Diana Was On Early Shift,

although it was Sunday, 

due to staff shortages Diana was asked to come in, so as it was late afternoon before she returned we decided rather than have our Sunday lunch at home, we would treat ourselves to a meal out, so waterproofs on,

for the walk into town, Diana had reserved a table at My Place, 

as it happens we need not have booked, we virtually had the place to ourselves,

table found and drinks ordered,

a Pimm's for Diana, a bottle of white for myself,

'Cheers!', with Diana's Pimm's,

and myself, 

I had to try Diana's Pimm's, and nice it was too,

we kept to the 3 course £21.59 Sunday lunch menu, for starters Diana ordered arancini with cheese and chorizo, 

 

for myself B-B-Q spare ribs,

after a suitable break Diana's chicken arrived,

as did my roast pork, both with a nice selection of vegetables, broccoli, swede, parsnips, carrots and potatoes, and a huge Yorkshire pudding, 

for dessert a huge cheesecake for Diana,

a mixed berry crumble with ice cream for myself, we decided against having a coffee here, nice though everything was,

so we stopped off at O'Neill's, on our way back,

I ordered at the bar,

a coffee for Diana and a larger and lime for myself, 'Cheers!', rainwear back on and we walked home, where it was feet up for 2 Columbo's back to back, after a snack as by now it was late we watched a Midsomer Murder before we were off to bed.

Lets Start The Week With A Few Funnies,

from Australian Tim Whyatt,

all cartoons courtesy of Tim Whyatt, the article appeared in Bored Panda, from the article, Tim was asked some questions: 

When asked, "How did comics come into your life?" Whyatt recalled his early days and explained, "I really got into cartoons in grade 5 when one of my classmates started bringing Mad Magazines to school. I couldn’t believe how good the artwork was. I then became really hooked on cartoons in the 90s when I saw The Far Side for the first time. They were the funniest cartoons I had ever seen. (And they still are!)" discussing his creative inspiration, he said, "My only inspiration is my constant need to entertain myself. If I have a blank piece of paper in front of me, I will just start drawing until I find something amusing." He also hinted at his humorous personality in daily life by sharing, "My ten-year-old son recently told me that he was starting to get too mature for my jokes. I think that tells you everything you need to know." regarding his identity and future plans, he maintained his humorous demeanor by joking, "I’m an Australian which means I ride a kangaroo to work. I’m fluent in both English and American. I’m almost as attractive as the characters I draw. I’m working on a new book as we speak." I hope you enjoy these as much as I did, these are just a few from the 45 cartoons in the article, 

for more about Tim, and lots more cartoons, have a look at his Instagram page, a great way to start the week.

It Might Be A Magic Trick,

but it is in fact a musical instrument, 

the photographs are from the Byron collection, but little more information is given on the photo other than “Musical act” pencilled on the back. The unusual contraption depicted was probably the centrepiece of a musical act at Coney Island or at Union Square circa early 1900s,

 but looking further I found this at (Roughly) Daily:

‘Mr. and Mrs. Karsy, an inventive and original “team” on the variety stage, have created a new and extrodinary musical instrument which is known as the Giant Myriophone (Myriphon). It is the work of a genius and when under full swing produces music similar to that of a full string band. Only two persons are required to produce this immense volume of sound. “The Myriophone has the appearance of a large screen, with a number of wheels fitted on the front. These wheels have strings fitted on them and look much like bicycle wheels. They are set in motion by four lusty stage hands concealed in the rear, and the performers who have a small stick of wood in each hand touch the strings, thus making a note, which can be prolonged to any length. The Myriophone consists of twenty-five discs, each with eighty strings, making 2,000 in all. The sounding boards are made of the same wood as is used in pianos. Regular piano strings are used’,

I then found out a little more about this fantastical instrument, above reproduced courtesy of The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, (IBEW), where I found this article, what a amazing machine, I just wish someone could have recorded the sounds it made, looking at it I guess it would be a Herculean task to build another, but if some one has a few spare evenings, with winter just a few months away, you could always try to make one in your garden shed or garage!

As Diana Was On Late Shift,

we decided on a fry up together in the morning,

and with a mug of tea, what a great start to the day!

Diana left before me as I was updating some of the forms we need in the shop and printing them off, a nice bright sunny day, as I walked to the number 54 bus stop, 

arriving at the shop I gave Graham the forms, 

this is one of the nine different forms Bromley council need to see made out every month, one form for each bank of aquariums, the title at the top is where the bank of aquariums are in the shop, the letters the rows showing each aquarium, each aquarium numbered, every aquarium in the shop has to be individually tested monthly for ph, No2, No3, Gh, as you might imagine to take a test of these 4 parameters is not cheap, both in the cost of the kits and reagents and more importantly the huge labour costs involved, it always amazes me when someone in government states that they are going to cut down on paperwork for small business, Kingfisheries started trading in 1953, I started there as a Saturday boy in 1963, all went well until 4 years ago when these forms were introduced, multiplying our work load 10 fold or more, and do you know what is worse? the council officer who calls in every 6 months to see the forms admitted in the shop the forms mean nothing to her! she just has to see them to make a click on her computer, what a complete and utter waste of time, money and resources, 56 years of operating a business without these forms, but if we do not comply we loose our pet trade licence, cut down on paperwork? go tell it to the marines!

I caught a 227 back to the church and walked through the green,

as I neared the snail mail box the skies starting to cloud over, 

arriving home it was remarkably late, changing the forms had taken me longer than I thought, so on to a sherry and a read,

for my meal tonight Diana had made me a lamb stew, which was delicious,

'Cheers!',

for the evening I had chosen 2 films, both of which I seen before, both of which I enjoyed watching a again, firstly The Statement, it is the tale of a former Nazi executioner who becomes a target of hit men and Police investigators, a few moral questions of course rear their heads, the central character during the war killed Innocent people, but is it right to in this day and age execute him with out a trial?

the next film another great favourite of mine, Rare Birds, Dave is down, his wife lives in Washington, D.C.; his restaurant, the Auk, in an out-of-the-way Newfoundland inlet is dying through lack of trade, an odd-duck of a neighbour, Phonce, contrives to keep Dave in town and his restaurant in business by faking and reporting the sighting of a rare bird, I really liked this conversation when a photo was published of the rare duck and Dave was worried some one might blow up the picture and find it was a fake,

Phonce: 'Dave who is going to blow up the picture? the International Bird Police? Interbird?' 

and of course Phonce 'always have a plan B Dave' is always there in a crisis, a great music soundtrack makes this feel good movie even better, during which Diana arrived home, so as she was on early shift tomorrow we were off to bed.

I Guess Most Of Us Enjoy Bond Movies,

and if you thought you knew them all, here is the Bond film that never was,

pictures found on Flashback,

Never Dream of Dying was to be released in 1978, the director was Tinto Brass,

it never made it to theatres because of some hardcore sexual situations in the film, so I guess there must be a copy of the film out there, 

but apparently these these merchandising cards remain the last physical evidence of the Bond film that never was,

I have no idea who would have played Bond, but the UK tabloid the Daily Mirror in its Sunday issue claimed that the recently announced ‘Bond 25’ would be based on the 2001 James Bond novel ‘Never Dream of Dying’, written by Raymond Benson, just those cards left? surly there must be a copy of the film in a vault somewhere.

If You Like Eating Your Fish Fresh,

this style of restaurant could be for you,

from a article by E-lyn Tham, in Japan there are restaurants where you catch your own fish in the restaurant where it is then cooked, this one is the Zauo Fishing Restaurant, 

all you have to do is try to catch the fish of your choice, the choices including sea bream, flounder, lobsters and various clams,

but as the article points out fishing is only allowed for weekday lunches if customers book a full-course menu at least a day in advance, so do remember to make your reservations in advance via their website to avoid any disappointment, as it happens I also found this video,

it looks like fun, but not for the fish, but you have to admit the fish can not be much fresher than this!

We Had A Quiet Morning,

in the early afternoon Diana left for work,

so I accompanied her to the bus stop, 

I alighted at the war memorial,

and walked to the shop to pick up some forms that needed printing,

and then continued walking towards Elmers End,

a right and then a left, and here I was,

at the grounds of the Beckenham Rugby Football Club, not for the sport, 

but for the beer festival, I was meeting Steve and a few of his friends there,

it was a 3 day festival of real ales, beers, ciders and stouts put on by Bromley CAMRA (Campaign For Real Ale),

I made my way along the beer tent,

to the entrance, 

inside beers as far as the eye could see,

in both directions,

I decided on a Southeys Penge Pride, 

followed by a Imperial Stout by Brew by Numbers of London, which packed a bit of a punch at 11% ABV (alcohol by volume),

which over the course of the afternoon I followed with a couple of Sessions lagers by Braybrooke, I had planned to eat at the festival, but I decided I would eat at the Moon & Stars, 

on the way out I had a chat with two of the unsung heroes of the event, all of the staff worked so hard to make it a pleasant day for all concerned,

looking back both inside and outside the place was packed with real ale connoisseurs,

I walked back to Elmers End where just one bus took me to,

the Moon & Stars, 

for scampi and chips along with a bottle of bubbly, after which I made a move for home where shortly afterwards Diana returned home, so a Midsomer Murder and a spiced rum nightcap it was, before we were off to bed.