Be Kinder...

We never know what the person in front of us
at the checkout or sitting next to us on the bus or train is having to deal with.
We can be kinder...

China's Very Own Venice. Zhouzhaung, A Most Delightful And Ancient Water Town...

Zhouzhaung is an ancient and most delightful water town that dates back to the Yuan Dynasty between 1271 and 1368.
Situated between Lake Tai and Shanghai about fifty kilometers southeast of Suzhou on the southern shores of Lake Baixian, Zhouzhaung is perhaps the most famous water town in China.
Most of the thousand households, many of them two storied whitewashed homes with black tiled roofs were built in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties and remain in excellent condition.
The small town is without any motorised transport and can easily be seen in a day using either a gondola or a rickshaw or simply by walking. I think I'd like to stay longer.
It's known as the Venice of the East...

Alfred Eisenstaedt's Famous Photograph Of The Times Square Kiss That Celebrated The End Of World War Two...

This image by Alfred Eisenstaedt of the sailor kissing the nurse in New York's Time Square is probably the most famous kiss photo ever taken.
Said to star US Navy sailor Glenn McDiffie and Nurse Edith Shain, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt just happened to be in the right place at the right time and managed to shoot four frames of the two kissing as they, with many thousands of others, euphorically celebrated
the end of the second world war
sixty nine years ago.
He's seen here signing the photo many years later at his holiday home at Martha's Vineyard.
Seizing the moment just recently, ninety year old Sydnor Thompson, with the ardor of a much younger self, kisses his wife Harriette
to re-enact the famous photo. 
Comedian Chico Marx, commenting on Alfred's iconic image said the sailor wasn't kissing the nurse, he was whispering in her mouth...

All That Glitters Is Often The Most Ostentatious...

All that glitters is often very ugly.
But beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
If you happen to be wandering in the vicinity of the ultra posh Wellesley Hotel in London's Knightsbridge, and I know a lot of you will be, you'll probably see this ostentatious display of wealth parked outside.
It's the Mystere, one hundred and fifty pounds worth of Range Rover but with a few optional extras from the German bling company Hamann.
I won't go into the details but it's seriously gold.
The Saudi owner had it flown over to use
while in London.
And when the ashtrays are full,
he'll buy another one...

And The Winners Of Britain's Shed Of The Year 2014 Are...

Are these sheds as imaginative as last year's winners I asked myself.
I don't think so replied self.
Joel Bird from North London and his Eco Shed at top with an allotment on it's roof won the overall prize. Good on you Joel.
Then there was the Reelwood Shed by Paul Slim, winner of the Unique Category. Alison Kynaston-Jones from Shropshire won the Cabin Summerhouse Category with her Caribbean Moroccan Retreat.
Mark Appleton's Appletons Arms Shed in Merseyside won the Pub Category. The Disco Shed by Paddy Bickerton and Aiden Larken from Oxfordshire won the Normal Category.
What's a Normal Category?
The Little Thatch Shed by Gemma and Jamie Dix from Bedford won the Garden Office Category.
Luke Hollingworth from Malmesbury in Wiltshire and his Stencil Shed won the Workshop Studio Category. Then there was Rennie and Albert's shed from the Sutton was a finalist in the Normal Category. And Richard Pims from Pembrokeshire and his Bottle Dome Shed made from around five thousand glass bottles was a finalist in the Eco Category. Vintage Motor Works was a finalist in the Workshop Category and The Gothic Retreat by Brian Bailey in Wolverhampton was a finalist in the Cabin and Summer House Category. And that's that for another year...

Lights Out...

Baltimore's Big Bold Beautiful Bus Stop Sculpture...

You may miss the bus
but you won't miss the bus stop.
Designed by the Madrid design collective Mmmm the big bold and beautiful, the imaginative typographical sculpture with its fourteen foot high and seven foot wide letters is situated on South East Avenue in the Highlandtown neighbourhood of Baltimore.
It's a place to enjoy, interact and meet while waiting for the bus. Made from wood and steel the letters are big enough to accommodate two to four people each while assuming different postures of sitting, standing or lounging.
Funny isn't it how riding on a bus
can change the world.
Life can be seen as similar to a bus journey.
We can meet strangers yet to be friends and
if Rosa Parks hadn't refused to move to the back of the bus the world may never have heard of Doctor Martin Luther King...