View allAll Photos Tagged cheapskates
Unbranded, with no title
plywood (basswood)
191 pieces
385 x 280 mm
TED: "I dunno 'ow that cat's gettin' away wiv sleepin' on the shelf like that - I jest no I'd be in big trubble if I dun it!
I 'spekt it's cuz 'e's cute - yew can get away wiv murder if yer cute - jest arsk a bunny rabbit or a lickle baby.
Anyway, this is a jigsaw wot the Mumster got frum a website wot sells lots of cheap stuff... typical Mum, she's a propper cheapskate!
I dun it kwik cuz there ain't many peeces (altho' there's sum wimsys) an' it's small - like me, small but gorjuss!"
Crop of a cheapskate photo, taken at dog's eye view of our lurcher doggy running to the camera.
50p Olympus XA-2 compact zone focus.
£1 AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 200 35mm film from the Poundland discount store.
Went for Kanye West's Touch the Sky concert at Stadium Negara earlier today.
Kuala Lumpur was the ONLY venue in South East Asia that West performed in for his 'Touch the Sky' tour but surprisingly it wasn't a "sold out"show.
My girls and I bought the RM123 tickets which were for the bleachers as we decided the main tickets (which costs RM233) was too pricey. *yikes, sorry about being such cheapskates Kanye :p*
Luckily for us (but not so for the organisers) the tickets weren't sold out, so there was space at the area in front of the stage.
Yours truly scrambled right in front and managed to get a few shots while dancing around like a bloody idiot holding on to my dSLR.
Shameless I must admit, but hey. I doubt anyone noticed as they were too immersed with West's performance ;p
I found an interesting article on t'web today called $11 Super Wide Angle Digital Camera.
So I thought I'd have a go and make one for my ageing Kodak DX4900. I got a door viewer for 5 quid in my local B&Q . They only had ones with a small diameter, but I thought I'd try it anyway.
I cut the bottom of an old 35mm plastic film cannister which fitted nicely over the Kodak lens (with a bit of black electrical tape stuck around the inside to make it a snug fit) and that holds the door viewer nicely in place - and also made it easy to add or remove as required.
My camera now looks like it has a Dalek's eye.
Merry Christmas Everyone! Do not be terrified, for I bring tidings of great joy and this MOC! It has been about a month in the making, and it was originally for a Lego ReBrick competition, but the contest closed before I had a chance to finish it. :-( On a good note, though, if they have another one next year, I’ll enter it in that. Anyways, this MOC is an estimated 8-10,000 pieces, has 83 minifigures, and weighs about 20 pounds (or 9.07 kilograms). The buildings are as follows, left to right: Ice Cream Shoppe, Department Store, Coffee Shop and Bakery, 50’s Diner, and The Lego Store. Above the Ice Cream Shoppe and the 50’s Diner are apartments.
The Ice Cream Shoppe was fun to do, but also very similar to the one I did in my Cityscape, which you can find in my portfolio of creations. I got more employees, so now I can do it justice, and there are many citizens still awaiting the frozen treat, even though it is the dead of winter. The second floor is an apartment for a guy that obviously just got out of bed, for he is in his volcano pajamas and his hair is all crazy. It was really fun to design, and my favorite aspect about it is the loft, as it just adds an airy feel to it that I just tend to really like. I also just HAD to add a piano, as that is a big part of my life, and I had to put it somewhere.
The Department Store was a very fun build for me, as I got to use all my sand green! Yay! The inside of the first floor is furniture and the cash register, and it works out nicely in my opinion. My favorite civilian on this floor is the guy in the pink suit, and his gigantic mustache.
The second floor is the toy department and Santa’s Wonderland, with his big chair, a tree, a mailbox for letters to jolly saint nick, and a gingerbread man to welcome you to the place. There are lots of toys on display, and you just have to find one that suits your fancy! My favorite little easter egg is the nasty janitor, and the guy walking away finding him very “interesting”. ;-)
The third floor is all clothing, with mannequins as well as a dressing room. (And I finally found a use for my bacon flag! :-D)
The Coffee Shop and Bakery definitely matches the Christmas theme of the whole model, since it is always warm and cozy inside. The coffee shop portion of it is just the way I wanted it to look in the beginning, as well as the bakery, with all of the goodies and snacks. There is a big group of nurses around the table, probably taking their lunch break. I actually really like how the outside of this one turned out, my favorite aspect of it being the gold peaked spire, as those pieces just lend to it so well, and I couldn’t have asked for any better.
The 50’s Diner was an incredibly enjoyable build, as I have been wanting to do one of these forever, and finally had the chance! I have the jukebox up on the wall, the soda machine on the counter, and the checkerboard floor. Up on the second floor, we have the apartment of a total slob, with his stained shirt, food everywhere, and he’s just sitting on the couch and watching TV, even though he has presents to go buy! Cheapskate. :-P
Last but definitely not least is The Lego Store. This is by far my favorite building in the MOC, as I finally got to build a fully decked-out Lego Store! Needless to say, I was really excited when I saw the opportunity. I have a Pick-and-Build Wall (formerly known as the Pick-a-Brick Wall), boxed sets on the wall, Brickly the dragon/sea serpent slithering his way throughout the place, and a big brick-built helicopter hanging from the ceiling. The Pick-and-Build wall has 60 compartments for all the different pieces, and there is also the trademark red 2x4 brick in the window.
For the park area, I knew that I wanted to do an ice skating rink, as that is fairly common where I live. I also knew that I had to put a sledding/snowboarding hill, as I personally have a blast doing that when we have snow. There is a little stall by the ice rink, and a guy is selling hot chocolate out of it for the people that are getting a little too chilly. The Christmas Tree is the crowning jewel of the MOC, with the presents under it, and the angel on top. I had originally tried stringing it with lights, but that surprisingly turned out looking awful, so I just stuck to keeping it plain after that. My favorite easter eggs in the park are the lady getting pulled away by her dogs, the teen trying to skate and seriously failing, and the guy taking a picture of the tree (there’s always a tourist in every city…).
If you just read all of that, I am really impressed. You deserve an award. Overall, I am extremely happy with this model, and will always remember it. Now I have it for the holidays as a great decoration piece, and could not be more pleased with it. I am planning on bringing it to my LUG’s meeting in January, so if you are in the area, you can stop by and see me and some of my MOCs in person. The meeting is at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, January 21st. I hope to see you there! I would appreciate if you would follow me, and as always, please comment and like!
Nita cuddles our Lurcher, Flint. In the field of Barley. Taken with an Olympus XA2 camera (cost 50p) loaded with AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 200 35mm budget film from Poundland.
Printing the business cards I designed for Nice Brew Interior Design.
Silver ink on pearlescent black card.
Skating does a body good.
#1980s #1970s #athletic #athlete #beachbody #beauty #beautiful #bikini #Veniceboardwalk #carnival #California #cheapskates #cute #exercise #exercising #fit #girl #lifestyle #legs #leisure #lifestyle #LosAngeles #models #ocean #pinup #promenade #rollerblades #rollerderby #rollerskates #rollerskating #rollerskater #rollerskaters #recreation #rollerskate #sexy #skateboard #sports #SantaMonica #skates #skater #skating #skaters #Venice #VeniceBeach
Joni the Blonde had arrived fashionably late at the P.L. Lounge on the night in question and repaired to its famous Ladies' Room, where she checked her makeup and her blonde hairstyle, before taking a seat at the bar and ordering a beer. (Note that there is no free advertising or product placement in these photos!) Initially, Joni was engaged in an animated discussion of what roads constituted I-95 in New Jersey with another (attractive) blonde TG woman whose name I sadly don't recall, but Joni was also aware that there was a guy sitting a couple of stools away to her left who was seemingly studying both Joni and the other woman rather intently. When Joni left her stool to dispose of some gum that she had been chewing into a trash container in the Ladies' Room, the guy made his move by grabbing Joni's stool and attempting unsuccessfully to engage the other woman in conversation.
Joni returned and asked the guy if she could please have her seat back, just as the other woman excused herself to talk with some girls who were playing pool. He apologized and Joni accepted, at which point the guy started hitting on Joni by telling her just how much he LOVED her blonde hairstyle and how great she looked, etc. While these compliments, especially the one about loving Joni's blonde hairstyle, were music to Joni's ears, Joni responded sarcastically that she could tell just how much he loved Joni's blonde hair when he was trying to hit on the other blonde woman when he briefly stole Joni's seat. Clearly, at this juncture Joni was playing hard to get and had placed the guy on the defensive. There was more than one reason behind Joni's sarcastic comment because THERE IS A BACK STORY! In any event, Joni knew this guy and recognized him from a past encounter; actually two encounters; both of which had occurred approximately 6 or 7 years earlier when the P.L.Lounge was "Amanda's Hideaway". Joni didn't remember his name, but recognized him because he resembled the husband of one of my wife's best friends. Indeed, Joni had seen him on several subsequent occasions at Amanda's over the years, but neither he nor she had made any efforts to renew their acquaintance . . . . until this moment.
Stung by Joni's sarcasm, the guy backed off momentarily, and sheepishly denied that he had been hitting on the other woman. He claimed he just wanted to ask her something. (Right!) Joni and the guy then engaged in some small talk for a few minutes interspersed with more compliments about Joni's blonde hair, etc. and before long the guy was back on the offensive as he began to gently touch and massage Joni's lower left thigh. At some point, he played the part of a gentleman and asked Joni if it was okay for him to massage her thigh. Joni downplayed the issue and feigned indifference, saying she didn't mind. In truth, she was loving it! Shortly thereafter, the guy asked Joni the infamous question, "Do you come here often?" At first, Joni thought this was a silly ass question and was somewhat offended that the guy didn't remember her from the past, but then quickly realized that there might be something magical about this blonde wig and that maybe it was transforming her into a completely different woman, although some of the regular girls and the barmaids had no trouble recognizing Joni when she arrived.
In any event, Joni took this opportunity to advise the guy that this wasn't the first time they had met and reminded him that they had initially met in this same bar about 6 or 7 years earlier. The guy was incredulous, claiming he had no such memory of ever having met Joni in the past. Joni then reminded him of a somewhat kinky aspect of their first meeting which she figured would certainly refresh his recollection. She didn't feel it was necessary to even mention that there had been a second occasion. While the guy was adamant that he had no such recollection, the fact that he didn't deny the kinky aspect as something he wouldn't have ever done under any circumstances, and which one would have expected a normal guy to do, was regarded by Joni as a tacit admission on his part despite his professed lack of recall. . . besides this guy wasn't completely normal.
Rather than becoming confrontational, Joni let the guy down easy and admitted that she wasn't a blonde back then, but rather a brunette or maybe a redhead. Besides, Joni was enjoying the expanding reach of the guy's fingertips as he continued to massage her thigh! Nevertheless Joni then pointed out that the guy hadn't yet asked her name, as she pushed her empty beer bottle back across the bar as a less than subtle hint that this would be a good time to offer to buy Joni another beer. The guy ignored the hint. It was at this moment that Joni experienced another deja vu as she recalled that this was also a guy who didn't spring for drinks when he was trying to pick up a girl. Since the guy was a cheapskate, Joni refused to tell the guy her name when he asked after having been being prompted by Joni, telling him that he should give it some thought and maybe the name would come to him, while simultaneously crossing her legs tightly to send him another less than subtle hint about his long term prospects for the evening. . .
Of course, it was somewhat hypocritical for Joni to be miffed when the guy couldn't remember her name, because she couldn't remember his name either! (Somebody cue up Sinatra singing "Strangers in the Night".) Nor did Joni ask him!
Just another less than subtle hint about the guy's long term prospects. However, what was really hypocritical of Joni was her willingness to allow the guy to continue to massage her thighs, while gradually testing the integrity and resolve of her crossed thighs. For this, Joni should be ashamed. Indeed, Joni is ashamed. . . but Joni must confess. She liked it!!!
Those of you who may find Joni's promiscuous behavior in this regard to be reprehensible and who are without sin, may throw the first stone. . . . but save some for later. It gets worse! . . .
Hmmmm, BTW, Joni, could you please tighten up those legs and pull down that skirt in this photo up above?
. . . Like I said, things got worse, as the guy gradually became more emboldened in his efforts to woo Joni. At some point, the guy realized he was going to need some privacy for what he intended to do with Joni, not yet realizing that Joni had crossed her legs and maintained that posture for a reason. He asked Joni to go outside with him. Against her better judgment, Joni decided to humor the guy and follow him outside, but both the guy and Joni immediately retreated back into the air-conditioned confines of the P.L. Lounge as soon as they stepped outside and into the scorching heat of the night. The guy then inquired about Joni's car, but she advised him that there was no room because it was packed to the gills for a trip to South Carolina the following morning. Joni then inquired about his car, and the guy said it was available, but the air conditioning didn't work very well, Joni said, "In that case, no thanks!", as she spared herself a potentially uncomfortable situation.
The guy then suggested that they go sit in the backroom near the P.L. Lounge's Clothes Boutique. Once again for reasons that elude her own comprehension, Joni accompanied him into the backroom, where they sat on a sofa. It should be noted that the backroom was lit up and offered better privacy than a seat at the bar, but not much more. The guy quickly became more aggressive in his efforts to seduce Joni. The soft massages were now gropes, but Joni was equally determined to thwart his advances and kept her legs crossed tight. At some point the guy got down on his knees and began kissing Joni's legs while attempting to reach up and under Joni's already short skirt. It was an amusing, but pathetic display that Joni tolerated (enjoyed!) for a few minutes, but finally asked the guy to please get back off the floor and onto the sofa. However, that's when the guy then began pecking away at Joni's neck and cheeks, and Joni's resolve began to erode, so much so that when the guy told Joni that he wanted to kiss her on her mouth, Joni leaned over, closed her eyes, and met his eager lips . . . For a moment, the guy finally had Joni! Her resolve had totally crumpled. She had surrendered herself to temptation. She was now in his grasp and at his mercy! . . . WAS THIS HOW BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN ??? Joni wondered.
However, Joni's moment of weakness proved to be fleeting, as Joni recoiled angrily when the guy tried to immediately stick his tongue down Joni's throat! Joni advised the guy that is not how a man should kiss a woman. Joni proceeded to lecture the guy on the finer points of kissing. Kissing should be sensuous and romantic, Joni said, and should start with the lips gently massaging each other and then working progressively over time in combination with loving touches and embraces toward deeper, wetter, and more passionate kisses which ultimately could include tickling the other party's throat with one's tongue; as opposed to choking and strangling one's partner with one's tongue! . . . Thinking that she had sufficiently chastened the guy, Joni offered as a public service to demonstrate in a purely clinical manner the proper way to kiss a woman and started to gently kiss the guy on his lips, but the tutorial only lasted about ten seconds before the guy reverted back to his basic instinct to thrust his tongue. Sadly, Joni realized the guy was hopeless, and having regained her composure, she backed away and re-crossed her thighs tighter than ever.
Having been rebuffed, the guy apologized for his aggressive behavior, and seemingly realized he needed to adopt a different approach. Once again, he resorted to flattery and whispered sweet nothings in Joni's ear as he again began to gently massage her thighs, while trying to explain that his aggressive actions were a natural response to Joni's "sexiness". He actually told Joni as if it was a compliment that she "was such a tease!" (Me?. . . well maybe; eh, okay maybe a little bit!) Joni responded by chuckling at the suggestion, which she regarded as nothing more than an ill-disguised attempt to slut-shame her, but again avoided the temptation to be confrontational over what was at best a left-handed compliment. At this point, the guy grew desperate and casually mentioned that he had a seven inch piece of hardware inside his pants, which Joni acknowledged was well above the minimum federal standards, but which she had no interest in confirming or denying. (Well, maybe some other time or some other guy!) The guy then went on to point out that he was being quite literal when he said it was inside his pants as he further advised Joni that he wasn't wearing any underwear! . . . Good Lord!! That was it! Joni had enough and decided it was time to move on before this guy tried to impregnate her.
Before leaving, Joni asked the guy for a small favor by taking some photos of her with her camera. To the guy's credit, he complied and did in fact snap several photos of Joni, some of which have been posted in this current group of four photos. Like I said earlier, he wasn't a real bad guy; just a little oversexed!
He was also strangely shy. After the guy finished taking photos of Joni, she invited him to pose for a selfie with her, however he refused without any hesitation. Considering that the guy had been been very uninhibited in trying to make out with Joni at the bar and especially in the back room, Joni found his reluctance to pose for a selfie to be strangely shy. . . Like I said, he was weird!
Finally, once the photo session was over, the guy lingered as one of Joni's girlfriends came back for some quick small talk relating to items in the Clothes Boutique and inquired if Joni was interested in joining some of the other girls to go out to breakfast, as closing time was approaching. Joni indicated she would have to take a pass on breakfast, but mentioned in passing that she would like to get another beer before the bar closed. . . . At this point Joni turned to say good night (and good bye!) to her boyfriend of the evening, but he was GONE! POOF! Just like that! He was nowhere to be found, and believe me, Joni tried to find him. It was like he had been beamed up somehow! It was quite a disappearing act and in retrospect, Joni thinks it was prompted by her expressing her desire for one more beer before closing time. . . Like I said, the guy was kind of cheap.
Do blondes have more fun? Well, Joni learned one thing for sure. Blondes don't get ignored!
This corner modular building (32 x 32 studs) was inspired by the infamous Moe's Tavern from "The Simpsons." No designated drivers allowed - he's got no room for cheapskates.
In addition to high-quality, easy-to-follow PDF instructions, I also provide a series of PNG files that give you options to create stickers/custom prints for the church's infamous marquee sign.
Find the instructions here and on Rebrickable.com!
You can also follow all the fun on Instagram: @BenBuildsLego
First photos for 2017~ I was supposed to take just one good shot for a New Year's greeting, but Kasumi looked so pretty that I got carried away and ended up with more than one photo that I liked ^^;
I borrowed this gorgeous Infinite Love kimono and Kuloft hairband from Sarg ♥ I only have a few yukatas from Infinite Love because the kimonos a bit more expensive and I've been too big of a cheapskate to buy even one... >.< Then every time I see the ones that Sarg has, I'm like "SO PRETTYH DO WANT!!" but the prettiest kimonos get sold out fast and there are not many for sale second-hand ;___; I especially love this black & pink one that Kasumi is wearing, fortunately she can at least borrow it~
The complete set of photos can be found on my blog :3
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Kasumi - Volks DD Takane Shijou
10.30.03 - The Space - Hamden, CT.
We dressed up as Cheap Trick for this show...do any photos exist of us in our garb? I dunno! I know that we even did the bass drum head in the distressed typewriter font. This is also the show where the cheapskates at the Space made us go on first, which was such a ripoff...and then paid us six whole dollars. Yknow what, Space? You're jerks! Kepi made up for it by telling the Marky Ramone Cracker Barrel story, and Live Mike asked Scampi out for pizza. Good times, good times!
An oldie but a goodie! My sister’s home for the weekend and she brought me a present: Monster High 13 Wishes Gigi Grant! Normally I’d say “How thoughtful,” but of course she only bought her for me because the doll was on clearance. Cheapskate! :-P
I actually liked Gigi for a long time, and I’m glad my sister remembered well enough to surprise me. I really like her. I’m thinking I could re-imagine her as the daughter of the Jinni from Aladdin. That way, I’d consider her to be part of my Ever After High collection.
I think she’s very pretty. The head sculpt is really cute and I love that she has a little closed-mouth smile. She also has this cute little cleft chin which I adore. I also like her faceup, the colors on her makeup and the freckles. And, woah, is that a tattoo on her neck? Cool!
Her body is a bit different and is unique among all Monster High dolls. It has a scaly-like pattern, which kind of resembles a scorpion’s skin, I think. I don’t know the rationale for that since she’s supposed to be a jinni, but, eh, I couldn’t be bothered to think about it more. It’s very detailed though and the joints are stronger compared to the articulation of regular MH dolls and you’ll notice how strong her joints are when you articulate her.
The outfit is amazing! I love that it looks modern, while still looking like an ancient jinni getup. The accessories are the best part! I absolutely ADORE them! The bracelets and earrings are very beautiful—very ancient looking and the designs look so intricate. She also comes with a lantern which is just fabulously designed. It looks like a very old and valuable antique and, yay, it opens! I wish it didn’t have the MH Skullette logo on it though…it looks very anachronistic and it kinda ruins the whole ancient vibe of the lantern. Her shoes are to die for! It’s such an amazing sculpt. It looks like a mashup between heel-less shoes and Arabian slippers. J’adore!
Her hair is styled in such a peculiar way. Some say it was styled to look like an Arabian bottle or vase and some say it was styled to look like a scorpion’s tail. It’s loaded with massive amounts of hair spray so, yeah, it’s as stiff as cardboard. Overall though I kind of like it…it’s weird but I like it. I only regret that it’s just so immobile…
Like a lot of Monster High Basics/Signatures, Gigi also comes with a pet, namely her scorpion Sultan Sting. It’s kind of weird that she has a pet since it contradicts from her diary. Her diary states that she lived a solitary life with no companion at all until her evil twin Whisp came along. Nevertheless, her pet is really cute.
Overall I really like her. I just love all the details she has! She’s just so cute and I absolutely think she’s adorable.
I just had to upload something brighter and more colourful... all of my recent uploads are sort of drab looking to me.... I need some colour!!
This is some of the 3 inch squares of special origami paper I bought a few years ago. It is just a hair under 3 and so if I cut more paper squares from other sources to go with it...I have to cut it just that hair under or it just does not fit well into the 'tuck-in' corners.
The blue paper with little pink flowers already made into an origami is a photocopy I did of some fabric. It makes great paper because of the tiny pattern ...and the gold sparkly paper is Christmas wrapping paper. The turquoise piece is tissue paper glued onto a piece of printer paper so it holds a fold nicely. I keep copying the same tissue on my printer because I have no more and love the colours.
Cheapskates... at least they could have made 3 inches exactly when they cut the origami papers.... . oh, well.
A dismal dreary day set me thinking about the cost of my hobby of watercolour painting wildlife and wild flowers vs my hobby of photographing wildlife and wild flowers... The painting equipment which has easily lasted the course of winter orchid painting - 35 completed A4 paintings cost well under £100. Each little pan of pigment is around 5 quid, but they have lasted me for over a decade. I am just starting to run out of sap green, undestandable when you think that's the base for trying to represent chlorophyll... Paintbrushes are around a fiver each and last for around six paintings (they do need replacing regularly because the pointiness gets lost sadly). Then there's a pad of A3 paper, around 20 quid and of course each A3 sheet makes for 2 separate A4 paintings. Finally the cost of pencils, erasers etc for roughing out the painting ahead of the watercolouring part and some now antique Wilko reading glasses (1.5X magnification) now sadly essential for close-up work at 2 quid a pair. Divide the cost by 35 winter orchid paintings and that's around a couple of quid for each picture's production. I'm not counting labour, of course... How does that stack against photographing the 35 orchid species last summer? Without going into details, consider the cost of the camera equipment and mileage and there is clearly no comparison. So painting wins, right? Well of course it's not so clear-cut after all. If you want to paint things that you have seen for yourself, then you're going to have to do the photography in the first place! Finally, there's the small matter that my camera will take 35 fine quality photos of orchids per second, rather than 35 mediocre quality orchid paintings over 5 months : ) Nevertheless, water colour painting has to be one of the cheapest sorts of craft/art out there, and way cheaper than oil painting. Which suits a cheapskate like me just fine!!
Just out of view overhead is where the cool clock was on the clock tower. Said clock was of course removed during the remodel (good thing Retail Retell got that closeup). Thankfully though, the cheapskate wonderful local franchisee replaced the clock with something equally cool (not!) -- silver vent-looking thingys with ridges -- yay! Unfortunately, that crummy appealing accent is just out of view overhead as well -- oh darn, just missed it in this photo!
I recently took some exterior photos of this McD's after the remodel was complete, but I'm not entirely happy with the quality of those photos (nor am I all that happy with how the remodel turned out, but that's a different story!). Since I plan to (at least somewhat) document the construction of a Wendy's that just got underway right next door (coincidence that this McD's jumped on a remodel? I think not!), I may try for some better McD's photos before I post any more...
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McDonald's, 2003-04 built, Church Rd. at Pepperchase Dr., Southaven MS
Those nice folks from Canada have left a wee Valentine for Scotland, on Princes Street.
Whit...no chocolates? Bloody cheapskates! ;-)
My new MacBook Pro on the gleaming white space of the newly minimal desk.
Speakers for monitoring, anglepoise and an ace Jez Burrows print (1 of 100!) the only clutter.
We saw the main end cap of ASOTV stuff last time at the Corinth MS Fred's, which also had little sections of that mrechandise in a few other places as well. Also something odd seen at this particular location: reused liquidation signage - talk about cheapskate retailers/liquidators!
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Fred's, closed Summer 2019, Shiloh Rd. near Harper Rd., Corinth MS
Space: It goes on and on.
and on and on...
These are the continuing voyages of the Flying-Brick ‘Gnome’. Its continuing mission: erm, who knows...
Chapter 14: Honfleur Part 1
We had to leave Loches in a hurry. Not because the monsters wanted to keep us in the Keep, not because Joan d'Arc wanted to make me king, not because Agnes beckoned with breast exposed (you really do have to keep up with my blog), but because we had a train to catch.
Hmmm. Not quite as exciting...
We looked to find somewhere not too far from Calais but away from the madding crowd. Ok, there are almost no madding crowds now (because of the virus that shall not be named) unless you want to kill yourself and your antecedents at a Trump rally. In Europe our version is anti-mask rallies. Fine. At least they will be less likely to reproduce.
Evolution in action.
And thus, after all this cogitation, we arrived in Honfleur. We were too late to do the tourist stuff, so we opted to stop in a carpark with a corner put over to cheapskates like us.
First: Convert van into comfortable lounge/kitchen.
Second: Cook.
Third: Eat, drink, and approach merriment.
Fourth: Convert to sleeping accommodation.
Fifth: Sleep, perchance to dream.
...
Sixth: Have a pee...
We awoke the next morning, as one does after you've spent the night sleeping, then went through the normal routine:
First: Wake up
Second: Irritate your partner by waking her up.
Third: Transmogrify the Gnome.
Fourth: Coffee
Fifth: Gorge on a yoghurt.
Sixth: Coffee.
Seventh: Take all appropriate medication.
Eighth: Clean all appropriate bits.
Ninth: Do tourist stuff.
So there we were, in Honfleur. A beautiful place despite the fact that I'm not a great fan of the sea, although I suspect that the sea doesn't really care about my opinion either. I kinda get that.
The sea itself is utterly boring, I mean, it's wet and it's flat (barring life-ending weather patterns), but it does bring out the details of the coastline quite nicely.
The major problem is people. There is always too many of them.
Oooh... Hang on...
Clearly the pandemic has its up-side. Now was the time to go wandering around the tourist spots of France.
The shitty weather probably didn't help either.
The centre piece of this beautiful town is the Port. Despite it being full of water, I have to accept that it looked pretty damned good.
This port guards the estuary of the Seine. It was from here that Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec. He must have been well lost at the time.
Many of these buildings are covered all over with slates, not just the roofs, as if an overzealous shingler had been let loose from the local psychotic roofer asylum.
And bright colours everywhere, except maybe the sky, which was a kind of dull grey.
For some strange reason, the further north we came, the less the weather met with our approval. Call us fussy but has anyone else noticed this?
Despite our need for haste, we allotted ourselves a little time to look around the port and discover its history, almost none of which will be detailed in the next exciting episode of... er ... whatever...
Well, I like this one. Come on Flint the lurcher dog, Nita is clickin' her fingers, could be cheese, could be a birdy, run dog run.
Olympus XA2 35mm compact camera - cost 50p
AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 200 cheapo film from Poundland
cheapskate. £3 for 5L of white masonary paint, £2 masonary roller. 1 tin of black, dreg of white. wanted to do as few cut backs on this as possible, but it was windy as hell. finally found a good use for the calligraphy cap thats been in my bag for the past few years
HW Police series recolour. No lightbars which is a poor omission but not surprising in the cheapskate world of Mattel! A handsome casting though with a believable U.S. themed police livery. Found recently at Smyths Toys. Mint and boxed.
This is the DIY Cheapskate Laptop Stand that I created for my home office. Click here to see the stand by itself.
The instructions to build this stand can be seen and downloaded by visiting: The DIY Cheapskate Laptop Stand (the link should be active by 11/12/2008, but please check back if it is not). You can also find two additional inexpensive laptop stands on the blog post if this one is too ugly for your taste (I suppose you could wrap it in some Japanese origami paper or other material if you like).
The laptop stand has held up well so far and served its purpose, which is to raise my laptop monitor height to a comfortable viewing position. It also allows me to use a dual monitor setup in my home office for that extra productivity boost. Also, you can find extra information about my home office by visiting my home office set.
Enjoy!
With Mr Crow at Outwell Church.
First journey into 120 medium format photography. Test roll on a two quid Soviet TLR.
Lubitel 166B camera.
Ilford FP4 Plus 125 120 film.
Taken on the way home from work over the Cambridgeshire Fens, a hot air balloon ascends from a Fenland farm. Taken on the 50p Olympus XA2 pocket camera, loaded with 35mm film (AgfaPhoto) from Poundland. Scanned negative.
Nita holding today's trophy from local car boot sales. A Lubitel 166B TLR. Manufactured in the USSR during the early 1980s, this one came in immaculate (not a scratch - looks as new) condition, with case, lens cover, and shutter cable. Knocked down from £3.00 to £2.00. Yes, I intend to use this one, just need to buy some 120 film.
Llwyn-on Reservoir, avers John Newman in the Glamorgan edition of The Buildings of Wales (uniform with the Pevsner volumes covering England), was completed in 1926. Engineer Charles H Priestley. In 1884 the corporation of Cardiff was granted powers to build dams in the headwaters of the Afon Taf and Llwyn-on was to be completed in 1915; however, the project was delayed by the First World War. The village of Ynys-y-Felin was drowned and the city corporation paid for a new Capel Bethel on the east side of the reservoir.
New, or almost new developer here ...Adox FX39 II. I bought a tiny 100ml bottle about a year ago, just to try it out, and was favourably impressed. The film I'd used then was Kodak T-Max 400, but this was Ilford Delta 400, expired in August 2017. FX39 was a Geoffrey Crawley formulation for Paterson. If I've understood correctly, the "II" version reduced its vulnerability to deterioration during transport. Like fine wines, some developers do not travel well. Hmmm. Grain can be a thing of beauty, but it can have two undesirable "looks", which I think of as "porridgy" and "scratchy". This is scratchy. The appearance is not unlike the "digital noise" I remember from my ludicrous, eight-year flirtation with digital. Now. I did a stupid thing. I picked up the wrong beaker and poured a small amount of stop bath into the tank instead of developer. Following a sharp intake of breath I emptied the stop bath (my personal cheapskate kitchen-grade citric acid solution) down the sink and thrice rinsed the tank with 20°C water. Phew! Shoud be all right. Good job it wasn't the fixer. I don't know whether this mishap might have influenced the look of the photographs. I hadn't used Delta 400 with this developer before and it was an expired film. Some of the shots were unpleasantly contrasty too. I think I'll cut back a bit on Massive Dev's 13 minutes next time.
Harry Perry playing guitar.
#1980s #1970s #athletic #athlete #beachbody #beauty #beautiful #bikini #Veniceboardwalk #carnival #California #cheapskates #cute #exercise #exercising #fit #girl #lifestyle #legs #leisure #lifestyle #LosAngeles #models #ocean #pinup #promenade #rollerblades #rollerderby #rollerskates #rollerskating #rollerskater #rollerskaters #recreation #rollerskate #sexy #skateboard #sports #SantaMonica #skates #skater #skating #skaters #Venice #VeniceBeach
the suitable form is my first completed animation shot on film. it was shot on a nikon f3 with the md-4 motor drive, and the nikkor 50mm f1.2 lens, on 5½ 24exp rolls of 35mm film. i've never seen an animation shot with a 35mm still film camera before, so perhaps this is the first (wishful thinking).
the inspiration for the film came to me when i found a box of 1 centimeter cubes in a thrift store. i knew they could be photographed and possibly animated. i quickly built a very simple set, and then designed a character from a mouse skull i had purchased. i built the body from clay around a wire skeleton, and then attached fur from some coat. sofia greenberg helped with the model.
since i'm a renowned cheapskate, i decided to develop and scan using the walgreens service, which i'm not recommending if quality is what you seek. and to also save money, single frames were duplicated for moments with no movement. this saved a bit of money here and there, but created a lot more work in post. to keep the still moments full of life, i emulated the film jiggle, grain, and brightness variation of the film i used, in shake. this gave those segments the appearance of being multiple frames. another cheap move was to not buy any film for this project. i'd collected a handful of expired rolls of various brands. this saved money, but each stock had very different color rendition, which took over an hour to completely correct and make them all match.
the music was recorded using rubber bands, kalimba, and guitar. the entire sound design was done in a few hours, and was the easiest part of the project.
conclusion: overall, the project took around 35 hours. 2 to build the set and models, 5 hours to do the stop motion, 23 hours to edit, stabilize, unstabilize, degrain, regrain, and color correct, and 5 to do sound. a lot of time was spend rendering and compressing for playback, for my computer is not fast enough to play 1800 x 1215 uncompressed video. i had to make a compressed version everytime i wanted to check the edit. about $35 were spent for film developing, which was the only expense. in the future, i will shoot on one and only one film stock. i will spend the extra money to shoot multiple frames for static segments, and i may even shoot half-size frames to get twice as many per roll. with a mask for the gate, this can be done. with these adjustments to my workflow, i should save mostly time, and potentially some money.
i hope you enjoy this short film experiment.
for a higher quality copy that also runs smoother, visit: www.sandoth.com/japhyriddle/art/suitable_form,_the.htm
Because Flickr is instituting a hard 1,000-photo cap on free accounts and I'm a cheapskate, I'm transitioning over into the blogging world. However, I'll still stick around here to fave, post a few odds and ends, and comment.
Blogger is a better format for showcasing my research and photos than Flickr. (No more copying and pasting text to multiple images! No more Flickr app!)
Check out my post on this store at My Florida Retail Blog.
Happy reading!
Lothian 66 was one a pair of smart Duple 340 bodied Tigers, a couple of caoches usually being taken in each year to keep the coach fleet up to date. The yellow headlights indicate that the coach has been or will be going abroad, despite a fairly conservative (as might be expected...) specification of fixed seats and no toilet. These too had fully-automatic control of their Hydracylic gearbox.
It's amazing to see parked cars on Waverley Bridge, for this was well before the explosion of open top Sightseeing tours of Edinburgh and the concept in general. At this time if you wanted a city tour of Edinburgh, you went on an excursion on a coach, or for the cheapskates (me included), on open top Atlantean PDR2, 900, which did a short circular service, number 99, around this time.
Apologies for the stain on the right of the photo, this scan was from a negative and it must have got a bit of moisture on it.
DO NOT COPY, SHARE OR POST MY PICTURES ON ANY OTHER WEBSITE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION PLEASE.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I remember it was a very hot day and I said to myself 'I'll go for a walk in the city with my camera and see what I can find to photograph!'. Two hours and two bottles of water later I ended up in a cafe buying an ice cold smoothie before heading back to the safety of the hotel room. By safety I mean I paid extra for a real air conditioning and not just a fan. Do! not! book a hotel room with a fan, because you will end up regretting that decision and hating yourself for being a cheapskate.
This is the DIY Cheapskate Laptop Stand that I created for my home office. Click here to see the stand in action.
The instructions to build this stand can be seen and downloaded by visiting: The DIY Cheapskate Laptop Stand (the link should be active by 11/12/2008, but please check back if it is not). You can also find two additional inexpensive laptop stands on the blog post if this one is too ugly for your taste (I suppose you could wrap it in some Japanese origami paper or other material if you like).
The laptop stand has held up well so far and served its purpose, which is to raise my laptop monitor height to a comfortable viewing position. It also allows me to use a dual monitor setup in my home office for that extra productivity boost. Also, you can find extra information about my home office by visiting my home office set.
Enjoy!
The Broncos, minus injured QB Peyton Manning, defeated the Bears, 17-15, with temperatures in the mid-20 degree range. I left after a Broncos interception with a little more than 2 minutes left in the game and the Bears trailing, 17-9, only to have the Bears score a touchdown (directly in front of my seat) with 42 seconds remaining. The 2-point conversion was unsuccessful. Despite being relatively comfortable with 7 clothing layers, a cap and stocking cap, two pairs of gloves and two pairs of socks, I don't know how long I would have lasted in an overtime.
The only football game I've attended as cold as this one was on Dec. 5, 1964, a Packers 17-3 victory over the Bears at Wrigley Field. It had snowed the day before, and George Halas - the cheapskate he was - simply plunked our chairs (there were no permanent box seats until the Bears departed) on top of the snow piles.
Trying out a lens that I picked up at a car boot sale for three quid. The Pentax-M 28mm f/2.8 fitted to a Pentax K110D DSLR. I'm going to try it on the 35mm film SLR Pentax ME Super next.
Now 1,075 Days 3/22/2017
I Quit Smoking, 820 Days Smoke Free
Smokers Cigarette Ashtray. Made at Lane Tech High School, Chicago Illinois, 1965
For a project in the Industrial Arts classes, in this case, Foundry, we made useful castings. One of the projects of mine was this ashtray.
Smoking was ingrained in the American Culture, and was sanctioned by the educational system.
Smoking was quite common and was expected as a rite of passage into adult hood.
My entire family smoked. My Dad smoked as a boy in Ohio, and all through WW II. My Mom smoked, cigarettes were always around the house. When company came, the house was so filled with smoke that it looked like a fog.
I started at sixteen, and smoked cigarettes and pipes for the next 49 years. Through all my schools, while in a shop or in engineering. At home, at leisure and while I drove. While fishing and on vacation, in Mexico and Europe.
My Dad died of emphysema and COPD, and my Mom of cancer and a stroke. Both instances of smoking related illnesses.
My Aunts and Uncles all died from similar maladies.
Smoking is an expensive and odious habit.
I HAVE STOPPED SMOKING.
It has been 820 days since I lit up. I feel great.
I quit on this attempt, my third try.
I had made many rationalizations as to why I still smoked. It was my thinking time, it relaxed me, and other delusional thoughts. I knew smoking was bad for me, but I persisted.
I wore a mustache for 35+ years. (you’ll see it in some of my older pix). My hair slowly turned white and grey, and my mustache did too. The cigarette smoke made my mustache turn brown on one side with nicotine stains. I was now instantly identifiable on sight as a smoker.
I didn’t like that.
Time to quit. I was told to do it for myself, for my health, for myself.
I didn’t do it for my self, I felt fine, and besides I did plenty for myself already. Not a good reason.
I am by nature a cheapskate (penurious, tight). The sin tax made cigarettes about $9.00 a pack. I would buy cigarettes a pack at a time. That was how I controlled my cigarette consumption.
I was now instantly identifiable as a smoker. (I took the mustache off for good)
Smoking had become way too expensive. (sin tax)
I decided to quit for sure.
For each day not smoking, I would add $9.00 on a tally I kept on my desk calendar.
My present level of money not spent on cigarettes is $7,380. ($9.00 x 820 days = $7380)
It has been 820 days since I lit up. Any method that works is the right way.
At the end of a week of square images of vintage aircraft taking off and flying in displays, I thought I'd end this mini-series with one returning to Earth.
This de Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth was originally T6818 in RAF service, having been built by Morris Motors at Cowley, Oxford in 1944. Little is known of its wartime service but after the war it was registered as G-ANKT.
It was acquired by the Shuttleworth Collection in 1966 and rebuilt by two former engineering apprentices at Old Warden, using many components from two other Tiger Moths.
It has been completely overhauled and re-covered and is finished in the colours of the Royal Air Force Central Flying School Aerobatic Team, showing K2585.
Seen here landing back at Old Warden aerodrome after a flying display during the 2015 Wings and Wheels Show. Note the cheapskate watching the show for free from the farmer's field beyond the hedge.
This is the new Rossett Junction, on the ex-GW Chester to Shrewsbury line about 3 miles to the north of Wrexham General station.
The former main line has spent a good few years in the doldrums, the through Paddington to Birkenhead services ended way back in 1967, a shockwave that, apart from the first couple of miles from Paddington, affected the whole line.
It's replacement was a two hourly dmu shuttle between Chester and Wolverhampton that called at most every blade of grass on the way and took pretty much all day about it.
As the established industries of steel and coal faded away in the 1970's and 1980's, so did the traffic and with the building of the A483 Wrexham by-pass, the line was singled between Pandy at the north end of Wrexham and the junction with the North Wales Coast main line at Saltney, just on the Welsh side of the Dee.
The rail renaissance of recent years has seen an increase in traffic, hourly trains from Holyhead to Shrewsbury use the route, with alternating trains going on to Birmingham or South Wales, the loco hauled WAG express now goes this way as well. The re-doubling of the line from here north is now on the verge of completion, and new services are promised at some point in the future.
There still remains two miles or so of single track south of here, this is due to the cheapskate single track bridge that actually crosses the by-pass at the top of Gresford bank, the cost to replace this was so much that even the extravagant Welsh mandarins in the transport department at the Senedd baulked at the idea...
Tug and train are on new metals here, once the project is finished 6J37 will be approaching on the right hand up track, currently occupied by the Mercedes track plant. The existing single line is currently in the process of being fettled up for 90mph running, once this is complete the new track, currently limited to 60mph, will also be passed for 90mph.
Another righted wrong? Locomotive 60087, restored to the rails by Colas Rail after the GTi treatment. The loco was stored from August 2009 until overhaul in early 2014, a victim of the EWS/DBS cull of the fleet with multiple defects. Tug 87 has of course had a good few quid spent on her to get back to this condition, but maybe if the fleet hadn't been allowed to fall apart in the first place...
6J37 Carlisle-Chirk logs heading south on the first day of the Mirrlees takeover, 1 June 2015.
So Yeah, I'm still here, even if no one else is..., and I know what your thinking, "Oh great, He's Still here!, even Flickr can't make him leave!", and yes while I'm not proud of the fact I now have a Pro acount as I've never trusted Americans with money, the Northern decended cheapskate in me doesn't say no to a kind benifactor from outside Flickr offering to pay for it for me... Judge me if you wish...
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw 2 Weeks ago!!