Confession, roads and rules

16 July 2012

What a nightmare!  An accident within the contra-flow on the M1 southbound yesterday morning cased major delays.  It took nearly an hour to cover about 3 miles.  At the heart of it was a single car accident following the inevitable rubbernecking.  However, that wasn't the end of it!

At the end of the M1 I made way to the A5 towards Marble Arch and got caught up in yet another hold up after an accident about half way in.  This time I could take a detour and that is what I did.  Altogether though it took a good 90 minutes longer than it should have done to get to central London.  Then I got a surprise ... extra blue badge parking along one side of Trafalgar Square - and all of them were empty.  Very nice too.

Eventually I made my way over the river and was even more surprised to find so much on the South Bank.  From the Embankment all the way down to Tower Bridge there was something on.  I'd heard that the South Bank was a great area, now I know it for myself.  Mind you, the booze and nosh is expensive along there. 

So the Olympics are nearly upon us.  I heard a lot of foreign accents yesterday, which is normal in London anyway but I wondered what sort of impression this gives of our capital city ... 

Surely street cleaners were on duty yesterday.  If not the should be!I read in the papers about just how much of a strangle hold the sponsors and Olympic management teams had over the whole event.  The article said that even a roof top view across the city could well be contravening all the rights these groups have been given.  There's already a row brewing of the size of lenses that can be taken in to the venues.  The limit is 300mm.  I can see a lot of fuss coming that.  But hang on ... will disabled people be allowed in if they have a walking stick?  See what I mean ... these games will be remembered not for the sporting efforts but for the petty regulations they have created.

Now then, I have always wanted a photo of HMS Belfast with Tower Bridge behind it.  Then I found out that the Olympic Rings had been hung from Tower Bridge.  The result was that I still went ahead and got my shot ... but the Rings had been pulled up out of the way.  By the time I finally got to Tower Bridge they were in place again.  Damn!!!  I was hoping to be arrested for it so I could get the cops or the security guards in court and finally get the rights of photographers to take photos on the streets cleared up.  We do have those right of course but all too often we are stopped by security or cops who don't know the law or are just being prats.  Even off duty cops have got involved with it reported two guys for taking obscene photos of kids.  When is investigated the photos were perfectly legal and not obscene.  Rights are good and needed by us all, but they come with responsibilities too. 

I've been stopped just once.  That was in the Bull Ring in Brum.  It's privately 

owned so you need permission in there and I had forgotten about it.  The duty manager came and saw me and Jan and I left without any further hassle.  When it comes to snapping kids, I don't do it generally and certainly not when a child is the central subject unless I know the parents and have their permission to take the photos.

Yesterday I got loads of nice shots and you can see them all here ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/15764683@N00/   But just as taster here's a couple for you ...

And the funny?

Catholic Confession
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose woman for the last three weekends."
Father Donovan asks, "Is that you, little Tommy Shaughnessy?"
"Yes, Father, 'tis I."
"And who was the woman you were with?"
"Sure and I can't be tellin' you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."
"Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Brenda O'Malley?"
"I cannot say father, please."
"Was it Patricia Kelly?"
"I'll never tell."
"Was it Brydie Sharon?"
"I'm sorry, but I will not name her."
"Was it Mary Catherine Morgan?"
"My lips are sealed, Father."
"Was it Fiona McDonald then?"
"Please, Father, I cannot tell you."
The priest sighs in frustration. "You're a steadfast lad, Tommy Shaughnessy,
and I admire that. But you've sinned and now you must atone. You cannot
attend church for three months. Be off with you now."
Tommy walks back to his pew. His friend Sean slides over and whispers,
"What'd you get?"
"Three month's vacation and five good leads."..