{"id":866,"date":"2011-06-19T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2011-06-19T07:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/?p=866"},"modified":"2011-06-18T13:02:11","modified_gmt":"2011-06-18T12:02:11","slug":"19-june-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/2011\/06\/19\/19-june-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"19 June 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Swallows\"<\/a>You\u2019ll be pleased to hear that our swallows are doing well. The first batch has just fledged and are flying in and out of the garage like kids playing tag in the park, quickly and noisily. I think there are four chicks, all of whom look very fit and healthy. The next batch won\u2019t be too far behind.<\/p>\n

The only problem is that they have erected their apartment in the apex of the garage roof, immediately above my bike. The weather hasn\u2019t been conducive to too many long bike rides recently\u00a0(that\u2019s my excuse, anyway), and in its state of immobility, my bike\u2019s front tyre is now encrusted to a considerable depth with swallow poo. I\u2019ll have to move it (and get back out on the road again).<\/p>\n

Beryl, Pen\u2019s mum, continues her astonishing recuperation from her hip replacement. She\u2019s increasingly mobile and flashes about the place, waving her two sticks at anyone who impedes her progress. To add to the general mayhem, Pen\u2019s sister J from Toronto arrived on Thursday for an extended visit. It\u2019s always a treat to have J around.<\/p>\n

An observation \u2013 I was driving in Banbury the other day and pulled up behind a Royal Mail van at a set of traffic lights, on the back of which was a sticker indicating that the van was limited to 70 mph. I guess you\u2019ve all seen these stickers, generally on the back of vans and\/or lorries indicating the maximum speed the vehicle in question is capable of achieving due to a regulator or engine modification or whatever. Most of the time, the speed is something in the region of 55 mph and it\u2019s intended, I guess, to stop large lorries and vans from wreaking havoc on the roadways. What struck me as odd about this particular sticker, however, is that the maximum speed limit in the UK is, in fact, 70 mph, on a motorway. So, I was a bit bemused by the van having a notice indicating that it had been modified so that it could not exceed the maximum allowable speed limit. Wouldn\u2019t it be easier simply to instruct the driver to obey the law?<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a><\/p>\n

Someone sent us a link to the following video clip of a young man named Stephen Wiltshire. We first ran across him on television probably about ten or fifteen years ago when he was still a primary school student, I think. He is autistic with an amazing artistic talent \u2013 he\u2019s nick-named \u201cThe Living Camera\u201d because of his ability to see a scene once and draw an amazingly accurate rendering of it from memory. He\u2019s drawn cityscapes of London, New York, Tokyo, and several others from a single helicopter ride. This particular clip shows him drawing Rome on a 5m canvas over three days following a single, forty-five minute helicopter ride. Amazing. There are more clips of him on You Tube if you would like to be astonished further.<\/p>\n