The Fab Four are still giants in Houston Texas.

Tucked away at the back of an outside lot in Houston Texas lie four remarkable giant statues of Paul, John, George and Ringo. Created by Texan sculptor David Adickes for a show that never happened, they now stand discarded in his now abandoned studio lot. Adickes has moved premises now but his giant fab four pieces in company with a few other notable huge heads, remain as spooky silent sentinels seemingly waiting for a new home.

The Fab Four (c) Andy Mossack

Manhattan Comes To Frankfurt

I was in Frankfurt last week to watch the annual Rhine in Flames festival. Some 50,000 spectators and a flotilla of 50 odd ships collected together to watch a fireworks spectacle lasting nearly 2 hours.
All wonderful stuff; the many castles lining the river lit up red with Bengal Fires adding to the atmosphere.
Anyway, whilst on a downtown Frankfurt walkabout before all the main festivities, I made a point of going to Neue Mainzer Strasse to see if it really does look like New York. This street is often used in European films to depict a Manhattan scene when the budget doesn't quite stretch to shooting in the real place.
Standing there, it really does look the part. High rises on each side of the street and plenty of traffic too. it also happens to be where the famed Helaba tower resides, the tallest building in Frankfurt offering some stunning 360 views of the city from the rooftop.

Touchscreen Windows in Trains Becomes a Reality

It was with some interest I read the other day about plans for touchscreen windows on the new High Speed 2 trains which will be travelling at speeds of around 225 mph. The windows and doors will have 'smart glass' in them so we'll have the opportunity to bring up information on our journey; current destination timings for example or more interestingly, details on the numerous landmarks as they flash by.
Perhaps there might even be some kind of food or drinks menu not dissimilar to the in-seat service you can order via your TV on Air New Zealand flights.
Either way, the technology is in place now for us to use smart glass touch screens to make our journey's more interesting.
The thing that bothers me, as someone who leans towards OCD tendencies, is having to swipe my fingers over glass a thousand other people have used. I can almost see me having a box of wet ones next to me whilst reading a magazine on the window next to me.
HS2 has come in for all kinds of flak but frankly anything that reduces journey times these days must be taken seriously.