A millennium in the life of a frog
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Ethel the Frog" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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02:57 pm
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Gah! Bloody stupid Nick Griffin and his ignorant followers.
On the upside, he got the egging he so richly deserved.
I am left wondering who the hell he means when he says "the indigenous British majority". For an island that has been invaded and invaded and invaded and settled and resettled, what is he talking about? The closest we have, in the UK, to the native population, are the Welsh, ironically called by a word that means "foreigner".
Where does Mr. Griffin draw his line? We've had African immigration since at least Roman times (they had slaves, don'tcher know), and we've been invaded and/or settled by Celts, Vikings, Danes, Saxons and Normans in relatively recent history. More recently, we marched across the globe, declaring entire peoples to be English and we have fourth and fifth generation Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani and West-Indian people here, people whose grandparents have never called anywhere other than the UK home.
How indigenous is Mr. Griffin? Any genealogists fancy the challenge?
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01:55 pm
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The loop, vindicated
For two years, up to September 1999, I flew gliders from Lasham airfield. I got quite good at it, achieving the BGA "B badge" (solo flight, with soaring), and a flight that was over an hour. Life moved on and I moved to Cambridge to get married, and have been unable, subsequently, to commit the large amount of cash required to stay flying.
Anyway, for my birthday last month, I popped up to my local gliding site at Gransden Lodge for a few flights, just for the sheer joy of it. The weather was two stops short of awful, but it didn't actually rain and the cloudbase was high enough, at 3000ft, for a decent launch with some headroom, and the strong wind straight down the runway meant that a good height was easily obtainable from the winch.
( much rambling about flying )
But anyway, at some point in the summer of 1999, I flew my first solo loop. A loop so excellent that it drew comment from the deputy CFI (chief flying instructor) "That was the worst loop I've ever seen". He didn't know who had flown it, and I wasn't saying, but I didn't disagree with him. I'd done 270° when I realised that I hadn't pulled the stick all the way back. The sudden application of lots of stick made an otherwise elegant, elliptical loop into something of a three-quarter turn and a sharp corner. Hey ho.
This year, I was able to vindicate myself, however. This time, I had the CFI sat in the glider with me. He flew one loop to remind me of how it goes. I flew the second, taking care to pull the stick all the way back at the right time. The CFI was pleased with my loop, as were my wife and children, who were watching from the ground.
My landing was not perfect, but Robert was satisfied that it was pretty good for someone who hadn't even sat in a glider in ten years, and I left the airfield a very happy man.
Shame I won't be back for a while.
Tags: gliding
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09:31 am
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My day so far
0230: Daniel wakes up and wants milk. Fair enough.
0400: Daniel fast asleep, me still wide awake. Decide to read a book for a bit
0440: Paper cut
0500: Get into bed and actually fall asleep
0600: Joshua climbs into bed with us and wriggles constantly
0630: Banish Josh to his own bed
0632: Daniel awake: we ignore him
0640: Alarm clock (snooze)
0655: Alarm clock (snooze)
0657: Daniel announces "poo"
0658: Arrive to discover that Dan is sitting, sans nappy, on the bed, surrounded by poo.
0700: Alarm clock
0705: Wash Daniel
0720: Michelle cleans poo out of bath. I get Dan dressed.
0730: Grab quick shower.... except M's used all the hot water cleaning the bath.
0740: Dress Joshua
0800: Down stairs. Vacuum living room.
0820: Mop kitchen floor (getting detergent in paper cut).
0840: Get outside: neighbour asks for a jump-start
0855: Conclude that the jump leads are well and truly lost and apologise to neighbour
0920: Arrive at work
Of course, there's no petrol in the car now.
Something tells me it's going to be One Of Those Days
Current Location: work
Current Mood:  blah
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11:16 pm
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A parent's perspective
I returned to work today after a rather pleasant fortnight at home with the family (happy Christmas and New Ear, everyone), completely insulated from current events, to discover that the Middle East has exploded again. Given that international politics is rather like a primary school playing field, here's what I want to say to the obnoxious children currently involved in unequal yet enthusiastic combat:
JUST FUCKING STOP IT AND GROW UP, THE PAIR OF YOU. I don't care who bombed whom first. I don't care that he snatched your town and won't give it back. I don't want to know why you are beating each other up again. I don't care that your tanks are bigger than his tanks. I don't care that God is on your side... oh, and yours, and maybe his as well.
You! Stop invading his country.
You! Stop shooting rockets at his country.
Just stop it.
Whoever fires the next artillery round gets to sit in the naughty corner until you've calmed down.
No. Shut up. Not interested. Just. Shut. Up. And. Stop. Killing. Each. Other.
...
OK. You, to your room. Shut the door. No sweets.
You, to your room. Go to bed. No supper.
Now, I'm going to watch TV while you both throw your tantrums. Good night.
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02:24 pm
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Hoo-flipping-ray
It's a shame when a supposedly democratic regime needs to be forced to do the right thing.
Current Mood:  annoyed
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10:41 am
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Happy new year
It's Advent again, folks. Here's wishing you and yours a happy and many-times-blessed year.
Current Mood:  content
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09:25 am
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Underground geek
Not that anyone cares, but I now know how to identify LUL's A-stock, C-stock and D-stock just by taking a quick look.
In reality, things are a bit easier, as A and D stock are never seen on the same tracks (they do get quite close at Aldgate, though).
And, if you're still with me, you'll be equally disinterested to hear of my planned excursion early next year to ride the full Circle line before it gets killed as a separate route. While I'm there, I plan to take the Thameslink service from Moorgate to St. Pancras (I missed the closure of Kings Cross Thameslink: boo), as this line is due to close in March.
Things I have missed: Northern Line Highbury-branch to Finsbury Park (the Finsbury Park tunnels closed before I was born, although the Victoria Line now makes use of the original platforms), Ongar, the East London Line (although this will reopen as a part of the London Overground in 2010) and Aldwych.
The supergeeks (the only people still with me) will point out that the Highbury Branch tunnels are still open and in use from Drayton Park to Moorgate. This is true, and I intend to use them to get from Finsbury Park down to Moorgate to ride the Circle from there. So ner.
Current Mood: nerdy
Tags: underground
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11:57 am
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Teh Ghey!!! (and sheep)
Copy this sentence into your LiveJournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.
Current Mood:  pensive
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09:18 pm
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DfES and that happy feeling of being nice to Ethnics
I've just filled in an application form to send my children to nursery school. On the back page was the usual make-us-feel-happy question about ethnic origin. As a rule, I always put "refused to answer" so they'll think I'm black.
Unusually, this particular form had a detailed list of who fits into which category, all approved by the DfES. It seems that "Any other Asian background" doesn't include Afghanistan, The Fillipines, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam. All of these are "Any other background". It also seems that China, although given its own category, isn't a part of Asia either. Russians, being predominantly white, are also excluded from Asia, and are "Any other White background".
It just underlines the futility of all this happy ethnic stuff.
Hey ho.
Current Mood:  confused
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03:40 pm
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Straw poll
I guess this is aimed at the womenfolk of my flist, but I'm not going to restrict.
Just to help with a debate I have been having with $someone, how would you feel if someone referred to you as "on heat"?
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09:05 am
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Praise so far beyond achievement that it is no longer funny
Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test ...
English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!
You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!
Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!
If knowing what "insure" means counts as an extensive vocabulary, I must have been shipped in from Mars (in a navel vessel)...
If you know what nominative and accusative are, and know which words are verbs and which are nouns, and you aren't a greengrocer, this test should give you no pain.
Commonly Confused Words Test
Current Mood: bemused
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03:31 pm
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Detention without charge
I wonder why Tendai Biti's arrest and detention for a week (ed:three times the legal limit) before he was charged made the news. After all, he's clearly a terrorist, and his organisation is trying to destabilise the Zimbabwean government. We should be perfectly content to let the detention last up to 42 days before we get even remotely concerned that anything untoward is going on.
Oh, that would never happen here. We're civilised.
Current Mood: cynical
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01:27 pm
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Journeys through time
2008
What does the colour of his hair have to do with anything? Or do you just pick something about something that they cannot deny and define this as being shameful by naming it in such a derogatory tone of voice? Do you care that he's going to spend the next week/month/year/lifetime with a shitty body image because he will always have ginger hair and you have given him a strong association between ginger hair and badness? No? Thought not.
( into the timestream )
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08:07 am
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Living on a ball
On a thread on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) garpu's journal, I was discussing great-circles. It also became apparent that Cambourne is pretty much the same distance from Los Angeles as it is from Seoul (approx 5450 statute miles). Far from obvious if you look at a flat (Mercator or similar) map of the world.
So anyway, I fired up Google Earth and drew a couple of lines.
( images on server with slow link )
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03:55 pm
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memesheepage
50 questions meme from garpu.
( baaa )
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10:05 am
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Happy birthday to me
According to my LJ userinfo, I was 108 years old yesterday. While this is an exaggeration, I did clock another orbit of our local star yesterday. As for a kickin' time, I drove 350 miles home from our holiday, through the rain and the traffic, stopping frequently and for long periods to deal with food, potty stops, shitty nappies or general mayhem from the back of the car. Completely forgot it was my birthday until 11am, then forgot again until 10pm.
We got home safely, though, which is what counts.
And, while I'm on the subject, happy birthday to lizzip for today.
Current Mood: other
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10:27 am
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Literary disappointment
I finished reading Shaun Hutson's Necessary Evil last night. By the end, I was barely able to stop myself from shouting at the book.
( The geek part of the diatribe )- Fire extinguishers do not explode in a huge ball of flame.
The clue is in the name. The fire extinguishers described are water fire extinguishers. The text correctly describes the fact that these contain a cylinder of compressed carbon dioxide used as a propellant. Fine. There are two points to consider here: 1) what kind of fuckwit uses a flammable propellant gas in a FIRE EXTINGUISHER and 2) you can get carbon dioxide fire extinguishers that contain nothing but CO2. CO2 is a fire suppressant. This is why it is used in fire extinguishers. Shooting a canister of CO2 is not going to cause a fireball. It might cause explosive decompression of the canister, but the text describes a huge fireball.
I'm afraid that the otherwise enjoyable story was completely wrecked for me by a lack of the most basic research. Ten seconds of Google gets you the supply voltages on the Underground (four rails, guys, not three). A single trip on an underground train shows you that you can get into the cab from the train. Not-being-a-moron would reveal that a fire extinguisher is not going to be filled with a "highly volatile" explosive gas. And so, I am left with a sour taste in my mouth and I will always remember the book as being one spoiled by a total lack of research instead of being the enjoyable read it so nearly was.
Rant over.
Current Mood: annoyed
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11:00 am
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Underground Ernie rant
Underground Ernie came to CBeebies last year. I was really looking forward to it, as I am a huge fan of underground railways. Sadly, it would be better called "Ernie", as they spend most of their time not underground and the undergroundness of the situation is completely irrelevant to any of the storylines.
( more gripe follows )
Current Mood: annoyed
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02:17 pm
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Ficlets
kjaneway recently introduced me to ficlets. All very exciting and everything and I can't describe the buzz when someone rates your story with lots of stars.
Anyway, I ran into a problem, today. I read a ficlet that I hate. The delivery is clonky; it's repetitive; there's a jarring interruption. The whole thing puts my teeth on edge. I am not going to identify it, the style not matching my taste doesn't make it bad and it has sufficient five-star ratings to suggest that others like it much more than I do.
Anyway, the point I am sidling up to is this:
Will I ever know if people hate my ficlets? How will it help to improve my writing if people are too polite to offer criticism? Should I comment negatively? Should I give it a one-star rating? While I know it's demoralising to receive low marks, you don't know what to work on without that kind of feedback. Of course, I know that giving a low mark or negative comments will end up with pitchfork-armed torch-bearers camping outside my IP address demanding retribution and the legion of professional mourners will show up to offer comfort to the maligned author in the face of such unjustified nastiness that a negative comment always is.
Bloody internet.
Leaving now to set up camp in a place where you can get constructive criticism.
Current Location: work
Current Music: aircon and engineering
Tags: omg not everybody loves me
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09:50 am
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Quoth Charles Kennedy MP
"This revolutionary new Arm core performs eight integer instructions in parallel"
Alas, it was just a dream.
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