It is always nice to have nice visitors

and we really enjoyed our bbq evening with Patricia and Dan. The beer, wine and whisky were enjoyable and I believe that the food was OK as well. Once again, the Street Parade had to make do without me.....


Tune of the Day:  Bump It    by Erykah Badu

So, we're off to Germany

to have dinner with some friends this evening. Visiting a nice small city and looking forward to walking about this afternoon and taking some photos before going to dinner in a great old restaurant.



Tune of the Day:   Midnight Man    by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Do the French have any fans at all?

After seeing them in a very ordinary performance last night I would understand totally if no-one at all supported them  :-) I'll happily admit that I would be pleased if they went home after the Group Stage in South Africa. I have a date this evening with Scotty, Patricia, Ken and then the England v USA football match.
Look out!


Tune of the day: Even Flow by Pearl Jam

Thursday night at Oktoberfest was loads of fun

and everybody enjoyed themselves immensely. Friday was a little slow in the office but at least we managed to get a few things on the pad.....
I have just returned from town after going for a swim and doing a little shopping. This afternoon might be a good opportunity to head out and take a few photos- we do change the clocks tonight and that means that it will be dark even earlier in the evenings from now on. Not exactly great news for photographers  :-(

I am looking forward to the weekend

although I have been quite successful getting into the gym this week, having more time on the weekend makes things easier and somewhat more enjoyable too. It was nice to get into a spinning class this evening and with luck I can manage a couple of good training sessions over the weekend too which will help to get my weight moving in the right direction.
Hosting dinner for Chef Enzo, Chef Giorgio and Captain Pipo on Saturday which will be lots of fun and I am sure that we will have a proper boy's evening together. There will be enough red meat and red wine to keep everyone happy :-)
Catherine seems to be having a good time in Australia and I hope that things continue in that vein.
Since the snow fall earlier in the week, things around here have remained pretty cool....... sort of makes me think about summer again!

I have sore hands and am pretty tired

but I really think that I need to finish building this Ark in the next few hours :-) It has been hosing down here since Friday night- perfect time to be heading off to the mountains for a few days on holiday..... NOT!
We will pack up our gear and hopefully get up there this evening- the weather report for tomorrow is already a little better and I really want to take some photos up in the Engadine and the National Park. There should be lots of large animals about and with a little luck we will be able to get some photos of them, the park in general and also some of the lovely old villages in that part of the world.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday afternoon with a friend who is also involved in the financial markets- we discussed the US Fed's policy thus far of stepping in and helping to clean up whenever there have been major problems with American financial institutions. This "death by a thousand cuts" way of doing things is difficult for the markets as well as being costly for the taxpayers- perhaps it would be wiser to let asset prices fall a bit more and then wait for natural buyers to support the market when valuations reach "bargain" levels. There is not a lot of good economic news around at the moment and it will be a while before US consumers (and indeed European and Asian consumers as well) open their wallets, let the cash flow and kick-start the economy again.
I hope that all of the Mooses (Marty, Mummy, Noodle and Monster) had a great time with Mickey Moose in Anaheim and manage to get home safely.