Friday, 30 January 2015

Pick Your Economist

A notice at the Student Services desk at the London School of Economics:


Whom do you entrust your form to: Sen or Mundell? The sort of dilemma that can reduce an economics undergrad to a state of paralysed indecision.

Sunday, 18 January 2015

Basic Essentials

From a store at Treviso airport:


Gosh, some people's idea of 'essentials' must be very different from mine!

Friday, 9 January 2015

To See a Branch in a Drop of Dew

It was a cold, foggy morning in the Cotswolds on Sunday when I took this photo of dewdrops on a tree branch.


Later I noticed something cool: the dewdrop has formed a refracted image of the branch behind it. This can be seen more clearly in the enlarged image below.

Tuesday, 23 December 2014

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Silent People

The first verse of Casey's Last Ride, a song by Kris Kristofferson, describes silent crowds walking down subway stairs. I see this as a metaphor for a life without love or purpose – minding the arrows and trudging inexorably towards the clicking of the turnstiles.

I've always thought the song would be a good candidate for a bleak graphic-novel-style interpretation, so when I got my hands on a graphics tablet (a gift from Anasua), I gave it a shot (which is to say, I drew the first panel; I would have drawn the whole song if I had the requisite patience, which I clearly don't).

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Seasons 3: Isle of Dogs, London

Move your cursor over the image below, and it should change to another image of the same scene in a different season. (If it doesn't work, check that your browser has JavaScript enabled.)


Base photo:30 May 2014
Mouseover photo:3 December 2014
Approx. coordinates:51.49°N, 0.01°W

The boundary fence of our housing development is fringed with what I suspect is meadowsweet. The flowers are fluffy white in summer, but now that it's winter, they are dry and black.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

The American Pound

An American professor teaches my Philosophy of Economics course. An incident from Monday's class:
Professor: On the y-axis we have pound benefit to farmers. [tries to draw a pound symbol, fails, tries again, draws an even worse one]
Class: [laughter]
Professor: I... I don't know how to draw a pound.
Class: [more laughter]
Professor: I'll practise, I'll practise.

Below is a photo of his effort.

Sunday, 16 November 2014

No Nazis, No Racists

A poster I saw in my East London neighbourhood:



I wonder if the London Antifascists have given up on posher areas!