Spring not so very far away, yet I’d like some more snow before winter’s out.
Daily Photo
Lesser Seen Brockwood – Slate Door Bell (358/365)
Know where it is?
Peel (357/365)
Within (356/365)
Lesser Seen Brockwood – The Secret Garden Door (355/365)
Sunset at Spinaker Tower (354/365)
Looking very ‘continental’ this evening
Sugar frosted (353/365)
Tron v0.5
19 Jan 2011
Having completely not gone to my dentist check-up last week, I rebooked. In my mind, today’s the 12:50 appointment meant 13:50. So there I am outside a closed-for-lunch dentists, feeling sheepish. Then I thought, hey, I get £200 a year dental allowance, why am I going to this cheap-ass NHS dentist who rush me through a check-up and hygiene session in 10 minutes, with a dentist that changes every other year? So I’m looking around for a new one, and will probably go for one in Alresford.
C didn’t pass the driving test. She drove away from a zebra crossing while the pedestrians were still finishing crossing (over in the other lane). So while it wasn’t dangerous, it was breaking the law. The repeat test is in four weeks. But she had a good day for it, after all the rain. We had a deep frost followed by sun and a glowing sunset. Here’s the tower at around 08:20 this morning:
After my failed dental appointment I ate lunch in the Cathedral grounds. Leaning against the wall of an adjacent building, the sun-warmed bricks oozed into my back, while I sunbathed and ate. It felt like spring.
I’m not saying there is nothing in astrology but I don’t think there’s much wisdom in the ready horoscopes you get in papers and online. Perhaps as proof, here’s a graphic of analysis of 4000 ‘scopes. The grey words are common to all, the red words unique to a star sign:
…and this is a horoscope made from the 4000 samples:
…basically, feel-good common sense then.
Took a bath after work and read The Word Magazine. But what I really needed to do was rest my eyes from all the looking looking looking. C has a timer on her Mac for this – I need one for my PC at work to take a rest every hour, and micro-rests every ten minutes.
A frosty ha-ha (352/365)
Finally, a clear sunny day in Hampshire, with a crisp frost start. The title refers to the sunken fence, called a ha-ha. Although this might be a mini ha-ha, who knows?
A hint of things to come (351/365)
In the midwinter, the magnolia buds slowly opening towards spring.
Brockwood Park School Pavilions Project – Drilling the Foundations (350/365)

Brockwood Park School Pavilions Project – Drilling the Foundations (350/365), originally uploaded by :Duncan.
The holes for the foundation supports need to be drilled as far as eight meters down to the chalk bedrock.
Fulling Mill, Alresford (349/365)
Built in the 13th Century, this old mill building straddles part of the River Arle.
Alresford Station (348/365)
All retro and such
Hydrangea (347/365)
Bathroom Renovation (346/365)
All the floor tiles have been removed. The wall tiles almost fell off once the first one was down
13 January 2011
“I desire therefore I am” would be more accurate than “I think therefore I am.”
David Bohm
…
Read an article with highlighted quotes from a Pilger-Assange interview:
And despite the pressure the website has been under, reports of trouble at WikiLeaks are greatly exaggerated, he claims.
“There is no ‘fall’. We have never published as much as we are now. WikiLeaks is now mirrored on more than 2,000 websites. I can’t keep track of the spin-off sites – those who are doing their own WikiLeaks . . . If something happens to me or to WikiLeaks, ‘insurance’ files will be released.”
The contents of these files are unknown, but, according to Assange, “They speak more of the same truth to power.” It is not just government that should be worried about the content of these files, however. “There are 504 US embassy cables on one broadcasting organisation and there are cables on Murdoch and News Corp,” he says.
The attempts by Washington to indict him should worry the mainstream press, he adds.
“I think what’s emerging in the mainstream media is the awareness that if I can be indicted, other journalists can, too,” Assange says. “Even the New York Times is worried. This used not to be the case. If a whistleblower was prosecuted, publishers and reporters were protected by the First Amendment, which journalists took for granted. That’s being lost.”
…
Read an article about the late surfer Andy Irons’ hectic life:
Whatever treatment Andy received, John Irons says it helped. “Did it change his life? Yes. He was amped to get back on the tour. He was refocused and ready to go.”
Kelly Slater recalls a conversation with Irons from around 2007. “A couple of years ago, he had an awakening in his life about things,” says Slater. “We had one real deep talk. He said how excited he was to be feeling everything—to be feeling his emotions and understanding them. For him, that was a new lease on his life.”
BUT IF IRONS WAS ON an uptick in 2007, it didn’t last. His erratic behavior returned in September 2008, when he went missing during a World Tour contest in France. He surfed badly in one heat and then failed to show up for the next. He finished the year 13th overall but decided not to compete in 2009. “We encouraged Andy to take a year off,” says Billabong’s Naude, “because he had lost the desire to be on the tour.”
Irons told friends that he’d almost been dropped by Billabong. According to Mike Reola, a friend and co-founder of the clothing company Lost, Irons said that “everyone at Billabong wanted me gone when I was off tour” and that “Paul Naude was the only one who fought for me.” Irons also told friends that he took a substantial pay cut.
His wife has blocked the release of the toxicology report for six months.
…
Back to work after a week in the Lake District. Wading through a thick inbox this morning, and this afternoon finishing off the last of the K/Bohm dialogues from 1975. This final conversation is about desire being the root of the self, and how we desire to be free of desire once we see the relentless problems it causes.
…
The introduction of the shoulder stand on day 13 of the 28-day yoga course. Put a shoulder stand in a yoga sequence and it will change everything. A very subtle yet powerful effect. I look forward to practising more. I’m coming back to full health now.
…
C found a place to live in Alresford, looks like. It’s sharing, but with someone who is working in London weekdays. We enjoyed a snooping session on Google Maps, looking for the house numbers on dustbins, ahead of a real visit on Saturday.
…
The WordPress postaday2011 topic for today is: What are you looking forward to this year?
– a bit of surfing
– a lot of yoga
– some long walks
– space
– skiing?
– reorganising the flat
– a new bathroom
– healthy health
– My brother’s wedding
Teko Merino Midweight Hiking Socks (345/365)
Very very comfortable so far. Made in a wind-powered factory
Leaving the Lakes (344/365)
Driving towards Ambleside, Kendal and then The South
Yewfield from the pond (343/365)
The pond wasn’t quite frozen enough or as cleanly for me to skate this year.



















