Nation
Terry Pratchett's latest sounds good:
Nation is the story of two children: Ermintrude may just be the Queen of England now that a plague has struck down most of the royal family. Mau is the last survivor of the Nation, a tribal people living on a south-seas island that has been destroyed by a tsunami. They are both lost and adrift in the wake of terrible tragedy, flung together on the island of Nation. They both are blessed with doubt about the theologies of their ancestors -- and denied its succour. Together, they discover science, and use it to weld together their people and save them from despair and evil external forces.
I've never got into the Discworld novels, but his Johnny Maxwell series is still a favourite. He's also firmly on the side of rationality, and it sounds like the above may have something to say in that regard. I'll keep an eye out.
Back home
Back home, and I had a really good time. The others were great at making sure I didn't feel isolated, and I almost always had someone to dance with. People are so nice 
I have to confess I went to Blackpool in the end. It was...the same. But I was invited, which was kind, and I did get to ride a carousel, which I try to do whenever possible. I also walked past the Doctor Who museum, outside of which hangs this:
Go figure.
Inexplicability at ceroc week 6
I am properly weird this week. Two extremes:
Yesterday I went into H&M and failed to find the Menswear department. Everything else had a sign, but Menswear? Nope. It was probably upstairs, but there was a big Womenswear sign pointing in that direction, and the assistants seemed to be watching, and I felt conspicuous and silly, so left.
Then this evening I went to my sixth and final week of Ceroc dancing. It works on a six-week loop, so I knew that by the end of today I'd have learnt all the beginners' steps. I've been determined to complete the six weeks, but by today my enthusiasm was waning. I can't continue the classes beyond this week, plus it's not like I know anyone else who can dance ceroc anyway. Learning had been fun, but it couldn't go anywhere. I still wanted to complete my goal, but I figured I'd leave after the initial lessons. I hadn't been practicing enough to hold my own during the freestyle practice sessions, and was fed up of sitting at the edge feeling like a tit.
Except I stayed the entire evening - which I've never done before - and danced with half the women in the room. Including really good people - I even asked Teacher Lady. I have no idea how this happened. Well, it was at least partly to do with a very nice lady called Karen telling me off and dragging me onto the dancefloor. But I hung about after that, inexplicably full of confidence, and had a great time. This is as far from H&M Andrew as you can get.
I'm worried about social awkwardness this weekend, and now I have no idea what to expect. I feel like S4 West Wing staffers, wondering which President Bartlet is going to turn up at the debate.
Ho hum. Like I said: properly weird.
Text-only paste in Google Chrome
Quick Chrome tip:
Control-V will paste from your clipboard and preserve formatting. If you use Control-Shift-V, only the text will be pasted.
That'll save me time. I regularly have to use Notepad as a proxy.
Imaginary primetime
I have a TV station in my head that runs new episodes of Firefly, Sports Night, Quantum Leap and The West Wing. I'm now going to have to add Studio 60 to the lineup. Sigh. That show had a lot left to give. I want more of Jack Rudolph. He was cool.
Still, onwards. Up next: 30 Rock.
Looking for things to do in west Lancashire
I'm going to St. Annes this weekend. It's with my dancing group, and I've been twice before, but this time it'll be without any of my regular partners. I wasn't planning on going, but a couple of other people in the group talked me into it at the last minute1. Which was actually really flattering, and I was quite touched.
But while it's lovely that they asked me, I'm still going to stand out like a priapic Beefeater. I'm, um, a fair bit below the average age, and the only person not in a couple. I'm also hardly the life of the party at the best of times, what with my tendency to go quiet when nervous, and I don't want to be the dude who hangs about making everyone feel slightly awkward. This could all be in my head, but I'm worried nonetheless.
There'll be dances on the Friday and Saturday evenings, and I reckon they'll be ok. At least, if the Friday is terribly awkward I'll bow out of Saturday and go take photos of the seafront or something. But during the day on Saturday / Sunday I'll feel bad about latching onto someone, so I figure I'll disappear off somewhere else. I might try and talk someone into riding The Big One. And then maybe go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Actually, no. I just wanted to write that. Blackpool is, um, not my favourite place in the world. In fact, twenty minutes on the promenade and I'll happily lobotomise myself with a spade. If there is a hell, Blackpool has a franchise. Lots of people find its apparent isolation from the last fifty years quaint and charming, and I'm glad, but one visit was almost enough to turn me Catholic2 and that'll do, thank you3.
So I don't really want to go there. So, erm, to anybody I haven't offended: any recommendations for interesting things in west Lancashire? I haven't had a proper look around as yet. I could head up to Kendal or thereabouts, but that seems a bit OTT. Plus I've been there before. Hmmm.
After five minutes of googling:
Oh, no. There's a Doctor Who Museum. In Blackpool. Oh god.
Merlin
I quite enjoyed that. The adverts suggested it could go either way, but I thought it was nicely made, and certainly full of potential.
I used to have a decent collection of child-friendly Arthurian legends - second only to my Robin Hood shelf, I think - and I could recite them backwards. Merlin wasn't usually in them, but the show has obviously built upon the basic Arthurian structure. I like the modernisation so far, with all the characters starting out young and away from their usual roles: Guinevere as a servant was particularly surprising. The setup certainly gives a few hints as to future plot developments, but I don't think the characters are so culturally ingrained as Robin Hood, so the twists should be new to lots of people. I thought it was well-structured, too. Magic's always a tricky plot element as it's a bit all-problem-solving, but they balanced it well in this first episode - it'll be interesting to see how they handle it in future.
Yeah, I'd have loved this when I was a kid.
Score one for the good guys
You may think the news has been somewhat depressing of late. I would agree. You may think this will not change, and little can be done to restore optimism. I would disagree. For in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, something wonderful has occurred.
Possibly you've heard of Fred Phelps. He can be described, without fear of recrimination, as a scumbag. He's the guy who pickets funerals because homosexuality is a sin against God. Last Wednesday he was protesting the National Conference of Editorial Writers - nobody really knows why - with his usual hateful spiel. This happens so often that it's barely newsworthy, but it's still upsetting to anybody involved. But wait.
Last Friday, you say? Wasn't there something else going on last Friday? Some kind of worldwide celebration of...Hey, wouldn't it be great if...
Fred Phelps and his gang of nutters were driven away by a gang of pirates. I am not joking.
Arkansas Pastafarian Pirates staged a counter-protest across the road, dressed in full nautical gear and holding signs indicating Leviticus' objections to shrimp and cotton-polyester blends, and the Phelps gang gave up.
This is the best thing I have heard in ages. The relevant Pastafarians deserve touchings from His Noodly Appendage asap.
1 year old
A year ago today I was woken by a phone call to say my sister had gone into labour. I was in Nottingham at the time, and a fair distance from the hospital, but I wasn't worried - after all, labour takes a long time. So I got up, had a shower and some breakfast, and headed down the...hell, I don't know, I just followed the satnav to Warwick Hospital.
An hour and a half later I pulled into the car park and tried to find the maternity ward. It was a bizarre experience. I kept wandering around deserted hospital corridors, following signs that kept leading to locked doors, then deciding I must have made a mistake and looping the whole thing. I somehow did this for twenty-five minutes, before finally heading over to the main building and asking at main reception. They sent me right back, but said I should use the intercoms, if and when I found any. I was moving fairly quickly, but wasn't too anxious - there was still plenty of time.
I finally talked a nurse into buzzing me into the maternity ward, and took a seat in the waiting area. I'd figured my Dad and I would be sitting around for quite a while, so I had books, food and general entertainments to last at least the morning.
At which point Dad appeared, said "It's all kicking off in there. Jane invited you in, but the midwife said no. Back in a bit..." and vanished. Fifteen minutes later, I met my niece.
I am the only person in my family who can happily believe it's been a year. Happy birthday Aimee.
Hello!
Hey, thanks for coming! I'm Andrew, and this is where my headthinks come to breed. They often meander around humanism and photography, but they're flighty and you can't trust them, so anything is possible.
Do feel free to email me - I get lonely:
Your hair looks swish, by the way - have you done something new?
Recent Comments
- vicky: going up this weekend having done all the welsh peaks except 4 snowdon, cant wait
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: what, how can u live in the 21 c and say that, probably a sexist thing
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: da iawn laura, cant believe what im hearing, all this fuss, anyway love the site, and i agree, normal people who swear and curse clomb mountains cos we live in the...
on Climbing Snowdon. - Andrew: Did a few quick test shots to check the light levels, then balanced the camera on the arm of a bench, set it for a 20s exposure and hoped for the best
on ISS. - lynsey: Wow, how did you take that photograph?
on ISS.
