Help: TKO goes to England

I first had the idea of going to England, then PQ and Bazza (who I was introduced to by another A2K member) showed interest in meeting and eventually I became a house guest/couch surfer.

Why do you ask?

T
K
O

I was sort of mildly interested in how it happened that Queenie, who I have been swapping posts with since her arrival on A2K under another name, came to meet chaps, and invite them into her living space, who threaten people with violence and call people cowards and have emotional flounces due to having an empty space where a sense of humour is supposed to be.

It seems a way of informing Queenie, and everybody else, not to step out of line as one might presume that threatening violence and calling people cowards is their habitual way of dealing with anyone who doesn't meet with their approval.

People who have a reputation for that sort of thing in pubs are generally left to shift for themselves.

I was trying as well to make the thread more interesting for those of us who don't gush over crappy photographs and infantile descriptions of the most banal daily doings.

Have you asked anybody yet to compare our respective member profiles in the service of discovering which of us has the highest opinion of himself? Your extreme sensitivity to a bit of gentle ribbing is also a guide in that respect.

"I got my computer up and running yesterday. I started importing pics off of my camera last night and this afternoon I should finish. A little color adjusting and cropping then they'll be ready. I'll put them on Facebook...."

Sorry guys and gals,I'm outa here.Too much bitching! I'll rely on FB for the vids.

Spendy, it just won't do old chap, insulting people and then accusing them of having no sense of humour. Dashed bad show.

Don't you see how jealous spendius is that TKO has met Queenie (and obviously hit it off with her) and spendius is left in the sidelines living vicariously through others. His writing is laced with his utter jealousy. Poor spendius, have mercy with this poor soul!

What are you doing reading here Cal? It's the TKO posing thread. Have you seen that member profile of his?

Actually I was being protective. Queenie and I have nearly as long a history as our's. She was on Harry Potter at the time. And running a bit wild. And she was making the hurdles a bit too low for the boys in her life for one so beautiful and talented.

I'm surprised that you think people can "hit it off" so easily. "Hit it off" is Cupid's arrow. Why do you think TKO flew back home if they "hit it off".

But I agree with "Poor spendius, have mercy with this poor soul! " except I would never use a word like poor twice in a 7 word construction.

I'm more "in loco parentis" with the emphasis on "loco". And standing in for her boyfriend(s) back home. They can't do the job themselves because they don't know about A2K.

Hey--I read Thomas Mann's The Black Swan. What an awful book.

Meantime, I'd really enjoy seeing the photos, TKO.

The Magic Mountain is a much nicer book of Thomas Mann, spendius.

You're right, that was one "poor" to many - I got carried away!
Young people do hit it off easier than someone your age - to give an example.
It honors you that you're protective of Queenie, however, I do think she's old
enough now to take care of herself, you can let go now of all your "fatherly"
advise. Go back to challenging wandel, he can take it much better.

I don't think you ladies are ever old eneogh to take care of yourselves. It's an optical illusion to think you are.

I'm surprised at you actually. It is a gigantic sub-text of our culture that the beautiful and talented female is remote and difficult to access. Not easy. One shouldn't over-ride that for something as simple as a "get spendi" urge.

Some really great pix there - and Yank2 has posted some fun stuff as well.

Looks like it was a grand trip.

I just found a nice time saver to just link the photos from facebook! This will help.


Gay pride parade on the 4th of July. At least some of the English celebrate Independence day! Later the Hari Kristnas would also be celebrating, but I think they are always celebrating...


The fountain outside of the palace. Next time I'm in town, I'm going to jump in. Partly because it looks fun, and secondly cause it would give Spendi something to rant about along the lines of Americans treating everything as their play thing.


According to Barry, these older buses aren't always in service. Perhaps because it was the summer?


PQ and her roommates dancing and celebrating the 4th with Taylor (cinemachimp on A2K now) and I. The photo might not show it, but there is broken glass and a knife on the table. English girls can party hard, fact.


On the morning after, we nursed our wounds at this really cool mom & pop place with all sorts of stuff on the walls. If I recall correctly, the name was the "Montague Arms."


Taylor and PQ on the wobbly bridge.


Bazza smiles a lot, but strangely I could never catch it. Here is a photo where you can see him smiling!


Bazza told PQ and I stories about the days of his youth and of London mods. He has awesome stories.


Supposedly this bar is haunted. One thing for sure, it had fine spirits. Taylor, Bazza and I ducked in for three rounds. It rained while we're inside, but quit before we went out. This was a reoccurring theme.


I took this photo cause it just made me think about Bazza.


Can't remember the correct name of this, but it was across from Royal Albert Hall. This was the memorial right Baz?


Freddie the cat. Infamously a very private cat, but was uncharacteristically social with Taylor and I according to Baz.


when we got to Warsaw, we had a nice dinner at Marta's friend's house. Pirogi for dinner, and then for dessert we had mead, ice cream, and tea. Win.


A shine to child solders in WWII.


Marta was very happy to see Taylor.


Warsaw had lots of musicians and people being very social in the streets. It was a very lively place. In the last 20 years, it is an amazing change.


This guy came to give us a suggestion on a restaurant. no joke.

"I have a suggestion on where to eat."
"You have suggestion on where to eat?"
"yes." *walks away*
???


Warsaw sunset.


A relic of old communist Poland. This kind of establishment is one where you go in and eat and drink and leave. In total you'll be in there for all of 15 minutes. Anyways vodka and marinated herring have a special place in my heart.


Polish resistance museum. It's pretty well known that Warsaw was destroyed in WWII, what I didn't know is that is was actually destroyed FOUR times!


Marta's friends show us that the Polish know dessert. Fact.


An old communist relic: The Palace of Science & Culture. Now it's a lot of things including a college and a... movie theater?


Translation: "There is a lot of us."


The group of us as we walked around the main commercial area in Warsaw. Warsaw has an unemployment under 3%, but the average wage is very low. I learned my wages would be the equivalent of 3 to 4 professionals. I spent what would be 50 US dollars the entire time I was in Warsaw.


beautiful park were everything is covered in moss.


The Polish are a very proud group. They take great care to honor their fallen. When you consider what they've been through, it makes sense. the polish are very patriotic. Here is the Polish Tomb of the unknown solder. It is manned by two guards 24hrs a day.


A picture of the old pope with a headache. He is more than the former pope here though. He is a national figure for what he did in the last years of communism.


A statue for a man (I can't recall his name) who ran an orphanage. his story is that when the Nazis came for the Jewish children, he went with them into the gas chamber so they wouldn't be scared.


Same location. The black and white wall behind Taylor is a mosaic of tombstones that were destroyed. This Jewish cemetery went uncared to for decades and became overgrown; overtaken by nature.




Same location. It was amazing how close the graves were. Everything was covered in moss. It was somber, but beautiful.


The Polish are maybe the best at invoking emotion in their statues/memorials.


You can't get this close to the White House...


Taylor Finnished his drink...




We got to play with peacocks. Funny creatures. Territorial. They'd chase of the pigeons so I can relate with these birds. At closer inspection, they are just turkeys. It's a goal to eat one before I die now.


Giant Chopin (Shopan?) statue in the park. Oh yeah, and the international airport is named after this guy too.


Our lovely and very photogenic hosts.

That's all for now. I don't want this post to be too large. More soon.

T
K
O

I'll post some of his once I've had a chance to go through them.

T
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O

Fabulous pics TKO! Thanku. So pleased you had such a great time.

Well TK- that's the best series of pictures I have ever seen on A2K and you know I'm not bullshitting because I'm saying it through gritted teeth and high torque chagrin.

I know it's not saying a lot but it's the best I can do.

I salute the guy who ran the orphanage.

I agree! These pictures are phenomenal, TKO!
I am especially fond of the green-blue one of the jewish cemetery - so exeptional in color and mood.

And you have to hand it to The Pope. Knocking the Iron Curtain over with no bloodshed is a pretty nifty trick.

Well!! Those were worth the wait, wonderful photos. Wonderful.

I love the Chopin monument.. but to point that out is to pick only one of the many fab photos. Then there was BTM's cat..

I'm glad you went to Warsaw (I remember being a naysayer on that to start with). I've gotten more and more interested, as time passes, about Poland and its thick history. I thought I understood it once, when I watched the movie Shoah (nine hours), but I keep learning more. A decade ago, I had a really interesting landscape design client, more interesting as I've researched her and her family and what they went through. None of my business to explain here, so I'll just say, fascinating.




quote - "Bazza told PQ and I stories about the days of his youth and of London mods. He has awesome stories." I remember there being Mods and Rockers, but not much about them. Would enjoy hearing stories..

Oh, the man at the orphanage. That's a heart stopper. Hard to say anything that doesn't sound trivial next to his action.

Osso - Bazza is great bloke with wonderful stories. Freddie is ...Freddie - a kitty - can do no wrong! Hope Bazza comes back on here and sees the pics - they really are fabulous. I wanna know how TKO takes them or what software he uses to play with him. Diest - how did you get the effects. LOVE THEM. BTM is also a true gent who is very kind and generous. Such a pleasure to know and an honour to call him a real friend.