Commuter of the Week #20

Commuter #273, originally uploaded by gary8345.

This week’s commuter is sporting one of the most popular commuter accessories at the moment, a Kindle.

The number of people reading traditional books seems to be dwindling each week, and more and more people seem to be enjoying e-readers.

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE

Introducing The New Chelsea Manager

Well, here we are again, introducing a new Chelsea manager. If I had been writing this blog 5 years ago, this would have been our 6th introduction. Not a very good record really, especially considering that Chelsea have won trophies in 4 of those 5 years.

Anyway, here we are, our new manager is Andre Villas Boas:

A very new and young manager. He is 33 years old, Chelsea’s youngest. and the least experienced manager – he has only managed 2 clubs for 88 games. However, in those games, he has been very successful, guiding FC Porto to a grand-slam of trophies last season, League, Cup and Europa League.

However, Andre Villas-Boas is no stranger to Stamford Bridge. He was employed by Jose Morinho as head of the opposition observation department. In this role he proved innovative in using computer and video technology to brief coaches and players. I remember on one occasion, Chelsea played Scarborough in the FA Cup, and Morinho treated this match just as he would a European Cup Final, and got Villas-Boas to produce the dossier he always produced for Chelsea’s up coming opponents. This doiser was given to the Scarborough manager after the match, for him to report that, Villas-Boas had more information on his players, than he had himself.

I am hoping that Roman Ambromovich will allow Villas-Boas to grow. He has a tough job, remembering Chelsea’s squad is an ageing team, so there is some rebuilding to be done. He will have money behind him to do this, but will he have the time?

Guardsmen

Guardsmen, originally uploaded by gary8345.

Another picture that made the Flickr Explore Page, this time number 88 for 19th June 2011.

I really like this picture, mainly thanks to the chap on the left, who I believe is meant to be expecting the guards. However, he seems more interested in me and my camera.

Luca

This is a very hard post to write. A few days ago, on 16th June 2011, Luca Wabbit died. He was 12 years and 5 months old.

I know you grow very attached to your pets, and they are part of the family, but I didn’t realise how upset I would be. Luca was one of a kind. He had a fantastic personality, and always seemed pleased to see me. I will miss him making his excited noise “onk onk”.

He had some of the signs of old age, when at 7 he developed cataracts. I took him to the vet, who told me that he would probably stop eating his food in a couple of months, and that would be the time to bring him in to “put him to sleep”.

He out lived that prophesy by many years, and even up to the day before he died, he still had a healthy appetite. His favourite food being apples and cream crackers. Although recently, he started to have fresh cabbage from the garden, which he devoured in minutes.

One thing that Luca was famous for, was the way he used to “jump” on his toys. He was only doing what comes naturally to rabbits. He had a favourite toy though, a lion, which is now buried with him. He used to run around with this toy in his mouth, then somehow manage to throw it in the air, before jumping in on it, and having his wicked way with it.

I remember once when I took Luca to the vets for a check up, the Vet asked if he was an aggressive rabbit, as he had not had the “snip”. The vet was fascinated how we managed his sexual frustrations. It all started by accident. I had gone to Paris for a weekend. It was the first time I left Luca. As a souvenir I bought him a small stuffed toy – Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh. He was placed in his hutch, but soon Luca decided he was more than an ornament, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Luca also acted like a small dog. When out of his hutch he used to follow me around the house. At one point in the mornings, he would follow me upstairs, and when he saw me put my shoes on, it was his sign to go into hiding under the bed!!!!

Luca was special, and will be so missed.

Commuter of the Week #19

Commuter #264, originally uploaded by gary8345.

Playing peek-a-boo behind a newspaper.

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE

Jewish Museum – London

I really enjoyed my visit to this museum. This latest version of the museum opened in 2010, and it still had the feel of new-ness around it. The museum is split into three main sections:

• Judaism – A Living Faith
• History – A British Story
• The Holocaust Gallery

To my surprise, I found the Judaism section the most interesting. Being a non-religious Jew, it was interesting to walk around this exhibit. The layout was very cleaver, as you walked around the Jewish Year in the form of religious holidays.

 

The History Section was fun. Visiting with my Mother, who grew up in the East End of London did give the exhibition some context. The “Yiddish Theatre” (Mum pointed out, I remember the theatre as a bingo hall, which I believe it still is) was interesting. They even put on performances of Shakespeare in Yiddish!!! I find it hard to imagine now that such a theatre would be able to survive, but it appears to have been a thriving business. 

 

What is interesting, is that the original Jewish population has dispersed over the years, only to be replaced by another immigrant population, who are mirroring what happened with the Jews who prospered in the same area.

 

This part of the museum dealt with the day-to-day life of Jews. There were conflicts amongst the Jewish population, with the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe. This was mainly due to the way each community practiced the religious elements of Judaism.

 

The Holocaust Gallery was a little disappointing. Maybe, because of bigger exhibitions being mounted in the past by places like the Imperial War Museum. This was quite a small gallery, which tells the story of Auschwitz survivor, Leon Greenman. Born in the East End of London, Leon was living with his family in Holland, but could not prove his British citizenship. Leon survived 6 concentration camps, but unfortunately his wife and son were not so lucky. Even so, it is a moving story, that was well told.

 

After spending a couple of hours walking around, we had lunch in the Museum’s cafe. Being in such a place, you just had to order Chicken Soup. Normally, it is always a disappointment – no one can make Chicken Soup like my Nan. However, on this occasion, this Chicken Soup tasted lovely – but still not as good as my Nan’s.

Commuter of the Week #18

Commuter #263, originally uploaded by gary8345.

This chap looked totally relaxed, watching a video on his iPhone, he seemed miles away, rather than being stuck on the District Line.

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE

Brighton

I really enjoy days out in Brighton. There is always so much to do and see, that the day just flies by.

This trip was planned ages ago, and one morning on the way to work, I was reading a copy of “The Metro”, I discovered a special offer “90% discount on all advanced tickets”. The plan was always to go by train, but with this discount, it meant the return fare from London was £1.90. A real bargain!!!!

I was expecting the trains to be rather crowded when it come to our day out. However, as it turned out, the railway company must have only sold a few discounted tickets for each train, as both the train to Brighton, and the return to London, were more than half empty.

The usual timetable for a day out in Brighton is as follows:

• Shopping
• Fish and Chip Lunch
• Beach
• Walk around the Lanes

Today we followed the same pattern, but with the weather playing ball, it was a glorious sunny day, we spent more time than usual on the beach.

With regards to photography, I decided I would try some street photography. Taking my commuter shots, has made me less self-concious, and a lot more confident of taking pictures of people:

I was rather pleased with this one, and so pleased I spotted this chap.  It just shouts RED!!!!

One of my favourite spots in Brighton, is the old West Pier. This was destroyed by fire in 2003, although it had been closed to the public since 1975. I like the symmetry and the graphic nature of any shot you get of the pier:

In this shot, I like the colour of the sea, as I said previously, we were blessed with some great weather.

My favourite picture of the day, is this one:

“The Lovers”. I just love this capture of a moment. Also, a great show of public affection.

To see more of my pictures from Brighton on this day out, please click HERE

Commuter of the Week #17

Commuter #255, originally uploaded by gary8345.

I just love the yellow trainers!!!

To see more of my Commutergraphy pictures, click HERE