This weekend is the beginning of the Canterbury Festival. We’ve got quite a lot of events coming up in the next week, including a concert with the remainder of the Buena Vista Social Club (which I’m really looking forward to, having seen Compay Segundo in concert before he died a few years ago) and Jaleo, Spanish flamenco dancing.

It also gives me a chance to upload a photo of the statue outside the Marlowe Theatre, where most of the events take place. Tenuous link, I know, but any excuse will do….

Statue outside the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

What can I say? It was a very good day yesterday.

SAIC priced their IPO at $15 per share after splitting the shares and paying a $15 dividend. Within an hour of trading, the stock was up beyond $18, closing the day at $18.18, a one-day gain of 21%. Which was a nice way to start the morning.

Here’s the coverage of the IPO in the Washington Post.

My cousin Caron came across this old photo of the two of us the other day. What can I say? Sometimes a photo’s worth a thousand words!

It’s been a very exciting week.

Being back in London means that there are chances to see all sorts of famous people. Well, moderately famous people. Okay, to be honest, there’s a good chance to see D-list celebrities, which is about as unfamous as you can be while still remaining recognisable.

Two D-list sightings this week to note: one of EastEnders’ Big Mo, eating sushi at a restaurant in Borough Market near London Bridge, and one of Richard from this year’s Big Brother, getting off a train at London Bridge station. How about that – rubbing shoulders with the crème-de-la-crème sour cream of the showbiz world. How glamorous is my life?

Also exciting because I’ve had the first proposal I’ve written as part of my new job accepted by a client. It’s a very small piece of work that will hopefully grow into something larger, but it’s important symbolically. It feels like I’m beginning to gain some traction and momentum, which can only be a good thing.

I’m beginning to recognise my regular “seat opponents” on the morning train. Particularly annoying is the woman who tends to sit opposite me each morning. She does her entire make-up routine on the way into the office, after which she telephones all of her friends on her mobile phone to catch up on the gossip. She’s got a squeaky, whiny little voice and high-pitched laugh which grate and annoy in an indescribable way (especially before coffee).

She’s one of those people who mistake the words “specific” and “pacific”. I was very concerned to overhear the other day that her father suffered from “emphysem-i-a” (sic). That sounds much worse than emphysema, which is the more common affliction.

Update: this morning my seat opponent (Ms. Squeaky, described above) decided to break up with her boyfriend over her mobile for the whole train to hear. It really was remarkable.

Apparently, she was upset about him putting provis-i-os (sic) on everything.

Still playing with my new lenses and trying to figure out what I can do with them. Here are two quick snapshots taken indoors with available light at night — much happier with these than anything I can achieve with a flash, and I’m now looking forward to taking some snaps at my friend Mike’s upcoming wedding next month.

This shot was taken, quite literally, at arms length. It’s a self-portrait in the truest sense of the word.

A shot that I took of Aude. I’ve been looking at the work of some others and came across a photographer who shoots many of his shots from low level. I really liked his effect, so I thought I’d try a few of my own.

These pictures are from earlier this summer, but Aude’s only just sent them through to me. Here’s what the Vette looks like when it’s not on the back of a tow truck.

My fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery — I’d love to take the car out a couple more times before the nice weather is gone for another year….