back of a spreadsheet; back of the net

On Friday Fives About Old Things

2024-06-14T13:00:58Z

1. What is the oldest object you own?

The oldest object I own is probably a fossil of bellamite or a fish. Although, as an object, both of them were excavated within the last few years. The fossil has existed for tens of millions of years but not in its current state.
The oldest object I own that has been in its current state the longest is my cottage, which was built in 1759.

2. What object have you owned the longest?

I have a couple of fountain pens which I’ve had since I was sixteen.

3. What is the newest object you own?

Is this an object? I just bought some replacement cutting heads for my electric razor. They arrived yesterday and are still in their box.

4. Who is your oldest living relative?

Probably my mum’s cousin who is a few years older than my mum. She’ll be 80 now I think.

5. Who is your youngest living relative?

My wife’s cousin who is 18 months old.

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On Friday Fives on Hydration

2019-12-11T15:45:32Z

Hydration!
Have you hydrated appropriately?

I doubt it, I'm a man, looking after ourselves by eg drinking water is frowned on by society. it's why we die young. That and suicide but mostly the water.

No, but seriously folks, I am not great at drinking water when I'm at work so I am often a bit thirsty.

What are your feelings on fizzy water (LaCroix and similar)?

Other than a crazed lust that borders on an unhealthy obsession for bubbly water I don't have strong feelings. Not that I'd admit to in public.

I actually much prefer fizzy water to still. There is something about the mouthfeel that I find pleasing. I think it's because I am used to still water being cold. Cold either from the fridge in Australia or cold from the tap linked to the River Dee meltwater in Aberdeen. So I tend to drink fizzy water. Until recently this was own-brand sparkling water but we recently bought a sodastream machine to reduce the number of two-liter plastic bottle we were recycling or "recycling".

I have never much gone for branded water, although when we are in Catalonia I do like the Vichey Catalan brand of mineral water - it has minerals in it.

Is there a particular holiday-associated beverage you like?

Vodka, strong associated with Lithmas (Lithuanian Christmas). Nothing says Christmas like herring and ice-cold vodka.

Do you have a fancy coffee or tea order? (possibly only for special occasions?)

I like my coffee like my women - in a mug.

Do you only drink hot beverages when it is cold outside? Why or why not?

I live in Scotland. It always cold outside. No preference, will drink tea or coffee in a hot summer of a cold winter.

I tend to avoid lager during the winter in favour of warm bitter.

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On A Friday Five on Gender

2019-10-11T12:34:27Z

1. Do you think you are treated differently because you are a man or woman?

I'm certain that I am and I'm certain that I don't fully appreciate the breadth and depth of how I'm treated differently. I'm certain that many of the ways I'm treated differently are obvious and significant but equally and that many of the differences are subtle but add up over the course of a lifetime to make material difference.

2. Do men or women have it easier in our culture? Why do you think so?

Overall, I think men have it easier but a lot of that depends on the individual, how willing and able they are to conform to traditional or more current gender roles. There's also a lot of impact from race, class, health, sexuality, economic situation and probably some from things like geography in the UK (rural or urban), age, and other factors. Intersectionality is your friend here I think.

I'm a middle-class, university educated, heterosexual, well-off urban professional. For most things I'm pretty sure I have it easier than my otherwise similar wife. (Mental health treatment and the experience of being sexually assaulted are two notable exceptions.)

Does the guy who cleans our windows have it easier than My Lovely Wife? I don't think he does. Depends a lot on what he's trying to do.

3. Do you think girls are raised differently from boys? If so, in what ways?

Yeah, pretty much in all the ways.

4. Do you think women should take men's last names when they marry? Why or why not?

I think that is a matter entirely for the individuals concerned. It's not any of my business.

5. Do you think a woman will be President of the United States in the near future?

I am expecting this to happen on 20th January 2021.

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On Friday Fives - Misc

2019-10-07T14:00:38Z

Here are some Friday Five Answers

( Read more... )

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On Friday Fives on National Holidays

2019-08-02T14:13:20Z

1. What is one of your favorite things about your country?

I like the way Scotland has balanced both intellectual and more physical endevours, our desire to be more intrinsically democratic and how close to our own soul we are.

Also the fjords are nice.

2. What is your favorite thing to do on your country's national holiday?

Jings! and also, also as well, too, Crivens!

Which of our national holidays are we talking about? We have our official national holiday, on St Andrew's Day on the 30th of November, our semi-official national holiday on 1st January, what other people think is our semi-official national holiday on the 31st December, the national holiday on the 2nd of January we have to have to recover from your version of our semi-official national holiday and our version of our semi-officialnational holiday, our de facto national holiday on the 25th January and the private chuckle we have to ourselves whenever England start singing "Three Lions" by Baddiel and Skinner and we know, we're just sure that England's going to throw it away. Or the one we're all expecting to be adopted when Billy Connolly dies?

Whisky is a given, but I like the poetry of Burns, and his mix of intellectual and physical, carnal and spiritual and his intrinsically democratic nature.

3. What do you usually do for your country's national holiday?

St Andrews Day 30th November - try to work if it is actually a Bank Holiday or not, deal, in an embarrassed way with American's wishing me well.

31st December, prepare for drinking, stay up all night.

1st January, drink whisky and watch fireworks, stay up all night.

2nd January, go to the cottage, carefully.

25th January, host a Burns' Supper, eat haggis, drink whisky.

4. What is your favorite national/regional ethnic dish?

Of my own nation, haggis. Particularly with some sort of sauce to go with the haggis. It can be a little dry if eaten with neeps and mashed potato.

Of other nations, the thing I look forward to most is chilli on nachos which MLW makes often for a weekend dinner. I think that is ethnically Texan?

5. Who is your favorite national hero and why?

Of my own nation, Byron.

Former FP of my school, Poet, drinker, shagger, freedom fighter, radical politician and father of Ada Lovelace.

Of other nations, whaddaya got?

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On Friday Fives on Holiday

2019-06-14T15:48:34Z

1. What was your favorite childhood vacation?

I barely went on holiday as a child. We went on some holidays to France when I was very small. I remember a field of grass and an orange sorbet. That's about it.

Once we went to live in Australia we went on exactly one holiday with my mother to the Whitsunday Islands. Mum crashed a dinghy in to the jetty and I had to threaten her with being dropped of the boat to stop her messing about with the sheets. The first of many, many happy days on the water with my mum, leading to us both taking a dinghy sailing course.

My dad came over every year and took us off for a three week road trip. We went from Adelaide to Melbourne in a camper-van. We had a trip around Tasmania. A trip from Adelaide to Sydney (in which we passed through Border Town, birth place of the late Bob Hawke). A trip from Townsville to the Northern Territory. A trip from Townsville to Brisbane.

Best holiday was probably when I came back to the UK and Dad took us all to the Netherlands and German.

2. What is your dream vacation?

At the moment, four weeks in a secluded place with nothing to do but sleep. Probably in Catalonia.

Failling that a two year canal boating trip where I rent out my flat, buy a canal boat and steam it around the canals of the UK, France, the Netherlands and Belgium with winters in the South of France.

3. If you could take a trip around the world, what locations would you be sure to include?

Well, when I did take a trip around the world we went to

Boston, Washington DC, Portland, Vancouver, Aukland, a beach near Aukland, the Central Coast of New South Wales, Brisbane, Townsville, Adelaide and Singapore.

Not sure where I'd go for a second round the world trip (actually third - I circumnavigated the globe on my first trip to Australia, taking a mere 5 years over the trip.) Definately Australia to see my family. I would like to vist Uraguay and Costa Rica. I have not yet visited Africa. I would like to visit Greece and Turkey. And also Lithuania to see the origin of My Lovely Wife.

4. Do you prefer vacations to new destinations, to familiar destinations, or a mix?

I have very rarely been to the same place twice on holiday. The closest is going to Catalonia a few times, Barcelona, somewhere near Barcelona and to the south of Catalonia, near Tarragona.

I should like to visit Catalonia again.

5. What activities would you plan for a two week staycation?

A two week staycation in Edinburgh.

Tourist standards, Zoo, Castle, Whisky Experience, the Royal Yacht Britannia, Camera Obscura, two trips to the main Museum.

Off the Beaten Track, beer tour of Leith, Museum of Literature, literary pub walking tour, Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace Edinburgh home game at Murrayfield

Food and Drink, Illegal Jacks for burritos, Tuk Tuk and Mother India for Indian Food, seafood in Leith, fish and chips, Chophouse for steak, the Apiary,

This assumes that it is not the Edinburgh Festival, in which case I would just go to see shows.

At the cottage - I'd spend about half the time learning to surf with the Captain or sailing a small boat along the coast together, and the other half of the time visiting all the local attractions we put in the brochure for the cottage but which I've not been to, Bellhaven Brewery, the Flag Museum, Alnwick Castle, the Scottish Mining Museum, day trips in to the Borders, a local distillery, the Belgian beer place and the Craw Inn and Eyemouth and Berwick (North and Upon Tweed.)

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On Friday Fives on Historical Periods of Interest

2019-05-13T11:01:34Z

Is there a particular historical period or event, anywhere in the world, that fascinates you?

I am very taken with the Late Roman Republic as an historical time period. It's full of interesting characters an I think the general economic trends that led to the political trends are a warning for us today.

I also take a passing interest in Elizibethan espionage and drama, the Georgian navy, the industrial revolution, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the US Civil War, 1940's naval conflict and fashion.

Also, any time period that Lucy Worsley is looking at.

Would you like to visit that time, or live in it permanently, or does the whole idea make you want to run screaming?

Good grief no. Especially the Late Roman Republic. It's probably one of the better time periods to live in before about 1600 but your chances of being either a slave or a slave owner are very, very high. Neither of those appeal. I could see myself making a lot of money in the industrial revolution but, given my family background, I'm more likely to have been a factory hand in the textile mills of Gloucestershire.

No, I will stick with the early 21st century. I think Stephen Fry had it right - I don't need to visit the past. I can find out about it and image it without actually leaving the comfort of the 21st Century.

Unless I was helping Dr Worsley with something.

What's the best piece of historical writing, nonfiction or fiction, you've ever read?

I very much enjoyed the series of books by Lindsay Davies about Falco, the early Roman Empire private detective. I thought there were a superb series of stories which got to the heart of the lived experience of being a middle-class Roman in the 1st and 2nd century AD.

For non-fiction, probably Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson which is an excellent one volume history of the US Civil War

What's the worst?

I don't recall actively disliking anything historical but I did bounce off a number of books about slavery quite hard.

Is there a historical site you would love to visit?

Depends a lot on what I'm there to do and how I'm travelling and what access I get to information. And also the nature of time.

Being in the crowd in Sarajevo in 1914 doesn't tell me anything I don't already know about the origins of the First World War but being in the audience for all of Shakespeare's plays would tell me a lot about the experience and a lot about the cannon.

There are lots of things one could find out from being in the general vicinity, but lots of things that would remain opaque unless one had privileged access.

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On Summer Related Friday Fives

2019-05-13T10:45:02Z

1. What made you smile this week?

How happy my son was at the arrival of his long, longed for guinea pigs. He was positely gyrating with joy.

2. What ingredients make a perfect Saturday?

At the moment a perfect Saturday would involve being left alone with nothing to do and the prospect of nothing to do on Sunday. That is mostly because I am tired, everyone in my family is sick and there is still too much to do.

3. What is the best thing you ever had for dessert? Share the memory or the recipe.

Food is so far from my mind at the moment that I'm struggling to fit this question in to a useful schema or taxonomy.

I like a sticky toffee pudding or a bannofee pie but my brain won't let me remember eating them.

4. What is your favorite memory of your mom, or your favorite thing about being a mom?

There are a few to go at.

I remember her taking us camping with some of her friends and her friend's kids when were were in our mid to late teens. The adults all got quite drunk one night and my mum became concerned that the moon (behind a cloud) had gone missing and set off to search for it before we put her to bed. It remains very, very funny.

My mum getting schooled by my daugher about 4th wave feminism and eventually conceeding that she had a point and then joining Tumblr to find out more about it.

5. What are your plans for the summer (or winter, for those in the southern hemisphere)

We have a family holiday planned for July in Northumbria. This will include my daughter's graduation ceremony in Newcastle. I'm planning some extensive birthday celebration around the middle of August. (Mind you, celebrating is currently low on my list of things I actually want to do.) I think we will go and see James and Madness in concert and Stephen Fry's book tour of Mythos and Heros.

Mostly I am looking forward to not having football on Saturday morning or rugby on Sunday afernoon for a few months.

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On Friday Fives on Secondary School

2019-04-19T13:50:15Z

1. Did you enjoy your senior year of high school?

I note that these questions are couched in quite a USian centric way.

For example in Scotland, when I was in secondary school, we sort of had two senior years. Which we didn't call senior years. Or even Sixth Form. We had Fifth Year, after which one sat Highers and, traditionally went to University at 17. The we had Sixth Year, a sort of optional extra year in which one could do more Highers, or some sort of made up Certificate of Sixth Year Studies if you wanted to go to Universtiy abroad (England) or spend the time having sex.

I remember Sixth Year being quite hard work. Because I had arrived in Scotland in Year 4 (to do Standard Grades) I had not been able to do all the Highers I needed to do in Fifth Year in order to get in to Law School. At least that was the theory. Given that got some sort of super A* result for Higher Economics in Sixth Year and was top of the school in crash Higher History (a Higher without having done the preceding Standard Grade) I could and should have done those in Fifth Year. I'd have then gone on to do Law, perhaps in Edinburgh, perhaps in Aberdeen (I got a scholorship to Aberdeeb and my best mate went there. I'd have probably still gone to Aberdeen.)

Sixth would then have been more fun.

2. Did you have a senior trip (high school) and were you able to go on it.

I'm not entirely sure what a senior trip is. I went on a school trip in the last weeks of Fifth Year, but that was a school trip for all years. I was on the trip with my then girlfriend and a one of my best mates. We went canal boating in the Midlands. That was good fun.

3. Was graduating (from either high school or college/university) a big thing with your family or just another day?

School graduation not really. I mean their not really a thing in Scotland. For my family, well I'm the eldest child of a medical doctor and a research scientist, if I hadn't done brilliantly at secondary school I would have brought shame and humiliation on my family.

Graduating from University was more of a thing, but only in that it marked the successful completion of something that I was supposed to have achieved anyway.

4. What were you looking forward to the most after graduating from either high school or college/university?

Thing I was most looking forward to after secondary school, beer and sex. Which University delivered.

When I graduated from university, on refelction, the thing I was actually most looking forward to was breaking up with my girlfriend but that wasn't going to be happening for a few years so I was really looking forward to five years of miserable financial and moral poverty. Which was delivered.

5. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your graduating self?

My advice for myself leaving secondary school. Have more sex, learn how to use a mind-map and do more past papers - DO NOT date J!. Advice for myself graduating University, get out sooner, before the abuse turns nasty.

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On Quick Updates in April

2019-04-15T11:34:37Z

Time for a bit of a catch up.

1) Rugby - rugby is going well.

We were at a festival in Stirling at the weekend. Stirling County RFC are one of the other Super Six clubs in Scotland, so they have a pretty large and well organised set up. Nice festival. 8 teams in our age group. Played 7 games of 9 minutes long (quite short). Definately a festival spirit, the referees weren't keeping score.

I thought we played lots of good rugby, lots of good support running, lots of good passing out or, or before, contact. Defence was a bit patchy, particularly towards the end. However, it's not something we can't fix. We're struggling to deal with the spearhead approach. Often other teams will pick a good runner, ususally someone who is quite fast, has decent evasion skills and is crucially pretty big, they get this kid to stand 5 yards back from the scrum-half at a restart. They run up, on to the ball, and through the defence. It's effective but it's not pretty to watch, it won't work next year when the tackling and the defensive structures are better and I'm not sure it's helping the kids learn to play rugby. For the record, I largely don't care about winning P4 rugby games. I may care when the kids are Under-16's or Under-18's. So long as they aren't getting whalloped I'd rather they learned the instincts of quick passing, good running, playing together, being a team, how to read and manage a game rather than knowing that if Kid-X starts with the ball they will probably score a try.

Good refereeing by the SCRFC folks. Biggar RFC P4's stand out for their organisation in defence and their sportsmanship. They are both nice club. Stirling's ground is very picturesque, being by the Forth River, between the castle and the Wallace Monument.

Briefly met my old school friend who now lives in Ayr. She was up with her son who plays in P6.

The Captain had a good festival, lots of tries, lots of good running, lots of tackling. He's great to watch. Particularly when he plays with the rest of his team.

2) Work. Work is busy. Interesting, but busy. I'm deeply invovled in two quite large projects on top of my usual work and some succession planning stuff too. It's busy. Good, but busy.

3) Family -

BB is planning her post-graduation life in Bristol. She submitted her dissertation. Now only 3 exams and a powerpoint presentation stand between her and graduation.

My brother is finalising his separation from his wife. That is sad but necessary.

My parents are okay, although dad seems care worn by, well I guess by the care he's giving his friends.

MLW is working incredibly hard, even by her own standards.

We have booked a summer holiday in Northumberland. Mostly so we can go to BB's graduation in July. I'm not entirely convinced that the holiday venue is great. It seems like a sort of cut-price CentreParcs. We'll see. Mostly I am looking forward to having a little clear down time.

4) UD -we've just agreed a budget with some exciting expansion plans. I hope the extra resource allows us to break through in to a period where we're doing more campaigning, gaining more members, increasing our funding, and being more effective and that doing more of all of that means we can do more of all that in some sort of virtuous circle.

5) Brexit - I have joined, but am not actually active in, the Edinburgh pro-EU campaign group. I am releasing my food stockpile to general stores and will re-stock if the political situation becomes fraught. For the first time I think Brexit is now probably not going to happen.

6) Entertainments, I am reading some books about Greek myths by Stephen Fry. They are jolly good. I may even go to see him in the Festival. I have a new real time grand strategy game on the PS4. This is taking up quite a lot of time and I need to do less of it so that I'm not too tired. Currently watching the Umbrella Academy, Sabrina and Only Connect and about to start on American Gods, Ozarks, Good Place and Star Trek Disco

7) Cottage is in good shape and now has a new heating control system user interface which should make it both better and cheaper. Currently thinking about new boilers for the central heating system. I'd like to replace the standard sized boiler and tank with a very small (10cm by 10cm by 100 cm ) flow boiler and reclaim the corner of the kitchen. Summer is well booked, no big repairs are currently pending.

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On Friday Five on Songs Old and New

2019-04-12T11:26:24Z

1. What are the five oldest songs on your iPod, computer, or phone (whatever device you store your music on)?

I currently stream all my music from Spotify. So this depends a bit on the definition of old. Are we talking oldest composition or oldest recording? If it's the oldest composition, then the oldest thing I'm aware of will likely be some Gregorian chants or other plainsong or perhaps some early Jewish religious music. I don't think there are extant compositions from classical Rome or Greece. There's a possibility that there are some older folk songs.

As for the oldest recording. I wonder if Edison's original recording is on Spotify?

2. And the five newest songs?

Similar answer to the first question. The five newest songs will be whatever the five most recently published songs on Spotify are.

3. What’s your favorite song to sing along to?

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by Robbie Robertson is a firm sing along favourite, usually the cover by Sophie B Hawkins or American Tune by Paul Simon.

Or Sit Down by James, where, despite being literally the target audience for the song I seem to have missed its adoption (or perhaps cultural appropriation) by young people. Except they're not young people any more, just younger.

Flower of Scotland probably scores highly on a measure of songs I actually sing along with with other people even though I dislike the song. See also, I Would Walk (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers

4. What’s the first song you ever memorized?

Wellies by Billy Connoly, on a roadtrip around Tasmania with my father and siblings.

5. What song is your current earworm?

I can always earworm myself with the Famine Song, traditional, with arrangement by Brian Wilson and the Sevco Supporters Club.

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On a Friday Five to Do With Ireland

2019-03-15T16:02:08Z

1. Have you ever made corned beef and cabbage?

No. I have made corned beef hash, with corned beef and potatoes. Very nice with Worcestershire sauce. I also make Resurrection, which is roast turkey, bacon and cabbage etc.

2. Will you be tipping back a decent pint of Guinness this weekend?

There is no such thing as a decent pint of Guinness. It is the worst stout. Far inferior to Murphy's or Gillespie's or any Scottish stout. Guinness is only famous because the British government lowered the duty on stout produced in Ireland in 1916 in order to buy off the independence movement during the war and, in doing so, threw the much tastier Scottish stout industry under a bus. Not the first, nor the last time, that Scotland's loyalty to the Union has been rewarded by seeing someone else get preferential treatment. But this time the result was Guinness. Perhaps the least good Nigerian beer ever marketed in Ireland.

Also, I hate St Patrick's day and everything it stands for.

3. Do you own an Irish wool sweater?

I no longer do so. I used to have an Irish wool sweater. It was a gift from a girlfriend that she had brought back from her home in Derry one Christmas holiday at uni. It was nice. She looked much better in it than I did. That was true of most of my clothes.

4. Have you ever ‘met’ the Tart with a cart (i.e. have you been to Dublin)?

I have. Only once. I was on a mission of love to see the above girlfriend.

I flew in from Prestwick. The place was deserted. Not a soul to be seen. Not a shop nor a pub open. In desperation I headed to the train station about four hours early for my train. Was forced to buy a pint of Guinness in the station bar. Where I discovered that it was the All-Irish Gaelic Football final and Dublin were playing. They lost.

From that point onwards neither the mission nor the girlfriend went well. Nearly got arrested by the security services.

5. Do you know what tractors, submarines and ejector seat all have in common?

They are all subject to significant investment in autonomy software.

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On A Friday Five From Last Week

2019-03-14T13:28:02Z

1. Are we losing the art of listening?

I think we're in a strange place with regard to listening. I know that my primary school aged child is taught and encouraged at school to be a good listener.

My general presumption with any technology is that we're getting better at it.

However, the way we communicate on the internet seems to encourage us to not listen with attention and generosity to people we disagree with or who are alien and also not to critically evaluate the content of what we are presented with.

I think that institutions matter greatly to the political and economic well-being of states. Those states or groups of citizens who solve the problem of listening and evaluating on the internet will prosper, the others will be as chaff before the wind. Or something like that.

2. Have you ever interacted with the police?

Quite a lot of my work-life involves interacting with the police in one form or another.

But I have also done so in a civilian capacity. The last time being about 11 years ago when some idiot broke my living room window with a shovel at about 4am during the Festival and when confronted with me, stark bollock naked, demanding to know what the fuck he was doing told me that he'd got the wrong house and was sorry.

3. Do you like being alone?

Yes. I do find that when surrounded by people I then want to have some time alone and when alone for a long time I wish to spend time with people. At the moment I am surrouned by too many people most of the time and wish I had more time alone.

4. Who would you share your passwords with?

I'm in two minds about this for serious passwords. One part of me thinks no one. Some other part of me thinks I ought to appoint a password executor who, in the event of my death or incapacity, could access all my social media type accounts and just delete them.

5. What are you grateful for today?

That my dinner will be better than my lunch.

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On Friday Fives for the 12th of February

2019-02-12T09:33:50Z

Since we last spoke Dreamwidth at least five things have happened

1) There has been lots of rugby. Some of it has been disappointing but turning away from the national team of 2019 to my P4's (the national team of 2029) - they are awesome. First week back tackling on Sunday, and being tackled, after the winter layoff was a three-way festival at Portobello. Really brave and thoughtful performance from them all. I don't necessarily mean physically brave, I mean being willing to have a think about what they are doing as individuals and as a group. Managed to put my coaching qualification in to use straight-away. Sadly the international 5-way festival scheduled for Saturday was rained off. At least one of the clubs we were playing on Sunday had loads of girls. BRFC P4's have none/ Most clubs have 1 but either Portobello or Livingstone had about 6. I wanted to go and ask them what they were doing to attract and retain them but everytime I tried one of my P4's injured themselves.

2) Had a conversation with a sort of relative about Brexit. Mostly came away with the feeling that the English don't really understand Scotland and that Brexit is going to cause political divisions in the UK for about two generations if it goes ahead. The Rejoin campaign is already funded as is the SNP and both are waiting to Brexit to happen to start their campaigns. Brexiteers and other British nationalists are going to be fighting a rearguard action for decades to come. I don't think they understand this. I don't think they have the energy for perputual revolution and I don't think they can convert the elite to their programme.

3) The Captain and I have enjoyed / survived a week with MLW away on business. We both agreed that it had been of an acceptable quality and nothing important had gone wrong. Obviously Chris Grayling was not in charge of anything. Most brilliantly I took the Captain to his piano lesson on Tuesday. He ended up composing a short piano piece called "The Forgotten Book" and then played it again for me on Wednesday morning. On Friday I found him playing the piano without prompting.

4) Work is busy but exciting.

5) I am trying to sort out holidays. We've had tentative discussions with my sister and separately with some friends about a joint holiday but I think those are going to come to nothing. MLW and I are still asset rich / cash poor whilst the cottage business gets properly built up. Once BB has finished uni, the Captain is in secondary school and a few of the short-term loans related to the cottage are paid off it'll be back to holidays in Spain but not yet. Also, I'm not really sure that I fancy a holiday abroad during the turmoil of a the first summer after Brexit (or after Not Brexit, or not after Brexit). However, in other news I've booked a long weeked in Amsterdaam for the end of April. I'm staying on a houseboat. (All part of my evil plan to make MLW live on a canal boat when we retire.)

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On Friday Fives on Beds

2019-02-11T13:02:10Z

1. What size (twin, full, etc.) is your bed?

We have a king sized bed. That used to be ample when it was just MLW and I. Now that the Captain is eight and quite robust it's not nearly big enough if he decides to come and visit and is then wriggly. Mostly this is him but, where ever he goes at night, Big Seal goes with him. Big Seal, as the name suggests, is quite big.

2. How many pillows do you sleep with?

I have two, one deep,f firm down filled pillow and one flatter, softer foam filled pillow underneath that.

3. Do you have a weighted blanket? If so, does it help you?

I don't. I have a duvet. MLW insists on "weighting" it by tucking it between the mattress and the bed frame. For the sake of marital harmony I pretend not to find this slightly uncomfortable or down right weird. I don't care enough. I've slept for long enough in bad enough conditions in the past that I don't find the physical attributes of the room I'm sleeping in don't much bother me.

4. Do you sleep with any stuffed animals?

Good god no!

Well only if Big Seal gets lonely and comes for a visit with the Captain. Big Seal is at least a peaceful sleeper who has never tried to sit on my head whilst both of us were asleep and then blamed the shape of my face for his own poor sleep.

5. Do you have to have the TV on to go to sleep?

Never. I very occassionally watch the TV in bed if I am tired or ill. I mean, once a quarter occassionally. Since the advent of streaming and digital recording much, much less so. If I'm tired I'll watch the second half of whatever it it I'm watching on catch-up. If I'm ill, I'm either able to make it to the sofa in the family room or I'm asleep.

I consider waking up to discover that I have fallen asleep with the television on to be personal moral failing.

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Vendredi Vingt et un

2019-02-01T16:02:53Z

Since we last spoke Dreamwidth this is a list of 21 of the noteworthy things that have been happening

I have been on an SRU Level 1 rugby coaching course. It took place at Murrayfield over the weekend. It was very, very good. Very intense. I learned a lot and even go some coaching suggestions from Gregor Townsend. Off the back of the coaching course I have bought some hats for the kids. I will write at length about this later.
Rugby all weekend this weekend. Coaches night out at the a local pub to watch the first match of the Six Nations (France vs Wales). Tomorrow we're all off to Murrayfield with a uni friend of mine and her family. I have bought electric hand-warmers. On Sunday BRFC coaching returns to Meggatland. Although probably not. I expect it will be cancelled due to the weather.
I also have a new Scotland jersey to wear. The previous one I've had for 14 years and it's been to the majority of Scotland home games since then. I shall save it for the Captain when he is older. It will be a vintage by them. (I am actually expecting the SRU to issue him with his own actual shirt rather than use mine.)
I did not audition for a play with the Grads. Looking ahead I do not have the capacity or the spoons to be in a play. I am a bit sad about that.
I have restarted improv but my administration has been poor. I am pointing my capacity at other things than double checking admin. I will have to pay more attention. However, it was great to be doing improv again.
I am busily engaged at work in finding office space. Our requirements are a little particular. I have never bought or rented a global HQ before. I'm aiming for a roof terrace.
I have become obsessed with Pokemon Go as the Captain and I have taken it up together. Currently planning my move up to Level 31.
I must catch up with my pal H after her return from holiday.
We have had a Netamo system installed in the cottage. Which is good and looks like it will do the main job. It's been put in about 5 months late due to SSE being rubbish. Just in time to turn the heating down during the cold snap. One thing we need to figure out is how (or if) we give control of the system to guests.
My Lovely Wife has instigated a planned menu regime including one vegetarian meal a week. This is mostly an attempt to stop us not planning and then just saying, "fuck it, we'll have fish and chips".
Back to the gym in earnest. Dead-lifting 100 kgs last week. This week, probably not too stretching as I have two sessions back to back. Next week for the more stretching stuff.
MLW is away next week for the back end of the week. I have the Captain on Friday afternoon. I shall take him Pokemon hunting and for pizza.
I would like to go and see the Laurel and Hardy film.
It's very cold. I don't think it has gotten above freezing in the last 72 hours.
I note with interest that Teressa May is trying to bribe Labour MP's in Leave voting areas with money raised in taxes from Remain voting areas. It would have been better had the Tories spent some money in Labour leave leaning constitutuencies before the referendum rather than after. Neville Chamberlain would be embarrassed by this lot
I have written a letter of support to Dominic Grieve.
Games this week were Flamme Rouge, a Tour de France themed game which is rather good and definately on my list to buy. Today we played Resistance which is a hidden roles game. I already own it. I am not a huge fan of hidden role games (aka, I'm not very good at them) but I'm happy to join in. We've also played King of Tokyo which is a nice dice based beat 'em up with Japanese manga or anime themes. There are plans afoot for evening sessions.
I have bought a Sodastream - it is working nicely.
I've been watching Sex Education and Perfume on Netflix. Sex Education is rather funny but, so far, not quite as good as the similar Skins. Perfume is very dark and I'm not sure I approve of it. Next week I shall make welcome returns to the Good Place, Ozarks and Star Trek Disco.
Accidentally introduced the Captain to Death in Paradise as he couldn't sleep last night. He is already planning his late night TV for next Thursday. He ended up bunking in with me whilst MLW slept in his bed.
I spent a week at the cottage. It was lovely. We saw three seals on a beach. I had a superb goat curry.

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On Friday Fives About Winter

2019-01-28T17:13:11Z

1. What are your feelings about winter?

I'm not averse to winter. I live in Scotland. I grew up in northern Scotland. Winter here is dark and cold but often beautiful and refreshingly crisp. I currently look forward to winter. I'd much rather be cold and dry than wet. And I get three weeks off at Christmas. So winter is a time when I engaged in traditional northern European activities of story-telling (or movie watching) and drinking and sitting round the fire.

So I like the winter.

That said, I could live with an eternal Scottish summer in a way that I couldn't do with a Scottish winter.

2. What is your go-to drink in the winter? (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)

Winter is a time for whisky, full-bodied red wine and port. Or hot chocolate.

3. What are your favorite things about the winter?

The bright blue skies and the time off. The Strictly Come Dancing final. Hogmaney and Lithmas. Seeing the kids together for a week or two.

4. How do you deal with the wintry blues?

I don't find I'm affected by them. Aberdeen, where I grew up, has a very instance of Seasonal Affective Disorder, because it has lots of incomers and dark winters. I myself do not suffer. At all.

5. What are your least favorite things about the winter?

Not having found the time to sweep up the leaves from autumn and the inevitable disappointment of the Doctor Who Christmas or New Year Day 's episode

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Friday Five on Books

2018-12-17T12:17:21Z

1. Do you enjoy receiving books as holiday or birthday gifts?

I do. I quite often get books from my Dad and from a particular friend and they are always interesting. When I was a boy and lived in Australia, where books are expensive, I was always very keen to get books as a present. Some of my favourite books have been gifts. Terry Pratchett from my grandmother for example.

2. What book are you reading (or, what is the last book you read)?

I am currently reading

Getting to Yes by Fisher and Ury

Birds Without Wings by de Berniers

Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin (on audio book)

Clarkes World Magazine back issues (on Kindle)

The White Box Essays (on Kindle) about game design.

3. Are you enjoying (or, did you enjoy) that book? Why or why not?

I am enjoying Getting to Yes (or at least finding it useful and accessible). I am enjoying Birds Without Wings. The fall of the Ottoman Empire and the fall out from that is something I don't know much about and I really enjoy de Berniers comic sketches of his characters.

I'm struggling a bit with Three Body Problem. This might be because the audio book format doesn't work well for me or because I really struggle to keep track of characters if their names are culturally unfamiliar to me. I had it with the Alliette du Bodard novels, which I enjoyed, but I had to work a bit harder than I usually do to keep track of the Aztec names.

I'm not delighted with the White Box Essays. They are perfectly good but are pointed more at the process of selling a game rather than board game mechanics than I was hoping for.

4. About how many books do you read in an average year?

Before the Captain about a100, after the Captain about 30.

5. What are some of the books on your to-read pile (or list)

I have a book about Socialism and Science Fiction called Red Mars. There are some Terry Pratchett and Iain Banks books I've been putting off reading. I have a book on the March Through Georgia and Sherman's campaigns against the First Nations after the Civil War.

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A Friday Baker's Dozen

2018-12-07T16:11:35Z

1) It is work's Christmas dinner tonight. I generally enjoy these things and I'm looking forward to it. MLW enjoys them less. They are more like work for her as she doens't know many people.

2) Talking of Christmas, my family are preparing for Christmas and Hogmanay. Visiting Edinburgh this year are my niece, my sister and brother-in-law, my aunt and aunt, probably my youngest brother and MLW's goddaughter along with dad and at least one of my step-mothers. I shall be roasting a gammon for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day shall be brunch and cheese. Turkey on Boxing Day and we're saving Lithmas for New Year's Eve and rebranding it Lithmanay.

3) The Captain is in fine form. He loves Christmas and can be heard singing to himself when he wakes up.

4) BB is making great progress with her under-graduate dissertation. She's finished the first part of writing and done as much data gathering as she needs to do. I think she'll be in a postion to hand it in before Christmas.

5) I have a week off work next week. MLW is in Boston with work and I have been tasked with cleaning the flat from top to bottom. Mostly I was hoping to have a week long nap but instead I have jobs to do.

6) Apparantly Ashley Roberts is too good at dancing to be on Strictly. That doesn't stop her being my favourite person left in the competition. I think she's unlikely to win but she ought to make the final having beaten 4 people in dance offs.

7) Brexit is all terribly exciting, what with the votes on the vote, the ECJ Scottish Case and the vote itself next week and the prospect of second referendums and general elections and votes of no confidence and all that. In some ways I am hoping that the Ultra-Brexiteers do riot and that their insurrection is put down with tanks as the first act of the Starmer government. In many other ways, I don't want that.

8) I have purchased Gettysburg, the very, very, very long film about the Battle of Gettysburg. I intend to watch this over the course of my holiday next week. I have been looking forward to seeing it for about ten years.

9) I shall be spending some of next week doing something with the Captain. Perhaps playing video games on the Play Station. We'll see what sort of mood he's in.

10) In other US Civil War related news I recognised a statue of Robert E Lee and helped MLW to get an answer right on Only Connect.

11) Board game this week have included two secret knowledge games, Deadwood 1876 and Call of Chthullu. Good fun. I've been thinking about my own board game and I think I have an architecture for it. It needs a better name than it currently has.

12) I have not made any eight year old cry at rugby and instead am very proud of my eight year olds.

13) Holiday reply is set to On. Beer anticipation is set to high. Time for the Christmas party to begin.

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Friday Five on Food

2018-12-03T16:46:19Z

( Food related things )

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On Friday Fives on "the holidays"

2018-11-20T17:04:14Z

1. Have you seen any holiday commercials yet?

By holiday I think Christmas is meant. No I don't think I have. I tried to watch the banned Lidl commercial but kept getting distracted whilst looking for it on YouTube.

I think we still just call it Christmas in the UK. Or Winterval if we're trolling fascists and Daily Mail readers.

2. Will you or have you ever participated in Black Friday?

Not the commercial discounting Black Friday, I haven't the mental energy to get excited about things. I think the closest I've been is being an economics student during Black Wednesday. That was a day.

3. Do you love or despise holiday leftovers?

I like holiday left overs but mostly because of my wife's Lithuanian heritage these are herring based.

I do enjoy a nice bit of gammon for breakfast, left over from Boxing Day dinner.

4. Have you seen any (non-commercial, i.e. store) holiday lights yet?

No and if I had I'd take a horse whip to the offender and thrash them up and down Princes Street before making them apologies in public. Jings, it's November.

5. Have you been good to Santa’s way of thinking?

I'm not sure what Santa considers good. Mostly I think it involves doing what my parents say. However, I'm 43 and my parents are both a bit mental and I often feel like I'm the grown up in the relationship with them so I'm not sure that counts. I have been dilligent in my various worthy pursuits, counting the robots, parenting the Captain, coaching the rugby, unlocking democracy and so on. And I've only made two eight year olds cry this week.

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On Friday Fives On Cheese

2018-11-20T16:48:18Z

1. What was the first type of cheese you ever ate?

I don't know, probably Cheddar. That is the default cheese in the UK. The first cheese I remember eating and not liking was Camembert. I'm still not a massive fan unless it is baked in the oven. The first cheese that wasn't Cheddar that I remember eating and liking was Jarlsburg

2. What was the type of cheese you ate most recently?

As a stand alone cheese - some sort of blue cheese from the Islands. I forget the name but it was very nice, sweet and nutty. Tell a lie, I grilled some halloumi to go with pizza the other day. Which makes the last cheese I ate mozzeralla from the pizza.

3. What is the most unusual cheese you ever ate?

There's plenty of unusual cheese to be had in the European Union, what with the single market in cheese and the curd mountain and growth in international tourism and a renaissance in Scottish cuisine means that there a many fantastic cheeses to be had. However, the most unusual cheese I've ever eaten has to be Tilamook Cheese from Oregon because it was foreign.

4. What is your favorite cheese?

Depends on what I'm doing with it.

I am very partial to Stilton after dinner. I like Jarlsburg with a ham or pastrami sandwich. Crowdie has a nice lemony zing to it. Grilled halloumi if I'm making a greek lamb dish. It's pointless saying Cheddar because the width of choice within Cheddar is so wide. I dislike dry crumbly cheeses like Wensleydale. I do like feta.

5. What is your favorite dish made with cheese?

Difficult to look past cheese on toast, bit of Worcestshire sauce, perhaps a smidgen of Gentleman's Relish under the cheese, or few piece of chopped onion and bacon.

Or a cheese omlette.

I have a great recipe for macaronni and cheese with bacon and onion. Probably that's my favourite.

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A Friday Medley

2018-11-12T12:27:34Z

Some sort of Friday Five / Monday Medley effort

( Read more... )

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On Halloween Friday Five

2018-10-29T13:12:34Z

1. With Halloween coming this next week, do you have any seasonal activities you're planning on doing for the holiday?

Halloween seems to be less of a thing in the UK than it is in the USA and less of a thing in my house than it is in the UK. My grown up daughter used to really like Halloween but my young son is not so keen so we don't d much at Halloween. We have carved a pumpkin. There are some sweets. That's probably about it.

About this time of year we often make our Christmas pudding. It takes a few months for it to mature in the airing cupboard.

There is a fireworks display but that is closer to Bonfire Night on the 5th of November than Halloween.

I mostly refrain from the traditional British customer of Bonfire Night - ritually torturing to death an effigy of a Catholic political terrorist and muttering darkly about Fenians whilst singing the Sash My Father Wore or whatever it is we pretend we aren't still actually doing. I shall probably take part in the other seasonal British tradition of agonising about whether wearing a poppy is tantamont to fascism yet.

2. What is your favorite Halloween or dress up party costume you've had?

I do not think I have every had such a thing. My mum used to make us dressing up clothes for Christmas, of which my favourite was a 1940 Fighter Command Squadron Leader's uniform with authentic buttons.

3. Which do you like better, apple cider or pumpkin spice flavoring?

I'm not made keen on either to be honest. There is a goodly chance that apple cider has alcohol in it but to be honest alocholic apples don't interest me until they are Calvados.

4. What is your favorite scary movie and why?

I dislike scary movies. I've never really enjoyed them. So I'll opt for Seven which I found very scary, mostly because it took me months of advanced jurisprudence to find a moral response to the protagonist's view point.

5. What traditionally "scary" monster or fear do you think is the most overrated and why?

I'm not a fan of sexy vampires. Are Daleks a traditional scary monster? If so, then them.

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On Friday Fives for 19th October

2018-10-19T12:54:43Z

It's Friday, it must be time for five things comprising either a summary of my activities over the last week, a forecast for the weekend or things that are keeping me awake at night.

1) I don't know what has been keeping me awake at night but I've slept badly this week - waking up at least twice on each night. I feel pretty tired, MLW has been away this week and I've had the Captain to myself. He's not in fact been much work but he too is pretty tired. He's been very busy with tennis camp. I don't think he's slept well either.

I offer this dialogue as a guide to his mental state

Captain: It's a good thing we haven't lost the keys or set fire to anything.

Me: Yes...

... were you worried that we might?

Captain: Well, mum is away. It's the sort of thing that just happens when she isn't here.

2) Brexit - I think we'll see May's Robert Peel moment in the next three weeks or so. Things might get awfully exciting when the Queen, on learning that the May Ministry has collapsed and Boris Johnson is marching on Buckingham Palace with Farage! Nigel Farage! tucked into his boxer shorts, herself collapses with a stroke and is rendered (perhaps) diminished in her mental capacities but (perhaps) not incapax. I hope the Speaker of the House of Commons commands the respect of all sections and wings of the House and the civil service is viewed as impartial experts and bone fide public servants and neither will be viewed through the lens of our earlier, self-inflicted constitutional crisis.

In all seriousness it is probably no longer possible to delay a confrontation on Brexit without at least one faction being actually lied to and deluding themselves that they are not, in fact, being lied to. Leanne Wood to lead a government of national unity. Who she might have tucked in to her boxer shorts on the way to Buckingham Palace I leave as an exercise for the reader.

3) Namibia have qualified for the World Cup. That is nice, they are one of my top 5 teams. Ther others being Scotland, Australia, Japan and Uraguay. All five of my top five teams have qualified for the World Cup in Japan. The repechage for the final spot includes Canada, Germany, Hong Kong and Kenya. My preference would be for Canada to qualify. Scotlands' group incldues Ireland, the hosts, Japan, Russia and Samoa - so some old friends there and a great opportunity to stuff the Russians. Looks like a tough group. Ireland are very good at the moment, Japan are pretty handy and playing at home, Samoa can be tricky when they are in the right frame of mine. Scotland could finish top of the group or fourth. My guess is second, in which case we probably play New Zealand in the first stage of the knock out stages.

Difficult to see anyone other than New Zealand winning but recent results of theirs have given the rest of the world hope.

4) I have been observing the hoohaa of the Gender Recognition Act without fully grasping the details. I suspect I am the wrong colour of feminist to understand it properaly. As, I am sure, are you. The Green Party of England and Wales or (as with befiting humility), they refer to themselves, the Green Party seem to have tied themselves up in recriminatory knots about it. Largely I stick to thinking about windfarms, the constitution and ways to encourage people to be politer to each other. I understand at least two out of those three.

5) It is autum so there is lots of reality TV going on in the house. The Great British Bake Off and the Apprentice aka Nice People Making Nice Cakes and Idiots and Shysters In the Worst Recruitment Process Ever respectively. I am keeping my head down and enjoying Ricky Whittle in American Gods, Jamellia Jamil in the Good Place and America's answer to Mark Rylance, Jason Bateman in Ozarks.

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