Sunday, August 31, 2008
Picture books for grown-ups
I've just finished reading Pratchett's The Last Hero.
Oh my. That was fun. That was laughing out loud fun at times. Yes, I know I'm way behind in not having read it before but it was certainly a good thing for cheering me up today. The artwork really worked beautifully in parallel with the story. Part of me now wishes that more of Terry's books were illustrated in this manner.
It may also have solved one of my embroidery problems. For years I've quite fancied the idea of doing a Bayeux tapestry-style panel but haven't been able to decide which section to do. I'm now quite tempted to do the the 'riding off into the stars' panel of the Silver Horde Tapestry instead. Mind you, I'm also quite tempted to turn a couple of the other pictures into embroideries as well. Not that I'll have time to do anything like that until at least 2010 of course. :)
0 comments
Oh my. That was fun. That was laughing out loud fun at times. Yes, I know I'm way behind in not having read it before but it was certainly a good thing for cheering me up today. The artwork really worked beautifully in parallel with the story. Part of me now wishes that more of Terry's books were illustrated in this manner.
It may also have solved one of my embroidery problems. For years I've quite fancied the idea of doing a Bayeux tapestry-style panel but haven't been able to decide which section to do. I'm now quite tempted to do the the 'riding off into the stars' panel of the Silver Horde Tapestry instead. Mind you, I'm also quite tempted to turn a couple of the other pictures into embroideries as well. Not that I'll have time to do anything like that until at least 2010 of course. :)
0 comments
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Many games
As E is due to head south to Reykjavík tomorrow we took the opportunity to have a gaming evening before she leaves.
Over the last couple of UK trips I've acquired a number of new games that are unavailable over here other than by ordering them over the Internet. Tonight we got through a selection of the recently-acquired card games.
Spooks No, nothing to do with MI5, rather a simple game with a deck of cards in 5 suits where the cards you play depend on the suit of the previous card. Nice and simple, and a good warm-up to a more complex game.
Legacy Very silly but very amusing. Your great uncle has left you oodles of money in his will, but to claim it you have to kill everyone else in the family. The cards are split into traps to play on other players and tricks to allow you to deflect traps played on you to someone else. It's a bilingual game, with everything in both English and German, so if you want to know what the German for oddly-placed lamppost (Ungünstig platzierter Laternempfahl) or shark-infested duvet (Haifisch-versuchtes Federbett) is then this is the game for you.
Revenge of the B-Movie is a game about coming up with the most unlikely-titled B movies and then managing to sell them. Cards contain title elements and are played to form titles like Revenge of the Eight-Legged Zombie Sheep or Vegetarian Baby Werewolves meet the Radioactive Tomatoes from the Black Lagoon.
Scurvy Musketeers of the Spanish Main is another B-movie game, where cards representing characters, props and locations are played to form a movie which can then be attacked by an assortment of monsters and villains. What adds greatly to this game is that each card has a title and an associated quote which must be read out when the card is played, allowing you to play 'name that movie' with the quotes.
We managed all four games in the space of four hours, which certainly wouldn't have been the case with some of the other games sitting in the to-be-played pile - Carcasson, Illuminati, Zombies 4 - Zombie Dogs and Humans!!! (the counterpart of Zombies!!! where players are the zombies trying to eat humans rather than humans trying to escape the zombies). I think that those four will happily take up an evening each at some point in the future. For now, though, we had a good evening and agreed that all four games were worth playing again.
0 comments
Over the last couple of UK trips I've acquired a number of new games that are unavailable over here other than by ordering them over the Internet. Tonight we got through a selection of the recently-acquired card games.
Spooks No, nothing to do with MI5, rather a simple game with a deck of cards in 5 suits where the cards you play depend on the suit of the previous card. Nice and simple, and a good warm-up to a more complex game.
Legacy Very silly but very amusing. Your great uncle has left you oodles of money in his will, but to claim it you have to kill everyone else in the family. The cards are split into traps to play on other players and tricks to allow you to deflect traps played on you to someone else. It's a bilingual game, with everything in both English and German, so if you want to know what the German for oddly-placed lamppost (Ungünstig platzierter Laternempfahl) or shark-infested duvet (Haifisch-versuchtes Federbett) is then this is the game for you.
Revenge of the B-Movie is a game about coming up with the most unlikely-titled B movies and then managing to sell them. Cards contain title elements and are played to form titles like Revenge of the Eight-Legged Zombie Sheep or Vegetarian Baby Werewolves meet the Radioactive Tomatoes from the Black Lagoon.
Scurvy Musketeers of the Spanish Main is another B-movie game, where cards representing characters, props and locations are played to form a movie which can then be attacked by an assortment of monsters and villains. What adds greatly to this game is that each card has a title and an associated quote which must be read out when the card is played, allowing you to play 'name that movie' with the quotes.
We managed all four games in the space of four hours, which certainly wouldn't have been the case with some of the other games sitting in the to-be-played pile - Carcasson, Illuminati, Zombies 4 - Zombie Dogs and Humans!!! (the counterpart of Zombies!!! where players are the zombies trying to eat humans rather than humans trying to escape the zombies). I think that those four will happily take up an evening each at some point in the future. For now, though, we had a good evening and agreed that all four games were worth playing again.
0 comments
Friday, August 29, 2008
Too much comfort
I admit it, I am ODing on comfort food right now. <
Right right now it's a bag of maltesers. Earlier it was ice cream. There was also egg and chips in there somewhere. After all of the work-related stress of the last seven days I am surviving only on sugar, carbohydrates and cream cheese on crackers. And bananas.
Ook.
Teaching has begun again, and I'm toying with the idea of making labwork more collaborative and having people working in groups. After all, how often do you work in a vaccuum nowadays? I think that the students will appreciate it more and will get more out of the labs if they can bounce ideas off one another. It certainly seemed to work in the database lab today with three groups.
Now the news snippet of the day. Those of you who are on twitter might be interested in a recent arrival of @marsrovers to join @marsphoenix in providing regular updates on the goings-on on the red planet. Today's news is that a year after Opportunity climbed into Victoria Crater it has climbed out again. This is quite newsworthy as there was a distinct possibility that once it was in it wasn't going to get out again. Isn't technology great?
2 comments
Right right now it's a bag of maltesers. Earlier it was ice cream. There was also egg and chips in there somewhere. After all of the work-related stress of the last seven days I am surviving only on sugar, carbohydrates and cream cheese on crackers. And bananas.
Ook.
Teaching has begun again, and I'm toying with the idea of making labwork more collaborative and having people working in groups. After all, how often do you work in a vaccuum nowadays? I think that the students will appreciate it more and will get more out of the labs if they can bounce ideas off one another. It certainly seemed to work in the database lab today with three groups.
Now the news snippet of the day. Those of you who are on twitter might be interested in a recent arrival of @marsrovers to join @marsphoenix in providing regular updates on the goings-on on the red planet. Today's news is that a year after Opportunity climbed into Victoria Crater it has climbed out again. This is quite newsworthy as there was a distinct possibility that once it was in it wasn't going to get out again. Isn't technology great?
2 comments
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Management tool #73
The sweet basket.
My office desk has a circular-ish extension which is clearly designed to allow several people to sit around it for meetings and all be able to work on documents in the centre. It's a nice idea and does make life a little bit easier during said meetings.
What makes life easier still is placing a basket of sweets in the middle of the circular table. At present it's Finnish mint toffee things but it's about to be refilled with Werther's Originals. These may not last quite as long as the mints as I'm rather partial to them myself, but the existence of this basket of sweets has proved to have a very interesting effect: people come into my office to say hi and have a sweet.
This may sound like a crazy idea - why invite people to come and disturb you, particularly when you're as antisocial as I am? Ah, but when folks drop by I can gather valuable information on the current state of module X / research project Y / individual Z. It's a most curious phenomenon, as if a boiled sweet is in a different mental league to a biscuit, in that biscuits imply coffee and thus a longer chat, while a sweet is just a couple of words in passing.
Meetings too seem to be more relaxed and productive with people helping themselves to sweets, meditatively unwrapping them and then sucking upon them ponderously before providing ideas and comments. I'm quite astounded at the effect that such a small thing seems to be having. I may have to do a bit of research to see what the management psychologists have to say on the subject.
1 comments
My office desk has a circular-ish extension which is clearly designed to allow several people to sit around it for meetings and all be able to work on documents in the centre. It's a nice idea and does make life a little bit easier during said meetings.
What makes life easier still is placing a basket of sweets in the middle of the circular table. At present it's Finnish mint toffee things but it's about to be refilled with Werther's Originals. These may not last quite as long as the mints as I'm rather partial to them myself, but the existence of this basket of sweets has proved to have a very interesting effect: people come into my office to say hi and have a sweet.
This may sound like a crazy idea - why invite people to come and disturb you, particularly when you're as antisocial as I am? Ah, but when folks drop by I can gather valuable information on the current state of module X / research project Y / individual Z. It's a most curious phenomenon, as if a boiled sweet is in a different mental league to a biscuit, in that biscuits imply coffee and thus a longer chat, while a sweet is just a couple of words in passing.
Meetings too seem to be more relaxed and productive with people helping themselves to sweets, meditatively unwrapping them and then sucking upon them ponderously before providing ideas and comments. I'm quite astounded at the effect that such a small thing seems to be having. I may have to do a bit of research to see what the management psychologists have to say on the subject.
1 comments
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Not-so-ready meals
Sometimes I miss the strangest things.
Today in the supermarket I missed pre-packed meals. Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to, that I should be focussing on eating fresh, healthy, home-made, vegetable-filled and probably organic meals (fat chance of most of those adjectives applying here) but sometimes the requirement for comfort food leaves me wishing for a mini cottage pie or a chicken stir-fry; something that I can just chuck in the oven/microwave/frying pan, reheat and then curl up on the sofa with it and a fork.
Not that I should be doing the comfort eating thing at present anyway; a weekend at a convention with large breakfasts and no exercise showed up on the WiiFit body test this morning. Instead of ready meals, then, I bought a bunch of bananas. Now I just have to get back into the habit of daily exercise and sensible eating again.
0 comments
Today in the supermarket I missed pre-packed meals. Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to, that I should be focussing on eating fresh, healthy, home-made, vegetable-filled and probably organic meals (fat chance of most of those adjectives applying here) but sometimes the requirement for comfort food leaves me wishing for a mini cottage pie or a chicken stir-fry; something that I can just chuck in the oven/microwave/frying pan, reheat and then curl up on the sofa with it and a fork.
Not that I should be doing the comfort eating thing at present anyway; a weekend at a convention with large breakfasts and no exercise showed up on the WiiFit body test this morning. Instead of ready meals, then, I bought a bunch of bananas. Now I just have to get back into the habit of daily exercise and sensible eating again.
0 comments
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
News from the north
The stresses at work came to a head while I was away at the convention.
The university council met on Thursday and decided
a) not to take in any first year students this year;
b) to make all computer science staff redundant as of December 31st 2008;
c) to offer new contracts to some members of the computer science staff in order to teach the current students and to work on introducing a new distance-learning degree in applied computing beginning in August 2010.
These decisions were taken on economic rather than academic grounds given that the number of applications for the degree has been falling over the past few years.
The result is that there are, of course, going to be a lot of changes at work. I've been offered the new contract with the job of leading the development of the new degree although there are no guarantees of that degree actually going ahead. If there are insufficient applications for the distance learning degree then computer science will cease to be taught at the University of Akureyri as of August 2010.
Naturally I am not happy about the situation but at least I'm one of those who still have a job. And the requirement to redesign the entire curriculum to fit with a distance learning degree will no doubt provide some interesting intellectual stimulation, but it is rather depressing.
5 comments
The university council met on Thursday and decided
a) not to take in any first year students this year;
b) to make all computer science staff redundant as of December 31st 2008;
c) to offer new contracts to some members of the computer science staff in order to teach the current students and to work on introducing a new distance-learning degree in applied computing beginning in August 2010.
These decisions were taken on economic rather than academic grounds given that the number of applications for the degree has been falling over the past few years.
The result is that there are, of course, going to be a lot of changes at work. I've been offered the new contract with the job of leading the development of the new degree although there are no guarantees of that degree actually going ahead. If there are insufficient applications for the distance learning degree then computer science will cease to be taught at the University of Akureyri as of August 2010.
Naturally I am not happy about the situation but at least I'm one of those who still have a job. And the requirement to redesign the entire curriculum to fit with a distance learning degree will no doubt provide some interesting intellectual stimulation, but it is rather depressing.
5 comments
Up and down
I finally got the omelette this morning. It was not only delicious, but also fascinating to watch it being made. I've never stirred my omelettes before but I'm going to have to give this a try in future.
After breakfast there was a final dash around the dealers' room (I caved in and bought the travelling Thud set at which I'd been gazing covetously all weekend) and then much sitting around and talking. And embroidering. And eating cream teas for lunch. :) Unfortunately I had to leave for Heathrow before the final of the Great Hedgehog race but I knew that I'd left the device in great hands - those of AH. This was confirmed later in a text message from A telling me that we'd won the race. Hurrah!
By this point I was waiting for the check-in to open at terminal 1. After the problems driving to the con on Friday I thought I'd better leave plenty of time for the drive back. Sure enough, I allowed 4 hours, it took just under 2 and I had an hour to kill before check-in opened even after I'd returned the hire car. Typical.
For once the flight was on time, which was a miracle in its own right, but nothing goes according to plan and I discovered that my hotel booking through LastMinute.com hadn't reached the hotel. Fortunately they now consider me a 'regular' there and put me into one of the more expensive rooms to make up for the problem... and because it was one of only two rooms free!
All the same, it's comfortable and will allow me to get a few hours of sleep before the morning's flight north... where I will get to deal with the aftermath of a large amount of shit hitting the fan... More of this anon.
0 comments
After breakfast there was a final dash around the dealers' room (I caved in and bought the travelling Thud set at which I'd been gazing covetously all weekend) and then much sitting around and talking. And embroidering. And eating cream teas for lunch. :) Unfortunately I had to leave for Heathrow before the final of the Great Hedgehog race but I knew that I'd left the device in great hands - those of AH. This was confirmed later in a text message from A telling me that we'd won the race. Hurrah!
By this point I was waiting for the check-in to open at terminal 1. After the problems driving to the con on Friday I thought I'd better leave plenty of time for the drive back. Sure enough, I allowed 4 hours, it took just under 2 and I had an hour to kill before check-in opened even after I'd returned the hire car. Typical.
For once the flight was on time, which was a miracle in its own right, but nothing goes according to plan and I discovered that my hotel booking through LastMinute.com hadn't reached the hotel. Fortunately they now consider me a 'regular' there and put me into one of the more expensive rooms to make up for the problem... and because it was one of only two rooms free!
All the same, it's comfortable and will allow me to get a few hours of sleep before the morning's flight north... where I will get to deal with the aftermath of a large amount of shit hitting the fan... More of this anon.
0 comments
Monday, August 25, 2008
Who are these maniacs?
Rather than go to the formal dinner this evening a group of us went out for a curry at a restaurant selected for its closeness to the hotel according to Google maps. It turned out to be an excellent idea, and they're not going to forget us for some time, judging by the smiles and thanks for our patronage that we got from the staff.
The meal provided the end to another good day. I didn't quite manage to have an omelette for breakfast but I am enjoying the sausage and bacon. And the fresh pineapple. Although breakfast was cut short a little by the need to go and continue work on the egg timer. There were two engineering sessions today, and by the time we'd got half-way through the second one AH and I had a fully-calibrated device with an error margin of only a couple of seconds. I'm very pleased with this; unfortunately the final race is tomorrow afternoon just as I'm going to have to leave for Heathrow. :(
The embroidered prize is coming along nicely, and I managed to spend the couple of hours I spent sitting on the Redeption desk designing and starting the 'WINNER' legend on the top. I'm sure that between K and I we can have it done in time for the closing ceremony.
0 comments
The meal provided the end to another good day. I didn't quite manage to have an omelette for breakfast but I am enjoying the sausage and bacon. And the fresh pineapple. Although breakfast was cut short a little by the need to go and continue work on the egg timer. There were two engineering sessions today, and by the time we'd got half-way through the second one AH and I had a fully-calibrated device with an error margin of only a couple of seconds. I'm very pleased with this; unfortunately the final race is tomorrow afternoon just as I'm going to have to leave for Heathrow. :(
The embroidered prize is coming along nicely, and I managed to spend the couple of hours I spent sitting on the Redeption desk designing and starting the 'WINNER' legend on the top. I'm sure that between K and I we can have it done in time for the closing ceremony.
0 comments
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Racing hedgehogs
I have acquired an interesting volunteer job - embroidering a prize for the Seamstresses guild. It's just tent stitch on plastic canvas but there's quite a bit of it to do. I'm doing it in my 'spare' time and K is doing it when I'm busy building hedgehog racing machines.
The machine is coming along nicely. The initial proof of concept version is surprisingly effective. Both A and I were amazed and delighted at this. A working version (including rather more duct tape so that the cardboard doesn't get quite so wet) is underway. With a bit of luck we can have it working tomorrow morning ready for calibration.
I finally got to a non-engineering programme item - the Masquerade. The entries were a mixed bunch, a couple of very good ones, a couple of girl in frockand even one or two that were completely incomprehensible to me. P, the presenter, was extremely funny - I will forever henceforth associate the word quack! with this convention. There were downsides though - firstly, the 'mindreader' who was the entertainment during the judging was pretty abyssmal, and the wrong entry won the overall prize. It was won by Girl in frock who has a nice idea but can't sing, who beat Dancer in brilliant dragon costume with twist in the tail. Rather a shame, I thought.
Still, an extremely good day, during which I bought 'stuff' in the dealers' room and managed not to think of work too much. Oh yes, and forgot to eat after 14:00... :)
0 comments
The machine is coming along nicely. The initial proof of concept version is surprisingly effective. Both A and I were amazed and delighted at this. A working version (including rather more duct tape so that the cardboard doesn't get quite so wet) is underway. With a bit of luck we can have it working tomorrow morning ready for calibration.
I finally got to a non-engineering programme item - the Masquerade. The entries were a mixed bunch, a couple of very good ones, a couple of girl in frockand even one or two that were completely incomprehensible to me. P, the presenter, was extremely funny - I will forever henceforth associate the word quack! with this convention. There were downsides though - firstly, the 'mindreader' who was the entertainment during the judging was pretty abyssmal, and the wrong entry won the overall prize. It was won by Girl in frock who has a nice idea but can't sing, who beat Dancer in brilliant dragon costume with twist in the tail. Rather a shame, I thought.
Still, an extremely good day, during which I bought 'stuff' in the dealers' room and managed not to think of work too much. Oh yes, and forgot to eat after 14:00... :)
0 comments
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Good breakfast
I'm quite impressed with the convention hotel. It,s got plenty of usable public space with a bar with resonable food if you don't fancy what the con eatery is serving. They even had someone cooking ommelettes while you wait at breakfast.
The sense of fun at this convention is almost tangible. People seem to be enjoying themselves far more than I've seen at recent Eastercons - possiblly because no-one is trying to claim that the Discworld books are Literature with a capital L. The dealers' room is certainly much more interesting than I've seen for a long time too.
So far I haven't done much in the way of programme, although I am taking part in the Great Hedgehog Race, where we're building a 2-3 minute timer from bits and bobs. Ours is a gravitationally-driven, water-damped device with added axle grease.
Now I'm trying to decide what to have for lunch before throwing myself into the afternoon.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
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The sense of fun at this convention is almost tangible. People seem to be enjoying themselves far more than I've seen at recent Eastercons - possiblly because no-one is trying to claim that the Discworld books are Literature with a capital L. The dealers' room is certainly much more interesting than I've seen for a long time too.
So far I haven't done much in the way of programme, although I am taking part in the Great Hedgehog Race, where we're building a 2-3 minute timer from bits and bobs. Ours is a gravitationally-driven, water-damped device with added axle grease.
Now I'm trying to decide what to have for lunch before throwing myself into the afternoon.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
Friday, August 22, 2008
Long day
The flight got in on time but then the traffic made up for it.
For some reason I was diverted off the M42 at junction 4 and then sent into the centre of Birmingham before heading out east to the NEC. It's a good thing I didn't stop or I'd have been returning to Iceland with a pile of fabric from some of the Asian shops I passed.
Then I found that the road I was due to take to the hotel was closed and it took me over half an hour of frustration trying to find the darned place.
But I'm here. It's quite different feom an Eastercon. To start witg there are far more people in costume than at any con I've ever attended. I'm very glad that I made the effort with costume for tomorrow and Sunday.
The other thing that surprised and delighted me is that there's a games dealer in the dealers' room. I foresee a certain amount of shopping going on over the weekend.
Apart from that I've met up with many friends, officially joined the Seamstresses guild (they tell me I'll score points just for sitting and sewing - ideal!) and discovered that the main bar (not the con bar) does extremely good food. I was quite overfaced by their spaghetti carbonara but it was very tasty.
It has the feel of a very enjoyable con. I'm cretainly looking forqard to tomorrow.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
For some reason I was diverted off the M42 at junction 4 and then sent into the centre of Birmingham before heading out east to the NEC. It's a good thing I didn't stop or I'd have been returning to Iceland with a pile of fabric from some of the Asian shops I passed.
Then I found that the road I was due to take to the hotel was closed and it took me over half an hour of frustration trying to find the darned place.
But I'm here. It's quite different feom an Eastercon. To start witg there are far more people in costume than at any con I've ever attended. I'm very glad that I made the effort with costume for tomorrow and Sunday.
The other thing that surprised and delighted me is that there's a games dealer in the dealers' room. I foresee a certain amount of shopping going on over the weekend.
Apart from that I've met up with many friends, officially joined the Seamstresses guild (they tell me I'll score points just for sitting and sewing - ideal!) and discovered that the main bar (not the con bar) does extremely good food. I was quite overfaced by their spaghetti carbonara but it was very tasty.
It has the feel of a very enjoyable con. I'm cretainly looking forqard to tomorrow.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
Minor miracle
I've now made it to Keflavík and, wonder of wonders, the flight has not been delayed. Yet.
It's a toss-up as to whether this flight will be a 7X7 or an MD-82. If it's the latter I'm sure we'll have some paranoid people aboard after the Madrid accident. Not me - I know that the pilots and maintenabce teams will be paranoid for me. :)
The earlier flight was a Dash 8; space for a whole 37 passengers. Normally it's a Fokker 50 but they don't need anything that big for the very early flight.
Ah! It's a 757 - the swept-up wingtips give it away. I can see them loading the luggage (there's a surfboard there!) so I suspect they'll be loading us shortly.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
It's a toss-up as to whether this flight will be a 7X7 or an MD-82. If it's the latter I'm sure we'll have some paranoid people aboard after the Madrid accident. Not me - I know that the pilots and maintenabce teams will be paranoid for me. :)
The earlier flight was a Dash 8; space for a whole 37 passengers. Normally it's a Fokker 50 but they don't need anything that big for the very early flight.
Ah! It's a 757 - the swept-up wingtips give it away. I can see them loading the luggage (there's a surfboard there!) so I suspect they'll be loading us shortly.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
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Setting off
It's 05:30 and I'm sitting in the departure lounge of Akureyri airport awaiting my internal flight to Keflavík and thence on to Heathrow. I can only do this because it's summer - in winter an early flight means an overnight stay in Reykjavík.
I think I've packed everything. Perhaps most importantly I've remembered the local beer for Steve. If all else fails I can get anything I've forgotten once I'm back in the UK.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
I think I've packed everything. Perhaps most importantly I've remembered the local beer for Steve. If all else fails I can get anything I've forgotten once I'm back in the UK.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
0 comments
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Hang on a minute...
One of the reasons I opted to stick with the Seamstresses was that the costuming would be simple.
After all, I already have the corset, which is the main thing, right? So why have I spent the last two evenings making a skirt, two shirts and a bodice (and skirt and bodice both have trim)? It wasn't supposed to work like that. I was supposed to be able to just throw a couple of things into a suitcase and that would be me.
Unfortunately doesn't quite work like that. I had to get it right, which led first to doing the shirts. Then I realised that the corset is boring so I really needed something to brighten it up. And then there's the issue that there should really be two skirts, one longer than the other...
Still, the skirt and bodice can be reused for SCA purposes. The shirts are a bit too wench for that, but they'll be useful for future conventions. All I have to do now is to attach various fasteners and so forth and then I can pack. Actually, I might just pack and finish the fasteners in the bar tomorrow. That has a lot of appeal.
0 comments
After all, I already have the corset, which is the main thing, right? So why have I spent the last two evenings making a skirt, two shirts and a bodice (and skirt and bodice both have trim)? It wasn't supposed to work like that. I was supposed to be able to just throw a couple of things into a suitcase and that would be me.
Unfortunately doesn't quite work like that. I had to get it right, which led first to doing the shirts. Then I realised that the corset is boring so I really needed something to brighten it up. And then there's the issue that there should really be two skirts, one longer than the other...
Still, the skirt and bodice can be reused for SCA purposes. The shirts are a bit too wench for that, but they'll be useful for future conventions. All I have to do now is to attach various fasteners and so forth and then I can pack. Actually, I might just pack and finish the fasteners in the bar tomorrow. That has a lot of appeal.
0 comments
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Multilingual cursing
Sort of.
So there I am, making a shirt, when the bobbin thread runs out on the sewing maching. My response? Næ! Næ! Næ! Næ! Feck! Now I know that the final word isn't precisely foreign but Father Ted was close enough to count. I really must get back into the swing of good old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon... :)
The shirt in question is for DiscworldCon this weekend. I appear to have been randomly placed in the Seamstresses guild. Hmm... not what I'd have chosen, being by nature a Witch, by profession a Wizard (RGU's graduation ceremony so reminded me of UU), and by daydream an Assassin, but I'll make a go of it and see what happens.
Let me first point out that I haven't done a DiscworldCon before. From what I've read there seem to be quite a lot of hall costumes, and the basic Seamstress requirement is a corset. No problem, got one of them. Unfortunately it's not normally worn without a Tudor gown on top of it, but I can do a couple of off-the-shoulder blouses and find an appropriate skirt/underskirt combination. I might even have time tomorrow to do a sleeveless doublet to go with it (the corset is a slightly boring black) that I can use as more normal SCA daywear.
0 comments
So there I am, making a shirt, when the bobbin thread runs out on the sewing maching. My response? Næ! Næ! Næ! Næ! Feck! Now I know that the final word isn't precisely foreign but Father Ted was close enough to count. I really must get back into the swing of good old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon... :)
The shirt in question is for DiscworldCon this weekend. I appear to have been randomly placed in the Seamstresses guild. Hmm... not what I'd have chosen, being by nature a Witch, by profession a Wizard (RGU's graduation ceremony so reminded me of UU), and by daydream an Assassin, but I'll make a go of it and see what happens.
Let me first point out that I haven't done a DiscworldCon before. From what I've read there seem to be quite a lot of hall costumes, and the basic Seamstress requirement is a corset. No problem, got one of them. Unfortunately it's not normally worn without a Tudor gown on top of it, but I can do a couple of off-the-shoulder blouses and find an appropriate skirt/underskirt combination. I might even have time tomorrow to do a sleeveless doublet to go with it (the corset is a slightly boring black) that I can use as more normal SCA daywear.
0 comments
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
White lines
When I came into the office today I realised that what I wanted, there and then in the car park, was a large pot of white paint and a car park. I could have had great fun repainting white lines - on the cars parked all over them. Don't you think that a maroon 4x4 would look wonderful with a white strip running all the way along it six inches in from the edge of the windscreen? Or a blue large estate with an asymmetric line running from inside the headlight to outside the brake light? Mind you, I think I'd need a different colour for the little white van.
It's not as if the car park spaces here are as narrow as they are in, for instance, the average urban Tesco car park. So why can't people actually place a vehicle between them rather than over them?
2 comments
It's not as if the car park spaces here are as narrow as they are in, for instance, the average urban Tesco car park. So why can't people actually place a vehicle between them rather than over them?
2 comments
Monday, August 18, 2008
Aerobic thoughts
It occurs to me that maybe 23:00 is not a good time to be doing aerobics.
I've got into the habit of a 40-45 minute workout at some point in the evening at least 5 days a week. According to some sources this is an excellent amount for weight loss; other sources tell me I should be doing twice that. Hmm... I suspect that severe boredom would set in if I started trying to do 90 minutes a day, and all sorts of other things would start to fall by the wayside.
What happens, though, is that I do various things in the evening and then generally some time after 22:00, break out the WiiFit and start exercising. Of course this means that I'm then all fired up for at least half an hour, delaying the time at which I finally get to sleep to well after midnight. Not a good idea when your sleep is as disturbed as mine is at present.
I probably ought to get into the habit of working out as soon as I get in from work. It might even help me work out some of the stresses of the day. Unfortunately I just want to collapse onto the sofa when I arrive at home, probably accompanied by a book or a documentary. Perhaps when work becomes a little less stressful I'll be able to sort something out.
0 comments
I've got into the habit of a 40-45 minute workout at some point in the evening at least 5 days a week. According to some sources this is an excellent amount for weight loss; other sources tell me I should be doing twice that. Hmm... I suspect that severe boredom would set in if I started trying to do 90 minutes a day, and all sorts of other things would start to fall by the wayside.
What happens, though, is that I do various things in the evening and then generally some time after 22:00, break out the WiiFit and start exercising. Of course this means that I'm then all fired up for at least half an hour, delaying the time at which I finally get to sleep to well after midnight. Not a good idea when your sleep is as disturbed as mine is at present.
I probably ought to get into the habit of working out as soon as I get in from work. It might even help me work out some of the stresses of the day. Unfortunately I just want to collapse onto the sofa when I arrive at home, probably accompanied by a book or a documentary. Perhaps when work becomes a little less stressful I'll be able to sort something out.
0 comments
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Strange dreams
I don't normally dream that I'm James Bond.
It was one of those dreams where you start in media res and go on to complete some particularly tricky/dangerous task, then have to repeat it... except that every time you try it something else goes wrong and you have to start again. Things that went wrong in this dream included having M turning up at the cinema multiplex while I was trying to get out. Quite surreal.
I'm wondering if my subconscious is trying to tell me something, like you can't change anything, and if you'd done it any other way everything would have gone seriously pear-shaped. Nevertheless, I could do with a better night's sleep tonight.
0 comments
It was one of those dreams where you start in media res and go on to complete some particularly tricky/dangerous task, then have to repeat it... except that every time you try it something else goes wrong and you have to start again. Things that went wrong in this dream included having M turning up at the cinema multiplex while I was trying to get out. Quite surreal.
I'm wondering if my subconscious is trying to tell me something, like you can't change anything, and if you'd done it any other way everything would have gone seriously pear-shaped. Nevertheless, I could do with a better night's sleep tonight.
0 comments
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Not making things
Today I have been not making armour.
More specifically, I have been not making a fencing hood and not making a gambeson. K has been making a hood and a gambeson and I have been merely a technical adviser (and the person who winds the thread onto the sewing machine bobbin). :) When not winding bobbins and making technical comments I've managed to do another several hours work on a rather large embroidery that will be a New Year gift for a friend. The top half is now complete so tomorrow I can wind it on and start on the bottom half. I want to get it finished before mid-October so that I can take it to the framer's when I'm back in the UK briefly before going off to Belgium on a teaching exchange.
I've also started another batch of liqueur - this time blueberry gin, given the success of the first tasting of the bramble gin the other day. Clearly the density of blueberries is different to that of blackberries as this batch barely fits into the same size of container which is easily holding the other batch. I'd never really considered the densities of berries before.
0 comments
More specifically, I have been not making a fencing hood and not making a gambeson. K has been making a hood and a gambeson and I have been merely a technical adviser (and the person who winds the thread onto the sewing machine bobbin). :) When not winding bobbins and making technical comments I've managed to do another several hours work on a rather large embroidery that will be a New Year gift for a friend. The top half is now complete so tomorrow I can wind it on and start on the bottom half. I want to get it finished before mid-October so that I can take it to the framer's when I'm back in the UK briefly before going off to Belgium on a teaching exchange.
I've also started another batch of liqueur - this time blueberry gin, given the success of the first tasting of the bramble gin the other day. Clearly the density of blueberries is different to that of blackberries as this batch barely fits into the same size of container which is easily holding the other batch. I'd never really considered the densities of berries before.
0 comments
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wonderful things
I discovered a wonderful thing last night.
Play.com does not charge shipping even to Iceland. Admittedly I do have to pay in Euros, but that's not a major issue compared to the fact that if I paid shipping then I'd also have to pay VAT on the shipping cost when Customs gouged me for import duties. Not paying shipping is therefore a Good Thing.
Another Good Thing was a surprise postcard from Pennsic - thank you Chrissie! That was something I certainly wasn't expecting. It is well timed, though, as I'm just starting to make things to take to Raglan, starting off with a bag to put all of the assorted pommels, grips, lanyards and tips that have until now been sitting in a very inelegant plastic bag in with my fencing kit. I have some rather nice gold embroidery linen upon which I'm putting a 14th century Mamluk horizontal border (bottom of page 157 for those of you who have Nancy Spies' Here Be Wyverns). I've decided that I'm going to get some more of the fabric so that I can make a matching bag for my feast gear plus place setting and napkin carrying the same design. The really nice thing about this is it's a project that doesn't require the pattern book once you've started so I can just carry around the work in progress. Expect to see it at DWCon.
I only need to finish the fencing gear bag before Raglan, which is good as I have quite a large stock of linen that is crying out to be made into some new day garb. The big question is, of course, what to make. I'm quite tempted by early garb - possibly Saxon - as I have a lot of trim that could be used to decorate it. On the other hand I really ought to do the Viking garb at some point as I now have oodles of beads, tortoise brooches and an appropriate small knife (the one I made myself). Decisions decisions...
0 comments
Play.com does not charge shipping even to Iceland. Admittedly I do have to pay in Euros, but that's not a major issue compared to the fact that if I paid shipping then I'd also have to pay VAT on the shipping cost when Customs gouged me for import duties. Not paying shipping is therefore a Good Thing.
Another Good Thing was a surprise postcard from Pennsic - thank you Chrissie! That was something I certainly wasn't expecting. It is well timed, though, as I'm just starting to make things to take to Raglan, starting off with a bag to put all of the assorted pommels, grips, lanyards and tips that have until now been sitting in a very inelegant plastic bag in with my fencing kit. I have some rather nice gold embroidery linen upon which I'm putting a 14th century Mamluk horizontal border (bottom of page 157 for those of you who have Nancy Spies' Here Be Wyverns). I've decided that I'm going to get some more of the fabric so that I can make a matching bag for my feast gear plus place setting and napkin carrying the same design. The really nice thing about this is it's a project that doesn't require the pattern book once you've started so I can just carry around the work in progress. Expect to see it at DWCon.
I only need to finish the fencing gear bag before Raglan, which is good as I have quite a large stock of linen that is crying out to be made into some new day garb. The big question is, of course, what to make. I'm quite tempted by early garb - possibly Saxon - as I have a lot of trim that could be used to decorate it. On the other hand I really ought to do the Viking garb at some point as I now have oodles of beads, tortoise brooches and an appropriate small knife (the one I made myself). Decisions decisions...
0 comments
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Singing Australian
For some reason I've spent the day singing two songs to myself, songs that I can only describe as Australian.
One of them is a filk to the tune of Waltzing Matilda, to which the first verse goes something like:
Once a jolly fan remarked to another fan,
"I've got a triffic idea," said he.
"It's a very long time since we had a WorldCon here,
Who'll join a WorldCon committee with me?"
And then continues into the chorus, which is what has been going around my head for parts of the day:
"Who'll run the WorldCon? Who'll run the WorldCon?
Who'll join a WorldCon committee with me?"
But every one he asked to join the con committee said
"You run the WorldCon and I'll climb a tree."
Or words to that effect. For the non-fannish amongst you, running a WorldCon is not something to volunteer for lightly. I can just about understand why this is going round my brain - while I was at COLD V I found myself sitting writing a filk of a filk that filks this filk, called Freaking the Mundanes. This arose after a trip to Tesco in garb. As usual, the last two lines of the chorus repeat the last two lines of the verse.
Freaking the Mundanes Revisited
Once a noble lady remarked unto a noble lord,
"I've got a wicked idea said she,"
And he laughed as she whispered and they waited for the Court to end,
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Chorus:
"Freaking the mundanes, freaking the Mundanes,
Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
And he laughed as she whispered and they waited for the Court to end,
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Then the noble lady, smiling at the noble lord,
Reached in her pouch and pulled out a key.
And she cried as they jumped into her wagon right away
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Off to the supermarket drove the pair in courtly garb
Laughing at the raised eyebrows they did see,
And they sang as they danced up and down the Beers and Wines
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Stocked up for the evening, to the checkout they did go
Smiled at the assistant quite innocently.
But the look on her face made her them raise the chorus once again
"Who'll come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Once a noble lady remarked unto a noble lord
"That was a wicked idea," said she.
And they laughed as they drove back and walked into the feasting hall
"Thank you for freaking the Mundanes with me!"
The other song that's been playing earworm today isn't exactly a song. Well, it is, but as far as I know one the lyrics were written, not the tune. So at the age of about 8 I added my own tune, which has ensured that it comes back to me regularly. Fans of S.A. Wakefield might recognise it:
Come on Gumbles, into the trap!
Watch them tumble - weeee, splat!
I think (tink!) that the reason for this musical madness is that I've spend much of the day doing office junior work - things like printing out reference documents and sticking them in folders, or making notices for doors, that sort of thing. Not exactly intellectually stimulating, I'm afraid. Just the sort of thing that would lend itself to inner voice repetition.
0 comments
One of them is a filk to the tune of Waltzing Matilda, to which the first verse goes something like:
Once a jolly fan remarked to another fan,
"I've got a triffic idea," said he.
"It's a very long time since we had a WorldCon here,
Who'll join a WorldCon committee with me?"
And then continues into the chorus, which is what has been going around my head for parts of the day:
"Who'll run the WorldCon? Who'll run the WorldCon?
Who'll join a WorldCon committee with me?"
But every one he asked to join the con committee said
"You run the WorldCon and I'll climb a tree."
Or words to that effect. For the non-fannish amongst you, running a WorldCon is not something to volunteer for lightly. I can just about understand why this is going round my brain - while I was at COLD V I found myself sitting writing a filk of a filk that filks this filk, called Freaking the Mundanes. This arose after a trip to Tesco in garb. As usual, the last two lines of the chorus repeat the last two lines of the verse.
Freaking the Mundanes Revisited
Once a noble lady remarked unto a noble lord,
"I've got a wicked idea said she,"
And he laughed as she whispered and they waited for the Court to end,
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Chorus:
"Freaking the mundanes, freaking the Mundanes,
Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
And he laughed as she whispered and they waited for the Court to end,
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Then the noble lady, smiling at the noble lord,
Reached in her pouch and pulled out a key.
And she cried as they jumped into her wagon right away
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Off to the supermarket drove the pair in courtly garb
Laughing at the raised eyebrows they did see,
And they sang as they danced up and down the Beers and Wines
"Will you come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Stocked up for the evening, to the checkout they did go
Smiled at the assistant quite innocently.
But the look on her face made her them raise the chorus once again
"Who'll come a-freaking the Mundanes with me?"
Once a noble lady remarked unto a noble lord
"That was a wicked idea," said she.
And they laughed as they drove back and walked into the feasting hall
"Thank you for freaking the Mundanes with me!"
The other song that's been playing earworm today isn't exactly a song. Well, it is, but as far as I know one the lyrics were written, not the tune. So at the age of about 8 I added my own tune, which has ensured that it comes back to me regularly. Fans of S.A. Wakefield might recognise it:
Come on Gumbles, into the trap!
Watch them tumble - weeee, splat!
I think (tink!) that the reason for this musical madness is that I've spend much of the day doing office junior work - things like printing out reference documents and sticking them in folders, or making notices for doors, that sort of thing. Not exactly intellectually stimulating, I'm afraid. Just the sort of thing that would lend itself to inner voice repetition.
0 comments
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
This chair will self-destruct in 40 days
I'm sure that modern office chairs come with a self-destruct system built in.
It's been a rather busy day up here. Meetings and other management stuff, plus a new office chair which refuses to remain at the height I prefer. I set it to an appropriate height, I work for a while, I get up to make a cup of coffee (or for some other reason) and when I return to it the darned thing has reset itself to a height more suitable for John Cleese than myself.
No wonder there are a lot of clearly 'dead' chairs hanging around the building. Once upon a time they were probably proud and elegant new office chairs but then their occupants got so annoyed at their antics that the frantic pushing and pulling of knobs and switches triggered the chairs' self destruct systems. Bang! Suddenly you have a chair whose back is set at an angle more suitable for painting the ceiling but whose seat is about right for your average garden gnome. Or, alternatively, the aforementioned Mr. Cleese.
A, in the office next to me, is of such a height. He's given up on adjustable office chairs entirely and has gone back to a simple metal-and-plastic, stacks-in-piles-of-ten bog-standard bucket seats. The ones that stick to your bum if you've more flesh than a stick insect and the misfortune to be stuck in an auditorium during a long powerpoint presentation. I don't think that the university has an environmental health budget to cover things like workstation ergonomic evaluations and their resulting expenses. Come to think of it, I don't know if Iceland actually has such requirements on its statute books.
So instead we both soldier on with the chairs we've got, shifting positions or battling with the knobs and buttons to try to get comfortable. Maybe my chair just needs training and will eventually realise that I like it to be three inches lower than my predecessor (another Cleese-type). Just so long as it doesn't turn into a recliner at the same time.
2 comments
It's been a rather busy day up here. Meetings and other management stuff, plus a new office chair which refuses to remain at the height I prefer. I set it to an appropriate height, I work for a while, I get up to make a cup of coffee (or for some other reason) and when I return to it the darned thing has reset itself to a height more suitable for John Cleese than myself.
No wonder there are a lot of clearly 'dead' chairs hanging around the building. Once upon a time they were probably proud and elegant new office chairs but then their occupants got so annoyed at their antics that the frantic pushing and pulling of knobs and switches triggered the chairs' self destruct systems. Bang! Suddenly you have a chair whose back is set at an angle more suitable for painting the ceiling but whose seat is about right for your average garden gnome. Or, alternatively, the aforementioned Mr. Cleese.
A, in the office next to me, is of such a height. He's given up on adjustable office chairs entirely and has gone back to a simple metal-and-plastic, stacks-in-piles-of-ten bog-standard bucket seats. The ones that stick to your bum if you've more flesh than a stick insect and the misfortune to be stuck in an auditorium during a long powerpoint presentation. I don't think that the university has an environmental health budget to cover things like workstation ergonomic evaluations and their resulting expenses. Come to think of it, I don't know if Iceland actually has such requirements on its statute books.
So instead we both soldier on with the chairs we've got, shifting positions or battling with the knobs and buttons to try to get comfortable. Maybe my chair just needs training and will eventually realise that I like it to be three inches lower than my predecessor (another Cleese-type). Just so long as it doesn't turn into a recliner at the same time.
2 comments
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Cracking the gin
I've just cracked the bramble gin.
M just dropped by with one or two things that I'm looking after or otherwise disposing of before she heads off to Reykjavík to do an MSc. It seemed as good a reason as any to take the first taste of the liquer.
And it's not bad at all, even after only two months of maturation. In another couple of months it should be quite stunning, and I'm now very tempted to pick up another litre of gin on the way back from DWCon to start off another similar batch - although probably with a different soft fruit.
0 comments
M just dropped by with one or two things that I'm looking after or otherwise disposing of before she heads off to Reykjavík to do an MSc. It seemed as good a reason as any to take the first taste of the liquer.
And it's not bad at all, even after only two months of maturation. In another couple of months it should be quite stunning, and I'm now very tempted to pick up another litre of gin on the way back from DWCon to start off another similar batch - although probably with a different soft fruit.
0 comments
Monday, August 11, 2008
Pyrrhic victory
I have my MacBook back.
Actually I don't have my MacBook back, I have a new MacBook of the same spec. Which annoys me a bit as two weeks ago I was led to believe that I'd have my MacBook with my data, possibly with a different hard drive. It's taken them five weeks to decide to just give me a new machine.
I am not impressed by the service.
So I'm now recovering much of my data from Time Machine and I hope I'll be able to re-download the remaining couple of items without too much trouble, although there are a few documents I know I've lost and will have to recreate. It'll be interesting to see just how much of the general setup of the machine I'll have to change once the restore operation is complete.
3 comments
Actually I don't have my MacBook back, I have a new MacBook of the same spec. Which annoys me a bit as two weeks ago I was led to believe that I'd have my MacBook with my data, possibly with a different hard drive. It's taken them five weeks to decide to just give me a new machine.
I am not impressed by the service.
So I'm now recovering much of my data from Time Machine and I hope I'll be able to re-download the remaining couple of items without too much trouble, although there are a few documents I know I've lost and will have to recreate. It'll be interesting to see just how much of the general setup of the machine I'll have to change once the restore operation is complete.
3 comments
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Being Andrew Sachs
It must be an interesting life, being Andrew Sachs. Or John Shrapnel, for that matter.
I'm currently sitting watching (or at least listening to) a documentary on Animal Planet that's being narrated by Andrew Sachs. As I listened, it occurred to me that the voice was very familiar from other documentaries on many different subjects. It sometimes feels as if the soundtrack to my life is narrated by the two of them in turn.
Then it occurred to me - what a wonderful job, narrating science and history documentaries! Just think of all of the things you could learn at work. Okay, so it might get a little frustrating occasionally if you're asked to narrate something that's complete bullshit - peddling disproven theories or unscience like intelligent design - but on the whole you get to learn things as you spread the knowledge around. Maybe I should add documentary narrator to space traffic controller and navigator of the starship Enterprise to my list of things I'd like to do when I grow up.
In my rather-less-interesting life today I went out with K and Ö to the craft show at Hrafnagill. It's a bit of a rip-off really; they charge you 1000kr to go onto the site where you are enticed to buy hideously over-priced stuff. My main reason for attending is that last year there was one old chap selling turned woodware at sensible prices, leading me to buy a rather nice small plate. This year I bought a matching bowl and beaker to go with it, giving me a light set of feastgear for travelling to events outside Iceland. We're sure that he must make these things just for the joy of making things, given that his prices are so much lower than the other woodworkers. Then again, he does simpler items - none of the showy multiple inlays for him, just single pieces of wood turned into simple but elegant tableware.
Now all I need to do is to make a bag into which I can put them. That ought to make a fairly simple and portable project to take with me to DiscworldCon.
0 comments
I'm currently sitting watching (or at least listening to) a documentary on Animal Planet that's being narrated by Andrew Sachs. As I listened, it occurred to me that the voice was very familiar from other documentaries on many different subjects. It sometimes feels as if the soundtrack to my life is narrated by the two of them in turn.
Then it occurred to me - what a wonderful job, narrating science and history documentaries! Just think of all of the things you could learn at work. Okay, so it might get a little frustrating occasionally if you're asked to narrate something that's complete bullshit - peddling disproven theories or unscience like intelligent design - but on the whole you get to learn things as you spread the knowledge around. Maybe I should add documentary narrator to space traffic controller and navigator of the starship Enterprise to my list of things I'd like to do when I grow up.
In my rather-less-interesting life today I went out with K and Ö to the craft show at Hrafnagill. It's a bit of a rip-off really; they charge you 1000kr to go onto the site where you are enticed to buy hideously over-priced stuff. My main reason for attending is that last year there was one old chap selling turned woodware at sensible prices, leading me to buy a rather nice small plate. This year I bought a matching bowl and beaker to go with it, giving me a light set of feastgear for travelling to events outside Iceland. We're sure that he must make these things just for the joy of making things, given that his prices are so much lower than the other woodworkers. Then again, he does simpler items - none of the showy multiple inlays for him, just single pieces of wood turned into simple but elegant tableware.
Now all I need to do is to make a bag into which I can put them. That ought to make a fairly simple and portable project to take with me to DiscworldCon.
0 comments
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Liquid Christmas pudding
The oil-covered kitchen surface is now oil-free.
Cleaning it required acres of kitchen towel and some heavy-duty Jif kitchen cleaner, but it was a good opportunity to move a number of things that don't get moved too often and give the area a good going-over.
Amongst the items to be moved was the bottle collection. On occasions a single bottle will be moved if I get the urge to have a G&T or an Irish coffee, but in general I drink little alcohol so it sits there in all its glory gathering dust. When I moved everything I discovered that the bottle of rather nice madeira had one glass-worth of liquid left in it, prompting me to finish it as a post-clean-up celebration.
I do like madeira. I know it's not a terribly fashionable drink but a good madeira has all of the richness of taste of a liquid Christmas pudding... and I am very fond of Christmas pudding. Forget the turkey and abnormal numbers of vegetables, the pud is definitely the hightlight of Christmas dinner. Port and sherry are pleasant, but neither have the pudding-like body of a good madeira, so I think that I may well have t pick up a new bottle on my way back from DiscworldCon later this months.
Which reminds me, I really should sort out my travel for that, given that it's only a couple of weeks away. I don't actually have a teaching timetable for this year yet (don't ask!) but it's looking like I'll have to fly out on Friday morning and back on Monday evening. The London route is cheaper, but I have yet to work out whether I want to do the train or just drive. It might be cheaper and faster to take the train, and as I'm not planning to explore the Birmingham countryside a car probably isn't necessary.
0 comments
Cleaning it required acres of kitchen towel and some heavy-duty Jif kitchen cleaner, but it was a good opportunity to move a number of things that don't get moved too often and give the area a good going-over.
Amongst the items to be moved was the bottle collection. On occasions a single bottle will be moved if I get the urge to have a G&T or an Irish coffee, but in general I drink little alcohol so it sits there in all its glory gathering dust. When I moved everything I discovered that the bottle of rather nice madeira had one glass-worth of liquid left in it, prompting me to finish it as a post-clean-up celebration.
I do like madeira. I know it's not a terribly fashionable drink but a good madeira has all of the richness of taste of a liquid Christmas pudding... and I am very fond of Christmas pudding. Forget the turkey and abnormal numbers of vegetables, the pud is definitely the hightlight of Christmas dinner. Port and sherry are pleasant, but neither have the pudding-like body of a good madeira, so I think that I may well have t pick up a new bottle on my way back from DiscworldCon later this months.
Which reminds me, I really should sort out my travel for that, given that it's only a couple of weeks away. I don't actually have a teaching timetable for this year yet (don't ask!) but it's looking like I'll have to fly out on Friday morning and back on Monday evening. The London route is cheaper, but I have yet to work out whether I want to do the train or just drive. It might be cheaper and faster to take the train, and as I'm not planning to explore the Birmingham countryside a car probably isn't necessary.
0 comments
Friday, August 08, 2008
Stressed out
It hasn't been a good week.
To start with, I didn't get back into the country until 03:00 on Monday morning. At least it was a bank holiday so I didn't have to go into work.
Work itself has been pretty stressful too - teaching begins in two weeks and there are stil a number of things that need to be officially decided before we can do anything on some fronts. That's very frustrating as a lot of it is stuff that should have been sorted out a couple of months ago.
Then tonight I spilt hot oil all over the kitchen worktop. And didn't have enough kitchen roll to mop it all up. I foresee a supermarket run in the morning and an afternoon giving the surfaces a good scrub.
Other than that, then, the plan is to spend the weekend calming down and trying not to think too much. Here's hoping.
3 comments
To start with, I didn't get back into the country until 03:00 on Monday morning. At least it was a bank holiday so I didn't have to go into work.
Work itself has been pretty stressful too - teaching begins in two weeks and there are stil a number of things that need to be officially decided before we can do anything on some fronts. That's very frustrating as a lot of it is stuff that should have been sorted out a couple of months ago.
Then tonight I spilt hot oil all over the kitchen worktop. And didn't have enough kitchen roll to mop it all up. I foresee a supermarket run in the morning and an afternoon giving the surfaces a good scrub.
Other than that, then, the plan is to spend the weekend calming down and trying not to think too much. Here's hoping.
3 comments
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Another 5
Life continues to be less than perfect so here's another five positive things.
1) I got home today to find my ZZ9 membership pack. Woo-hoo! I used to be a member many years ago but drifted away (as you sometimes do), then earlier this year had a case of what the hell, why not? and rejoined. It was at just about the time I bought www.beeblebear.net, which also prompted me to put a link to ZZ9 as a bit of an explanation. One of these days I'll sort out the artwork and do a redesign but I haven't had time recently.
2) Boom Blox is proving to be most enjoyable. I've now finished the initial explore section and am about to go onto the expert explore bit. I also discovered that my Wii has definite issues with sunlight, in that the wiimote behaved quite erratically until I closed the blinds to block out the direct sunlight.
3) I have a wonderful easy-to-use shower which I'm going to use as soon as I've finished writing this.
4) I happened to have a couple of AA batteries lurking in a drawer that I could use to replace the almost-dead ones in the wiimote.
5) The bramble gin I started a couple of months ago is probably ready to decant. I must remember to get some good ice-cream tomorrow so that I can do the deed over the weekend. Mmm... gin-soaked blackberries...
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1) I got home today to find my ZZ9 membership pack. Woo-hoo! I used to be a member many years ago but drifted away (as you sometimes do), then earlier this year had a case of what the hell, why not? and rejoined. It was at just about the time I bought www.beeblebear.net, which also prompted me to put a link to ZZ9 as a bit of an explanation. One of these days I'll sort out the artwork and do a redesign but I haven't had time recently.
2) Boom Blox is proving to be most enjoyable. I've now finished the initial explore section and am about to go onto the expert explore bit. I also discovered that my Wii has definite issues with sunlight, in that the wiimote behaved quite erratically until I closed the blinds to block out the direct sunlight.
3) I have a wonderful easy-to-use shower which I'm going to use as soon as I've finished writing this.
4) I happened to have a couple of AA batteries lurking in a drawer that I could use to replace the almost-dead ones in the wiimote.
5) The bramble gin I started a couple of months ago is probably ready to decant. I must remember to get some good ice-cream tomorrow so that I can do the deed over the weekend. Mmm... gin-soaked blackberries...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
5 sources of happiness
Life has been less than fun today for many reasons, so to cheer myself up I'm going to write about five things that make me happy instead.
1) I have an old graphite iBook that is standing in for my still-in-the-repair-shop MacBook. I may get the MacBook back next Monday, but who knows around here?
2) I have my Wii/WiiFit back. I haven't done any Fitting tonight as I was distracted by Boom Blox, which is also very addictive. The physics is pretty impressive too (yes, I know I'm sad to notice that).
3) I came back to Iceland to find the first issue of my subscription to the Annals of Improbable Research waiting for me. At present I'm enjoying the paper on Colour Preference in the Insane.
4) My BlackBerry is still a pretty cool gadget.
5) Mars has water very close to the surface. Yes, I know this is pretty irrelevent to my day-to-day life but it's good to hold onto some of the more abstract important things in this universe.
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1) I have an old graphite iBook that is standing in for my still-in-the-repair-shop MacBook. I may get the MacBook back next Monday, but who knows around here?
2) I have my Wii/WiiFit back. I haven't done any Fitting tonight as I was distracted by Boom Blox, which is also very addictive. The physics is pretty impressive too (yes, I know I'm sad to notice that).
3) I came back to Iceland to find the first issue of my subscription to the Annals of Improbable Research waiting for me. At present I'm enjoying the paper on Colour Preference in the Insane.
4) My BlackBerry is still a pretty cool gadget.
5) Mars has water very close to the surface. Yes, I know this is pretty irrelevent to my day-to-day life but it's good to hold onto some of the more abstract important things in this universe.
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Monday, August 04, 2008
Back on the sofa
I am now safely esconced on my sofa.
Which is a bittersweet thing, given that it signifies the end of the holidays and the return to work but is at the same time a chance to relax back into an environment that is, more or less, under my control. As usual, I got home and fell asleep.
I have an excuse in that I didn't get to my hotel until after 05:30. We left Glasgow just after 02:00, so by the time we got in the airport was beginning to open up for today's flights, never mind catching up with yesterday's. It could have been far worse though; our landing was immediately followed by that of a flight from Copenhagen that had, judging by the scheduled departure time of its return journey, been delayed for 13 hours. The people waiting for that one really did look tired and unhappy.
Fortunately there was no need for me to feel guilty about not going straight into work this afternoon as it's been a bank holiday. This meant that I wasn't able to go shopping but fortunately I had enough stuff in the cupboard to do pasta with sauce for dinner. Nor was I able to collect my Mac; tomorrow is clearly going to be a shopping day as well as a working day.
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Which is a bittersweet thing, given that it signifies the end of the holidays and the return to work but is at the same time a chance to relax back into an environment that is, more or less, under my control. As usual, I got home and fell asleep.
I have an excuse in that I didn't get to my hotel until after 05:30. We left Glasgow just after 02:00, so by the time we got in the airport was beginning to open up for today's flights, never mind catching up with yesterday's. It could have been far worse though; our landing was immediately followed by that of a flight from Copenhagen that had, judging by the scheduled departure time of its return journey, been delayed for 13 hours. The people waiting for that one really did look tired and unhappy.
Fortunately there was no need for me to feel guilty about not going straight into work this afternoon as it's been a bank holiday. This meant that I wasn't able to go shopping but fortunately I had enough stuff in the cupboard to do pasta with sauce for dinner. Nor was I able to collect my Mac; tomorrow is clearly going to be a shopping day as well as a working day.
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Sunday, August 03, 2008
Reporting in...
From Belfast International with coffee and chocolate cake.
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It's been several days since I last reported in, and now that I've got the BlackBerry I have no real excuse for this other than that I've been quite busy.
I'm on my way back after Champions of Lough Devnaree II, an SCA event where I didn't win any prizes but came away with a far greater honour than I'd ever imagined.
On Saturday morning I opted not to take part in the archery competition in order not to stress my shoulder before the afternoon's fencing tourney; even so I ended up having to switch to my right hand half way through. This led to highlight #1 of the day - getting a double kill against C with my off hand. That may sound like a strange sort of victory but considering that C is one of the Kingdom's top fencers I will be cherishing it as such. I eventually came a creditable third, losing in the final playoffs.
They got me at Court. The last thing I was expecting was to be called to be made a companion of the ID Order of Excellence for Martial Prowess. When His Luminosity the Viceroy called up the members of the Order I was certain that it would be one of two other people who would be called forward. It appears that the fact that I remember which end of the rapier is which well enough to teach a little has been noticed. :) It was a rather humbling moment to be welcomed into the Order by C and E, neither of whom could I even dream of fantasising about holding a candle to.
There was an excellent feast, although with less drinking than usual afterwards - I think I might still have been in a bit of a state of shock.
This morning I finally got to do my Thrown Weapons Marshal authorisation. Yes, the maniacs from Klakavirki can now officially hold knife-throwing and axe-throwing tournaments. And, what is even better, as a result of that session I'm not the only one - Klakavirki now has 4 thrown weapons marshals.
So all around it's been an excellent weekend. I've had fun, I've been surprised, humbled and proud, I've seen other Klakavirki members start their own journeys into the big wide Knowne Worlde, I've made some new friends, met up with some old friends and, occasionally, been able to put a face to a username.
Not a bad haul for three days, I think.
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
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Friday, August 01, 2008
Delayed again
This time at Speke Airport (aka Liverpool John Lennon Airport).
I'm beginning to wonder if I'm just chronically unlucky when it comes to air travel or whether instead there is an increasing amount of entropy in the system, entrolpy that manifests as delays.
Of course it could just be a government conspiracy intent on driving me insane so that no-one will believe a word I say after they start performing strange experiments upon me.
Now where did I put my tin foil hat?
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
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I'm beginning to wonder if I'm just chronically unlucky when it comes to air travel or whether instead there is an increasing amount of entropy in the system, entrolpy that manifests as delays.
Of course it could just be a government conspiracy intent on driving me insane so that no-one will believe a word I say after they start performing strange experiments upon me.
Now where did I put my tin foil hat?
Sent með Blackberry frá Vodafone
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