Monday Again!

Daniel Lanois - The Maker

Like the post title says it's Monday again... has everyone recovered from putting the clocks forward? Yes? So let's get to the old man music then :-)

Daniel Lanois was born in 1951 in Hull, Quebec, Canada. Professionally, he's probably best known as a music producer and engineer, having produced albums by Peter Gabriel ("So"), Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and others, but he was best known to me for his collaborations with Brian Eno in producing U2's seminal albums "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree." But in addition to producing and engineering, Lanois has had a productive solo music career too. His song "The Maker" was released in 1989 as a track on his LP "Acadie." I love this song and its rolling bass line and ambient sound. My other favourite from this album is "Jolie Louise", an upbeat but dark and tragic folksong. Have a listen to it as well.

Now to the painting! This week we have:

• Helblaster fury from SanderS
• Some Soviet freebies (and the start of a new project?) from NormS
• Bolt Action in the Pacific from SteveA
• Star Wars goodness from AaronH
• LATE ADDITION - Trench Crusaders from DavidB

Have a great week everyone.

Dallas

Monday Funday

Spoons - Romantic Traffic

Monday again and time for some more OMM. This time it's something from the New Wave of the early 1980s and one of the best Canadian bands of that genre at the time - Burlington, Ontario's own Spoons.

Gordon Deppe and Sandy Horne dated when they were students at Aldershot School in Burlington and formed the band with a couple of friends. Their debut studio album "Stick Figure Neighbourhood" came out in 1981 and was engineered by none other than Daniel Lanois, who you may see in a future instalment of OMM. The next year saw the release of their breakout disc "Arias & Symphonies" which featured three Canadian top-40 hits.

The video I've linked above was released by the band in 1984 on the soundtrack for the film "Listen to the City." To me this is peak New Wave from the '80s with all of its keyboards and synthesizers and faux-British-accented vocals, plus some solid rock staples like the "doo doo doo" chorus and handclaps. Plus check out those hairstyles, absolutely epic. The TTC setting for the video is very nostalgic for me too as I rode it a lot when I lived in Toronto in the early '90s.

Now on to the painting...

• Norm brings out the big guns for his Napoleonic Austrians!
• Jez with "assorted" Landsknechts!
• Aaron presents a Star Wars Legion bada$$ and some tiny Ork APCs!

Have a good week all!

Dallas

Blue Monday

Northern Pikes - Wait for Me

It's Monday again and time for your weekly dose of old man music from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was going to post something from an American band today but my feelings are a little too raw from Canada's overtime loss in the gold medal hockey game this morning. So we will enjoy (not New Order, but rather) some Cancon from Saskatoon's own Northern Pikes.

The band formed in 1984 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan by Jay Semko, Merl Bryck, Bryan Potvin, and Glen Hollingshead. They released two independent EPs before Hollingshead left the group in 1986, being replaced by Don Schmid on drums. Their first record for the Virgin label was 1987's "Big Blue Sky" which spawned the indy hits "Teenland" and "Things I Do for Money". The video I've linked above is from their followup "Secrets of the Alibi" (1988) and I think it's among the best of the band's catalog.

While Merl Bryck (crush object of some of my female friends back then) left the band in 2006, he was replaced in the lineup by ex-Grapes of Wrath guitarist Kevin Kane, and the Pikes still tour. I saw them in 2021 at a multi-band show with the Jim Cuddy Band (he of Blue Rodeo) and 54-40. They were great, but it wasn't the first time for me. Check this out:

That must have been obtained on their 1991 tour, probably at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba (don't be too hard on me, it was 35 years ago and I was 19 years old!). That's the centrefold of their "Snow in June" CD, released in 1990.  

Anyway on to the painting. This Monday we have:

• Plague Marines, modern US infantry and Great War French from DavidB!
• Post-apoc and Dark Souls from GavinB!
• Austrian Napoleonics from NormS!

Although this post won't appear until early Monday morning, I'm writing it on Sunday afternoon and the sad from the game this morning persists. However a bunch of the locals are getting together on the ODR to "skate away the sadness" and I'm looking forward to that.

Have a good week all.

Dallas

Monday Again!

The Clash - Gates of the West

OK all, it's Monday again and that means more old man music. This week it's one of my all-time favourites - "the only band that matters" - plus a couple bonus tracks from the two frontmen's post-Clash projects.

What can you say about the Clash? Formed in 1976 in London by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer (we won't mention the previous band Joe was associated with), the classic lineup also included bassist Paul Simonon (he taught himself to play the bass in three weeks!) and drumming genius Topper Headon. Their eponymous first album was released in 1977, followed by "Give 'Em Enough Rope" in 1978. But their magnum opus was certainly "London Calling" released in 1979 and named by Rolling Stone as the greatest album of the decade (the 1980s that is). Infused by ska and reggae as well as rockabilly and traditional rock 'n' roll, every song on this record is a banger. The song linked above, "Gates of the West", is from the band's 1979 EP "The Cost of Living", released just about seven months before London Calling.

London Calling was followed at the end of 1980 by a triple (!) album (sold for the price of a double album, Sandinista! Although I personally love half of the songs on Sandinista!, a lot of it is half-baked rubbish (the "dub" versions of other album tracks for example) and although the band had always been "political", the triple album was even moreso. The album was followed in 1981 by "Combat Rock" featuring the charting US single "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"  Unfortunately the answer was the latter, as after a half-hearted 1982 release (of which the less said the better) the band broke up for good. 

But the animating minds of the Clash, Strummer and Jones, carried on! Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite in 1984. After a time that incarnation broke up and in 1991 Jones formed its successor "Big Audio Dynamite II" releasing their debut album "The Globe", which spawned this hit:

Big Audio Dynamite - Rush

Joe Strummer wasn't idle either. He formed a group called the Mescaleros and they were also great!

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Get Down Moses

(You might recognize that tune from its great cover by ska band the Interrupters). Sadly Joe Strummer died of a congenital heart defect in 2002. He is missed! 

So if you've made it down this far you're probably interested in the painting this week. First off an apology from me, SteveA's Space Marines were a late entry last week and I didn't get to them, so they're first up this week. Next are some very nice Austrian Napoleonic mounted officers from NormS. And that's it, an easy start to the week - a short week for many of us in North America as today is a provincial holiday in many provinces as well as Presidents' Day in the USA.

Have a better one!

Dallas

It's Monday Again! And That Means More Old Man Music!

Squeeze - Another Nail in My Heart

OK so it's Monday again and another dose of old man music for you. Today it's one of my all-time favourites - Squeeze. It's always surprising to me how many people have never heard of them given how many good songs the band have produced in their long career, but if I can introduce anyone new to their amazing music I'm happy to do so.

Squeeze was formed in the mid-'70s in Deptford, southeast London, by vocalists and guitarists Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford. The band was part of the British New Wave scene. The Tillbrook and Difford songwriting partnership produced a TON of great music - this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, a good friend put it on a mixtape for me in about 1986. But you'd recognize a lot of Squeeze songs - "Pulling Mussels (from a Shell)," "Cool for Cats," "Black Coffee in Bed," "Hourglass," "Annie Get Your Gun" (which was shortlisted for this post), "Tempted" (with vocals by sometime-keyboardist Paul Carrack), etc. Tillbrook and Difford have been compared to Lennon and McCartney and I wouldn't dispute that. Glenn has a remarkable singing voice too.

I saw Squeeze play live at the Salt Shed in Chicago in 2023 and it was one of the best rock shows I've ever seen. There are two schools of thought regarding live rock performances. The adherents of one school want to hear the songs like they sound on the album and on the radio. Those of the other school love "noodling" and alternate arrangements of the familiar hits. I have to say that I am of the first school (although the Police's live show made a good argument for the other) and the show that Squeeze put on suited me down to the ground. Glenn and Chris's voices were top-notch, the playing was outstanding, and every song sounded just like it did on the record. Amazing show!   

So now onto the painting... this week we've got some great stuff:

• Kingdom Death (but safe for work!) from ByronM
• A miscellany from DavidB
• Spiffy samurai from JezT
• Terrifying Tyranids from SanderS, and
• Vietnam NVA, USMC and civilians from HayesR

Enjoy the week!

Dallas

Monday Mania with a Social Conscience

World Party - Ship of Fools

Back to "old man music" with this absolute classic from one-man-band and musical genius Karl Wallinger. He was born on 19 October 1957 in Wales. As a boy he completely absorbed the music of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and the Kinks... his musical career began as a keyboard player but he first became known as a multi-instrumentalist member of the Waterboys, contributing significantly to their 1985 hit "Whole of the Moon." After leaving the group, Wallinger's next project was World Party and its first album "Private Revolution" (1987). The video I linked above is from that album and reflects Wallinger's world-music style and social conscience. Private Revolution was followed in 1990 by World Party's masterpiece album, "Goodbye Jumbo", with its two hits "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box."

Wallinger's music was obviously influenced by the Beatles but he was an inspiring songwriter and musician. "Way Down Now" obviously draws inspiration from "Sympathy for the Devil" but it's by no means a pastiche. The energy of World Party's recordings and videos is really unmatched and his social message is especially relevant today. Sadly Wallinger died in 2024 of a stroke, at his home in Hastings.

Now for the painting... this week we have a swell Gendarme standard bearer from JezT, a buncha cool Greeks from RobH, unexpected Ultramarines from SteveA, and a great deal of WW2 infantry and vehicles from DavidB!

I hope you enjoy the posts and I'll be back Thursday with some more old man music when I sub for Minion GregB.

Dallas

It's Monday Again!

Bahamas - Lost in the Light

So on the recent Costa Rica trip my companion liked to play music in the morning. It was quite nice to listen to it while we got ready for the day. So one day I put my own music on, and she asked if I ever listened to any "modern music" - ouch. So I trotted out this banger.

Afie Jurvanen (known professionally as "Bahamas") is a Finnish-Canadian who was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1981. He's released seven studio albums. Bahamas' musical style could probably best be described as folk rock or "adult alternative" (eww). It's very melodic and mellow for the most part. While his music has been nominated for a buncha Junos and other awards, I'd never heard of Bahamas until the financial services company I work for licensed "Lost in the Light" for a television spot. When the commercial was unveiled to the staff I was blown away. To me it's one of those songs that can just bring you to tears, it's so lovely. The female backup singers particularly are fine. I hope you enjoy it.  

Anyway, on to the painting. There's only one lonely post for Monday, but it's a great one with some nice variety. You know if it's Byron there's gonna some disturbing content from Kingdom Death, but it is leavened here with a charming little mole from Badgers & Burrows and a very nice piece of terrain. 

Have a great week.

Dallas

Monday Maniacs Back to Work!

The Tragically Hip - My Music at Work

Good Monday morning! I'm just back from a week away in Costa Rica (thank you to Minion Greg for looking after my duties last week) so it's back to work for me as well as many other Challengers - although I know that our friends in the USA are enjoying a long weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

My first Minion post included a video from a great (but lesser known) Canadian band - Sloan - but this video is from one of Canada's best known rock bands, the Tragically Hip. The band was formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984 and led by singer, lyricist and poet Gord Downie. The Hip (as they were known here in Canada) released 14 albums between 1987 and 2017 and won 17 Juno awards. Lead singer Downie has been described as "Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Michael Stipe combined into one sensitive, oblique poet-philosopher" by no less an authority than the New York Times, and his death in 2017 effectively ended the band and affected Canadians everywhere.

I've picked this Hip video for the post because it's one of my favourite songs from the band - I love the lyrics and the music - especially the chord change at 1:05 that always gets me. The video was directed by Kids in the Hall comedy alumnus Bruce McCulloch, for which he won the "Best Director" award at the 2000 MuchMusic Video Awards. If they haven't already, somebody has to start a Hip tribute band called "The Filters" - amirite?

Anyway, this week I am proud to present for your edification and amusement:

• very cool Little Red Riding Hood and Wolf from SanderS!
• lovely Hungarian Hussars from JezT!
• snazzy Leopard 1 tanks from RossM!
• some super FSSF infantry from DavidB!
• a very nice Vietnam USMC mortar crew from HayesW!

I hope you enjoy this week's offerings, and I want to send out a special wish for Challenger FrederickC who had unexpected and urgent surgery last week. We're all pulling for you and wishing you the best, Frederick.

Till next Monday, all the best,

Dallas

Monday City Maniacs

Welcome to Monday! I'm your Monday Minion Dallas, and I'm happy to be back helping Mr. Curt run the Challenge this year. 

I hope you have a look at the link above ^^ as it's a really creative video for "Money City Maniacs", a super-catchy tune by one of Canada's greatest (and perhaps least recognized?) rock bands, Sloan. Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sloan was formed in 1991. The band has been nominated for nine Juno Awards (Canada's national music awards) and won one, so far. I've never seen Sloan play live but last year I saw Chris Murphy of the band play with Canadian "alternative '90s supergroup" the Trans-Canada Highwaymen (also featuring Moe Berg of Pursuit of Happiness, Craig Northey of the Odds, and Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies). It was an awesome show, the boys were in high spirits and played all the hits of their regular bands plus a ton of Canadian AM radio standards, often switching instruments as they did so!

What does all of this have to do with the Challenge, you ask? Very little! But I wanted to have a punny name for my Monday crew so I came up with one. Deal with it :-)

Anyway, for Challenger posts this week I'm proud to present:

• Some magnificent Austrian Napoleonics from NormS!
• A unit of great looking Age of Sigmar Ogors from ByronM!
• Some spiffy Gauls from RobH!
• Quite large Orcs from DavidB!
• Late addition - very nice Orks and Solar Auxilia from MattK!

Enjoy your Monday!

Dallas

AdamC: More Egyptian Archers Gift Shop (100 points)

 

More Egyptians for my friend Arofan's Biblical Age armies.  

A few of them have the blue headdress to complete the last group others have a red brown a fairly common dye color.

Here are some close up of the headdress.

Close up of the two standards one green the other gold. 

There are 16 28 mm figures at 5 points each for 80 points and another 20 for the gift shop for 100 all together.

 

 

Sylvain: There is something old school about the sculpt of these figurines which I find interesting. Your palette sticks to warm colors, which perfectly suits an ancient Egyptian army. Marvelous paint job!

From AdamC - Gunboats [Maritime] (44 points )

The family (including myself) have been battling illnesses for the past few weeks painting time has been limited but at last I have something for you. Black Seas Gunboats from Warlord games.

I got this set at sale at the Mayhem Convention, the set has three gunboat squadrons. 

I can see you all counting yes there are four squadrons. 

Well one of the bases had some of the cannon broken off and Warlord replaced it. I did some work on these to make them work (fortunately the front cannons weren't damaged). I really like the gaff rig for vessels of this size. 

Here we have them as intended three guns (one forward and one each to port and starboard) .  I think the gunboat Philadelphia from the American revolution was and inspiration for the design.

You can see the "broadside" guns these were what was damaged on the other base. The sails are metal and painted by me so feel free to praise them this time 😉. Here is my progress so far.

Points wise I don't know if we have had Gunboats since point 1/700 ships where reworked (i found a reference in two separate posts where they were scored at 10 and 6 per base). I would suggest that 6 points seems more correct  points per base (2 per boat) for 24 plus an additional 20 points for the Maritime section of the library. (But adjust as necessary)

 

 

Sylvain: I really like how you created the sea surface on your bases. The waves seems to be at just the right scale for the gunboats. I love seeing submissions like yours that highlight the neglected little guys in the big battles. And yes, I agree with you points claim as these seem to match a 6mm vehicle, which is 2 points. Nicely done!

AdamC - Ancient Egyptian Archers (50 points)

These New Kingdom Egyptians from Old Glory are for a project my friend Arofan is working on to do some Biblical era War gaming. By this I mean the kingdom of Israel period.

That technically makes these fellows late period Egyptians the last gasp of native rule before domination by foreign powers (Persians, Greeks Romans and so on until after World War II) Fortunately with Ancient Egyptians what's is new is what is old so reto garb was the way.

They were simple linen kilts and head dresses armed with bows arrows and maybe a knife. The leader has a stone headed mace. There are 10 figures here for 50 points. The base is a temporary one so Arofan can permanently base them as he wishes. This may require a reduction in points.

Sylvain: Very nice Egyptians. I'm enticed to walk like them (cf. Bangles). Their head dress immediately suggest where they are from. I'm not going to reduce the points because I'm sure these miniatures will soon end up on a nice base. Can't wait to see the next submission of this project of biblical proportions.

 

 

Monday's Musée des Fossiles

 

Everything is utterly and totally under complete control!

 

 A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT FROM LE MUSÉE DES FOSSILES

Due to what our Public Relations Officer would prefer me to describe as a “mild mold nuisance”, the Municipal Health Authority has closed our Exhibition Rooms “A” to “C” as well as “E” to “O” until further notice. The use of haz-mat suits by the Authority should be seen as a “simple basic precaution” and there is absolutely no need for our honorable visitors to cancel or postpone their visit at the Musée des Fossiles.

Because of the “temporary circumstances” mentioned above, all the special exhibits programmed for today will be held in Room “D”, where the windows will be left open as a “comprehensive sanitary measure”.  We recommend that you keep your winter clothes on simply to feel more comfortable during your visit while it's -25oC outside. As a small favor, every hour, our valued visitors will be asked to vacate Room “D” thus allowing our expert technicians to install the next exhibit, an operation of merely 50 minutes. In the meantime, our exquisite visitors are welcome to wander at the gift store where they will benefit from a generous 5% discount on all our products for their magnanimous patience and comprehension.

Our core mission at Le Musée des Fossiles is always to unrelentlessly continue the tradition of offering the best possible viewing experience of ancient artifacts to our precious visitors.

Yvan Thellarius, Ph.D.
Curateur en Chef
Le Musée des Fossiles

PROGRAM OF THE SPECIAL EXHIBITS FOR TODAY

■ ROOM “D” ■ 07:00 AM ■ Commutation opportunity via sexualized figurines. Curated by Professor TeemuL.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 08:00 AM ■ Incremental contributions to a collection based on a notoriously profitable sci-fi franchise. Curated by Professor DaveV.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 09:00 AM ■ “To Limber or not to Limber” Prolegomena for a family ritual enhanced with miniatures. Curated by Professor IainW.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 10:00 AM ■ On the specifics of local history architecture: case in point with Captain Smith’s House. Curated by Professor AdamC.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 11:00 AM ■ Dissimilarities Between an Ancient Mythology Creature and 20th Century Civil Servants of the Military Type. Curated by Professor SimonG.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 12:00 PM ■ A Tour of a Library by means of a Female Cleric and an Industrial Structure of Gargantuan Proportions. Curated by Professor JimG.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 01:00 PM ■ Preliminary Findings on the Color Schemes of Sci-fi Aliens and Fantasy Orcs, with a Complement of Submissions bringing Mustaches from the El Alamo Era.  Curated by Professor MikeW.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 02:00 PM ■ Pre-Juvenile Style for Heroic Theme-based Miniatures.  Curated by Professor PeterB.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 03:00 PM ■ On the Cuteness of Baby Dragons with a Complement of Procurement for Fantasy and Sci-Fi Endeavors.  Curated by Professor PeterB.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 04:00 PM ■ A Critical Review of Ancient Danish Military Artifacts.  Curated by Professor Lorenzo.

 

■ ROOM “D” ■ 05:00 PM ■ Solving the Paradox Between Quantity and Quality; Just Nuke it With a Paint Bomb!  Curated by Professor FrederickC.

 

 

Monday Minion Signing Off

 

Sad to say but we've less than one week left in the Challenge.  It looks like we've got almost all of the Monday crew making an appearance this week.  So far we have:

• Adam taking a break from "Pimp My brig" to go back to his Colonial era roots.
• Darrell bring us more Byzantine Epics
• Ed has an epic scale fantasy
• Iain has another Napoleonic costume drama
• Ken has a salty adventure and hopefully a Renaissance bodice ripper
• Matt presents a tale of seven grumpy dwarves
• Richard enters something in the short film category
• Ross adds to the mystery
• Sylvain has a Central European tragedy

Based on my Pulp magazine title, you may be expecting some dreary Euro-metal musical accompaniment, but I've got something different planned.  I've been concerned with the anti-vegetable sentiment present in certain vocal Challengers' rhetoric and I've decided to leave you with this plea for kindness to all vegetables and Peas on Earth from the Arrogant Worms.

Monday Meanderings

 

Sadly it is nearing the end of this year's Challenge which ends up on Sunday March 19th.  As I now understand things (Curt will having corrected me I'm sure), this is the last week of dedicated posting days so the last offerings from the Monday Crew we continue on with regular posting days this week and next.  Appropriately We do have two of the crew finishing up projects this week, Matt and Paul.

I'm not sure what else will appear.  Sylvain knocked out his internet, Darrell's run out of paint and Adam' tied himself up in rigging knots.  Hopefully Ken will recover enough from his all day  Destroyer-palloza marathon to post results.

Monday Musings

 

As of press time, it looks like the Monday crew has some nice offering on the menu.  Both Paul and Sylvain have returned from Holidays. Ken,  Ed and Ross are promising stuff too

The Big News is the second months' Minions' Choice Awards as voted on by your esteemed group of Minions and Miles.

In a tie for third we have Kerry's lovely Mercenaries based on one of my favourite history books.

Kerry is tied with Barks and his revolting bunch of local Aussie fauna...(ok apparently they are 40K Gaunts but they look like something deadly from Down Under).

Continuing with the theme of Antipodean critters that you hope scuttle away from you we have Paul O'Gs Crab Bisque.  It's more frightening that a pre-schooler with a Little Mermaid DVD (yes Frozen is more current but it doesn't have a singing crab).

And returning from down under we have the winner, Mr Go Big or Go Home himself KenR and his wonderful 1/700 naval models.

Curt tells me that Kens prize is a 20 quid gift certificate for Warbles (which are parasitic flies) or assuming I’m interpreting autocorrect correctly a gift certificate from Challenge Sponsor Warbases.   Perhaps we’ll let Ken decide which he’d rather.

That's two winners in two months from among the talented Monday crew.

Missing on Mondays

 

I put my intro post together on Sunday mornings and schedule it to go live while I drink my Monday coffee.  Normally the Monday crew has a host of posts in ready for me include in my preamble and schedule over Monday.

This week it looks a little light on content.  SylvainR is off lost in the wilderness (literally not just figuratively).  KenR talks of failure on land and sea.  DarrellH has doubts.  Luckily Iain and Adam have posts for us to enjoy and hopefully there will be more emerge from the gloom as time unfolds.

Update on Monday morning.  As usual, the world looks a little less bleak after coffee.  Ken managed to get photos uploaded and is now only looking for sleep.  Darrell and Ross also have treats for us.  The others must have let PaulOG navigate…..

Monday Minion and a Confession

 

Back in the Frozen North and mostly caught back on sleep after my sojourn to the Big Easy.  We are by my count approximately 1/2 though our Yearly Challenge.  We also seem to hitting a bit of the February doldrums, at least I am.

Also I need to fess up on an error that I made last week.  With Miles apparently sucked into the Vortex of Time and unable to perform Minion Duties on Wednesday, Curt asked me to suit up and fill in.  I am not sure if I actually identified myself in my guest posts, so if you're wondering who to blame it was me.  More importantly JamesM had a truly impressive post with more points than I've racked up this Challenge which I neglected to record in the Spreadsheet of Doom.  This error has been rectified by my superiors and my apologies to James.

So far this week for Monday's offerings we have the following tipples on offer.

• The ever reliable Sylvain brings us a tray of micro-armour amuse-bouches.  If only he was as reliable as an allied commander on tabletop....
• Darrell brings us more early Medieval delights, this time with a Spanish flavour.
• KenR promises us the catch of the day, unless it's the big one that gets away.
• Richard offers some Tex-Mex and more exotic flavours.
• Other chefs promise us exotic flavours from York(?!?) - I can feel my arteries hardening even now.

Another Monday

For those us you in the Antipodes or the UK, this is what winter looks like.  I took this yesterday in local park walking back with my wife from coffee at the Art Gallery.  We've had a week of mild (-5C) temperatures and fog leading to all the hoar frost, but the weekend brought more typical and much appreciated bright January sun.   

As of Sunday morning we have posts from Sylvain and Matt and promises from Iain and Ken.  We'll see what else the day brings.

Monday Minion

 

Looks like a full day of Monday wonders in store.