I'm still feeling the after effects of the bank holiday weekend, in one way and another. I managed to pull a hamstring whilst clambering up onto the shed roof on Saturday in order to tack a strip of roofing felt down to replace the one that came loose in the last storm. I didn't feel it at the time, but I could feel it tightening up over the subsequent days and the last straw was walking up the hill from the station on Monday night.
Ow ow ow.
It's taken until now to start wearing off, aided by ibuprofens and keeping it moving, but I suspect that it's another sign of ageing. Grumph.
In spider news, I found another hee-yuge spider this morning - this one was hiding in the kitchen sink. It looks like as this is going to be a regular occurrence until winter.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Haikusday - WestonPhest
Spirits not dampened
A drizzle soaked car park rocks
Barnsley WestonPhest
Three stages showcase
An eclectic mix of genres
From pop to metal
Blistering guitar,
A graceful belly dancer,
Then a tenor uke
Dancers synchronised
With robotic precision
Faux Katy Perry
Velcro Teddybears
Breathe life into weary feet
Wistful romantics
An empty dance floor
A puddle filled with fag ends
Shuttered shop windows
A drizzle soaked car park rocks
Barnsley WestonPhest
Three stages showcase
An eclectic mix of genres
From pop to metal
Blistering guitar,
A graceful belly dancer,
Then a tenor uke
Dancers synchronised
With robotic precision
Faux Katy Perry
Velcro Teddybears
Breathe life into weary feet
Wistful romantics
An empty dance floor
A puddle filled with fag ends
Shuttered shop windows
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Loose Living
So, long time, no blog. It's easy to get out of the habit when I get out of work and immediately feel like falling asleep before I so much as look at a keyboard. So, it's a bank holiday weekend and I've actually managed to catch up on some sleep with a much needed snooze, so what have I been up to?
In OU news, I racked up another 98% for my video project which I was pleased with - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it publicly, but I might put it on Google Plus if anyone is interested and I can work out how to upload it. I've got an end of course assessment to do now, with a day school in Leeds next Saturday.
In games news, Zookeeper DX has been occupying my time - it's perfect for playing on the touch screen of the iPhone in small doses (ok, long doses of Tokaton mode then). I've also played a bit more of Portal 2 - how could anyone think that this was a short game? Some of the test chambers with energy fields, gels and turrets can take a fair amount of time to solve, especially if trial and error is required.
In telly news, we've been watching Forbrydelsen (also known as The Killing). It's a Danish crime drama with the twist being that the lead investigator Sarah Lund is efficient and does things by the book, while her maverick partner Jan Meyer frequently threatens to derail the case by jumping to wrong conclusions and strong arming witnesses. Doctor Who is back again, and very watchable, although the increasingly convoluted back story of River Song (complete with some audacious retconning by Stephen Moffat) is overshadowing everything else. Good fun for a Saturday night if you don't over analyse it.
Finally, we have the last festival of the summer with WestonPhest in Barnsley tomorrow, so expect tweets ...
Sunday Links
- A Pouncing Pair of Snow Leopard Cubs ZooBorns
- ARKive Discover the world's most endangered species
- Space Oddity The children's book
- GIF.TV Addiction at its finest
- New Wave Time Warp Party like it's 30 years ago!
- 13 Incredibly Intricate Historic Libraries I have dreams like this ...
- Portal: No Escape Live Action Short Film by Dan Trachtenberg
- Outside Aperture Another Portal movie
- Women Fighters In Reasonable Armor Just say no to chainmail bikinis!
- Hyperinflation (1921 - 1923) Iconic Photos
- Give me 11 seconds of your time and I will make you gasp Richard Wiseman's Blog
- The most horrifying thing you will see all day Just keep scrolling down ...
- The End
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
For Richer, for Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren
For Richer, for Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
From early games where she was fleeced by her elder brother, to the swankiest of French casinos via the dazzling lights of Vegas and games in dodgy boozers before coming home to the comforting security of Tuesday games at The Vic, Victoria Coren has mapped out her life in poker. It is a looking glass world, inhabited by characters going by names like Devilfish, J.Q. and The Elegance, who bandy words like big blinds, buttons and flops and are always looking for the turn of the final river card that could win or lose them a fortune. It's not about the money though - a big win can just as easily disappear in a flash with an ill advised dice game on the way out of the casino.
This is an intriguing and moving view into the world of a professional gambler, during the turbulent years where the game moved from something played in smoky back rooms of dubious legality to a brave new world of internet millionaires and poker superstars.
View all my reviews
Sunday Links
- They Don't Call 'em Puffins for Nuthin' Zooborns
- Time Lapse Photographs of then and now, and what happened in the intervening years
- THE TERRIFYING GANGS OF ENGLAND Being frightened of 'Da Yout' is nothing new, says Adam Curtis
- How the FBI investigates the hacktivities of Anonymous
- Best optical illusion video ever? Richard Wiseman's Blog
- The Oneiric Ocelot Wallpaper Shortlist Pool Some great pictures as potential candidates for the next Ubuntu release
- The 50 Best Websites of 2011 From Time Magazine
- The Ten Year Drip
- What is the speed of smell?
- Digital serendipity Be careful what you don't wish for -- Aleks Krotoski
- Ineffective Pick-Up Lines for the Modern Internet Persona.
- 50 Trippiest Drug Hallucinations in Films Whoah, dude!
- The 50th Anniversary of the Building of the Berlin Wall In pictures
- Happy 91st Ronald Searle
- Where's Wall-E Simply brilliant!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Daisy Update
You will be pleased to know that Daisy seems to be a lot better now - she's eating and drinking again, and also cleaning herself (carefully) - phew!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Daisy was still on the poorly side last night, and not showing much inclination to have anything to eat or drink so we gave her some modged up high protein food with a syringe (a bit of messy business) and let her stay in for the night. She made herself comfy at the end of the bed and all was well until about four in the morning when she woke up full of beans and proceeded to purr loudly and bite my face until I got up to let her out.
Anyhoo, she's been to the vet again and he is pleased with how her tongue is healing, so she's back on her favourite dry food and we just need to keep an eye on her to make sure she is drinking enough water.
Anyhoo, she's been to the vet again and he is pleased with how her tongue is healing, so she's back on her favourite dry food and we just need to keep an eye on her to make sure she is drinking enough water.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Haikusday
Primal fear, hard wired
Triggered by the sight of a
Common house spider
Battle lines are drawn
They will take my internet
From my cold dead hands
Why do I feel like
A stranger in a strange land?
Babylon burning
Razor sharp snap shots
America dissected
Into short lean cuts
Triggered by the sight of a
Common house spider
Battle lines are drawn
They will take my internet
From my cold dead hands
Why do I feel like
A stranger in a strange land?
Babylon burning
Razor sharp snap shots
America dissected
Into short lean cuts
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday Links
- Baby Meerkat Mania! on ZooBorns - simples!
- Doggelganger Working on the principle that dogs look like their owners, find your ideal doggie match here (H/T CerebralPig!)
- Dog Football The best video game concept - evar!
- Google Ngram Viewer A fascinating tool for tracking the popularity of words over time
- Last Moments Of Life on Vimeo A poignant short film about the death of a dragonfly
- How Death Creates Icons Iconic Photo of Che
- Post-Conflict Potter Real life political analysts consider the reconstruction and reconciliation that would have been needed after the (SPOILER) defeat of Voldemort.
- 360Cities – Panoramic Photography Blog Hiroshima six months after the Atomic Bomb. Horrifying.
- Stand Your Ground Know your rights when taking urban photographs
- Tonight (D&D song) A sweetly nostalgic song about the delights of playing D&D to forget about the real world for a couple of hours.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
White Riot
This seems to have been an exceptionally long week.
Watching the reports of riots on familiar streets has left me feeling angry and depressed for many reasons. We have an alienated underclass with no stake in society and no qualms about committing blatant acts of theft and destruction, and yet how are there actions any different to the bankers with no thought other than their next bonus who have driven the world economy into a brick wall? Politicians stand up in parliament and condemn, and yet it was only a couple of years ago that they themselves were caught out claiming thousands of pounds to furnish their second homes with big tellies and expensive bookcases. The papers wax wrathful about people flouting the laws that they are happy to break in pursuit of a good story. We can't even trust the police accounts of the shooting incident that was the trigger for the riots.
In my most paranoid moments I suspect that David Cameron was happy to let the riots take hold for two days before returning to deal with them. The precedent has now been set for turning off social media, increasing the amount of CCTV surveillance and we have even had sizeable numbers of people calling for baton rounds, water cannon and even live ammunition to be used to restore order.
Something has gone horribly wrong somewhere.
Watching the reports of riots on familiar streets has left me feeling angry and depressed for many reasons. We have an alienated underclass with no stake in society and no qualms about committing blatant acts of theft and destruction, and yet how are there actions any different to the bankers with no thought other than their next bonus who have driven the world economy into a brick wall? Politicians stand up in parliament and condemn, and yet it was only a couple of years ago that they themselves were caught out claiming thousands of pounds to furnish their second homes with big tellies and expensive bookcases. The papers wax wrathful about people flouting the laws that they are happy to break in pursuit of a good story. We can't even trust the police accounts of the shooting incident that was the trigger for the riots.
In my most paranoid moments I suspect that David Cameron was happy to let the riots take hold for two days before returning to deal with them. The precedent has now been set for turning off social media, increasing the amount of CCTV surveillance and we have even had sizeable numbers of people calling for baton rounds, water cannon and even live ammunition to be used to restore order.
Something has gone horribly wrong somewhere.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Sunday Links
- Meet Bella and Bill, The Baby Fennec Foxes Bebeh Fennecs on ZooBorns
- Mariachi Band Serenades a Beluga Whale Happy happy joy joy!
- The Cat Scan Cats. Scanned.
- Age of Fable A choose your own style adventure, playable in the browser
- Guinness Physics The physics of a nice pint of Guinness
- That can be my next tweet
- Avatar Portraits Enter your twitter name to convert your avatar into a portrait
- Explain Like I'm Five Complex issues, explained at the level of a five year old
- Newswordy All of the news, related to a particular word of the day
- Everything Is a Remix
- Ten Unbelievably Strange Units of Measurement
- Pink Project Another Brick in the Wall mashed with Mammagamma in a fantastic KLF style performance on an Italian version of Top of the Pops.
- Van Halen and M&Ms Why do Van Halen insist on having a bowl of M&Ms with all of the brown ones taken out? It's not what you might think ...
- Stereogum Presents… STROKED A Tribute To Is This It - Stereogum
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Friday, August 05, 2011
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Podcast Thursday
- The Tugwell Tapes, Vol 3 Another slice of nostalgia, and it was quite a jolt to realise that this was recorded whilst both Jade Goody and Michael Jackson were still alive. Tempus does indeed fugit.
- Richard Herrings Edinburgh Fringe Podcast In contrast, you can't get much more up to date than this daily topical podcast, (nearly) live from the Fringe.
Rain Dogs
Even though it's not quite as warm as it was, the humidity is still nudging 100% making everything muggy and sticky in the extreme. I went out to buy a few bits and bobs from the retail park and came back feeling as if I had been swimming in warm treacle. Thank goodness for the air con in the car and the office, at least.
Still, at least being awake has done wonders for my Words with Friends scores - I racked up FLATTEN on a triple word for 118 points at two o'clock in the morning the other night. Apparently WwF will be introducing cross platform support to play against people on Facebook at some point, which should increase the pool of potential victims, er, I mean opponents.
In OU news, my video assignment is more or less complete, apart from a bit of tweaking on one of the sound effects. I just need to type up the video plan (which is worth 20% of the marks alone, for a one page document - easy marks) and then do the critical self analysis question.
Still, at least being awake has done wonders for my Words with Friends scores - I racked up FLATTEN on a triple word for 118 points at two o'clock in the morning the other night. Apparently WwF will be introducing cross platform support to play against people on Facebook at some point, which should increase the pool of potential victims, er, I mean opponents.
In OU news, my video assignment is more or less complete, apart from a bit of tweaking on one of the sound effects. I just need to type up the video plan (which is worth 20% of the marks alone, for a one page document - easy marks) and then do the critical self analysis question.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Summer in the City
Another sultry night, although not quite as humid, and at least I slept more or less uninterrupted (apart from a fearsomely convoluted set of dreams which involved me being a double agent ferreting out spies or something).
In OU news, I got back the result for my M255 course and I was frustratingly six marks short of a distinction on my final exam. Oh well, it was a useful experience and not bad considering it was the first three hour exam that I have sat in umpty-tum years. I shall be wary of courses with final exam components in future and I certainly won't be attempting to do ninety points of courses at the same time either. I'm making good progress with my video assignment on T215 and I'll get that submished next week before cracking on with the end of module assessment.
In games news, after finishing L.A. Noire I have returned to Portal 2 and a whole new set of challenges with the test spheres and the attraction/repulsion gel. The vertiginous interiors and 70s style offices make for a very different environment to the first Portal game (which you really should play, if you haven't). I've also been playing 'Child of Eden' which is audio-visual eye candy of the very highest order. I'm still not entirely sure of how the game calculates the scores or how you build up the multipliers, but that really isn't the point. I am really just playing it to chill out and enjoy the visuals, and as soon as I have unlocked all of the levels I think I'll just play it on trip mode (or whatever it is called).
In OU news, I got back the result for my M255 course and I was frustratingly six marks short of a distinction on my final exam. Oh well, it was a useful experience and not bad considering it was the first three hour exam that I have sat in umpty-tum years. I shall be wary of courses with final exam components in future and I certainly won't be attempting to do ninety points of courses at the same time either. I'm making good progress with my video assignment on T215 and I'll get that submished next week before cracking on with the end of module assessment.
In games news, after finishing L.A. Noire I have returned to Portal 2 and a whole new set of challenges with the test spheres and the attraction/repulsion gel. The vertiginous interiors and 70s style offices make for a very different environment to the first Portal game (which you really should play, if you haven't). I've also been playing 'Child of Eden' which is audio-visual eye candy of the very highest order. I'm still not entirely sure of how the game calculates the scores or how you build up the multipliers, but that really isn't the point. I am really just playing it to chill out and enjoy the visuals, and as soon as I have unlocked all of the levels I think I'll just play it on trip mode (or whatever it is called).
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Haikusday
Light spills from doorways
Gateways to alien worlds
What sights lie beyond?
The cat stretches out
Luxuriating in a
Two handed mither
Lunchtime walk is like
Stepping into a sauna
Whilst wearing a suit
Back to the test spheres
Navigating a world of
Portals and strange gels
Gateways to alien worlds
What sights lie beyond?
The cat stretches out
Luxuriating in a
Two handed mither
Lunchtime walk is like
Stepping into a sauna
Whilst wearing a suit
Back to the test spheres
Navigating a world of
Portals and strange gels
Monday, August 01, 2011
Summertime Blues
A muggy night last night, followed by an even muggier day today. In fact it was as muggy as a gang of hoodies, hiding in an unlit subway at one in the morning waiting for somebody to walk past tweeting on their iPhone. In other words, I didn't sleep very well and felt even more rubbish when I remembered that I had to get up at ten past six for work. Evidently a week is exactly the right length of time to acclimatise to not having to get up at the proverbial crack.
Anyhoo, work was the usual same old, with a mountain of emails to clear and the usual tricksy problems to deal with. Can I have another holiday nao, pls?
In other news, I seem to have attracted some spam from a Catholic blog trying to flog a magazine containing an article called 'The Necessity of Suffering' - what a sordid and nasty little philosophy they cling to, to justify their beliefs. I'm sure that no aids orphan or abused child suffers more than the pope as he sits on his golden throne wearing his hand made red leather shoes. Anyhoo, here's Stephen Fry slam dunking the odious Anne Widdecombe (and no, going on a TV dance show does not make her loveable and cuddly).
Anyhoo, work was the usual same old, with a mountain of emails to clear and the usual tricksy problems to deal with. Can I have another holiday nao, pls?
In other news, I seem to have attracted some spam from a Catholic blog trying to flog a magazine containing an article called 'The Necessity of Suffering' - what a sordid and nasty little philosophy they cling to, to justify their beliefs. I'm sure that no aids orphan or abused child suffers more than the pope as he sits on his golden throne wearing his hand made red leather shoes. Anyhoo, here's Stephen Fry slam dunking the odious Anne Widdecombe (and no, going on a TV dance show does not make her loveable and cuddly).
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