rainy no runny

Am I really just a fairweather runner? You would think so after the weekend. We went out for a 10miler round the Seat on Saturday (no desire to drive through the rain to Gullane) and only got to about 7 before I threw in the towel. The rain was lashing down and we had to use the waterproof camera. If it was like this all winter I'd emigrate. There were no decent photos to be had and even a dose of coffee beforehand failed to lift spirits. It was terrible. It was also Mary's birthday. Why are you being such a dick Jesus? was the question being asked. The only really great thing about the day (other than Mary being 7squared) was that I wasn't doing GlenOgle Ultra. To be fair the weather didn't seem as bad in Strathyre as we were getting in Edinburgh. But I was very VERY glad I wasn't ultra-ing. Last year I had a horrible run there (probably due to doing two 30 milers the weekends before) and vowed off doing it again. Of particular note was the cold shower at the end and the blistered foot that squelched, peeling off skin over the final couple of miles; each of which felt like 10.

nope, no smiles here

arthur's sleet

There was river of brown water running down from the summit.

"I'd rather have a bowl of co-co pops"

Even the magical trees at the palace looked soggy.

Much the same on Sunday. I should have been out running but I had lost the will, given up the ghost. So Mary said she was going to T K Max, a special kind of self harming, but not the full weekend Ikea. I thought I'd go along just to get out the house. A nice walk in the rain. Also there is usually something so far beyond crap in T K Max it is worth taking the camera. Stuff that makes you wonder about what humans won't buy. (Although to be fair this IS stuff that has failed to sell on it's first incarnation.)

First up, consider the Venn Diagram of classical music lovers and T K Max shoppers. That has to be a bit niche? OK the statue on the left is Beethoven but who are the ones on the right? First guess was Mozart although I was having trouble getting past the face of annoying actor Tom Hulce who played him in Amadeus (now there's a film that arrived with a bang and left without an encore)(in 1984.) So later I googled Mozart and it turns out that that may well be who these busts are of, and that he is a doppelganger (appropriately) for Liberace. Well they both wore fancy jackets and had quiffy hair. Liberace probably had more product in his.

Liberace     vs      Mozart

Weirdest thing was the dog headed golfer. (Ignore the giraffes, they are not a team.) No explanation for why a person standing upright holding a golf club had the head of a floppy eared dog. Creepy.

I can't believe it's not Buddha

Traditional German Beer Boot not only references Nancy Sinatra track but also "one of the greatest of all German films". (Not so much a yard of ale as a foot of beer.)

This has to get a mention for least likely object to sell (and get carried home). A week after Halloween and £20 for this nearly as-heavy-as-a-real-gravestone piece of shit. I quite like the idea of "I'll be back" as an epitaph, Arnold whatsisname notwithstanding.

We managed to spend some money and the rain stopped for a couple of seconds, long enough to take this photo of Mary in her new jacket (not from T K Max)