Giżycko sun and shade

So here we sit within, tactically speaking, a stones throw of the Russian army, which along with its special forces and professional agitators, is gradually slicing up and deepening the ethnic divisions within Ukraine. More and more people are being killed, but the good news is that Germany and France are still doing great businesss with Putin, whilst publically berating his naughty behaviour, but nothing must not get in the way of business, must it!
But on a brighter note the kick off for the World Cup is drawing closer, and the joy of watching the England team pretending to be a cohesive force of football power, and not an overpaid, overrated (uually by themselves) group of individuals posing as a team.
On second thoughts I think I'll nip back to the subject of the Ukraine:)

Curved shadow

Sea wall

Wind and tree

Lone wave

Deep

Waking to an open window with the sound of heavy rain is truly wonderful, the only problem being that it sends me back to the land of dreams:. Whilst the rumble of thunder is just an added bonus.

I love going to get my haircut. You walk in and they gently tussle your hair and mess it up. Then they ask where you would like the parting! In the same bloody place it was before you messed all my hair up:)

Swan and old timber

Seagulls resting

Jetty

Majestic

There where three moles, a daddy mole, a mummy mole, and a baby mole. They all lived on a farm.

 One moring the daddy mole stuck his head out of the mole hole and said, Ooh I can smell cinnamon" The mummy mole wanted to smell it too, so she stuck her head out of the mole hole too. "Ooh, I can smell honey!" 

 Baby mole wanted to smell this too, but there wasn't enough room for his head too fit out of the hole. "all I can smell is molasses"

Traditionally Sunday breakfast was something along the lines of fried eggs, bacon, black sausage, fried slice and mushrooms. Now it has evolved into the seemingly strange, but surprisingly tasty combintion of banana and celery. How the Arrow of Time carries us all forward relentlessly.

Quay

The future today

Pencil sharpener

You may not like change, it may worry you or you feel it is something which is avoidable. But the simple unequivocal truth is that the Arrow of Time carries all before it, even when the change is  excruciatingly slow, but it still moves onwards in one direction, namely into the ever changing future. So like it or lump it, we have no choice but to go forward.

View from a window

Not the Loch Ness Monster on a beach!

Replenished by rain

Rain and tiles

Rain shadow

Without a doubt I am a very attractive option for a Polish mosquito. Everyone around me is fine, but my legs look look they have been served as a starter at a vampires banquet. I feel so blessed to have been so singuarly chosen:)

Seat of learning

A simple view of the world, viewed simply

I have just read about a light plane in Australia that ran into trouble and was going to crash. That is until the pilot deployed a parachute for the plane, not the passengers, but the plane itself! What a wonderfully simple and effective idea. So how about water wings for boats!

I love going to the cinema, the whole experience is wonderful for me. The enveloping darknesss, the sound of a fellow viewer munching on popcorn and the moment of silence, apart from the munching, as the opening titles come up on the screen.

I especially like being allocated a seat in a virtually empty auditorium, apart from the small of knot of people that have been allocated seats in the same section, its makes it so cosy!

Woody Allen Quotes

A fast word about oral contraception. I was involved in an extremely good example of oral contraception two weeks ago. I asked a girl to go to bed with me, she said "no."

Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats.

I was in analysis. I was suicidal. As a matter of fact, I would have killed myself, but I was in analysis with a strict Freudian and if you kill yourself they make you pay for the sessions you miss.

I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.

I tended to place my wife under a pedestal.

I'm not a drinker — my body will not tolerate spirits. I had two Martinis on New Year's Eve and I tried to hijack an elevator and fly it to Cuba.

When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room.

Woody Allen

Love is the answer. But while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.

 

Woody Allen

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But, then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love, to be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy, therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness — I hope you're getting this down.

Human beings are divided into mind and body. The mind embraces all the nobler aspirations, like poetry and philosophy, but the body has all the fun.

The important thing, I think, is not to be bitter. You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. I think that the worst you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.

Woody Allen Love and Death 1975

Just back from the pictures and I saw a wonderfully watchable film, ''Fading Gigolo'' with a super cast, a great soundtrack and the unbeatable wit of  Woody Allen coupled to John Turturro, just go and watch it and enjoy a very enaging movie.

Ah, the weekend so hurry up slowly:)

Contemporary spaghetti

Reusing Old Graves: A Report on Popular British Attitudes''. I am British, but was unaware that we have an attitude to this thorny problem:)

For those ladies with nothing to do this weekend, how about settling down for a good read with ''Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the Other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts''.

In other words, enlarge your breasts by the implementation of positive thought!

Buckethead - Spell Of The Gypsies

Time for some heavy music to sate the wounds of the weak, and heal the soul into the weekend.

When is the weekend not  the weekend, when we must work, so do we live to work or work to live?

''No man is an Island'', and thus can be reached by bridges, ships and planes, metaphorically speaking. But remember bridges collapse, ships sink and planes fall from the sky. We so very easily can become islands in the midst of  the ocean of humanity.

Torun

Torun view from seating

Torun

Torun leaning tower

Torun

Torun

There never seems to be enough hours in the day to blog! I have noticed a wonderful magical element in the classroom. The board, be it black or white, is associated by pupils with being wihin the domain of  the teacher.

Students love to come to the board in my lessons, which is because I use it to help to learn and interact with English. For instance, if I ask  a group to write whilst sitting at their desks, they become possessive of the work, wrapping their arms around the paper in a protective manner.

But when I bring them to  the board to write there is a transformation. They enjoy working at the white board, and like to have their work corrected or supplemented, in such a way as to prompt them to see the differences straight away, and in a more constructive manner than having their written paper marked with red ink, which is something I avoid by using green ink as much as posssible.

This method seems to be particularly effective with adults in marrying together their writing skills to the way in which they speak, and vice versa. Now off to work:)


 

Well there we are, I have just finished reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' once again. And in my opinion, many people could do with reading this highly readable and, in my humble opinion, classsic book which is beautifully written.

Torun is a lovely city with many Medieval treats and images. It is a town that fortunately was saved the ravages of World War 2. It has many large and outstanding red brick, buildings with which the town is blessed, along with iconic images of a rich past, all in various states of repair, or disrepair. I even got the chance to make some 'genuine' Piernik, as advised by suitably attired and charming 'Medieval' townsfolk!
Now for a nice cup of tea with my very own Piernik:)

Torun pool

Torun wall fragment

Torun  old and derelict

Torun sky

Torun seating

Torun old iron gate

Torun old house with ornate balconies

Torun river gate

Torun old building

Torun derelict gate

Torun