Saturday Afternoon at the Imperial War Museum

On Saturday Jules, Jerry, their house mate Sophie, Ann Maria and I went to the Imperial War Museum. 

As you know, Bill is not into war stuff so he went off on his own for the afternoon while I prepared for battle.

 Ann Maria was as excited as I was.  Or else she was practicing Big Face in the museum garden.

Jerry and I were the photographers of the day.  

 Outside the museum they had a whole slew of antique cars.

 This would be my car with the Union pillows and the crown on the door.

 Eventually we made it inside the museum.

 There were lots of big mechanical things for people to look at but I prefer the more subtle aspects of war - the propaganda, life on the home front, etc.

No wonder Bill doesn't like war!!  It would impede his fashion sense!

The gallery at the top of the museum is filled with stories of winning the Victoria Cross or the George Cross (the civilian version).  Some of the stories were pretty amazing and I left the room vowing to take a bullet or run into the next burning building I saw in order to join the ranks of these folks.

 I love the wartime scarves.  I actually saw some for sale in a vintage clothing shop recently but they were hundreds of pounds and none of them were quite as fabulous as the ones on display here.  I might pay a couple hundred quid for that Churchil….

 I also went into the Holocaust exhibit but no photography was allowed.  Be thankful because it was brutal.  Incredibly effecting and moving but horrific - as it should be.  

When I came out it was time to meet the others to queue up for the WW1 exhibit.  That mish mash of people below is the queue.

 Jules, Ann Maria and I were the only ones who found each other at the assigned time so we went in with the masses.  I'm sure the exhibit was wonderful but it was so packed with people that I was only able to give it a cursory look and I only took a couple of pictures.

 

 As you leave this exhibit you walk through the trenches yourself to get a taste of life in these deep tunnels.  Then again, I was dry and clean and those poor boys were drenched and miserable.  The projection at the end looks like hell on Earth.

I was so glad that I went but I didn't even begin to see it all.  I need to make another trip on a week day morning when there will be fewer people.

Tune in tomorrow for our next stop  - the wine bar….

Fore!

After work today we rushed to the links to continue the U.K. vs U.S tournament we've sporadically held in the past two years.

It was round three.  U.S. and U.K. were tied at one win each.

RedSox hat will give you a clue which team I was representing.

The U.S. was heavy underdogs because, well let's face it, my partner and I stink.  We were facing my work mate and his 16 year old son.  The 16 year old son, I was told, could drive the ball 250 yards straight down the fairway.  So considering that my work buddy was the best player and his kid could out hit all of us, we were in for a long day.

But look at my form.  If we were going to lose we'd lose looking slick.

 My teammate.  I forgive him the fact that he's from Florida, barely a U.S. state.

 16 year old big hitter.

 My work mate.  I was hoping his recently operated on knee would act up, if only for the duration of the match.

 After being down 2 holes, after 2 holes, it looked grim.

But when we found ourselves tied after 12 holes we felt like we'd achieved a moral victory.

Then the stars aligned.

I got hot at the right time and won four straight holes.

The Brits were done.  Tea was thrown in the river.  Americans throughout the world rejoiced.

We won.  

T Shirt Don'ts

I've always hated this t-shirt.  I should ignore it as another lame t shirt, but I can't.

The "Old Guys Rule" saying is weak, for sure, but I think it's the "It's how I roll" that gets under my skin.  It doesn't make sense.  "Old Guys Rule - It's How I Roll".  What is how he rolls?  Being an old guy is how he rolls?  Mother Entwistle, return this shirt if you bought it for me for Christmas.

So I decided to Google worst t shirts.  Mother Entwistle, do NOT do this.  There are some very crass t-shirts.  Since this blog does not work blue I thought I'd include a few of the worst that are viewable by younger eyes.  You'll recognise a pattern.

Enjoy, Didi!!

I didn't quite understand what is happening here.

Killer Names

Here is another witty London shop name.  

"It's a cut throat business" say the owners of Jack the Clipper.

 I thought this name was pretty funny until I remembered my Ripper history.  I had read the graphic novel 'From Hell'.  Graphic it was.

Then I also did some googling and read details about the first five Ripper murders.  Brutal.

For those who can stomach a large dose of gore, click on this Ripper link.

When it is ok to have a laugh about a gruesome murderer?

Would you grab a bite at Jeffrey Dahmer's Diner?

Would you bring the kids to John Wayne Gacy's Big Top Circus?

And why do we give our serial killers cool nicknames?  Here are a few I found in my research:

Vlad the Impaler-Dracula

Elizabeth Bathory-The Blood Countess

Andreas Bichel-The Bavarian Ripper

The Bender Family-The Bloody Benders

Herman Mudgett-H.H.Holmes/The Torture Doctor

Theo Durrant-The Demon in the Belfry

Joseph Vacher-The French Ripper

Bela Kiss-The Monster of Czinkota

Henri Landru-The Bluebeard of Paris

Vasili Komaroff-The Wolf of Moscow

Fritz Haarmann-The Vampire of Hanover

Earle Nelson-The Gorilla Murderer

Peter Kurten-The Vampire of Duselldorf

Albert Fish-The Moon Maniac

Gordon Cummins-The Blackout Ripper

Louise Pette-The Duchess of Death

Alfred Cline-The Buttermilk Bluebeard

Rudolf Pleil-The Death Maker

John George Haigh-The Acid-Bath Killer

Raymond Fernandez/Martha Beck-The Lonely Hearts Killers

Reg Christie-The Monster of Rillington Place

Ed Gein-The Plainfield Ghoul

Melvin David Rees-The Sex Beast

Heinrich Pommerencke-The Beast of the Black Forest

Albert DeSalvo-The Boston Strangler

Charles Schmid-The Pied Piper of Tucson

Gertrude Baniszewski-The Torture Mother

Juan Corona-The Machete Murderer

Paul John Knowles-The Cassanova Killer

David Berkowitz-Son of Sam

John Wayne Gacy-The Killer Clown

Kenneth Bianchi/Angelo Buono-The Hillside Stranglers

Peter Sutcliffe-The Yorkshire Ripper

Pedro Lopez-The Monster of the Andes

Richard Ramirez-The Night Stalker

Keith Hunter Jesperson-The Happy Face Killer

Richard Angelo-The Angel of Death

Adolfo De Jesus Constanzo-The Godfather of Matamoros

Jeffrey Dahmer-The Milwaukee Monster

Andrei Chikatilo-The Mad Beast

Ted Bundy-Lady Killer

Joe Ball-The Alligator Man

William Heirens-The Lipstick Killer

Jerry Brudos-The Shoe-Fetish Slayer

Dean Corll-The Candy Man

Carol Eugene Watts-The Sunday Morning Slasher

Timothy William Spencer-The Southside Slayer

Vicytor Szczepinski-The Doorbell Killer

Lucian Staniak-The Red Spider

Joseph Smith-The Brides in the Bath Murderer

John Scripps-The Tourist From Hell

Thierry Paulin-The Monster of Montmarte

Anatoly Onoprienko-The Terminator

George Metesky-The Mad Bomber

William McDonald-The Sydney Mutilator

Archie McCafferty-The Mad Dog

Jean-Thierry Mathurin-The Old Ladies Killer

Richard Macek-The Mad Biter

Edward Leonski-The Singing Strangler

Bobby Joe Long-The Classified Ad Rapist

Patrick Kearney-The Trash Bag Murderer

Colin Ireland-The Gay Slayer

Archibald Hall-The Monster Butler

Georg Karl Grossman-The Berlin Butcher

Vaughn Greenwood-The Skid Row Slasher

Cleo Green-The Red Demon

John Wayne Glover-The Granny Killer

Raymond Fernandez-The Lonely Hearts Killer

Nikolai Dzumagalies-Metal Fang

Nannie Doss-The Giggling Granny

Karl Denke-The Mass Murderer of Munsterberg

Dr. Thomas Neill Cream-The Lambeth Poisoner

Doug Clark-The Sunset Strip Slayer

John Reginald Christie-The Monster of Rillington Place

Richard Chase-The Vampire of Sacremento

Gary Carlton-The Stocking Strangler

Wayne Boden-The Vampire Rapist

William Bonin-The Freeway Killer

Nicolas Claux-The Vampire of Paris

OK, a few of these are not cool names.

The Shoe Fetish Slayer and The Classical Ad Rapist need a better public relations person.

I'm sure a psychologist would say something about how we need to make light of these horrific crimes as a defence mechanism.  So I guess I won't feel guilty if I feel a tinge of morbid enjoyment when I get a straight blade razor shave at Jack the Clipper's.

The Mighty Have Fallen (as expected)

Remember how we won the quiz last week?  This week proved that it was due to Ann Maria, Jerry and Jules because with out them (even with Robert) we were 5th out of 6 teams.  

Look who showed up at the quiz tonight!!!!  Jedi Knights!!  We haven't seen John and Jason for weeks so I was super excited to see them here tonight. And since we were not on the same team - they beat us.

Orchestra also had a full team - their house mate and their Air B and B guest completed their team...

Meanwhile Robert joined us to make Weak Sauce.  He contributed more than it looks here.  Ann Maria is out on a date so we didn't have her brilliant history, current events, pop culture skills.

Collecting the winning drinks from last week.  Sadly we will not be getting free drinks next week….

 Weak Sauce - happy losers.

 The score sheet - 29…I think the winners  (Damn you Buffet!!) were over 40.

Questions: 

Who was the only boxer awarded a knighthood?

Which 5 countries have the most spanish speaking people?

What month does Royal Ascot have it's races?

What outlaw did Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger play?

What John Steinbeck novel had James Dean in the movie version?

What was the Dutch sounding sir name of Lucy in Peanuts?

What was the name of the teenage witch played by Melissa Joan Hart?

 What is a merkin? (Diane, you should know this!!!)

 The weekly selfie of me and Jerry.

Answers:

Who was the only boxer awarded a knighthood?  Henry Cooper

Which 5 countries have the most Spanish speaking people?  (this is in order)

Mexico

Columbia

USA

Argentina

Spain

What month does Royal Ascot have it's races?  June

What outlaw did Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger play?  Ned Kelly

What John Steinbeck novel had James Dean in the movie version?  East of Eden

What was the Dutch sounding sir name of Lucy in Peanuts?  Van Pelt

What was the name of the teenage witch played by Melissa Joan Hart?  Sabrina

What is a merkin?  A pubic wig

Notting Hill Carnival

It's Carnival time in Notting Hill again.  Hide the children and board up your homes.

Actually, the business along the route really do board up their shops.  But not William Hill!  Gambling will not be slowed down by the Notting Hill Carnival!

The parade was loud and colourful.  The rain not only did not dampen these exhibitionists spirits, it seemed to give them another gear to access.

Much flesh was exposed in the making of this Carnival.  Not all of it welcome.

Olive Oil made an appearance.

Wait, is that woman on the left Mother Entwistle?

I did not have any complaints about this outfit.

Loved this drum band.  They sounded fantastic and were smiling and dancing like .... happy....dancing ...drummers.....

Drum!  Dance! Be Happy!

I was the most bundled up person in Notting Hill.

I like the guy on the left wearing a glad bag for both hat and jacket.

Two of my favourites.  They passed me several times so you will see them multiple times.  (That's the story I told Jen.  Back me up.)

Oh, there she is again.

She is such a camera hog.  Excuse you miss, I'm trying to take pictures of other people.

Like this dude.

This one scared me.  She saw my camera pointed at her and launched into this little dance.  I thought she was a Spiderman villain, about to do villainy things to me.  I suppose if this is suppose to be some sort of piano she would repeat a high C over and over until I went mad.

Hello Sir.  You have my vote.  Now please keep walking.

These two mates watched from the first floor balcony.  (Remember, in the UK the first floor is the second floor)

They scared me a bit.  They look like they were scouting their next victim.

Adorable little girl watching from her flat.

It's amazing that they kept their groove on for so long.

This is getting ridiculous.  Please step aside Miss so I can photograph those faceless spectators in their rain slickers.

This old dude broke protocol and stepped in with the parade to do his little jig.

Good wings on her.

This woman opted to go another way, with the black trash bag.  She may have missed the email on which costume to bring.

Bond villain.

I have nothing to say.  Anything more I can add will only incriminate me.

I got a lovely smile from this wildly dressed lady.

I wish I got a closer picture of her.  She had a great scar on her stomach.

I was going to say that the onlookers were wildly dressed, but I think this is  everyday wear for her.

These two, however, better not dress like this on any other day.

I'm glad I only spent a couple of hours there.  Good thing, because the day before there were 269 arrests.  

There were many drunks needing attention.

And the boys used the street as their toilet.

No parade is complete without a gaggle of Jesus worshippers telling us all how bad we are.

Goodbye Notting Hill Carnival.  I took in two of these while we lived here.

Check.  Put that in the books.