Now Boarding

I know it's been quiet over here, but the international bank crisis has hit the Bartlog mansion hard. Not that we have any bonds, stock, gold, diamonds or anything that remotely resembles money. But let's just say that my chances of becoming a millionaire are as remote as ever.

Blogwise, it will remain calm, as I set sail (or wing) to the Slightly More Democratic Republic of the Congo. I can't tell you how much I look forward to tomorrow's flight: it's an 11-hour haul via Angola. I'll be back in ten days, loaded with pictures, tropical diseases and a wagon load of sweaty clothes. It's not the best period to go to Kinshasa, the weather's generally hot and humid this time of year.

In principle, I will have access to internet, but currently you have a bigger chance of winning the loto in Kinshasa than getting any electricity. If I do manage to find a diesel-powered computer and modem, I'll keep you all posted in the comments, as usual.

Canon + Concrete

I had a wee little accident last week

We went to the zoo of Antwerp with the whole family. We'd just been to the reptile building, where I had taken some pictures with my Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. It's not a zoom lens, but it's quite sensitive to light, so I could take pictures inside without having to use my flash. With the glass in between myself and the reptiles, flashing would have been useless because I'd get nothing but a white blur on my photos.

When we came out of the building, I wanted to switch this lens for my 18-55mm. But when I reached for my camera bag, it slipped out of my hands and landed. Not on the grass, but right on the concrete pathway. You can see the result: it's broken in two and the electrical wiring (the copper ribbon on the left) had broken in two.

It was my cheapest lens (at around 100 €), but I only had it for half a year.

[deep sigh]

One Small Step...

About a month ago, Wolf started to stand up on his own. As he gained more confidence, he tried to bridge the distance between the couch and the living-room table, or the dinner table and the chairs. And a week ago, he made his first few steps.

Whoa! This is tricky!

Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner

Here are some more sights from the capital of flat beer, rainy days, Horse Guards and geese poo...

What better way than to start the day with a breakfast of epic proportions? Mrs.B is enjoying the normal sized breakfast, while yours truly was about to attack the full-option farmers' breakfast. Sure gets you through the day!

The Covent Garden Market

Darth Vader's secret love child, from Australia and currently touring through Europe.

There is an invisible man on every corner of every street. It's a real invasion!

Dilbert has a cousin in London.

Obligatory picture n°2: a Horse Guard that's lost his horse. They stand like this for hours on end, not moving a muscle.

But this one really had to go to the loo.

Now this is what I call a monument.

On Trafalgar Square, behind Nelson's Column, there are these markings that show you how big a yard, a foot etc. is. And it is very accurate too, here you can see that a foot is exactly the length of my foot. Or to put it differently: one english foot is a European size 44.

Also notice that I changed pants after the incident.