Had my mum and dad round today for cups of tea and cake, following going out for lunch with them.
When there’s company, time to get out the Enormous Teapot. This is not related to the Enormous Turnip, although it could probably have its own children’s story about it.
The teapot was a wedding present from our good friends Rachel and David, and the first present we opened on our return from honeymoon. We laughed and laughed - the teapot can take up to twenty cups of tea. Perfect for my enjoyment of mass catering. The teapot still draws admiring glances from new visitors.
This blog is partly a chance to emphasise the joys of tea and cake. Having a teapot is one thing, having cake to go with it is a bonus. Today’s was lemon cake, baked by mum as a late birthday cake.
I’m not sure that cake doesn’t deserve a separate blog posting, as a fairly important element, in celebrations, gatherings and the like, as far as I’m concerned. But for now, enough to say that cake made it an occasion today.
I’m sure the title could be the making of a fine pub name, but it’s actually two of the favourite exhibits in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We were there around a week ago, spending a day and a night in Glasgow as a pre-birthday treat.
Kelvingrove is a favourite among Glasgow folk - the elephant is one of various preserved animals in the main hall as you enter, with a Spitfire aeroplane hanging above them. Another key element is Salvador Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross, viewing Christ on the cross from above. (Though not in the same line-up as the elephant.)
The museum reopened last September, with major refurbishment of the building, and lots more exhibits on display. We have a friend who was involved in some of the overhaul of Kelvingrove, so we had an extra reason for wanting to see what they had done.
So what did we think? Probably it’s harder to comment when we didn’t know what it was like before. One certainty: it’s certainly popular with the locals. Admittedly it was a wet Saturday in January, suggesting parents being keen to occupy their weans, but it was packed, and the kids seemed really keen to be there.
We liked: the exhibits on low blocks, so that the kids couldn’t climb on them (we think) but could still get close. The signage and explanation in each section was great. There was a nice mix of things about the world - and Glasgow’s take on the world. There is a skeleton of an ancient Irish giant deer, which has amazing antlers. Oh yes, and the cafe in the basement is great - lots of light, reasonably priced food.
Don’t take our word for it - have a look for yourselves, or add your own comments if you’ve been for a visit.
A lot of the programmes that we’ve been watching over the last year or so are not running at the moment.
In the past, you might: sigh, relive the best bits with a friend, watch them again on video (if you’d recorded them), maybe go out and buy a book related to the series. (No wonder there are so many Doctor Who novels.)
Nowadays, those who really want to relive things can do…and it’s a slippery slope. There are so many TV series released on DVD, as well as so many more that we’d all forgotten about, and which could be a bit of a guilty pleasure. Lovejoy? The House of Elliott? The Onedin Line, even…
And then there’s the internet. Want to read about plot lines and speculate about possible developments? Go to Wikipedia - the kind of coverage you’ll find for TV science fiction series suggests that either some people have finished degrees in film school, and are looking for an outlet, or that they have in fact been constructing elegant mental treatise, even when watching something like Battlestar Galactica. (We don’t. But Dan’s mum does. Watch it, at least.)
Want to see bits again? Try out YouTube to see what fans have saved - or put up illegally.
Even sites like BBC News, seemingly quite innocent and worthy, come into their own if you are checking whether that crucial second series is being made. Or third. (You can probably identify the programmes from that.)
I have stayed clear of message boards; official fan sites; spoof sites; conventions and other occasions to meet up with other fans while wearing costumes. There are some limits. (Incidentally, Dan and his mum created a new category of fan for those who like Star Trek: Trekkies are the ones who do go to conventions, and redecorate their sitting room to look like the deck of the Starship Enterprise. Trekkites are the ones who watch reruns, discuss them, but do not at any point start learning Klingon or wearing tight lycra tracksuits.)
As we learned over the series “Firefly” (which will need its own post at some point), truly loyal fans do not give up when their programme is cancelled after one series. They campaign with the writer and the cast to get it back, and get a full length feature film in the process.
As I have a work deadline looming, and four more essays for my course (surely not connected to my suddenly increased interest in free time activities?), I probably don’t have time to go campaigning. Although I’m sure that someone somewhere could make more Clangers episodes if they wanted to…
It’s tricky to find the right title for this one. This January has been affected by new arrivals, and an unexpected departure.
Many of my colleagues came back to work on 8 January, to the news that one, K, who also worked in education, had died the previous weekend. K had beaten cancer once, but it came back over 2006. She worked right up to late November, and wanted to be treated like everyone else.
We also came back to news of two babies, one born to a colleague now on maternity leave, the other to the wife of a colleague who works in Aberdeen. In the last few days, we’ve also heard about the arrival of a second child for friends of ours down south.
It’s a strange feeling, particularly finding out that this second child was born the same day that K died. We know that people are born and people die, daily, even every minute - we’re perhaps just not reminded of it so clearly.
This particular week is seen as one of the least cheerful in the calendar - post-Christmas blues, not yet pay day etc. I’m grateful at least that there is new life to encourage us at this time.
The order of service from K’s funeral also included verses which suggested that we should look forward - new arrivals help us do that, but it proves more of a challenge to work out how we look forward when someone is essentially missing from parts of our lives.
So yes, I’ve been letting Dan catch up a bit on posts, but thought it was time to write another one myself.
It’s my birthday today, and although it’s not a significant one, it does tend to make me stop and think what I’ve been doing over the last year, and what I’d like to happen this birthday year.
Over the last year: a lot of the same, in terms of work, home, time with family, travel etc. Managed to start spending a little more time with friends again. Another 4 chicken recipes under my belt…etc. (Not the actual chickens, that would be messy.)
Actually, one main change was in the area of work-life balance. 2005 was really busy; I took time over the last year to use the flexi-time I have, and even used up all my leave allowance for once, which normally doesn’t happen.
And the coming year? At the moment, thoughts are rather dominated by finishing the assignments remaining for the counselling course I’m on. We have one more session left - early March - which includes a practical, plus 4 more written assignments. It’ll be nice to look forward to getting my evenings and weekends back.
I haven’t really planned much else - but I’m sure there’ll be plenty to be getting on with. Perhaps it would be good to do more that relates to this category: imagination. I used to do a lot of creative writing, playing music - the creative skills section of the counselling course gave me some ideas to try out further. I’ll let you know how I get on.
I’ve been having some real fun over the last few days getting my entertainment from YouTube and not just from TV or what’s on the Mac. There’s some great stuff there and like people, a real mixture.
There’s the kid in me that loves to see animated lego, the 30 something who thinks Bill Bailey [who we saw at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last August] is the funniest comedian we have in Britain and the classical music lover who has just discovered that BBC Radio 3 types are placing old recordings of the master pianists like Rubenstein online.
He’s surely a man from another era. This recording in particular is sublime. Take a moment to click on the link and be transported, not just to when the recording was made, but further back. Wonderful stuff.
This is the first public post that Inigo’s moving. Subject to a signed copy coming back from the Landlord, Inigo will open for business in our new office on Leith Links on March 1st.
We’ve been happily ensconced in a shop in Newhaven/Trinity for nearly three years, but it’s proved to be inflexible and a little cramped for six people. With three interns at various points [not all together] in 2006, it was hard to fit everyone in. The knowledgeable among you will point out that there are only four of us full time. You would be right, but Roddy is in twice a week and Niels is still running his photography business from the same office.
From the start of March that will be all change and we’ll have a new base of operations. Purely web related, so down come the wedding photos that have been in our meeting room for the last couple of years and up will go, well, who knows. It’s a chance for our designer Storm to have some say over how our environment is designed and for the guys who have joined Inigo since we moved to talk about what they would like to put and where.
I’ve been warned that running a company by consensus can mean that not much gets done, but I value the input from the guys. They are after all the ones that make what we do so good and they deserve to have a good amount of input. They’ve said that if I don’t like what they say I can do it my way, but I think the group way is better. More ‘buy-in’ and shared responsibility.
I’ll post up pictures of where we’ll be going when we move in - perhaps even some moving pictures if it’s not just me and Roddy who are carrying boxes, computers and desks.
Really pleased that old Euro-sceptic right-wingers are leaving the Conservative Party. It will ensure that Cameron’s drift to the centre of British Politics is a one way journey. There can be no turning back.
Don’t worry reader, I’m not an arch-Tory, but I do think that the UK really needs some engaging public debate on policy and with people thinking that the Conservatives might drift back to Thatcherism, we’ve got another eight years of New Labour to look forward to.
Every government needs a credible opposition. I’m looking forward to a New New Labour and a Conservative Party that is re-engaging with the British people. Add a re-invigorated Liberal Democratic Party and we can see some proper movement when Gordon takes over.
Been reading about plans by the UK government to pool data into one big database so that different government departments can have access to the same data. Am I the only one around that thinks this is a great idea?! What a brilliant thing to have all the data in the same place, making sure there’s not duplication of work and data.
Inigo are working with a government body that shares its reports with the bodies that it writes reports about. We’ll be implementing an RSS news feed (to be confirmed) between the body and local authorities to share those reports.
Under the Freedom of Information Act and the ability for citizens to be able to see data held about them, it would be a one stop shop - benefits, tax, medical, legal, etc. Why not put all the data in the hands of those who govern us? They can then make responsible, sensible decisions. After all, the info that they have is currently not much good for joined up government if the information isn’t joined up.
The ideal scenario (if it all works) is that as soon as all of the info is together in one big database, the Inland Revenue will see what I’m earning and recommend ways to invest; for libraries to see that I’ve got a planning application lodged with my local authority and recommend books I might like to read about it and for my doctor to let me know that next time I go to Africa, I might like to have a particular set of jabs.
When I move I only need to tell one organisation and if the passport authority see that I’ve left the country, another government department doesn’t try to call me at home. It’s all very obvious. It’s all very sane. Little brothers are already watching, we might as well just have one really big brother who knows us really well than dozens who hardly know us at all.
Think of it as a citizenship clubcard. No points, just better services and an easier life. Those with nothing to hide need have nothing to fear. Those who have something to hide better get used to some smart government. The politicians aren’t that smart - but that doesn’t mean that the machinery of the state needs to be dumb.
No, it wasn’t ours (or even Eric’s) - the award goes to Beri Frydman, Dan’s five-year-old cousin. We managed our big Frydman family gathering just before coming back up to Edinburgh after a few days in London.
Beri is fond of the 13-year-old Lil’ Chris (or is it Kris?) and his parents had managed to survive the journey from around Oban to London with Lil’ Chris on most of the time. Naturally we were allowed to hear some too…and as Dan is able to take some video on his camera, Beri didn’t take too much encouragement to play air guitar along to the first couple of tracks.
Beri took it all in earnest, and included dives onto the sofa, as well as pretty good lip-synch for the songwords.
Dan also showed some skill as a future pop video artist, as the footage included lots of sweeps, close-ups etc.
We’ll let you know if the video makes it on to YouTube.