street life

hello there

just a quick sort of hello, it is May, i am still here and around sort of post for you, look you see. lest anyone stumble upon this blog and think it was abandoned as of last month. it hasn't been, just to clarify.

as the title suggests, this post is geared towards a celebration of life on the streets. although Spiros, as is somewhat inevitable, features (kind of), it's not all about his dream of one day living a life on the streets, cruising around performing certain acts to earn money to purchase ale with and living quite happily indeed in soiled pants. it's more just some images of the streets. which, in fairness, will probably turn out to be precisely as boring as that sounds.

i don't think you can make them out all that well, but this is supposed to be an image of four police officers patrolling the streets. i think they were, in theory, marshalling a seemingly peaceful, not all that extensively attended anti-racism protest meeting. better, some might say, to have police around and not need them than need them and not have them around.

i was just taken aback to see four members of the constabulary, because i think this is the largest amount of police officers in one place i have seen since coming back home, outside of course for those times when they have been on duty down at the football. and even then, they are so unobtrusive that you don't even really feel like they are there. for the most part, you know, all of us here just want to get on and not go around breaking laws all the time.

my experience of the police in South Africa were, of course somewhat different. often there is was quite common to see them in much larger herds. usually, for example, it takes at least six of them to park in all of the disabled parking bays outside KFC. and at least 12 are required at road blocks to ensure a fair acceptance and distribution of ad hoc, on the spot fines. and, of course, whenever there is a crime scene, absolutely as many officers as possible are rushed to the scene to ensure, methodically, that all items of possible value have indeed been removed.

South Africa is the key to the picture that Spiros sent to me; a view of a street which in many ways inspired this post.

at present Spiros appears to spend a life in which all but an hour a day of it is spent drifting the streets, looking to form friendships with men and trying to find retailers of suspiciously cheap meat of dubious, questionable provenance.

it was during such an incident of drifting that he stumbled upon Bloemfontein Road. this discovery took him by surprise, which is of no surprise as it was at a time of day when the sauce would have well and truly got the better of him and his sense of direction. he will have no idea how he managed to get there, and even less of a clue as to how he made it home. if, indeed, he did make it home. i am trying to think if i have heard from him since he sent this. maybe, but don't worry, he always turns up eventually.

finally, then, a picture i took because it left me somewhat at a loss, and thus i thought you might be able to work out why.

the focus here is that fancy, luxury silver car you can see. i am assuming that it is both fancy and a luxury one.

the driver - presumed owner - parked it where it is (i think maybe not as legally as possible, it is a bus stop) and sat there. after a few minutes he got out, stood in the middle of the road, took a picture of this fancy, luxury car, and then got back into the car and sat there. for how long did he sit there? no idea. at least two minutes further. after that, my bus came along and i was not of a mind to miss it just to see how long he stayed there. sorry if this is disappointing for you to read, but the matter only held so much interest for me.

if you, then, dear reader, can see anything picture worth in that fancy, luxury silver car, then so much the better. i do not know all that much about cars, but this one does not look all that special to me.

not sure about you or where you are, but 'tis a long weekend here to celebrate May Day, or if you like the Day of May. and wouldn't you know i have a blu ray of The Wicker Man sat here next to me.


yes, bus vibes to follow soon-ish.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!