Clean Up

After all the flooding we've experienced in the UK this winter, needless to say the clean up would be quite a task. I (foolishly) hadn't really thought about all the debris that would find its way into our river system. Out on the Thames at Henley, the Environment Agency were hard at work today clearing the way so one of the Locks could be placed back into service and allow normal river activities to resume.

Gotta love JCB-style heavy machinery, outside Marsh Lock near Henley on Thames.

Debris which has accumulated under the walkway at Marsh Lock.












At least the weather is improving; as can be seen in the above images Spring has definitely arrived. Must remember to put my clocks forward tonight... British Summer Time starts.



15 March Reading 0 - 0 Derby
22 March Birmingham 1 - 2 Reading
25 March Reading 1 - 3 Barnsley
29 March Reading 1 - 1 Huddersfield

15

15 minutes was how long it took for all 22 dates of Kate Bush's tour to sell out today.

Needless to say, because some of us were hard at work when the tickets went on sale at 9.30 this morning, you can guess who lost out. :-(

Retro

For one reason or another, LL has decided it was about time we had a go at building some of "Daddy's old Lego." Needless to say it seems quite basic and chunky compared with the modern stuff and I'm surprised/relieved the instructions could be found in one piece. I don't know about him but I certainly enjoyed rebuilding this.

This is at least 35 years old dontchaknow.

Exit Via The Gift Shop

Today I paid a visit here with a close friend (and fellow Harry Potter fan)...

Inside sound stages J and K is an Aladdin's cave of sets and props from all 8 films.











Many hours later and with over 200 pictures taken we exited this fab attraction feeling a mixture of exhaustion and elation. We could have stayed far longer; we didn't feel under any pressure to hurry and there were so many film props and videos to view and information to soak in, it is easy to understand how some people might have managed say 6 hours at this attraction.

I was really surprised by the level of detail that had gone into all the pieces, despite the crafts men and women knowing it was unlikely to be seen in the finished films. Incredible dedication to their craft.




Oh and while on the subject of the truly magical, today Kate Bush announced her first tour in 35 years. Wow.

Rebranding

When exactly did Swim School Teachers become known as Aquatic Coaches..?

Younger Sibling

Am so pleased that series/season 1 of NCIS: Los Angeles has finally made it to free-to-air tv in the UK.

It's really not that bad, although I'm yet to warm to the characters (it's early days I admit). You can see a determined effort to make the characters different to those on NCIS "Prime" yet at the same time the parallels can't be ignored. I guess if you have a formula that works, why change? Mind you I can't quite see why this outpost of the NCIS agency needs to operate in a secretive and undercover manner; so far none of the stories have really warranted it in my opinion.

Think maybe with a few more episodes, I might try to come up with a revised version of the NCIS Drinking Game lol...

But What Is It?

Still on-going...

8 Mar Brighton 1 - 1 Reading
11 Mar Leeds 2 - 4 Reading

It's A Mystery

Things have been taking shape at pottery this week. I'm just not saying what shape...

Nine

8 Feb Reading 0 - 2 Sheffield Wednesday
16 Feb QPR 1 - 3 Reading
22 Feb Reading 0 - 1 Blackburn
1 Mar Reading 1 - 1 Yeovil

Square Pot- Tenmoku And Bright Orange Red