Wednesday, 17 June 2026

Valerie Inspects a Greek Column

 

The slide was marked as Segesta, so obviously that means that Valerie and Debbie are visiting the Temple of Segesta, a remarkably well-preserved ancient Greek temple built in the Doric style around 430–420 BC.

Located in north-western Sicily, the temple is notable for being built by the Elymians, an indigenous people of Sicily, rather than directly by Greek colonists.

It is considered an unfinished construction project, as it lacks a naos (inner chamber) and was never given a roof, possibly due to conflicts with the neighbouring city of Selinunte. The structure consists of 36 Doric columns made of limestone, measuring approximately 61 meters long and 26 meters wide.

Which is nice to know.  

Bonus - A guy shows up at his local bar with a black eye. 

"What happened to you?" asks the bartender.

"I complimented my wife on her new pants. I told her the sunflowers on the ass were very pretty."

"So?" asks the bartender. "What's wrong with that?"

And the guy says, "Turns out they were daisies."

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

The Drive

 

Getting back into the rhythm, let's  have another Tedious Tuesday image.

Today : No Date, No Location. No Info. Quite a nice scene.

Bonus - 


Monday, 15 June 2026

Rumours of my Demise ....

 

...have been greatly exaggerated.

Yes, I have been away. Two weeks of various distractions, travels, activities and emotional turmoil.

But...I'm back.

So, please accept this triple hit of pure 1977's normality, and a hideous wallpaper.

Bonus? Nah. 

Sunday, 31 May 2026

The Astonished Baby

 

That look on the baby's face?  Astonishment, deer in the headlights, or 2I've just pooed my nappy"?

Bonus - The Headline Game

Saturday, 30 May 2026

Resting in the Sun

 

Another from the Ibiza 1973 School Trip.

Teenage boys doing what teenage boys do best - hanging around, doing nowt.

Bonus - 


Friday, 29 May 2026

"Where In The World?" Quiz - Number 822

 

Using your skill, judgement and knowledge, look at the adjacent image, and try and work out which American state that it was taken in.

Send your answer to "That's Hawaii, isn't it?" Quiz, PO Box 722, Bouvet Island.

Bonus - What?


Thursday, 28 May 2026

Oh! ANOTHER historic church that we saw on our guided tour.

The image features the Oratory of San Bernardino in Perugia, Italy, a notable Early Renaissance building.

Façade Artistry: The colorful marble façade is decorated with bas-reliefs sculpted by Agostino di Duccio between 1457 and 1461.

Iconography: The central lunette portrays the Ascension of Saint Bernardino, while the tympanum displays a blessing Jesus surrounded by angels and seraphim.

Location and Context: It is located on Piazza San Francesco next to the Basilica of San Francesco al Prato and is considered the city's most important Renaissance monument.

Bonus - People who think stupid fictional characters are unrealistic or badly written have never worked in customer service.
 

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

TWANG!

 

It's interesting to consider the relationship between archery and the English language and surnames.

  • Bowman
  • Archer
  • Fletcher

and

  • Going for Gold
  • A-quiver
  • Straight as an Arrow
  • etc.

OK, mildly interesting. To some.

Bonus - 


Tuesday, 26 May 2026

Oh ... A Flower

 

Technically, possibly just a weed.


But I guess that this weed struggling to flower in the parched scrubland of Ibiza made a pleasant change from spotty teenager acting like idiots on a school trip.

Bonus - 


Monday, 25 May 2026

Phew! What a Scorcher!

 

The traditional British Tabloid headline staple.

Tho' as today is a Bank Holiday, the other staple "Bank Holiday Washout" seems less appropriate. Britain has had it's hottest day in May EVER,

So, today's slide is sort of appropriate. It's been a while since the last School Goes Abroad For Easter Holiday image, and this is from the 1973 Ibiza box. Teenagers lazing on  beach, saving energy for fumblings in the evening.

Bonus - Utterly Pointless

Sunday, 24 May 2026

And the band played Happy Birthday

 

Nothing like a bit of improvised truck-bed trad-jazz to enliven the mood.

Incidentally, today is the 62nd birthday for two Olympic Gold Medallists : Liz McColgan and Adrian Moorhouse

Bonus - The Story of Colours

Friday, 22 May 2026

Baby Girl

 

AI guesses 

This image shows a vintage photograph of a child smiling while sitting on a foldable outdoor chair. The style of the white frilled dress and the background setting suggest the photograph was taken in the 1950s or 1960s.

The child is wearing white socks and white shoes, a common children's fashion style for that era. The photo appears to be a personal snapshot or family photograph.

Reality - Yup. Image is from April 1962.

Bonus - 



Thursday, 21 May 2026

The Duchess and The Dog

 

It might be nothing, but this set of slides does feature a bunch of slides from Chatsworth House and other Derbyshire attractions.  And some from a Mobile Home on some moorland.

And this lady does have an aristocratic bearing...and does look a bit like Debs, The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire   .

So, I'm NOT saying it is...but .... I have made a career out of being wrong.

Bonus -  Underwater Snow Exists All Over The Globe – And Beyond

Wednesday, 20 May 2026

( Not ) The Chelsea Flower Show

 

This week may be the Chelsea Flower Show at ...(checks)... Chelsea, but this image doesn't appear to be from there.

So, it COULD be the Saffron Walden Women's Institute's Ornamental Garden...but ...I dunno.

Bonus - https://reformornot.uk

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Sky, Sea, Bloke, Sand, Log

 

The only remotely interesting thing about this slide is that the bloke's name is Gaylord.


Maybe.


Bonus - 


Monday, 18 May 2026

Roofless and Awesome

 

This slide is probably of the interior ruins of Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire, Wales.
  • Historic Significance: The abbey was founded in 1131 by Cistercian monks and became a prominent Gothic masterpiece.
  • Dissolution: The abbey fell into ruins following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 16th century.
  • Cultural Legacy: The ruins inspired famous artistic works, including the 1798 poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth.
  • Yay for AI
Bonus - America Made Its Most Toxic Lake. Now We Need What's Inside.

Sunday, 17 May 2026

Thursday, 14 May 2026

The Mysterious Girl

 

Alas, this was a very under-exposed slide, so getting any sort of image out of it was difficult.

So, why did the photographer keep this one?

There's a clue written on the slide - "1964 Me in Waterlow Park".

We photographers didn't take many self-portraits back in the days of  35mm slides.  Nowadays, with digital images, it's an epidemic.

Bonus - 


Wednesday, 13 May 2026

The Long Gallery

 

This was an Ektachrome slide that suffered from extreme colour deterioration,  giving it a heavy red cast. So, this images is just the blue component.

According to the slide, this was Parham Park, Sussex and the Long Gallery. Fare enough.

n architecture, a long gallery is a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In Britain, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were normally placed on the highest reception floor — the uppermost level designed for entertaining guests (usually above the hall and other ground floor rooms) — of English country houses, usually running along a side of the house, with windows on one side and at the ends giving views, and doors to other rooms on the other. They served several purposes, and were perhaps especially used by the women of the family. They were used for entertaining guests (probably only the more favoured ones), for taking exercise in the form of walking when the weather was inclement, for displaying art collections, especially portraits of the family and royalty, and acting as a corridor.

Bonus -