I know it's mid-week, but I took this shot of the Hammersmith Bridge in West London during a beautiful snowfall and really wanted to post it...

cheers!

Last night the Cardinals suffered a rather sad defeat in Superbowl XLlll - which my husband and I watched from England, staying up until after 3am on a "school night" to see.  Meanwhile, over the city of London, the sky was coating us with beautiful, fluffy snow.  This photo of our deck was taken around 3:00am today.  I'm pleased to report that now, at 8:11am, all of London's buses are suspended, almost all tube lines are suspended and the news says that this is the most snow London's seen in 18 years.
Take that, global warming!

I don't have a sarcastic, smug or clever photo to post this week, so I decided to post a pic of something my husband got for me yesterday instead.  It's a carved wooden brooch by Melbourne-based artist/designer Beci Orpin.  The whole thing is only about two inches tall, and it's cut from a single piece of wood, which (to me) makes the intricate cutting work pretty awesome.  I love it -- and that's why it's my Pic Of The Week.

This "Pic Of The Week" is of a post-Christmas mannequin display in the sprawling department store "House of Fraser" in Westfield Centre, London.  Throughout the large store every single plastic body was donning one of these red t-shirts signaling the store's sale.  And it wasn't just House of Fraser -- quite a few stores in Westfield had a similar idea.

It made me think:  Isn't it a bit embarrassing that even in this flailing economy big retail chains still have so much money that they can afford to create clothing for the sole purpose of advertising a sale on mannequins?  I don't mean to preach, but aren't there countries (and areas inside our own country) where people desperately need clean, decent clothing and textiles?  Yet here we are, glibly printing shirts just to dress life-size dolls for a week or two.

What do these stores do with all the shirts when the sales end?  Somehow I doubt they wash and fold them to save for the next big sale.  God forbid they re-use ANYthing, lest they look out of fashion.

Maybe we'll start seeing AP photos of homeless people in Third World nations sporting bright red "SALE" shirts.  Sadly, I don't think retail giants are that considerate. 

It's something to think about.

It's apparently true that there really IS something out there for every kind of person.  The above photo is of a real magazine I found on the mag racks of a large, local book store in Hammersmith, London.  It's called "More Teabag Folding," which begs the question: Was there ever an earlier publication called "Initial Teabag Folding?"

It was on clearance sale for 2 pounds 49 pence (on sale that's $3.62 American).  Not exactly cheap.  I guess people with unusual hobbies pay dearly for being different.

This was far more interesting than the latest covers of Elle or OK! -- and that's why it's my Pic Of The Week.

I had the new experience of eating my first English Christmas Pudding this year (see above). 

Big thanks to Pop Holmes for adding the extra splash of brandy so I could better capture the flames on camera...

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I took this pic yesterday at London's Natural History Museum.  I don't know the gal in the shot, but if you can read the sign next to her you'll know why I took the photo.  If you can't read the sign, click the link above to open a larger version.

PS
Yeah, it felt a little wrong to take a photo of a total stranger at close proximity, but I thought it was too funny to ignore. 
;-)

Yesterday I went to London's Science Museum.  One of their current exhibitions was called "Plasticity:  100 Years of Making Plastics."  I thought this sounded pretty darn cool.  I tend to dig semi-geeky things.

ANYway...  this photo is of one of the niftiest items in the exhibit:  the Volivik Bic Biro chandelier, made in 2007.  It's exactly what you think it is:  a working chandelier constructed from 347 recycled, black Bic ballpoint pens -- and 347 paper clips.  It was one of 30 made by a Spanish design company (enPieza) as a homage to classic plastic design (the barrels of the Bic pens are made of polystyrene).

I love when people use unexpected, found or recycled materials to make something that's otherwise ordinary.  In fact, I didn't even realize this chandelier was all pens and paperclips until I read the accompanying description.

That's why this is my "Pic Of The Week."

Today I went to see "Bodyworlds" at London's O2 Millenium Dome.  In case you don't know, "Bodyworlds" is a pretty amazing exhibition of actual human bodies that were donated to science and put through the somewhat controversial "plastination" process invented by the [slightly creepy] German Dr. Gunther von Hagens.  In short, plastination uses reactive polymers injected into cells to halt decomposition and allow detailed study and display of the body.

I had hoped to post a photo from the exhibition as my "Pic Of The Week," but alas, we were warned repeatedly that all photography -- and even drawing sketches of any part of the exhibit on paper -- was strictly forbidden.  (I would like to note here that I spotted two people making sketches -- and blocking the view of many people in the process, but I bit my tongue about that.)

In the absence of a photo, here's a link to read about plastination and the type of thing you might see at the exhibition.  "Bodyworlds" tours lots of countries -- and is nowhere near as gruesome as it may sound.  In fact, even the full-grown, plastinated giraffe failed to truly amaze me -- though the size of its anus was remarkable, for some reason.

Definitely check it out if it's in your part of the world...

http://www.bodyworlds.com

p.s.
It is not lost on me that the unusual creator of this whole thing is German -- draw parallels where applicable.

This photo was taken in the city of Bruges, which is in Belgium.  In between eating binges in chocolate shops I shot this pic -- I dig it because if you look in the lower portion of the shot you'll notice a doorway that leads directly into the canal.  I'm guessing there used to be a small platform or dock next to it, but it's more fun to imagine there wasn't.  That's why it's my Pic Of The Week.