What a lovely surprise

With that kind of sublime irony you couldn't make up, a package arrived this morning from laura0141, containing a CD of Chet Baker's My Funny Valentine.

Oh Laura, how did you know? The smoky voice, the silky trumpet, the 1950s hunkiness!

And on this my first full BCUK-less day I can't thank Laura in the proper place. So I'll do it here. Thank you Laura - *hug*. And any of you who are still listening may like to relay this to the Other Place.

Literacy in the Landscape (1)

Now I have this phone that takes pictures I have to find an excuse to used it, don't I? And this new project is not only where it comes into its own, but also lets me start something about one of the more irritatingly buzzy creatures in my headgear.

Like this one, on a minibus parked outside my house this morning:



If you pull Handel, do you hear the Water Music?

And this one, in the window of Partyland - a tacky shop in Reading's main drag:



Never were so many greengrocer's [sic] seen together in one place!

(Incidentally, given the distracting reflections in this picture, where you y9ou get a polarising filter for a phone camera?)

Literacy in the Landscape (2)

I know a lot of people think the "due to/owing to" distinction is a lost cause, but even so you'd think the lawyers drafting a formal legal declaration would get it right, wouldn't you?



('due to' is an adjective phrase and can only qualify a noun or noun phrase. The rule is: if in doubt use 'owing to'. And if you don't know the difference, us' because of'.)