What did you do today?

[Augsburger]

Try biking gloves for crutches, there is a reason the TDF guys use them while spending four hours a day wrestling those handlebars on the Alpe dHuez

[shellylh]

So how well do crutches, narcotics, and super sharp japanese knives go together? I am guessing they didn't recommend that combination when you left the hospital.

[Dusty Chalk]

I can see the nurse saying "if you do something wrong and your leg falls off don't you come running to meeee"

That was brilliant.

But now I've got Eno stuck in my head.

[CarlSeibert]

so i was just walking around campus this morning (very nice day out) looking for things to take pictures of. found a big ass tree - trunk was like maybe 20 ft in diameter. its a very very old tree. 2 campus policemen came over and asked me what i was doing. i told them i got a new camera and was just playing around with it taking random pictures. then they asked me for my camera. looked around as if they knew what they were looking at and then claimed that they needed to confiscate it because i was doing potentially illegal things. i said i would just delete the pictures if it was that big of a deal but they said they needed to take the camera. threatened to call the real police and they said go ahead. real cops came and asked for my id. only had my office keys, phone and camera on me. guess they got suspicious (because i havent shaved in a few days) - thought i was taking pictures of shit to blow up. finally they agreed to call my advisor and let me go after deleting my pictures.

yay for "freedom"

I personally would be very glad if you filed a lawsuit against those goons. Or made a very public stink about it. They can't run around taking people's property for no reason. Unless that tree was some sort of secret defense installation you have an absolute right to photograph it. You may have been trespassing at the time. That's a different matter. I damn well doubt it anyway, but that still gives them no cause for stealing or destroying your property. Mike's right. There have always been cops who are nothing but school yard bullies, and yes, they would often get away with their transgressions. But now they act like it's some sort of entitlement. "Potentially illegal things"? That's insane.

[mypasswordis]

Trying to pull an all nighter for the first time in a year or so... I suck at pulling all nighters. Tried to pull one yesterday but still had to get in two hours, and then a few hours nap in the afternoon.

[Craig Sawyers]

I have a similar experience. Except I was stupid, doing it on a mall parking lot roof at night w/ flash. We did get the camera back though.

It never escalated to the point of actual police.

I find all this bewildering. If you were going to take clandestine photos (whatever that means), you would not use an expensive and physically obvious camera, you'd use a phone.

Sure we did not have anything of the scale of 9/11 in the UK, but we had a bomb campaign on the London Underground and on London buses four or five years ago that killed many. Then there was a failed bombing attempt on the same theme shortly afterwards (incompetent bombers, luckily). That caused a bad mistake by the British SWAT guys when they incorrectly identified a Brazilian student called Jean Charles de Menezes as a terrorist bomber and shot the guy dead on a crowded tube train. They shot him 7 times in the head at point blank range just to make sure. There was an outcry about that, not surprisingly, and significant indications that the police supressed and even deleted evidence.

And we had the whole Ireland troubles that killed thousands by the bomb and the bullet from the 70's to 90's, including many on the British mainland. They even launched mortars at 10 Downing Street.

But there'd be rioting in the street if we had a policy of camera confiscation when people were quietly going about their hobby (or profession) taking photos of a tree.

[Absorbine_Sr]

I find all this bewildering. If you were going to take clandestine photos (whatever that means), you would not use an expensive and physically obvious camera, you'd use a phone.

Sure we did not have anything of the scale of 9/11 in the UK, but we had a bomb campaign on the London Underground and on London buses four or five years ago that killed many. Then there was a failed bombing attempt on the same theme shortly afterwards (incompetent bombers, luckily). That caused a bad mistake by the British SWAT guys when they incorrectly identified a Brazilian student called Jean Charles de Menezes as a terrorist bomber and shot the guy dead on a crowded tube train. They shot him 7 times in the head at point blank range just to make sure. There was an outcry about that, not surprisingly, and significant indications that the police supressed and even deleted evidence.

And we had the whole Ireland troubles that killed thousands by the bomb and the bullet from the 70's to 90's, including many on the British mainland. They even launched mortars at 10 Downing Street.

But there'd be rioting in the street if we had a policy of camera confiscation when people were quietly going about their hobby (or profession) taking photos of a tree.

But Craig, this has happened on your side of the pond as well: http://m.boingboing.net/2009/12/09/famous-architecture.html#previouspost

[Craig Sawyers]

But Craig, this has happened on your side of the pond as well: Famous architecture photographer swarmed by multiple police vehicles in London for refusing to tell security guard why he was photographing famous church - Boing Boing

Well that was done under section 44 of the terrorism act (arbitrary stop and seach powers, regardless of whether there was reasonable suspicion of terrorist activities), which the European Court of Human Rights overturned earlier this year as unlawful.

The current legal position is this: Metropolitan Police Service - About the Met - Photography advice .

"Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel"

"Officers do not have the power to delete digital images or destroy film at any point during a search. Deletion or destruction may only take place following seizure if there is a lawful power (such as a court order) that permits such deletion or destruction"

Which is all pretty clear.

But lets not forget that the Metropolitan Police have a reputation rather lower than a snake's belly. In 1979 they killed Blair Peach with a truncheon blow at a protest. Last year they killed Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protest last year, and the officers had (illegally) taken off their identification badges - so the mobile phone records taken of the incident were not able to ID the officers. And most recently (last couple of weeks) they clubbed a student protester called Alfie Meadows so hard that he had to have brain surgery to save his life. Not forgetting Jean Charles de Menezes.

It does seem to be positively draconian and downright dangerous in the US though - doing some searching about, a British guy on vacation recently came perilously close to getting shot when he took some photos of the Pentagon.

[The Monkey]

Crappy, is the university a public or private institution?

[crappyjones123]

public.

school is still in session so not trespassing. tree is in the middle of the quad.

i was the one who called the cops because the campus ones were intent on taking my camera away. it backfired on me but that is a different story.

dont have the financial means to pursue legal actions nor would i want to even if i did. it would be a giant waste of my time and would end up screwing things up for other students (no photography period etc). i just walked away laughing at how stupid people are. i am rather dense at times but i dont think i display the level of brain inactivity as these two gentlemen did.

now the question is, do i go back for moar pictures of the big tree? heh.

[ronnielee54]

^This for the win

[Hopstretch]

Played golf at 7:00 am, sank everything in sight. Lunch with the Mrs. at the fishing harbor at Kalk Bay -- ate fresh oysters, calamari, crayfish and sole. Drank some pretty good sauvignon blanc.

Walked it off for an hour or so on Long Beach over at Noordhoek. Sea and sky were competing for brightest blue.

Hit Steenberg Winery for a champagne tasting and some tapas on the way back home. The afternoon sunshine was practically liquid, dripping down the verdant slopes of the Constantiaberg.

(Oh dear, he's getting a little carried away, please tone down in final copy -- Eds. And can't we shop out that fucking construction tape? It's really not helping the ambiance. Plus, what's with the PARENTS BEWARE sign? Once you've had the little shits, it's already too late for you. Ha ha. Just free associating here. Have you noticed the tits on that new girl on the Metro desk?)

[Augsburger]

Sorry to hear about your day Stretch, I hope it gets better......................

You can be cruel when you want to be can't you. pics are awesome.

Waiting for my 4PM meeting here in my office where we will be listening to some tunes and sharing a bottle of Kistler Pinot.

[Beefy]

Sorry to hear about your day Stretch, I hope it gets better......................

Light but constant snow here in Halifax, and it will be dark in about half an hour. The snow I can handle, but the early sunsets are bollocks. Would kill for some sunshine.

[guzziguy]

That's what I hated about winter when I lived in Paris. You go to work in the dark. You go back home in the dark. If you don't get out at lunch, you see no sun. Of course, I did like the fact that the sun didn't set until about 10 pm in the summers. You get some, you lose some.

[Wmcmanus]

[manaox2]

Wow Wayne. I gotta hand it to you, that is a pretty good look for you. I still want to see the picture of you strolling down a Caribbean beach in the summer in full Santa gear tropical drink in hand.

[morphsci]

And you are thinking about the future and creating the next generation of Santas.

[boomana]

Very nice Santa suit, Wayne.

[Pars]

Played golf at 7:00 am, sank everything in sight. Lunch with the Mrs. at the fishing harbor at Kalk Bay -- ate fresh oysters, calamari, crayfish and sole. Drank some pretty good sauvignon blanc.

If that's the golf course, tell the greenskeeper he needs to mow it a bit more closely... looks rather nappy.

You can tell I'm pissed because it's like 10 fucking degrees here

Nice pics BTW, and glad someone is getting out and having fun.

[Voltron]

Aren't you two a bit old to be procreating?

Looks awesome Santa Wayne! HO HO HO

Great pics and ad copy, Stretch.

[n_maher]

I miss Stretch.

[Duggeh]

Cracking Santa pic Wayne. I love how completely your costume is put together. Eyebrows and all

[Dusty Chalk]

That's an enormous belt buckle. I mean, you could serve a side of beef on that thing.

(snicker)

[Wmcmanus]

Thanks, guys! Having a lot of fun with it this year.

That's my mom playing Mrs. Claus, by the way... which is kind of weird in an Oedipus kind of way, but I try not to think about it that way. She's actually perfect for the role, as she raised 6 kids and now has 12 grandkids.

She had sent me an email in mid October saying that she would like to visit Cayman in December and play Mrs. Claus. I was kind of taken off guard by that, but quickly got to work finding someone willing to design and sew her costume. It turned out quite well.

The baby girl is 38 days old, and is the daughter of my friends Scott and Katie (Scott is the Dean at the college I teach at here).