Thatcher - Dividing the country even in death

Yesterday former UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher died in her bed in a room at the Ritz hotel in London, where she had been living for some time.  She was 87.

During her 11 years in power, she managed to divide the country, with her supporters proclaiming her as the countries savour, while the rest compared her to Satan himself.

You can see the different reactions across the country from the regional headlines, here.

Personally I think her policies were evil.  The underclass that exists today is a direct result of her policies.  The fact that you have to bow down to corporations for your services is a result of her privatisation of everything.  Her mantra was greed is good, society doesn't exist, and you have to look after number 1.

Personally I won't be shedding any tears now that she's gone.  Various city's had impromptu street parties celebrating her demise.  I can understand why they did.

But now the point of this post.  On Facebook and Twitter, when the news broke, there was the same sort of posts that spring up when a celebrity dies.  However tasteless you think that sort of humour is, initially the posts were pretty tame.  Then people started defending her, saying she was a poor lonely 87 year old woman and deserved some respect.

The fall out was horrific.  People who were friends in real life as well as online, were getting torn into each other.
Today I had a look back over my FB feed.  It's like a war zone.  Twitter wasn't much better.
I've seen three people comment that their friends list is shorter today than it was yesterday, as they de-friend people who's posts they found objectionable.

Even in death she's causing division.

The Great Glasgow Transport rip-off

At the moment because of the weather, I'm not cycling to work, and get a train in the mornings.  For the privilege of going 2 stops, twice a day, 5 days a week, I pay £51.50 a month.  Now I can use it at weekends, except, well, there's no trains on my line on a Sunday.

The bus alternative is £52.  Admittedly that covers the whole Glasgow network, which appears to be split into only 2 zones, Glasgow City and Whole Network.  So, for £0.50 more, I get to travel on the whole network, and am not restricted to the days I travel.
The only problem is, despite the city centre having been open for business on a Sunday for about 20 years, we still have the antiquated "Sunday Service".  Now, this was fine when there was no shops open on a Sunday, but apparently shops do more business on a Sunday now than a Saturday, so having a reduced service on a Sunday makes no sense whatsoever.

The last option is the Zonecard.  Now this is provided by SPT and allows travel on buses, trains, underground, and ferry.  Excellent and as you would expect, having more options makes it more expensive.  A lot more.  3 zones (which is what I would need to get to work) is £85.10 for 4 weeks.

There's also the strange situation where the Zonecard has Glasgow split into a hell of a lot of zones, and not just the two that First bus has for the city.  This is sort of fair enough, when you consider that it covers a far wider area than the bus only card, but they use a completely different model.  From my house to the city centre with the Zonecard, is 3 zones.  With the bus card it's 2.

Now, another weird one is this.  Both the trains and the buses are run by First.  I have a 4 week train ticket. The other day my train was cancelled (and so was the next one).  Since there's only 2 an hour, I wasn't prepared to wait an hour to see if the one after that again was running.  First didn't lay on a replacement bus service (something they do when there is heavy snow and the trains can't run), so I jumped on a bus.  Now, even though I've already paid First to get from the town to the house by train, which they can't provide, I have to PAY AGAIN to use the bus to get home.  The bus driver doesn't recognise that my train isn't running and I should be able to travel by bus.  EVEN THOUGH when they recently electrified the line and there were no trains running, we COULD use the train tickets on the buses. It's not rocket science, it's the same company running the trains and the buses.  A ticket to travel should be just that, and the means of travel (bus or train) irrelevant.

I can't be the only one to think this.  Can I?

New guitar class

The guy I've been getting guitar lessons from, told me last week to go to an earlier class, as the people who're in the one I've been going to, have been missing weeks, and I'm the only one who's been to all of them.  The result is that I'm a bit ahead of them, and he thinks I'm being held back.
SO, on Saturday, I did just that.  The group I'm now going to are ahead of me in experience, so I was basically bottom of the class, and came away with what seemed like a huge info-dump to deal with for next week.

The guy taking the class says that IS the right group for me to be learning with, as although I've got some catching up to do, it's taking me out of my comfort zone and pushing me.

Karen thinks it's hilarious, as apparently I'm now practicing with a look of intense concentration on my face, and definitely look like I'm having a hard time of it.  Apparently what I'm struggling with sounds ok to her, but I need to practice practice practice.  Fortunately I enjoy it (or I wouldn't be doing it) so it's not a struggle to pick up the guitar and have a practice, it's more of a struggle to put it down.  Long may that continue.

Comics reading of late.

I hadn't bought any monthly comics for quite a few years, picking up graphic novels instead, but when DC rebooted their titles, I started getting Action Comics: Superman, Detective Comics: Batman, and Swamp Thing.  18 months later it's time for a re-evaluation I think.

Initially, Batman was awesome.  Simply Awesome.  18 months later?  It's still holding my attention, and the stories are still great.  No need to change, it's doing exactly what it should.
Superman however, while having some genuinely interesting twists, is starting to remind me why in my comics buying heyday in the 90's, I steered clear of the costumed crews.  It's getting all a bit silly and childish, and, well, all a bit meh.  While not naff enough to instantly cancel, it's on the subs bench and it's days could be numbered.
Now it's onto Swamp Thing.  Now I discovered old Swampy, back when Alan Moore was doing his thing, and what a wonderful thing it was.  I discovered the character John Constantine, who later got his own title Hellblazer, which I loved.  This time round, despite starting off well, went all cheesey superhero-esque lately,  which is not what I'm looking for.  Swamp Thing is definately getting the heave-ho.  Fortunately the last issue I picked up finished off a story arc, so it's probably a good time to stop.  It's replacement is likely to be Constantine, a new title featuring - you guessed it - John Constantine.  Now as long as the costume crew stay out this title, that's all to the good.  The first issue was pretty good if a bit lightweight.  Not as meaty as the Hellblazer era Constantine, but good enough to engage the interest and make dumping Swamp Thing a viable option.

Winter is coming.

Yeah, so a Game of Thrones quote to herald the fact that on what is the supposed to be the start of spring (the equinox was on Wednesday), we have snow in Glasgow.  Make that horizontal snow, as it's also a bit windy.

Don't get me wrong, I love the snow.  Might just have to think carefully about what we're going to do at the weekend though.

Hendrix was WHAT?!

A guy in work has said that "Hendrix was shit".

He followed it up with "All he did was play guitar."

Wow.  Now, personally, when someone says "Oh you should listen to "So and so", he's an incredible musician", I can differentiate between me not liking the music they play, and the fact that they are superb musicians.  Not liking their music, doesn't make them shit.

A couple of examples.

Frank Zappa.  I just don't get him.  Never have, probably never will.  It's the jazz thing.  I don't do jazz.  Does that diminish the man's talent, just because I don't like what he does?  Hell no.  I happen to think he was probably a bit of a genius.  I just don't enjoy his music.

Steve Vai. Probably one of  THE greatest guitarists alive.  Do I like his music?  No.  (OK there's the odd tune - The Class is Listening, for one, but overall, I wouldn't give him the time of day).
Can I appreciate the playing on a technical level?  Hell yes.

Now this love/hate thing fluctuates over time.  There was a day when I couldn't stand Tom Waits.  Now I really like him.  Admittedly I have to be in the mood to listen to him, but when I am, he's brilliant.

So, to sum it up.  Just because you don't like Hendrix, DOES NOT MEAN HE WAS SHIT.  OK?

Dan Reed - Glasgow, March 2013

Wilko Johnson Farewell Tour pics

Hectic weekend

People who know can tell you I love music, especially seeing bands live.  Problem is, the older I get, although I still love going to gigs, I just get knackered, so I'm totally shattered after this past weekend.
It went something like this.

Saturday - karate class, rush home, shower, change, grab a bite to eat, grab guitar and head into town for guitar lesson.  THEN, rush down to the Merchant City to a friends house, to leave the guitar with him, as both of us head back into town to go and see Wilko Johnson on his farewell tour - Wilko is dying of pancreatic cancer, has months to live, and is refusing treatment which will only extend his life by 2 to 3 months, so that he can do what really is, a farewell tour.
And what a gig.  It was fantastic, but also very emotional.  Here's a guy who dying, but you'd never know it to look at him charging round the stage.

Sunday - bit of a lie in, then down to Silverburn for some shopping (hey, we need to eat), before heading back into town to see Dan Reed.  Again, another sterling performance.

Then home to collapse and try and get some sleep.

I've got some photos from both gigs, that I'll put up in seperate posts.

Guitar lessons update

So that's me had four lessons so far, and I've got further in those four weeks, than I have in the last (almost) year, of footering about on my own.

In the four weeks I've learned the pentatonic scale, some finger exercises, some strum pattern exercises, and at the last lesson, we went over one song to strum (Candy by Paulo Nutini), and three to pick, Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes, Everbody Hurts by R.E.M. and Sunshine of your Love by Cream.
I've mainly been practising the Paulo Nutini song - because it's a weird strum pattern (well to me it is) - and Sunshine, not because it's a favourite song - I'm not a great Cream fan - but because it's the one giving me the most trouble, and that's annoying me.

So anyway, progress is being made despite my frustrations with Cream, so I'm pretty much a happy camper.

Ermmm Ok....

I appear to have joined the Wallace Society.
First thing I did was buy the book For Freedom: The Last Days of William Wallace. Sat down to read a chapter, and when I put it down I was halfway through it.  Great read.

The thing that makes this whole episode remarkable is that I was never one for history when I was at school.  This is possibly down to the fact that despite being Scottish and living in Scotland, all the history lessons were based on English history - battle of Hastings, The Great Plague, Fire of London etc.

So, here's to reading some non-fiction for a change.

Joe Satriani must be shitting himself by now.

Because I've had three (count em, three) guitar lessons.

Seriously though, nice (ok awesome) as it would be to be a fraction as good as Joe (guitar God in my eyes), I'll be happy just to be able to play some pub rock type stuff.  Anything more than that is an absolute bonus.

I'm liking the group lessons, which is weird, as I thought I'd hate them.  Let's face it, who want's to show how crap they are at something in front of a group of total strangers?  But it's not like that at all.  Everyone is in the same boat, and it's a pretty laid back atmosphere.  No-one is stressing yet.

The last of this group of lessons is this Saturday, so it's time to man up and book another block.  Not exactly a chore though, as I'm really enjoying it.

Still messing up my head

So we're onto week four of the philosophy course, and it's still enjoyable.  If week one was a bit brain melting, then weeks two and three picked up the sludge from week one and whisked it in a blender.
Saying that, I got 100% for the week two assessment, and 60 for week two.  You get to take them a maximum of three times, and your score is the highest from the three attempts.  Pass mark is 50%.  Well, 60% was fine for me, as the week three stuff was seriously out there.  Makes me wonder what the hell week four has is store!

I've also had my second guitar lesson, and that is loads of fun.  It's a group lesson, and the first week there were only four of us, but this week there was seven, including a teenager who can play a bit, and was being a typical "look at me" teenager.  When the teacher was talking, he was doing what he obviously thought was cool wee flashy riffs, but he got pulled up by one of the others who said he couldn't hear the teacher, and then the teacher commented on the fact that his technique wasn't as good as he obviously thought it was, and that he should stop trying to be flash by playing fast, and concentrate on playing properly.
He doesn't seem to be a bad kid, just a typical teenager trying to show off a bit.

Other than that, not a lot happening that's worthy of comment here.

What is philosophy?

If I ever find out, I'll let you know.

I've just started an online introduction to philosophy, from Edinburgh University.  Real life had got in the way, and as a result, I ended up watching the whole of the first week's video lectures in one sitting.  Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, and by the time I finished, I felt like I was tripping!

So, two videos have been posted for week two - I don't know if that's all there's going to be - so I'll make a start tonight, and try to keep up.  I've also been having a nosey on the forums, but as yet, there's nothing that I feel compelled to comment on, so I'll have to wait and see.

Other than that, I recovered from week one's video-thon by playing my first game of Zombie Dice.  Loads of fun, and got me grounded again.

Life, the Universe and Rock n Roll

Things are looking up.  Work-wise it's getting more varied, and more interesting.
The other day I was doing some electronics for the first time in about 20 years.  OK it was a very basic digital circuit, but do you know, I really enjoyed it.

Yesterday I started working through a tutorial for a bit of software that simulates instruments, that you can then connect to circuits/devices, and either get inputs from the devices or output to the devices, as it acts as an instrument simulation.  Today I've spent most of the day installing it on my desktop, so I don't have to be in the lab to work through the tutorials. (Yes, it took a couple of hours to instal!!)

Apparently there's also going to be the chance to do some C++ programming, so I'll get to learn that.  This is pretty cool.  I did some programming during my degree (TurboPascal, BASIC and C) and really enjoyed it, so this should be pretty good.  Challenging, but good.

In non-work news, I've booked a block of 4 beginners guitar lessons.  This will apparently lead on to a block of 10, once they get organised better.  It starts a week on Saturday (9th).  The only problem with that is that there's an all day karate course on that day, so it means I'll only be able to attend in the morning.  I was kind of hoping there was a chance to get graded, but I guess that won't happen if I'm only there for half the day.  Swings and roundabouts.

The job I couldn't do.

There was a discussion on Facebook earlier today about the 56 year old British woman who was sentenced to death in Bali for drug smuggling. (If you're unaware of the story, it's here)

The original poster was against the death penalty, and took issue with the Balinese authorities saying that her activities were harmful to Bali as a tourist destination.  He thought their use of the death penalty would stop people going.
My response was that I've been to countries that have the death penalty, and would go to others.  As a tourist it doesn't affect me.  I'm not a drug smuggler.
Then the pr0-capital punishment lobby put their side, saying that it cut crime (erm...there's never been ANY data to prove that it is a deterent), and that she deserved it.  Well, that's their opinion and their entitled to it.
Personally I'm against it, as one innocent who gets executed is one too many.  All the apologies and posthumous acquittals in the world won't bring back the innocent people wrongly executed. But I digress.
The question I asked - which as I write this still hasn't been answered by the pro lobby - was this.  Would YOU be prepared to be the executioner.  If there was a vote on capital punishment in the UK tomorrow, and it passed, would you be prepared to carry out the sentences?  If not, then you would effectively be asking someone to do something that you yourself were not prepared to do.  And that, in my opinion, is wrong.

I would not be prepared to do it.  I could not vote in favour for that reason, and the previously stated reason that one innocent wrongly convicted is one too many, and the fact that the taking of a life even if legally sanctioned, is just plain wrong.  It's still murder. (in my opinion.  Yours may differ, and you're entitled to your opinion, and I don't judge)

Bit of a downer of a post, but it's the topic of the day on FB, so here it is.

HMV saved?

So, it looks like HMV will survive in some form.  Hilco have taken it over, paying less that the £175m debt that the company owed.

At least this means there will still be (some) record shops on (some) high streets.  Now if only they would concentrate on music and stop trying to be a combination of a record shop and electrical shop.  If I want cd's and dvds I'll go to HMV, if I want headphones and mp3 players, I'll go to a hi-fi shop, and if I want tablets, I'll go to a computer shop.  Seriously, stick to what you're good at, music.  Leave the computing (tablets) and audio equipment to the shops that specialise in those.  You're supposed to be a record store, not a department store.  Act like it.

Death of the record store

Years ago when I first got into music, in the early 80's, there was a fantstic choice of record shops in Glasgow.  Small independent shops like Echo, 23rd Precinct, Listen, Bruce's, Missing.  There was a great choice about where you could shop, and they all had their own unique identity.

Then the big chains came along, Virgin, HMV and (briefly) Tower.  They piled high and sold cheap (or not so cheap in the case of HMV), and the small independent specialist shops slowly went to the wall.

Now these small shops were staffed by people who loved music and knew their regular customers.  I could walk into a shop, as the staff to recommend something, and walk out with a record by a band I'd never heard of, and 99% of the time, would love it.  That's how I discovered Guns n Roses.  Live Like a Suicide had just come out on import.  £8 for 4 songs?!  That was a hell of a lot in those days, but I took the advice, and didn't look back.

You could also hang out in these shops, and talk to the staff about music.  The big stores weren't like that.

So, we had a city centre with five huge record shops, one Tower, three HMV and two Virgin, and a few second hand record shop that numbered single figures.  (I'm not counting FOPP here as it was taken over by HMV).

First Tower closed.  Now, out of the big three, the staff there were closest to the small indy shop staff.  They knew about and loved music.  They catered for a huge variety of tastes AND knew what they were talking about.  (That's the only shop I've EVER seen a copy of the Jack Officers album.  A spin-off/side project of the Butthole Surfers).

Then it was Virgin, when Richard Branson sold up.  There was a management buyout which resulted in Zavvi, but as a shop, it didn't last long, and went the way of tower.

Now HMV is in dire straits, and although I wasn't a fan of the shop, and only bought from it when there was a sale on, I hope is survives in some form on the high street, because after the big three pretty much killing off the competition, if it goes, there's only about 4 small independent shops left, and three of them are predominantly second hand stores.

I want to be able to walk into town and browse record shops.  I do buy downloads, but I also buy cd's.  I want to have a choice about where to buy.  Yes, I use Amazon, but I want to shop there because I WANT to not because I HAVE to, which, is the way it looks like things are going.

Nerdgasm. AKA game shopping

I do online surveys that pay me (eventually) in Amazon vouchers.  This is a good thing.  In the past I've used them for cd's/dvd's and ebooks, but just recently I picked up Munchkin Deluxe. Wooohooo!
It's got the original Munchkin plus Munchkin 2, and a cool board laid out like a dungeon, and some figures to  use on it, to keep track of what levels the players are on.

In other game related stuff, I just bought a Lonely Planet guide to Jordan.
How is this games related I hear you ask?
Let me tell you.

I bought it in Waterstones, which gave me the last stamp I needed on my collector card, to get a £10 gift card.  So..........I got Zombie Dice.

Result.

Now all I need to do is get some lucky people and arrange a games night.

New Year and all that

Well, despite a run in with the lurgi, I've survived Christmas and New Year.
The work Christmas do, was terrible.  The food was pretty rubbish.  Out of all the choices, I seem to have lucked out.  The started of duck spring rolls was nice enough, but could have come from Farmfoods or Iceland.  The steak I had was decent enough, but again I lucked out, as I take my steak medium, and there was no choice about how you could get it prepared other than medium or order something else.  Not good.  When it came to desserts, I went for cheesecake, which I always do if it's an option.  Just as well, as the chocolate fudge cake others got must have been lying out for a while, as it had started to dry up.

I didn't hang about for the disco, instead I went for a wander and caught up with a couple of friends for a drink.

Onto the holidays themselves, and there was eating and drinking and visiting friends, and playing boardgames.  We also managed to work through the entire season 1 of Game of Thrones, which was excellent.

I rounded off the holidays by going to see the Hobbit, which was rather good, even it if has been padded out with some bits from other Tolkien books.  I mean it's a short book, and they're stretching it out to a trilogy!  Not that I'm complaining.  More escapist time in Middle Earth for me, so that's all to the good.

And now, sad to say, I haven't won the lottery, so it's back to work.

It's that time of year again

It's the work Christmas do, and we're off to Mansion House in town.  So, it being the Crimbo do, it's also the time of year when I pull the finger out a bit a dress like slightly less of a slob than usual.
Recently I bought a new made to measure kilt, so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present the Morrison Hunting tartan.  (it's a bit dark unfortunately)

Levellers/Citizen Fish

Went to see the Levellers last night.  They were supported by a band I'd heard of, but never heard, who came highly recommended by one of my friends, Citizen Fish.  In case you don't know, they're an anarcho-punk ska band, featuring some members of Subhumans.  This was the first time I'd seen or even heard them, and I really hope it's not the last, as they're really fun live.

On to the Levellers, and what can I say other than superb.  What a gig. I don't think there was anything I'd have liked to have heard that they didn't play, and during the last encore - The Recruiting Segeant - they got 5 local musicians up on stage to play with them.  I'd seen them asking for people who wanted to play to get in touch, on the website, so I knew it was coming.  Must have been a brilliant experience.

Citizen Fish 

Levellers

Levellers

Bit of a theme

Yesterday, K was pretty sick, so the plans to go out were scrapped in favour of lounging about in front of the tv watching movies.

At one point, she fell asleep, and I stuck on Ip Man, but she woke up part way through it, and asked if we could watch it later, as she liked the look of it, but couldn't concentrate on the subtitles.  That's a result, as I've been raving about this movie, but she never fancied it, so hasn't seen it yet.

So what did we watch?  Well, before she woke up, I watched Avengers Assemble, which is just awesome.  I even liked Thor in it, which surprised me, as I wasn't too taken with the Thor movie.  Loved Downey as Iron Man again.  He's just brilliant in that role.

After Avengers, and the Ip Man false start, it was Kill Bill Vol 2, followed by Killing Zoe, and to top it all off, I recorded Kill List on the pvr.  If you've never seen Kill List, it's a rather brilliant and rather brutal movie, starring Michael Smiley who played tyres in Spaced.  Let me say, this ain't no comedy people, so if you're going to watch it, buckle up, as there may be some turbulence.

Synchronicity

After last weekend's karate course taught by Kato Sensei from Japan, the Japanese theme continued back in the real world, when I went into one of the Wetherspoons pubs last week.  They've got a beer festival on at the moment, with a rather fine rotating selection of real ales, and on this visit, there was a pale ale from Japan - Minagof.  Obviously, the universe had meant for this beer to be in the this pub just after I'd been to a karate weekend, so, it would have been (a) rude, and (b) tempting fate if I didn't try a pint.  So, try a pint is just what I did, and you know, it was damn good.

I've been back in and sampled another couple of ales, but the Minagof hasn't been on since that first time I went in.

It was fate I tell you, fate!

(*update 06/11/12 - I was in another Wetherspoons last night, and noticed that although the beer is brewed by a Japanese company, it is in fact brewed in Guam and not Japan.  Regardless, it's a nice pint)

Thoughts on last weekend's karate course

The karate course last weekend in Largs went really well.  It was taught by 77 year old aikido master, Kato Sensei, so it was a bit different to what we usually practice.  We started on the Friday at lunchtime, and finished Sunday lunchtime, with 5 practices spread over the three days.

Prior to the course, I'd seen a clip on youtube of him doing a demonstration in a park in Paris, and to be honest, it looked.....rehearsed.  Boy was I in for a shock!  After starting out with being shown how to fall safely, we were into the first lesson.  It very quickly became obvious that the only reason the video looked staged, was because the people he was doing the techniques on knew how to fall/roll to avoid injury, and if you didn't, well you would soon know about it.  Basically, falling/rolling was the only way to make the pain stop!  It's incredible.  There's minimal movement from the person being attacked, but it can cause an incredible amount of pain.  We realised in a matter of minutes, that this stuff not only works, but is really effective.

There were some techniques, where we practiced with weapons (jo and bokken), then, without the weapons, but keeping the movements the same as we had when holding the weapons.  It was a really effective way of learning where to position hands, and what steps and body movements we were to do.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend in the company of a great bunch of people from all over the country, and an opportunity to learn from a master.

Mouse Wars

So, Disney has bought Star Wars and there's going to be (at least) another movie.  Now I'm a huge fan of the original trilogy.  So big a fan that I refused to buy the trilogy on dvd until there was a set with the pre special editions of the films (I think the added cgi sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb).
As for the prequels, well, they were decent enough.  Phantom Menace was a bit meh, but as they went on, they got better.  Mainly because the successive films has less of that floppy eared pain the arse Jar Jar Binks.  Now PM could have been good as well, except for the really irritating creation that was Jar Jar.  I mean, lets face it.  His reason for existing was to sell more action figures*

So, over to Disney.  Will they screw up?  I don't know.  I hope not, and I doubt they will.  I mean let's face it, how could they possibly come up with anything more cringeworthy than JJ Binks?  Just as long as they don't dumb it down to the level of a kiddie movie, they should be fine.

(*the only reason I can think of that anyone would buy a Jar Jar figure, is so they could ritualistically burn it.  Which would ironically possibly result in them becoming scarce, and hence highly collectable)

Looking forward to the weekend

I've got a karate course to go to in Largs this weekend.  Kicks off at 4.00pm on Friday, so I'll be heading down on the 12:45 train, to get there in plenty of time.  Before that however, I've got a float booked for first thing in the morning, so I should be really chilled and calm for the start of the course.  No doubt, my calm will be over within about half an hour of the course starting :-)

There's two practices on the Friday, four on the Saturday (followed by a celebration meal) and two on the Sunday morning.  It all winds up about lunchtime on Sunday, when I'll head into Largs for a curry.  I've taken the Monday off work to recover.

Really looking forward to it.

Winter? Bring it on

I've been having a look back at older posts from earlier this year, and have realised that all the walking we did were in what should have been the winter, and that they pretty much ground to a halt when the feeble excuse for a summer kicked in and brought the torrential rain with it.

So, with that in mind, I'm waiting eagerly for the clocks to go back, heralding the end of British Summer Time, so that the weather will dramatically improve with the onset of winter, and hopefully, we can get out walking again.  ( I realise this is in fact nonsense, as there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing).

Culture clash

It's weird.  You'd think the culture clash would have been going from here to India, and don't get me wrong, initially there was a certain amount of "we're not in Kansas anymore", but strangely, I feel more out of place now that we're back.

I usually get a dose of post-holiday blues, but this is different.  Since getting back, and apathy and lethargy had kicked in.  I don't know, I just want to be somewhere else. (So does K).

The fact that it's *just* October, and the shops are already touting Christmas doesn't help.  In fact it's depressing.  Seriously, there's Guy Fawks and Halloween to get out the way first, but no, once again we're being bombarded with "buy buy buy", and "it's only 10 weeks to Christmas you know".

Bah humbug.

There can be only one

Well, that's the kilt tried on and it's s great fit. Now all I need is a ceilidh.

Old hippies

Had a surprising discussion with a pensioner on Saturday, when he remarked that I had a "Cool Morrison t-shirt" ( I was wearing my Doors shirt).  He went on to tell me that he doesn't drink or smoke (this while holding the skinniest looking roll up I've ever seen), that he loves The Doors, and Hawkwind, and goes to small festivals all around the country.  He likes ones that only attract about 600 people, and especially likes psychedelic festivals, where, he "takes an eccy and gets into the music".

He's obviously not a believer in growing old gracefully !

Kilt ready

Got a call from the kilt shop, my kilt is ready, so I've got an appointment to go in an try it on, on Tuesday after work.

Other than that, not much to post.

Culture shock

So, I've been back from India for just over a week, and it's......weird.  I think I'd started to become
used to being in India, and I loved it.  I could easily have gone native (especially in Varkhala).  Now I'm back in Glasgow, and instead of temples and friendly people, it's grumpy Weegies, and the temples are shopping malls where the only thing worshipped is money and possessions.

I really think downsizing and not being materialistic, would be easy if I was living somewhere like India, but here you're surrounded by advertising and incentives to buy buy buy, and like the sheep we are, that's exactly what we do.

Ah well, one lottery win, and I really an out of here (providing the win is big enough to drop out)

It's Friday

So, when I finish work, I'm off to meet Pete for a couple of beers, but before that, I've got to go in to the kilt shop for a fitting for the kilt I've ordered.  Apparently it's going to take around an hour.
This is the first I'll have seen it since getting measured up for it way back in August, so I don't know if it's finished and they just want to check it fits right, or if it's partially done and they want to check sizes.

Ooh the excitement :-)

Home again home again

So we're back from India.  I was going to blog about the trip, and set up a seperate blog to do just that, which can be viewed here.  The only problem was, that the hotels used dongles to connect to their wifi, and having a linux netbook with me meant incompatability.

SO, what I'm doing is updating it on a daily basis, now that I'm back, so you can follow my travels while pretending I'm still away.

Something I've noticed since I got back is that there's a couple of friends, who I may have to either stop following, or block of FB.  They've not done anything to me, it's just that their posts are exclusively about the Independance issue.  It's not even original posts that could generate a discussion, it's simply links to articles, and they're prolific, and it's filling up my feed.  I don't need it.  I've made up my mind (pro fyi) but I respect other peoples opinions and know they may differ, and that's fine.  I'm not filling up their feeds, and I don't want them to fill up mine either.  At least, not with an endless stream of links.  (I actually visited her feed just to see if she ever posts anything other than links, and she hasn't for about 4 months.  It's getting tiring).

India

Anyone who reads this (hello!  Anybody out there?) will probably be aware, that me and K are off to India this weekend for three weeks.  There's going to be a bit of travelling round, as we'll be in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Mumbai, Varkala and Kovalam, so assuming there's web access, I've created a blog purely for the trip.

At the moment, it's just got a place-holding post, but if anyone wants to have a read as we go, it can be found here

Of course, if the internet access is non-existant/sucks, it's going to be pretty bare until I do a mass update when we get back.  (I'm taking the Luddites back-up of a notebook, with me)

So this is the summer? Aye, right.

Ok, so I live in Glasgow (Scotland).  We're used to a bit of rain during the summer, in fact we're used to experiencing all seasons in one day.  So if it's raining in the morning, it doesn't mean you wrap up, as the sun could be scorching down half an hour later.  That's just the way it is.

Except......

This year, it's pretty much pished down all summer.  True, there has been the (very) occasional spot of (admittedly glorious) good weather, but on the whole it's been hot and wet.  Not nice.

There's rumours that the weather will be better in September.  Well, to be frank, it couldn't possibly be worse, so bring it on.

The ear candy of late

Recently, the World Pipe Band championships were on in Glasgow.  While they were on, Clanadonia were busking in Buchanan St, and I managed to pick up a copy of their cd (well worth a listen btw).

Then for the first time in years, I dug out the Runrig and have been getting into them again.  One of the guys in work gave me a loan of some Capercaillie as well, so it's been a bit of a celtic theme musically of late.  Oh, I almost forgot, I've also discovered the Peatbog Faeries, who are now on my must see live list.

Hoots mon

So, for the past couple of years, when there's been a Crimbo do, a wedding, or we've gone to a ceilidh (reasonably regularly at the Ferry, this year), I've worn the off the peg cheap kilt that I've got.  Well, with having a little extra cash due to an investment policy paying out, I've bitten the bullet, and today I went and got measured for a made to measure kilt.

I'd planned on getting Morrison Hunting Ancient, but when I went into the shop and was asked if I knew what tartan I wanted, I forgot to mention the "Ancient" bit, and was presented with two Morrison Hunting tartans. Well, colour me confused, as I really liked the Modern one, which I wasn't aware of initially.  For what it's worth, the Ancient looks like the Modern only a bit faded, so they weren't that different.  The modern tartan, the colours a a bit bolder and darker, and considering my current one is Black Watch, then you'll get the idea that I like dark tartans.

So, the choices.  Well to start with they do three versions of any kilt.
Version 1 is the "value" kilt.  Basically same material is used, but only 7 yards instead of 8.  Only two buckles instead of three, so there's no "seat" measurement, and apparently it hangs quite differently if you know what you're looking for. (I wouldn't).
Version 2 is the "traditional" kilt.  Full 8 yards, three buckles, attached with material, so they can be adjusted by approx 2" if I suddenly beef up. (the value one, the buckles are attached with leather, and if you suddenly beef up, well, you're stuffed as there's no way to alter the buckle positions.  The pleats in version 2 are machine stitched and not hand stitched (although both ARE hand made).
Version 3 is the all singing all dancing most expensive option.  It's basically option two, although the pleats are hand stitched and not machine stitched.  Apparently this means that as well as being able to relocate the buckles, if you had to, the stitching could be unpicked, and the kilt basically re-made using the existing material, to fit your new beefy/skinny (delete as applicable) physique.  It would also mean you could pass it on like an heirloom, and it could be remade to fit the recipient.  This off course comes at a cost.

Since I'm highly unlikely to be passing it on, but do want to build in some kind of midriff expansion safeguard, I went for Version 2.

You might think that's it, but no.  Having decided on the kilt, there's then the option to "pleat to the set" or "pleat to the stripe".  Pleating to the set, means it's pleated in such a way that you can see the pattern of the tartan on the pleats, the same as on the apron.  Pleating to the stripe, means that at the back of the kilt, you see the same colour of stripe running down each pleat, so if there's a white stripe running through the tartan, you'll see the back as vertical white stripes. (google it, an image will explain better than I can).

Finally, it's get measured up, and then try one on that's a close fit, so they can check the length.  A measurement, a wee walk up and down to see how it's hanging, and a decision that "we need an extra 1/2".  This length is a bit short, but an inch would be too long and look daft".

And that's it.  Pay a deposit, and wait for the shop to get it from their factory. 12 weeks, but apparently that's including a margin for really busy times - run up to Christmas etc, which is ironic, as I ordered it now, so I'd have it in time for Christmas nights out.  Then when it comes in, it's back to the shop to check it fits correctly, and that's that.

Who'd have thought buying an article of clothing could be so involved!?

Cyclists kettled by police in London

On the same evening that the eyes of the world were on London for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, the police in that city, kettled, and arrested the critical mass, a mass participation bike ride, that has been taking place once a month in that city, for 18 years.

Click here to read an eyewitness account of what happened, including video clips showing a woman being arrested for trying to give water to a muslim man who had already been arrested, and was feeling faint as he had been fasting because it was Ramadan.  When she says to the arresting officer that "cycling isn't illegal", he replies "Yes it is".

There's people being pepper sprayed as they get dragged off their bikes, and people videoing what's going on being intimidated by blatantly aggressive thugs in uniforms.

Does Boris Johnson know that the London Police are undermining his promotion of London as a cycle friendly city?

There's a petition online demanding that the fingerprints and dna samples of the people arrested and not charged (about a hundred arrested and detained, only three charged) be removed from registers.

Welcome to Tory Britain.  Did we learn nothing from the Thatcher years?

It's been a while

So, what's been happening lately?  Well, I've got the visas sorted for going to India, and we've got another wee rescue cat on a weeks trial to see how she fits in.  So far it's sort of ok.  She's learned that Rosie rules the roost, and is suitably nervous of her.  Rosie meanwhile is slightly put out, and is making the kitchen a no-go area for the new cat.  Other than that, Rosie just watches her from the safety of my knee.  I think if she was that bothered, she'd be over having a go at the new cat.

BTW her name is Mia and she's 5.  Depending on what face she's pulling, she's either really cute, or possibly the ugliest cat ever. Overall though she's a nice wee thing.  Betty isn't really bothering with her, but being blind probably helps to stop her chasing the new arrival and beating seven bells out of her.

So anyway, we're giving it a week to see how things go.  Fingers crossed.

Other things, well, I'm still messing about trying to teach myself guitar.  So far I can muddle through Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, and sort of get No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen.  I've printed out the tabs/chords for Rockin in the Free World by Neil Young, so that's my next challenge.  I'm also thinking about getting a bit more serious about it and taking some lessons when I get back from holiday towards the end of September.

Urghi lurgi

The weekend wasn't all it was supposed to be, what with me coming down with lurgi on Thursday.  I did manage the Batman double header at the IMAX, though I paid for it health-wise the rest of the weekend, and ended up off work on the Monday.

Yesterday, I took a day off, and we headed into town to sort out the visas for India.  We were there for the place opening, and there was no-one else there, so 20 minutes later, we'd had our photos taken, paid the photographer, had our forms checked, paid for the visas, and been told that there was a lot to see where we were going the first two weeks, and it's going to be a busy time cramming it all in.  The last week in Kerela will be needed to relax after the hectic first two weeks.  That's making us look forward to it all the more.

I plan to take the (early) birthday present I got from Karen, a Fuji Finepix S4200, and get an utter shitload of photos.  You have been warned.

Nikolai Telsa

Passing Through from Olafur Haraldsson on Vimeo.

Higgs Bosun explained

The Higgs Boson Explained from PHD Comics on Vimeo.

What we did at the weekend

On Saturday, we had the usual karate class in the morning (using bo's), and then met up with a couple of friends for a curry at the Ashoka at the Phoenix.  The food there is really nice.

Sunday, we had planned to head into town, but it would probably have worked out as Karen wandering round shops, and me sitting in Lauders with a book and a pint, so scrap that.  Instead, we jumped in the car and headed to Inchmahome Priory.   If you've never been, it's well worth a visit.  It's on a (very) small island on Lake of Menteith (Scotlands ONLY lake), and is really really tranquil.  Take a picnic, as you could spend a really nice time just sitting in the grounds.  It's a seven minute boat trip, and that's included in the entry fee (£5 each or free if you're a Historic Scotland member).

After leaving the island, we decided to head somewhere for lunch.  From Inchmahome, you've pretty much got the choice of Drymen, Aberfoyle or Callander, and as Karen had never been to Callander, that's where we went.  I'd not been for a few years, but it still seems to be a really busy little town.

All in all, a good weekend.

Damn weather

So, I was hoping (along with Karen, and a friend from work) to go skimboarding at Troon on Sunday, but the weather doesn't look like it's going to be conducive to a day at the beach, so it looks like we're stuffed.

Got a panicked call from K earlier.  The tv is stuffed.  It's switching off, then on, then off, then on.  Problem is, the final "on" state is taking over half an hour now.  A quick search online, and this appears to be quite a common fault with Samsungs.  Admittedly, we've had it a couple of years, but even so, you'd expect a tv to last longer than that.  All the forums say the same thing, it's cheaper to replace than repair, and at least that way you get (at least) a years guarantee.  So, while she's not working this afternoon, Karen is off in search of the holy grail (ok, a new tv, but if you watch as many movies as we do, it may as well be the holy grail)

Funniest thing I've seen in a long time

CollegeHumor’s Favorite Funny Videos

What I've been up to lately

Well, I had a very relaxing week in Menorca (Calla N Blanes).  I don't know why, but for years I've always wanted to go, but instead I've seen the Soddom that is San Antonio (Ibiza) and the Gomorrah that is Malia in Crete.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Ibiza and Crete, but I always wanted to go to Menorca.  Well, I went, and I wasn't dissapointed.

The island is quiet.  It's not riddled with nightclubs.  The people who go there appeared to be young families, and older people.  Not the usual clubbing crowd.  The roads are pretty quiet.  I've never driven on the right, but if I was going to, this would be the perfect place to get the hang of it.

And the cycling provision, OMG! Cycle lanes everywhere, and they're alongside but SEPERATED from the traffic.  Someone really thought about cyclists safety when they put the lanes in.

We were staying about 2.5kms from the old capital of Cuitadella, so we had a choice of jump a bus in, or walk along a waymarked coastal route to get there.  Once there, we could wander the narrow medieval streets of the old town, go to the market (Saturday), or catch a bus into Mahon (Mao in Catalan) and wander the streets of the new capital.  There was also a market there as well, and more narrow medieval streets - Mahon used to be a walled city, but isn't any more.  Down one of the wee streets, you can see the last remaining part of the city wall, and pass through the gate.

If you want a relaxing chilled out holiday, I cannot recommend Menorca enough.  If I go back, I would be seriously tempted to hire a bike for the duration of my stay.

My reading material of late has not been my usual sf fare.  While I was away, I read Himalaya by Michael Palin, and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  This non-sf theme has carried on since I got back, as I'm currently reading Wake Up by Jack Kerouac, about the life of Siddharatha Gautama.

And that, is the state of play at the moment.

Hello callouses. Am I pleased to see you.

I've finally got small callouses on the tips of my fingers on my left hand.  Can you guess why this is making me happy?

Just bought a skimboard

In an attempt to find a new and exciting way to take myself out the gene pool, I've bought a skimboard.  This isn't as daft an idea as you may think, as and ex skateboarder and snowboarder, it's just an aquatic progression.  I'm thinking Troon, or the quieter end of Ayr beach should be cool for this. (Or even Girvan given that it's not the tourist mecca it once was)

For those who don't know what skimboarding is, check out this video.

Walk 26 miles.....maybe next year

The registration is open for the 2013 kiltwalk.   A work collegue told me about this, and it's quite appealing, I think I might go for it.
There's no way I'll run a marathon again, so this seems like it could be an alternative, and it's for good causes.

Anyone up for it then?

Back on the bike

Yesterday I finally got back on the bike.  Me and Karen cycled over to the Riverside Museum and had a wee wander round.  It's the first time in years that Karen's cycled on the road, so we cut through Bellahouston Park,   the quieter (dodgier) streets in Ibrox (on in particular along the back of the wee training ground is seriously dodgy), along Govan Road and over the Bells Bridge.
The dual cycle/foot path from the helipad to the museum could do with actually being finished.  There's a stretch of tarmac followed by loose gravel, then tarmac again.  Doesn't look nice for any tourists walking to the museum.

The museum itself is a pretty cool building.  Got a few dislikes about it as a museum though.  The cars up on 3 levels of shelving - you really can't get a decent look at the cars on the top two levels.  Another thing is that there's a lot of non transport items.  I'm probably wrong, but I thought this was the Transport Museum?  There's a lot of things that should probably be in the Peoples Palace.  If the remit of the museum is more than just transport, then fair enough, but that isn't made clear, so these exhibits seem a bit out of place.

I forgot to take a camera, and I hadn't picked up my phone when I left, so no photos.  Then again, it's an excuse to head over again.

I was pleasantly surprised to see there's a wee ferry running between the museum and Govan, and the river bus seems to be running again - we had to wait both going and coming back, for the Bells Bridge to swing into place again after letting the boat through.  Glasgow using the Clyde in the same way Paris uses the Seine, is long overdue.  There's a fantastic river that has plenty of tourist potential.  The riverside should be upmarket, not run down.

Begging must be paying well......

Today I went for lunch with my mum.  We went into the Atholl, not expensive, but not the cheapest pub in Glasgow.

Standing at the bar was a guy who regularly begs outside the bus station.  Now, if he can afford to spend £3.50+ on a pint, and feed the jukebox the way he was (Robbie Williams in case your interested), then either (a) the begging is paying well, or (b) he's a lying chancing scumbag who deserves to get a karmic kicking (as opposed to a physical one).

I'm not for one minute suggesting that all beggars are at it, far from it, but it's gits like this that make the general populace think they're all at it.

I'll stick to my usual tried and trusted routine of giving a Big Issue seller the occasional £1, and refusing to take a magazine.  (In fact, it's that long since I've bought a BI that I'm not sure what the current price is).

Stunning (watch full screen)

Goodbye weekend, hello Monday

So the weekend is over.  On Friday, I took a half day and went to GOMA and Kelvingrove Art Galleries.
There's a new installation that takes up the entire ground floor of GOMA (WARNING - If you've a dust allergy you may want to avoid it) that's made up of sawdust.  It's bloody huge.
To be honest, I don't get it.  I looked at the comments book, and a lot of people nailed it.  It looks like a gigantic cake.
There must be some statement it's (trying) to make, but I just.don't.get.it.  Anyway, onwards to the art galleries, and it was hoaching with schoolkids who seemed to be getting their art class there. (here's paper and pencils, go draw something).  There was some primary kids getting shown round the Egyptian room - cue female outrage that only men could be scribes in ancient Egypt - who seemed to love it.  I admit, I did listen in on the talk they were being given, and it was brilliant.
Below is a statue of the goddess Sekhmet, the warrior goddess and goddess of healing for upper Egypt.

Saturday we nipped into town and spent the credit note I had for Missing Records.  The resultant hall was a couple of dvd's, The Adjustment Bureau, Hostel III and some cd's, Levellers, SRV Live Alive, and Robert Plant - Principle of Moments (currently jammed in the cd drive of the Streamium).

Yesterday, we were determined to go out despite the rain, so picked up a couple of friends, and went for a walk in the Linn Park, with a pause in the middle for lunch in the Old Smiddy.

So, that was that.  My plan for this week is to (finally) dismantle and dispose of the computer desk in the spare room.  When that's done I'll reward myself by digging out the LoTR miniatures, and get set painting them.

Big company bully boy tactics

Disgusting behaviour from a global company to small local one.  They should be ashamed.

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/diageo-v-brewdog

In other news...

I saw a wonderful sight yesterday morning.  A young deer running down my street.  Must have crossed the bridge over the M77 that leads into Pollok Estate.
It didn't seem scared.  By that I mean is wasn't bolting hell for leather down the road, but is was out of sight before I managed to grab a camera and get to the door.
Considering where we live is bordered on 2 sides by the estate, on one by a road and on the other by a railway, I reckon it's chances of heading back into the estate were pretty good.

Work as an extra

Well, after doing no extra work since World War Z last August, I've received a text about 11 hours on Monday for the BBC.  I've got back saying yes, so I just need to wait and see if I'm picked now.
Fingers crossed.

Karate and walking

This weekend mostly revolved around not slobbing out.

There was a karate course in Largs, that ran from Friday afternoon, to Sunday lunchtime, but I only headed down for the Saturday practice.  There were four sessions on Saturday.  The first had started not long after my alarm went off (7.00am).  I got there for the 10.00am session, and stayed for the 2.30pm one as well, before heading back to Glasgow, utterly knackered, and avoiding the post-dinner 7.00pm session.  It was a brilliant, day, and next time I WILL do the full weekend.

On Sunday, I got up early again, and fired up the breadmaker so that Karen would have warm just made bread when she got up.  While that was baking I started to watch Ran (Akira Kurosawa movie based on King Lear), but once Karen got up, and the cats wanted attention, subtitles became a pain (can't read them from the kitchen), so I put it off, and got ready to go walking.

We jumped in the car and headed off to a forestry park near Gartmore (between Aberfoyle and Drymen) to do a walk that the book said took just over two hours, that the sign at the car park said took and hour, and that we did in about 40 minutes.  So, we looked at the board and found another waymarked route, and off we went.  In total we got our 6 miles in, and once back at the carpark, sat on the riverbank and had a coffee before coming home.

Just beautiful

Why have I never heard this song before?  This is simply stunning.  Moby is a genius.

The ongoing clearout

So, I've started the clearout, and I've a bag of dvd's that I'll take to Missing sometime this week.  (If anyone is interested and want's a bargin, give me a shout pronto)

I've also got my Praktica 35mm SLR and 3 lenses, along with a camera bag, flash and autowind, that I'm open to offers on. (Does anyone still use film?)

I've also (finally) got rid of the massive brick that was the ancient desktop, and also my Dell that blew up last year (not as spectacular as it sounds).  I stripped the hard drive, dvd drive and ram from the laptop first.  I'm passing the dvd drive and memory to a friend to use himself, and I'm keeping the hard drive to see if I can get an adaptor that'll let me use it as an external drive or something.

So, not having a desktop, there's no need for a computer desk, so when I get home, the allan keys are coming out and it's getting stripped.down and binned as well.

In place of the computer desk, I'll be making a wee trip to Ikea for another bookcase, and that'll take care of the boxes of books that are cluttering up the spare room and making it unuseable.

So, that's my (cunning) short term plans.

Next time we'll take the bikes.

Yesterday we drove down to Troon, but rather than parking in the centre of the town, we parked in the South Beach car park just as you get into the town.  Then, we walked out of town over the hump back bridge, and followed the cycle path through the country - and at one point along the side of the main road to the airport - to Prestwick, where we sat outside with coffees at Mancini's on the seafront, before having a wander along the main street, before walking back to Troon.

Unlike the cycle paths in and around Glasgow, this is a really nice scenic route stretching all the way along the Ayrshire coast.  We met a lot of people both walking and cycling, as we went.  Something else we noticed.  Outside of Glasgow, strangers are friendlier.

Anyway, I've made up my mind.  Once we're back from holiday in June, I'm getting roof bars and bike racks for the car, and we'll head down again with the bikes this time, and cycle from Troon to Ayr.

If you can get down with your bikes (train maybe), then it's a really nice route.  Give it a try.

That naked feeling

Why is it I feel naked if I forget my watch.  It's like having an itch and trying to resist scratching it.  I mean I'm sure that when I forget my watch, I go to look at my wrist way more than I do when I'm wearing it!

So the alternatives are don't check the time at all.  After all, in the words of Douglas Adams, "Time is an illusion.  Lunchtime doubly so."

OR

Use my phone to keep tabs on the minutes ticking away.

Either way, today is a chronograph fail.

WHW update

It's officially off.  We got a week in Menorca for £50 more than it was going to cost to walk to Fort William.
Go figure!

West Highland Way and being ripped off.

Our plan to do the WHW in June looks like falling through.  The problem is partly to do with the fact that we'd planned to use a bag carrying service (£40 per bag for the duration, with unlimited stops) to ferry the rucksacks between stops, so that all we had to carry was a daysack with provisions for the days walk.

The "proper" campsite outside Balmaha is a caravan club site, and has a minimum stay of 2 nights.  Now, my reading of this is "while not actually saying we don't want the backpackers walking the way, in reality, we don't want the backpackers walking the way".  So, we're left looking at another option where someone will be there to receive the bags from the company transporting them.  Sallochy campsite is partly manned, and I've still not heard back as to whether there's provisions for receiving bags.  This means a stop in Balmaha.  Bunkhouses are already full, so that's not an option.  So prices so far for one night, have been between £75 and £100.

Now, this would be repeated at Bridge of Orchy, so £150 - £200.  Then there's the two nights at campsites (approx £20 a night), the hostel at Fort William (again about £30) and the train back to Glasgow (God knows what that will cost).

Add in food and drink, and you're looking at spending AT LEAST £400 - £450 for five days "camping".  looking online, we can get a week in the sun flying from Glasgow, with B&B accomodation and preety much guaranteed good weather, for just over £90 each.

Now, I'm sorry, I really really want to do the WHW, but I don't want to get screwed over in the process.  I know the summer wild camping ban is there to stop drunken idiots from starting fires, and causing trouble along the side of Loch Lomond, but the knock on effect seems to be hotels and B&B's cashing in big time.

Holiday at home.  Get financially screwed.  You know it makes sense.

Latest happenings

So what have I been up to lately?

The planning for doing the West Highland Way is under way.  This weekend I'll be booking into two bunkhouses and that should be us sorted.  The training walks are already underway, and have been good so far.

The karate is going well this weather.  I'm averaging three classes a week, which is brilliant.

After the Easter weekend, I'm going to use the bike to commute to work again.  I've not done it since Hurricane Bawbag kicked in and trashed the country.

So, that's my State of the Nation at the moment.  Nothing new, but things are coasting along reasonably nicely.

Northern Lights from the ISS

Stunning.

Journey through a wormhole

So that was Kinross

Spent the weekend in Kinross, at the Green Hotel, and very nice it was too.  We spent most of the time driving round looking at castles and ye olde worlde things.
Total claim for the weekend was 2 castles, 1 round tower (in the Irish style - there's only two like this in Scotland.  The one we visited was in Abernethy), and a really cool pictish stone.

In the wee graveyard in Abernethy, we saw a wildcat, and got talking to a really nice guy from Skye who was visiting his sister who lives in Abernethy.

I'm seriously discovering how much I'm NOT a city person.  I could quite happily live in any of the wee places we visited at the weekend.  I especially loved the wee beach at Burleigh Sands.  (pic below).  So, come the lotterly win, and I'm outta here :-)

More cool science

Lego in the lab.  using Lego Mindstorm to make robots for use in the laboratory.  Seriously cool, and a brilliant excuse to get Lego on the Christmas list again.

Simple harmonic (and non harmonic) motion

A team at Harvard set 15 pendulums of different length in motion at the same time and filmed the result.  The website with the info is here

If you just want to check out the video, here it is below.  It's really pretty cool (from a geek perspective anyway)

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Play

While not the kind of music people would probably associate me with, I do have a liking for *some* dance/electronic/trance type stuff.  I've just re-discovered what an amazing album Play by Moby is.  It's totally awesome.  I got it when it first came out, and played it to death, and this is probably the first time I've listened to it in years.

It's so good when you go back to something on a whim, and it resonates.

If you've never heard this album (and how could you not have?), then do your ears a favour.  It's dance music for people who don't do dance music.  Remember, this is the guy who's also done hardcore (as in punk) stuff as well (Animal Rights).

So, what are you waiting for?

Buchanan Castle

Yesterday we headed up to Drymen to do a walk starting from the car park on Stirling Road, and heading out into the countryside, before looping back and into Drymen again.

The highlight of the walk is the spectacular ruin of Buchanan Castle.  In castle terms, it's not that old - it was built in 1854, and serves as the seat of the clan Graham.
During the war, the castle served as a hospital, and it's most famous patient was probably Rudolph Hess, as he was treated here for the injuries sustained when he crash landed in Scotland.
After the war, the roof was removed to avoid paying rates on the building, and as a result, the weather took it's tool on the interior, and gave us the stunning ruin that still stands today.

Buchanan Castle

The rest of the walk takes you out into some beautiful countryside.  We found a really nice spot to stop for lunch, next to a small waterfall on the Doghouse burn.

Despite the threat of rain, the weather was really nice, and when there was no shade from the trees, it was actually pretty warm.

I've put a route map up on the Walk Highlands website in case anyone fancies giving it a go.  It's as accurate as any of these "click on a map to plot your route" things is.  Apparently you can download the route for your gps if you want.

Anyway, a really nice 10k walk in a stunning part of the counrty.

My SF collection. The state of the nation.

I need to have a book cull.  Plain and simple.  There’s not enough  room on the shelves any more.

When this realisation finally filtered beyond the barrier in my brain that says,  “No!  You can never get rid of books”,  I started scanning to see just what (potentially) could go, and when I worked out what it was, it came as a bit of a shock.

Charles Stross, come on down.  You’re books and my bookshelf are about to part company.

Why is this a shock?  I’ll tell you.  Charlie’s books are a good read.  In fact, they’re a great read. BUT, will I be re-reading them?  Possibly not, so they’re prime candidates for eBay (unless anyone reading this fancies them, £1.50 each or 5 for £5 (I’ll list them later).  The reasoning behind their imminent demise is quite simple.  Although they are cracking reads – and they cover the whole spectrum of sf, from space opera to cybercrime and virtual worlds – they don’t give me the certain thing that the SF books I love do.  And that is a sense of wonder.  It’s not there.  I’m sorry Charlie, it’s not.  You’re books are very clever, but I can’t help feeling that there’s almost too much going on.  There’s no real sense of awe, and that’s what I loved about SF when I first picked up Asimov* and started reading.

Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to read your books as and when they come out, but as to whether they get permanent residence alongside the Moorcock, Heinlein and Reynolds, that will be decided on a book by book basis.

(* Asimov, for all he was probably the first SF writer I read, and still occasionally read, I don’t collect.  This is purely because, to me at any rate, his books come over as very dated now, whereas, there are others from the same period, who’s stories time has been kinder to.)

The next generation of manned spaceflight

Books of late

Just finished reading The Woman in Black, and really enjoyed it.  Good old fashioned ghost story, of the kind they jsut don't write any more. (well, obviously they do, or I couldn't have read this book, but you know what I mean)
Might have to dig out the M R James soon and give that a re-read.

At lunchtime today, I nipped into the library in GOMA, and took out The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham.  It's just one of a host of classic sf/fantasy/horror, that I should have read but haven't. So.... time to catch up then.

Kindle reading is currently A Game of Thrones.

Cassini mission. Saturn fly-by.

Why is it that classical music is just perfect for scenes like this.  An animation made up of composite images from Cassini.  No cgi involved.

Simply breathtaking.


5.6k Saturn Cassini Photographic Animation - Expanded, Improved from stephen v2 on Vimeo.

Rambling about rambling

There was more ramblings in the countryside again at the weekend.

Saturday saw us heading to Lochwinoch, but taking a detour to Glennifer Braes, when the weather took a turn for the worse.  By the time we reached the Braes, the rain was off, and stayed off until we'd done our walk and were back at the car.  Result.

On Sunday, Simon came over, and the three of us headed to Aberfoyle again, to do another walk that started from the car park, Doon Hill.

From the name, you'd expect a hill, but it's more of a "bump", as it's really not that big, and there's no slog involved getting up it.
At the top, there's a tree that local legend says the spirit of the Rev Robert Kirk is imprisoned in, when it was captured by the faries, when he died at that spot in 1692.  Apparently he incurred their wrath by publishing a book about them (Secret Commonwealth).
The route also passes the remains of the church where he preached, and his grave can be found at the back of the church.  Meanwhile, out front, there's two mort safes, which were used to stop resurectionists from stealing freshly interred bodies.

All in all a great wee walk, and we had a really nice day for it.