doubled from 38 million to 74 million, but the number of active blogs had only increased by just under 2 million.

Bloggers need primarily DEDICATION. At the beginning it’s exciting; you’ve got all those ideas in your head. Then you get a few visitors, great “I’m on the way”. The initial enthusiasm projects you forward. But people who initially visited your blog no longer leave comments, the visitor counter keeps ticking over but a large percentage is you visiting your blog to see if anybody has left a comment. On top of that, thinking of things to write about is getting more difficult. It gets tougher to sit in front of the computer, especially when its sunny outside and the kids want to go out to play, or there’s that task you’ve been putting off which really needs to be done now.

You need to ask yourself one question: “Why did I start blogging?”. If it was to satisfy the need to express yourself and be creative then, remove the “vistor counter”. It doesn’t matter if you have 0, 10 or a 100 visitors a day. It’s nice when people leave comments and you can start conversations; but it doesn’t matter if no one leaves a comment. If the kids want you to play with them, then play with them; don’t feel pressured to write something for your blog.

Blog for PLEASURE without pressure. Don’t let the blog take over your life. When you feel creative then blog, when you don’t then don’t. You only live once, enjoy life, and when you feel the need to share, blog.

Click here to leave your caption for YesBut's Images

Memorial day - 7

2007-07-25T08:37:00.000+01:00

In yesterday's blog I described Holborn Viaduct, London; as viewed from what was the “Fleet River valley”. If you climb up the stairs you come to the level of the road over the viaduct, to the west the road goes to Holborn Circus, to the east the City of London.

Bronze Flying Lions stand on guard at each corner of the viaduct. They were sculptured by Farmer & Brindley and manufactured at Elkington & Co foundry. Elkingtons was set up by two cousins, George Richards Elkington (1801 - 1865) and Henry Elkington (1810 - 1852). But the main features are the four larger than life size bronze figures, two on the north and two on the south balustrades.

Farmer & Brindley were responsible for the two figures on the north side. At the west end stands “Fine Art” on the east “Science”.

The “Science” figure is very interesting, most people today would be puzzled by the “pair of balls” held in her hand. But at the time the viaduct was built in the 1860s they were the symbols of the age. She is holding the governor which controlled the speed of early steam engines.

The “Fine Art” figure holds in her hand a sheet of drawing paper and pen. Standing on a columb stands the bust of Athena to represent sculpture.

On the south side of the road there are two bronze figures sculptured by Henry Bursill. On the west end “Commerce” and on the east “Agriculture”.

“Commerce” holds money in her hand and has the key to the City of London at her feet.

“Agriculture” holds a scythe in her right hand and a sheaf of corn in her right.

The viaduct is a true jewel and monument to the Victorian age.

Click here to see YesBut's Image of the day - and leave your caption.

Holborn Viaduct

2007-07-24T08:40:00.000+01:00

Standing at Ludgate Circus, London, look east up Ludgate Hill you should have had a clear view of St Paul’s Cathedral, but through inept city planning the view is blocked by a conglomeration of office blocks. Look south down New Bridge Street you see Blackfriars Bridge. West you look up Fleet Street, formerly the “Street of Shame”, (I’ll have to write a blog about this famous thoroughfare). Look north and you see Farrington Street, standing at this point before 1765 and you would have seen the Fleet River flowing down the valley towards the Thames, (on quiet nights, place your ear to the ground and you will hear the river flowing through a subterranean channel). Look along Farrington Street and you will see Holborn Viaduct spanning the Fleet valley.

The Viaduct designed by the City of London Surveyor William Heywood was built between 1863 and 1869 and was opened by Queen Victoria in 1896.

It was built to improve access from the city of London to the west. Before its construction horse drawn vehicles travelling west from the City had to climb the steep-sided Holborn Hill.

In the 1860’s they didn’t just build bridges, it was a statement - Holborn Viaduct epitomises the grandeur of the age, the British Empire was at its zenith, Victoria was the Queen Empress ruling over Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Africa, and the Jewel of the Empire the Indian sub-continent.

Constructed from cast iron beams resting on granite columns the details incorporated is magnificent, as you can see from the slide show (if it doesn’t start automatically click the “start tab”).

Tomorrow in Memorial Day blog, I will describe and show the sculptures adorning the viaduct.

In the mean time click hear to enter the YesBut Image caption competition.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-07-23T08:22:00.000+01:00

When I look through my portfolio of photographs to select images to be posted on YesBut’s Images; some photographs jump out almost screaming “post me look at how many potential subjects for captions you can see”.

Other images seem to crawl away into a corner, “I’m useless there’s no hope of anyone thinking up a caption”. I thought the photo posted on the 14th July was an example of the latter. It was taken in the British Museum’s Grand Court - a nice photo with lots geometric shapes, almost bordering on the abstract. But what possible caption could be posted? I still chose to post it because it would be a challenge to think up a caption.

What a very pleasant surprise on Sunday morning when I read the caption posted by Doug - such imagination. My first thought after stopping laughing was “the Caption of the Week Award” has already been won, even before anybody else has posted a caption.

That thought remained until Friday, when there was a (what is the collective noun for a group of brilliant captions?) galaxy of captions submitted:

Sanjay M 's - "What's with you men just asking for directions?! Alright... I'm going to look up Google maps!"

Ak-Man 's - "We'll need to find a river and a bridge to get back to our hotel."
Doug 's -"Now Henry...No map in the world will ever help you to find common sense." David 's - "I think we went a bridge too far''. In total five captions to choose from, all deserving to win. But which one?

I hate to have to make such difficult decisions, but the final result is:

There are four captions all in the runner-up position, but the winner - selected because the photo was so difficult to think up captions for is click here to see.

One last point:

David. McMahon pointed out to me that the links I posted on YesBut’ Images captions were back to the contributors profiles and not to their website. Well I have had YesBut’s Team of Technical Wiz Kids working on the problem of links to websites and profiles. Bleary eyed they have come up with the solution.

When you post a comment you are given three options of choice of identity:

“Blogger display name” (if you choose this your link is back to your profile).

“Other” (if you choose you can enter a link back to your web page)

“Anonymous (no link)

So you now know when you post a caption, if you what to get a link back to your site rather than your profile chose the “Other” option

Damn clever these wiz kids.

YesBut spot the difference

2007-07-22T08:55:00.000+01:00

As I was posting the photo on YesBut’s Images, Mrs YesBut asked me which photograph I was going to use. I was puzzled by the question -

“which photo“?
“Which of the two are you going to use?” “This is just a copy of the other”.
“No its not. I can see at least ten differences”.
“Ten differences?”.

That woman has the eye of a hawk, sees too much some times. But on this occasion she was correct there are 10 differences. Can you identify them?

Also click here to see which of the two images was used as today’s YesBut’s Image. While you are there you can enter in the fun and select the caption of the week.

YesBut that was the third week of July

2007-07-21T08:10:00.000+01:00

One of the joys of being in London during the summer months is the number of free shows that can be seen.

Did I say weather permitting? The weather wasn’t on its best behaviour last Sunday afternoon for the Turkish Fest at Bernie Spain Gardens. For 20 minutes the heavens opened: torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightening.

For the month of July at the Scoop, More London, near the Tower Bridge, you can relax or swing to music at lunchtimes and in the evenings.

But by far my favourite event is the National Theatre’s free summer festival, "Watch This Space" held in the square adjacent to the Thames. The week before last, there was a very cheeky performance by Te Matarae I Orehu, a troop of the finest Maori dancers from New Zealand.

Last Sunday I was listening to “’Death to America’. Anti-Americanism Examined”, on BBC Radio 4. A member of the Muslim Brotherhood was interviewed in Egypt. He said, and I paraphrase him,

"the trouble with Americans is they want to be loved, and will continue to kill you until you love them”.

That’s a trap bloggers can fall into, no not killing people, but wanting to be loved. The content of their blog is influenced by the desire to please and for their blog to be Bookmarked. The result is, it ceases to be their blog, it becomes an artificial construct, based on what the blogger thinks will please people. The difference between a good blog compared to an average blog is honesty. Blog for yourself, if people like what you write, OK, if they don‘t, so what?

And finally back to the weather. The photo on the left was taken not in the middle of a winter snow storm, but at noon yesterday, i.e. the middle of summer. You might be able to make out the outline of St Paul’s Cathedral. Torrential rain and flash floods are the order of the day.

YesBut you know it makes sense.

2007-07-20T08:53:00.000+01:00

Let me at the onset confess I am computer illiterate, more of a glunk than geek. Consequently when I come across something that makes life easier and is readily understandable I am delighted.

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7.0 when they launched its Vista operating system. Windows XP users can now download an upgrade to install Internet Explorer 7. But yet again MSN are only trying to catch up with Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser. Where Firefox leads Explorer limps behind.

Firefox loads web pages much faster. I have to take the word of the experts, who say it is more secure than Explorer - something to do with the computer language used and protocols, and all that gumff. There are hundreds, nay thousands of geeks at this very moment working in support of Firefox developing add-ons to tweak Firefox to meet your personal requirements.

I know from personal experience Internet Explorer has limitations, Firefox does not have. For one thing, viewing this blog using Firefox you can see all singing all dancing slideshows click here for an example. Now it doesn’t matter how much I write about it, you will never know what you are missing until you experience it for yourself.

Look I tell you what I’ll do, I’ll give you a money back guarantee if you aren’t fully satisfied with Firefox- did I tell you it’s free to download!

Before I forget, today is the last day to post a caption for the photos posted on YesBut’s Images on14th to 20th July.

So put on your thinking caps and think up captions.

But your participation doesn’t end there. It’s up to you to select the Caption of the Week. Your vote of the best and runner-up caption should be posted on YesBut’s Images blog by midnight Sunday 22nd July.

To remind you of the rules:

Visit the blog and review the captions for the postings 14th to 20th July inclusive.
Select your wining caption and runner up
Post your choices on the blog (some times contributors submit more than one caption each day; so please clearly identify which caption you are nominating).
Voting will close at midnight GMT Sunday 22nd July.

YesBut what’s the story?

2007-07-19T08:26:00.000+01:00

There have been a number of memorable captions posted on YesBut’s Images, one which intrigues me is that posted by Bart on 31st May:

“Perhaps if I keep looking intently, nobody will realize I accidentally glued my thumb to the inside of this book”

When I first read Bart’s caption, two questions sprang to mind:

While the young lady is prominent in the photo, her thumb isn’t the focal point. Question, what drew Bart’s attention to the thumb? Perhaps Bart will answer this.

The second question, how did she get her thumb stuck in the book? I have a theory:

Instead of going home straight from work, Tom decided to go for a couple of pints in the pub. You know how things are, one or two pints leads to three or four, or five. Well it was quite late when he staggered through the front door of his house. Fortunately for him he swayed to his right just as his wife threw the china ornament.

The problem was the ornament’s head broke off. Now that wouldn’t have been a catastrophe as neither Tom nor his wife liked the statue. But, it had been given as a wedding present by Tom’s maiden aunt Gladys. Now Tom wanted to keep Gladys happy as he hoped to inherit her money. So the next morning, after he had sobered up, Tom attempted to glue the head back on.

He used one of those supper glues which you have to mix the contents of two tubes. Tom isn’t what might be called “clever with his hands”, and managed to stick his thumb and forefinger together. He panicked and rushed to the Accident and Emergency Department at St Thomas’ Hospital. Passing the bookstall under Waterloo Bridge he saw a book “One Thousand Six Hundred And Forty-three Things You Need To Know”. At that moment Tom only needed to know one thing, how to get his finger and thumb unstuck. He flicked through the book. But unfortunately, how to get fingers unstuck wasn’t considered by the author something you needed to know. Tom put the book back on the table and went on his way. Unknowingly he had left a blob of glue on the book.

Patricia was due to meet her friends to see a film at the National Film Theatre. Arriving early she wandered around the book stalls. She didn't notice something sticky on her finger as she moved out of the way, one of those stupid things you need to know books, as she had her eyes firmly fixed on the book underneath “Zen and the Art of Trampolining for Flower Arrangers ” - she thought it would make a nice birthday present for her grandmother, who was a obsessive trampolinist. It was only when she went to pay for the book that she was horrified to discover that her thumb was stuck to the book.

Some hours later Tom was amused to see a young woman with her thumb stuck to a book walk into the waiting room of St Thomas’ A&E Department.

I wonder if Bart will leave a caption for today’s YesBut’s Images photograph? Better still why don’t you click here and leave a suggestion for a caption.

Memorial day - 6

2007-07-18T08:15:00.000+01:00

This is the sixth in a series of blogs posted each Wednesday dedicated at looking at memorials and public sculptures.

Within the shadow of the Houses of Parliament, in the Victoria Tower Gardens, can be seen the monument / sculpture “The Burghers of Calais” by Auguste Rodin.

Click the “view show” tab if the slideshow doesn’t open automatically

The sculpture has only just been replaced on its plinth having been on exhibition at the Royal Academy in 2006, and then on loan to the Kunsthaus, Zurich where it was part of the “Rodin - A Retrospective” exhibition.

At the exhibition it would have been guarded, with visitors not allowed to touch it. How different to its treatment in the gardens. While I was there to photograph the statue for this blog, a group of tourists were climbing over it, one placing a bottle top on one of the figures up held fingers.

The statue commemorates an event during the Hundred Years’ War, when in 1347 six citizens of Calais, then as now an important French port on the English Channel, offered themselves as hostages to Edward III after he had unsuccessfully besieged their town for nearly one year. The story goes Edward laid siege to Calais, Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to relive the town and eventually the town had to surrender. Edward said he would spare the citizens if any six top leaders surrendered to him almost naked with nooses around their necks and carrying the keys to the city. Eustache de Saint Pierre, was the first to volunteer followed by five other town leaders. They knew they were walking to their death. Their lives were spared at the pleading of Edward’s queen Philippa of Hainault.

In 1880 the mayor of Calais proposed commissioning Rodin to make a statue to be placed in the city square. Rodin’s figures are slightly larger than life size, and contrary to common practice he placed them standing at ground level - not on a plinth. So they were placed until 1924, when against Rodin’s wishes the statue was placed on a plinth.

As was common with Rodin’s work more than one statue was cast from his mould. In 1911 the British Government purchased one of the eleven casts permitted to be made by French law after Rodin’s death.

Click here and leave a suggested caption for YesBut’s Image

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-07-17T08:29:00.000+01:00

Once again I have been surfing the net to find interesting stories in local newspapers. I leave it to you to judge the success.

From The Chronicle, Toowoomba, Queensland - “ Stress levels rise over leaning tree”.

"VOLUNTEERS cursing a giant eucalypt tree towering over the Visitor Information Centre in James Street, have nothing to fear.

But Cr Michelle Schneider isn't convinced. Apart from the safety concerns, there were issues of nuisance debris blocking gutters and on the verandah.

She stood alone in the 8-1 vote at the Toowoomba City Council ordinary meeting last Tuesday night.

The motion was lost Mayor Dianne Thorley ruled.

"Tell that to the volunteers that get killed by it," Cr Schneider joked.

Cr Schneider called for an inspection of the giant gum, more than 20 metres high and on a distinct angle."

The Sherwood Park News, Alberta - “ County Clothesline fed up with dumped junk”.

“The County Clothesline, a not-for-profit organization that sells donated clothes and gives the money back to the community, has become a cheap alternative to the dump, and staff aren’t happy about it.
Although the organization appreciates donations as that’s what keeps it running, many items are being dropped off that belong in the garbage because they could never be resold, according to executive director Loretta Nicholson.
“We’ve changed from being the County Clothesline to the county dump,” she said as she looked at the tears in an old leather couch that was dropped off earlier in the week.
The organization doesn’t take in or sell furniture, yet many people have been dropping off old couches, dressers, mattresses and other large items. But they have no room for these items so they have to be trucked to the dump, which costs the organization money. They also receive computer equipment, which they have to pay to have recycled.
“Every dollar we have to spend to get rid of this garbage is a dollar not going to the community,” said Nicholson.”
From the Waikato Times, New Zealand - “Salty language sees youth MP booted out”.

”A youth MP was kicked out of the debating chamber after telling the Government to "stop f***ing with our futures" during a heated exchange on climate change.
Kate Steel, 16, a Green Party nominee, had been arguing The Household Response to Climate Change Bill was "rigged".
Deputy speaker Ross Robertson - seemingly forgetting a recent verbal slip by Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey - told the unruly youth representatives the word in question had "never been used in Parliament before", and ejected Ms Steel from the chamber for five minutes.
Ms Steel withdrew her comment but her apology was drowned out by applause and cheering from her fellow MPs as she was escorted from the chamber.
The bill failed to proceed after voting ended in a 53/53 split with 14 MPs - including all the Greens - abstaining. "

From The Inverness Courier, Scotland. - “Cocktail gives the wallet a shake”.

“IT has been called Scotland’s most expensive cocktail and, at £200 a glass, it could give you a financial hangover. The Magnum Royal is a heady mix of the world’s finest Cognac, Louis XIII de Remy Martin 1999, vintage Dom Perignon champagne and a raspberry liqueur-soaked sugar cube. It was created by Mathieu Clausel, bar manager at the Glenmoriston Town House Hotel in Inverness, with its bar the first in Scotland to be supplied with a magnum of the costly Louis XIII Cognac, whose connoisseurs are said to include the Queen, Elton John and Christian Dior.
“We have been selling a lot of Louis XIII in our Piano Bar, which led to us being supplied with the magnum instead of the smaller bottle,” he said. “As we were the first Scottish bar to receive this, I thought I should create something extra special to mark the occasion and the Magnum Royal was the result.” A member of the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild (UKBG), Mr Clausel is originally from Lyon in France, where he studied and trained in his profession. He moved to Scotland last year to improve his knowledge of whisky. The Piano Bar, next to restaurant Abstract, offers more than 250 different malts. Although too pricey for the normal pocket, the Magnum Royal is a bargain compared with the cocktail named in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most expensive. The £750-a-glass Mai Tai, sold at the Merchant Hotel, Belfast, is made using one of only six bottles of 17-year-old Wray and Nephew Rum in existence.”
And after that, all I can say is “cheers”.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-07-16T08:09:00.000+01:00

Another week, another challenge in trying to decide which of the many captions posted should be awarded the accolade of Caption of the Week.

I really wish more people would vote, in order to relieve me of the strain and stress of having to chair a meeting of YesBut’s Editorial team. I’ll save you the trouble of reading an account of the abuse hurled - Mrs Mop can be so undignified sometimes and Mrs YesBut always reacts.

After several hours a shortlist was drawn up consisting of:

From Sunday

Ozlady’s - “ Rider: "I think that with this motor we should have a chance of beating him this year"
Pillion: "Yes, but there's two of us..."

From Tuesday

David McMahon's - "Flagging spirits"

From Thursday

Doug 's - "Rider: 'If I could only unglue this guy from my back I might have a chance of winning'."

Chewy 's - "On Your Mark, Get Set, PUSH!"

and

"It's all downhill from here."

Anonymous 's - "Despite the cutbacks in funding, the British manned expedition to Mars was finally ready to launch.."

David McMahon 's - "Back on da chain gang"

And finally from Friday

Bart 's - "Okay, you down in a row like this; I'll go get a motorcycle to jump over you."

Eight captions, but there can only be one winner, and one runner-up - a very difficult choice.

Finally it was decided the runner up was:

David McMahon's - "Flagging spirits"

This caption has two meanings, the non-obvious one being - the photo was taken at the rehearsals for the celebrations for the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall. By the afternoon, all concerned were getting rather exhausted and fed up.

The winner because it was so zany,

Anonymous’s caption -

"Despite the cutbacks in funding, the British manned expedition to Mars was finally ready to launch.."

If you disagree with the choice, then please leave a comment.

Why not post your own caption for today's image, just click here.

YesBut where have I seen it before?

2007-07-15T08:33:00.000+01:00

The above photo is part of a picture posted this week on YesBut’s Images. Click here to see if you can identify which day’s picture it’s from.

While your there check out the captions posted. Join in the fun and leave a comment with your vote for the best caption of the week 7th to 13th July inclusive.

YesBut that was the second week of July

2007-07-14T08:22:00.000+01:00

The week started with a sporting fiesta: Tennis at Wimbledon, Cycling, Le Tour De France in London and if that wasn’t enough F1, British Grand Prix from Silverston.

After two months of rain, thank goodness there was sunshine for the cycling - and a good time was had by all.

On Monday, it was nice to have some sunshine to walk along the Thames to Tower Bridge to see the Gibson Guitar Town London 2007 exhibition. Thirty 10 foot Gibson Les Paul guitars are displayed around More London, by Tower Bridge. Each guitar is signed by the associated musician to authenticate and endorse their own individual guitar. Click here to read more.

Both the Tour De France and the Gibson exhibition provided ample photo opportunities. Though cyclists passing at 30MPH doesn’t give much time to frame the shot, focus and shoot. Especially when using a digital camera you have to press the shutter button in advance in the hope cyclists will be in the frame when the shutter opens.

In the middle of the week Mrs YesBut gave me the traditional Indian dish dhal to eat, (made from split yellow peas). A very appropriate dish for this blog - the result was a cacophony of continuous farting. As a result I realised President Bush is correct; the answer to Global Warming isn’t through applying restrictions on the use of carbon based fuels in the West but by banning the Indians eating dhal.

Think about it, there are an estimated 1,129,866,154 (the figure comes from CIA - The World Factbook - India - why one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine million, eight hundred and sixty six thousand and one hundred and fifty four why not one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine million, eight hundred and sixty six thousand and one hundred and fifty five or one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine million, eight hundred and sixty six thousand and one hundred and fifty six?).

Back to Global Warming - there are over one billion Indians all eating dhal and as a result farting greenhouse gasses! Not only that - fact a cow emits more greenhouse gases in a day than a car!!

What do they have roaming all over India? Sacred cows! The combination of dhal and sacred cows must result in a massive hole in the ozone layer above India, which will inevitably result in an increase in temperature with the resultant melting of the Himalayan snow - disaster!

But to be even-handed if India is required to get rid of its sacred cows, then it has a right to demand a quid pro quo and America must stop making cowboy films.

And finally don't forget to vote for the Caption of the Week posted on YesBut’s Images on 7th to 13th July.

YesBut you are never too old.

2007-07-13T08:23:00.000+01:00

One of the noticeable things when reading blogs, or to be correct the profile of bloggers, is the wide age range of bloggers from Teens to Old Crinklies like me.

I meet people who are fearful of the approach of retirement. In their minds they only exist as the job they do. The first question they ask is not “how are you?” or “what’s your name?” but “what do you do?”. Remove them from their occupation and they become like deflated balloons. Others say “I really love my work, I don‘t want to retire”. Haven’t they heard this isn’t a rehearsal - it’s the only life we have, live it to the full.

That is one problem I have to protect against. I have great pleasure preparing this blog and YesBut’s Images, but it takes time. I have to guard against living my life out only through the medium of blogging. Having said that I have to shout from the roof tops the benefits of blogging for Old Crinklies- as they say “use it or lose it”.

The brain is a muscle and needs to be exercised. What better exercise than sitting before a blank computer screen and thinking about words and images to convey your thoughts and ideas.

Irrespective of age the brain needs its daily workout. YesBut’s Research and Development boffins have just concluded extensive tests and have conclusive evidence the optimum brain exercise is participating in YesBut’s Images Caption Competition.

Today is the last day to post a caption for the photos posted on YesBut’s Images on7th to 13th July.

So put on your thinking caps and think up captions.

But your participation doesn’t end there. It’s up to you to select the Caption of the Week. Your vote of the best and runner-up caption should be posted on YesBut’s Images blog by midnight Sunday 15th July.

To remind you of the rules:

Visit the blog and review the captions for the postings 7th to 13th July inclusive.
Select your wining caption and runner up
Post your choices on the blog (some times contributors submit more than one caption each day; so please clearly identify which caption you are nominating).
Voting will close at midnight GMT Sunday 15th July.

YesBut is it recognisable?

2007-07-12T08:27:00.000+01:00

When I started this blog I had the intention of posting something each day. The subject would depend on whatever dropped into my head that day. Gradually I formulated a method of identifying the subject for the day’s blog. So the blog was very much a hotch potch of subjects: sport, the next day politics and the day after that(?).

The international store group Woolworths ran into financial difficulties in the 80s in the UK. Sales and so profits slumped. Management consultants were called in to analyse the business. The problem was easily identified: people were not visiting Woolworth’s stores. Why? They didn’t know what Woolworths sold. The group had gone through a re-think of what it sold. As a result people who since childhood had gone to Woolworth to buy "widgets" and things, found they were no longer sold.

What has Woolworth’s problems in the 80s got to do with blogging? If you are just blogging for fun - because you are satisfying a personal need - nothing. But if you are concerned about growing the traffic visiting your blog, and importantly making return visits - everything.

Readers need to know the overall “character” of the blog. If the blog is a hotch potch of rants that’s OK. But if the blog is about photography, and then for a few days it goes off on a rant about what happened to the blogger at the hairdresser, readers are likely to get confused and the blogger is likely to lose their loyalty.

In my own case, albeit unintentionally a structure has started to appear in my blog;

Saturday is still a hotch potch review of the past week. When something catches my eye I add a snippet to the draft.

Sunday; last Sunday I posted a Sudoku puzzle for you to complete, in future weeks I will be posting other puzzles. Watch this space.

Monday is devoted to announcing the winner of YesBut’s Image - Caption of the Week Award.

Tuesday looking at what local papers are reporting around the World. I find it interesting to read what is considered important by communities around the world, also you can come across very funny (intentionally or unintentially) stories.

Wednesdays are devoted to looking at memorials and public sculptures. The preparation of the blog takes hours. Visiting the monuments to take photographs and then doing research on the monument, its subject and the sculpture. No longer do I look, or more likely pass a monument without giving it a second glance. Now I look and question. And I discover interesting historical and artistic facts. In reality the writing of the blog has become secondary - the final phase of an enjoyable journey.

As for the other two days? A hotch potch of rants or as today the sharing of information.Though I have in mind a new regular feature for Thursdays, starting next week.

Does your blog have a structure the “X” factor, which makes it iconic and its “persona” clearly identifiable?

YesBut’s Images has no problem it’s the same every day, YesBut posts a photograph and you are invited to post a suitable (humorous or amusing) caption.

Memorial day - 5

2007-07-11T08:48:00.000+01:00

This is the fifth in a series of blogs posted each Wednesday dedicated at looking at memorials and public sculptures.

Click the “view show” tab if the slideshow doesn’t open automatically

Abbey Garden adjacent to the Jewel Tower, is one of the most filmed locations in London. It lies across the road from the Houses of Parliament. It is the site TV news crews from around the world set up their cameras to interview Members of Parliament and report on notable British political events. Henry Moore’s sculptor “ Knife Edge” is located in the middle of the well manicured lawns of College Green.

The bronze sculpture was completed in 1962 specifically to be located at its present location. It was presented to the Nation in 1967 by the Contemporary Art Society.

Undoubtedly Moore (1898 - 1986) and Barbara Hepworth (1903 - 1975) were the two leading abstract sculptors in post war Britain. They introduced abstract imagery to the general British public, not in art galleries, but by their sculptors located in public spaces. While the subject of their sculptures wasn’t readily recognisable, the fact they were Moore’s or Hepworth’s work was.

Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture “Reclining Figure” 1969 -70 was stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation at 10.13 pm on Thursday 15 December 2005.It was valued at £3million (US$6m).It could never be sold as a work of art, it is believed the 2.1 tonnes figure was stolen to be broken up and sold for its scrap value for less than £10,000 ($20,000).

Click here to see YesBut’s Image of the day.

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-07-10T08:22:00.000+01:00

Do you know how many English local newspapers are published worldwide? No idea. Neither have I. But there must be thousands.

For your education, entertainment and amusement I’ve done another troll of local papers, and offer you:

From The Bayside Bulletin, Queensland, Australia - “Councillor warns on water stealing”.
“ ANY water truck filling up from the mains supplies, where the operator is not using a blue Redland Shire Council-issued standpipe, could be breaking the law. A Redland councillor has issued a reminder that anybody taking water from the mains system must use an approved metered standpipe.”

From The Barrie Examiner, Ontario, Canada - “Government Huffs and Puffs, Ombudsman finds".

“Dalton McGuinty may have earned himself a new nickname – “Puff” Daddy. There is a troubling and growing gap, the province’s Ombudsman charged in his annual report, between what Ontario’s government promises to do and what it delivers. “It has not escaped the people of Ontario that strongest leadership shown by many key government bureaucracies has been in making puffed-up promises,” Ombudsman Andre Marin said at a Queen’s Park press conference. “I’m referring to what has become an all-too familiar and rampant refrain among government organizations,” Marin said. When confronted with criticisms, failings or “shabby and incompetent” actions, government ministries, agencies, boards and commissions routinely respond with attempts to “sideline the issue” or proclaim themselves “world class,” an “international leader” or otherwise engage in self-serving hyperbole. There is a cost to such bureaucratic hype and “spin-doctoring,” the Ombudsman maintained. “If government and their agencies believe they can hustle the public, they will be tempted to leave their programs under-resourced and flawed, crossing their fingers that no one will pull back their Wizard-of-Oz curtain and expose the real state of affairs,” Marin said. “.
From the North Devon Gazette, England - “Pub takes last gasp”.

“SIR Walter Raleigh joined customers at the Appledore Inn in Bideford for a last puff on Saturday night as smoking in public premises came to an end. Customer Liz Byng dressed for the part as the locals played out The Final Ashes with an evening in which smoke held sway. A smoking-related quiz brought prizes of ashtrays, lighters and nicotine patches, there was a tasty buffet of smoked foods and a smoke machine added to the atmosphere. Was it tears, or did smoke get in the eyes of the regulars as young Albert Vane, 12-year-old son of landlords Simon and Lucy Vane, serenaded them with "Smoke On The Water?"“.
And that's the news form around the world for anther week

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-07-09T07:30:00.000+01:00

Last week there were some difficult images to think up captions for, but as always those who participated came up trumps.

There were two captons that deserved to be awarded the Caption of the Week Award, and both were posted on Wednesday, they were:

b.t. bear (esq.)’s caption - “The unusual July winds had blown away the "Caution: WET GLUE" sign from the wall“;

and Doug’s caption - “Randy hoped his cool new sunglasses would make his friends forget about his B.O. problem but alas it was to no avail.”

YesBut’s Editorial Team couldn’t decide which should have the award. It was decided the tie break would be a comparison between the other captions posted by b.t. and Doug.

Finally it was decided YesBut’s Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 30th June to 6th July 2007 should be awarded to - click here to see.

Le Tour De France

2007-07-08T11:24:00.000+01:00

Tour De France peloton passing YesBut’s London HQ.

I would have joined in but unfortunately I’ve lost my bicycle clips - and I don’t want to dirty my trousers on the chain.

Sudoku 1

2007-07-08T07:32:00.000+01:00

I have no idea how Sudoku puzzles are compiled. Do the compilers fill in the matrix with numbers, then remove some of them. Is there more than one solution to a puzzle? There must be an optimum number of numbers which will make the puzzle difficult. If too few numbers are given then there must be more than one solution. All very confusing.

All I know is I’ve been trying to complete this puzzle for days without success. Be my guest if you want to have a go, good luck.

If you want another puzzle, then click here to go to YesBut’s Image and select the caption of the week - leave your nomination as a comment

YesBut that was the first week of July.

2007-07-07T08:19:00.000+01:00

Gosh isn’t 2007 passing quickly. How time flies when you are having fun.

This has been a mixed week. First the very good news; the release after 114 days of Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent kidnapped in Palestine. It was nice to have such good news in the middle of the week. Up until then it had been a disaster: having travelled to Wales for some summer sunshine, all YesBut and friends got was rain and more rain. If that wasn’t enough, while in Wales, YesBut and co. had to rely on the local library for internet access. Last Saturday the system crashed. Every morning and afternoon YesBut trooped bravely through the rain and wind to the library in the hope the system was up and running. Access was finally re-established with cyberspace late Wednesday afternoon; and so albeit belatedly the winner of last week’s YesBut’s Caption of the Week Award could finally be announced. Congratulations b.t. bear(esq.).

It was a relief to get back to London on Thursday and the comfort of a familiar computer and (keeping my fingers crossed) reliable internet connection. In the words of Simon & Garfunkel - Gee its great to be back home. Home is where I want to be . . .

I play a game when choosing the photo for YesBut’s Images, to see how far I can push the limits before it becomes impossible to think up a caption, I guess I found that level on Fri day, when no one posted a caption. But given the floods that have occurred in the UK over the last two weeks, plus London depends on the protection of the Thames Barrier from being flooded; the photo and the title was very appropriate. But there were great captions posted on the other days, so why not click here and choose your nomination for the Caption of the Week Award.

Not much time to spend on the computer today. For the first time ever, the Tour de France cycle race is starting from London. So Mrs YesBut has made the sandwitches and Mrs Mop has filled the vacuum flasks with tea, and we’re all off to see the cyclists’ wiz past.

Buddhism and tennis.

2007-07-06T08:11:00.000+01:00

The All England Tennis Championship held in Wimbledon is coming to an end for another year. Throughout the world Wimbledon is synonymous with tennis. If you rented a six bedroom house in Calonne Road, Wimbledon, for the two weeks of the tournament it could cost you £25,000. Yes $25,000 per week.

For the rest of the year Calonne Road is an upmarket London suburban road. It is the fourth most expensive road in Wimbledon, with an average house purchase price of £2 million. Look down the road and it doesn’t look very special - apart that is for the luxury houses. Look through the gateway of number 14 and you see a large brown bricked house. But unlike the other houses the gate to the property is open, enter the grounds turn right and be prepared to be surprised.

The house and its grounds were bought by the Thai Embassy in 1975. Construction soon commenced on a Buddhist temple in its grounds. On 30 October 1982, the ceremony required to “consecrate” the temple was performed. Watt Buddhapadipa temple became a formal temple according to the Thai (Theravada) Buddhist tradition.

The slide show (click “view show” to view the photos), does not show the jewel in the crown. In 1984 a group of young Thai artists volunteered to paint murals depicting the life of the Buddha. At the peak, 14 artists worked on the murals. The paintings were completed in time to be inaugurated on 20th December 1987.

If you visit London - Watt Buddhapadipa is a must place to see.

Click here to see YesBut’s Image of the day and leave a suggestion for a caption.

YesBut keep it in good order

2007-07-05T08:46:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago in my blog “YesBut copy first”, I gave suggestions to follow when editing digital photos. The product of editing is the production of more images, with the inevitable increase in files and computer storage used. Its supprising how quickly storage space can be taken up - I have just checked, last month I stored 593 photographs using 413 MB of storage (those are just the originals, excluding edited copies). Unless you have an ordered approach, searching for photos can become like looking for a needle in a hay stack, and your computer chocked up with un-required data.

So some suggestions:

Have a logical filing system. I file my photos by month, with sub-folders for subjects (visits, special occasions and events) i.e. (the photos I took during my visit to Holland in May are filled in a sub-folder in my “May File”). I also have a file for photos posted or to be posted on YesBut’s Images.

One of the advantages of storing your files on a computer is the ability to “name” each photo. Looking at a photo recently taken, you can recall all the details; where it was taken and when. But with time the information will fade from your memory. So take sometime to record when and where a photo was taken - PIC 00034(London 29.6.7).

I readily admit I have a weakness; I am reluctant to throw anything away. I’m unwilling even to delete an out-of-focus underexposed photo, (you never know when it might be useful). But the time will come when you have to do some housekeeping or your computer will come to a grinding halt. Before that happens, get into the habit of backing up your files every month. Copy your files to DVD or CD. This is a prudent thing to do - you do not want to risk losing all your photos and correspondence when your computer’s hard disc self-destructs.

After you have downloaded the files to disc, check the disc has been successfully copied, and all the files can be accessed. Label the disc and store it in a safe place. If you want to take a belt and braces approach you can duplicate the disc.

Then you can clean up your files. Only keep on your computer files you think you will have to access. The rest? Delete them. If in the future you want to look at other files, you will be able to download them from the disc.

Keep it clean mean and orderly. Sorry if I sounded “preachy”.

Click here to post your entry in YesBut's Images Caption of the Week competition

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-07-04T08:59:00.000+01:00

Once again I have been surfing the net to find interesting stories in local newspapers. I leave it to you to judge the success.

From The Baytown Sun, Texas, - “Lee replaces Conlee for July 3-4 event”. ”Just a week before some of the biggest country musicians take the stage at Baytown’s two-day Fourth of July celebration, organizers have been scrambling to replace one of the headliners.John Conlee — best known for his “Rose Colored Glasses” — was scheduled to close the July 3 show but had to cancel this week because of a family emergency.“His wife underwent minor surgery (Tuesday), and it turned into major surgery,” said parks director Scott Johnson, whose department is planning the event. “He’s pretty much canceled everything out of (his hometown) Nashville for a while so he can stay home to take care of her.”Local favorite Johnny Lee and his Urban Cowboy Band have been booked to replace Conlee. Born in Texas City, Lee is probably most famous for his appearance in the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy,” which included a performance of his song “Lookin’ for Love.”“We’re disappointed not to have Conlee, but we’re excited about Lee,” Johnson said. “When you’re a week away, you don’t want to change your lineup, but sometimes, that’s the way it works.””

From the Chronicle Herald , Halifax, Nova Scotia – “Pregnant, male and happy”. “A MALE IS expected to give birth soon at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography — and there’s nothing freakish about it. That’s just the way things work among seahorses.
"It’s the only animal in the world where the males bear the young," Jim Frost, fish lab manager at BIO, said Wednesday as he fed six seahorses that the Dartmouth institute obtained earlier this month from the Canadian Wildlife Service.”

From the Kaieteur News, Geaorgetown, Guyana. – “Freed murder accused sprints out of court and attracts police bullets …still missing hours later”. “Chaos erupted at the Christianburg Magistrate's Court yesterday, after a police constable shot at a murder accused, who had sprinted from the court compound.
The police constable had no way of knowing that the accused, Denzil Higgins, had just been freed on the capital charge.
The constable had only minutes before brought the prisoner in handcuffs to the court, and was unaware that the case against the accused had been dismissed.
Fortunately, none of the bullets hit the fleet-footed prisoner, who up to late last night had not even made contact with his relatives.
Higgins, called ‘Kidda', was accused of murdering Brazilian businessman Brazilian, José Filho, three years ago.
But the preliminary inquiry had dragged on after one of the key witnesses, ex-superintendent Charles Alleyne, repeatedly failed to turn up to testify against the accused.
Yesterday, Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys decided to dismiss the case against Higgins.
On setting him free, Magistrate Gilhuys reportedly warned Higgins that he would be re-arrested if the witness turned up while he was still in the compound.
On hearing this, Higgins immediately bolted out of the court like a 100-metre sprinter.
He bolted past the police rank who had escorted him to court.
The constable instinctively drew his firearm and discharged it at the ‘escaping' prisoner.
The bullets missed, and Higgins increased his pace significantly.
As the gunshots rang out, curious onlookers and bystanders ran helter-skelter while others dived for cover.
One man even exited his car, and ran into the nearby Christianburg School yard, no doubt considering that location a safe sanctuary.
Pupils at that school ran out of the compound to see what the commotion was all about, only to be hustled back inside by concerned teachers.
The convict's mother, who witnessed the drama, shouted: “He free, he free, is kill they trying fuh kill he. Ya know wha it is to be free? Is excited he excited mek he running.”
A subsequent search of the surrounding vicinity proved futile, as the lucky man apparently made good his escape in nearby bushes
Higgins has reportedly not been seen since and some persons even joked that he was still running.
Kaieteur News understands that minutes after the matter was dismissed, the tardy ex-police superintendent, who was to have testified, turned up at the court.
This prompted Magistrate Gilhuys to immediately call Commander Mark Gilbert, and mandated that a thorough investigation into the matter be carried out. “

And that's the news form around the world for anther week

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

2007-07-02T08:04:00.000+01:00

This hasn’t been a great week for YesBut. The YesBut entourage came to Wales two weeks ago for its annual transfusion of Welsh sunshine. Who mentioned Global warming? – its rained non-stop for 16 days! While in Wales YesBut has to rely on the local library for Internet access. To add to the pain, misery and frustration last Saturday, the rubber band operating the library computer system broke. Morning and afternoon YesBut has been making pilgrimages through the rain to the library, all in vain.

As I said last Friday, there were a number of brilliant captions posted last week.

On Saturday Doug thought St Paul’s Cathedral looked like a space ship ready to take off. His suggested caption being : - “Unbenknowest to the citizens, the cathedral was actually a spaceship, poised for launch”

On Sunday Bart brought a smile to Mrs YesBut’s face with his caption : "When you said we should "go incognito" I didn't really think you meant like this."

Monday YesBut’s Editorial Board was thrown into a bit of a tiz after Rodrigo posted a caption in Spanish or it might have been Portages, (all they knew was it wasn’t English and Dai Blog told them it wasn’t Welsh). I’m afraid they can’t cope with captions other than in English.

Mrs YesBut liked Bart’s caption "This is a perfect hiding place...just keep perfectly still, and everyone will think we're another pointless sign”. While Big Bev wanted to declare Chewy the winner with “I need one that says, "You can't get there from here". . We had to point out to her there were another four days to go before the competition ended. And as Dai the Box said there were also captions from Doug and David to consider. All I was praying was enough people would vote this week, and the decision wouldn’t be left to this motley lot.

Only David McMahon and Doug submitted captions on Tuesday – I wonder did everybody else find it too difficult to think up a caption?

On Wednesday I thought I had posted a photo which was virtually impossible to think up a funny caption. My apologies to all, how could I be so mistaken, six gems were produced. Both Dai Ready Money (YesBut’s treasurer) and Dai Watch the Birdie (YesBut’s ace photographer and Mrs YesButs brother), on seeing the captions exclaimed this weeks winning caption had been posted that day.

The photo on Thursday was taken at the celebrations for the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall, London. And those who posted captions entered into the festive spirit.

I hold my hand-up, Friday’s image was difficult to identify no need think up a caption.

So to the winners, and my heart-felt apologies for the belated announcement. As you gather from reading the above, there were a number of captions, which could have won, but there can only be one winner.

Two captions I consider particularly memorable. Like Friday’s the image of a railway crossing posted on Wednesday didn’t provide obvious captions. Consequently Chewy’s caption – “Today’s word jumble puzzle. wacht = watch”, was therefore notable. It was also very pertinent with the uproar that has occurred in the UK over the scandal of premier rate telephone call charges levied by television channels running money making quizzes (they charged £1 per call even if the call wasn’t even answered). Therefore Chewy wins the runner up award.

But the winner this week must be b.t. bear (esq.) caption – “Oh bugger it. Let’s buy one.”, posted on Friday 28th June. The reason for giving the award for this caption is:

to have thought up any caption, for such a ambiguous image was brilliant.

the caption provides an astute social comment on our consumer driven society – don’t know what it is, don’t know what is does, don’t know if I need one or whether it will be used, but I must have one.

So congratulations to b.t. for being the second recipient of the award.

Click here to see the winning caption.

YesBut that was the last week of June

2007-06-30T08:16:00.000+01:00

People get problems thinking what to blog about. Writers block shouldn’t occur to the British – there’s always the weather to talk about! April was the warmest on record. In some parts of the country June has been the wettest. Last week was particularly bad with flash floods.

Last weekend was the annual mud bath, known as Glastonbury Music Festival. One of the surprise hits at this year’s festival was the geriatric Dame Shirley Bassey (She of the Gold Finger). The TV National News on Monday reported her helicopter taking here home from the gig had to make an emergency landing due to bad weather. And what’s more, wait for it Dame Shirley, asked a nearby householder if she could use their toilet. Wars all over the world, the Middle East in chaos and all British TV News can report is a sing peed!!

If Glastonbury attracts mud, then the All England Tennis Championship at Wimbledon attracts rain. This year the British were pinning their hopes on Andy Murray but he had to pull out before the tournament started with a bad wrist. Big gloom descended over the country – and I’m not only refereeing to the rain clouds. Then a miracle occurred, the written off former British No.1, Tim Henman managed to win a match. You should have heard the crowds “Come on Tim”, “We love you Tim2 – you would have thought he had won the Championship.

So he (I’m determined not to mention his name again) has finally departed and is no longer Prime Minister of Great Britain. At this point I’ll call for three cheers hip hip, hip hip, hip hip.

His last overseas act was to go and see the Pope. There are rumours that he (the former PM, not the Pope) is thinking of converting to be a Catholic. I assume he thinks being a catholic will give him a better chance of becoming a Saint. To become a saint you have had to have done one miracle. He missed out on his miracle in not finding WMDs in Iraq. If he does become a saint he will be known as Saint Anthony the Bringer of Death.

It is interesting to note that even at the start of the 21st century, its thought to be inappropriate to be a Catholic and British Prime Minister!

One advantage of his departure was, we also got rid of the "Fatman" on the right. He was the Deputy Prime Minister. He had two peaks in his political career. The first, during a general election campaign, when he landed a punch on the chin of a protester who had thrown an egg at him. The second, when he raised to the occasion, and was caught screwing his Appointment Secretary on his Ministerial office desk.

This is the last week when you can smoke in English pubs. A new law will come in force tomorrow banning smoking in enclosed areas and work places. I knew I should have invested in the company who makes nicotine patches. England is the last, Ireland & Scotland went smoke free last year and Wales in April.

Don’t forget go to YesBut’s Images to vote for the caption of the week

YesBut's Images Caption of the Week Award - Final reminder

2007-06-29T08:18:00.000+01:00

Today is the last day to post a caption for the photos posted on YesBut’s Images on 23rd to 29th June.

So put on your thinking cap and think up captions. But your participation doesn’t end there. It’s up to you to select the Caption of the Week. Your vote of the best and runner-up caption should be posted on YesBut’s Images blog by midnight Sunday 1st July.

This week there have been a number of imaginative and humorous captions posted on YesBut’s Images, which will make the selection of the Caption of the Week a challenge, so please cast your votes. Don’t leave to YesBut’s Editorial Team. I don’t think I could endure another of their meetings, the constant sniping between Mrs YesBut and Mrs Mop. Trying to persuade Dai the Blog to keep his mind on the business of the meeting and his hands off Big Bev’s assets. Heaven forbid even Dai Roaming is threatening to find his way to the office. So for the sake of my sanity please cast your votes.

To remind you of the rules:

Visit the blog and review the captions for the postings 23rd to 29th June inclusive.
Select your wining caption and runner up
Post your choices on the blog (some times contributors submit more than one caption each day; so please clearly identify which caption you are nominating).
Voting will close at midnight GMT Sunday 1st July.

Winners Logo

2007-06-28T12:10:00.001+01:00

YesBut's Images Caption Award Winners logo looks great on Bart's blog

YesBut how can I speed up my computer?

2007-06-28T08:34:00.000+01:00

One of my pastimes is to visit message boards especially those devoted to technical forums. I admit at the onset, I’m very much a dummy rather than a geek. But I like reading about Firebox extensions and Plugins, don’t understand a word of what I’m reading, but I admire people’s ingenuity and technical skills.

One of the main questions asked on message boards is “how can I speed up my computer?”

I have had YesBut’s computer boffins to address the problem, with the additional requirement it must be easily applied even by the most inept and computer illiterate person (i.e. me).

Edward de Bono, the pioneer of “lateral thinking” tackled a similar problem some years ago. The problem he had to address was:

For the fifteen minutes before the start of the workday at a large office block, and again at the end of the working day, large queues formed for the lifts (elevators). There was no room to install additional lifts, nor any method of speeding up the existing lifts. How could the congestion be relieved?

Phasing the starting times was one option, but it would have unacceptable disruptive effects on interdepartmental activities. The solution was simple and inexpensive. Mirrors were installed in all the lift lobbies. People were so busy looking at themselves in the mirror; they no longer noticed the time taken waiting for a lift.

So back to the speeding up a computer problem.

It takes about a minute from the time I switch on the computer to the time the Windows XP bing bong sounds and I can click to open my account. It then takes another three minutes to (I think the jargon is) boot-up, and I can surf the internet. So applying the mirror solution. I start up the computer, go into the kitchen fill the electric kettle and switch it on. Go back to the computer, click to open my account. Return to the kitchen and make my breakfast. Return to the computer which by then is up and running and ready to go.

That solution is OK at the start of the day, but what about during the day? There you are up and running wanting to post your blog, and your computer has sneaked off to its private dreamland. No problem, have a book of Sudoku puzzles at hand. Direct your attention to finding the missing numbers and forget about the computer. Or get yourself one of those executive desk toys - click your Newton’s Balls. Simple

Another thing you can do is click here see today’s YesBut’s Images, then when your computer has its little siesta, think about a caption.

Memorial day - 4

2007-06-27T08:54:00.000+01:00

Between the Embankment and Horse Guards, at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall Court, north of the Ministry of Defence in Westminster, London, stands the Gurkha Soldier Memorial, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth 2 on December 3, 1997

“Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you",

the words by Sir Ralph Turner, inscribed on the memorial, who served with the 3rd Queen Alexandra‘s Own Gurkha Rifles in World War 1..

The Gurkha people take their name from the eighth century Hindu warrior saint Guru Gorakhnath and are native to Nepal. They fought against the British East India Company in the Gurkha War (1814 - 1816). So impressed were the British, that after the war ground to a stalemate the “Company” were granted permission to hire Gurkhas. So came into being the Gurkha Regiment to fight as mercenaries for the British. Today, under International Law the Gurkhas are not treated as mercenaries, the Brigade of Ghurkhas is fully integrated into the British Army.

One hundred thousand Gurkhas fought in the First World War and 250,000 in WW2. Post WW2, while American troops got bogged down in Vietnam, the Gurkhas were one, if not “The”, major factor in quelling the communist insurrection in Malaya.

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest award for valour “in the face of the enemy” granted to members of British forces. Gurkha soldiers have won 13 VCs; in addition 13VCs have been awarded to British Officers serving in Gurkha regiments. The Gurkhas are truly legendary soldiers and are one of the foremost elite fighting units, not only in the British Army, but any army.

The emblem of the Brigade of Gurkhas is the “kukri” knife, an iconic symbol of bravery.

Click here to see YesBut’s Image of the day and make a suggestion of a suitable caption for the picture.

YesBut what's the local news?

2007-06-26T08:26:00.000+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have attempted to find some interesting snippets from local papers, to inform and entertain you.

From the Mackay Daily Mercury, Queensland Australia – “Rude customers will not be served - cafe owner”. “

GORDI'S Bar and Cafe owner, Gary Choy said people might complain about bad service in Mackay, but from his perspective on the other side of the counter, customers could be just plain rude. "Customers can be horribly rude in Mackay, but that's the same everywhere else," he said.
"If I have someone who clicks their fingers at me, I won't serve them. We are here to serve not to be treated like a piece of dirt."
He instructs staff at Gordi's Bar and Cafe and his restaurant, Pacino's, to do likewise.
Mr Choy's comments come after hospitality consultant Rowena Hardy said there were a significant number of businesses in Mackay which gave bad service. “

From the Lennox Independent, South Dakota – “Shootin’ in the Dakota Territory to be held in Lennox July 21-22”
”Yeeehaa! Get ready for some cowboy fun! On July 21 and 22 the Dakota Territory Mounted Shooters (DTMS) will host the 2007 South Dakota State Shoot - Shootin’ in the Dakota Territory at the Whitehead Arena just south of Lennox.This state event will bring riders from four states together, all competing for points that will help send them to the national event in Las Vegas, NV next November.Dakota Territory Mounted Shooters is a local club formed in January of 2006 to foster the family oriented equestrian sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting. President of the club is Mike Whitehead, of Lennox. They have a business meeting once a month and practice twice a month.What is Cowboy Mounted Shooting? According to the DTMS website (www.daktms.com), Cowboy Mounted Shooting® is one of the nation’s fastest growing equestrian sports. Mounted contestants compete in this fast action timed event using two .45 caliber single action revolvers each loaded with five rounds of specially prepared blank ammunition. Courses of fire are set in a variety of patterns. The first half (5 targets) of a course of fire will vary with each go and requires the horse and rider to stop, turn, change leads and accelerate rapidly. The second half (5 targets), called the “run down”, is a straight course with targets set at 36 foot intervals.Typically, a competitor crosses the timing beam at a full gallop and engages the first pattern of five targets. After a shooter fires the fifth shot, he or she returns the empty revolver to a holster and proceeds to and turns around a barrel and then races to the far end of the arena while drawing a second revolver. At the far end the horse and rider turn another barrel and then engage the five remaining targets of the run down at full speed.”

And from the UK, the Chester Observer – “Vandals steal underpass safety barriers”. Thieves have put walkers and cyclists in danger by stealing safety barriers at a Bognor Regis underpass.
The tubular aluminium structures were stolen overnight from both ends of the underpass which connects the northern and southern sections of Gordon Avenue.The 40-yard long passage goes through the banks of the A259 Hotham Way flyover and is used as a cycleway and a footpath.The barriers were separated from their supports which have been left behind in the pavements.Stunned West Sussex County Council's highways officers believe the barriers could only have been stolen. "They have probably been taken for their scrap value," a spokesman said."We take the matter very seriously. The barriers were there for safety reasons and we will be replacing them, though we don't have a date yet."

From the Port Elizabeth Herald, South Africa – “Top cop asked to explain MEC rumpus”.
“A LATE-NIGHT altercation between Humewood police and Eastern Cape safety and security MEC Thobile Mhlahlo at the weekend took a bizarre turn yesterday when a senior Port Elizabeth police officer was summoned to Bhisho to report on the incident.
This comes amid fresh allegations that Mhlahlo was apprehended by police after he became embroiled in a heated argument with police when his chauffeur, Constable Zotwa, was stopped for driving under the influence at about 1am on Sunday.
The Herald has learned that Inspector Ronald Koll, station commissioner of the Humewood police station, was ordered to report to provincial commissioner Mpumelelo Landu to explain what took place during the confrontation between his officers and Mhlahlo.
Koll confirmed he was in Bhisho on Monday, presenting statements taken from the officers on the scene.
He said Landu wished to investigate the matter at a provincial level.
However, Mhlahlo yesterday denied he had been apprehended and refused to comment on the incident, saying only: “If we have moles within the SAPS we should follow and talk to those moles.”
The Herald reported on Monday that Mhlahlo had been called by Zotwa after the chauffeur was pulled over by members of the flying squad for changing lanes without indicating.
According to a police statement issued on Sunday, Mhlahlo and his driver went to the Humewood police station, where the matter was solved and the driver issued with a fine.However, a well-placed source said yesterday that when Mhlahlo arrived on the scene, he threatened to take away a police officer‘s gun and throw him off a bridge.”

Click here to view YesBut's Images

Winner of the YesBut’s Image - Caption of the Week Award.

2007-06-25T08:20:00.000+01:00

Before I announce the identity of the first winner of the award, I have to say, the standard of the captions posted last week was extremely high. YesBut’s Editorial team had great fun each day reading the captions and discussing their merits. (Actually some of the discussions were less than affable).

Starting with Friday 15th, YesBut’s photographer Dai Watch the Birdie, liked Ozlady’s caption “I may be a square, but you’re just muzak”

On Saturday Big Bev loved Doug’s “Yes officer . . . They were sitting right there before the UFO landed”. And Dai the Blog agreed, but that’s not saying much, being under Big Bev’s cleavage power he agrees with everything she says.

Now Sunday brought out the worst in YesBut’s Editorial team, with team members almost resorting to violence to get everyone to agree with their selection. Dai Ready Money liked Chewy’s “Smile and look at the birdie!” – because it was open to a multiple of interpretations: the conventional “watch the birdie”, the fact the hats looked like pink birds, and the none PC reference to women as birds.

Monday Dai Roaming, YesBut’s foreign correspondent managed to find his way to the office, and Mrs Mop struck him over the head with her brush. When he came around he was enthusiastic about Ozlady’s “Don’t get shirty with me”. But on reflection he might have been addressing Mrs Mop.

Opinions were divided on Tuesday between Ozlady’s “**swaying** . . . and you-u-u, light up my life . . .”; and David McMahon’s “Watts up”.

Wednesday was very special, Dai the Box laughed at Ozlady’s “Guys – shut up, I’m trying to read this sign . . . ‘U-N that’s un, D-E- R, that’s der . . .”, (being a grumpy old fart i never laugh). While Mrs YesBut (she who must be obayed) thought David McMahon’s caption “Okay, so you won the Monopoly game this time, but here’s an IOU for the station”, was very clever.

What superlatives can be said about Thursday’s captions? Anyone of them could quite justifiably be chosen as the Caption of the Week. As far YesBut’s Editorial Team were concerned they couldn’t come to an agreement on which was the caption of the day.

A high standard was maintained throughout the week, none more so than on Friday. It was great to see a new contributor – Mrs YesBut and Mrs Mop both agreed (which is a rare event) that she (they tell me Wackjobs is a she) will be a strong contender.

I’m afraid only two people voted – sad (I’m sure it’s not a reflection on the quality of the captions posted).

One vote was for Chewy’s caption on the 21st June – “Drank that frozen Margarita too fast! Brain freeze, brain freeze. Oh, that hurts!”

The other was for Bart’s caption on the 19th June – “84 squares, 85 squares, 86 squares, orange and green blockades...? Oh crap, now I've lost count...1 square, 2 squares... “

I really wish YesBut’s Editorial team didn’t have to decide. But after much squabbling the first winner of YesBut’s Images Caption of the Week Award is – BART.

There are two reasons:

I originally chose the photograph because no caption was readily obvious, and to
post any caption was an achievement.

Bart’s caption showed a high
degree of both imagination and humour.

I hope you agree with the final choice. I also hope more people will vote at the end of this week.

The winner - click here to see.

YesBut that was the third week of June

2007-06-23T09:01:00.000+01:00

Just about got over the disappointment of not appearing in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. At least Beefy, Ian Botham got a knighthood which he fully deserves for his cricket achievements and fundraising. Through long distance sponsored walks has raised £10 million for leukaemia research. (Glad to see the Duke of Edinburgh is keeping his head warm - can’t be too careful when your 86 years old)

So they’ve discovered that the Amazon is the longest river in the world, at 6,800km (4,250 miles) it is 105 km longer than the Nile. Who says size doesn’t count!

Last Sunday there were ceremonies in London marking the 25th anniversary of the end of Falkland Island conflict. The events finished with a fly past. Tony Blair was accompanying members of the Royal Family and Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister at the time of the war.

I wonder if Blair was thinking “this is a celebration of Thatcher’s triumph, but in 25 years time there will be no celebration for me”. Too right! In 25 years time Blair will still be remembered as the Prime Minister who lied to his country and took it into an unwanted war.

On Tuesday in response to the posting “YesBut what does it mean?” , B.T. Bear asked for suggestions for a word for the time between someone farting and the reaction of others in their company. My first suggestion was “pungent pause”. But after due consideration I’ve come up with:

Using the prefix for before “pre”, you get prepong, or prestink or pressence. But if you consider the word relates to the
time period between the fart and the smelling, you could use smellspell. But I think my preferred word is preordouraction.

David McMahon wrote in his blog on Thursday, about being in Melbourne on the Shortest Day of the Year. What a coincident it was the Longest Day of the Year in the UK!!! We blog a World apart. For the record in Wales it rained and rained and rained.

Like the Indian Royal families of old, and Alpine goat headers; YesBut and his entourage has moved to its summer pastures. After the sun and the rain of May and June the grass is so high, its difficult to find the computer! One result of being away from YesBut’s HQ is I have to rely on the local library to get internet access, so there will be no posting tomorrow. I’m posting two images today on YesBut’s Images site, so you can think up plenty of captions.

I really really hope you vote in the Captions of the Week Competition, there have been some fantastic entries this week, so please click here for YesBut’s Images and cast your vote for the captions posted 16th to 22nd June inclusive.