Canary Wharf Ice Rink

There, just a quick shot of the ice rink in action, it's quite funny because often during the day a coachload of local school kids will turn up, all confident thanks to having grown up on Heelys, and proceed to waddle awkwardly and slowly around the rink (holding onto each other for support) frequently ending up on their arses...hehe... ;)

Canary Wharf Ice Rink

Here we go, they've got the ice rink back up and running ready for Christmas, doesn't look like anyone's actually using it yet, but it won't be long! ;)

Fink's Links #40

Well, the ice rink is finished and we're another week closer to the festive season, can't believe we are nearly at the end November already! Anyway...on to the business at hand! Links of the week (whoever would have thought there was this much crap...(ahem)...quality entertainment on the internet!) ;)

Let's begin with an awesome Japanese alarm clock (involving guns)...

Watch a guy playing Guitar Hero (sort of) on a push bike...really amazing... ;)

A rather cheap stun gun (not sure they are strictly legal in the UK though)...what made me laugh though was it is listed as suitable for (and I quote) "entrepreneurs, taxi driver, guards and shop assistants, gas station attendants, employees of restaurants and bars, kennel attendants, women etc."... ;)

You have got to love the Americans - "Baconnaise - because everything should taste like bacon" bring it to the UK Mr Tesco, I'm there...! ;P

Star Wars (and Star Trek) origami made from American dollar bills which obviously have to be put to other purposes now they aren't terribly useful for buying things (they actually look really cool)!

A slow news day in Australia means I learn a trick to force those "left brain" "right brain" visual things to do what I want (the trick is in the comments at the bottom, won't tell you now or you won't be able to tell which side of your brain is dominant and spoil their story)...

"Solomon's real mine? 3,000 years on, archaeologists uncover fabled site in desert"

"If David Lynch owned a TV station"...

The results of the US government experiment in the 50s when they fed LSD to an artist under clinical conditions...

Incredible video demonstrating a (not exactly new, but still absolutely mind blowing) method for re-sizing images...

Next - 23 tubes, one bowl (check the picture links out at the bottom)...

HOW KEYBOARDS SHOULD BE MADE...(pic)

A slightly scary bit of egg art....

Take a little trip to the border with North Korea...

An amazing cloud (captured by NASA over Africa)...

...and finally an excellent shopping trolley fail (wouldn't you just hate to be those guys) and a little bit of a packaging fail...

...and that's your lot! More next week of course and until then you can find previous sets by clicking this link...! Enjoy the weekend! ;)

Winter must be coming...

...the ice rink at Canary Wharf is finished, not quite as big as I thought it was going to be, in fact, it's pretty small compared to Central Park...

...and it was *freezing* this morning, amazing fractal patterns in the ice on the roof of the car though (nature's compensation for forcing us into coats and gloves)...although, nicely, it wasn't blisteringly hot on the tube, even though it was seriously busy, so there is a silver lining to colder starts... ;)

And look - the monkeys are replicating(!), thought they would have preferred warmer climes-

Christmas at Canary Wharf

Oh it's definitely getting close now, the Ice rink is back (which Flyingpops is starting to make noises about wishing to come up and skate on), they had their gala opening during a torrential downpour late last week -

- Cabot square mall is all decked out in it's Christmas finery -

- yes, the same stuff as the last few years (some of it even having been dusted down), complete with the (oh so festive) signage that shocked me so much when I first started working around here...just waiting for the maintainence guys to fix the little white lights on the trees around Carluccios and the picture will be complete...!

Can't help but feel though that the whole texture of Christmas is going to go through a very rapid alteration over the next couple of years, now that little Thomas is with us! Making me feel very excited indeed at the prospect...! ;)

Canary Wharf Ice Rink...

...is under construction beneath my window, at the moment you can't really see anything from ground level as it's completely surrounded by 3 meter tall black sheeting...still can't quite get over the *scale* of the thing, it looks like it's going to end up *way* bigger than the one in Central Park in New York...more pics as they get on with finishing it... ;)

Autumn Sunset over Canary Wharf

Well well well...cherry on top of the amazing sunset, we look to be coming full circle again - they are putting up the Canary Wharf ice rink again (as I type) outside the window...looks like that's just over a year working here then... ;)

Today in The Wharf...

...they have started construction on the Ice Rink ready for Christmas... ;)

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...!

Well, the trees and tinsel have re-emerged from storage in the office making the place look extremely festive -

- and classes full of school children are frantically busy sliding around and falling over on the Canada Square ice rink...so here we are - December - and only 3 weeks to go!

Am I too early to wish Everyone a very merry Christmas? ;)

This does (of course) mean that once again I am going to be up a ladder this weekend, risking life and limb to put up all our lights...*gulp*... ;)

Sick of Snow

Damn it....I am officially, properly sick of snow...sure, it's all fun and games to start with, running giggling through that fresh, crisp winter wonderland (and perhaps I am officially being "old" about it), but I've just had enough now...enough of being freezing cold (especially as I can't find my gloves), enough of slippery conditions, enough of trains and buses being delayed and cancelled at the first glimpse of a flake...

Just Enough...!

As I write this, it's snowing outside and people who don't have to be in an office are zooming around on the ice rink below the tower (probably laughing and blinking snowflakes from their eyelashes), but I'm just grinding my teeth and willing it (and the gloomy forecast for tomorrow and Friday) to please go away and come again another day (preferably next year)... ;)