Category Archives: Photos

Church, Photos

Pussy Riot’s closing statement in their trial

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This has been a crazy story as the Russian authorities clamp down on protest in the form of the punk band Pussy riot.

You can read the full text of Yekaterina Samutsavich’s closing statement here. Powerful stuff.  A couple of excerpts:

In our performance we dared, without the Patriarch’s blessing, to combine the visual image of Orthodox culture and protest culture, suggesting to smart people that Orthodox culture belongs not only to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch and Putin, that it might also take the side of civic rebellion and protest in Russia…

…In the end, considering all the irreversible political and symbolic losses caused by our innocent creativity, the authorities decided to protect the public from us and our nonconformist thinking. Thus ended our complicated punk adventure in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

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Life, Photos

Adventures in DIY

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With marriage impending, the last month has seen a rediscovery of some almost dormant DIY skills. Partly inspired by Nelly and Zoomtard’s various exploits, and also by the thought of saving substantial amounts of money the soon to be marital home has been getting a bit of a makeover. First off were the bedroom and study floors and the joys of a belt sander, a weekend of sawdust and several dust masks transforming this

with the help of this

to this

The study proved a little trickier in the preparation stages with the learning of one crucial lesson:

Always check where pipes run before hammering nails through floorboards.

Having friends who drop everything to dash to your aid and who happen to have plumbing skills are very much appreciated when the nail causes a hissing and water starts bubbling up through the floorboards…

Despite that initial setback the study went from this first attack with the sander

to this

and after a poorly thought out trip to Ikea on a bank holiday when the mighty Polo managed to squeeze in 2m high flat pack bookcases, and a couple of coats of white emulsion to this:

My return to a computer and papers means the DIY callouses are wearing off, but when you work with people – as incredibly rewarding as that is, sometimes there is nothing more satisfying than being able to see the tangible results of your sweat and aching limbs