I caught the bus into town today. Downstairs was full so I had to go up top. This is a photo of my fellow passengers. Do you recognise any of these backs of heads? Perhaps you are one of them! If so, do you fancy getting together for a reunion? Same time next week, maybe?
Meanwhile the yellow coated chaps are busy building the new Broadmead. Tollgate house, in the background all covered in white, is slowly disappearing.

Slovakia

I was talking to someone from Slovakia last week. I felt a bit ignorant,not knowing anything about the place. Do they speak Slovakian? Is that a language?
Anyway, I had a look on my Europe road map and Wikipedia to find out about it, and this I shall share with you. Try not to get too excited.

Of course, Slovakia used to be part of Czechoslovakia until they split up a few years ago. They'd only been together since 1918 and before that they were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Slovakia is east of the Czech republic and also has borders with Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and Austria. In fact, the capital, Bratislava is only about 70 km from Vienna. This guy came from Presov in the east of the country. That's really near to Poland and he says he can understand Polish without too much trouble. Czech is very similar too (apparently about as different as Scots English from English English), but Hungarian is a different kettle of fish and isn't related at all.

Wikipedia is really good for finding out about places. They have good relief maps - Slovakia is mostly mountainous - and lots about the language too. Did you know that the Slovak for yes and no are the exact opposite of the Korean for yes and no? You do now. Take special care if you are talking to both these nationalities at the same time.

Slovakia is a different place to Slovenia, though I think both names come from the same root; they're both Slavic countries.
Sorry this post is so educational. I will try and write something inane for the next one.

Heeeevnin Po'

Better put something on here, I suppose.

I bought an Evening Post today. It's gone up to 40p. There were a few stories in it worth repeating:

An Easton man (Battersea Road) has been remanded in custody for two weeks on a charge of possessing Cane toad venom with intent to supply. The venom contains a substance called bufotenine and is a Class A drug.

Bus group take to the streets.
The bus protest group has built up a head of steam since its inception a few weeks ago. They held a protest in the Centre on Friday and are planning a "50p Day" protest, where people will get on the bus and just offer to pay 50p.

Good luck to them; First are just taking the mickey.


Five Post offices to close in East Bristol

Includes our local one at Bellevue Road (but the shop will still be open). What a shame. It's really handy for me, and anyone else living in Greenbank, come to that. It will be replaced by a big Post Office on Stapleton Road selling very large stamps. All in the name of making more money. This area now has very few facilities or workplaces. It does have people selling toad venom though, so that's something.

Um, more snowdrops

Scorpion Queen marries Centipede King

Did you see this in the papers today? I think her record is better than his - 32 days with 3,400 scorpions (wonder where she got them all?) against 28 days with 1,000 centipedes. I mean, centipedes aren't even dangerous, are they?
Still, they both beat me; my personal best is a weekend in a cupboard with three woodlice (and one of them wasn't very well).



Scorpion queen Kanchana Ketkaew, and her bridegroom Bunthawee Siengwong who puts centipedes in his mouth, pose during their wedding ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 in Pattaya city. The couple with a soft spot for creepy crawlers _ Thailand's Scorpion Queen and Centipede King _ held their Valentine's Day's wedding Tuesday at a haunted house. Kanchana, 36, who set a world record in 2002 for spending 32 days in a glass cage with 3,400 scorpions, wedded 29-year-old Bunthawee who set a Thai record for enduring 28 days with 1,000 centipedes. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) (Sakchai Lalit - AP)

snowdrops b&W text

Not that I'm short of stuff to put up, but here's the same photos differently done.

snowdrops B&W

Proper snowdrops out now

Temple Meads Text

All the people in these photos are real and, as far as I know, are genuine rail users or railway staff.
They are not actors or shop dummies being used to create a photo.

I wouldn't do that.
I couldn't afford to hire dozens of actors just to take an out of focus picture and the practical problems of getting so many shop dummies onto the station would be enough to put me off. I'm sure the ticket collectors would have something to say if you tried to get on the station with dozens of mannequins; they'd think something fishy was going on. Maybe not though. Perhaps someone who has got on a train with a lot of shop dummies could let me know.

All the trains are genuine too. They're not cardboard models or anything. Although I can't prove that.

Temple Meads Pics

Old Trainface

spring is coming

Brave
catkins
and
celandine
on
the
cycle
track.

Technical problems2

Technical problems 1