RoboSkype

A collegue showed me this robot which she is going to get to play with this weekend (her husband works with miniature cameras and the like. I guess he must be a secret agent!).

You can control it from an Internet connection anywhere in the world, look through its 'eyes' and send it remote commands, including getting it to play MP3 sound files.

Which is all well and good, but I wonder what the main use will be... It's certainly no guard-dog. If you do happen to log-on at the exact moment that a burglar is ransacking your house he's unlikely to be scared by the RoboCop sample that you play at him from your beach hut in Goa. He's more likely to just stomp on it, or steal it.

It's built and marketed by Meccano and it extensible, so it's possible to build it a remote-controlled gun, but that's just asking for trouble.

If I had one, knowing my luck, I'd come back from my holiday to find that my robot had changed the locks and invited all his robot chums round, kicking me and MLYW out on the street. Robot bastards!

PhotoHunt: Happy

PhotoHunt



MLYW on our wedding day, June 24th 2005, snapped by my nephew Thomas, then aged 9. She looks really happy. Though maybe it's just a great cup of coffee!

When You Wish Upon A Website

I mentioned my Amazon Wishlist quite a few times recently. Just in case you really, really wanted to buy me a birthday present and were stuck for ideas.

I use my Wishlist for two purposes. Firstly, so that people can see what I'd like for birthday, Christmas, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Eid, etc, etc. However, it's also a useful aide memoire, allowing me to note down those items I find, that I fully intend to buy for myself, but which I currently can't afford, or can't justify buying right now.

My Amazon Wishlist has now been running for almost seven years now and I thought it would be fun to examine some of the items therein to see what they say about me and my changing tastes.

Most Recent Item
CD: A Bell Is a Cup Until It Is Struck by Wire. £4.47.
Added on 16th August 2007.
While reading Tony Wilson's obituaries recently, I became interested in bands like Wire, A Certain Ratio and Gang of Four, which emerged from the Manchester scene in the 1980s. I've never really heard any of their music and I thought it was time to educate myself. I've been fascinated with A Certain Ratio for some time now (without actively seeking them out) as they got their name from one of my favourite Brian Eno songs: The True Wheel, from Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).

Oldest Item
CD: Pin-Ups by David Bowie. £9.98
Added on 18th September 2000.
Lord Bowie's album of cover versions from the mid-1970s. Featuring Twiggy on the front cover, she looks remarkably like him, or vice versa. At some point I've owned all of Dame David's work but this is, I think, the one album that I've never got hold of.

Cheapest Item
DVD: Buster Keaton - Vol. 2. £2.99.
Added on 16th August 2005.
There are a slew of Buster Keaton DVDs on my Wishlist. This one just happens to be the cheapest. This is the sort of stuff to show to those empty-headed sorts who think that just because something is old, black-and-white and silent, it must be rubbish.

Most Expensive Item
Creative Zen Vision:M - 60Gb Multimedia Player. £159.99.
Added on 15th January 2007.
Drool. I want one badly. I listed this at the beginning of the year when it cost around £199. The price has dropped by almost 20% since then, but I've still not been able to justify buying it for myself, not with a new house to decorate, etc. Anyway, this is the MP3 player of my choice. Byte-for-byte, it's cheaper than the iPod and you're not locked in to using a single media format and installing iTunes. And I think it's prettier too.

Highest Priority
DVD: The Nightingales - The Complete Series. £7.97.
Added on 13th December 2006.
A fantastic, rarely seen sitcom from 1990 and 1993. A dark work of comic genius (one of the four main characters was a dead body) set in a Beckett/Pinter influenced universe inhabited by werewolves, gorillas and Christmas allegories.

Lowest Priority
DVD: Law and Order - Series 4. £20.48.
Added on 27th June 2006.
Law and Order is supposed to be great. But I've not yet watched Series 1 and series 2 and 3 are on the wishlist, so this one is at the bottom of the pile.

Most Recent Item NOT Added to Wishlist
CD: Eternal Nightcap by The Whitlams.
Not added on 20th August 2007.
This album was recommended to me by a good friend and I fully intended to add it to my Wishlist. But then I noticed the 4-6 weeks delivery time quoted by Amazon. So I ordered it from one of the Marketplace sellers instead. Should be 5 days delivery from California and then I can see what the fuss is about...

See You On The Other Side

We're moving tomorrow. So I'm about to shut-down the PC and box it up (if we've any boxes left!).

Apparently our new broadband connection won't be functional until 21st March, so it'll be even quieter than usual around here and unless I get around to re-connecting the old-fashioned dial-up modem (and you know I won't!) then I won't be reading all your exploits for a week or so, either.

So, have fun. I'm looking forward to 3 days of unpacking boxes, moving furniture around, unpacking boxes, repainting walls, unpacking boxes, moving boxes, re-packing, moving and unpacking boxes and (occasionally) looking in wonder at our spiffing new house.

Wish me luck!

On The Move

Just as Delmonti moves into Addlestone, I am moving out.

Sorry Mr D, it's nothing personal. In fact, it's evidence that the area is becoming more posh and it's making me uncomfortable!

In approximately 24 hours time, my lovely young wife and I will become homeowners again, after a few years on the grubby slopes of Mount Rental.

Off to sunny Aldershot in Hampshire.

From now on it's our problem if the gas boiler stops working or the windows fall out. On the other hand we're also free to redecorate, put up shelves and have pets if the mood takes us.

I know which I prefer.

The day we move will be easier than the last 3 or 4 weeks. I've gradually whittled my 40-item to-do list down to something manageable (while working my new job and starting rehearsals for our latest play!) and most of the remaining items can probably wait until we've moved.

Another chapter...

It's All Happening

Time to expand on the brief note in my last post, which seems a long time ago now.

Yes, I've found a new job! I'll be working for one of the world's premier fruit and produce manufacturers and distributors. Not that I'll be doing anything fructous myself; I'll still be looking after databases.

But I'm sure that the chance to sample the odd peach segment may present itself.

So, it's more money for doing work that appears to be less arduous, but more interesting, and with the chance to expand my skillset into more report-writing. And it's only 5 miles from home, instead of 50. Fantastic!

So it's ironic that my other big piece of news is that it looks like we are buying a house in Aldershot. It's nowhere near as difficult to get to work from there as it is at present, but it won't be the "just around the corner" that I envisaged when I interviewed for the new job.

Fingers crossed that the mortgage application, surveys, conveyancing, etc, etc, all goes smoothly... Though the vendors have no chain and neither do we, so that bodes well.

Looks like January and Feburary are going to be pretty busy!

Where Have You Been?

You can now add a map of the countries you've visited to your blog or website.

Click my map below to find out more.

Thanks to One Of Those Allans for the link.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Ah, Those Long Summer Days...

What long summer days? August was abysmal. Don't argue, you know it was!

Hello.

Yes, I'm sorry Chuckie, I've been away from here for far too long. Lots to write about, but little time to write in. August saw lots of activity which I will post about over the next week or so. I promise.

So look forward to meanderings about NODA summer school, Wensleydale, my recent birthday and various theatre bits and bobs.

Today's topic of conversation is The Goodwood Revival.

The Revival is a race meeting, held at Goodwood motor racing circuit, near Chichester in Sussex. The circuit is built on the estate of the Earl of March who lives in Goodwood House and also owns Goodwood horse racing course. Lord March owns lots of property. Lots. Vast acres of English countryside.

But he's a good chap because every year he holds two meetings at the motor racing circuit. The Festival of Speed happens early in the summer. I've been a couple of times, but I don't find it that enthralling. Various racing cars charge up a hill course a mile or two long. It's not a circuit, so you see each car once. For about 10 seconds.

No. For me the Revival meeting is much more fun. The Friday is given over to practice laps, each driver trying to set a competitive time; then the races themselves happen on Saturday and Sunday. Each day you'll see around 9 races, plus some parades of cars notable for some reason (this year was a collection of cars raced by US driver Phil Hill in his long, distinguished career).

One of the best parts of the Revival is the fact that everything is done in a vintage style. The circuit closed for 'real' racing in 1966, so all the cars (and the planes and motorbikes - even the course rescue vehicles, fire engines and ambulances) pre-date that year.

The number of people who dress up in period costume is amazing. This year I didn't have time to find something appropriate and I felt out of place even wearing chinos and a shirt and tie.

And although I wasn't dressed in period we certainly arrived in style. I managed to cadge a lift with my friend Alan in his 1953 MG TD roadster (pictured).

But the highlight of any day at the Revival is definitely the racing. The saloon car race is exceptionally good fun. You wouldn't believe that a Mark I Jaguar and an Austin A35 would be neck-and-neck with each other after 12 laps (25 or 26 miles). In previous years I've seen a Morris Minor vying for the lead.

And this year's racing was even better. The Saturday was very overcast and rain fell in showers all day. Which meant the track was damp, but not soaked, all the time. Which, in turn, made the racing even closer and more exciting. And as we had ticket for the Lavant Turn grandstand we stayed dry and saw many cars taking both apexes sideways.

Can't wait until next year!

On This Day In History...

Some things that happened on this day. Most information courtesy of Wikipedia.

Events

79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash.
• 1215 - Pope Innocent III declares the Magna Carta invalid.
• 1349 - Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz because they are blamed for the bubonic plague.
• 1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.
• 1459 - Vlad Tepes (aka Dracula) had 30,000 of the merchants and officials of the Transylvanian city of Bra?ov impaled.
• 1572 - Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre: On the orders of king Charles IX of France, a massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) begins.
• 1662 - Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.
• 1690 - Calcutta, India is founded.
• 1814 - British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.
• 1831 - Charles Darwin is asked to travel on HMS Beagle.
• 1847 - Charlotte Brontë finishes Jane Eyre.
• 1853 - Potato chips are first prepared.
• 1891 - Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
• 1909 - Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.
• 1912 - Alaska becomes a United States territory.
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
• 1949 - The treaty creating NATO goes into effect.
• 1967 - Led by Abbie Hoffman, a group of hippies temporarily disrupt trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing a cease in trading as the brokers scramble to grab them up.
• 1968 - France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
• 1971 - Pink Floyd performs their most famous concert, in an abandoned Pompeii amphitheatre on the 1892nd anniversary of the infamous disappearance of Pompeii.
• 1981 - Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.
• 1989 - Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
• 1990 - A judge rules that Judas Priest are not responsible for the deaths of two youths who committed suicide after listening to the band's music.
• 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
• 1995 - Windows 95, a computer operating system by Microsoft, is released with much fanfare.
• 2004 - Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, explode within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow, leaving no survivors. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

Births

• 1552 - Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)
• 1580 - John Taylor, English poet (d. 1654)
• 1591 - Robert Herrick, English poet (d. 1674)
• 1759 - William Wilberforce, English campaigner against slavery (d. 1833)
• 1787 - James Weddell, Antarctica explorer (d. 1834)
• 1817 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (d. 1875)
• 1872 - Max Beerbohm, British parodist and caricaturist (d. 1956)
• 1897 - Fred Rose, American songwriter and publishing executive (d. 1954)
• 1899 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (d. 1986)
• 1934 - Kenny Baker, English actor
• 1936 - A. S. Byatt, English novelist
• 1944 - Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer, and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
• 1948 - Kim Sung-Il, Chief of Staff of Republic of Korea Air Force
• 1948 - Jean-Michel Jarre, French musician
• 1957 - Stephen Fry, English comedian, author, and actor
• 1958 - Steve Guttenberg, American actor
• 1966 - Peter Moore, English actor, director and database administrator.
  
• 1988 - Rupert Grint, English actor

Deaths

• 79 - Pliny the Elder, Roman writer and naturalist (b. 23)
• 1680 - Thomas Blood, Irish-born thief of the British crown jewels (b. 1618)
• 1841 - Theodore Edward Hook, English author (b. 1788)
• 1958 - Paul Henry, Northern Irish artist (b. 1876)
• 1967 - Henry J. Kaiser, American industrialist (b. 1882)
• 1978 - Louis Prima, American band leader (b. 1910)
• 1980 - Yootha Joyce, British actress (b. 1927)
• 1990 - Sergei Dovlatov, Russian writer (b. 1941)
• 1991 - Bernard Castro, Italian inventor (b. 1904)
• 1995 - Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-born photographer (b. 1898)
• 1998 - E.G. Marshall, American actor (b. 1910)
• 2003 - Sir Wilfred Thesiger, British explorer (b. 1910)
• 2004 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (b. 1926)

Greshams

Greshams,

My lovely young Wife, her lovely Mum and her lovely (but bonkers) Dad.

Taken on my mobile phone in a South London pub. We may have imbibed a beer or four...

Why Wikipedia Is Great

Wikipedia. If you never visited before, why not?

It made the news last year because various academics dismissed it as being biased and inaccurate, only for their research to show that the same accusations could be levelled at such august bodies of knowledge as Encyclopedia Britannica too.

But, let's face it, the reason Wikipedia is so good is for the sheer depth and range of its articles.

Here are my 3 favourite Wikipedia entries - in traditional reverse order:

• Surrey (because I like reading about my locality)
• BBC TV Drama (because it was great and could be again)
• Mike The Headless Chicken (because it's a bit odd)

What are yours?

Chilworth

On Sunday my Lovely Young Wife and I went for a walk on the North Downs.

We started and finished at the Percy Arms in Chilworth. It's a bit of a chain pub and doesn't have much to recommend it. Least of all the terrifying price of their ale (£3 a pint!). What was interesting was the fact that they seemed to have more staff than punters and they (the staff) all sounded South African. Very strange.

We headed off through some pleasant woodland and crossed the river Tillingbourne before heading uphill and across open fields for about 1.5 miles. As this was the hottest day of the year so far, we were glad when we came to a shady tree.

After the farmland the path headed past Chantry Woods.

[What is a Chantry? There's a shopping centre of that name in Andover, near my office.]

The path headed inexorably up the downs - you've got to love the English language. Where else would high ground be called 'downs' - and we followed the North Downs Way to its high point at St. Martha's church.



There's been a church on this site for around 1,000 years, but this building dates back to the 18th Century. It's a bit remote and one wonders if they have much of a congregation on Sunday mornings, but the church's primary function was originally as a stop-off for the devout walking the Pilgrims Way from Winchester to Canterbury.

A very steep path then leads down from the church, for around a mile through more farmland, to the derelict and overgrown Chilworth Gunpowder Mills.



The mills are a fascinating place. Gunpowder was manufactured here for over 300 years until the workings closed in the 1920s. For most of that time they were one the most important industrial chemical works in the country. It's odd seeing them now, around 80 years later. Where once explosives were made, hikers now walk. And the canals, rather than carrying barges of saltpetre and charcoal are now full of laughing, splashing children and fathers building dams from discarded stonework, their trousers rolled up to their knees.

One scary indication of the size of the mill is that one accidental explosion caused the demolition of the tower of St. Martha's Church. A mile away and a couple of hundred feet higher up the downs!



Nowadays all that remains are some derelict buildings, some watercourses (some in use, some dry) and many large, heavy millstones. The ones in the picture were about 4 or 5 feet in diameter.

I took a few pictures, as you can see here, but there are far more and far better to be found on Flickr.

Sore

Apologies for the paucity of posts of late. The play seems to be taking up quite a lot of my time.

And when I'm not busy doing that, I'm out on my bike training for the first of my two charity bike rides this summer.

Last Saturday I managed a creditable 29 miles. The ride itself is 32 miles, so I'm now confident I will manage it quite easily.

And this gives me a chance to introduce one of my favourite websites. It's the GMap Pedometer. Designed around the Google Maps API, it allows you to manually work out a cycling or walking route by double-clicking way-points on the map. Much better than using Google Maps own direction-finding software (or any other for that matter) as they all cater for car journeys only. With this website, you can wander off down footpaths or across fields, as you see fit.

And you can save your route as a link. Here's my route from the weekend: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=169584

Cor. Luvverly!

While we were staying with Martin and Tracey last weekend, we had lunch at the Globe & Rainbow in Kilndown. Fantastic food. I had liver. I love liver.

It's odd though. Loads of people detest liver. Jon spent most of the meal making gagging noises because he had to sit next to me. But I really like it. The best meal I've ever had was goose liver - on the 87th floor (I think) of the Jinmao Tower, Shanghai. Fantastic.

I also love Marmite. Which is on a lot of peoples' hate list.

But I can't stand various things that most people seem to love:

• Tomatoes.
• Broccoli.
• Coronation Street.

I like spinach, green beans and mange-tout. I can't stand peas. What's that all about?


I don't like scraping the bottom of the barrel. But it seems that's what I'm doing with this post!