Life's about experiences. These are mine.
Today was the first time we had travelled to Europe since their new Entry/Exit System (EES) was introduced. I had read horror stories in the press about long queues and wait times as people got used to the technology and the bugs are ironed out. There seems to be a two-step process to gain entrance. …
I’m on the V&A mailing list. Normally it’s only of passing interest but when I opened one and found that they were running an exhibition featuring the work of Aardman Animations I was there and booked tickets. Hold on a Minute… When I originally booked the tickets, I hadn’t realised that the exhibition was actually …
Continue reading “Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends, Young V&A, London”
The underpass to Katesgrove, specifically the stretch beneath the IDR near County Lock, has had a series of murals installed in it, and I was keen to see it. What apparently used to be a somewhat grim, graffiti-prone passage has been turned into the Time Travel Tunnel, unveiled earlier this month (February 1, 2026). A …
Continue reading “Time Travel Tunnel (Katesgrove Murals), Reading”
I guess you could say that I am somewhat late to the party with this post, given that all those annoying Spotify Wrapped posts were flooding social media late last year. I don’t use Spotify, having a) a roll-your-own version in the form of Plex and b) many, many vinyl records. How many?! I thought …
I’ve been driving under the A329M flyover on Loddon Bridge Road for years, admiring the street art there and meaning to take a closer look. Today I finally did. The graffiti art under the A329M flyover near the Showcase Cinema and The George pub in Earley/Woodley is widely considered Reading’s “Hall of Fame” for street …
Continue reading “Street Art, Loddon Bridge, Woodley, Reading”
It’s time for my annual round-up of the year just gone (you can read the previous year’s reports here). This was my first full year of retirement so it will be interesting to see what, if any , impact that has had on the figures. I have worked from home for the last ten years …
This is an awful thing to say, but Reading is really easy to get away from! It is incredibly well served with transport links to the M4 to the south and rail links which lead pretty much anywhere. One such destination is Oxford, which is only a cheap 20-minute train ride away. It is a …
Continue reading “Oxford – Radiohead, Le Carre and Treister”
In the middle of last year I visited Lightroom in Kings Cross to see The Moonwalkers. I loved it so much that I went back for a second helping and bought the soundtrack that accompanied it. When I saw that The Natural History Museum were offering a similar thing I was keen to give it …
Continue reading “Our Story with David Attenborough, Natural History Museum, London”
Last day in Washington DC and we needed to avoid last-day syndrome, particularly as we had the whole day to kill as the flight wasn’t until 22:45. We had done all the major sites and places that we wanted to visit but there were a couple more outposts to go to. Eastern market We had …
Continue reading “USA ’25 – Day Eight – Eastern Market & Navy Yard”
I posed a question on our Alexandria day asking “How do the blind of America cross the road?” as there didn’t seem to be any audio feedback. Our eyes and ears on the ground (👋Angela) got in touch to say that if you hold the crosswalk button long enough, it tells you which street you’re …
Continue reading “USA ’25 – Day Seven – National Air and Space Museum”