Tea!

Tea!, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Not sure if you'll see the time on my watch but this was before six this morning. The phone is the duty phone as I was on back-up last night and the tea is the second cup of the morning. That's residential school for ya!

Reflections

Just enjoying a few moments peace.

AMF 9

IMG_1081, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Here at the Uni of Sussex someone had been clearing out their office and these bowling shoes were neatly arranged on a low wall next to the bins.

Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)

Make sure you check out the lyrics....

Meaningless news from the BBC

Scots 'drink a quarter more alcohol' than other Brits

The headline is a link to the story and I've left it in the same font as used on the BBC news site; I think it's horrible but that's not why we're here. Let's look at the story in some more detail. The claim in the headline talks of drinking more yet the first line is about purchasing – I’m not suggesting that it’s being poured down the drain but they aren’t synonymous. It’s also a comparison; they are buying/drinking more than someone else which need not mean it’s a problem. That I drink more than my mother is because she’s abstemious; it doesn’t say anything about my likely health outcomes. Unless we know something about the artefact used for comparison how can we know anything about our subject?

Scots like to drink at home and this is based on purchasing patterns. So what? What is it about this that makes it newsworthy? Surely they aren’t the only section of the population who have spotted the price differential between pubs and supermarkets? £4.40 will buy enough cider to exceed the government’s recommended limit of 21 units/week for a man. That’s interesting but it doesn’t mean that every Scottish man is out spending a fiver on White Lightening does it? I'm half Scots and I still find that I can pass a supermarket without falling in and grabbing a couple of litres of Woodpecker. Many people like to drink at home. It's a nice way to wind down after a day at work, it's enjoyable to have a glass of wine in the garden with a book. This report seems to suggest that drinking at home is somehow wrong and to be condemned.

Would I appear cynical if I suggested that this story is simply slack journalism which meets the simple agenda of pandering to stereotypes? It also coincides with the "nanny knows best" mentality which has gripped us for years - even the scientists involved in alcohol research agree that the 21 units/week number is plucked from the air. Are we better served by being told off repeatedly or by being treated like adults? Psychologists (and others) might be mouthing the term "transactional analysis" around about now (although some psychologists might be mumbling incoherently about a nice lunch of dim sum or some such which). I'm not suggesting that the BBC is "dumbing down" but this really is a dreadfully written report.

Eeeek!

Van

Van, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Upper Crisbrook Mill

Upper Crisbrook Mill, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

This is just along the valley from where I live; it's beautiful and across the road is a mill pond.

You can just be one banana

See?

Don't stop believing

Sainsbury's

Got to get some shopping - strangely drawn to the pastry-based products.

Live Aid

"It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for; Live Aid ...."

Twenty five years ago today - "The day the music changed the world". Poor digital communications, an estimated 2 billion viewers across more than 50 countries, Queen spent three weeks rehearsing for a 20 minute set, no web site for giving money so it was all taken by telephone - it supposedly increased to £300 per second after Geldof's rant which exhorted people to "give us your fucking money". Total monies raised is estimated to be in the order of £150M.

It's still a very powerful film and a very powerful message and there are still parts of these world where children are starving but Live Aid made a difference; it raised money and, more importantly, it raised awareness. It wasn't the first charity concert but it spawned any number of "Something Aid" gigs and led to Live8 in 2005.

'Cos you wear it well

Love this song, heard it today for the first time in ages

Anyway, my coffee's cold and I'm getting told

That I gotta get back to work

So when the sun goes low and you're home all alone

Think of me and try not to laugh

And I wear it well

I don't object if you call Collect

'Cos I ain't forgetting that you were once mine

But I blew it without even tryin'

Now I'm eatin' my heart out

Tryin' to get back to you

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you

Oh, yeah

After all the years I hope it's the same address

Since you've been gone it's hard to carry on, oh no, oh no

Old times

Old times, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Today Jemma and I went to Aylesford. I love old postcards, they are so evocative. This, of course, is a photo I took today.

Paddling

Took this yesterday when driving through the village.

Bird watching

IMG_0351, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

We went to Dungeness as planned - lovely day

Plan for the day

Off to collect child number 1 and my favourite son. I'm then taking them to Waitrose to get a picnic and we'll find adventures. New camera will be in attendance so some bits will be digitally documented. I heart the sun!

Reflections

Lavender

IMG_0078, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Pretty innit?

Woodland walk

Woodland walk, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

This charming little pond is on the woodland walk and I pass it when heading for Friston building here at the Uni of Sussex.

Panic on the streets of Timperley

Chris Sievey (AKA Frank Sidebottom) has died. Sievey fronted a band which had a hit with "I'm In Love With The Girl On The Virgin Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk"  and, my favourite, "Wrap up the rockets". Mrs Merton started out as a character on Frank Sidebottom's "Radio Timperley". Probably a northern thing from a particular time but he was just a year older than me.....

Summer

Sitting outside Carluccio's in Spinningfields, Manchester. Big screen just shown Elano score the third for Brazil. This really is how life should work.

Buddha

Out of the way

Exam done and dusted. It's the first one I've taken in eight years, the courses since then have all had an end of course assessment, an extended piece of work rather than three hours mano a mano with a blank answer book and equally blank mind.

Despite advising others on exam techniques I'm a nightmare for days before and for a short time after the event but I'm generally okay at the time. Today was fine, arrived good and early and got my bearings. Grabbed a coffee and did the nervous chat with others. East Malling is a really good venue and the invigilating team did a great job of making sure people weren't overly stressed by the preamble. By then I was sitting in my seat with my pens and mints and water and ruler and ID and I was keen rather than stressed. Afterwards I also need some headspace so I went for a wander round East Malling church and took some photos of the church and surroundings (it didn't take long, EM isn't the largest place in the world). And here's a photo I'm pleased with. More from the set, including the lovely church, are on Flickr.

The Specials

These guys are the stars of an online docu-soap about their lives. They are based in Brighton and the first series runs to eight episodes. Yesterday they wrapped up two awards at The Webby Awards, an international shindig which honours excellence on the web - this year it gave a lifetime achievement award to Vint Cerf. Click on the banner to go to the site and check out what it's all about. I've not watched all of them but the ones I have watched are great.

Pubs

I've mentioned the closing of pubs in other posts. Here's a quick & dirty map of pubs in my neck of the woods. It shows the closures as well as those still trading. I'll update and expand as time allows.

A rose by any other name

I know it's another flower but so what? I think it's nice. It's the rose which grows round the front door (yes, seriously) and I've been hacking it back so that the postie can get to the letterbox. When we were growing up there was a big old house on Dickenson Road. The garden was overgrown and we told lurid tales of the people we imagined might live there. None of the scouts would go in the garden, even for a dare. Now I don't live in a big house but I'm slightly nervous of going in the front garden....

For full details check out my special Google map. Anthony Burgess domiciled a character in "Any Old Iron" (from memory) in a house on Dickenson Road

It's the World Cup!

Twenty years ago George and I watched the Weltmeisterschaft in Munich. Every time George went to the toilet during the Cameroon game England got a goal. That was the team that Roger Milla danced through. We weren't allowed to watch the Germany game in a bar - we went to someone's house and that might have been the jinx.

Pond

This lovely pond is within five minutes walk of where I live and, to my shame, I've only just found it.

Let battle commence

This isn't actually a kite as far as I can tell. These big characters are attached to the kit line and it's held up by the kite rather than because it has any means of lifting itself. Here it's being taken down but I like that it looks as though the character and the guy are involved in a fight.

I've processed and uploaded some more shots to the Teston kite festival set on Flickr.

Teston bridge

Teston bridge, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

In letters of gold on a snow white kite

Teston kite festival today - more images on Flickr

We few, we happy few

This is to get everyone in the mood for the football.

Red mini

I used this as my Blipfoto yesterday but I've done a wee bit more work on it and I know that some folk who read the blog don't check out Facebook or Blipfoto so I thought I'd indulge myself and post it here. It's outside All Saints in Loose looking down towards Church Street from High Banks. It's part of a set of images I took around the village yesterday - they are on Flickr.

We made this happen

So the World Cup kicks off today. The first time on the African continent and in, of all places, South Africa.

Just over 100 years ago Britain was engaged in a war in South Africa, just under 100 years ago The Natives' Land Act (1913) started the march towards segregation and apartheid. After Nyerere asked that we didn't buy South African produce politics arrived in the grocer's shop and we didn't buy Outspan oranges. For more than thirty years people in Britain played a small part in showing South African that apartheid was wrong. Sports were boycotted and pitches dug up, we didn't bank with Barclays and we sang about releasing Nelson Mandela and not playing Sun City.

And now, 20 years after Mandela's release, the world is in South Africa to celebrate the biggest sporting tournament and lots of us made a very modest contribution to making this possible. Sometimes things do work out the way they should.

This week were looking at birds

If anyone knows what this is please shout. I tried the RSPB site but that didn't give me anything close enough. It's about the size of a sparrow and has a long, thin tail. I know it's not a flamingo....

Honeysuckle

Okay, I know it's another flower photo but I love the delicate structure. Clickage on the image will whiz one's view, automagically, to the original so that those who are interested can see the details in more detail.

Clouds

Posted this in case anyone thinks I only take photos of flowers

Hatton locks

This is looking up the Hatton flight. The top lock is just about visible and to the left, behind the green umbrellas, is the cafe. It was originally stables but now serves a smashing cup of tea and there was a very tempting smell of bacon wafting about when people passed with trays. I've posted the rest of the set on Flickr.

Hatton locks are about 5 minutes from J15 on M40. Take the A46 Warwick Bypass for a couple of miles to the A4177 (signed Warwick Parkway rail station). Go north, towards Solihull, on the A4177. After a mile and a half Canal Road is on the left, it's signposted. There is a pay and display car park. This link goes to a Google map showing the route.

Smashing place to break a journey and a nice change from a motorway service station.

Friday night

We went to East Z east for food - the one we visited isn't on their website yet but the food is glorious. I had Saag Murgh Tikka Handi and it was lovely even though I made the mistake of eating what I thought was a small tomato but turned out to be a chilli. From there we went across the road and down a bit to the Lass o'Gowrie for a beer and then we went to a couple of other pubs for a beer. Finished up in the Grey Horse which is an unapologetically old-time Mancunian boozer.

Nearly home

IWMN

Cup of tea

Nice cup of tea at Hatton locks.

Hatton locks

21 locks in total

Urban-based

Where is it?

Allington Lock

SXR103 and badgers

Anyone who has taken the OU course "SXR103: Practising science" at the University of Sussex will have been to Beachy Head and looked at the magnificent chalk cliffs. They will also know that these cliffs were built by badgers many years ago - details here. Now I find that badgers built the shingle banks at Dungeness albeit by extension, i.e. when they built Beachey Head that led to the creation of Dungeness. This poster is at the RSPB Nature Reserve at Dungeness and it's a bit blurred because I was so excited to read this!

Timelessness

So I ended up at Dungeness again. It's almost inevitable, one of my favourite places. While there I visited the RSPB Nature Reserve for the first time. I can't see me becoming a twitcher but I am wondering whether I can justify investing in a DSLR with a good telephoto lens for taking better distance shots of furry or feathery things.

This photo is from the track through the Dungeness Estate and is cropped from a bigger shot showing part of the lifeboat house. In the original the boat is in the centre of the frame but I've cropped to move the boat and also brought the sky down which has brought the flowers in the foreground into play. I've messed about with the edges to see how it looks.

Dungeness

Dungeness A is on the left. It stopped production a few years ago and the main hall is due to come down this year. Dungeness B is scheduled torun for eight more years. This photo from a hide at the RSPB Reserve.

Airstream

No shortage of power

Dungeness nuclear power station

Romney not Rodney!

Yummy

Grilled artichokes, soft figs, olives, falafels, fruit. This isn't just any picnic - this is a Waitrose picnic!

Paddling like.............

I tend to photograph things that don't move (flowers, bridges, buildings, etc) because they are easier. This guy was moving towards me and everyone knows that swans will break your arm so I grabbed a couple of photos and jumped in the car. Check out the surface of the water for evidence of the rain. Beautiful weather today so I think I'll head out for some photo adventures.

Breakfast time

Some of my neighbours waiting for breakfast.

Iris

This is my favourite photo of the day. It's in a neighbour's garden and I'd walked up - in the rain - to see if there were any colourful flowers. Also took some photos at Twyford Bridge, Yalding. The rest of the set is on Flickr.

Mystery solved!

The mystery plant has been identified by Lynne. It's a Pseudofumaria lutea which is known as the Rock Fumewort or Yellow Corydalis. Fumewort, it seems, is a common name which can mean any of a dozen different species. The obsolete Latin name for this plant is Corydalis lutea though I have no idea how a plant name becomes obsolete.

Many thanks to everyone who made a suggestion and to Lynne for finding the little rascal.

Breaking shells

I like to think that whatever needed this shell for protection was able to grow and face the world without it.

Gatepost

Gatepost, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Here is that yellow flower in situ so that folk have an idea of the scale.

It's come to this

Here are the materials for DD208 laid out for review. I'm taking some time out this week - I should have been heading north but that's not certain now, what is certain is that I have an exam for this course in a couple of weeks time so a spot of revision might be in order. In case it's not clear in the image the printed paper front and centre is the catchily titled "Penalisation of poverty and the rise of neo-liberalism" by Loic Wacquant (European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 9: 401 - 412, 2001).  The course is rich in "social sciences porn" type DVDs; lots of film of earnest looking chaps asking "normal" people (innocent bystanders?) seemingly trivial questions and we're invited to draw lots of pertinent conclusions from the innocuous answers. Education is a social science so I'm used to this type of enquiry but not so much and certainly not accompanied by a full multimedia experience. It's a smashing course though and well worth doing - I've enjoyed it even though (like everyone else I suppose) I wish I'd had more time to get into all the detail.