In a typical Lancashire way my Aunty Winnie, who used to make a massive meat and potato pie for us whenever we moved house, had a way with words. Not unlike the great Hilda Baker who’s , comedy routine was based on getting the words slightly wrong but in an odd sense right. “Those evangelists have been painting the walls near the Town Hall again Dorothy!” Evangelists? Are you sure Winnie? “Yes of course I’m sure,saw it with my own eyes, take my word for it” The only bit of the word she got right was the “van” and she … Continue reading House 17. Cable Street, London

The roads, especially the freeways. They were built in the 50s and intended to be used in case there was a need to evacuate the population in the event of a nuclear war. When I found this little know ( to me ) fact, it occurred to me when being driven down one of these roads: “ Why did they build them both ways then?” It also illustrated the paranoia around the 50s about the likelihood of such an event. If they intended to evacuate everyone, where to? All very odd. The photograph above from the Runyon Canyon summit was … Continue reading It’s all so big.

So to celebrate a couple of weeks in La La Land I’m just going to post a few of the images that will stay with me from the recent trip. Big thanks for all those who’ve been liking this stuff and giving me undeserved encouragement. It’s a little like encouraging that bloke in the pub to “Tell us more about your holidays then Sid”. I’ll just go on and on, and my dislike of flying will rapidly surface like Jaws on a hungry day. Security was tight at the Airport, and the Americans seem to be perfecting the art of … Continue reading Airline food and a return to rain. Lots of rain, so here’s some sunny moments.

Driving a few blocks across the city to take the children to nursery school. Gives a flavour of the place. Continue reading Car photos, the morning/afternoon drive

I love art galleries but can only really take them in small doses. Two hours is about as much as I can realistically look at the framed stuff before I get the itch for a cup of tea and a cake. The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena was today’s cake trip. Pasadena is rich in these places and had the benefit of our company on a few days. I was attracted to this place by the promise of works from La Belle Époque. It did not disappoint. Here are a few of my favourites from the show. It has the … Continue reading Choose your favourites before you reach saturation point.

I’d heard of Trader Joe’s before I came here. I follow a blog called Become Betty, where Betty, who’s not called Betty, reviews their products all the time. I like the blog, it gave me a taste of what the Americans like to eat and the strange things they do to their food. Now I’ve experienced the place for real, and came out unrealistically excited about their re-usable bags. You get three re-usable bags in a Mystery Pack, and you get each bag with a unique design representing a particular place. Here you can see one for Atlanta, and one … Continue reading Trader Joe and their brilliant bags.

No thanks, like a badly built skyscraper that’s just wrong on so many levels. I’m keen on coffee shops and they are here too in Los Angleles, so we tried one out on Sunset Boulevard. Intelligentsia was the rather pseudo name for the place and I was sent there while others had other things to do. They thought rightly that I’d be amused by a good coffee and a sticky cake, and I was. The guy making the coffee was smiley and pleasant and the one taking the money was the opposite, looking at me as if he could just … Continue reading Coffee shop speak: “Would you care for the cayenne garnish?”