A superb set by an interesting duo. The audience was engaged throughout and happy to share their vocals when asked! A packed sell out Bedford Arms enjoyed this set. A few photographs of DC and Lou that really capture maybe not only the enjoyment of the audience but also of themselves doing the set.
For further information on Officer their website
When travelling to other cities and walking around it is a fascinating experience to merely observe the denizens of that city. They do vary city to city. Factors such as age, smoking, fashion and quirkiness all define a city as being different from another. Helsinki is full of polite and very different people certainly from the UK and interestingly other Scandinavian and Baltic capitals. In short a group of people fascinating to observe. Here are a few examples of the people of Helsinki.
A typical Helsinki couple. Element of distance between them but managing to look cool.
Cigarette and I Phone. A new Oasis song maybe?
Smoking was maybe more common than in other Baltic and Scandinavian countries
A very european image. Attention to the phone but not to where she is walking
Helsinki Fashion
A hard worker
Tourists on the edge
Tourists in their tourist uniforms. Maybe sometone told them Helsinki was freezing?
Far more cyclists than London
On Guard
A hard working man
Finnish fashion may differ from other countries? Again attention to that phone .
The obligatory young persons uniform. Cigarette, headphones and phone. Just dont let the world in
I really have no comment here. What did he ask for at the hairdressers?
A very serious business this guarding
There are many things to do and see in Stockholm and many sights that lend themselves to being painted. Here are a few examples from the city centre. Stockholm is a nice place for sure but a little bit of colour does not go amiss. 
The weather in UK has been like spinning a roulette whell the last few days. Arriving back to a snow storm at Heathrow has been followed by sun,wind and rain. A few photographs to try and catch this variable weather.
Snowstorm over Heathrow
The contrast of cloud shapes and colours and some shaped like spaceships makes looking up at the sky interesting.
Mixed Weather in Merton
New Malden
Spaceship Cloud
On a recent short trip to Zurich my two main reflections were that so many people still smoked in Switzerland and how expensive airport shopping is at Zurich Airport.
Lets start with the airport. The shops are fairly good except if you want to buy anything at normal prices. Let me suggest a few items that one could have bought there. A nice side of salmon for £132. A nice bottle of champagne £192. A nice selection of cheese £35. And I will not begin to tell you about the cost of Mont Blanc watches and pens. My main grouse is not that these were for sale, clearly people can and will afford to buy these, but that there were no normal priced items available. Bottle of wine for a mere £197. If you want Mont Blanc, Lindtt, Porsche, etc and so on, you are fine. Try looking for the Swiss equivalent of Poundland, and goodness that will take a while!
Switzerland reeks not only of cigarette smoke but also money. Nothing looks average and no-one I saw looked poor. The streets were clean and the bars looked nice. But one has to have the money to compete in living there. The streets looked however also relatively empty and certainly no evidence of traffic problems nor traffic jams.
Switzerland Pedestrian Crossing
But normality is seen also in Switzerland with the type of graffiti normally seen in most European countries. Especially on the sides of trains or as here wagons. But a kind of functional graffiti and not in my top ten graffiti images for 2016.
The first game I have seen at Chipstead on a day when little football was played due to Storm Katie. The pitch looked good and the football was end to end in a game that clearly mattered to both teams. A 3-2 victory for Chipstead was just about deserved mostly because Chipstead took their chances and a good goalkeeping display from Alex Kozakis. Shawn Lyle was impressive for Whyteleafe who maybe might rue some dire finishing in the first half when they maybe should have taken the game. A hail storm gave parts of the game a surreal image and overall Craig Tanner will be pleased with the performance tonight. 
Shawn Lyle
Alex Kozakis
The band members of Hunter and The Bear March 2016 as they embark on their UK tour to promote their EP WILDFIRE. Always good to know what a band looks like before you go and see them.
Will Irvine
Will Irvine
Will Irvine
Jimmy Hunter
Jimmy Hunter
Jimmy Hunter
Gareth Thompson
Gareth Thompson
Chris Clark
Chris Clark
Chris Clark
The obvious reason is that everything is cheap and everything is £1. Each time I am cascading down New Malden high street this is the shop I invariably venture into. There is another reason though and maybe an even more obvious one. They have everything I seem ever to need. Let me give one solid example of a diverse and eclectic list of items that cost me a whole £6 this morning. I also for some curious reason like the fact that it is 36 and not £5.99.
So potentially I might have considered going to four different shops to get these items. I was also given a useful lesson in life by the pleasant Indian lady who taught me nicely how to scan my own items. Scanning and me are not a good combination. 
Anyone thinking that Poundland is not for them or too downmarket, please think again. An eclectic selection of useful items, ridiculously cheap and the shop was full of a complete mix of our little society.
What do we know of Poundland?
Poundland is a British variety store chain that sells most items in its stores for £1. Established in April 1990 by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith, Poundland stock a variety of around 3,000 home and kitchen-ware, gifts, healthcare and other products, across 16 categories many of which are brand name and clearance products. Like many of its rivals, Poundland operates a constantly rotating product line with all products priced £1. Although price-point retailing was invented in the United States during the 1870s, the chain claims to have introduced this concept to Europe and is the largest single-price discount retailer in Europe.The retailer claims that their Croydon store is the busiest single-priced discount outlet in the world, generating more than £9 million in revenue per year with 30,000 customers a week. The company estimates it serves 2.75 million customers in an average week. Poundland reckon to be opening another 70 new stores in 2016.
On sunday mornings a great way to get some exercise and be helpful is to take a trip down to Turners Lane in Hersham where Hersham Hounds/Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare have their greyhound kennels. The kennels are home to maybe 100 greyhounds at any one time.
Humphrey. A gorgeous greyhound who loves everyone
Home for the Greyhounds
Many walkers walk anything from a single pair of greyhounds to as many as eight. A thoroughly recommended way to get anything from 4-8,000 steps in Fitbit terms.
Turners Lane Hersham
Muddy Fields
The walk by itself is pleasant down the lanes. The field nearby show evidence still of the excess amount of rain of the last month and some of the fields are pure mud. One feels sympathy for the horses stabled there. The area is also home to many parakeets that take southeast England as their home, with their noisy chattering quite obvious, and flying around in small flocks of maybe 4-10 birds.
In the past the life of a greyhound at the end of its racing life, 4-5 years was not terribly optimistic but rescue groups such as WGW/Hersham Hounds work hard to ensure socialisation of the hounds and training for re-homing. Many dogs are rehomed though some are scarred and have idiosyncrasies that make it more complex.
If you do decide to come down and walk the greyhounds do remember to bring personal and address identification as this is needed to “sign-on”.
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 