Pigeon Point again – Still no pigeons.

9 FebOut early again and got to Pigeon Point before the resort was fully open!  The benefit of getting there early is that you get your pick of the beach huts.  With our one selected and with sun screen slathered on, Scamp and I went for a walk in the shallows.  The water was cold, but then it was just after 9am.  The sea was much calmer today, so it was time to grab the mask and snorkel and head out to the reef.

Despite the lack of wind and only a slight swell, there was still a fair bit of silt in the water and visibility wasn’t that great.  However, IMG_3755it was good to swim in the sea without getting hypothermia.  After a while I swam back to the shore and met Scamp who wanted to have a deeper paddle and test the improved buoyancy you get from sea water.  We just messed around in the fairly shallow water for a while and she did try a few strokes before we got out again.  Sat watching the colours in the sea and sky for a while then had an early lunch of biscuits and cheese, washed down with some fruit juice.  After that Scamp and I went for a walk along the beach and watched the pelicans diving for fish.  Scamp found a wee bit of coral to take back and then she found a sea urchin shell.  Walked back to the beach hut and did a quick sketch of the lifesaver’s hut.

Back at the beach hut, a hoard of americans arrived (lower case shows my respect for them).

  The older ones were about our age and were quiet and quite biddable.  The younger ones were noisy and american.  What more can I say.  Each one seemed to want to project their inherent stupidity louder than the last.  Big Chief Stupid had his hair shaved at the sides and left long on top.  Such a good look.  I may grow my hair long this year and emulate him.  I won’t, however, plaster my arms and legs with ‘artistic’ tattoos.  To quote from Lou Reed “Stick a fork up their ass and turn them over, they’re done!”  Actually Lou was quoting from his friend, Donald, so maybe that’s a cyclic quote!?  We stayed a bit longer, I had another snorkelling mission then I went looking for a Sarong for Scamp, it being Thursday. Bought one from an old guy sitting on the beach with the sarongs hung up and drying in the breeze.  He even demonstrated the different ways to tie it.

Back at the apartment, I wanted to go out and get some pics of the pelicans fishing from the beach that had disappeared yesterday.  Today was better, but the waves were now attempting to cover it.  Walked along to where the pelicans were, and found a white bull in the field behind me  – no fence!  I said bye-bye to the bull and made a hasty retreat.  On the way back, I found a dragonfly, right next to me on a bush.  Dragonflies in February, now there’s a thing!  Got lots of photos.

Out to Karawak again for dinner.  Two waiters instead of waitresses tonight and it was Cajun Chicken for me and Mahi Mahi fish for the others.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as last night, but I was in the minority.

Back at the apartment, Jaime, Scamp and I went to watch the limbo dancer.  I think now we saw him the last time we were here, but he was entertaining with his fire eating and his clowning around.

We went to bed early because we’ll be up early tomorrow for the plane back to Trinidad.

A Grand Day Out – 08 February 2017

8 FebThis will be a rushed post.  It’s been a long day and we’ve crammed a lot into it, although it might not seem so with this compressed or condensed description.

The day started well and we left the apartment with the intention of visiting Scarborough and then heading to a beach, but that’s not how it turned out.  Firstly we made a stop at the Magdalena Grand Hotel to see how the other half live.  The hotel, which is quite grand and quite magnificent is surrounded by a golf course which has the usual water hazards.  However, the water hazards on most golf courses don’t have warning signs saying ‘This lake contains caimans’.  Thankfully we didn’t stop near the water.  We did continue on to see the hotel and to walk the grounds as if we were staying there.  It’s a technique I must learn some time.  We were both impressed with the size and look of the building, but there weren’t very may folk staying there, so we did wonder how profitable it was.  While we were there I got my first decent shots of Frigatebirds.

As we were leaving the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse with squally rain appearing.  It had been threatening while we were trespassing on the hotel grounds, but now it was doing more than threatening.  We carried on to Scarborough, and it did remind me of the English seaside town with the steep hills around it.  Madeleine drove us to Fort King George and old stronghold, now open as a museum.  Loads of interesting stuff to be seen and most of it was open to the public.  That’s where we saw the cockerels and the hens.  They seemed to have the run of the place.  Jaime bought us some Tamarind Balls which are made from Tamarind paste with added pepper made into balls then covered in sugar.  A strange sweet/sour/salty taste.  Hard to define.  Great place to visit.  It was there too we found all these lovely butterflies.  Butterflies in January?  Who would have thought it?  Aha, but this isn’t Scotland.

By the time we were leaving here the rain had started for real.  No longer  squally, but a proper downpour.  After an attempt to outrun it, we gave up and headed with our sandwiches and juice back to the apartment where we had a picnic on the balcony.  Not quite what we’d intended, but at least we were dry for a time.  Then the rain started again and we took shelter inside.  These showers continued all afternoon.  I got fed up after a while and went out to walk along the beach.  Unfortunately, the beach had disappeared under the heavy breakers of high tide, so I sat down and sketched a concrete seat as a possible subject.  It rained again and I had to give up.  At that point Jaime appeared wondering where I’d got to.  We walked back and he showed me the fruits on one of the trees in the hotel grounds.  I must remember to ask him what it was called.  Before we got ready to go out to the restaurant Scamp wanted to dip her feet in one of the hot tubs.  We sat in it for about half an hour while the rain made little soldiers on the surface of the water around us.  What a strange feeling that was.  When we finally gave up the hot tub, we went for a swim in the pool.  The water was remarkably warm.

After our swim we went back to the room and Scamp went to shower and wash her hair.  I grabbed my sketchbook and drew the view from the balcony.  It’s not technically perfect, but it’s a better, and more interesting, drawing than the concrete seat.  IMO.

IMG_3753Dinner was in Karawak restaurant and it was fabulous.  Callaloo soup followed by Tomato, Basil and Olive salad then a main of steak or shrimp with rice, pumpkin and a sort of ratatouille served in a hollowed out half aubergine.  Dessert was coconut cream cake with ice cream, sorbet or ice cream.  It’s hard not to compare that with what we had on our first night here at the steak and lobster grill and it’s hard to see now how the S&L Grill survives against competition like this.  The waitress worked the table with a great sense of humour that you couldn’t help but appreciate.  The only fly in the ointment was the owner or manager, it wasn’t clear which, who only seemed to be interested in her regular customers and only gave us a cursory glance.  She needs to take a lesson from our waitress.  Nobody it that high and mighty that they don’t need to cultivate new custom.

Well, that was meant to be a condensed description of the day.  I missed out the Karaoke because it was so bad, it wasn’t even funny, and no we didn’t take part.

He swims with the fishes – 07 February 2017

7 FebThis morning, Jaime said that he’d prefer to drive to Pigeon Point rather than take the hotel minibus.  We’d already agreed that hiring a car would be good, so this just meant that the hire would be a day early and it would give us more flexibility with travel arrangements, so off he went to arrange the hire.  When he came back, he told us there was one problem, his driving license was out of date and needed to be renewed.  It could be done on Tobago, but with the present backlog in licensing, it would probably take a whole day.  Since my paper license is no longer acceptable for hiring a car, the easy way was for Madeleine to hire the car.  With that settled, they both went back to the hire firm to seal the deal and soon arrived with the car.  Our bags were packed and we then went to Pigeon Point and parked ourselves under an almond tree on the edge of the glorious beach with that beautiful blue sea beyond.  Pigeon Point hadn’t changed much since we were last there.  The beach huts had been painted and had new roofs and there was now a new reception room for weddings and big parties, but apart from that it was the same.

Once we were settled, Scamp and I went for a paddle, but I couldn’t resist the pull of that blue water and the prospect of little brightly coloured fish in the reef just a few metres offshore.  After all, for once I’d remembered to bring my snorkel and mask, so it would be a much closer look this time.

The water was much colder for swimming in than I had anticipated, but like always, you quickly become accustomed to it and are able to concentrate on looking for interesting things on the seabed.  Unfortunately, the sea was rougher than it had been three years ago and the sand was being lifted from the floor by the waves, so my vision, even with the mask was limited.  Further round the corner there is another smaller reef and it proved more interesting.  At least there were some fish there.  I didn’t want to stay there too long as I was out of visual contact from the shore and I thought Scamp would be worried I’d be swept out to sea or eaten by a giant crab.  Actually it was Madeleine who was worried, not Scamp, but no matter, I’d snorkelled and I’d seen some fish.  The next time we come back to Tobago  – oh, yes, there will be a next time  – I’ll bring flippers too.  Ungainly on land, but so much more efficient for swimming.

Lunch was Bake and Shark from one of the booths on the beach, but three of us agreed it wasn’t a patch on the offering from Maracas.  That and a couple of drinks kept us fed and watered until it was time to go home to Sandy Point.  I got one sketch done in the interim and that’s this little doodle here.  Not very impressive, but it fits the bill.

When we got home, Scamp and I went for a walk along the beach past the airport runway and passed a big poisonous tree.  The sign said BEWARE of touching bark, leaves, fruit or anything to do withx-default the tree as it poisonous and corrosive and can kill.  Then at the bottom of the sign there’s a not to say ‘Don’t Panic’!  Watched the pelicans fishing for a while.  When we got back from the walk, we sat with our feet in a VERY hot tub. Then Scamp went back to the room while I did a sketch that I would fake as yesterday’s for the 28 Drawings Later page on Facebook.  Just a slip of the pen really.  I meant to write 7-2-2017, honest officer Winking smile

Dinner was a marvellous Stewed Chicken with Plantain and Macaroni Pie.  Sorry Sim, yours was good, and it was a close run thing, but your mum’s had the edge this time.

Two rum ‘n’ coke’s while listening to the entertaining Calypso singer in the bar rounded the day off.

Just a hop, skip and a jump – 06 February 2017

This will be a short post, because it’s been a long day and we’re up early tomorrow to go to Pigeon Point.

This morning we finished packing and got ready for the drive to the airport.  Traffic on the road through Port of Spain was heavy, but Jaime managed it smoothly and we arrived in plenty of time to check in.  Found that we could change to an earlier flight to Tobago and took that.  A smooth flight, but a bit wobbly on the final approach.  Scamp and Madeleine were not impressed, especially when the pilot bumped the plane down the runway.  It was very windy which probably explained that

Our room was ready early, so we could just go and dump our stuff before heading for the cafe for lunch which was roast chicken and chips.  After that Scamp, Jaime and I went for a walk along to Sandy Point beach.  Jaime took a shortcut through a hotel and  seemed to be deliberately ignoring the signs that said ‘Residents Only’, but maybe he just didn’t see them!!  As usual, he was a mine of information and on the way he took us through the ruins of Fort Milford.  It’s a place we saw when we were last here, but didn’t investigate.  We should have, if only to see how many times it had changed hands over the years.

When we came back, Scamp and I went to soak our feet in the hot tub, then went for a wander round the beachfront because they were giving away free rum punch.  It was rough, but it was free.  Then we all sat for a while on the balcony and watched the stars appear.

We went for dinner in the Steak and Lobster Grill next door.  Big mistake.  We had hoped that the really slow service there had improved.  Oh, no it hadn’t, in fact it had got worse.  A whole catalogue of disasters that I won’t go into here, but you’ll appreciate what I mean JIC and Sim.  Finally got served and I got my first real taste of lobster and an hour and a half later I’m still alive, so I imagine lobsters have more in common with crab and prawns than mussels and clams.

Had a rum ‘n’ coke at the hotel bar and Scamp had a Strawberry Daiquiri.  Then it was time for bed which is where I’m typing this.

Night, night, until tomorrow!  Photos will be posted later.

Third Time Lucky – 03 February 2017

3 Feb2

We were driving down to Chaguaramas, on the north western tip of the island, for a stroll on the boardwalk, but when we got on to the highway, Jaime discovered that he’d forgotten to take his pills, so we turned at the first available place and headed back.  On the way we stopped to get some fresh fruit from a stall at the side of the road.  At the house Jaime and Madeleine went in to drop off the fruit.  Then it was back to the highway again.  It was then that Jaime discovered that he’d dropped off the fruit, but forgotten to take his pills, so it was back round the loop for a second time, and this time he did remember to take his pills and we headed back on to the highway for the third time that day.

When we got to Chaguaramas we parked and took a walk heading east along the boardwalk.  The boards themselves are not made of wood, but of plastic coated MDF.  A strange choice for a walkway open to the ocean because it soaks up water, expands and breaks apart, but I suppose costs must be cut somewhere.  The area around the boardwalk seemed to be in a state of flux and it wasn’t clear if the area had been developed then fallen into disrepair or if it was still being constructed.  I would venture to say it was the former.  When we stopped to admire a Tamarind tree two Indian blokes came over and spoke to us.  It turned out they were putting in a quote to renovate the boardwalk area and this confirmed my suspicion that maintenance is the problem here.  As we were heading back to the car, one of he security men came over and talked to us and almost his first question was “What do you think about Theresa May?”  I have to say that most of the people we’ve met here have been very friendly and interested in these Scottish visitors.

The short beach at Chaguaramas is well used mainly by coloured bodies.  I think we were the only white faces to be seen.  It’s quite an industrial looking area, but the water was clean.  Apparently the beach is man-made.  Nobody seemed to mind that and lots of folk were out enjoying the water.  All except one wee toddler who wasn’t enjoying being washed in a cold foot bath outside the toilet block.

When we left there we went to the Cruise Inn where the other three had the strongest sangria I’ve ever tasted and I had a Heineken ‘Green Tea’.  We were going to have lunch there, but Scamp suggested we go back next Sunday for dinner and that seemed to satisfy everyone.

On the way home we stopped to buy some Hops Bread which is like a soft roll with a light crust on top.  It’s got a very yeasty smell and tastes lovely.  I’m intending to try making some when we get home.

IMG_3698After lunch which was the recycled remains of yesterday’s curry with a slice of reheated shepherd’s pie for me I started on today’s sketch.  What you see is the second one as I wasn’t happy with the result of the first one.  I’m not terribly happy with this one either.  It’s a bit squint and not all that interesting, but it will have to do.  It’s a sketch and it’s done in time.

Madeleine and Jaime were busy all evening trying to cut through the red tape that ties up all passport applications for Venezuela.   I wish them luck in their quest.

Oh what a beautiful morning – 23 January 2017

Not such a beautiful day.

Went out early on Scamp’s recommendation to get some photos in the remains of the overnight frost and in the watery sunshine.  Glad I did go out when I did, because the temperature rose sufficiently to melt the frost and the clouds rolled in to hide the sun, making it just another milky sky day.

Lost for something to do while Gems were practising, and after processing the photos, I got yesterday’s cloth and started on the beta version of the bowtie.  It took me until the early evening to get it finished, but it’s done now and although it’s not perfect, it is pretty much like what I wanted.  Made a mistake with sewing together the two halves of the first side and had to cut off the mistake should have stitch ripped out the sewing.  The upshot of cutting off the mistake was the tie was about 20/25mm too short.  It’s a strangling bowtie.  However, as I said, it’s the beta version and much better than the alpha version made from an old pillow slip.  This one I can wear (as long as I don’t have to breathe).  Onward and upward as they say.

Scamp didn’t want to risk Salsa class tonight on account of her recently removed stitches, so I stayed home too.  Sort of regretted it later, but it did allow me to finish the sewing.

That’s about it for the day’s adventures.  I think I’ll need to get a dog.  I keep getting strange looks from the dog-walkers over at the pond.  They can’t understand why I’m walking around with a big black bag and no dog.  Maybe they think I’ve got a wee dog, just a tiny wee one and I keep it in my bag.  Maybe they think I’m a dog thief.  Nobody seems to walk there without a dog.  A girl today told me her dog’s “pure scerred” of men (scerred rhymes with heard).  It might have been scared, but it was doing its fair share of growling at me.  It was a mongrel, but there was a decent bit of Ridgeback in its genealogy and I was getting “pure scerred”of it too before it loped off to give a collie a good sniffing.  At least she didn’t ask me if I had my tiny wee dog in my bag.  I was only joking about getting a dog, by the way.  We’ve enough to contend with, with the two fluffy, yappy things on one side of us and the howling wolf look-a-likes on the other side.  Strangely I just realised today that since the howlers started, the yappy things haven’t yapped.  Maybe there’s a hierarchy of vocal communication among dogs.  I must ask the girl with the “pure scerred” Ridgeback cross.

My PoD was the little silver beads which were in reality thawed frost on cowparsley heads.  It’s amazing what the macro lens shows you.

Oh yes, and the other thing I did today was finally put the Christmas decorations in the loft to rest until December.  A bit late, but not nearly the latest its been.

Tomorrow looks like it will be a lot like today.  I’ll be bag packing and clearing up from the bowtie construction, so I doubt if I’ll notice.

In The Wild – 18 January 2017

 

Today we drove to The Fort in what used to be Provanhall in Easterhouse.  Where Scamp was brought up.  It certainly doesn’t look like it now.  It’s a Retail Park.  We were just getting out of the house for a while because it was depressingly dull and the howling dogs next door were doing my head in.  People who want dogs as a status symbol and who go out to work leaving neighbours to put up with their howling should be prevented from keeping pets.  They obviously don’t care about them and leave others to suffer from their noise pollution.  Maybe NLC will be visiting them soon.

While Scamp wandered round the shops, she left me in the creche that is Waterstones book shop.  It’s just a small book shop, but has some interesting new drawing books and it was one of them I tried to enter into my new app, Airtable.  That’s when the honeymoon ended.  I couldn’t get a signal on my iPhone.  Unusual in a shop these days when everywhere seems to offer ’free’ WiFi.  Yes, it is free, but you have to ask for the password and obtaining it is sometimes like pulling teeth or stone exsanguination.  Today was different, no 3G or 4G and no WiFi and therefore, no Airtable because it needs to download your database from ‘the cloud’.  I opened Bento and it obligingly added my book to the database I’ve been using for about five years.  When I returned home and Googled “No offline access Airtable” I found that over 40 people had registered the same complaint and the desire for that offline access.  I filled in the questionnaire and became number 44 in the list.  I don’t expect much will be done in the short term to fix this, but what is the point of making an app for a portable device that demand internet access.  In a perfect world, 24/7 internet would be the norm, but I live in Scotland where even the trains don’t run on New Year’s Day.  We’re one step away from horses pulling carts along the street.  What surprised me most though was the number of complaints from users in the US.  It appears that away from the cities, they are as bereft of trustworthy internet access as we are here.
So…. The search for a replacement for Bento continues.

When we came back from The Fort and I’d taken the wrong turn coming out of the carpark for the 100th time, there was just enough light to grab some shots of Mr Grey at St Mo’s.  Then the light mysteriously disappeared and I headed home for mince and tatties with ‘roop’  (AKA Beetroot).  But I didn’t do a treasure hunt, JIC 😉

I was a helper at Shan’s beginners salsa tonight.  Oh dear, I wonder why these poor beginners keep coming back.  This is not entertainment or education, this is purgatory.  Badly explained, badly demonstrated dance moves with as little humour as Marcus Wareing.  I felt embarrassed to be helping in this class and I don’t think I’ll be back again.  Jamie G’s class by comparison was a bundle of laughs as it always is.  Unlike normal classes, all the moves tonight had ‘real’ names, and mostly Spanish names too.  Great fun.  Nobody ridiculed or made to feel small.  He always denegrates himself rather than pour scorn on others.  A great teacher.  Many could learn from him.

Being a roadie for tomorrow Gems tomorrow when they head the bill at the Link on Cumbersheugh.

AirTable v Bento – 16 January 2017

Another aimless day mostly spent under grey skies with the occasional shower of rain falling to give a bit of variety.

I spent most of the morning working with and learning to use AirTable, a multi-platform database that Hazy alerted me to.  Up until recently I’d used Bento,  the delightfully simple database for IOS and OSX.  I don’t use it much on the Mac, but it’s always there on my phone, especially the books database.  If I’m browsing in Waterstones and see a new book I like the look of, I type its name into my Bento Books Database, along with the author.  Then, when I have the time, I look it up on Amazon to see a price I’m willing to pay.  More recently, I have started looking in my local library e-book list to see if there is anything there.  Unfortunately, NLC library don’t have a great deal of e-books in THEIR database yet, but it’s always worth a look.  Once I’ve borrowed or bought a book, I tick it off as ‘Checked Out’ then later when I’ve read it or junked it I mark it either ‘Keep’ or ‘Drop’.  All done on Bento.  Unfortunately, Bento was itself ‘Dropped’ by Filemaker for reasons best known to themselves in 2013 (ish) and users were encouraged to replace it with Filemaker Go which is free, but really requires Filemaker Pro which costs around £170.  A hefty price to pay for a book database.  Enter AirTable which seems to fit the bill of price (free for non-commercial) and power.  I had a bit of a problem getting my Bento database into it, but with some HazyHelp, it worked a treat.  The main problem was that Bento on the phone wouldn’t sync with Bento on the Mac.  I gave up looking for a solution and in the end, just typed in the details I was missing.  Not comes the big test, when I take it out in the wild tomorrow to see if it cuts the mustard!

Went for a walk down the Luggie Water in the later afternoon, while Gems were invading the house, but saw very little apart from the ‘Ripples’ shot.  Drove up to Hulks Road, a wild bit of country road on the outskirts of Cumbersheugh, and got some lovely light on the landscape after such a dull day.  That’s where the rest of the shots came from.

Salsa tonight was a disaster.  I couldn’t remember the move we did last week, despite having watched our record of it before we went out.  Worse still, we did Chi-wa-wa (sic) which I know and like, and I couldn’t get that either.  I must have been one of the few leaders who actually knew the move, but was the only one who couldn’t get it right.  Embarrassing?  Just a little.  Lots of folk there tonight who hadn’t been to class for ages.  Good to see.  Scamp and I went for a coffee and a soft drink with Catherine and Linda after class to catch up with everybody’s news.

Tomorrow we may go to Perth for coffee and the run.  Weather looks as if it will cooperate.

Geese – 15 January 2017

Half past one in the afternoon and I’m standing in the middle of an old coup that was previously a spoil tip for a coal mine. Now it’s just wilderness and I’m watching and listening to skein after skein of geese flying overhead heading north. What do they know that we don’t?

That was written much earlier in the day.  I’d cycled to the tip and by the time I was heading for home, an hour and a half later, the skeins were flying west, south and occasionally north, but not east.  By that time the light was failing and I imagine that these birds had been flying since first light some eight hours earlier and are now looking for somewhere to roost for the night.  There are quite a few fields around Cumbersheugh where geese feed and then roost.  That would explain the apparently contradictory flight paths.  It was great listening to the skeins as they ‘talked’ to each other.  Some will say that’s not true, that they don’t communicate, but if you listen, it does sound like they are sharing information with each other.

While I was walking around the tip, I got a few shots of folk on top of the Kirkie Volcano.  It’s really a pit bing (spoil heap), but from this angle it looks just like a volcano.  One day I’m going to walk up it and take some photos from the top.  East Dunbarton Council should really make it into a visitor attraction with a wee coffee shop at the top.  It would make a fortune.  I may suggest it to them.

It was a lovely day today with a few showers of rain, but the temperature was decent, very decent for the time of year with highs of just over 10ºc.  Not quite shorts and tee shirts weather, but not far off it.  I did wander around in my shorts for a while, but it was too cool to cycle in them.  I saw the moss fruiting bodies (Green Blobs) when I was putting my cycling ‘longs’ (the opposite of shorts) back on and was quite impressed with the colour the camera caught.

Tomorrow is back to Gems in the afternoon, so I need somewhere to go.  Not sure where yet.  😉

Bow Tie – 14 January 2017

Firstly, you will have noticed that there is no photo of the bow tie.  That’s because it’s not quite finished yet.  It’s a prototype, made from a pillowslip, not something you’d expect to wear to a posh do, but essential as a practise piece.  I learned a lot from making it and I made it exactly as if it was made from the finest silk.  I stuck closely to the instructions and followed every step.  I made mistakes along the way, but hopefully I have learned from them.  Tomorrow I hope to iron (yes, along the way I’ve also learned how to iron) the prototype and finish off the sewing.  I might even try to tie it.  Every day’s a school day.

After the sewing session, we drove to Vecchia Bologna for lunch.  The place was mobbed, Scamp said it was the end of an Itison voucher offer.  We had to wait a little longer than usual for the food, but when it came, it was as good as ever.  Neither of us wanted or particularly needed anything in Stirling, so we just drove home and I went out for a walk through the ice and snow to St Mo’s.  Managed to surprise two deer, but the quality was so poor, they didn’t get published.  I did, however like the shots from the Oly 5 with the 9mm lens and that’s what you see above.

Tonight, I made some scones and have bread proving as I write this hoping to get it baked later.  Baking scones, baking bread, sewing and ironing.  Don’t tell me I’m not in touch with my feminine side!

As a bit of serendipity, you should read what I wrote last year on the 14th of January.  There should be a link to ‘A Year Ago Today’ at the bottom of the right hand column.  Navigate to the 14th from there.  Amazing synchronicity!