This will hurt me...

All in all it’s just another… something or other. A brick wall. New Town Road, New Town. April 2011. Crikey Moses, it’s Sunday again, and I’m stuck for another Sunday Top Five. As such, I turn to the trusty old CIA world fact book for advice… First up, the TOP Five Countries Expenditure As A Percentage Of Gross Domestic Product (Where GDP Is Calculated On An Exchange Rate Basis, That Is, Not In Terms Of Purchasing Power Parity) ! Iraq: 8.55% Jordan: 8.60% Qatar: 10.00% Saudi Arabia: 10.05% Oman: 11.40%

There's a wall. And some power lines. New Town Road, New Town. December 2010. It's still 2010 and I am so very, very tired. I think that I'll go to the beach today...

Climb at your own risk. New Town Road, New Town, December 2010. If you are a fan of lines in photographs, you could do worse than stand under one of these snapping away for a few minutes. In fact, after staring at this photograph for ninety seconds, I think that I have spotted a Desargues configuration. Have a close look… If A.a, B.b, C.c are concurrent , then (A.B) ∩ (a.b), (A.C) ∩ (a.c), (B.C) ∩ (b.c) are collinear ! Ain’t geometry grand?

Something has happened. New Town Road, New Town. November 2010. I've got to go to Ross today. Ross . I hope that there are no zombies in Ross. I suspect that zombies may well be responsible for the death of the poor chair featured above.

Just your standard old house on New Town Road. New Town, November 2010. Oh please of please give me a weekend free of rain... New Magic , by Kenneth Slessor At last I know—it’s on old ivory jars, Glassed with old miniatures and garnered once with musk. I’ve seen those eyes like smouldering April stars As carp might see them behind their bubbled skies In pale green fishponds—they’re as green your eyes, As lakes themselves, changed to green stone at dusk. At last I know—it’s paned in a crystal hoop On powder-boxes from some dead Italian girl, I’ve seen such eyes grow suddenly dark, and droop Their small, pure lids, as if I’d pried too far In finding you snared there on that ivory jar By crusted motes of rose and smoky-pearl.

Thinking about Dialectical Materialism while waiting for the bus. New Town Road, August 2010. Today is Book Club Friday, my name is Kris and I have a confession to make: I am an Engels Man . Friedrich Engels used to be a name that was known throughout the world. Cities, towns and streets bore the name. Ships, railway engines and tanks. You don’t see so much of that these days… The book that I am currently halfway through (it’s a biggun) is Tristram Hunt’s exploration of the man, The Frock-coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels . If you are not familiar with Engels, perhaps you’ve heard of his more famous philosophical collaborator, Karl Marx. It seems to me that – with this book – Hunt is seeking to recover Engels’s reputation from those who have portrayed him as responsible for Stalinist excesses and chosen him as the fall guy for the failures of Marxism. In this (at least halfway through the book), he’s partly successful. I’ll reserve judgement on that when I’ve...

Young people today! The corner of New Town Road and St Johns Avenue, September 2010. Theme Thursday yet again, and my, how appropriate is the theme today! Yes people, we are gripped by ENNUI . Well may you scoff at the notion of being engrossed in your own listlessness, but modern life is just like that sometimes. Look at the graffiti above. Consider the written expression. Are the authors likely to be dynamic and enthusiastic members of their local community? They can’t spell “ sucks ” and they forsake the Australian “ arse ” for the bastardised American “ ass ”. If that does not tell you something about the state of their melancholy, nothing will! Taken as a whole, the message is unclear. PiGS SUX COCK ASS Now, I could be generous and presume that our wanton vandals are actually intrepid young veterinary students positing a revolutionary new procedure for our porcine friends. Indeed, we might postulate that PiGS SUX [meaning suxamethonium chloride ] COCK ASS refers to some kind of...

Interesting sky. New Town, August 2010. At some point I'm going to run out of things to photograph at this bus stop. Henry and I sat down yesterday to work out today's Sunday Top Five : Henry's Top Five Movies (This Week)! Shrek II Finding Nemo Shrek I Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the WareRabbit Shrek III Now, if anyone wants to make some suggestions for films that Henry (or indeed Ezra) might enjoy, let us know in the comments! Yoga at the bus stop. New Town, August 2010.

Looking north on New Town Road. New Town, July 2010. I can cope with a bit of darkness and gloom if what little sun there is by late-afternoon keeps delivering the copper-toned skies! 11. THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED: Seinfeld has to be considered. A show about nothing? Absolutely! 12. THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO? Jennifer 13. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK? No, although stick me in an unsavoury situation, and I might well feel uncomfortable in the dark! 14. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY? Frederic Manning. 15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOGNE / PERFUME? Eau de Krispy. 16. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX? Brunettes with eyes. Nothing too pale. 17. WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY? I’d like to think that I have a reasonable grasp on both. I’m modest too… 18. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS? Coffee. I have honestly never had an energy drink in my life. I don’t feel like I’m missing much. 19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING? Cheese. Lots of cheese. 20. IF YOU C...