Giant Children

or Small Horse?

Only You Can Decide

Bonus : “You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? … Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.”

Alien (1979)  

Construction Time Again

No, not a Depeche Mode reference, it's a statement of fact. Something is being built.

Something .... agricultural, I suspect. Suggestions on a postcard.

Normally, I give eack slide a little clean and brush-up before I blog them. Things one... I don't think so.

Bonus - The secret of a good presentation is enthusiasm. It's a secret that this...umm....Chef... is clearly unaware of.   Laydeez and Gentlemen...

Edit - Damn Removed.   Alternative copy

An American Icon

You'll never guess what was carefully written on this slide. Go on.
Go On
Go On
Go On
Go On
Go On
Go On
Go On

Give up?    It said "Greyhound".

No shit Sherlock.

Bonus - The warning is there for a reason.

The Name's Donald

"Donald Goebells       Professor Donald Goebells "

"What?   Any Relation?   Well, I have a sister who lives in Deer Creek, and..."

"Joseph ?     No, I don't thing I do. Why do you ask?"


"Oh My.   I'm surprised.  And shocked.      Doesn't sound like any relation I know of."



Bonus - My favourite Polar Bear picture of the moment.

Bonus 2 - Tho' this owl pic is damned good.

Thanksgiving, 1971

As we wave bye-bye to the quaint Merkin celebration of Thanksgiving (commemorating the giving of thanks for electing or re-electing a POTUS, I hear) lets appreciate this slide from 1971.

Bright and cheerful kids, and a coup,e of miserable old battleaxes. That's what families used to get together for. Nowadays, the son would be playing with his WhyPod, and the daughter would be up-chucking in the loo.

Bonus - Police 99.999% certain that man found shot in the head in tied-up sack floating in river committed suicide.

Graduation Day

A classic slide from the earlier sixties. (Or so I guess - the men are generally hatless, and the women still wear gloves. Feels like a JFK-era shot.

Whether it's West Point graduation, or just a particularly militaristic High School, I don't really know.

Bonus - Saw these two while parking in ASDAs Car Park. :-)

Bonus 2 - 37 years on, still sounding good.  Bill Nelson - Maid In Heaven

Ed

Heart-warming - no??

Bonus - Ninja Cake. Oh Yes !

Bonus 2 - Katana vs Longsword.

Tree Nymphs

Best place to avoid the floods. Up a tree.

Bonus - What Happens On Thanksgiving Day Parade, STAYS On Thanksgiving Day Parade. Mildly NSFK

Bonus Gametime - Four and a Half Weeks To Save The World.

Thanksgiving with The Neidermeyers

Giving thanks for Turkeys, Yams, Creamed Corn, cup-cakes, a strong military and the American Way.

Bonus - Awkward family Christmas photos

Original Wisconsin Ducks

There's a sight you don't see nowadays....

Except, that you can.  Original Wisconsin Ducks are still in business, still taking tourists trough wet and dry parts of the Wilds of Wisconsin.

Bonus - Not very ofton that you find an uplifting cartoon on the interweb. Cynicism and weirdness sems to win out usually.  However, I did like this one...

Bonus 2 - On the subject of weirdness, the always reliable Japan World Cup

Eve and The Serpent

The Gods sure have it in for this slide.  Overexposed, faded and fungal growth... there's negligible chance of it polishing up nicely.

Which is a shame, as there's a marvellous Diamondback Rattlesnake in it.

Bonus - Close escape for the SAR crew on Mount Hood. 

Blimey! It's Fred West

Clearly well chuffed after disposing of another body.

Bonus - A thought.   Does anyone have the nerve to tweet "L*rd Mc *lpine ; Methinks he doth protest too much."  Me?  Nope.   No twitter account.  Plus, obviously untrue.

Bonus 2 -

Days of Summer Past

If Marcel Proust had an american counterpart in the 1950s, then this could be his slide.
The memory of the scratchy woollen swimsuit. The feel of bare flesh on the Akron Roads Department Winter Grit Reserves. The acrid smell of the Goodyear Rubber plant wafting into our eyes.  These are what memories are made of.

Bonus - Well, that's good news.

Bonus 2 - Windows 95 Tips - Surprisingly useful.

Compost Corner

Possibly The Worst Christmas Present Ever.   A Compost Making Kit.   Would only be appreciated by a resident of Compost Corner....COMPOST CORNER!... assuming you're old enough to remember.

Bonus 1 - Annie Lennox gets Flanned.

Bonus 2 - The Infinite Jukebox, for when songs just aren't long enough.

Friday Floof

Mr Frisky. Champion mouser of Fredericksburg, VA, 1965.

Licking lips at the thought of another juicy shrew.

Bonus - Odd Product. Odder Review

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Bonus - Don't you hate it when this happens....

Fred The Blacksmith

Sorry, can't talk.

Chickens, Fudge, Belgium....usual excuses.

Bonus - Unusual Air Traffic Control Towers

Woooo! Kitchen

Tedious Tuesday, and what could be duller than a domestic kitchen?

OK, quite a few things actually, but still it's a rather odd thing to photograph.

Bonus - Neat !

Bonus 2 - Towering Sculptures Made of Flowers on Display at Bloemencorso, A Flower Parade in Zundert, Netherlands

The Unorthodox Russian Church Angle

Again, there are some times when you find excellent camera shots in a batch of slides. Such as this May 1964 slide - that's quite a respectable age ! - which technically may be referred to a Dutch Angle shot.

Bonus - "Give Zombies The Vote" - DeathMetal + Cat + Fan Video = Great Stuff.

Down town Miami, Nov 1959

Fifty Three Years on, and I'm sure that Miami's not gotten any quieter. Nice to see an advert for The Big Fisherman, one of the few religious movies that Disney have been involved in. Looks like Jackson's-Byrons no longer exists.

Bonus - Suppose someone describe a Pokemon, and you had to draw it just from that description. Wouldn't that be fun?

Nerys and Cuthbert

Go on, admit it. You went "Awwww" what you saw these two photogenic moppets. Would you change your opinion if you knew they were both carriers of Typhoid?

Bonus - On-Line Key Finder (NSFK)

The Gang's All Here

This isn't Instagram ageing effects, it's genuine slide storage ageing. Fantastic.

Bonus - A mention at work reminded me of Malcolm McLaren's mash-up/whatever of Madame Butterfly. A quick google, and I found the official video - which strangely I hadn't remembered at all.   Hmmm

Harrisburg South Dakota, Feb 1954

( Beware, it's quite a large image.)

No other info, but I'd be interested if some Harrisburgian fellow could take a new picture from the same location.

Bonus - Miss NASA Beauty Pageant

Fishing Club

"Welcome to Fishing Club. The first rule of Fishing  Club is: you do not talk about Fishing Club. The second rule of Fishing Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fishing Club! Third rule of Fishing Club: someone yells "beer!", throws up, falls asleep, the fishing is over. Fourth rule: only two guys to a fish. Fifth rule: one fish at a time, fellas. Sixth rule: No hat =  no fish. Seventh rule: fishing will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fishing Club, you have to gut the fish."

Bonus -

The Tedious Elephant Slide

There are those people who would argue that any picture of an elephant in the wild is bound to be interesting.

To those people, I say "Hah!  How about this...?"

I rest my case.

Bonus - To make up for that tedious shot, I present this.  London Comic Con  Makes dressing up for a convention almost tempting!  Scooby FTW.

Bonus 2 - More awesomeness.   Laptop Review

Who will buy my baby?

Clean, house-trained and micro-chipped.

Good with children

Spayed and innoculated.

Overs over £75

Bonus : QUESTION OF THE WEEK
  First World Problems.....  We asked for examples of shudderingly short  sighted self-pity. 
  * NO EXCUSES - "A few years back, where I used  to work, a self-obsessed harridan named Ruth had organised a party to celebrate her pending engagement to a wealthy, nice-but-dim chap.  Attendance was mandatory. The soirée was  scheduled for a Saturday. On Thursday, we  received the grave news that a well-liked  member of our team had suffered a miscarriage.  All of us were understandably upset and  sympathetic. With one exception... 'I suppose  she won't be coming to my party then,' Ruth
  whined. As we stood there open-mouthed, she  continued, 'Why do these things always happen  to meeee?'" 
 
  * EMPATHY - "Returning to work after becoming  a father for the first time, a colleague asked  the usual question, "So, how do you feel now  you're a parent?" I replied that the hardest  thing to get used to was the knowledge that,  no matter how hard you try to protect your  offspring, something bad could still happen to
  them. You just had to live with that fear. She  thought for a moment, then said "Yes, I  suppose it's like having a white carpet, isn't  it?" Probably best if she waits a while before  having her own, I reckon." (moon monkey)

What, No Groom ?

So, enough of the death and macabre slides, lets get back to slides of babies, birthdays and weddings.

Face facts, people from the late fifties basically just look odd to modern eyes. Just as odd, however, is the lack of a groom in this slide. Unless, gasp, the girl in blue is the "other half". Shocking.

Bonus - What I Do At The Weekend

Bonus 2 - It's a matter of a viewpoint.

Riverside Funeral, 1978

Most slides I get are dull.  There's only so many times you can see a picture of Fred Smith looking at a church before you grow weary.

However, there's are sometimes quirky slides, and several of you have seen the Slide Guy calendar.

Rarely, there are a batch of truly beautiful slides, and I recently scanned a few. From a Mr KH Burrell, Sun City, Arizona, this one dates from 1978, but could be from anytime in the past few millennia. The only clue on the slide was the world funeral, and there doe appear to be a funeral pyre at the centre.  So, on the Ganges ?

But, whatever the subject, let's admire the craft and skill of Mr Burrell.

Bonus - Good Aim

Final Hallowe'en week tomb

Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of English 17th Century tombs will recognize the tomb of Sir Richard Mompesson in Salisbury aCthedral.  However, you may not be aware of the exciting news of the finding of what is believed to be a 17th century polychromed Coat of Arms on the reverse of the stone supporting the Coat of Arms at the top and front of the monument.    Yawn.

Bonus - Woke up last night with an unexpected memory of a wish being granted on Jim'll Fix It. It sounded like a false memory (Like Roger The Cabin B oy on Captain Pugwash), but a quick bit of googling, and  oh yes, it's true.     So, ladies and gentlemen,Jimmy Savile and a lucky young girl who gets to "Polish A Python".   No, really.

Day Of The Dead

Or Día de los Muertos if you prefer. The Mexican celebration to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.

In Britain, it's not quite the multicoloured festival of Mexico.

Bonus - Obama vs Romney  - Cassetteboy - The Final Debate