alec-m

return from athens (northern branch)

2007-08-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Edinburgh now, after a great few days. It was the final weekend of most of the festivals, and I managed to see several plays and a film. Given the huge number of productions on offer, I was very lucky that all of them were good, and three were highly imaginative in completely different ways. It's given me a lot to think about, so I'll post about them another time when I've reached some conclusions.

I also got to see my Mum and Dad, which was great, and, as always when I visit, I ate very well. Excellent all round.

At long last

2007-08-22T10:29:00.001-07:00

OK, it was several weeks ago in real time, but in blog terms it was only the post before last when I wrote about scanning the skin a snake had shed. A couple of people commented that they'd like to see it. Well, here it is. (Sorry about the delay.)

back to the future

2007-08-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not there yet, but at long last it feels like the end of the tunnel is approaching and that I'm returning to normal. A lot has happened in the last few months, and I think it all got a bit too much, so I retreated back to the very basics - home and work.

I've felt like a fraud recently, because I haven't blogged, I've hardly visited the allotment, I haven't been to see the bees, I've taken very few photographs, and I've contributed little or nothing to the organisations I help. In short, I've generally done little of what's fun.

But things are starting to change. I took a few photographs this afternoon, I've come up with an idea for a new design for my personal website, I feel like blogging again and I'm off to Edinburgh in a few days' time.

snakes on a desk

2007-06-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, someone brought two snake skins to work - not made into anything, just complete, empty skins that had been shed. One was about a foot long, and even had the eye coverings that snakes develop just before they shed their skins (and apparently, because they can't see, that's when they're most dangerous).

The other skin was even more impressive. It was from a boa constrictor, about four feet long, and felt like tissue paper. The pattern varied from small patches on top to much larger ones underneath. I scanned the skin on an A3 scanner, and although I don't know how I'm going to use it yet, I'm sure it has potential for powerful images.

Many years ago, I saw a snake in the process of shedding its skin at Chester Zoo, but handling a complete skin was even better.

marching as to war

2007-06-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Soldiers from the Stafford regiment marched through Hanley at lunchtime today. Someone in a fancy hat, perhaps the mayor or similar, stood on a raised wooden platform, with a reasonable crowd around who applauded as the 200-odd young lads went past, drums beating.

A Warrior armoured vehicle was parked nearby, and young boys were welcoming the opportunity to climb inside. Recruitment officers were working, as they frequently do in Hanley, one of the areas with low wages which tend to be major suppliers of troops.

I found myself getting confused between anger and sorrow at the whole spectacle. Parading banners is a traditional activity going back hundreds of years, but in these days when the regiment has recently returned from Iraq, there is far more to it.

Young people are lured into a dangerous part of the world with the prospect of 'better' wages or career, and die in a war which we started, supported by an incompetent government and opposition and led by a Prime Minister who at best misled Parliament with false information largely copied from an essay on the Internet and at worst actively and knowingly lied to the country.

There was no public inquiry into the case for invasion, yet young people continue to enlist and their families and neighbours stand applauding them in the street. We will never truly regenerate this city while people feel that the army is their best option, and we will continue to be complicit in war while people keep joining up and accepting orders.

entropy, entropy, they've all got it entropy

2007-06-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw a road sign to a 'Classic Car Show & Autojumble'. I think many of my belongings must be autojumble, because I leave them alone for a while and they turn themselves into tangled junk.

how lost is my valley

2007-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

In a continually-recursive twist, the Valley of Lost Things, my other blog, is now itself lost.

I'd been getting a lot of spam comments on the blog, then yesterday I was informed that my webhost was temporarily locking my web space because it had received many complaints about spam coming from my site. I know very little about the mechanics of spam, but it seems likely that someone had hijacked a vulnerable script.

I could, I suppose, have sorted through the many files in case I found something that shouldn't have been there, but I'm not sure I would have recognised anything suspicious. Since I haven't posted on that site since before Christmas, it just seemed easier to get rid of the lot.

It feels slightly sad, but it wasn't even my first blog, so I'm sure I'll get over it soon.

the green, green weeds of home

2007-05-27T03:06:00.001-07:00

I knew when we took over our new allotment that we would have to work hard to tame it, but I had no idea just how virulently those weeds would grow. I cut back some ground elder a few weeks ago, but yesterday, when I cut back the new growth, some of it was nearly three feet long. If elder were suddenly discovered to be edible, it would be hailed as a miracle crop.

Still, we've harvested most of the nettles, which have been added to the compost heap, and the site is now looking vaguely like it did when we adopted it. Our efforts have not just been to maintain the status quo, however. There is now a good, fertile bed with strawberry plants in it and room for more crops; we've reduced the elder to a about half of its previous area; there are large areas under carpet to suppress weeds ready for digging over in the autumn, and we've generally dug or tidied up and removed a lot of general 'stuff' - mainly brick, tile, wood and glass.

A friend from work has helped tremendously, working away in a corner of the plot, revealing from under a pile of debris a brick oven with two mash pans set in the top. This, we presume, was used to prepare food for pigs which were kept on the site at one time. (The plot has only ever been used for livestock, apparently, and never cultivated, which is why there is still so much rubble under the surface.)

We even have an overall plan that's relatively stable, probably because we've learned not to specify many details, which only change, usually several times. We won't be growing much this year (for different reasons, we've been in this position for what seems like several years), but we're managing to concentrate on small areas. The trick is to remain focused on immediate tasks so that we're not over-faced by the sheer scale of the work ahead.

digital art

2007-05-18T05:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Harris Museum in Preston, to see the Digital Aesthetic 2 exhibition. It was very good, though the official website doesn't do the exhibition justice.

The most interesting part consisted of three huge (6 metre high) prints of three cities designed by eboy: London, Berlin and New York. Because they're digital, they can be reproduced at any size, but the sheer scale gives the work an enormous power that's missing from smaller versions.

choo-choo!

2007-05-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

I'm very lucky with my job. Today I realised almost every boy's fantasy (no, not that one, the other one): I rode in the driver's cab of a railway engine. We were doing some timelapse photography, and the kind people at the Churnet Valley Railway drove a diesel locomotive specially for us all the way from Cheddleton, past Frogall, to the end of the line and back.

Perhaps the experience was wasted on me, because although I enjoyed it, it didn't mean nearly as much to me as it did my colleague, who was thrilled to be allowed to blow the whistle a couple of times.

It was very pleasant, though, travelling through lush greenery in the soft rain. We disturbed a lot of pheasants, who seemed to like perching on the track, as well as a barn owl and a fox.

waylaid

2007-05-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to see 'Waylaid' performed by IOU Theatre in Manchester, part of the FutureSonic festival. It was performed in an inflatable dome in Platt Fields Park, and each member of the audience was given a pair of wireless headphones. (For hygiene, we each had to wear a strip of cloth over our heads so that it rested between our ears and the headphones, which looked very odd.)

The whole production was odd, in fact. There was very little dialogue, and little was amenable to literal interpretation. The setting was a snowy waste with a crashed car half-buried in the ice, and the play seemed to take place in an unconscious woman's head. Some of it was hauntingly beautiful, especially the singing and the violin, but parts, mainly the changes between sections and some of the mechanical contraptions were clunking and intrusive.

On the whole, though, it was worth going. We did have plans to go to more in the festival, which had an interesting and varied programme, but never quite made it.

back again

2007-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

You can cease your fretting - I'm still around, even though I haven't been blogging much. I just haven't felt like it recently, though occasionally I've been tempted to write about some of the more ludicrous aspects of preparing for today's visit to our museum by Princess Anne. That's probably a treasonable offence, though, so I restrained myself.

If you're interested, you can read my post about the event on the blog for museum staff in the West Midlands. It was through that blog that I discovered Museum 2.0, a fascinating exploration of the implications and potential of Web 2.0 for museums. (Well, I think it's fascinating, even if you don't.)

king ralph

2007-04-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I last posted - a combination of being busy with stuff that isn't interesting to write about and a general lack of inclination.

Some strange things happened last weekend, however. I was best man at a friend's wedding, which gave me a lot to think about, and I may post about that, but I was in a distant frame of mind as I was driving home along the M6 on the Sunday, which may partly explain why, for a short while, I seriously believed there had been a disaster involving most of the royal family.

I don't spend much of my time thinking about Liz and her relatives (though I'm vaguely aware of the visit by Anne to our fair city in a few weeks' time), so when a convoy of six police vans and cars suddenly sped past on the opposite carriageway with their lights flashing, I assumed that there must have been a major crash and continued on my way.

Shortly afterwards, however, my car radio was interrupted, as it's set to do, by a traffic bulletin from another station. The little display on the radio read only "traffic info", so I couldn't tell which station was responsible.

Instead of an announcer's voice, though, they started to play the national anthem. Had a member of the royal family died, I wondered. I wasn't aware that any of them were ill.

Then the anthem's second verse started. That's rarely played these days. It must be something serious. Perhaps more than one had died, then. Were the police vehicles rushing to the scene of a terrorist attack? The verse rolled on. Had the royals foolishly all gathered in one place in a rare moment of mass vulnerability?

Eventually, when the music ended, a voice bizarrely started spouting some urban street poetry. Then the 'traffic bulletin' ended and the radio returned to whatever I had been listening to. I'm certainly not disappointed that nothing serious had happened, but it was an odd few minutes followed by a definitely unsettling feeling of anticlimax.

two firsts in one day

2007-04-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'd been wondering what it would be like, and now I know. I had my very first bee stings today, and they weren't as bad as I'd expected, thanks to quick reactions by Nick at the beekeeping society. Both stings were through latex gloves and the barbs were removed quickly so little venom entered my system. Shortly afterwards, it was as if it had never happened, and no sign of an extreme allergic reaction, which was a relief.

The other first today was sighting a greenfinch at one of our bird-feeders at the allotment, confirmed by a quick check on the Internet when we returned home. I'm not much of a twitcher, but I enjoy watching the various small birds that fly nervously back and forth to grab a morsel of grain.

whole lotta love

2007-04-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I didn't like using my personal music player. The main reason was because the bud earphones hurt my ears, but I also resented the way the music invaded my head. It was right in there, intrusive, relentless and demanding.

Now, however, I have a pair of headphones that hook round behind my ears, and although they're uncomfortable after a while, they're much better than the others. Being able to listen for longer means that I've now found that I like the direct contact I have with the music. It's just the two of us, and although I can still hear external noises, they're distant and can't intervene.

To my surprise, it was the music of Led Zeppelin that finally clinched my new appreciation of this way of listening - albums II and IV. I'd never really listened to them properly before, and dismissed them unfairly.

Now, I've borrowed the boxed set of Zeppelin albums, and I'm working my way through them. I've not discovered anything quite as good as II or IV yet, but I'm enjoying it nevertheless.

the spring collection

2007-03-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

As the clocks change, I produce my spring wardrobe, the result of a rare shopping trip to Hanley on Sunday, with Lisa in tow to provide essential advice and guidance. With a second visit to the apiary on Saturday and our second kung fu class on Monday, it feels like we're emerging from the winter. This is the real start of the year.

another first

2007-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today's first - my first kung fu/kick boxing class. I was surprised just how much I enjoyed it. I'm glad they're treating us gently to start with, though.

The instructor came up to Lisa and me during the class and told us he has people in other classes who are in their 60s. It didn't occur to me until afterwards, but I assume he was trying to reassure us because we're the oldest people (by a long way) in the beginners section. It's just not something that either of us think about.

'bee' bop a hula

2007-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

This morning was the first of what I hope will be many visits this year to the bee hives of the North Staffordshire Bee Keepers Association. It's too cold at this time of year to keep the hives open for long, so we couldn't handle the bees ourselves, but we were made very welcome and people took the time to explain what was going on.

There are dramatic changes going on, trying to resuscitate weak colonies or merge them with stronger ones, and I liked the trick of using newspaper to separate two colonies within the same hive until they get accustomed to each others' scents.

I'm looking forward to going back next week to see the effect of today's changes.

RSSenic and old lace

2007-03-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

I spent a while this morning trying to work out how to combine the various RSS feeds from all of the Mind Bloggling blogs into a single feed that people can subscribe to so that they are automatically notified whenever a new item is posted.

Once the feed was working, I tested it in the Mind Bloggling offices using Internet Explorer 7. It was the first time I'd used IE7, and discovered that it automatically listed the tags used in posts and added up the number of times each one occurred. I assume that this only applies to items currently in the feed, rather than a cumulative total in all posts, but it's still a way of encouraging people to read posts.

I've tended not to use tags on my posts in recent weeks, but because of this discovery, I'm going to start doing it again.

(By the way, the combined RSS feed will be available from the Mind Bloggling website in a short while. In the meantime, you could subscribe to it through this link if you want. I'll post about this again when the link moves to the Mind Bloggling site so that you can update your subscription.)

tasty little flowers

2007-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

We did little to look after our purple-sprouting broccoli apart from water during the heat of last summer - no thinning out, no repair of the netting to keep the pigeons off. In fact, it seems ages since we planted it (twelve months ago), and I've hardly looked at it since the autumn. It just sat there doing nothing.

But suddenly it has tiny dark florets, and tonight we ate some - a real surprise treat. It was so sweet and tasty. Mmmm!

hard graft

2007-03-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the first of a few days off work. I spent several hours down at our new allotment this morning, and had a great time.

I haven't felt comfortable with writing about it until now because technically it still isn't ours yet. We've now discussed terms with the Council representative, and have been offered a good deal because it's in a poor state. It's large (two double plots), so it will take a long time (years) to get it all into a reasonable condition, but we'd prefer that to a small plot in good condition.

So today I cut back brambles, cleared an area for our greenhouse, removed some old wood and brought in some flagstones rescued from another plot that's being completely cleared.

I like having a big project to work at. (Just as well!)

party on, dudes

2007-03-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

Tony recently asked why, if many of its staff are good, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is so bad. As one of the people employed by that organisation, I feel that question deserves an answer, but it will be too long to fit in a comment on his post.

By way of introduction, I consider that my immediate colleagues and I provide a good service that is welcomed by the residents we work with. Our posts are funded by central government, so we don't cost the Council tax payers of this city a penny.

Today, Steve Robinson, appointed as Chief Executive and Council Manager last November, addressed two huge groups of employees to tell us his plan for the council over the next three to five years. He has already met with all of the managers, and now, over the course of several weeks, he's meeting the rest of the 12,000 staff.

It's impossible to disagree with much of what he said. The Council has to improve, and it's up to every single one of us to provide an excellent service for residents. Steve talked at great length about the Council's values and the aim of achieving excellence. Indeed, he said the word "excellent" so many times it felt like a scene from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Perhaps he'll suggest that we change the organisation's name to Wyld Stallyns-on-Trent City Council.

It's not hard to mock. One of his early e-mails to all staff talked of "one city, one council, one voice", which is highly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's "one folk, one reich, one fuhrer". Today's event had a huge red curtain across the front of the stage and posters in the Council's colour scheme of red and black. It was easy to imagine long banners down the walls with huge swastikas on them.

Steve stood at a lectern in front of the curtain and orated like a leader at his party conference, complete with the usual tricks of rhetoric: the rule of three, asking questions to gain attention then answering them, and establishing a bond with the audience against a common foe (the few who aren't willing to change).

At the end, he asked everyone to stand up. He then asked, in three separate but similar ways, for anyone who didn't share his vision to sit down. Not surprisingly, no-one did. That kind of manipulation, the simplistic "you're either for us or against us" choice, excluding all other options and viewpoints, and peer pressure must have been what led to Hitler's rallies. (Sitting at the back, I chose not to stand in the first place.)

I found this working the crowd offensive, but I was interested in what he omitted to say. It's all very well to make glib, politician's statements about the need to improve, then try to sweep people along with you. He didn't, however, address how his laudable aims could fit with the long-term policy of not replacing staff who leave, capped off with the recent invitation of applications for voluntary redundancy. Staff are suffering from low morale and feel bruised from repeated re-organisation. In response to a question about how we had seen all this before, all Steve could say was, "Yes, but this time it's different."

I don't want Steve's job. He has a lot to do to achieve his aims, and it's easy to sit at the back and criticise. I like this city and the people who live here. I want to carry on providing a good service, and I want this Council to improve, but it's hard to respect a leader who thinks he can trick us into doing what he wants.

red-faced

2007-03-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Lisa bought some pampering treats yesterday. I tried her facial cleansing mousse, but stupidly didn't wash it off until later. That delay led to the skin on my face today being red, dry and cracked. It wasn't as bad as the Joker's fiendish plan in the Batman movie, but still far from the intended result. I won't make that mistake again.

north of the border (not mexico way)

2007-02-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Lots to catch up on - I've been in Edinburgh for a long weekend. I travelled up by train, so on Friday afternoon, I went over the stretch of track that a only few hours later was the scene of a derailment. Makes you think, dunnit?

I managed to cram a lot into the two complete days - a couple of films (Pan's Labyrinth and Night at the Museum), a play (Mrs Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw), the Off the Wall exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and a visit to the open day of the Eric Liddell centre.

And all topped off with lovely food and drink, too. Thanks for the fantastic weekend, Mum!

more splendid

2007-02-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

While writing yesterday's post about how good Saturday was, I forgot to mention two further reasons. Firstly, I got my haircut by a bloke who was just so happy with life that it was a pleasure to be in his presence. Secondly, I received a big cheque from the Inland Revenue because I paid too much tax a couple of years ago when I gave up my job. Wheeee!

splendid saturday

2007-02-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was particularly good. No doubt to an outsider it would have seemed uneventful, but I really enjoyed it.

First up, we discovered Au Revoir Simone. You can hear four of their tracks on MySpace. My favourite is Stay Golden, which is the one which plays by default when you load the page. It's deceptively simple, but discrepancies between the vocals and the backing make interesting complications. Their new album, the Bird of Music, will be released next month. Presumably the similarities between the cover photograph and the famous poster of the tennis player with no underwear are deliberate.

Next, we had a visit from a representative of the Renewal Area which we live in, to confirm that we can have our loft insulation increased to 10" thick at a cost of only £50, and cavity wall insulation for a further £50. The full cost of those two measures would be at least £600. I've never been eligible for any assistance like this before, so it's great news.

Finally, I cooked gammon steak and chips for tea, with peas, fried egg and pineapple, and, though I say so myself, it was very good. Yes, I know it's not a healthy meal, but, once in a while, as a treat, I reckon it's OK.

new technology in the east midlands

2007-02-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

If you live in Derby, Nottingham or Leicester, you can join a game being played this month. It's called 'Love City', and after registering on the website, you play by sending text messages to strangers in the other two cities. You can read an explanation of how it works or watch a short demo film. (There's also a blog about the game's development, but it's a bit sparse.)

The game was created by Active Ingredient, which seems to be part of a thriving new media sector in the East Midlands. I knew about some of the exciting things going on in Bristol (such as Connecting Bristol and Mobile Bristol), but I'd no idea so much was going on closer to home.

Does anyone know of exciting new technology developments in the West Midlands or even North Staffordshire?

'putting people first' - hah!

2007-02-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

I've just come from a public meeting about our allotments, and this isn't a good time to be writing a blogpost because I'm still annoyed, but because I'm annoyed, I'm going to anyway.

To cut a long story short, we've been out-manoeuvred. No-one's said as much, but looking only two moves ahead, I can see it coming, and we're on our own. Ours is now the only occupied plot in an area that the city council wants to turn into a communal garden. We're outside the secure area because the gate was relocated a few months ago, and the plots in front of us have been cleared. If we stay, ours will become an island.

I won't say what I think of the individuals concerned, and I'm not referring merely to the council officers or indeed the councillors. We just want to be left alone to tend our plot. We haven't been there long, but we're attached to it. We've thought long and hard about how we want to develop it, and put in many hours improving the soil and cutting back weeds and brambles (that's blackberries to some of you).

I missed the event during the meeting, but Lisa heard someone quietly say (though he was quickly hushed) that they just won't renew the lease. When we came home, we checked the tenancy agreement, and discovered that either party has the right to terminate the lease giving twelve months notice. There's a clause that prevents people being forced out during the middle of summer when crops are ripe, so basically, the council has until the 6th of April to give us notice, or wait until the end of September. We therefore have to decide whether or not to pay the rent that will fall due on 1st April.

As far as I can tell, there are only one or two empty plots within the area that the Council proposes to retain. If we decide to move plot, therefore, there isn't much choice, which is bizarre considering the number of currently vacant plots. But that's because the council proposes to get rid of them all. How to improve the occupancy rate in one simple step! But there's no demand for them because they're in a bad state and the water supply is poor.

Who has asked for this communal garden, though, and who's going to maintain it?

There's no concluding point to this post. I'm not even ready to outline the options facing us.

P.S. And our allotment was broken into last night, along with three or four others. No loss other than the padlock and chain, but the door is broken, as is our hedge. Grump, grump.

in the dead of night

2007-02-09T20:36:00.001-08:00

I woke up at 3.45 this morning and was unable to go back to sleep, so I got up and here I am.

I used to have strange sleep patterns, but they've been normal for a long time now. The odd thing is, I still can't get out of the feeling that I've somehow gained a few extra free hours, even though I know perfectly well from past experience that I will need to catch up soon enough.

It's the tranquility, I think. It feels like time is standing still.

charred chard

2007-02-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played homophones? It's a very simple game. You take it in turns to suggest a pair of words that sound the same but are spelled differently. An obvious pair would be 'two' and 'too'. Depending on how lenient or strict you are, you might also allow 'to'.

I played for the first time recently, and was surprised just how many there are. A certain person offered 'pour' and 'pore' which are perfectly acceptable, but wanted to add 'poor' as a further homophone, which I wouldn't allow. Perhaps I was being too harsh, but she then went on to suggest that 'paw' is yet another, which is definitely unacceptable.

The only problem was, we played the game just before going to bed. I lay awake for ages, unable to stop trying to think of more. Each time I found one I had to switch the light on so I could write it down because I knew I wouldn't remember it in the morning.

What games do you play?

Donald McGougan

2007-02-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

I read recently that Donald McGougan, my teacher from Year 5 in Primary School, will retire later this year. My class, back in 1970, was his first teaching post, and he was an excellent teacher. He encouraged and inspired us, and greatly influenced the course of my life. I can still vividly remember things he taught us, and from him I developed an interest in the full range of arts and sciences.

I'll be writing to him to send him my best wishes for his retirement, and to let him know how much he helped me. Thank you, Donald.

Farewell, Sarah

2007-02-03T11:32:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with this post for a week now, and I'm still not convinced I've got it right, but it felt wrong to abandon it altogether.

Eight days ago, I went to Sarah's funeral. She was 22, and it was very sad, but there were some humorous moments which I think she would have appreciated. She had Goth tendencies, so her coffin had silver chains and symbols on it, and some flowers were in the shape of a large, black boot with buckles up the side. Driving alone in my car, I managed to become separated from the cortege, and couldn't find my way from Cheadle to Cheddleton, so I finally arrived at the church just as the last piece of music was playing.

There is a lot I could write about the whole event, but I've chosen not to. Instead, I'm going to finish with what I've concluded over the last few weeks: what sets us apart from animals, in my opinion, is the choice of whether or not to fulfill our potential to make a difference.

on the cut

2007-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Today, in connection with work, I met and listened to two people talk about living on canal narrow boats. It was very interesting, and they were at pains to point out that the 'liveaboard' lifestyle is not as idyllic as portrayed by the ITV Waterworld programme.

Many people buy boats to live on, mistakenly assuming that it will be easy and restful. Those who rescind the lifestyle are described as going "back to brick", a delightful phrase.

Jupiter and beyond the infinite

2007-01-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's "today, for the first time" was renewing my car tax online. It was remarkably straightforward. All you need is the 16-digit number on your reminder notice.

The implications, though, are not so good. It means that your MoT certificate, if you have one, and your insurance details are on the same computer or at least available to that system. You may already know this, but it was news to me.

So when the Public Service Announcement on television tells you that you can't avoid the black monolith from '2001 A Space Oddity', it's really referring to HAL 9000, and we know what happened to it. This is more than just turning up on a database of overdue payments.

splaaat!

2007-01-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

Today, for the first time, I splashed paint around on large sheets of paper, using a large brush. They were the first pages of my new spiral-bound book, and it was a surprisingly exhilirating experience.

I've been quite timid and apprehensive in the past about colour and large paper, so I decided it was high time I get on with breaking through that barrier and just do it.

I've no idea what I'll use the sheets for. Two of them form a double page spread, though I applied the paint in different ways so they don't match. I also painted some smaller sheets that I'll stick into the book at some stage. Some, I suspect, will be backgrounds for other things, but some might be sufficient in themselves.

gorgeous goosegogs galore

2007-01-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

Last autumn I ordered various plants for our allotment. The blueberries arrived soon afterwards, but the rest was scheduled for delivery in January. Last week, a package duly arrived, so yesterday I took it down to our plot to plant in a temporary place until I've time to prepare the ground properly.

In addition to the raspberry canes I expected, there was a gooseberry bush which I'd completely forgotten, so that was a pleasant surprise, but what is it with gooseberries and sex, either in the form of babies or being an unwelcome third person?

grumpy old man, part 67

2007-01-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

We went to a certain carpet store recently to take advantage of some big price reductions in the sale. On the price calculated in the store on measurements I'd taken, we ordered some carpet, paying a deposit while we were there.

As arranged, someone came to measure and provide an accurate price. My measurements were out slightly, which after all is why they send someone to do the real measuring, but there was also some tale about the shape of the room and the direction of the weave which meant it had to be laid in a certain way which meant more material would be used. The cost of the fitting also increased, but I was never clear quite why. All in all, the final price turned out to be nearly fifty per cent over the price indicated in the store.

We went back to the store to cancel the order and ask for a refund of the deposit, at least partly because we felt we'd been taken for a ride. There was never any difficulty about the cancellation or refund, but when it was clear that we were serious, the salesman suggested that we give him an hour or so, and he would see what he could do to reduce the price to near what the original estimate had been.

In some countries, haggling is a part of everyday life, but I don't feel comfortable playing a game where not only are there no official rules but it's not clear that you're even playing one until you question something.

Yes, people haggle about house and car prices, but they are often second-hand and not in formal showrooms. I don't want to compete with salespeople and wonder afterwards whether I've been ripped off.

brian's procedurals

2007-01-17T23:11:00.000-08:00

My creative hero, Brian Eno (see posts here and here), is at work again. He's writing some complex procedural music to match the complexities of a long-awaited new computer game called Spore which simulates the complete history and future of life, no less. I haven't bought a computer game for a long time, but if this one lives up to the hype then I'll be buying Spore.

What games, computer or otherwise, do you like playing?

another first

2007-01-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

I recently introduced an occasional "What I did today for the first time" section. Over the last week, during a hiatus in blogging which you probably didn't notice, I've had to do several things for the first time that I would prefer to have left undone.

So to lighten the mood a little, although it wasn't today, I'm going to resume blogging with the announcement that on Sunday, for the first time, I replaced the felt on a shed roof. It may not sound like much, but I'm far from skilled in DIY matters, so I felt (no pun intended) quite a sense of achievement when I surveyed my ragged and uneven handiwork.

who will buy my sweet red roses?

2007-01-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

It may be a luxury, but we bought some flowers being sold off cheaply yesterday at the supermarket - some yellow tulips, some yellow and pinky-orange tulips and some fluted carnations with mauve tips on the lightest pink stalks.

They really cheer the place up on these dark, damp days. As a result, we're planning to grow flowers on part of our allotment this year.

the way to start each day

2007-01-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Having said recently that I would resume writing morning pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, it's about time I provided a brief progress report.

I've been writing for just short of a fortnight now, three pages every day, missing only one so far. It means getting up half an hour earlier, and it can be a struggle sometimes, especially when I'm starting at work early. I do feel better for it, though. It feels like my head is cleansed of the day-to-day concerns that clog things up, leaving me free to concentrate on what I want to.

The drawback, however, seems to be that I feel less inclined to write in this blog, and not at all in my other blog. Perhaps I only have a limited number of words each day. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

leaves 'n' stuff

2007-01-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here's another photo I took in the Botanic Gardens in Birmingham in December, when they opened for a few evenings.

hi ho, hi ho

2007-01-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day back at work after the Festive season. Although the break was a seductive reminder of what life was like so very recently when I wasn't a slave to the daily 9 to 5, I found for perhaps the first time in my life that I didn't mind the resumption of my place at the grindstone.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my time off immensely. It's just that my current job feels about as far as it's possible to get from being crushed by the wheels of industry. Except for the possible exception of someone who is paid to sit in the shade on a sandy beach and drink refreshing liquids. And I've not spotted an opening in that field recently, not even one at the bottom of the hierarchy.

it's that time of year

2007-01-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

Been contemplating. Been making changes, just small ones, but the start of many, all part of de-cluttering and re-focusing. It's that time of year.

peter and the wolf

2006-12-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I watched 'Peter and the Wolf' on Channel 4 yesterday. It was a recent animation by Suzie Templeton, with no dialogue, just the music by Prokofiev to tell the old Russian story of a boy, his grandfather, a bird, a cat, a goose, a hunter and, of course, the wolf.

When I was young, I used to listen to the record with a narrator telling the story, and it used to scare me silly. The wolf's theme was dark and menacing, and I hated the insidious creeping up on the unsuspecting creatures.

The version on television was arresting, interesting, clever, unusual and, in places, amusing, but it wasn't scary. I don't think it was just because I'm so many years older. I can still be scared by wolves and vicious dogs (and consequently werewolves, but that's different). The wolf here was just doing what wolves and indeed all creatures do - eating to stay alive.

Darkmatters has several posts about this film, starting here, then here and here, for an alternative, thorough and enthusiastic interpretation.

'twas the night before

2006-12-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

I drove up to Edinburgh yesterday, to spend Christmas with my parents. I'm glad I arrived last night, because it meant I was able to decorate the tree today on Christmas Eve, which is the traditional, and in my view, best time to put up decorations.

Some of the decorations are new, but some I recognise as favourites when I used to decorate the tree as a child. Indeed, one box is marked "6d each, 1/- for the centre" (2.5p and 5p for post-decimalisation babies), the centre decoration being a long, thin spike for the top of the tree. They were probably bought sometime soon after the war (World War 2, I should say, to distinguish it from the others since).

Some of the decorations are a bit bedraggled, and some are definitely old-fashioned, but I love this connection with the past. For me, the tradition of Christmas is not putting up ornaments, but putting up these particular ornaments. Yes, the collection changes over time, as some are damaged and have to be replaced, but that's a gradual process. Buying a completely new set might be more in keeping with what other people are doing, but it would have no meaning.

I believe strongly in the importance of individual myths/traditions/stories. Without wishing to sound in any way like a Daily Mail reader, I bemoan the decline of such things in favour of mass, impersonal ... I can't think of the right word, so I'll have to call it 'stuff', but I don't mean objects or products. I suppose I mean 'culture' but not the highbrow sort. Does anyone understand what I'm on about, or am I just talking nonsense?

farewell, Geraldine

2006-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Continuing yesterday's topic of our outside toilet, the main (probably only) thing I'll miss about it is Geraldine. She's the orb-weave spider in the top-right corner of the doorway.

It was fascinating watching her slowly and steadily weave her web, circling the centre and using each of her back legs to pull, hook and place the thread. The web was often in tatters, and sometimes it wasn't repaired for several days, but she kept replacing it.

Over the summer, Geraldine frequently disappeared, and when she returned she was usually larger. When not on her web, the tips of her legs could sometimes be seen peeking out of the dark shadows in the doorframe.

As November progressed, she slowed down, and looked decidedly unsteady while she weaved. I looked up websites about the life-cycle of spiders, but there was conflicting information about whether orb=weavers look after their young or not. Certainly, November seemed to be the time when they tend to disapper from the garden, perhaps to return in the spring, perhaps not.

I last saw Geraldine a fortnight ago.

brass monkeys

2006-12-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

With the recent and sudden plunge in temperature outside (at least in UK terms), I am particularly pleased that our bathroom is now fully functioning. It is already hard to remember that only last week that we had no shower and were still using the outside toilet.

That wasn't a problem during the summer, but as the work on the bathroom dragged out over the months (don't ask), the prospect of having to contend with frost or even ice in the middle of the night became a distinct possibility. I am so glad we finished in time.

morning pages

2006-12-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

I was reminded yesterday of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I first posted about it over a year ago, and it's interesting looking back on the results.

I kept up the task of morning pages for a couple of months, which is longer than I expected, and I did feel better for it in all sorts of ways. The remembering of dreams didn't continue, but I've recently started doing that again anyway.

Occasionally I tried to write morning pages after driving up the M6 to college, but it never really worked. It was far better to do it as soon as I got up (after making a cup of tea, of course).

I was less successful with the weekly task of the artist's date, where you treat yourself to some form of creative experience, whether buying crayons or going to a gallery. It sounds silly, but I found it harder to treat myself than to get up half an hour earlier every day.

I also found the sessions hard where you have to ponder, not because the questions were difficult, but because they were designed to help people get out of whatever was trapping them. I had recently quit my job to retrain, so I'd already escaped, and the questions seemed unnecessary for my circumstances.

Despite these qualifications, I strongly recommend The Artist's Way (though I'm wary of the related books she's published - they smack of milking the cash cow). Now that I've been reminded of it, I intend to resume those morning pages.

television and mental well-being

2006-12-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

Has anyone been watching 'Growing Out of Trouble'? It's a short series following Monty Don's project to encourage a small group of people addicted to drugs to change their lives by gaining skills and reconnecting to the soil.

The series suffers from the same problems as similar programmes: voyeurism, naivety, patronising attitudes, and extremely high levels of time and money devoted to a few individuals. It doesn't even have enough about the growing to make it interesting or informative.

The only reason I mention it is because in last week's programme, Monty Don talked about the depression he suffers each autumn. His openness was unusual, although I don't think it was as extensive, from what I can gather, as the programme about Stephen Fry's mental health which I didn't see but I think was shown roughly three months ago.

Is mainstream television (well, BBC2) starting to cover these issues in a sensible way?

there's a first time for everything

2006-12-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to start summarising the events of the last few non-bloggagable days (yes, it's a typo, but I quite like it, so I'm keeping it), but somehow it doesn't seem worth it now. It's all merged into the past, which in a way is a shame because lots of interesting stuff happened, but hey, I'm sure lots more will happen too.

Today I'm introducing the "what I've done today for the very first time" slot. Chris Evans gets people to phone in to his Radio 2 show (just how have they managed over the last few years to get rid of that station's terrible image?) to tell the nation what new achievements they've managed that day, big or small, and it seems like a good idea to me. It certainly won't feature in every blogpost, and probably not every week - merely now and again.

So, today, for the first time, I used a power sander. What a strange feeling in your hands and arms! It's like they're much thicker and less sensitive, and the feeling continues for a while afterwards.

i'm back

2006-12-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

You probably couldn't distinguish it from other gaps round here, but my most recent lack of posts was caused by a non-functioning telephone connection at home. A little carelessness while sanding woodwork near the junction box.

Not mine, I add, and since only one other person lives in this house, you might construe that as pointing the finger. My denial is not because I'm trying to shift the blame, though. I just don't want to claim credit for doing more decorating than I do. I'm not normally handy with a screwdriver, but reconnecting the broken wire was straightforward.

I'm surprised just how remote I felt while incommunicado, and annoyingly there seemed to be a lot to blog about. I might condense it into a couple of posts over the next few days.

the sound of music

2006-12-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

We received a large boxful of music CDs at work today. Each one has several versions of compositions that you can use on a soundtrack when producing films. The CDs have titles like 'Ambient in the Heartland 2', 'Planet of the Breaks' and 'Noisekraft'.

Each track is described in fruity terms like (and I quote): "unusal trombone with 'cold' (cough, sneeze and catarrh) SFX".

Unfortunately, that particular track really did have coughs and sneezes used as samples.

I'm not sure if we'll ever actually use any of this, especially since it's not licence-free as we'd been led to believe, but it added to the Friday afternoon atmosphere today.

the stuff that dreams are made of

2006-12-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

I rarely dream. Well, strictly speaking, I should say that I am rarely aware of dreaming. Who knows what goes on behind your back while you're asleep?

Yet every day for the past fortnight, I have woken up in the morning (and often during the night as well) with the remnants of a dream in my head. These remnants don't last long, but quite often I know that I've been dreaming about things that happened many years ago.

Could it be connected in some way to the short hours of daylight? I spend much less time outdoors, so my brain gets less variety of information to process. Perhaps while I'm asleep it has to turn instead to older memories. Alternatively, because I'm getting less physical exercise, perhaps my sleep patterns are lingering in the state where dreaming takes place.

Any suggestions, anyone?

painting with not very much light

2006-12-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Birmingham Botanical Gardens are open for a few evenings on weekends, with illuminations in the grounds and hot houses, and entertainment in the form of music, clown and juggler.

Lisa and I went on Saturday to try our hand at low-light photography, something neither of us has done before. The results were interesting, but could be improved, so we're planning to head back again for another go.

The photo on the right was a half-second exposure at f4.0 (800 ISO). The balls were lit up from inside, and flashed, hence the strange pattern.

Pride then fall

2006-12-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of sobering experiences at work this week. One was quite general, so I've written about it on my other blog. The other, however, was more personal, so it seems more appropriate to write about it here.

I spent quite a few years in my previous career, and I became accustomed to knowing it thoroughly. I quite happily represented my organisation at all sorts of meetings, and I knew how to fulfill my role.

I decided to change career, however, and retrained in multimedia. My current job, which I've only been doing for a couple of months, involves using multimedia in the museum world. I know little about museums and I know even less about using multimedia in that specific context.

In my eagerness to get things moving, I forgot that, and acted as though I knew as much as I did in my old job. Fortunately, not many people were aware of this, and no damage was done. It was just a timely reminder that I have a lot to learn in my new role. Enthusiasm is good, but recklessness isn't.

itchy feet but not many shoes

2006-11-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Went for a tasty curry tonight with a couple of old friends who I don't see nearly often enough.

One of them will soon be taking six months off work to travel round the world with her partner - Thailand, Cambodia, New Zealand, Australia, Easter Island, Galapagos, Peru, the Amazon, and finally the Carribbean (see - I was paying attention!). They leave soon after Christmas, and, not surprisingly, are eager to start.

I'm really impressed that she's managed to choose only four pairs of shoes to take with her, even if she's not very happy about the restriction.

I can't believe it's twenty-one years sine I went to South America, and twenty-six since Australia. I'm not old enough for it to be that long ago, surely?

a wandering minstrel, I

2006-11-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm just back from a day in Bristol. The main reason for going was training on copyright which is not the most riveting of subjects, but I learnt a fair amount. The best part of the trip, though, was the opportunity to indulge in a favourite pastime of mine: wandering the streets of a strange city with only a cursory glance at a map.

It's a risky strategy, especially if, like today, there's a particular place to be and a particular time to arrive there, but I was on my own so I could explore as much as I wanted and if I ended up going the long way round (which I did), then it was only me who suffered.

There's a lot going on in Bristol in the use of digital technology, which I find exciting, though I saw no evidence of it today. Back in the 1980's, I had a hankering to live and work in Bristol, though I had no rational explanation for that desire, so perhaps I would have got involved in the current developments. I never went there in the end, but I'm very happy with the way things turned out, so I have no regrets.)

I hadn't realised that so much of the city is based around the docks and waterfront, though perhaps my route accidentally emphasised it: boats, swans, marinas, even a ferry service up and down the river. The SS Great Britain is moored there too, and I had a vague intention of having a glance at it, but never made it that far.

At lunchtime, we went to the nearby Cabot tower, built to commemorate John Cabot who set sail from Bristol on his journey to Newfoundland in 1497. The tower is at the top of a hill and commands fine views of the city (apparently), but it was closed.

So there were a few plans that didn't work out, but I enjoyed the day anyway, and I took some photographs for a particular purpose, which I shall write about sometime soon...

food, glorious food

2006-11-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Recently, Nat wrote about her favourite meal. The following isn't necessarily my favourite meal, but we eat it quite often becuase it's simple, quick and healthy yet satisfyingly tasty. It doesn't really count as a recipe either, because it's so straightforward and you can adapt it in all sorts of ways, but there is a crucial part. Focussing on the stable ingredients, we call it, with wild abandon, 'Chicken Pittas':

Lightly toast three pitta breads per person and slice them open. Insert shredded white cabbage, shredded lettuce and grated carrot. Add some mayonnaise diluted with semi-skimmed milk (mix a small quantity first to prevent it from going lumpy) then mixed with plenty of lime juice. Place slices of stir-fried chicken on top of the mayonnaise mixture then finish off with sliced spring onion. And that's all there is to it.

We sometimes vary it by using red pepper and/or cherry tomatoes, but the lime and mayonnaise mixture is the key part, turning it from just plain chicken with salad into a delicious dish. Even then, you could probably change that to yoghurt and mint if you wanted to.

more on music

2006-11-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've not felt like posting here for a while. There's nothing wrong - I've written a couple of posts at my other blog - but I just haven't felt like opening up. I really appreciate the comments everyone made in response to my previous post about music. I may well take you up on some of your suggestions about going to a gig or trying new music. I don't want to make this into more than it is, but it feels like a large, important topic, and I want to treat it with due respect.

By coincidence, a new series started on Channel 4 last Saturday about how music works. I recorded it, but haven't watched it yet.

the tracks of my tears

2006-11-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been getting a lift into work and home again, but today I walked both ways and I really enjoyed it. It gives me an opportunity to listen to music on my mp3 player and enjoy the cool, fresh autumn days.

It seemed a day for 'Sticky Fingers' by the Rolling Stones (can it really be 35 years since it was released?), followed by the more recent 'Tour de France Soundtracks' by Kraftwerk. I have a poor ear for music, and no musical ability whatsoever, but both albums have clearly distinguished instruments, and I enjoy thinking about how the various parts have been put together (or constructed, in the case of Kraftwerk).

Sometimes it saddens me that I no longer seem to get emotionally involved in music - it's just a pleasant but distant experience. And that's why I hate those ear buds. I resent the intrusion inside my head. But desensitisation is much wider than music, both personally and societally, and a topic I don't feel capable of tackling. Perhaps I'm anxious about what I might conclude about myself?

robin of the wood

2006-11-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

Following yesterday's post about the robin, there was a short programme on TV tonight about the robins at the Eden project in Cornwall. I missed it, but apparently British robins are much less timid than robins in the continent, and the explanation given for this is the good relationship established with the many gardeners in this country.

They also said that the name robin is an old, informal one - Robin Redbreast, like Brock the Badger - and the name has stuck so well it's become the official one. Yet another example of the ridiculous but also marvellous quirks of our history and language. Wonderful!

and for my next trick...

2006-11-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

With the short days, I'm spending less time now at our allotment. Lisa, however, is able to go down there during the day, and has been hard at work digging. A robin hangs around nearby, waiting for worms, and seems to have adopted her. It has even trained her to deliver worms to it. Who'd have thought that humans could be taught tricks so easily?

click on what, precisely?

2006-11-12T22:57:00.000-08:00

It's easy to have too much of point-and-click games, but once in a while, as a change, they can be fun. I'm currently playing Submachine Zero: Ancient Adventure, which has much better drawings and sound than quite a few I've discovered.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck. Can anyone help? So far, I've found three red jewels and a stone, and a room with what looks like a block of stone with a pole in it, but I can't get past the second door with the sliding spikes.

I know in these games that it can be difficult to remember or describe exactly what actions lead to which results, but if anyone else would like to have a go and perhaps give me a pointer in the right direction, I'd be grateful.

sums can be fun

2006-11-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed writing about Scottish food recently, but that wasn't the sort of topic I had envisaged for this blog. I'd intended to write about more personal stuff here, preferably positive and happy stuff, and leave the more general topics to my other blog, The Valley of Lost Things.

Obviously, there are no hard and fast rules, and it may be that I find the upkeep of two blogs to be too demanding, but nevertheless that's what I'm still aiming to do.

So what's today's little item then? Well, it's not very personal, but it does make me happy. I've been getting more and more interested in kakuro recently (otherwise known as cross sums). It's a number puzzle, a bit like sudoku because you fill in the numbers one to nine in a grid, but it also involves a little bit of mental arithmetic.

The Guardian has a kakuro puzzle each day, graduating from easy on a ~~Sunday~~ :) Monday morning to hard on a Friday. Even better, though, is the website dedicated to kakuro, with a new free online puzzle every day.

You can buy kakuro software there if you wish, and there are other kakuro sites with puzzles you can print out or software to download, but one puzzle a day is enough for me.

ye'll have had yer tea (part 2)

2006-11-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

Having dealt yesterday with what's bad about Scottish cuisine, let's list some of the good stuff.

High tea is a particular type of meal, usually had on a Sunday. A hot dish is followed by bread and butter, and traditionally you have to eat two slices of this to fill you up before you are allowed to proceed to the feast of cakes, scones and shortbread that cover the entire table.

Arbroath Smokies are a type of kipper, Clootie Dumpling is a steamed pudding, and Black Bun is a rich, heavy cake covered in a kind of pastry and served to First Footers on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). The first person through the door should be dark-haired and carrying a piece of coal. Steak and kidney pie is served for lunch on New Year's Day. For me, only the pie is of interest, but I mention the others for your edification.

In the home baking line there's Kirriemuir Slices (sometimes known as Millionaire Shortbread, and similar to Twix bars), pancakes (a thick mixture dopped onto a very hot griddle) and oatcakes - the small, crisp ones for eating with cheese like crackers, not like Staffordshire oatcakes which are rolled up with bacon and cheese.

For starters, you might have Scotch Broth or Cock-a-leekie soup, followed by the main course: salmon, Aberdeen Angus, venison (which I once ate in a restaurant served with a chocolate sauce, but I don't expect that was a traditional Scottish recipe), or the casserole called Stovies - layers of thinly-sliced potato, onions and lamb. There's a rare type of lamb from Orkney where the sheep are kept away the grass, which is reserved for cattle, and have to eat seaweed instead on the shore, so the meat has a faint salty taste.

For dessert, there's delicious soft fruit from central Scotland. A particularly tasty pudding is Cranachan, a mixture of toasted oats, honey, raspberries and whisky. Crowdie is a type of cottage cheese from the north of Scotland.

There's lots more, but these are the main ones I can remember off the top of my head. Now I've made myself hungry!

ye'll have had yer tea?

2006-11-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Emma left a comment on yesterday's post about the wonderful food that comes from Scotland. I wholeheartedly agree. When people think of Scottish food, they tend to think firstly of porridge, which I wrote about yesterday, and haggis. That's fair enough - it's traditionally served on Burns Night in January with 'bashed neeps and champit tatties' (translation: mashed potatoes and turnips) and, if done in proper style, is brought in on a large serving dish while someone recites the address or ode to a Haggis ("great chieftain o' the puddin-race"), followed by Scottish country dancing. A grand evening, though I can only manage a small amount of haggis before I remember what's in it.

Going beyond that, some might think of deep-fried Mars bars. I've never actually seen this in a chip shop, but then I haven't been in a chippie in Scotland for many years. (In Scottish chippies, you're not asked if you want salt and vinegar, but salt'n'sauce, a thin, brown concoction like a watered-down HP sauce.) And of course, poor health in Scotland is rife, the result of too much salt and jammy pieces.

A few years ago, I spotted in a supermarket in England a pack of four Scottish meat pies, and pounced on them immediately, having fond memories of eating these as a child. They're round, with a crisp, raised rim around the top, and filled with minced lamb. As soon as I bit into it, I was flooded with liquid grease, and I suddenly remembered why I stopped eating them.

But Scottish cuisine at its best is delicious, and there's lots of it. Enough for a whole other post, in fact. Come back tomorrow, to find out what's on the menu...

go to work on a porridge

2006-11-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

Etcb has written a post about her favourite meal of egg, chips and beans, especially if the chips are home made., and she received some appreciative comments. It's at this time of year that the importance of food becomes apparent again, to keep us warm and fight off colds.

I like to start the day with a bowl of porridge. I'm still Scottish enough to put salt on rather than sugar, but not too Scottish to be concerned about using the five-minute variety of oats. I still need a little bit extra like a banana or toast and marmalade to satisfy my need for something tasty, but porridge keeps me going through the morning like nothing else can.

What do you like for breakfast?

the race is not to the swift

2006-11-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

There was a lovely segment on TV last night about swifts. Apart from being a jog to the fading memories of summer warmth, it was a fascinating insight into the mysterious evolutionary niche these birds inhabit.

They fly non-stop for several years, eating and sleeping on the wing, able to circle around and compensate for winds blowing them off course, even with half of their brain shut down. They cover thousands of miles in their lifetimes and no-one knows how they get enough calcium for their egg shells since the insects they eat don't contain enough.

Film from Oxford University Library showed a family of swifts in their nest in the roof. These birds can't walk or perch and they have virtually no neck muscles so they lie awkwardly on top of each other. They had a few parasites, called flat beetles, but no-one knows how the creatures get there since the birds never land except to breed.

Truly amazing.

the sky tonight

2006-11-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

I've just been out for a lovely stroll with Lisa. We didn't go far - just to the local late shop - but we took a roundabout route at a slow pace and stopped to watch the night sky, trying unsuccessfully to spot Comet Swan somwhere in the west.

It was cold and the streets were quiet, but lots of planes blinked slowly past above us. A calm and relaxing way to end the day.

dawn chorus to be left to get on with it alone

2006-10-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

Lisa has stopped working shifts, which means more sleep and a more regular lifestyle for both of us. Hurrah! Why, then, did I wake at 4am as usual today, unable to return to sleep? Boo!

the dignity of labour

2006-10-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

Having tantalised you yesterday with a promise to tell you about the bigger story later, I've decided that if I do, it will be on my other blog, The Valley of Lost Things, because I plan to keep this one for posts about how I feel.

Yesterday's visit to the allotment was more like what I'd imagined Friday's would be. I went relatively late in the day, and spent a couple of hours ferrying junk to the skip. Joe Swizzlestick, the person who had the plot before us (name changed slightly to protect the innocent), was a hoarder, someone who kept things just in case they ever came in handy. As a result, we have huge quantities of rotting pieces of wood, odd bits of metal and vast quantities of glass. We're particularly keen to get rid of the glass while it's still in the form of finite sheets rather than infinite shards.

So yesterday, taking advantage of the recently emptied skip while it still has some space left, I removed the remains of a rusty metal contraption constructed to hold compost, most of the glass and assorted wood. It was hard work, but it's satisfying and ultimately more productive than going to a gym.

Sometimes the most difficult part is getting up off my backside and going down to the allotment, but once I do, I always feel much, much better. I just don't understand why I forget how good I feel afterwards.

the burning question

2006-10-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

I'd imagined that this first post in my new blog would be a gentle description of how good it felt last night, at the end of the working week, to walk down the street with Lisa, my partner, turn a couple of corners, and look out over the open valley at the entrance to the allotments.

I anticipated unlocking the gate and breathing in what feels like country air even though we live close to a city centre. We'd probably potter rather than do much real work, but late on a Friday afternoon at the end of October when there isn't much daylight left, that's OK. The weekend lies ahead for big progress.

Instead, sounds of banging and thumping awaited us. The city council, in its wisdom, has this week erected, without warning or consultation, a gate on the footpath in such a way that our allotment, and ours alone, is excluded from the secure area. Our plot is surrounded by abandoned and overgrown plots, so we feel isolated and abandoned.

We went to investigate, and found four lads breaking down the door of another empty plot. As soon as they saw us they ran away, but we could still hear them nearby. Smoke was rising from the far side of the plot, so we went round and pushed our way through the undergrowth to find a fire burning unattended by the remains of a large wooden hut. There was a big gas cylinder on the ground a few feet away.

Everything was damp from gentle rain, so there probably wasn't a great risk of the fire spreading, but we decided none the less that it would be better to put it out. We made a couple of trips back to our plot to fetch water and the fire was soon out, the embers fully soaked to prevent re-ignition.

I've already wittered on at length about the events of our unexpected adventure last night, so I'll leave the wider story for another day.