Bonekickers
Less than fifteen minutes in – why am I still watching? Also, that’s an unexpectedly strong mobile signal while underground.
Nick Gibbins
Getting with the program
while (!well) { feel_cold(); shiver(); feel_hot(); sweat(); } That said, last night I had the best sleep in the past week, so I seem to be on the mend. I hope. In other news, it’s brilliant sunshine outside and I have the light on in my office. The IR-blocking film that was placed on my windows while I was in Bulgaria cuts the light down by so much (70%) that it feels like an abnormally hot winter’s day. Meanwhile, they’re using pneumatic drills on the building site under my window, so I have my window closed. I’ve just finished a… Read More »Getting with the program
Under the weather
28°C in my office, and I’m wearing a jumper and feeling cold. I’m also dripping with sweat. I wish that this cold would hurry up and bugger off.
Missed opportunity
Didn’t get to see the Battle of Britain Memorial Squadron taking off from our garden (they’re due to flypast Farnborough about now, so would have needed to be in the air at least fifteen minutes ago). There’s no taxiway to the northern end of the runway, and the turning space might well be too small for the Lanc. Oh well, there’ll be other chances…
Something you don’t see every day
This was parked on the tarmac at Southampton International Airport when I got back from a day trip to Edinburgh: Oh, there was also a Hurricane and a Spitfire, but the latter are as common as muck around here. They’re doing another flypast at Farnborough tomorrow, so we’ll have to try to see it take off…
How I spent my Friday night
I’ve been in Bulgaria for the past couple of days, for a project meeting for my EU project. Generally pleasant although not entirely eventful trip out; rather than take the Air France to CDG from Southampton, I decided to travel up to Heathrow and take Austrian Airlines via Vienna. This was partly because of my experience travelling to Luxembourg via Paris CDG a couple of months ago; the Southampton flight now arrives at and leaves from the loathsome terminal 2E (reopened after the ceiling collapse a few years ago) rather than the nicer 2F. Moreover, CDG managed to lose my… Read More »How I spent my Friday night
A lad of expensive tastes
The has managed to outdo himself this morning by taking a small swig from ‘s bottle of Chanel No.19. Not the eau de toilette (which is relatively cheap at ~£60/100ml) nor the eau de parfum (which is slightly more expensive at about ~£80/100ml), but the little 7.5ml bottle of the parfum, which works out at a staggering £850/100ml. We don’t think that he managed to drink much, since it’s quite bitter – maybe 0.1ml, which is still enough to make his breath reek of No.19 – but he then managed to tip half the bottle over the dressing table. My… Read More »A lad of expensive tastes
The Big Read Meme
It’s doing the rounds, and I’m a sucker for memes like this: “The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. Well let’s see.” Look at the list and bold those you have read. Italicise those you intend to read. Underline the books you LOVE. Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 and force books upon them 😉 Quite a few read – more than I would have thought at first, but some glaring gaps which I’ve been… Read More »The Big Read Meme
Bloomspotting
Just finished watching most of Secondhand Lions, a rather charming coming-of-age film with Haley Joel Osment, Robert Duvall and Michael Caine (and sadly also Caine’s dreadful Texan accent). I don’t recall this being released at the time (2003), so I assume that it sunk without trace at the UK box office. However, I’m posting about it because the framing story has the grown-up Osment character as a cartoonist who seems to be channelling Bloom County’s Berkeley Breathed. Rather a pleasant surprise – I hadn’t realised that Breathed had any film credits to his name.
Interests Meme
questioned these seven interests, if you want me to ask about yours, comment below. 4ad A rather good independent record label. The people who brought the world The Pixies, Dead Can Dance, The Cocteau Twins, M/A/R/R/S, and so on. ansible Dave Langford’s multi-Hugo-winning fanzine/semi-prozine. Also an anagram of ‘lesbian’. looney labs A small games company with a reputation for quirky games: Fluxx, Chrononauts, Icehouse. magic realism I’m rather fond of the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges. plokta Another Hugo-winning fanzine. salt and sauce The only thing worth putting on chips. I sneer at your gravy. xanadu… Read More »Interests Meme