Harumph

32/365 Rainy day observations, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

I'm sure somebody out there can dig up statistics to show it doesn't rain more at lunchtimes than during the rest of the working day, but it sure seems that way to me right now. Not that I had any pressing need for a lunchtime wander today, I just like to get away from the office for a bit if possible. And yes, I could wrap up and go out anyway, but the thought of spending the afternoon with slowly drying trousers doesn't appeal somehow.

Hopefully the weekend will have some bright spots.

Last weekend was lovely. The combination of a few days off, sunshine and my Birthday seems more than a week in the past though. Time, it would seem, flies just as fast when at work as when you are having fun, no matter how much individual minutes seem to drag on.

Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Sometime in the dim and distant past, somebody got a bit of translation from even dimmer and more distant times wrong and the Roman vomitorium (big passage to enable people to get in and out of theatres etc. easily) became the Roman vomitorium (special room to go and throw up in between courses at banquets so as to make space for more food).  The two don’t normally go together at all, but a couple of weeks ago I was right in the centre of an explosive conjunction.

Back in mid-January we went to see our fifth “Christmas” show by the Eastern Angles group.  This year snappily titled “The Brontes of Dunwich Heath…  And Cliff” which fit the pattern we have experienced before of borrowing characters and authors from great literature and adding in a silly Suffolk plot and songs.  As has become traditional, we met up with friends for dinner first then all bundled down to the Seckford Theatre in Woodbridge for the show.  All was fine and enjoyable until nearly the end when the person sat behind me started coughing.  Just a little disturbance to start with but then, suddenly, splat.

As can be guessed from the first paragraph, said person was not well at all and threw up all over me.  Which did rather bring the show to a halt.  I’ve not had the pleasure of washing my hair, neck, back (and indeed shirt) in a theatre toilet before and it is not an experience I want to repeat.  The Angles volunteers were very good, provided me with a t-shirt and all so I was able to sneak back in to the performance for the last few minutes.  Then it turned out that MrsB had also caught some of the extensive splattering so she too got cleaned up and t-shirted before we headed home for a very hot shower!  It is already becoming something we can look back on and laugh, but at the time…

They have given us tickets to the next production in recompense, so hopefully that one will pass off without incident.

Bite that tongue

Ever had a real struggle to keep yourself quiet in public? Seeing Ian Lavender on Holly City tonight has reminded me of the time I met him.  I may have written about this before but never mind.

We were holding a bus user meeting in Bury St Edmunds and he came along to ask about a bus stop near his house. He ended up talking to a colleague about it, who promised to look into it and get back to him. A colleague who had no idea who he was talking to. So when said colleague asked for his name, the temptation to shout "don't tell him, Pike" was almost too much to bear.

Ten years or so on and that still makes me giggle and cringe at the same time.

2013 books

2013 books, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

So here we go again, another bunch of books consumed in a twelve month span. Audio in italics...

Terry Pratchett - Dodger
Alistair Maclean - The Golden Rendezvous
Barry Eisler (Ed) - 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories From The Japan Earthquake
Michael Palin - Hemmingway Adventure
Terry Pratchett - Making Money
JerryWhite - London In The 19th Century
JimBob - Driving Jarvis Ham
Alistair Maclean - The Satan Bug
Robert Macfarlane - Mountains Of The Mind
Neil Gaiman - A Calender Of Tales
Tim Cahill - Jaguars Ripped My Flesh
Mark Forsyth - The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through The Hidden Connections Of The English Language
Arthur Ransome - Coots In The North & Other Stories
Guy Browning - Maps Of My Life
Jules Verne - Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Erica Jong - Fear Of Flying
Derek Tait - A 1970s Childhood
Henning Mankell - The Man Who Smiled
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix In Switzerland
Mick Wall - Star Trippin'
Naomi Novik - Black Powder War
David Long - The Little Book Of London
Edward Enfield - Dawdling By The Danube
Francis Spufford - Backroom Boys
Alistair Maclean - Ice Station Zebra
Mark Billingham - Sleepyhead
Jean M. Auel - The Land Of Painted Caves
Jim Starlin et al - Batman: The Cult
Richard Cohen - Chasing The Sun
Arthur Conan-Doyle - A Study In Scarlet
Hardeep Singh Kohli - Indian Takeaway
Emma Marriott - The History Of The World In Bite-Sized Chunks
Esther Woolfson - Corvus: A Life With Birds
Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
David Hewson - The Killing
Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - The Mansions Of The Gods
David Long - The Little Book Of The London Underground
Terry Pratchett - A Blink Of The Screen
Chris Abbott - Travels In Canada: In Search Of A Reasonably Priced Sandwich
Jules Verne - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Bill Bryson - Shakespeare
George R.R. Martin - A Game Of Thrones
Fantastic Man - Buttoned-Up (The East London Line)
Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Alistair Maclean - When Eight Bells Toll
Mark Billingham - Scaredy Cat
Guy Walters - The Real Great Escape
Arthur Conan-Doyle - The Sign Of Four
Mark Forsyth - The Horologican: A Day's Jaunt Through The Lost Words Of The English Language
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals
Seth Godin (Ed) - The Library Book
Max Arthur - Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Laurel Wreath
Alistair Maclean - Where Eagles Dare
Geoffrey Fletcher - The London Nobody Knows
Tim Cahill - Pass The Butterworms
George R.R. Martin - A Clash Of Kings
Paul Morley - Earthbound (The Bakerloo Line)
Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart &Jack Cohen - The Science Of Discworld
Neil Gaiman (Ed) - Unnatural Creatures
Alistair Maclean - Force 10 From Navarone

This year I am also doing "A year of reading" project on flickr, posting a book or something else to read every day...

Who I listened to in 2013

2013 music, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned on here before that I don’t get as much time to listen to music as I would like, but the word cloud above is a good representation of what I have managed to get through in the last twelve months. (You can click it to go through to Flickr and then get to the full size version so you can actually read the smaller words). I started back in January to list every time any artist got played so while it doesn’t tell us whether I listened to someone more in summer or winter months, we do get an indication of how many times people cropped up. This is made up of in-car, in-house and in-walkphone listening with no differentiation between when and where (I may have been dedicated/sad enough to make a note of every aural experience, but not enough to further categorize them). And the cloud is a much nicer way of looking at them than just a list of artist names with. NB “Various artist” compilations or whoever popped up by sticking iTunes on shuffle aren’t here – only artists I have chosen to listen to a whole bunch of songs from.

As such, it needs to be pointed out that this is not a result of random choice or fully by the selection of who I want to hear on a given day. I realised a couple of years ago that I tended to stick to the same old stuff and was ignoring a goodly percentage of my music collection. To combat that I introduced a strict three-disc rotation system for in-car listening while still allowing myself free-reign over any other music. So the rotation is 1: Artist I have several albums by but haven’t necessarily listened to for a while (in chronological order for each artist as they come up), 2: Artists I only have one CD by (in alphabetical order) and 3: New discs. Two years in and I am still only up to K for number two, but I have rediscovered some absolute gems. Discs for number three seem to accumulate without me realising it (Santa and the sales have just added a slew more to that pile). So as an example starting today on the drive to work we had 1: Hayseed Dixie (actually started them last week so they got one entry on last year’s list. I have five official albums and two bootlegs – all will get played in order so if I do a similar word cloud next year they will end up quite “large”). This will be followed by 2: King’s X (always a surprise to me that I only have one of theirs on CD and really must get more); 3: Eat Static (a Christmas present replacing a 20year old cassette with the CD version at last) then 1: Hayseed Dixie again, 2: King Swamp and 3: Daevid Allen (another Christmas present) etc. On the rare occasions that I run out of new discs to bung in the rotation I generally double-up on the single cd artists. When I finally reach Z on the artists I only have one disc by I intend to go through again for those with just two on the shelf.

On my phone I listen mainly to Audio Books and podcasts (This American Life, Selected Shorts, Short Cuts, The Infinite Monkey Cage, Jon Ronson On…) but intersperse those with music too. That used to be just random tracks but as I am slowly getting all my CDs ripped I now generally fill up the memory card with four or five books, and then the same numbers of podcasts and albums. Although the album tracks get randomly shuffled between the books and pods they still count as full listens so the artists get added to the list. But as I am only about halfway through the ripping process this adds another level of bias into what I listen to. And there has been no structure at all to the ripping – just what I’ve fancied hearing when out and about or in the study so may as well rip the disc while I have it upstairs…

And then there is just general listening to whatever I fancy from whatever source when I’m home alone and can crank the volume up.

Why do I make my life so complicated?

Another year nearly done

356/365 fairly lights, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

OK, so it seems I have been a bad blogger once again this year. I did have every intention of writing more, but life always seems to get in the way of these things and the time to waffle on just evaporates. So, a few things that I wanted to write about at the time of the occurrence, but just never got round to…

Canada
We had another great holiday there this year courtesy of MrsB’s sister. They have moved house from Burlington, Ontario to Paris, Ontario since we last visited which opened up loads of new places to explore. Paris itself is a lovely little town and the locals we met all seemed positively charming. Admittedly many of them were trying to sell us things or serve us food, but still they seemed genuine about it. OK, yes we did go down to Niagara Falls again (and took a five hour jaunt into the US while we were there) but I am not sure I will ever tire of seeing all that water doing the falling thing. My favourite pictures from the trip can of course all be found on Flickr, and if each one of them is worth a thousand words then feel free to go look and save me a lot of typing. However, particular highlights were Port Dover which has a smashing seaside vibe, even if the “sea” in question is actually Lake Erie; the beautiful old town of Elora (a bit of an artist’s hotspot) and, just because, the cars. Yes, I'm a sucker for an old American hot rod or muscle car, and there’s loads of them north of the border too. Plus of course it is always good to be with the family.

Work
I can honestly say I am quite proud of some of the things we have achieved this year. The two bus stations in Ipswich have been refurbished and despite the inevitable negativity in the local press I am more than happy with the end results, given the constraints we have to work under. Yes, it would have been nice if we could have done something a little bit more dramatic with them (headlines criticised them for looking a lot like the old versions – well yes, they are still bus stations and we didn't get any more land to play with) and it would have been lovely to have every facility people want but reality has to kick in somewhere. We are also nearly there with getting a decent real time passenger information system up and running in town (and then hopefully across the whole county). Just a little bit more data wrangling to do and then screens can go up early next year, which will hopefully be popular with the public.

50 years of Dr Who
Loved the anniversary special, and while I think Matt Smith has been an excellent Doctor I am really looking forward to the Christmas regeneration to see what Peter Capaldi brings to the part next year.

Other stuff
Looking back over the year it has been a generally steady one with no major catastrophes or major excitements to disrupt the splendid joy of a normal existence. Which is all anyone can ask for really. I’ve listened to a lot of music and read a lot of books, but they will get their own posts over the next couple of weeks complete with the big list of books (and maybe one of music too) as in previous years.

We have had some nice days out – some to London (including the Jack the Ripper and Secret London walking tour I was given as a birthday present) and also closer to home, just enjoying bits of Suffolk. And most of those have also included nice meals in assorted pubs and restaurants. Mind you, one of those also lead to us both spending the week in bed with food poisoning back in the summer, so it wasn’t all good. Although I think the positive days outweighed that one negative experience.

And, without realising it until recently, I think we have both finally stopped being paranoid about money. A maturing investment allowed us to pay off a chunk of the mortgage as well as having the good holiday and leaving us with a reserve for emergencies (hello, new dishwasher and back door frame) and we have reigned in spending on a few things, so no longer do I spend the last week of every month checking the bank accounts to make sure we can hang on until pay day. Which is a wonderful feeling at last.

So, all things considered, a good year. Here’s to 2014!

A death in store

So I woke up at four this morning with the idea for a very short story in my head.  it didn't go away when I finally got up, so here it is.  Probably not very original, but fun to get down.


The spectre of Death drifted, unnoticed, down the High Street of a busy market town. It had visited a bungalow on the outskirts in the early hours of the morning but was now back to regular territory. For the third time this week the shadow wafted through the window display and staked out a corner behind a dusty display. Being present at every death since the dawn of time lent a certain familiarity to the proceedings, this was not an uncommon event after all, but somehow the shade was already feeling a sense of anticipation, even wondering if it would be here again tomorrow.


A few minutes after twelve, the assassin walked into the shop. He did not pay attention to the bright colours of the window display, the smiling assistant behind the till or the stacks of merchandise dotted on tables between the rows of shelves. Instead he headed with grim purpose towards the corner where Death lurked. He did not know that the ultimate darkness was waiting for him, merely that this was where he should find his victim. Scanning his immediate vicinity, the assassin chose his target swiftly and with the knowledge gained in his previous two visits. Secure in his nook, he reached out with one hand and silently grasped his intended. The other hand came in to play and with one swift movement the assassin cracked his victim's spine. There was the tiniest of snapping noises and for a moment the shop seemed to darken as Death, mission accomplished, fled through the ceiling and off to its next port of call.



Later, after the lunchtime rush had died down, the shop assistant took a few minutes to tidy up the inevitable mess the customers had left behind. She worked towards the back of the store, returning items to the rightful homes, rearranging the order of things on the shelves and straightening the piles on the tables. Then she saw the assassin's victim, lying splayed and broken on the last table. She regarded the limp and wilted tome for a few seconds then sighed, gathered it in her arms and turned to the shelves in the corner. From these she removed all the other copies of the book and brought them with her back to the front of the store. This one was going under the counter from now on – three damaged in one week was enough...

Hey! Hello!

201/365 Probable album of the year., a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Yes I know, it has been far too long, but I'm not dead just busy. And still got lots to say. So more posts soon, I hope.

Anyway, I did something the other night that I haven't done for years. I sat down and listened to an album. All the way through with no interruptions. Just me, the music and the lyric sheet.

That always used to be how my first consumption of music went. Not background music to dinner or reading or driving or whatever else was going on. Just straightforward songs to focus on and absorb. It is why I know the word to so many tracks and can replay them in my head at will. But life seems so busy these days that this was a rare luxury. One I intend to make more time for in the future though as it really was blissful.

As for the album it question, it was that one up there. Hey! Hello!'s self titled debut. Which is the latest Pledge funded album from Ginger WIldheart (also featuring Victoria Liedtke). I've had MP3s since before Christmas and already feel this to be the best music I've heard in a long while, but when the disc turned up I decided it deserved some reverence.

Bright, breezy pop-metal delights.

Check 'em out on the you tubes then do yourself a favour and buy it.

Done my civic duty.

122/365 Done my civic duty., a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

So it is election day once again. As an employee of the County Council I am probably more concerned about the outcome than many. After all, barring edicts from central government, it is the people being elected today who are ultimately responsible for whether I have a job or not. Having been a Labour Administration when I first started here, we have now been Tory lead for the last two sessions and some of the choices they have made have just been heartbreaking.

So I hope everyone has got off their backsides and made the effort. I always say you have no right to complain if you didn't take part. And whether you support their policies or not, most of our local councillors are hard working and try to do their best for their constituents when it comes to individual issues.

Now, if whoever gets in would like to raise the bus stops budget I'll be a happy chap.

Phone call of the day.

"Hello, Passenger Transport, can I help you?"

"Yes, can you check if a Renault Megane reg ******* is in one of your Park & Ride car parks?  Only my husband drove in to Ipswich yesterday, did some shopping then came home on the bus.  And he can't remember where he's left the car."

"OK, can you give me your details so I can get int ouch with the sites then call you back?"

"I've been through his pockets twice, but can't find any clues and he can't remember if he got a bus in or drove all the way.  And he forgot to get me any shampoo."

"Your name and phone number please...?"

Needless to say we didn't have their car.  I wonder where it was.

A bit whiffy

70/365 down the smoke., a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Six or seven years ago, probably about the time she changed jobs, MrsB and I started using National Express coaches as our preferred method of reaching London for a day out. Rail tickets had just got horrendously expensive and connections from Felixstowe to Ipswich were never convenient. So we sacrificed a bit of time for tickets at half the price and the ease of starting nearer home. And of course the Tourist Information Centre where MrsB works sells the coach tickets so it was a doddle to book a day at short notice. Unfortunately a recent timetable change means it now takes over four hours, and no matter how much you enjoy your coach travel 8 hours in one day is too much.

So on Monday we returned to the steel road, and what a joy it was. Everything was on time, clean, comfortable and as we had booked in advance we got to come back First Class at no extra cost. Which was nice. I know this is not the norm, and have made enough work journeys to have experienced the full hell of train travel, but really can't complain at all. Of course the weather could have been better (unexpected freezing blizzards were not on the agenda when we chose the date) but even they didn't stop things working.

The whole purpose of the jaunt was lunch and a cruise on the river which MrsB had received as a birthday present. We didn't make full use of the river rover, only travelling from Tower Hill up to Westminster, but lunch on the Hispaniola was delicious. And hilarious as the couple at the table behind us were wonderfully opinionated, ex-theatricals and both stone deaf so they shouted at each other with no regard for who else might be listening. I just wish I had noted some of their observations down as all I can remember now is her having trouble explaining to him what a Risotto was, and how she met a friend at the party following the 100th performance of some play she had been in. And then we got stuck on the boat due to extremely high spring tides which had risen up over the gangway. Cue a free coffee then use of Wellys the manager had bought specifically for the assistance of unstranding people who didn't have two hours to wait for the water levels to drop.

As the snow was still swirling and the wind howling we forsook the pleasures of more time on the water and decamped to the National Portrait Gallery. It must be at least ten years since we last went there, and thoroughly enjoyed getting re-acquainted. I think I prefer the National next door, as I like a bit of variety rather than spending all afternoon just looking at people, but still, some very good stuff on display. And we saw Tony Robinson in the cafe so ticked off the required celebrity spot which is an essential part of any trip down the smoke.

Oh yes, and the final joy of the day (and another reason to travel by rail) was a visit to the international cheese shop at Liverpool Street (I think they also have one at Victoria) to obtain some Danish Esrom. My favourite cheese, and one that has a peculiarly pungent aroma than gained us strange looks on the train. Heck, even one shower and at least four hand washes since making my sandwiches today I can still smell it on my fingers...

Snippet

Is it just me, or when the road signs say "Severe Weather Forecast Today" does anybody else then picture Carol Kirkwood in black leather?

2012 books

2012 books, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Yup, it's that time of year again, a list of all the books I read last year. WIth a fancy word cloud from Tagxedo.  Audio books marked with *, but I've not gone so far as to distinguish between paper and Kindle books!

John Farndon - Do You Think You're Clever?
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Bill Bryson - At Home
Alistair Maclean - The Dark Crusader *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix At The Olympic Games
Henning Mankell - The Dogs Of Riga
Terry Pratchett - A Hat Full Of Sky *
Ken Livingstone - You Can't Say That
Jules Verne - From The Earth To The Moon/Round The Moon
Michael Palin - Around The World In Eighty Days *
Hardeep Singh Kohli - Indian Takeaway
Arthur Ransome - Secret Water
Alan Moore & David Lloyd - V For Vendetta
Dan Brown - Angels And Demons *
Manjit Kumar - Quantum: Einstein, Bohr And The Great Debate About The Nature Of Reality
Paul Brickhill - The Great Escape *
Naomi Novik - Temeraire
Nicholas Crane - Great British Journeys
Peter Ackroyd - London Under
Mike Gayle - Mr Commitment
Terry Pratchett - Going Postal *
Brian Switek - Written In Stone
Daniel Defoe - The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of The Famous Moll Flanders
Diana Preston - Before The Fall-Out *
Mark Mason - Walk The Lines
Arthur Ransome - The Big Six
Carl Sagan - Life In The Universe *
Bill Bryson - I'm A Stranger Here Myself (Notes From A Big Country) *
Andrew Marr - The Diamond Queen
Michael Palin - Pole To Pole *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Cauldron
Joe Casey, Chris Burnham, Marc Letzmann & Rus Wooton - Officer Downe: Tough Shit
Tim Powers - On Stranger Tides
Julian May, Marion Bradley & Andre Norton - Black Trillium *
Dava Sobel - The Planets *
Simon Singh - The Code Book
Terry Pratchett - Thud! *
Henning Mankell - The White Lioness
Dave Mustaine with Joe Layden - A Life In Metal
Bill Bryson - A Walk In The Woods *
Arthur Ransome - Missee Lee
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code *
Simon Loxley - Type
Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot *
Jules Verne - Around The World In Eighty Days
Stephanie Pain (Ed) - Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers : And other odd events on the way to scientific discovery
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix In Spain
Julian May - Blood Trillium *
Arthur Ransome - The Picts And The Martyrs *
William Gibson - Spook Country
Emma Kennedy - How To Bring Up Your Parents
Naomi Novik - Throne Of Jade
Craig Taylor - Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It and Long for It
Mike Gayle - Dinner For Two
James Hamilton-Patterson - Empire Of The Clouds
Michael Palin - Full Circle *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Roman Agent
Julian May - Sky Trillium *
James May with Ian Harrison - James May's Toy Stories
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Bill Bryson - Down Under *
Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol *
Nicholas Rankin - Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945
Arthur Ransome - Great Northern?
Gerry Davis - Doctor Who And The Cybermen *
Simon Pegg - Nerd Do Well
Michael Palin - Hemmingway's Chair (Abridged) *
Terry Pratchett - Wintersmith *
Sissel-Jo Gazan - The Dinosaur Feather
Ian Marchant - The Longest Crawl *
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson - 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off
Helen Dyrbye, Steve Harris & Thomas Golzen - The Xenophobe's Guide To The Danes
Jon Savage - England's Dreaming
James Robinson et al - Batman: Collected Legends Of The Dark Knight
Jen Campbell - Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops

Oh, and yes I am doing it again this year. And because I am a total loon I am tracking all the music I listen to as well and doing a picture a day project on flickr...

Dear Santa

I have tried my best to be really good this year so do you think, possibly, Santa old bean, that I could have a faster database for Christmas?  I've got a house full of consumer goods and don't need any more clothes or gizmos, so just something that will make my working life better and stop me swearing so much would be fab.

Thanks awfully,

Simon

The sound of the crowd

ginger 555% cd set., a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Busy, lazy, uninspired, forgetful, enjoying other stuff... Take your pick from any of these excuses for the continued paucity of posts. A bit early for thinking about New Year's Resolutions but I guess being better at this in 2013 will be an ambition.

Anyhoo, I've been wanting to waffle on about crowdfunding for a while now and today seems to be the moment. Partly becuase Ginger's 555% (as pictured above) won "Event of the year" at the Classic Rock awards last night. That was my first toe-dip into the murky waters of paying up front for something to be created without support or backing from the traditional music biz (as opposed to paying up front for something that already exists, which is what most normal shopping is after all, not often you get to try before you buy).

I can't remember when I first encountered the concept, but do recall reading something about Marillion raising money through their web site to fund a new album many years ago. It only properly registered with me when I first joined Twitter though, and people I was following started plugging projects on Kickstarter or Pledge Music. First ones they were aware of and supporting themselves, but then their own. And Ginger was the first that intrigued me enough to part with some cash. Of course I now wish I had taken the plunge earlier, but there you go.

The whole recording process was laid open to backers, with regular updates and sneak previews etc which, to my mind, brought the project alive. Watching a couple of minutes of video now and then in the run-up to release just made the sense of anticipation all the greater. Lots of artists are opening up the recording process these days through web exclusives and tweets and the like but most of my finding out about new albums still comes from seeing a review or even just spotting it in HMV. While such surprises are nice, I do enjoy a good build-up. And in this case the end product didn't disappoint - a triple CD set (distilled to a single disc selection by fan vote for retail release) featuring 30 tracks that have had more than a few listens since arrival.

Since then I have also backed (and received) the new albums from Amanda Palmer (there is going to have to be something pretty spectacular arrive in the next couple of weeks for Theatre Is Evil not to be my album of the year) and Ben Folds Five. Paul Miro, former singer with Derby band Apes, Pigs & Spacemen has done a pledge release through his own site, rather than one of the main players in the field, and already delivered in mp3 form with the physical disc to follow. That one I learned about through a comment on one of Ginger's posts, which made me doubly glad I'd backed that project as I would probably not relaised Miro was still going otherwise. Due in the New Year is an album of space songs from Kim Boekbinder, who I found out about through Amanda Palmer so it is all a bit circular in the crowd-funding world. I do take the occasional look through the Kickstarter and Pledge Music sites for other things that might be worth the risk, but nothing has sparked my interest as yet.

And then there is Ginger again. Not content with a triple album he also has another three on the go for this year. Two extreme noise and weirdness collaborations under the name Mutation and a power-pop thing called Hey, Hello. The bits of both that have been dribbled out so far have again whetted my appetite to fever pitch.

Anybody got any recommendations for other projects worthy of my cash?

Caution: Contents may be cold

Mapmug2, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

In what an only be described as a Water Cooler Conversation (because it actually took place while I was getting some cold water) one of my Managers revealed yesterday that she is unable to drink cold liquids from a mug. For her mugs can only be for hot drinks, and anything cold must be from a glass. Although she is fine with a Latte or posh hot chocolate in a glass "with a handle". This was not something I have ever considered might be a problem before. If I am thirsty, I'll happily drink from whatever container is to hand. As it happens, I tend to use mugs for cold drinks at work because (a) I normally bring my own mug in with me, use it throughout the day and take it home again for washing up I trust. I will admit to a slight issue with the communal cups and glasses here even though I know they are properly dealt with in a dishwasher rather than just being indifferently rinsed and put away as I have seen elsewhere. And (b) I don't consume tea or coffee anyway but we have a stack of mugs at home that would never otherwise get used if I didn;t cart them back and forth to the office.

Since then I have been trying to think of any other utensil "phobias" I might have, and just can't identify any. I'll slurp soup from a desert spoon if that's all there is, drink straight from a can/bottle or use a straw, happily use a wooden or plastic disposable chip fork or use my fingers when sitting on the sea front with a portion and don't insist on pre-packed sandwiches being decanted onto a plate before consumption. Anybody out there got any food consumption problems they'd like to share?

Canterbury Tales

7 image Cathedral stitch, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

They say time flies when you're having fun, which I guess is how I come to be writing about my holidays on the fifth day back at work after them... Mind you, "they" also say that cats would by Whiskas so I'm not sure "they" are the most reliable of sources. We were only actually away for three nights in the first week of a fortnight's break, which added to the two nights we spent in Northampton earlier in the summer for a wedding gives me the huge total of five away from home since we got back from Canada in Jan 2010 but they sure were what we both needed.

So after much decision making and thinking of thoughts we plumped for Canterbury as a nice place to visit. Joan had never been before and I'd managed one afternoon about 20 years ago when my Brother was there at university. Funny that I never went down to visit him now I look back on things, but there you have it. It is a beautiful little city with the reconstruction following the World War 2 bombing not too jarring alongside the survivors. My particular highlights:

The Cathedral. Natch. I'm no believer but I can sure appreciate the architecture, artwork and sheer history of the place. And even more than that, I appreciate them allowing photography inside. So many "historic" buildings of whatever stripe are so dead set against it that the exceptions are always a joy to explore through the lens. Click through the shot above to get to flickr if you feel that way inclined.

The Heritage Museum. If only because it houses the original Bagpuss and friemds, as well as some Clangers, Pogles and Ivor The Engine/Noggin The Nog art. Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms productions are the childhood tv memories I treasure most and being in the same space as these was a moment of pure magic for me. The rest of the museum is also pretty interesting as it goes, and is worth getting the combined ticket for the Roman museum too. That one is not worth the single entry fee, but as an add-on is not to be sneezed at.

The big theatrical mask sculpture outside the Marlowe theatre.

The buskers.

And, the Beaney house of knowledge and art. Which has just been refurbished and houses the Library, Tourist Information Centre and a great collection of local and internationally significant art. Without realising it we were there on the second day of the relaunch so got up close and personal with some excellent Henry Moore sculpture as well as, well, loads of other great stuff. And it is free entry too. Worth paying a visit to Canterbury for.


We also paid a visit to the old Dockyards at Chatham and took the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway to Dungeness. Both fascinating places in their own ways and all contributing to a really great break. Roll on the next holiday.

computerised archaeology

computerised, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

OK, so I'm prepared to share that picture purely because rooting around in an old and presumed lost links folder I found this:

Way Of The Rodent Linky

Which is where you will find a bunch of old articles I wrote for an online computer magazine and may provide those of you desperate for more of my words with some form of consolation while I try and think of something new to say...

Pakenham sails

Pakenham sails, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Things I like in Suffolk 3

We have quite a few windmills left in Suffolk, some still in full working order, others reduced to a stump of a few courses of brick and the rest somewhere in between the two extremes. This one at Pakenham is joined in the village by a working water mill too.

More pics on Flickr (as always - I even have an "All Mills, no Boon" set there) by clicking through.

Proper entries to resume soon, I hope.

Torchy (not the battery boy)

Adrian Moorhouse moves off, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

And so Felixstowe got to share in the Olympic Dream(tm) last night when the Torch Relay(tm) passed through. Being a keen documenter of such things, I wasn't going to let the photo-opportunity go by, but somewhat to my surprise I found the whole event extremely good fun. Having seen the crowds that turned out elsewhere in the country it was no shock to see people setting their chairs up at the start of the Felixstowe section when I got home, having left work early on purpose. But I will admit to be impressed by the final turnout. From what we saw in the flesh and the photos of others it seems this was probably the best-attended event in town for a number of years. The superb weather was no doubt a contributing factor, stirring people from outside town to make the trip in (especially as the more touristy bits of east Suffolk like Southwold and Aldeburgh had been rain-struck earlier in the day) but there was a genuine buzz of interest from the crowd in the event itself rather than just a rent-a-mob feel from people who will watch anything if it goes past their house.

We had bands playing and church bells ringing along with all the offical hooplah (juggling acrobats and that sort of thing) before the Convoy(tm) arrived. I'd say that BMW(tm) have done very well out of the deal - supplying all the cars and Police bikes - but although the whole thing was heavily sponsored it didn't feel like overkill. Yes we got Samsung(tm), Coke(tm) and Lloyds-TSB(tm) trucks and buses coming through first giving out freebies, but they weren't as blatant about it as I was expecting. Pity only Coke were giving out product samples though - just imagine if Samsung handed out electrical goods or Lloyds-TSB offered pre-filled savings accounts or cheap mortgage deals to people in the crowd rather than just balloons and banners...

Having picked a town-centre spot with no shadows to spoil my pictures, by pure chance we ended up slap bang next to a flame exchange (or "kiss"(tm no doubt) as they are calling it) location. We also ended up with our designated "celebrity" for the day as the reciever at this point - 1988 gold medallist swimmer Adrian Moorhouse. Which was nice, and if you click through to Flickr on the picture above you can see much more of the whole shebang.

OK, after 45 days or so on the road you would expect them to have it all down pat by now, but it was indeed a very slick operation. But what impressd me most was that all the participants seemed to still be enjoying it. After a month and a half you could expect the Police to be a bit fed up of moving people out of the way, or the drivers to have had enough of crawling through town centres but everyone was sporting genuine unforced smiles, waving like loons and generally being caught up in the moment just as much as the crowd who were experiencing this for mostly the first and only time.

Has it stoked me up for the Games(tm) themselves? Not really, I was already planning to watch bits when I get the chance, and I'm not now scouring the interwebs for tickets as the whole getting there, security, etc seems like too much hassle for me. Especially with our weather prospects. But I am looking forward to them just as much as I was before, so at least I've not been disillusioned by the corporate sponsors.