A Tale of Two Books

I've been on the road for the last couple of days.  I returned to my old haunts around Pimlico, revisiting the offices where I worked for The Met, as well as two of the pubs we frequented, both now very different, but nothing to complain about and good ales available.

The real reason for my visit was the Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain.  On a dreary Monday, it was absolutely packed, despite the £20 admission fee. That is probably because some of us would have paid twice as much to see it. I really recommend you go, even if you have no interest in photography. I've known her work for forty-odd years, but seeing some of the original prints was still an education, and the exhibition adds a lot to both the story of her life and the development of her art. It is also very harrowing in parts.

Then it was off to Milton Keynes to an industry conference, and a chance to meet up with many old friends from around the world at the awards dinner. I had to pay the price for my late night because I was one of the speakers the next morning.  

So, where is this going?

On the way down to London, I finally got a chance to read the first issue of Ribbons. I really enjoyed it, though I suspect it will bemuse quite a few modellers if they were to pick it up at random. There was something about it that reminded me of issues 0 and 1 of MRJ. Part of that enjoyment, and the connection to MRJ, came from the photography. daring to be different, and the articles not being blow-by-blow accounts of construction.

On my way home, I got a chance to read the other book. Not exactly for the first time, since I was one of the authors and the soft book launch took place at the conference.

Let us just say they are very different books. 

The Morpeth Arms.
Once the hang-out of spies.
Now they've turned that into a marketing ploy.

 

Don't you hate models of narrowboats that aren't the correct length?

In my romantic youth, Rodin's The Kiss was under the Rotunda. Epstein's work is incredible - but it isn't on the same level  

The calm before the storm. I'm glad to say Akshay and I presented to a full house.

There is something about the Up view at Stoke station