Friday, August 31, 2007
A trip to Cardiff
I think that I need to make a longer trip to Cardiff.
Today we paid a quick trip into the city in search of some stuff in preparation for the event - things like ribbon, cord and wicker baskets - and I could happily have spent rather more time wandering around the place than we had time for today. It seems to be full of little arcades filled with fascinating shops and an interesting-looking castle to boot. It's definitely somewhere I must revisit.
After the shopping trip we finally made it up to the castle for the event, having collected at the hotel on the way. I'd not visited Raglan Castle before, so I was quite impressed. I was also impressed at the number of pavillions in the grounds - it's really good to see lots of pavillionsm, and if I was still in the UK I'd almost certainly have one myself by now, complete with my own rope-strung bed... although I suspect this would require me to either have a large car or a trailer.
It was really good to see people after, in some cases, what must be almost two years. I hope to be able to catch up with everyone properly over the weekend, but I fear this may not be the case. Ah well, I shall try.
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Today we paid a quick trip into the city in search of some stuff in preparation for the event - things like ribbon, cord and wicker baskets - and I could happily have spent rather more time wandering around the place than we had time for today. It seems to be full of little arcades filled with fascinating shops and an interesting-looking castle to boot. It's definitely somewhere I must revisit.
After the shopping trip we finally made it up to the castle for the event, having collected
It was really good to see people after, in some cases, what must be almost two years. I hope to be able to catch up with everyone properly over the weekend, but I fear this may not be the case. Ah well, I shall try.
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The best-laid plans...
I arrived back at the hotel about ten minutes ago. As usual, Icelandair was late arriving at Heathrow, Heathrow itself was a bit chaotic, and Hertz weren't quite as efficient as normal... although it was past 21:30 by the time we got there, and well after 00:30 before we got here.
So why is it now nearly 2am? Thanks to a flamingo (like a cock-up but rather more spectacular) in the hotel booking department, Martha and Svenni are not staying at the same hotel at me but, rather, they are about 20 minutes away in a completely different small village (that's not even in Wales!).
I am so glad that I opted for the sat-nav (more about that later) as without it I would never have managed to find the place from the instructions that my inn gave me to get to the other inn. Now I'm just winding down a little before trying to fall asleep.
I have therefore suddenly become designated wagoneer for the event. There's no way they can walk back from the castle to their hotel so someone's going to have to drive them. And I was so looking forward to having some decent cider this weekend. :( Ah well - I suppose it means I don't have to walk back from the castle either.
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So why is it now nearly 2am? Thanks to a flamingo (like a cock-up but rather more spectacular) in the hotel booking department, Martha and Svenni are not staying at the same hotel at me but, rather, they are about 20 minutes away in a completely different small village (that's not even in Wales!).
I am so glad that I opted for the sat-nav (more about that later) as without it I would never have managed to find the place from the instructions that my inn gave me to get to the other inn. Now I'm just winding down a little before trying to fall asleep.
I have therefore suddenly become designated wagoneer for the event. There's no way they can walk back from the castle to their hotel so someone's going to have to drive them. And I was so looking forward to having some decent cider this weekend. :( Ah well - I suppose it means I don't have to walk back from the castle either.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
My Worldcon plans
Or what I plan to do this weekend.
Several people who are, like myself, unlucky enough not to be going to the World Science Fiction Convention in Japan this weekend have posted to their blogs what they're planning to do instead
Today: Fly to London and then drive to Raglan (not far from Cardiff). I'm in the middle of this right now, some thirty three thousand feet above the North Atlantic. The chap in the seat next but one to me got out his laptop to do something and so I thought hey, I could do that!, I'm so glad I have a petite machine. :) Icelandair was late as usual, but the flight time is supposed to be just over two hours - this suggests pretty strong tail winds to me.
Tomorrow: Maybe wander around Cardiff a bit and then head back up to Raglan Castle for Rhaglan Fair, and SCA event in the castle.
Saturday: Spend the day fencing in a ruined castle (trying not to lose my rapier in the moat) and then enjoying a torchlit ball in the evening.
Sunday: More fencing in the castle, then a relaxed evening which may involve an Indian resteraunt.
Monday: Drive back to Heathrow, drop off the car and head into London where I'd like to bag a museum while my travelling companions bag some shopping. :Fly back to Reykjaví.
Tuesday: Fly back to Akureyri,
OK, so it's not Worldcon in Japan, but it's not a bad alternative. :)
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Several people who are, like myself, unlucky enough not to be going to the World Science Fiction Convention in Japan this weekend have posted to their blogs what they're planning to do instead
Today: Fly to London and then drive to Raglan (not far from Cardiff). I'm in the middle of this right now, some thirty three thousand feet above the North Atlantic. The chap in the seat next but one to me got out his laptop to do something and so I thought hey, I could do that!, I'm so glad I have a petite machine. :) Icelandair was late as usual, but the flight time is supposed to be just over two hours - this suggests pretty strong tail winds to me.
Tomorrow: Maybe wander around Cardiff a bit and then head back up to Raglan Castle for Rhaglan Fair, and SCA event in the castle.
Saturday: Spend the day fencing in a ruined castle (trying not to lose my rapier in the moat) and then enjoying a torchlit ball in the evening.
Sunday: More fencing in the castle, then a relaxed evening which may involve an Indian resteraunt.
Monday: Drive back to Heathrow, drop off the car and head into London where I'd like to bag a museum while my travelling companions bag some shopping. :Fly back to Reykjaví.
Tuesday: Fly back to Akureyri,
OK, so it's not Worldcon in Japan, but it's not a bad alternative. :)
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Art & Science
As I was leaving work today I came across a work of art being installed within the building.
I wasn't expecting it at all. There were three people - two men and a woman - stripping the protective plastic covering of a piece of glass. I was, naturally fascinated, and got talking to them. The woman was the artist who had created the work so I had it explained to me. This was a Good Thing, because I'd seen the panels of glass sitting downstairs and had thought oh, pattern frosted glass for some of the open areas.
But no, that's not quite it. It's a five-panelled piece showing the sonar traces of ships going into and out of the Port of Akureyri, so you can clearly see the coastline heading north up the left side of the piece while the right side is mostly clear (there's nowhere to moor on the east side of the fjörd until you get up to Grenivík. It's quite a good idea for an installation in a building with large areas given over to science, using scientific data to produce a work of art.
I suspect that the arrival of new artwork is part of the celebrations for the university's forthcoming 20th birthday (yes, it is that young). Given the university's current financial situation I'd like to believe that it's been donated by some outside agency but I suspect that may be a false hope. Maybe it will say more on the plaque that will no doubt accompany the piece - if it doesn't say anything then it'll be a very good bet that the university spent money on it.
More (and photos) once it's been installed.
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I wasn't expecting it at all. There were three people - two men and a woman - stripping the protective plastic covering of a piece of glass. I was, naturally fascinated, and got talking to them. The woman was the artist who had created the work so I had it explained to me. This was a Good Thing, because I'd seen the panels of glass sitting downstairs and had thought oh, pattern frosted glass for some of the open areas.
But no, that's not quite it. It's a five-panelled piece showing the sonar traces of ships going into and out of the Port of Akureyri, so you can clearly see the coastline heading north up the left side of the piece while the right side is mostly clear (there's nowhere to moor on the east side of the fjörd until you get up to Grenivík. It's quite a good idea for an installation in a building with large areas given over to science, using scientific data to produce a work of art.
I suspect that the arrival of new artwork is part of the celebrations for the university's forthcoming 20th birthday (yes, it is that young). Given the university's current financial situation I'd like to believe that it's been donated by some outside agency but I suspect that may be a false hope. Maybe it will say more on the plaque that will no doubt accompany the piece - if it doesn't say anything then it'll be a very good bet that the university spent money on it.
More (and photos) once it's been installed.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
65% capacity
That's about the level I've been running at today.
Fortunately today's lecturing was databases, which I've done a number of times before, so although my voice was still rather shaky I still managed to produce a reasonably coherent presentation. It was pretty tiring, though, and I was feeling rather rough by the time I'd finished. No heading home after lunch today unfortunately, as there was paperwork to be done, meetings to be attended and other matters to be taken care of. By the time I was finished I was pleased not to have killed anyone this afternoon.
Tomorrow's not looking good either - I've got two double labs in the afternoon followed immediately by a double distance learning lecture, which means that I'm not going to get back home until after 19:00. One of my friends today reminded me that I am allowed to take sick days, but I'd only have to rearrange the lectures and while that's theoretically simple it's rather more complex in practice.
No, I think that I may just have a lie-in and go in a little later than usual tomorrow instead.
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Fortunately today's lecturing was databases, which I've done a number of times before, so although my voice was still rather shaky I still managed to produce a reasonably coherent presentation. It was pretty tiring, though, and I was feeling rather rough by the time I'd finished. No heading home after lunch today unfortunately, as there was paperwork to be done, meetings to be attended and other matters to be taken care of. By the time I was finished I was pleased not to have killed anyone this afternoon.
Tomorrow's not looking good either - I've got two double labs in the afternoon followed immediately by a double distance learning lecture, which means that I'm not going to get back home until after 19:00. One of my friends today reminded me that I am allowed to take sick days, but I'd only have to rearrange the lectures and while that's theoretically simple it's rather more complex in practice.
No, I think that I may just have a lie-in and go in a little later than usual tomorrow instead.
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Monday, August 27, 2007
Still grotty
I woke up early this morning, but with no urge to get up. Unfortunately lectures proper started today, so I hauled myself out of bed and into the office. My ten o'clock lecture was a bit on the painful side, as my voice was rather shaky and the microphone wasn't working. I very seldom use the microphones, usually only if I'm recrding the lecture, but this once it would have been rather useful. I eventually survived the lecture, and a short research meeting afterwards, but I ran home soon after lunch to climb back under a duvet.
The timing of this is just superb; I have the remains of a to-do list before I leave on Thursday, and have absolutely no inclination to do anything other than sleep and drink warm throat-soothing drinks. Bah again.
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The timing of this is just superb; I have the remains of a to-do list before I leave on Thursday, and have absolutely no inclination to do anything other than sleep and drink warm throat-soothing drinks. Bah again.
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Sunday, August 26, 2007
Grotty
Last night's throat problem didn't ease up overnight, and I've spent the day alternating between feeling rotten and being asleep. Apart from the shire meeting out of town this morning, to which I managed to drive without quite coming off the road but was very pleased to return home to sleep. The throat and voice are still playing up, which could be a problem tomorrow. I can't cancel the first real lectures of the semester. I just can't. I may have to cave in and use the microphone system instead of just projecting my voice as usual. Bleurgh.
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
Projects completed
Today I crossed several things off my Raglan to-do list.
This started off with a new linen chemise trimmed with some braid I recently acquired from Calontir Trim. I've needed a new one for quite a while, as the chemise I have with me was made from a cheap and icky polycotton blend which isn't even normal polycotton. I suspect that I originally got it in the remnants bin in Rejects in Kirkcaldy at some point. So I've finally made a new one but I'm not even sure if I'll be bringing it to Raglan anyway. I'm going to have a luggage weight problem, given the new gown and the fencing kit.
Item the second. I finished trimming said gown. Well, almost. I'm quite frustrated that velcro is not period. I have a slight technical problem which comes out of not having quite enough fabric for a covering front panel and Rúmfatalagerin doesn't seem to have that particular fabric at present. In the meantime, then, I've been forced to bodge it a bit, but I can at least fix it properly later.
The shire now has a new banner. I've finally finished the thing, although this one doesn't have a fringe at the bottom because I couldn't find any suitable fringing, which is annoying. I've also had to get a bit creative on the hanging method, so instead of large fabric loops this one has large over-stitched eyelets in the top so that it can be either bound to a wooden hanger or hung by the corners/across the top.
At about ten this evening, though, my voice suddenly dropped an octave or so. Typical. Lectures start on Monday and I'm losing my voice. Hopefully it'll clear up overnight.
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This started off with a new linen chemise trimmed with some braid I recently acquired from Calontir Trim. I've needed a new one for quite a while, as the chemise I have with me was made from a cheap and icky polycotton blend which isn't even normal polycotton. I suspect that I originally got it in the remnants bin in Rejects in Kirkcaldy at some point. So I've finally made a new one but I'm not even sure if I'll be bringing it to Raglan anyway. I'm going to have a luggage weight problem, given the new gown and the fencing kit.
Item the second. I finished trimming said gown. Well, almost. I'm quite frustrated that velcro is not period. I have a slight technical problem which comes out of not having quite enough fabric for a covering front panel and Rúmfatalagerin doesn't seem to have that particular fabric at present. In the meantime, then, I've been forced to bodge it a bit, but I can at least fix it properly later.
The shire now has a new banner. I've finally finished the thing, although this one doesn't have a fringe at the bottom because I couldn't find any suitable fringing, which is annoying. I've also had to get a bit creative on the hanging method, so instead of large fabric loops this one has large over-stitched eyelets in the top so that it can be either bound to a wooden hanger or hung by the corners/across the top.
At about ten this evening, though, my voice suddenly dropped an octave or so. Typical. Lectures start on Monday and I'm losing my voice. Hopefully it'll clear up overnight.
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Friday, August 24, 2007
TGIF
I am very pleased that the weekend has arrived.
It's been one of the more stressful weeks I've had in the last twelve months, and I've had a low-level headache all day to prove it. It's been pre-sessional/august resit week, I've moved office, dealt with crises and portents of various magnitudes and have a major to-do list deadline coming up in the middle of next week. If I didn't already have the weekend planned then I'd probably just take the phone off the hook and ignore the doorbell for the next couple of days.
But other than this... well, it's been a day of smells. First I discovered that my office window is above a favoured smoking zone. At least it turns out that it's not the official smoking zone and the building manager suggested that I regularly throw water out of the window. I rather like the idea of a window basket, but I don't know what would survive the winter out here.
The second smell is less unpleasant, in moderation. Here in Akureyri we used to have a problem with the smell of the fish oil plant if the wind was in the wrong direction. Now that was unpleasant - a strong odour of not-quite-fresh fish wafting across the town from the dock area. The new one comes from a different direction. Instead of a fish-oil plant we now have a new microbrewery a little further up the coast and today there was a distinct smell of hops in the air.
The final smell was the scent of a bargain. Yesterday Martha and I went into one of the fabric shops in town to get hood material. The main reason for this was that they had a sale on and some suiting linen at a very good (for Iceland) price. Not too many colours but the ones they have are natural dye colours. The net result of this was that I popped back in today to buy some to finally make myself a cotehardie. I've worked out that once I've made that then I'm not going to need any new garb for at least another five years. Now all I have to do is to persuade myself that I'm not going to add 'making a cotehardie' to the end-of-next-week to-do list...
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It's been one of the more stressful weeks I've had in the last twelve months, and I've had a low-level headache all day to prove it. It's been pre-sessional/august resit week, I've moved office, dealt with crises and portents of various magnitudes and have a major to-do list deadline coming up in the middle of next week. If I didn't already have the weekend planned then I'd probably just take the phone off the hook and ignore the doorbell for the next couple of days.
But other than this... well, it's been a day of smells. First I discovered that my office window is above a favoured smoking zone. At least it turns out that it's not the official smoking zone and the building manager suggested that I regularly throw water out of the window. I rather like the idea of a window basket, but I don't know what would survive the winter out here.
The second smell is less unpleasant, in moderation. Here in Akureyri we used to have a problem with the smell of the fish oil plant if the wind was in the wrong direction. Now that was unpleasant - a strong odour of not-quite-fresh fish wafting across the town from the dock area. The new one comes from a different direction. Instead of a fish-oil plant we now have a new microbrewery a little further up the coast and today there was a distinct smell of hops in the air.
The final smell was the scent of a bargain. Yesterday Martha and I went into one of the fabric shops in town to get hood material. The main reason for this was that they had a sale on and some suiting linen at a very good (for Iceland) price. Not too many colours but the ones they have are natural dye colours. The net result of this was that I popped back in today to buy some to finally make myself a cotehardie. I've worked out that once I've made that then I'm not going to need any new garb for at least another five years. Now all I have to do is to persuade myself that I'm not going to add 'making a cotehardie' to the end-of-next-week to-do list...
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sore and shocked
it's interesting - I seldom feel muscular aches until 36 hours after I've exercised them.
Take this morning, for instance. I woke up with sore shoulders. Now this wouldn't have been too surprising yesterday, given the workout that Spanish fencing gives the shoulders, but as usual it took an extra 24 hours to manifest itself. Very strange.
I suppose that yesterday's office move might have aggravated it, although I didn't do much in the way of heavy lifting (unlike my boss, whose physical prowess impressed me when he hoisted a rather large box of papers without seeming to make too much of an effort - and he's a stick-insect!). Today was quieter, mainly a case of reconnecting and testing peripherals like the scanner and the local printer. I don't have a phone yet (actually I have two on my desk but neither of them work), but that's because they're having to rewire the system to move the server. Hopefully it'll come back on line tomorrow.
The thing I wasn't expecting today was to lecture. I only discovered yesterday that I was supposed to give an introductory lecture to the distance-learning students late this afternoon rather than starting everything on Monday morning. Fortunately I had it all ready and could teach it at short notice, but it was a bit of a shock to the system all the same. On the other hand that's the semester started, so I don't need to get worked up with stagefright over the weekend before Monday's 10am lecture (yes, I do get a bit anxious before the first lecture of a module, especially if it's the first lecture of the semester).
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Take this morning, for instance. I woke up with sore shoulders. Now this wouldn't have been too surprising yesterday, given the workout that Spanish fencing gives the shoulders, but as usual it took an extra 24 hours to manifest itself. Very strange.
I suppose that yesterday's office move might have aggravated it, although I didn't do much in the way of heavy lifting (unlike my boss, whose physical prowess impressed me when he hoisted a rather large box of papers without seeming to make too much of an effort - and he's a stick-insect!). Today was quieter, mainly a case of reconnecting and testing peripherals like the scanner and the local printer. I don't have a phone yet (actually I have two on my desk but neither of them work), but that's because they're having to rewire the system to move the server. Hopefully it'll come back on line tomorrow.
The thing I wasn't expecting today was to lecture. I only discovered yesterday that I was supposed to give an introductory lecture to the distance-learning students late this afternoon rather than starting everything on Monday morning. Fortunately I had it all ready and could teach it at short notice, but it was a bit of a shock to the system all the same. On the other hand that's the semester started, so I don't need to get worked up with stagefright over the weekend before Monday's 10am lecture (yes, I do get a bit anxious before the first lecture of a module, especially if it's the first lecture of the semester).
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Darkness and rainbows
Today I moved office and went swimming.
As part of the Great Faculty Move I've moved from my current office to one on the opposite side of the corridor. It's actually been quite stressful, because my stuff fits in one large bookcase and a set of desk drawers, but the departmental stuff that I've inherited from Mark and the other assorted departmental bumf takes up another two and a half bookshelves.
The new office is bigger than the old one but the view is nowhere near as good. It's also in a strange position so it's only got half of the windows that it should have for a room its size. Fortunately I like the dark and have a good desk lamp. Once we've moved the Beowulf cluster from the far end of the office I'll be able to fit a coffee table and chairs for four as well as my desk, which is a good thing as we're a little short on meeting rooms in the building nowadays.
It didn't help the moving stress that I'm having a few anxiety problems at present, so I was very relieved to escape to the pool after work. It was most pleasant to just float about in the warm water while my head enjoyed brilliant sunlight and huge drops of cold rain which seemed to alternate every ten minutes or so. It was certainly rainbow weather, and these kept appearing and disappearing with the change from sun to cloud and back.
We get a lot of rainbows up here. Keflavík airport has an art installation in the car part which represents a rainbow. The university's logo contains a stylised rainbow. Some people are trying to change it but I rather like it. It would look really good embroidered on a university polo shirt... if only the university did such things as embroidered polo shirts (which is why I normally pick up a new St. Andrews one every time I'm there).
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As part of the Great Faculty Move I've moved from my current office to one on the opposite side of the corridor. It's actually been quite stressful, because my stuff fits in one large bookcase and a set of desk drawers, but the departmental stuff that I've inherited from Mark and the other assorted departmental bumf takes up another two and a half bookshelves.
The new office is bigger than the old one but the view is nowhere near as good. It's also in a strange position so it's only got half of the windows that it should have for a room its size. Fortunately I like the dark and have a good desk lamp. Once we've moved the Beowulf cluster from the far end of the office I'll be able to fit a coffee table and chairs for four as well as my desk, which is a good thing as we're a little short on meeting rooms in the building nowadays.
It didn't help the moving stress that I'm having a few anxiety problems at present, so I was very relieved to escape to the pool after work. It was most pleasant to just float about in the warm water while my head enjoyed brilliant sunlight and huge drops of cold rain which seemed to alternate every ten minutes or so. It was certainly rainbow weather, and these kept appearing and disappearing with the change from sun to cloud and back.
We get a lot of rainbows up here. Keflavík airport has an art installation in the car part which represents a rainbow. The university's logo contains a stylised rainbow. Some people are trying to change it but I rather like it. It would look really good embroidered on a university polo shirt... if only the university did such things as embroidered polo shirts (which is why I normally pick up a new St. Andrews one every time I'm there).
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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Working the shoulders
Teaching fencing is proving an interesting challenge.
We've managed to get a sports hall in which we can hold our fighter practices, which is extremely useful especially now that winter is approaching. Stop looking astonished - it's chucking it down with rain here this afternoon and I'm just waiting for the first snows on the mountain. In theory we have fencing practice one week, heavy practice the next, but as the heavy fighters haven't quite got their kit sorted yet I'm taking advantage of the extra time to squeeze in more fencing.
Tonight was the first time we've had a Spanish night in there - it's therefore the first time we've really been able to work in circles rather than doing footwork drills in lines. At last we were able to put all of the basic footwork and affirmarse (the basic stance) together and add the atajo and cambio de atajo (an attempt to control the opponent's blade and how to counter it) . We even did a little work on tacto, how to 'feel' the blade.
As a result my diestras (for most of the time it was an all-female group) finished the lesson with complaining shoulder and arm muscles. :) My shoulder's feeling much the same, for that matter. The interesting thing (and something that I often find about teaching in general) is that as I'm explaining and demonstrating the techniques I'm finding that it's all coming together and feeling a lot more natural than before. Part of this is, I'm sure, because having a weekly practice is rather more than I've ever really done before. Another part is that I'm having to be very deliberate about actions to demonstrate them, which is probably working wonders for my muscle memory.
Now all I have to do is to lose about half of my body weight and I might turn into a passable fencer. :)
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We've managed to get a sports hall in which we can hold our fighter practices, which is extremely useful especially now that winter is approaching. Stop looking astonished - it's chucking it down with rain here this afternoon and I'm just waiting for the first snows on the mountain. In theory we have fencing practice one week, heavy practice the next, but as the heavy fighters haven't quite got their kit sorted yet I'm taking advantage of the extra time to squeeze in more fencing.
Tonight was the first time we've had a Spanish night in there - it's therefore the first time we've really been able to work in circles rather than doing footwork drills in lines. At last we were able to put all of the basic footwork and affirmarse (the basic stance) together and add the atajo and cambio de atajo (an attempt to control the opponent's blade and how to counter it) . We even did a little work on tacto, how to 'feel' the blade.
As a result my diestras (for most of the time it was an all-female group) finished the lesson with complaining shoulder and arm muscles. :) My shoulder's feeling much the same, for that matter. The interesting thing (and something that I often find about teaching in general) is that as I'm explaining and demonstrating the techniques I'm finding that it's all coming together and feeling a lot more natural than before. Part of this is, I'm sure, because having a weekly practice is rather more than I've ever really done before. Another part is that I'm having to be very deliberate about actions to demonstrate them, which is probably working wonders for my muscle memory.
Now all I have to do is to lose about half of my body weight and I might turn into a passable fencer. :)
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Monday, August 20, 2007
Bah!
Pool closed.
This was a bit frustrating, as I didn't go swimming last week for various reasons and, as a result, my knee is beginning to complain loudly (that's loudly in that I've exclaimed at volume from time to time over the weekend as pain has shot through it. My main real swimming pool (the one at Hrafnagil) appears to be closed this week for cleaning or the like. I did consider going up to Þelamörk but the main pool there is a bit warm to do any serious swimming (they advertise themselves as the hottest place to go swimming in northern Iceland).
Bah indeed. At least it's Spanish night at fencing tomorrow - I don't think that my knee would really appreciate a session of Italian under these conditions.
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This was a bit frustrating, as I didn't go swimming last week for various reasons and, as a result, my knee is beginning to complain loudly (that's loudly in that I've exclaimed at volume from time to time over the weekend as pain has shot through it. My main real swimming pool (the one at Hrafnagil) appears to be closed this week for cleaning or the like. I did consider going up to Þelamörk but the main pool there is a bit warm to do any serious swimming (they advertise themselves as the hottest place to go swimming in northern Iceland).
Bah indeed. At least it's Spanish night at fencing tomorrow - I don't think that my knee would really appreciate a session of Italian under these conditions.
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Sunday, August 19, 2007
The ongoing banner
The banner-making continues.
Banner at end of play yesterday (2 hours) and today (5 hours):
Doesn't look much different, does it? Having cut out and glued the charges in place yesterday, today came the job of actually stitching them to the field. This is just a case of setting the sewing machine to wide but closely-spaced zigzags and then stitching over all of the edges. I'm quite pleased with the result, in that it's a lot flatter than previous banners, entirely due to my pre-glueing.
The glueing isn't perfect, in that the fabric does lift a bit, particularly when you're manipulating the body of the fabric while sewing. The best way to minimise this, I found, was to roll up the sections of the banner that I wasn't actually stitching, thus keeping things in place while still allowing me to turn the fabric this way and that. Even where the top layer of fabric had lifted off, though, the glue layer stiffened it which made it easier to stitch flat. This made things a lot easier than trying to stitch a charge held in place with pins; you also cut down the potential for stabbing yourself while you stitch. I suspect that the ideal way to do this would be to use double-sided interfacing to glue the charge onto the field, but I haven't manage to find that out here.
All that's left now is the final detail - the rigging on the drakkar - and I can make up the main body of the banner. I've already got the fringeing for the bottom but I still need to get some sort of a hanger that will fold neatly for travel purposes. Hopefully I'll get it all finished tomorrow night (except the pole) and that'll be something else I can cross off my to-do list.
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Banner at end of play yesterday (2 hours) and today (5 hours):
Doesn't look much different, does it? Having cut out and glued the charges in place yesterday, today came the job of actually stitching them to the field. This is just a case of setting the sewing machine to wide but closely-spaced zigzags and then stitching over all of the edges. I'm quite pleased with the result, in that it's a lot flatter than previous banners, entirely due to my pre-glueing.
The glueing isn't perfect, in that the fabric does lift a bit, particularly when you're manipulating the body of the fabric while sewing. The best way to minimise this, I found, was to roll up the sections of the banner that I wasn't actually stitching, thus keeping things in place while still allowing me to turn the fabric this way and that. Even where the top layer of fabric had lifted off, though, the glue layer stiffened it which made it easier to stitch flat. This made things a lot easier than trying to stitch a charge held in place with pins; you also cut down the potential for stabbing yourself while you stitch. I suspect that the ideal way to do this would be to use double-sided interfacing to glue the charge onto the field, but I haven't manage to find that out here.
All that's left now is the final detail - the rigging on the drakkar - and I can make up the main body of the banner. I've already got the fringeing for the bottom but I still need to get some sort of a hanger that will fold neatly for travel purposes. Hopefully I'll get it all finished tomorrow night (except the pole) and that'll be something else I can cross off my to-do list.
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Saturday, August 18, 2007
I hate laurel wreaths
I do. I hate laurel wreaths.
I've spent a chunk of today doing the drawing, cutting out and gluing in place of the charges on the new Klakavirki banner. While doing this I realised that this makes a round dozen banners I've made (counting double-sided flags as two banners), half of which include laurel wreaths in the design. The Klakavirki one has a drakkar and a laurel wreath in red and white.
Laurel wreaths are terribly fiddly to draw, to cut out, and to sew - either as applique or cross-stitch. Whoever decided that all SCA groups must have a laurel wreath on their device should have been made to sit down and applique a dozen banners with laurel wreaths and then asked to reconsider their decision.
Once I'd got the pattern I cut out the two laurel boughs ready to glue in place (with PrittStick, just to make them easier to stitch when I do the outlining tomorrow). The white one went on without too much trouble. The red one... I finally got it on, then hung the banner up to look at it, at which point Martha and I noticed that it was unevent. Drat, I thought. Unfortunately the glue had set sufficiently that the fabric ripped as I tried to remove it, requiring me to cut out a new red bough. It then took a lot of fiddling and a tape measure to get it to line up properly but we got it right eventually. Now all that's left is to do the outlines and make up the body of the banner.
If it's raining at Raglan we're going to have a problem - I know that the red will run. It's the sort of red that runs for the first four or five times you put it through the wash, and I haven't had time to wash and dry it half a dozen times. As a result I now find myself casting around for some way to make a clear plastic cover for it just in case. I know that the UK's had far more than its quota of rain for this summer but I'm sure that it's still holding something in reserve for Raglan just to spite us.
0 comments
I've spent a chunk of today doing the drawing, cutting out and gluing in place of the charges on the new Klakavirki banner. While doing this I realised that this makes a round dozen banners I've made (counting double-sided flags as two banners), half of which include laurel wreaths in the design. The Klakavirki one has a drakkar and a laurel wreath in red and white.
Laurel wreaths are terribly fiddly to draw, to cut out, and to sew - either as applique or cross-stitch. Whoever decided that all SCA groups must have a laurel wreath on their device should have been made to sit down and applique a dozen banners with laurel wreaths and then asked to reconsider their decision.
Once I'd got the pattern I cut out the two laurel boughs ready to glue in place (with PrittStick, just to make them easier to stitch when I do the outlining tomorrow). The white one went on without too much trouble. The red one... I finally got it on, then hung the banner up to look at it, at which point Martha and I noticed that it was unevent. Drat, I thought. Unfortunately the glue had set sufficiently that the fabric ripped as I tried to remove it, requiring me to cut out a new red bough. It then took a lot of fiddling and a tape measure to get it to line up properly but we got it right eventually. Now all that's left is to do the outlines and make up the body of the banner.
If it's raining at Raglan we're going to have a problem - I know that the red will run. It's the sort of red that runs for the first four or five times you put it through the wash, and I haven't had time to wash and dry it half a dozen times. As a result I now find myself casting around for some way to make a clear plastic cover for it just in case. I know that the UK's had far more than its quota of rain for this summer but I'm sure that it's still holding something in reserve for Raglan just to spite us.
0 comments
Friday, August 17, 2007
Masters Defence
No, not a chess strategy, nor even wargaming term.
When I got into work this morning I found that all of the department heads were 'encouraged' to attend the masters thesis defence of a member of the natural resources group. This was okay - thanks to my semi-regular reading of New Scientist I'm not unfamiliar with basic biotechnology terminology. The talk was on the screening of active compounds produced by sponges and other simple organisms found close to hydrothermal vents. We have a lot of these near Akureyri, and in particular we have shallow vents (rather than the more common and first-discovered deep vents) here within the fjörd. It was quite interesting, although I didn't have time to stay for the post-presentation questions. It's the first time I've attended a public defence of a thesis, but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for more in future.
0 comments
When I got into work this morning I found that all of the department heads were 'encouraged' to attend the masters thesis defence of a member of the natural resources group. This was okay - thanks to my semi-regular reading of New Scientist I'm not unfamiliar with basic biotechnology terminology. The talk was on the screening of active compounds produced by sponges and other simple organisms found close to hydrothermal vents. We have a lot of these near Akureyri, and in particular we have shallow vents (rather than the more common and first-discovered deep vents) here within the fjörd. It was quite interesting, although I didn't have time to stay for the post-presentation questions. It's the first time I've attended a public defence of a thesis, but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for more in future.
0 comments
Thursday, August 16, 2007
More A&S
Preparations for Raglan continue apace.
Martha is feeling a bit stressed by the number of things she has to do - stuff for both her and her husband - so A&S meetings are quite productive at present. Not only did Martha start hemming her new cloak this evening, but I finished some artwork for an illuminated document and got started on the new shire banner.
It's going to be a decent size, about 1.5m square, and I'm going to try a new technique to prevent it from bunching up while I do the applique - I'm going to use Prittstick to stick the charges on the field of the banner, which should mean that I'm not going to have to worry too much about them moving about when I do the zig-zag outlining. The only thing that I'm a bit worried about is making the hanger for it - I need to make it collapsible, so I'm probably going to split it into several sections held together with metal pipe in the same way that the Brighthelm banner's hanger fits together.
I've also finished putting the sleeves into my kirtle. It's probably doubled in weight, given than the sleeves are fully lined, but at least they're not fur - that would really have increased the weight. I'm a bit frustrated that there isn't quite enough fabric left to make either a front cross-panel or a stomacher, and it's a bit early in design for a contrasting stomacher. I think I'll have to make a feature of the front lacing - which is acceptable with a gable hood as an early Tudor gown, as far as I can tell.
But in case you get the impression that the A&S meetings are all about dressmaking, I can confirm that we do many other things as well - Hlynnur finished off the hilt of a knife he's made, while Byggi and Arnfriður perused my assorted songbooks, favouring us occasionally with a song. It was certainly a good evening.
0 comments
Martha is feeling a bit stressed by the number of things she has to do - stuff for both her and her husband - so A&S meetings are quite productive at present. Not only did Martha start hemming her new cloak this evening, but I finished some artwork for an illuminated document and got started on the new shire banner.
It's going to be a decent size, about 1.5m square, and I'm going to try a new technique to prevent it from bunching up while I do the applique - I'm going to use Prittstick to stick the charges on the field of the banner, which should mean that I'm not going to have to worry too much about them moving about when I do the zig-zag outlining. The only thing that I'm a bit worried about is making the hanger for it - I need to make it collapsible, so I'm probably going to split it into several sections held together with metal pipe in the same way that the Brighthelm banner's hanger fits together.
I've also finished putting the sleeves into my kirtle. It's probably doubled in weight, given than the sleeves are fully lined, but at least they're not fur - that would really have increased the weight. I'm a bit frustrated that there isn't quite enough fabric left to make either a front cross-panel or a stomacher, and it's a bit early in design for a contrasting stomacher. I think I'll have to make a feature of the front lacing - which is acceptable with a gable hood as an early Tudor gown, as far as I can tell.
But in case you get the impression that the A&S meetings are all about dressmaking, I can confirm that we do many other things as well - Hlynnur finished off the hilt of a knife he's made, while Byggi and Arnfriður perused my assorted songbooks, favouring us occasionally with a song. It was certainly a good evening.
0 comments
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Questions about toys
I got a very interesting little email yesterday.
It was from Apple, asking me to fill in a questionnaire about my recent Apple purchase. Fair enough, I thought, I've had it for a month now. That's quite a clever approach on the part of Apple, giving you time to try out your new toy once you've registered it.
Tonight I finally got around to using one of my toy's new features that I hadn't played with before - the built-in camera - and had my first videophone conversation (with a potential co-researcher from Reykjavík University after last week's study day). Real videophone stuff - wow! This is really the stuff of science fiction come true. Never mind the idea of the Star Trek communicator as the fore-runner of the mobile phone, the videophone was always a far more SF device as far as I was concerned. After all, communicators were just miniaturised walkie-talkie radios - or talking brooches as my father calls them and the mobile phones which followed them. Walkie-talkies weren't science fiction.
Now videophones... there was an SF device. Imagine having a portable television camera and screen of your own! Moving pictures were things that came in films or as television broadcasts and were incredibly complicated and expensive to make, so the idea that everyone would have access to them within a quarter of a century was a fantasy. A hundred years maybe...
Having said all of this, I don't expect to use my videophone very often. It may be a wonderful SF gadget but the problem of having SF gadgets in real life is that we don't all have SF bodies to go with them*. I don't think it's fair to make people watch my ugly mug when they can instead concentrate on my melifluous voice. :)
EDIT: * Or if we do then they were built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
0 comments
It was from Apple, asking me to fill in a questionnaire about my recent Apple purchase. Fair enough, I thought, I've had it for a month now. That's quite a clever approach on the part of Apple, giving you time to try out your new toy once you've registered it.
Tonight I finally got around to using one of my toy's new features that I hadn't played with before - the built-in camera - and had my first videophone conversation (with a potential co-researcher from Reykjavík University after last week's study day). Real videophone stuff - wow! This is really the stuff of science fiction come true. Never mind the idea of the Star Trek communicator as the fore-runner of the mobile phone, the videophone was always a far more SF device as far as I was concerned. After all, communicators were just miniaturised walkie-talkie radios - or talking brooches as my father calls them and the mobile phones which followed them. Walkie-talkies weren't science fiction.
Now videophones... there was an SF device. Imagine having a portable television camera and screen of your own! Moving pictures were things that came in films or as television broadcasts and were incredibly complicated and expensive to make, so the idea that everyone would have access to them within a quarter of a century was a fantasy. A hundred years maybe...
Having said all of this, I don't expect to use my videophone very often. It may be a wonderful SF gadget but the problem of having SF gadgets in real life is that we don't all have SF bodies to go with them*. I don't think it's fair to make people watch my ugly mug when they can instead concentrate on my melifluous voice. :)
EDIT: * Or if we do then they were built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
0 comments
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Exercise = Good
Exercise was definitely good for me today.
I had a rather frustrating day at work - having to deal with various admin stuff and then Java and Visual C++. It was a research-related software fix, and my first thought was to adapt an existing java application. Unfortunately the program requirements meant that it ended up being written in a rather complex manner and reverse engineering java is not something I can do at short notice. So instead I thought I'd just write a new application in C, as it would probably be a lot faster.
Ha. First of all I can't find a decent IDE in C for Windows; Visual C++ seemed the best available, but I can't get the damned thing to revert to C instead of C++. On top of which it automatically generates a huge amount of crap to create a windows application. This is not my idea of fun, and I don't have the time to re-learn the necessary updated material right now.
So I came home from work several panic attacks later very tense and unhappy. I just wanted to curl up until the world went away but instead I had a fencing class to teach. We've booked the gym at the university to hold our fencing practices as it's warm, dry and has enough space for several people to swing rapiers at the same time. At present my fencers are still very much starting out, and we haven't got quite enough armour for two yet (although I hope to fix that immediately after Raglan) so we're doing lots of footwork and arm drills.
Two hours later I was feeling much better, having been very effectively stopped from thinking about anything other than fencing. Unfortunately now that I'm no longer distracted the anxiety levels are building up again. :( Still, I've also managed to cross a couple of things off my pre-Raglan to-do list over the past couple of days so I must try to focus on these successes.
0 comments
I had a rather frustrating day at work - having to deal with various admin stuff and then Java and Visual C++. It was a research-related software fix, and my first thought was to adapt an existing java application. Unfortunately the program requirements meant that it ended up being written in a rather complex manner and reverse engineering java is not something I can do at short notice. So instead I thought I'd just write a new application in C, as it would probably be a lot faster.
Ha. First of all I can't find a decent IDE in C for Windows; Visual C++ seemed the best available, but I can't get the damned thing to revert to C instead of C++. On top of which it automatically generates a huge amount of crap to create a windows application. This is not my idea of fun, and I don't have the time to re-learn the necessary updated material right now.
So I came home from work several panic attacks later very tense and unhappy. I just wanted to curl up until the world went away but instead I had a fencing class to teach. We've booked the gym at the university to hold our fencing practices as it's warm, dry and has enough space for several people to swing rapiers at the same time. At present my fencers are still very much starting out, and we haven't got quite enough armour for two yet (although I hope to fix that immediately after Raglan) so we're doing lots of footwork and arm drills.
Two hours later I was feeling much better, having been very effectively stopped from thinking about anything other than fencing. Unfortunately now that I'm no longer distracted the anxiety levels are building up again. :( Still, I've also managed to cross a couple of things off my pre-Raglan to-do list over the past couple of days so I must try to focus on these successes.
0 comments
Monday, August 13, 2007
Seconds from disaster
If I was the worrying type then I think that National Geographic Channel's Seconds From Disaster would dissuade me from flying ever again.
SFD is, for those who aren't familiar with it, a programme that takes a disaster of some sort, tells you all about the horrors of the crash/explosion/other event and its aftermath, revealing the forensic analyses that went into the post-crisis reports and then replaying the timeline of the event showing precisely what went wrong and when. The programme finishes by explaining what the manufacturers and regulatory bodies have done to prevent this particular disaster from ever happening again.
It's fascinating viewing, but I have noticed that most of the disasters seem to be aircraft-related in some manner. Not only that, but most of them seem to be in the seventies or eighties, which is actually quite encouraging - it shows that flying is getting safer as these problems are sorted out.
The most recent series, however, only seems to have one aircraft-related episode, this time about the loss of the Air France Concorde. The others have been an extremely interesting mix of other disasters; the erruption of the Soufriere Hills on Montserrat, the Texas BP oil refinery explosion, the Titanic and the Challenger disaster. These last two were particularly interesting as they brought to light more recent research on the causes involved. Challenger, for instance, very nearly got away with it as a particle of soot clogged the channel left by the burnt o-ring but was shaken loose by vibrations caused by an undetected jet stream above the Cape... except it had been detected by a commercial airliner a couple of hours before.
Between SFD and Air Crash Investigation I'm sure I now know far more about the different ways that an aircraft can go wrong. Fortunately I also know how much work has gone into preventing them going wrong in the first place, meaning that I'm still a happy flier.
2 comments
SFD is, for those who aren't familiar with it, a programme that takes a disaster of some sort, tells you all about the horrors of the crash/explosion/other event and its aftermath, revealing the forensic analyses that went into the post-crisis reports and then replaying the timeline of the event showing precisely what went wrong and when. The programme finishes by explaining what the manufacturers and regulatory bodies have done to prevent this particular disaster from ever happening again.
It's fascinating viewing, but I have noticed that most of the disasters seem to be aircraft-related in some manner. Not only that, but most of them seem to be in the seventies or eighties, which is actually quite encouraging - it shows that flying is getting safer as these problems are sorted out.
The most recent series, however, only seems to have one aircraft-related episode, this time about the loss of the Air France Concorde. The others have been an extremely interesting mix of other disasters; the erruption of the Soufriere Hills on Montserrat, the Texas BP oil refinery explosion, the Titanic and the Challenger disaster. These last two were particularly interesting as they brought to light more recent research on the causes involved. Challenger, for instance, very nearly got away with it as a particle of soot clogged the channel left by the burnt o-ring but was shaken loose by vibrations caused by an undetected jet stream above the Cape... except it had been detected by a commercial airliner a couple of hours before.
Between SFD and Air Crash Investigation I'm sure I now know far more about the different ways that an aircraft can go wrong. Fortunately I also know how much work has gone into preventing them going wrong in the first place, meaning that I'm still a happy flier.
2 comments
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Motivation circuits deactivated
There has been minimal movement on my to-do list.
As there are only three weeks to go until Raglan I have a list of things that I should/want to do in the meantime. This includes things like making a new chemise and a new shire banner, putting sleeves in an otherwise complete dress and creating a billment for my English hood. Unfortunately something has deactivated my motivation circuits and I'm having real problems working up the necessary enthusiasm to get anything done.
Take today, for example. On a day when I'm sure that I could have at least made the chemise and the banner I have managed to remove the binding from the kirtle's armholes and cut out most of the chemise. Admittedly I discovered that I don't have enough linen for the facing of the chemise (the linen stock has been depleted by several other unexpected things over the past few months) and I haven't quite decided what sort of sleeves to make for the kirtle... and I suspect that I'm going to have to buy some more fabric for that too. I'm sure that I could have done the banner if I'd had more oomph in me at present though.
Ah well. Back to work tomorrow morning. I have an early start as I have to collect one of my new students from the airport at 08:15 - the international coordinator, who would normally do this, is in Finland at present. Still, it means that I can leave the office a bit early without too guilty a conscience and go swimming. Maybe that will energise me a bit.
0 comments
As there are only three weeks to go until Raglan I have a list of things that I should/want to do in the meantime. This includes things like making a new chemise and a new shire banner, putting sleeves in an otherwise complete dress and creating a billment for my English hood. Unfortunately something has deactivated my motivation circuits and I'm having real problems working up the necessary enthusiasm to get anything done.
Take today, for example. On a day when I'm sure that I could have at least made the chemise and the banner I have managed to remove the binding from the kirtle's armholes and cut out most of the chemise. Admittedly I discovered that I don't have enough linen for the facing of the chemise (the linen stock has been depleted by several other unexpected things over the past few months) and I haven't quite decided what sort of sleeves to make for the kirtle... and I suspect that I'm going to have to buy some more fabric for that too. I'm sure that I could have done the banner if I'd had more oomph in me at present though.
Ah well. Back to work tomorrow morning. I have an early start as I have to collect one of my new students from the airport at 08:15 - the international coordinator, who would normally do this, is in Finland at present. Still, it means that I can leave the office a bit early without too guilty a conscience and go swimming. Maybe that will energise me a bit.
0 comments
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Best chicken in show
This afternoon I voted for the best looking chicken and rooster in Eyjafjörður.
I also said hello to a sheep, bought a wooden plate and a wheat-filled shoulder-hottie, and managed not to spend an insane amount of money on a precious metal clay starter kit. This was all at the harvest and craft festival at Hrafnagil in the school beside the swimming pool and within the sports' centre's main hall.
One thing that was certainly of interest, though, was a conversation with a chap selling hunting knives. It seems that the Icelandic hunting knife has a particular shape which is peculiar to the country. I'm currently looking for a new SCA eating knife so I had a look to see if he had anything of interest. The hunting knives weren't suitable but he did have one very long and thin blade which I'd have bought if I had enough money to satisfy my urges to collect antique stilettos. We had an interesting conversation about how the hunting knives were made, and when I clearly understood what he was talking about (and mentioned that I'd actually forged a knife myself once :) ) he handed me this piece of steel.
I would have swapped that piece of steel for everything else in the hall. It was a piece of Damascus steel about 40cm long, 3cm wide and just under a centimeter thick. The patterning on the metal was both unmistakable and breathtakingly beautiful in its complexity and subtlety, as if it were covered with metal eyes looking out of the bar.
One day. One day I shall have a piece of my own. And my own stiletto collection, for that matter. Just not bought in Iceland.
0 comments
I also said hello to a sheep, bought a wooden plate and a wheat-filled shoulder-hottie, and managed not to spend an insane amount of money on a precious metal clay starter kit. This was all at the harvest and craft festival at Hrafnagil in the school beside the swimming pool and within the sports' centre's main hall.
One thing that was certainly of interest, though, was a conversation with a chap selling hunting knives. It seems that the Icelandic hunting knife has a particular shape which is peculiar to the country. I'm currently looking for a new SCA eating knife so I had a look to see if he had anything of interest. The hunting knives weren't suitable but he did have one very long and thin blade which I'd have bought if I had enough money to satisfy my urges to collect antique stilettos. We had an interesting conversation about how the hunting knives were made, and when I clearly understood what he was talking about (and mentioned that I'd actually forged a knife myself once :) ) he handed me this piece of steel.
I would have swapped that piece of steel for everything else in the hall. It was a piece of Damascus steel about 40cm long, 3cm wide and just under a centimeter thick. The patterning on the metal was both unmistakable and breathtakingly beautiful in its complexity and subtlety, as if it were covered with metal eyes looking out of the bar.
One day. One day I shall have a piece of my own. And my own stiletto collection, for that matter. Just not bought in Iceland.
0 comments
Friday, August 10, 2007
Rabbit in the headlights
That was how I felt for about an hour at the conference today.
The conference was the Third Symposium on Theoretical Computer Science hosted by the Icelandic Centre of Excellence in Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Reykjavík. It's not actually my field, but I decided that it would be a good move to attend anyway on the grounds of building up and maintaining good relations with our colleagues in the Capital.
I must say that I am extremely jealous of their facilities - beautiful offices and lecture rooms with plenty of common room space, three coffee machines, a dishwasher, indoor Japanese garden and a dedicated work area for their MSc students. I hadn't visited them before so it took my a while to actually find them and I was getting a little stressed out by the time I finally did, but I calmed down again fairly quickly.
My rabbit in the headlights experience was during the lecture on financial mathematics - What is the Price of the Future - explaining the application of quadratic distributions (which I mostly understand) to the theory of pricing options in the stock market (which I certainly don't). I find finance stressful at the best of times, so adding serious mathematics to it does not enamour it to me.
Far more interesting, in my view, was the following short presentation - On Rewriting Cellular Automata as Lattice Gases - which I understood thanks to my previous life as an astrophysics student and my ongoing fascination with matter at the atomic and sub-atomic scales rather than my detailed knowledge of theoretical computer science. The premise is that cellular automata and lattice gases are mathematically interchangeable under certain circumstances, which led to me asking questions about the real-world implications of this. I suspect that I'm going to be having some very interesting skype/phone/email conversations with the presenter on this one.
What today has really done, however, is help me focus a little on research. I have a bit of stuff to do for a collaborative research project and I'll probably spend a bit of time on that this weekend. I know... I should be working at work, not working at home... but I don't have time to work on research at work at present and I have a pseudo-deadline on Wednesday. If I get one thing done this weekend I can make the time to do the other on Monday or Tuesday. I hope.
0 comments
The conference was the Third Symposium on Theoretical Computer Science hosted by the Icelandic Centre of Excellence in Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Reykjavík. It's not actually my field, but I decided that it would be a good move to attend anyway on the grounds of building up and maintaining good relations with our colleagues in the Capital.
I must say that I am extremely jealous of their facilities - beautiful offices and lecture rooms with plenty of common room space, three coffee machines, a dishwasher, indoor Japanese garden and a dedicated work area for their MSc students. I hadn't visited them before so it took my a while to actually find them and I was getting a little stressed out by the time I finally did, but I calmed down again fairly quickly.
My rabbit in the headlights experience was during the lecture on financial mathematics - What is the Price of the Future - explaining the application of quadratic distributions (which I mostly understand) to the theory of pricing options in the stock market (which I certainly don't). I find finance stressful at the best of times, so adding serious mathematics to it does not enamour it to me.
Far more interesting, in my view, was the following short presentation - On Rewriting Cellular Automata as Lattice Gases - which I understood thanks to my previous life as an astrophysics student and my ongoing fascination with matter at the atomic and sub-atomic scales rather than my detailed knowledge of theoretical computer science. The premise is that cellular automata and lattice gases are mathematically interchangeable under certain circumstances, which led to me asking questions about the real-world implications of this. I suspect that I'm going to be having some very interesting skype/phone/email conversations with the presenter on this one.
What today has really done, however, is help me focus a little on research. I have a bit of stuff to do for a collaborative research project and I'll probably spend a bit of time on that this weekend. I know... I should be working at work, not working at home... but I don't have time to work on research at work at present and I have a pseudo-deadline on Wednesday. If I get one thing done this weekend I can make the time to do the other on Monday or Tuesday. I hope.
0 comments
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Maps and diagrams
I've always had an interest in cartography.
It's a data visualisation thing. A map is a way of showing information that is incredibly difficult to represent in any other way. I think I was about five when I was introduced to the Ordnance Survey maps, thanks to parents who'd both been very involved in Scouting. I could certainly read an OS map competently by the time I joined the Brownies at eight.
Historical maps are particularly interesting - the idea that a map need not just show the pure physical location of an object but may instead show its relationship to other objects is fascinating. The myth that the mediaeval world was thought to be flat is supported by a number of mappae mundi, all of which show a flat representation of the world. These are not, however, supposed to be showing true geographical locations but rather where places are in relation to Jerusalem, the (then) most important place on the planet. In our current terminology they are diagrams, not maps.
This is exactly the same principle employed by Harry Beck when he drew up the first of the now-familiar diagrams of the London Underground (also a diagram, not a map). Only the topology matters; only the links between the stations in the same way that only the borders between countries are really important on the mappae mundi.
As well as the information content, of course, many old maps are works of art in their own right. I have a beautiful 'coffee table book' of antique maps of the heavens dating back up to four thousand years, many of whose drawings would make excellent embroidery designs. I've recently been introduced to a website that shows many early maps of Iceland, and although the 'geography' is rather suspect the artwork is superb.
These cartographic thoughts are threatening to turn themselves into a brief obsession with trying to draw some maps using the different paradigms used by ancient cartographers. As well as the mapping, this will also give me a good excuse to practise my calligraphy, which is definitely a good thing.
0 comments
It's a data visualisation thing. A map is a way of showing information that is incredibly difficult to represent in any other way. I think I was about five when I was introduced to the Ordnance Survey maps, thanks to parents who'd both been very involved in Scouting. I could certainly read an OS map competently by the time I joined the Brownies at eight.
Historical maps are particularly interesting - the idea that a map need not just show the pure physical location of an object but may instead show its relationship to other objects is fascinating. The myth that the mediaeval world was thought to be flat is supported by a number of mappae mundi, all of which show a flat representation of the world. These are not, however, supposed to be showing true geographical locations but rather where places are in relation to Jerusalem, the (then) most important place on the planet. In our current terminology they are diagrams, not maps.
This is exactly the same principle employed by Harry Beck when he drew up the first of the now-familiar diagrams of the London Underground (also a diagram, not a map). Only the topology matters; only the links between the stations in the same way that only the borders between countries are really important on the mappae mundi.
As well as the information content, of course, many old maps are works of art in their own right. I have a beautiful 'coffee table book' of antique maps of the heavens dating back up to four thousand years, many of whose drawings would make excellent embroidery designs. I've recently been introduced to a website that shows many early maps of Iceland, and although the 'geography' is rather suspect the artwork is superb.
These cartographic thoughts are threatening to turn themselves into a brief obsession with trying to draw some maps using the different paradigms used by ancient cartographers. As well as the mapping, this will also give me a good excuse to practise my calligraphy, which is definitely a good thing.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Facebook's saving grace
I've come to the conclusion that Facebook only really has one thing going for it.
I'm not entirely sure that the whole networking site concept works for me. LiveJournal works, because it has a very simple interface that allows me to 'talk' to my friends and hold meaningful conversations through the medium of the comment thread. I write something, people comment, I reply. Other people write things, I comment, they reply. It's all very simple.
Facebook, on the other hand, seems to try too hard to be all things to all people. There are a huge number of gadgets and applications which you seem to be expected to install if you want to be able to communicate with anyone. You can join interest groups but have to go to the group's homepage to read any posts (if there's an alternative without installing yet another add-on then I haven't found it yet). It has adverts.
It's not just Facebook, though. I'm still trying to work out why I need to be on LinkedIn other than I'm supposed to be on it to look professional. Clearly networking sites just are not my thing... but then I never did get the hang of small talk - hello, how are you, now let's get on to the eternal verities is more my style, I'm afraid.
There is one thing that makes Facebook worthwhile - Scrabulous. I do enjoy a game of scrabble, and being able to play scrabble with friends (or even complete strangers) dotted across the globe is rather fun. Prior to this I haven't played scrabble in years, particularly as it's not a game that I feel I can play with people over here. So if you're on Facebook and fancy a game, please feel free to get in touch.
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I'm not entirely sure that the whole networking site concept works for me. LiveJournal works, because it has a very simple interface that allows me to 'talk' to my friends and hold meaningful conversations through the medium of the comment thread. I write something, people comment, I reply. Other people write things, I comment, they reply. It's all very simple.
Facebook, on the other hand, seems to try too hard to be all things to all people. There are a huge number of gadgets and applications which you seem to be expected to install if you want to be able to communicate with anyone. You can join interest groups but have to go to the group's homepage to read any posts (if there's an alternative without installing yet another add-on then I haven't found it yet). It has adverts.
It's not just Facebook, though. I'm still trying to work out why I need to be on LinkedIn other than I'm supposed to be on it to look professional. Clearly networking sites just are not my thing... but then I never did get the hang of small talk - hello, how are you, now let's get on to the eternal verities is more my style, I'm afraid.
There is one thing that makes Facebook worthwhile - Scrabulous. I do enjoy a game of scrabble, and being able to play scrabble with friends (or even complete strangers) dotted across the globe is rather fun. Prior to this I haven't played scrabble in years, particularly as it's not a game that I feel I can play with people over here. So if you're on Facebook and fancy a game, please feel free to get in touch.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
The REAL first day back
Today was the first real day back at work - last week didn't really count.
And it's even been vaguely productive. I've written two full lectures - although maybe rewritten or compiled would be better descriptions - as well as having a couple of meetings and getting several other things under way or under control. Right now I'm still a little hyper from the coffee.
Not only that, but I also managed not to buy fabric to make a short cloak (thus not putting anything else on my pre-Raglan to-do list), have lunch with Martha and to take a couple of parcels down to Posturinn to send back to the UK. Maybe today's activity is to make up for yesterday's lack thereof. I just hope that I'm not about to go into a two day cyclic thing, as that would be bad for all sorts of reasons.
Here's hoping I can maintain this energy level for the next three hours - it's fencing night and tonight is Italian Lesson One.
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And it's even been vaguely productive. I've written two full lectures - although maybe rewritten or compiled would be better descriptions - as well as having a couple of meetings and getting several other things under way or under control. Right now I'm still a little hyper from the coffee.
Not only that, but I also managed not to buy fabric to make a short cloak (thus not putting anything else on my pre-Raglan to-do list), have lunch with Martha and to take a couple of parcels down to Posturinn to send back to the UK. Maybe today's activity is to make up for yesterday's lack thereof. I just hope that I'm not about to go into a two day cyclic thing, as that would be bad for all sorts of reasons.
Here's hoping I can maintain this energy level for the next three hours - it's fencing night and tonight is Italian Lesson One.
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Monday, August 06, 2007
Brain not working
I think that someone replaced my brain with candyfloss while I slept.
Last night I thought I did very well, getting to bed before midnight and getting to sleep before 01:00. So why didn't I wake up until 09:00 and with a brain that felt full of candy floss? My plans to do a variety of things today quickly metamorphosed into reading, snoozing and wandering around aimlessly. Bah.
Tomorrow I'm back to work with a vengeance. Maybe my subconsious is rebelling at the idea, hence the candyfloss brain.
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Last night I thought I did very well, getting to bed before midnight and getting to sleep before 01:00. So why didn't I wake up until 09:00 and with a brain that felt full of candy floss? My plans to do a variety of things today quickly metamorphosed into reading, snoozing and wandering around aimlessly. Bah.
Tomorrow I'm back to work with a vengeance. Maybe my subconsious is rebelling at the idea, hence the candyfloss brain.
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Sunday, August 05, 2007
Getting ahead
By getting a hat.
More by making a hat, actually. I've completed all I can do of the English (gable) hood with the materials at hand. The thing I'm missing is the striped ribbon for the front of the frame, which does not seem to exist in Akureyri. This may be something that I'm going to have to look for on the Friday so that I can do the traditional 'finish something on the Friday night of the event'. I may also need a padded roll for the inside of the frame but I'll worry about that later.
The other thing needed to go with this is a coif. This is something which seems to be very sensitive to head size so when I downloaded a pattern from the web and made up the coif I was pretty sure that this would be a test piece that I'd use to gauge the true required size. And I was right - I need to add about 3" in length and 6" in width to make it fit properly. Which would also make the proportions closer to those of extant pieces I've seen in the V&A.
Making the coif has led me to a number of related thoughts. The rules for fencing require the back of the head to be covered by puncture-resistant material. Once I've got the correct size pattern for the coif I'm going to try on a fencing mask whilst wearing it. I have a suspicion that it would meet these requirements and, if so, I'll be making a puncture-resistant coif and high (neck-covering) partlet as I suspect that these would be far more comfortable than the hood I have at present.
Either that, or finally get around to putting a puncture-resistant veil on the mask, of course. I still haven't decided if that is the better way forward, but whatever I decide I'm going to have to get organised now that I've got fencing going on up here (because I need something to complete the second set of armour). As I don't have the armour tester yet I think that I'm going to go into Rúmfatalagerin's fabric department and find something appropriate of which I can bring swatches to Raglan for testing. Then I can come back and say to my fencers you need x layers of this, which would be a good start.
In the meantime, I'm still on holiday tomorrow so I might try making the larger coif. Or the new Klakavirki banner. Or maybe a new linen chemise. Or...
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More by making a hat, actually. I've completed all I can do of the English (gable) hood with the materials at hand. The thing I'm missing is the striped ribbon for the front of the frame, which does not seem to exist in Akureyri. This may be something that I'm going to have to look for on the Friday so that I can do the traditional 'finish something on the Friday night of the event'. I may also need a padded roll for the inside of the frame but I'll worry about that later.
The other thing needed to go with this is a coif. This is something which seems to be very sensitive to head size so when I downloaded a pattern from the web and made up the coif I was pretty sure that this would be a test piece that I'd use to gauge the true required size. And I was right - I need to add about 3" in length and 6" in width to make it fit properly. Which would also make the proportions closer to those of extant pieces I've seen in the V&A.
Making the coif has led me to a number of related thoughts. The rules for fencing require the back of the head to be covered by puncture-resistant material. Once I've got the correct size pattern for the coif I'm going to try on a fencing mask whilst wearing it. I have a suspicion that it would meet these requirements and, if so, I'll be making a puncture-resistant coif and high (neck-covering) partlet as I suspect that these would be far more comfortable than the hood I have at present.
Either that, or finally get around to putting a puncture-resistant veil on the mask, of course. I still haven't decided if that is the better way forward, but whatever I decide I'm going to have to get organised now that I've got fencing going on up here (because I need something to complete the second set of armour). As I don't have the armour tester yet I think that I'm going to go into Rúmfatalagerin's fabric department and find something appropriate of which I can bring swatches to Raglan for testing. Then I can come back and say to my fencers you need x layers of this, which would be a good start.
In the meantime, I'm still on holiday tomorrow so I might try making the larger coif. Or the new Klakavirki banner. Or maybe a new linen chemise. Or...
0 comments
Saturday, August 04, 2007
The SCA Channel
While dressmaking today, Martha and I decided that what we needed on tv was The SCA Channel.
This would, I suspect, be something like a combination of The History Channel, National Geographic Channel, and all of the Discovery Channels. It would contain, for instance, the interesting documentaries of THC, NG and Discovery Science and Civilisation, but would also have the sort of programmes that you get on Discovery itself - although instead of American Chopper or Mythbusters you might have some of the following:
I'm sure that such a channel would be both educational and inspirational... although probably a little cringeworthy at times. :)
2 comments
This would, I suspect, be something like a combination of The History Channel, National Geographic Channel, and all of the Discovery Channels. It would contain, for instance, the interesting documentaries of THC, NG and Discovery Science and Civilisation, but would also have the sort of programmes that you get on Discovery itself - although instead of American Chopper or Mythbusters you might have some of the following:
- The Armourers - a series following armour-makers in different kingdoms as they make sets of armour tailored to fit some of the Society's greatest fighters, showing the many different styles of armour used in the Society today.
- Fighting Fit! - a daily exercise programme aimed at getting people into shape and ready to take up the sword.
- Write Then - an instructional series introducing people to the different calligraphic forms used throughout the SCA period.
- Ready, Steady, Feast! - an SCA cook and a mundane masterchef compete to create a feast fit for a King and his court with only three assistants, a tight budget and the contents of your average scout camp kitchen.
I'm sure that such a channel would be both educational and inspirational... although probably a little cringeworthy at times. :)
2 comments
Friday, August 03, 2007
Art cards completed
I've just completed my art cards.
These are A6 cards, each with a handmade piece of artwork on the front. Each of the nine cards has the same design, but as they're all made by hand each one is, of course, slightly different. All I have to do now is to post them all off to Lettice who's coordinating the card swap. This is the first time I've done anything like this so I'm a little apprehensive about it all - will they be okay and so on - but quite pleased with them in a way as they're interactive, which amuses me. According to the rules of the swap I can't post a picture yet, but I'll do so once it's 'legal'.
The reason I could finish them this afternoon is that this weekend is Verslunarmannahelgi or Shop Workers' Weekend and I, like most other people, stopped work at lunchtime. I've also heard it called the weekend of death because, as the main summer bank holiday it's the weekend that everyone gets into their cars and goes visiting friends and relatives, or goes camping for the weekend, or otherwise goes Somewhere Else. The shops started getting busy yesterday and by now the roads are very busy (for Iceland). For this reason Martha and I decided not to go swimming today.
It's curious that although this holiday (it's actually on Monday) started as a holiday for shopkeepers and their staff. Now as everyone goes off to 'foreign' parts, the one thing they expect is for the shops to be open when they get there, so the one group of people who miss out are the people for whom the holiday was originally designed. Such is life everywhere, I suspect.
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These are A6 cards, each with a handmade piece of artwork on the front. Each of the nine cards has the same design, but as they're all made by hand each one is, of course, slightly different. All I have to do now is to post them all off to Lettice who's coordinating the card swap. This is the first time I've done anything like this so I'm a little apprehensive about it all - will they be okay and so on - but quite pleased with them in a way as they're interactive, which amuses me. According to the rules of the swap I can't post a picture yet, but I'll do so once it's 'legal'.
The reason I could finish them this afternoon is that this weekend is Verslunarmannahelgi or Shop Workers' Weekend and I, like most other people, stopped work at lunchtime. I've also heard it called the weekend of death because, as the main summer bank holiday it's the weekend that everyone gets into their cars and goes visiting friends and relatives, or goes camping for the weekend, or otherwise goes Somewhere Else. The shops started getting busy yesterday and by now the roads are very busy (for Iceland). For this reason Martha and I decided not to go swimming today.
It's curious that although this holiday (it's actually on Monday) started as a holiday for shopkeepers and their staff. Now as everyone goes off to 'foreign' parts, the one thing they expect is for the shops to be open when they get there, so the one group of people who miss out are the people for whom the holiday was originally designed. Such is life everywhere, I suspect.
0 comments
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A real A&S meeting
We had one tonight.
Let me define 'real'. By this I mean one where we sat and made things, each of us working on our own projects rather than me teaching a particular skill to everyone or overseeing garb-making of some sort. And so, for the first time in quite a while, I took a current project with me and actually got something done.
My plan is to finish my early Tudor gown before Raglan so that I can wear it for the torchlit ball on the Saturday night. As part of this I need the silly hat, so my current project is making an English Hood (from Lady Anne's instructions at the Harpelstane website). I've got the frame done (plastic canvas and heavy wire) and have now covered it with strong white cotton (I'm just finishing stitching this in place). This is very much an experiment, and if it works then I'll make another one in more appropriate (and expensive!) fabrics.
I've just ordered some jewellery to match the gown, to which I still have to add the sleeves - maybe this weekend? - and add appropriate trim. With the dollar so weak at present I can buy the jewellery more cheaply than I can make it so although I'm certainly planning to make some of my own jewellery later for now I'm happy to buy some. One thing I am hoping to make, though, is the billment for the English hood. I think that I can make it up using some of the techniques I've learned from all of those beading magazines I've been reading recently (I knew they'd come in useful!) and still have it detachable so I can swap them around to match the dress.
My aim, then, for the next meeting is to have the structural stuff for the hood complete and to be at the point of lining the veil. It'll be here so I'll have the sewing machine available which should help. Photos will follow once it's all complete.
0 comments
Let me define 'real'. By this I mean one where we sat and made things, each of us working on our own projects rather than me teaching a particular skill to everyone or overseeing garb-making of some sort. And so, for the first time in quite a while, I took a current project with me and actually got something done.
My plan is to finish my early Tudor gown before Raglan so that I can wear it for the torchlit ball on the Saturday night. As part of this I need the silly hat, so my current project is making an English Hood (from Lady Anne's instructions at the Harpelstane website). I've got the frame done (plastic canvas and heavy wire) and have now covered it with strong white cotton (I'm just finishing stitching this in place). This is very much an experiment, and if it works then I'll make another one in more appropriate (and expensive!) fabrics.
I've just ordered some jewellery to match the gown, to which I still have to add the sleeves - maybe this weekend? - and add appropriate trim. With the dollar so weak at present I can buy the jewellery more cheaply than I can make it so although I'm certainly planning to make some of my own jewellery later for now I'm happy to buy some. One thing I am hoping to make, though, is the billment for the English hood. I think that I can make it up using some of the techniques I've learned from all of those beading magazines I've been reading recently (I knew they'd come in useful!) and still have it detachable so I can swap them around to match the dress.
My aim, then, for the next meeting is to have the structural stuff for the hood complete and to be at the point of lining the veil. It'll be here so I'll have the sewing machine available which should help. Photos will follow once it's all complete.
0 comments
Things to do when you can't get to sleep #17
Install an AirPort card in your other Mac.
As well as Horus, my sexy black MacBook, I also have Isis, a gorgeous little graphite G3 iBook. Isis sits beside my bed and provides me with gentle Radio 4 science programmes via iTunes to help me drift easily off to sleep. While I was in the UK this last time I acquired an AirPort card for her, with the intention of making Isis wireless capable for those times when it's terribly useful to have a spare Mac for guests. I used to just use the ethernet connection but wireless is so much more convenient.
It's taken me about half an hour. I know, it's supposed to be an easy job... :) Getting Isis open was easy enough - nice bit of design there - and I even managed to work out what fitted in where, thanks to a useful diagram inside the case. Again, I'm impressed by the thought that's gone into this. The only problems arose when it didn't explain which way up the AirPort card should lie, and how far into the slot under the touchpad it should fit. It's clear that it fits down there but it's a bit of a fiddle to get it far enough in for it to connect and for the aerial to sit properly. A bit of Google-fu allowed me to find (via the Apple support website) that the card should go in serial number uppermost, and after a bit more of a fiddle I got the aerial cable to sit in place.
Then I turned the machine on and, lo and behold, wireless connectivity. One network card installed without need of a screwdriver or anything more advanced than a fingernail. I doubt that, even after having installed network cards in PCs a number of times, I could do it that quickly on a desktop PC, never mind a laptop. It took Dad and I about that long to fail to open up the back of my old PC laptop last week when we went in search of the power supply problem.
It's things like this make me happy that I'm a Mac user once again.
0 comments
As well as Horus, my sexy black MacBook, I also have Isis, a gorgeous little graphite G3 iBook. Isis sits beside my bed and provides me with gentle Radio 4 science programmes via iTunes to help me drift easily off to sleep. While I was in the UK this last time I acquired an AirPort card for her, with the intention of making Isis wireless capable for those times when it's terribly useful to have a spare Mac for guests. I used to just use the ethernet connection but wireless is so much more convenient.
It's taken me about half an hour. I know, it's supposed to be an easy job... :) Getting Isis open was easy enough - nice bit of design there - and I even managed to work out what fitted in where, thanks to a useful diagram inside the case. Again, I'm impressed by the thought that's gone into this. The only problems arose when it didn't explain which way up the AirPort card should lie, and how far into the slot under the touchpad it should fit. It's clear that it fits down there but it's a bit of a fiddle to get it far enough in for it to connect and for the aerial to sit properly. A bit of Google-fu allowed me to find (via the Apple support website) that the card should go in serial number uppermost, and after a bit more of a fiddle I got the aerial cable to sit in place.
Then I turned the machine on and, lo and behold, wireless connectivity. One network card installed without need of a screwdriver or anything more advanced than a fingernail. I doubt that, even after having installed network cards in PCs a number of times, I could do it that quickly on a desktop PC, never mind a laptop. It took Dad and I about that long to fail to open up the back of my old PC laptop last week when we went in search of the power supply problem.
It's things like this make me happy that I'm a Mac user once again.
0 comments
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The Shoulderpads of Doom
Today I went back to work.
One of the advantages of being an academic is that, particularly during the summer, you can often work from home. As my job requires a lot of fairly abstract thinking it doesn't really matter if I'm doing that thinking sitting in my office in front of my desktop machine, sitting on my sofa in front of my laptop, or swimming up and down a pool pondering things that aren't ready to be written down yet. I mention this as when I went into the office today there was a distinct lack of cars in the car park or people in their offices. Clearly most people have decided not to come back in until after this weekend's big bank holiday. And who am I to gainsay them? I suspect I'll be working from the laptop for the next couple of days.
Going back into work meant leaving behind the assorted sci-fi looney t-shirts (other than for weekends and days when I know I'm not going to have to deal with people) and returning to office casual clothing. While I was in the UK I picked up a few items of clothing to fit that description - trousers, plain v-neck t-shirts and so on - including a wondrous long thin 'coat'. I'm not quite sure what to call it, but it's well below my knees and only five sizes too large (but drapes marvellously as a result). It's also a little less casual than my long cardigan, which is one of my favourite items of clothing.
This is also likely to become a favorite, because of its style and size. The only thing I'm not entirely sure about yet are the Shoulderpads of Doom. It includes some quite thick shoulderpads which was considering removing until I realised that the cut of the coat is such that it's specifically designed to include the things and it would be a pain to restructure the whole thing.
So there they are - the Shoulderpads of Doom. The building behind me is the one that hosts my office.
2 comments
One of the advantages of being an academic is that, particularly during the summer, you can often work from home. As my job requires a lot of fairly abstract thinking it doesn't really matter if I'm doing that thinking sitting in my office in front of my desktop machine, sitting on my sofa in front of my laptop, or swimming up and down a pool pondering things that aren't ready to be written down yet. I mention this as when I went into the office today there was a distinct lack of cars in the car park or people in their offices. Clearly most people have decided not to come back in until after this weekend's big bank holiday. And who am I to gainsay them? I suspect I'll be working from the laptop for the next couple of days.
Going back into work meant leaving behind the assorted sci-fi looney t-shirts (other than for weekends and days when I know I'm not going to have to deal with people) and returning to office casual clothing. While I was in the UK I picked up a few items of clothing to fit that description - trousers, plain v-neck t-shirts and so on - including a wondrous long thin 'coat'. I'm not quite sure what to call it, but it's well below my knees and only five sizes too large (but drapes marvellously as a result). It's also a little less casual than my long cardigan, which is one of my favourite items of clothing.
This is also likely to become a favorite, because of its style and size. The only thing I'm not entirely sure about yet are the Shoulderpads of Doom. It includes some quite thick shoulderpads which was considering removing until I realised that the cut of the coat is such that it's specifically designed to include the things and it would be a pain to restructure the whole thing.
So there they are - the Shoulderpads of Doom. The building behind me is the one that hosts my office.
2 comments