The Scottish Pipe Band Championships 2016

Saturday saw the band attend our penultimate Major Championship of the year, this time in Dumbarton for the Scottish Championships. We went in high hopes of building on what we'd managed at Forres, and even of coming away with a prize.

The journey to the competition was fine, and the tune-up went well. Indeed, it went so well that the pipes were all ready in really good time and we were able to take a few minutes break. We therefore went on nice and relaxed and prepared. And we played well, giving our best performance of the year, and were well confident that we must surely have qualified - after all, we did so at Forres and we'd just played better than then, so...

Yeah, you know what's coming next.

We came eighth out of fifteen in our qualifying heat (six went through), being 7th and 7th for piping, 5th for drumming, and 7th for ensemble. The critique sheets gave no real indication of where the problems lay - it seemed that the judges liked out performance; they just liked some others more.

That made for a very long day, as we had to wait around in solidarity with our drum major, who didn't find out her result until later. (Unsurprisingly, she didn't win a prize - I say 'unsurprisingly' because she's up against kids who are considerably older and who have been doing this for years.)

And then home, and to bed.

It was actually a pretty good day, all things considered. But the result was, once again, just depressing. I really felt we'd done enough to at least qualify.

We'll have to see how things go at the World Championships. Unfortunately, that one has three qualifying heats of twenty bands each, with four going forward to the final, so it's a tough ask at the best of times. Alas, I don't fancy our chances, based on sheer probabilities if nothing else. And if we don't qualify, that makes for a really disappointing season - so much work, basically for nothing.

#40: "Doctor Who: Engines of War", by George Mann

Paisley Highland Games 2016

On Saturday our competition season restarted after a short break. We attended the Paisley Highland Games, which is an event I don't think we've ever attended before. Lady Chocolat came along to this competition - she does one a year, and since we're not going to be around for Bridge of Allan, this was the next best thing.

It was an odd event - rather than being off in a field somewhere, this event took place in Paisley's main street, with the competition ring in one area and the bands tuning up in another. Additionally, the bands were all assigned particular tuning slots, so that as each band went on to compete the others all moved down a space and carried on.

Unfortunately, the competition wasn't terribly well organised, such that there was a gap between the areas of control of two of the stewards - as we moved to the final tuning point we passed from one, safe, pair of hands into another that was... less well organised. This meant that we suddenly shifted from being nice and relaxed, and getting ready in good time, to suddenly being rushed onto the competition field. This in turn had two nasty consequences - one of our pipers had to be dropped at the last second as his pipes weren't quite right and there was no time to sort them, and the guy who sets up our pipes got into an argument with the steward in question.

Anyway, we went on, we played, and it was okay. Coming off, the feeling was that it wasn't bad, but that we could definitely have done better. A shame, but not a disaster. (There was also a weird acoustic effect - all through the tuning there had been some serious amplification from the buildings on either side; just as we moved to the competition ring we moved far enough away that it disappeared four steps in. Which was okay, but odd.)

The rest of the day was largely uneventful - LC and I had a look around the abbey, then went for a fairly long lunch, then sat around for a bit. It was a nice enough day, but boring and unpleasantly hot due to a near-complete lack of wind.

Then we went on for the march-past, which had been moved forward (which was nice). In the event, we came 4th overall, being 6th and 7th for piping, 2nd for drumming, and 4th for ensemble. (We were actually 4th equal, but won on an "ensemble preference" - meaning that judge felt we played together as a band better than the others.)

So, a nice result, and a good platform for the Scottish Championships next week, but a lot of work needing to be done. All in all, a decent day.

#39: "Spelljammer: Beyond the Moons", by David Cook

Sequelly-prequelly-stuff

So it turns out that "Casino Royale", "Quantum of Solace", and "Skyfall" are actually prequels to "Doctor No" and the other Bond films - the first shows Bond as a newly-minted agent on his first 'proper' adventure, the second shows him dealing with the loss of Vesper and developing his harder edge, and then the third film establishes Q, Moneypenny, and replaces both 'M' and the MI6 building with the versions from the old films (albeit with 'M' played by a different actor).

And then there's an improbably time-jump and we have the older films, ending with "Die Another Day". With the oddity that 'M' somehow regenerates back into Judy Dench just in time for the series to end.

(I don't know how "SPECTRE" fits into this mess. But given how awful that film turned out to be, coupled with how nonsensical this whole tangent is, I'm not sure it matters.)

Meanwhile, we have the "Star Trek" reboots/sequels/prequels. Which, through the magic of time-travel take us 'back' to the classic Kirk/Spock/McCoy era, but with a whole new universe where everything is different (except we never actually see much of it), and where characters are often inconsistent not only with their old versions but, in fact, internally inconsistent with themselves. (Spock, the stickler for rules, is shown having an inappropriate relationship with an academy student under his supervision. And while for anyone else you could argue that the discrepancy is due to emotions over-riding reason, that doesn't really work for the ultra-logical Vulcan who has worked so very hard to suppress his emotional responses. Oops.)

This therefore allows the film-makers to give us a three-part origin story for Kirk - in the first part he's the rebel against authority who races through the academy until he gets the Big Chair (in a sequence of events that can't work - the manner in which he bullied Spock to breaking point should have resulted in the bridge crew refusing his command from then on). Then we have "Into Darkness" where his mentor is removed from the scene, he is established as captain in his own right, and the Five Year Mission gets underway. And now the trailers for "Beyond" show Kirk struggling to move out from under the shadow of the father he never knew.

All of which is fine, so far as it goes.

The only thing is, I'm increasingly convinced it just wasn't needed. I'm starting to think that what they should have done with the Star Trek movie reboot is simply to drop the new films into the period between the end of the original series and "Star Trek: the Motionless Picture" (the "Lost Years" period). Given that TOS didn't bother with an origin story for the crew, I'm inclined to think that the movies probably didn't need one either - just introduce the new actors the same way the characters have to be reintroduced in any new film, and move on from there. Forget the time-travel, forget resetting the universe (since we're barely going to see any of it anyway), don't bother even trying to justify anything that's changed - just get on with telling some new stories with these characters.

(The three-film origin story is especially painful as it's entirely possible that these will in fact be the only three films starring this particular crew. Because the cast will have signed up to a certain number of films, and can now command considerably more money going forward.)

On the plus-side, I'm rather looking forward to "Star Trek: Beyond". And, not only that, they've just announced a new RPG, which could be cool too.

Fixing the Oven

A few weeks ago, I was happily cooking dinner when the power suddenly cut off. This was a bit of a shock, but it switched back on easily enough, and all seemed well. Then, one day last week, I was about to have pizza for dinner when it occurred to me that the oven was taking a really long time to heat up.

After Googling the problem, an easy explanation was found: the earlier power cut was caused by the heating element of the oven blowing, causing the problems I was then seeing. Fortunately, it seemed it was an easy (ish) DIY job to replace the part.

Last night, my game was cancelled, and so I found myself with an opportunity to do the job. And, in fairness, it was a pretty easy job, in all but two regards: it turned out that one of the screws fixing the old element in place was much tighter than the rest, and proved nigh-impossible to undo, and the three wires both proved not to be quite as long as promised and also to be rather less tightly connected to the element than I'd been led to expect - by the time I was ready to look at which connected where, two of the three had already slipped loose.

But it all turned out okay - I got the old element out, attached the wires to the new one, put the whole thing back together, and the tried the oven. And, sure enough, it did indeed heat up. Huzzah!

It's just unfortunate that that job appears to have taken me the whole of summer to complete.

Day 200: Update on Goals

I was a bit stunned to find day 200 upon us already, but it is. So, here's the update:

• Weight: Rather disasterously, I hit my peak weight again at the start of this month, largely as a result of the big party and then the trip to Amsterdam. This puts me back to where I was after my visit to Lisbon way back in 2008. Which isn't at all good. Fortunately, things have been getting a little better since then, but it means that my progress for the year so far as been to lose -10 pounds. Grr.
• Books: By Day 200, I should be 32.8 books into the year. At the time of writing, I've actually completed 38 books. So this goal is going swimmingly, especially as I'm up-to-date or ahead on all of the sub-lists for the year.
• Games: Blah. The "Dust to Dust" almost hit a TPK a couple of weeks ago, and actually hit perhaps the only thing worse: two PCs died, which was just enough to really hurt the party dynamic without being enough to cause the end of the campaign. We've now redirected into another path, which may work out better, but we'll see. I'm definitely angling to end this one sooner rather than later, though.
• Super Secret Goal #4: Another poor performer. The plan now is to simply find a place to move to and get moved, and then sort something out with the flat in Falkirk. This probably means renting it out rather than selling. Which is okay, though a big part of me would really rather just be rid of it. But Brexit is probably not going to do us any favours there, and it's not as if it was showing any signs of moving even before then.
• Band: We're currently in the mid-season lull, with two Championships and five minors (four for me) still to go. It's not certain that we'll actually attend all of those competitions, though, as funds are a little tight and we have some other options.

So that's where we stand - one goal is going extremely well, and the "not a goal" is also doing well. The rest are either unsatisfactory or disastrous. Needless to say, I'm not too happy about that, and kind of wish I didn't have an update scheduled!

A Tiny Design Flaw

It's fair to say I'm not fond of airport security. But one of the few improvements that is gradually being rolled out are the electronic passport readers - any opportunity to bypass actual human interaction in such cases is probably for the good. (This also applies to those lovely self-service ordering machines they now have in McDonalds, but that's another topic...)

However, there is one tiny design flaw:

1. When you arrive at the machine, you're told to follow the instructions on-screen. So far, so good.
2. One of those instructions is that you need to remove any glasses and headwear. That's fine, except...
3. Without my glasses, I can't see the instructions on-screen. Or much of anything else, really.

Perhaps there should be a button for switching on audio cues? Or, better yet, maybe there should just be audio cues by default? Just a thought.

#38: "House of Smoke", by Sam Christer (which wasn't at all what I expected. It was okay, but I'm not sure I would recommend it. Basically, if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have read it.)

Holiday 2016: Amsterdam

I don't really have time to do a long recap of my holiday, so I'll stick to just a few reflections...

My major impression of Amsterdam was of just how welcoming I found the whole place. Where I feel that Paris tolerates tourists and Rome endures them, I did feel that Amsterday went out of its way to welcome folk. Notably, most of the places we visited had audio guides that automatically translated into a range of languages, which was a nice touch - and wasn't as common in those bigger cities I mentioned. (Actually, in that regard Amsterdam most reminded me of St Paul in the US, where I similarly felt I was welcomed rather than merely acknowleged. Given how many people in the US have roots in the Netherlands, that may well not be a coincidence.)

For those who were wondering (and a few people have indeed asked): no, we didn't partake. Of course, it's worth noting that the Amsterdam Museum reckoned that most of the dope sold in Amsterdam is actually fake anyway, so there's a real chance that lots of people haven't partaken either...

One thing that proved invaluable was the "I Amsterdam" card that LC found online before we went. This gave us 96 hours of unlimited use of most public transport, access to many attractions, and discounts in several other places. In addition to basically paying for itself through museum accesses and discounts, this also allowed us to visit one or two things we otherwise wouldn't even have considered - the Tulip Museum (seriously - and there was also a thing called Tulipmania that you couldn't write a novel about because nobody would believe it), and Micropia (which is an odd one because I'm sure I saw that on "Travel Man", but apparently he's never done Amsterdam). So that was cool.

Probably the biggest highlight for me from the trip was a Maritime Museum, which included access to a replica of a Dutch East India Company trading ship. That was very cool indeed - though I'd hate to actually take a voyage on one of those things!

Other highlights included "Our Lord in the Attic", a 'hidden' Catholic chapel from the days when Amsterdam's religious freedoms conflicted by their official state religion - essentially, other faiths were tolerated but had to be practiced out of sight; and the river cruise.

We also attended a comedy show by a group called "Boom Chicago" which was, perhaps oddly, about Trump and his bid for the White House. It was funny enough, and with the discounted tickets (from the "I Amsterdam" card) was quite reasonably priced. Amusingly, at the point we debated joining another couple at a table but instead decided to sit in the balcony; later on, it transpired that that other couple were also from Scotland. (And, incidentally, the reaction to this was interesting. It seems our Dutch friends are quite open to Scotland staying part of the EU. And then there was the store we happened to see with the name "F CK BREXIT"...)

I felt that the Van Gogh museum was okay, but not spectacular - it was harmed somewhat by being just a little too busy. And the Anne Frank house was also underwhelming - partly because of the sheer number of people there, partly because the rooms were left unfurnished, and partly because it being open robbed it of its impact (it wasn't so much being in those rooms that would have been the issue; it would have been the combination of not being able to go out coupled with the threat of others coming in, if that makes sense). I think that was somewhere we had to visit, and wouldn't have felt we'd really visited Amsterdam had we not done so, but I doubt I'd go again.

Oh, and we also visited the Zoo. While we were there, I took the opportunity to ask the giraffes their views on Captain Ric, but they just gave me a blank look. It seems they don't believe he exists either. Also, there were meerkats there. They were much the same as the ones in Edinburgh Zoo. (And that's both of my zoo-related jokes. Aren't you lucky?)

And I think that's about it. It was a good trip, good to get away, and nicely relaxing. I'd certainly recommend Amsterdam, especially given how easily accessible it is from the UK (as opposed to other places which might need connecting flights, that is).

Alas, Poor Labour...

If Labour need an 'electable' leader, then it's worth noting that there's actually only one man alive who has won a General Election as Labour leader. And there's a bye-election coming up.

So, how about it Tony? You obviously care enough about Labour to criticise their current leader, so why not show us how it's done? Cometh the hour, and all that?

Though if that did happen, I'd have to seriously stock up on popcorn...

(And, no, that's not a serious suggestion. But it may just be the only thing that could top the entertainment value of the last few weeks in politics.)

#36: "Pathfinder: Scourge of the Godclaw", by Larry Wilhelm
#37: "Liar's Bargain", by Tim Pratt

Independence Day: Resurgence

I've just been to see it. Yeah, it's pretty terrible - for the most part, it feels like a remake of the first film, with several of the roles rotated around by one character, and somehow, in defiance of the laws of time itself, with weaker special effects.

The Birthday Celebrations

Thursday was my fortieth birhtday. According to my sister-in-law, that makes me Sooooo old!

Naturally, I chart birthday celebrations via the metric of cakes consumed, and this time there were four...

The First Cake: At Work

Yes, I still had to go to work on my birthday, which was both bogus and sad. However, I had taken Wednesday off to attend LC's brother's graduation (and congratulations to him - first class honours!), which meant I didn't have days left for Thursday as well.

The convention at work is that people bring in cake on their own birthday. This was instituted by a colleague and friend who has since left, who wisely argued that people won't forget their own birthdays! Though I'm not entirely sure he'd be happy to know that the Cake Convention is his most lasting impact on the place...

The cake was from Tesco. It was very nice. It also didn't survive until lunchtime, which is a good sign.

The Second Cake: At Home

When we bought the work cake on Wednesday, LC also suggested we should get a cake to enjoy ourselves that evening, since we were missing any formal celebration on the day itself. This second cake was therefore a Red Velvet cake, also from Tesco.

In the event, we didn't eat it on Thursday... or on Friday... or on Saturday. I had the first slice on Sunday, the second this morning, and have to finish it off before we go on holiday tomorrow. It's very nice... but perhaps we would have been better without?

The Third Cake: At Band

Originally, I had planned to take the evening off band for my birthday. However, there are only two of us who have keys, and the other guy had to work. So if I took the night off, so did everyone else.

Later in the evening, the band presented me with a cake. It was a chocolate cake just big enough for everyone to have a slice (and for me to take one home to LC), which is obviously the ideal.

One nice touch here, that I hadn't expected at all, was that our five younger members, all of whom I've taught at one time or another, had learned and played for me "Happy Birthday". That was a nice touch.

The Fourth Cake: A Long-Expected Party

On Saturday there was the big party. This had all been organised by LC over the past several months, and took place at a secret location (I actually knew most of the rest of the details, but not that). In this case, "a secret location" meant the refurbished hall at Colzium House - and a very fine location that was, too.

It was a great event - part ceilidh and part disco, with a rather nice buffet in the middle, lots of friends from various groups, including one old friend I hadn't seen in far too long, family members from far distant (Eng)lands, a very touching speech, and a cake.

The cake was decorated in the style of an old-fashioned Police Telephone box, which I can only assume was a reflection on my now advanced age. Unless someone can think of some other relevance that it might have...

(It was a sponge cake with creak and jam between the two layers. And very nice it was too. Though the truth is that, as great as the cake was, it was only one of many excellent things about the night.)

And that was more or less that. It was good to see so many friends again, and it was really good that my theme of "everyone has a good time" seemed to work out well. And the band really were excellent. As the leader of that band said to me, LC really did pull out all the stops for the night. Well done to her, and thanks!

Appendix: The Fifth Cake

According to myth, the tale of the birthday was in fact completed by a fifth, more specialised cake. This one also hailed from the realm of Tesco, and was distinguished from the other by its lack of gluten. I must confess that I did not consume this cake, and so it is not a part of the main saga, but it was set aside for those with specialised dietary needs. I do hope they enjoyed it.

Experimental Cookery 2016 #5: Szechuan Chicken Stir-Fry

Due to general business, I've been rather slow in updating the blog in the last week. This was actually the meal we had on Tuesday last week. It's taken from the fourth Hairy Dieters book, "Fast Food", though I modified it by replacing the asparagus with red pepper and the corn with mangetout - LC is no fan of the other vegetables (or, as it turned out, mangetout!).

As with all stir-fries, this was quick and easy to make. The key, as always, is to get everything ready and within reach before applying heat to the first ingredient. Other than that, it was dead simple - add ingredient, fry for a bit, repeat.

The result was very tasty. Of particular note was the final addition of sesame seeds, which added a nice crunch to the final dish - a nice move. So, that's another winner to add to the rotation!

#34: "Warriors of the Storm", by Bernard Cornwell
#35: "Tuesdays with Morrie", by Mitch Albom (A book from The List, and the new candidate for book of the year)

Irony

So, Michael Gove is being decried as a traitor, having stabbed Boris Johnson in the back. Of course, BoJo would never campaign against a former friend in a bid to become Prime Minister...

On the other side of the House, the Labour rebels are about to launch a leadership challenge against Jeremy Corbyn. Just as soon as they can stop arguing over who should be their 'unity' candidate.

Hmm...

Maybe the world should quietly agree to allow England a one-time only chance to redo the last week?

The European Pipe Band Championships 2016

It was another long weekend for the band, being our second Championship of the season (out of four), and it was a good weekend. I don't have time to tell the whole story in detail, so the highlights:

The bus left at 4am, which meant getting up at 2:30. This was not at all fun, especially since I can very seldom sleep on a moving bus. Next year, the suggestion is that we'll travel up on the Friday and stay two nights, which would indeed be better - but would also be much more expensive.

We played really well in the qualifier, giving our best performance of the year. In fact, we came 3rd overall, being 3rd and 4th for piping, 3rd for drumming, and 3rd for ensemble. We therefore qualified with flying colours. And given that that was our goal for the weekend, that was already a success.

We played reasonably well in the final, though not quite as well. In the end, we came 7th overall, being 5th and 6th for piping, 6th for drumming, and 7th for ensemble. Sadly, we were actually only a single point away from winning a prize. Which was a really good result, and yet still quite hard to bear.

The hotel was fine - it was a Holiday Inn in Inverness and did what was needed. The Premier Inn is indeed better, and especially the breakfast is better, but not by a huge amount. And since the Premier Inn breakfast is extra while the Holiday Inn is not, that's a consideration (especially with 35 people on the bus, several of whom may or may not have wanted breakfast).

And that was the weekend. We went, we played, we came back, and it was a good time. Huzzah!

The next competition is not for a couple of weeks now - we have a Gala Day on the 16th of July, then Paisley on the 23rd, and then the Scottish Championships on the 30th.

#33: "Doctor Who: City of Death", by James Goss

Relax. It Will Be Okay

So, the UK have voted to Leave, and all hell has broken loose. Actually, more accurately, England and Wales have voted to Leave - Scotland and Northern Ireland voting to Remain is part of what's causing the chaos.

Naturally, everyone is freaking out - the pound has tumbled, the final credit agency (S&P) are saying the UK should lose its AAA rating (the other two dropped it three years ago), Cameron has resigned, there are talks of further referendums... basically, it's chaos.

But here's the thing: the sky hasn't fallen. In a few days, people will gradually realise that these aren't the End Times, and things will start to calm down. The pound will rally a bit, the Tories will start the process of electing a new leader, and the BBC will find a way to blame Jeremy Corbyn. And all will be well.

Though I must admit that I'm glad I got my holiday money on Tuesday...

#32: "The Shadow of the Wind", by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (a book from The List, and the new candidate for book of the year - what a novel that is!)

Done

About a week ago, this joke of a referendum stopped being funny and instead became desperately sad. Thankfully, it's nearly over.

And, indeed, for me it is over - the vote was cast this morning. It probably won't surprise you at all to hear I voted "Remain". And now, we await the result...

(One last thought: apparently, this is post 1,400 on this blog. Yay.)

Helensburgh Highland Games 2016

This weekend has basically been entirely taken up with band stuff, which really isn't for the best. It was always off to a bad start with us doing two gala days on the Saturday: Linlithgow first and then Grangemouth. This is never fun, although we did take the wise step of borrowing a mini-bus to get us from one to the other. And the band needs the money, so needs must.

Then Sunday was Helensburgh Highland Games, which was an altogether less enjoyable experience. This was my first competition back after missing the last two. It was also already somewhat controversial as we weren't playing until 2:45 in the afternoon and yet the bus left at 9:30 in the morning. Which meant an early morning followed by a lot of waiting around.

Still, we went, we waited around, then we got ready, and were all set to go on. And then it all went horribly wrong...

Firstly, the organisers changed their minds about when we were to go on - we were all set, and then we had to wait for another band to go first. Which was mostly fine, as it gave us some more time for a final tuning. But then, suddenly, we were being rushed to get on to the field by those same organisers. Which seemed rather poor, to be honest.

But that's not an excuse. Unfortunately, when we did go on, after everything having been fine during the tune-up, several drones just refused to strike up - a combination of residual damp from Saturday's exertions and, more problematic, rainwater from the heavens. And, as a consequence, it was a bad, bad performance. So we played, we came off, and there was just nothing to say.

Which, frankly, was just devastating.

The rest of the afternoon was miserable, and it was a huge relief when the march past was cancelled - a chance to get home more quickly and just put it behind us.

Only... we came 2nd out of 7 bands competing, being third in the piping and second in the drumming. Which is a crazy result, and I have no idea where it came from. But, hey, I guess we'll take it.

And that was my weekend. Not a good one. And now, next weekend, we have the European Championships in Forres, with a 4am departure time. Yay.

#30: "Pathfinder: For Queen and Empire", by Stephen Radney-MacFarland
#31: "How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps", by Jared Blando

How "The Death of Superman" Ruined Everything

About twenty years ago, probably in a hope to shore up falling sales, DC comics ran the "Death of Superman" story in which, as the name implies, Superman dies. This was a huge event in comics, so huge in fact that it actually made the mainstream news.

Unfortunately, it also ruined everything. Well, not everything, but it certainly did no good for comics or for "Superman" movies.

The fundamental problems with the "Death of Superman" storyline are two-fold: firstly, it's such a huge story that it has come to overshadow everything since; and secondly, it's just not a very good story.

The primary influence of the DoS story on the films has been seen in two of the three "Superman" films released since that storyline: "Superman Returns" features a moment where the world isn't sure if he is dead or alive (spoiler: he's alive), while "Batman v Superman" takes that storyline as one of its two primary inspirations ("The Dark Knight Returns" being the other). And if DC were to ditch their current plans for a Cinematic Universe and reboot the character again, you can be sure that pretty soon they'd find themselves doing "Death of Superman" again. Because every Superman story now lives in the shadow of this one.

But "The Death of Superman" just isn't a good story. Basically, Doomsday appears, being a thug with no personality, no motive, and no backstory, and proceeds to lay waste to things. Superman faces off against him, the two spend numerous pages trading blows, and finally Superman kills Doomsday. But he then dies from his injuries. And that's basically it - the whole thing is basically just a way to get to "Superman's dead", with no character development to speak of and only the barest hint of a plot.

And so we find ourselves in a position where any cinematic version of Superman must address this story and this story just sucks. That's not exactly a good position to be in.

But it gets worse. Because the "Death of Superman" wasn't the end. Of course it wasn't! It took a little while, but that story is inevitably followed by Superman's return from the dead - and, in the DC universe, the opening of the Revolving Door of Death. (Which, coupled by the constant need to reboot and update means that nothing can be permanent in comics. Any character who 'dies' will be back in a couple of years, if Peter Parker gets married that whole arc will be retconned out of existence on a whim, and so on and so on. Nothing sticks, so nothing can have a lasting impact, and any impact it does have will inevitably be muted.)

In the short term, the "Death of Superman" storyline was interesting and probably had the impact that was hoped for. In the longer term, though, it really has ruined everything.

Strathmore Highland Games 2016

This was the second competition of the season that I missed, and the second time the band came away with a prize. It seems they do better without me. Maybe that's a sign.

Anyway, the band came 3rd out of 7, being 3rd in piping and 1st in drumming. (So, once again the drummers won a competition outright, which shows just how strong our drum corps is. On the other hand, this means both that they're carrying us and that we're letting them down, depending on whether the overall result is a success or not.)

This weekend we have the third and fourth of our five Gala Days of the year, both on Saturday, and then the Helensburgh Highland Games on Sunday. Again there are seven bands competing, and in theory we have a much stronger pipe corps this week. So we'll see how that goes...

#28: "Ilse Witch", by Terry Brooks
#29: "Moriarty", by Anthony Horowitz

Experimental Cookery 2016 #4: Ultimate Pork Tacos with Spicy Beans & Avocado Green Salad

It's hard to believe that we're already in June and yet this is only the third Experimental Cookery of the year. This one comes from "Jamie's Fifteen Minute Meals", and took me about half an hour to prepare - mostly because I got everything else ready before I started cooking the pork or beans, thus allowing me to give that my full attention. If I'd dared to multi-task as he'd described, I could probably have done it in fifteen.

This was an easy meal to put together - it was mostly just a matter of chopping and mixing, with just a tiny amount of actual cooking (and that simply a matter of moving things around in two frying pans).

The end result was... interesting. The only thing I didn't like was that the taco shells I had were, perhaps inevitably, far too narrow and so not able to carry much. But the pork and the beans were both good, though I think I might handle the pork a little differently in future. (In particular, cut it into smaller pieces, and cook for 'longer' so it becomes a bit more crispy. 'Longer' is in quotes because the smaller cut in turns reduces the cook time, so it may turn out the be the same overall.) The salad was particularly interesting - the combination of avocado and apple into a single salad made for a very odd flavour combination, though not an unpleasant one.

We'll certainly be having this again, if only because I had to get enough taco shells and pork belly for three meals. But that's no bad thing - this was a nice meal, albeit one that proved no threat to my "nominated nine"!

Changing Email Address

I have a confession to make: I fell into one of the classic blunders. Not the most classic, of course ("never get involved in a land war in Asia"), or even the second ("never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line"). Not even the third ("never start a multi-volume fantasy series until the last book is published"... though I have done that).

No, this was the fourth of the classic blunders: "never use an email address provided by your ISP".

(There's no prize for spotting the movie reference. But you get to bask in the fleeting glow of being right.)

The reason you should never use an email address provided by your ISP is that changing your email address is a massive pain - it's basically used as your login everywhere on the internet, and there's a whole address book of people who might use it to contact you (though that's less common now - email has largely ceased to be relevant as a means of communication). This means that changing your ISP becomes a massive hassle, which means you're locked into a single company. It's just a bad idea.

In my defence, and it's a bad defence, back when I got my current email address Hotmail was generally not regarded as very good for use as a 'primary' address, while Gmail was very much in its infancy. Getting a fixed address of your own at that point probably meant paying for the privilege, where the ISP gave them out for 'free'. And, also, I was in a hurry since my previous ISP had died suddenly, taking my then-current address with it. I needed something I could use right then. So I got their address, added "sort something permanent" to my long-term To Do list, and then didn't.

All of which was fine until a year ago, when my ISP decided they wanted out of the ADSL market to focus solely on cable, and sold my account to another company. (Who I've complained about before - that company promptly lost a whole bunch of customer data... luckily, not including my own.) As part of that transition, everything moved across, with the caveat that the email servers were to be switched off in June 2016.

And so I find myself forced to move to a new email address. And it's exactly as much of a pain as I'd expected - every account I have online uses the old one, and some of those accounts haven't been used for years, and some of which I've no doubt forgotten entirely. Which will be fun if and when I try to use them again later, only to find I've forgotten my password (and can't have them reset it via email, since I don't have that...)

On the plus-side, this means I'll no longer have that email address tethering me to my ISP. Which, given that the old provider was already sub-optimal and the new provider has had that disaster, is a really good thing.

The other thing it means is that my contact details are changing. And, in fact, I'm going to consolidate down to a single email address for all non-work uses. So, if you want my new address and are in possession of either of my old addresses (the hotmail one or the virgin one) or my mobile number, please drop me a line and I'll send you the new address. But do so by the end of the month, or those contact details will become obsolete!

How Politics Can be Fun Again

As I've mentioned before, I've basically given up on hoping that politics can get us any sort of a better world - in light of last year's election results and, especially, the reaction to Jeremy Corbyn in the media, it's apparent that the Tories have won. For the foreseeable future, all we're ever likely to get is a Tory government or, if we're very lucky, a Labour government in the New Labour mold (which isn't the same thing in some areas, but is indistinguishable where it matters).

So I've largely started using it purely for entertainment purposes. Though even there it's been pretty slim pickings, especially this tedious EU 'debate' which has largely convinced me that we'd be better off without a government at all than with the current mob.

But two interesting things might combine for some real fun:

Firstly, it looks increasingly like we might actually have a vote to Leave the EU after all. For a long time, I assumed that we'd see some movement here and there, but in the end there would be a last-minute swing back to the status quo and that would be that. But the polls seem to be shifting in only one way, and the Remain campaign has been disastrously mismanaged (I did say not to re-use Project Fear... oh well). Oh, and there seems little doubt that Scotland will vote to Remain, but that's not even the biggest fun.

Secondly, there are ongoing investigations into alleged election expenses irregularities in some two dozen of the Tories most marginal seats. If found guilty, the MPs responsible could find themselves banned from holding office for three years, triggering bye-elections, and removing the Tory majority (at least temporarily; probably permanently).

If those two conditions are combined, then in order to retain office the Tories would have to do a deal with the (hugely pro-EU) Lib Dems, or alternately we'd likely see them replaced by a three-way coalition between the (pro-EU) Labour, (hugely pro-EU) Lib Dem, and (hugely pro-EU) SNP parties. And either way, we end up with at least one strongly pro-EU party in government when the expressed will of the people is to Leave.

(And that's assuming that the pro-EU Tories don't promptly dump Cameron and refuse to back any anti-EU successor. Potentially, they could force an early General Election, or could even allow Corbyn to form a government and deal with the mess. Either way, Labour then have to deal with the situation where their preference is directly at odds with the expressed will of the people.)

Of course, while all this is going on, a UK vote to Leave paired with a Scottish vote to Remain would almost certainly lead to a second referendum on Independence (though it's much less clear which way that one would go). Indeed, it's not entirely impossible that the SNP could find themselves in government in both Scotland and the UK as a whole, duty bound to take rUK out of the EU, while at the same time campaigning to take Scotland out of the UK to keep it in the EU. And if they achieve all that, those Scottish MPs leave Westminster, and the arithmetic changes again - the Tories regain their majority.

And God forbid that the Queen should die while all this mess is going on - the last thing we would need is a new King thinking that what's really needed right now is an exercising of Executive power to steady the ship...

If it wasn't such a total mess, I'd be buying in the popcorn.

#27: "Curse of Strahd", by Wizards of the Coast

Bathgate Highland Games 2016

I wasn't at this week's competition, by virtue of being in Banff over the weekend. However, the band competed in the Grade 4 contest in Bathgate this week, and won their first prize of the season: out of seven bands they came 4th overall, being 4th and 4th in piping, 2nd in drumming, and 5th in ensemble. A good result, though once again the drummers are carrying the pipers.

Our next competition is in Strathmore on the 12th, but I'll be missing that one also. After that, it's Helensburgh on the 19th and then the European Championships in Forres - lots of work needing done for that one, but we now have solid reasons for optimism.

#26: "House of Silk", by Anthony Horowitz

Day 150: Update on Goals

2016 is now 150 days old, so it's time for another update:

• Weight: The less said about this the better, I think.
• Books: This continues to go well. By this point I should be 24.6 books into my target, and I'm well beyond that. I'm also still up-to-date on all the sub-lists as well, which is good. Plus, I've pretty much got my books for the rest of the year picked out. All in all, this one is going very well.
• Games: Gaming has hit a bit of a rough patch, with both sessions five and six of "Dust to Dust" having to be cancelled and rescheduled. Still, it continues in the pattern of roughly one session a month, which is fine. I'm now looking towards the end of the campaign as well, though there's a fairly long way to go.
• Super Secret Goal #4: There's not a lot to report here - we've had a bit of a setback on one front, but given the lack of movement on the other it's not a huge deal. We remain in a "wait and see" position. It would be really nice to have this all done and dusted by the end of the school summer holidays, but this is rapidly becoming unlikely.
• Band: The season has gotten off to a mixed start. There have been some disappointments, but there's also still some reason for optimism. So, wait and see, I guess.

So that's where we stand - one goal is going extremely well, one is going okay but less well than previously, one has had a disappointing setback, and one is a disaster area. The lone remaining "not really goal" is okay so far, but harder to predict going forward.

All in all, this is a fairly disappointing round-up, though the potential exists for things to improve markedly in the next few weeks. We'll see.

The British Pipe Band Championships 2016 (and Stirling Mod)

It has been a very busy weekend of band stuff this weekend, and there's too much to recount in detail. Allow me therefore to summarise...

On Friday I attended the Stirling Mod to support four of our learners in various competitions. Unfortunately, my own learner dropped out on Thursday, which was a mixed blessing - on one hand, she really wasn't ready for the competition; on the other, she had worked very hard to try to get ready. So it was a shame, but it was also the right decision.

Three of our learners were competing in the Under-14s, and the fourth in the Under-16s. Of these, I only saw the three in the Under-14s play - due to a complexity of the timing, our other tutor had to rush off to help the other guy get ready and play while I helped prepare the others for their performances. Still, that other guy did very well (probably the best of the four).

Of the three I saw, two played very well - probably as well as I had seen them ever play. The third was rather disappointing, in that he started with what could have been a winning performance, but then his lips just gave up leading to him playing faster, and faster, and finally running to the end. A shame - that could have been great.

So, no prizes, but four decent performances. All in all, a good night.

Then the competition on Saturday saw the band somewhat depleted - one piper had left after last week's fiasco, our pipe sergeant was working (but hadn't let us know), one of our young pipers was at the football instead, and one had fallen ill. So we went on with eight pipers - five of our senior members plus three youngsters.

The performance was okay, but not spectacular. I could say that the wind did us no favours, and that would be true, but it would also be a matter of making excuses. We can do better and we should have done better. Even four pipers down, we should have had enough of the core of the band to qualify.

And, as implied above, we didn't qualify for the final. The feedback sheets indicated exactly the same issues that we've known about for some time - a less-than-great start, some bad blowing, and some issues with the phrasing. No shock there.

But... our drummers actually won their qualifying heat - first out of fourteen (should have been eighteen, but some dropped out). In times past, that would have been enough for an automatic qualification for the band as a whole; alas, the rules have been changed so that that is no longer the case. (I have mixed feelings about that - on one hand, the pipe corps would probably have played better given another chance; on the other, it would have meant taking a spot away from others who, as a band, had genuinely played better.)

(Oh, the full results: 11th and 12th for piping, 1st for drumming, 10th for ensemble.)

We stuck around and attended the march-past, as our drum major was still in her competition and hadn't had her results yet. Alas, she didn't win anything either.

And then the journey home was fine, thankfully. No repeat of the atrocity that was last week - but then, we'd have been exceptionally unlucky if that had been the case, given the absence of the key people involved.

And that was that. On the one hand, it was sorely disappointing not to qualify (and this very likely ends any hopes of being moved back up this season), on the other, a fantastic result for our drummers. And on the other other hand, more hard work for the next several weeks before the European Championships in Forres.

Oh, and I finished my book. Thank goodness.

#25: "Possession", by A.S. Byatt (a book from The List. Sadly, not recommended.)

Dunbar Highland Games 2016

This weekend saw the start of the band's competition season, with us taking part in the first of thirteen competitions of the year. (I'll only be attending ten of these due to other commitments.) It was also a black day for the band, as will be seen shortly...

The day started well enough - the bus pick-up was at a civilised 8:15, and although the bus was very full it wasn't completely full. Which is nice, since it meant we were carrying some significant support, not to mention should have been able to collect some significant bus fares to help defray the cost of hiring the bus. It was a bright and sunny day, in defiance of the weather forecast, and in the event was actually far less windy than is the norm for Dunbar.

We got to the competition field, tuned up, and went on and competed. And it was a good performance - it seems that all the efforts over the winter have paid off, and things are looking good for the season ahead. Granted, we were unlikely to win anything, but that was largely a factor of being in a combined Grade 4 contest, meaning that we were up against Grade 4A bands, when we've been moved down to Grade 4B.

Later in the day, our young drum major also competed, and did exceptionally well.

The remainder of the day was also pretty good - the nice weather really helped, everyone was cheerful about the performance and the way the season looked to be going. All together, a very good day.

In the end, we came 6th out of 15 bands - 9th and 10th for piping, 3rd for drumming, and 5th for ensemble. Which is a solid performance, and definitely gives us something we can build on. Our drum major came 2nd, beaten only by the reigning world champion, so that was excellent.

And so we got on the bus to come home...

About twenty minutes into the journey, the driver had to pull over to check the bus, as something had gone wrong. After checking, it was established that the bus was fine, though he felt it wise to take the remainder of the journey slowly, just in case. Still, a fairly humerous event, reminiscent of the many break-downs of the past.

And then the fight started. I'm not sure of the exact details, and what I do know I can't in good conscience share here. However, a punch was thrown (and landed on someone who wasn't the intended target - not that that makes it any better or worse). This precipitated a whole lot of shouting. This was gradually calmed down, a bunch of people moved seats, but there were continued rumblings of discontent. And then that same person threw a bottle, and it all fired up again.

And with that, what had been a good day for all concerned turned to shit.

We'll need to see what the fallout from all of this will be. I hope it amounts to one or two people being banned from the bus, and one or two people being asked to leave the band entirely, but I fear it will be more severe than that.

(At this point I would ask why it is that the kids associated with the band never cause us any trouble, while it's invariably the adults who are the problem. But the answer is entirely obvious: the kids don't drink alcohol. And while most of the adults can have a drink and are fine, there are some who just can't, and there are some others who are fine to a point but not beyond that point - and piping competitions seem to become excuses for competitive drinking in some parts. And so we have problems.)

Our next competition is our first Major of the year, the British Championships in Paisley. As things stand, it may be my last.

#24: "Pathfinder: The Inferno Gate", by Patrick Renie

Experimental Cookery 2016 #3: Chicken Shawarma Flatbreads with Yoghurt

After a hard weekend of avenging, and at LC's insistence that I try something from the monthly Tesco magazine, I made up some shawarma.

There's actually very little to say: it was mostly just a case of marinading the chicken with some olive oil, chilli flakes, and sumac and then griddling it; then mixing up some minted yoghurt; and warming through the flatbreads. Then put it all together fajita-style, and eat. It was very nice.

In future, I think I'll make up my own flatbreads rather than buying them in, which makes this a slightly more involved meal. Other than that, it was basically a triumph. We'll certainly be having this again.

#23: "Hellknight", by Liane Merciel

What on Earth Does That Mean?

For the second time in two years, I find myself befuddled by an election result. So sorry if this is all a bit disjointed - I'm working it out as I go along...

The Result

I voted SNP on both constituency and list vote, and obviously I was hoping for another SNP majority, so I'm a little disappointed on that front.

On the other hand, I'm inclined to think that this actually is the right result - the SNP scored 41.7% on the (proportional) list vote, and so to win an outright majority there would actually have been something of a distortion. As it is, getting 48.8% of the seats is something of a distortion, but at least it's a change of degree rather than type. The results for the other parties are all "about right" - the Greens 'should' probably have picked up another 3 seats and the Lib Dems 2, while Labour 'should' have 1 more seat and the Tories 1 fewer, but none of those are vastly inaccurate. (Those totals aren't quite right due to rounding errors.)

Anyway, the most important outcome from this election, for me, was achieving competent governance, which I felt that only the SNP could offer. That they are by far the largest party, albeit just short of a majority, probably achieves that. And, in fact, I actually felt that the previous minority government, from 2007-2011, actually worked better than the majority, because it forced the SNP to compromise, do deals, and resulted in a fairly balanced programme of government. So that's good... provided Labour, the Greens, and the Lib Dems (in that order) are willing to engage in that dealing rather than mindlessly obstructing everything. That, of course, remains to be seen.

So, on balance, I'm fairly happy with the result.

On Independence

My initial reaction to this result was that this kills the question of a second referendum dead, even in the event of a Brexit. On reflection, I think that may be premature - the SNP's position was that they were going to wait for a clear and sustained show of public opinion (probably in the polls)... and I think that if the polls do show a clear majority in favour of independence then that's pretty much all the mandate you need. (Besides, barring Brexit, it probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to put the question of a second referendum out to pasture for five years.)

What this does mean, however, is that it's now even more important that the UK votes to Remain. Because while I think a clear majority in the polls would constitute a clear mandate, I'd rather not have that put to the test. (Besides, I honestly believe that's the right result for all of the UK anyway.)

It's also important that the various pro-independence groups avoid the temptation to now turn on one another. There are already some signs of that happening, which is unfortunate. I can think of nothing more damaging to the cause than it all devolving into a whole bunch of infighting and recriminations.

On the Tories

It's been a good night for them, and a good night for Ruth Davison in particular. I suspect that a lot of this is down to people who previously voted Labour on an "anyone but the SNP" rationale returning 'home', rather than any genuine shift in public opinion. And part of it is also a result of her hard line against a second referendum.

What will be interesting now is how the Tories decide to act in opposition, especially on matters other than the constitution - will they be a constructive opposition who serve to hold the government to account, or will they adopt their own version of the Bain Principle and just obstruct everything regardless?

On Labour

Oh dear. I really think they're done, with only next year's council elections left to finish off the job.

I think there are three points of interest out of this:

1. Will Anas Sarwar launch his inevitable bid for the leadership now, or will he let Kezia keep the poisoned chalice for another year, let her take the blame for the council elections, and take over the wreckage?
2. Will Labour be willing to deal with the SNP to see some of their agenda implemented, or will they stick to the Bain Principle and complete their slide into irrelevance?
3. And where will they stand on the issue of the constitution? Will they shift to be pro-independence, will they join the Tories in their hard-line against, or something else?

Needless to say, I have recommendations:

On the first, I have no particular interest either way. I don't think Anas Sarwar is the answer, but I don't think that matters - I'm pretty sure he will be the next leader; I just don't know when.

On the second, it's dead simple: the Bain Principle was madness when first stated. Something like that should never have been considered, never mind adopted, and it needs to go, like, yesterday. Otherwise, Labour does, because they're of no use to us.

On the third, I'd recommend Labour should be the party of Devo-Max. (Note: they shouldn't position themselves as that party; they should be that party.) That means that, as of now, they should take the view that absolutely anything that can be devolved should be devolved. And the point needs to be made to the UK Labour Party that they basically can't win back Westminster if they don't win back Scotland, and this is the price of winning Scotland. Even this may not be enough.

(There are some who will argue that Labour should switch to supporting independence, but I don't think that works - their remaining support seems split pretty evenly on the issue. But I think there's actually a majority in Scotland for whom DM would be the preferred outcome anyway. Besides, Labour should be seeking a distinctive position on the constitution, and this is the only one that's left.)

Of course, if and when they then find themselves in a position to deliver devo-max, they have to actually do it. Even if they aren't in power in Holyrood at the time.

The Greens and the Lib Dems

A good night for the Greens, and a middling one for the Lib Dems. I think the Lib Dems have now fallen as far as they're going, but I also think they're probably going to stay there for the foreseeable future. I don't see them coming back in any meaningful manner.

The Greens are another matter; I think last night was the point where they overtake the Lib Dems permanently, and I'd expect them to continue to make modest gains. But I can't see them gaining much more traction unless and until independence comes; the battle-lines are pretty solidly drawn between the SNP on the 'Yes' side and the Tories on the 'No', which squeezes everyone else.

RISE and Solidarity

As expected, neither of these parties got anywhere. I'm not sure I care, since there's no way I'd consider voting for either anyway.

However, one piece of advice: the proportional system we have favours bigger parties and chews up the little guy. So if you want to get anywhere, you need to merge - two very slightly different flavours of socialism aren't going to get anywhere; one merged party might just.

Conclusion

And I think that covers everything. Now the dust has started to settle somewhat, I'm feeling rather more sanguine about the whole thing. I think we're going to be okay.

But we do need to avoid a Brexit.

To The Moon!

If Trump wins, I'm emigrating to the Moon. It's the only way to be sure - there's a good chance he'll nuke the whole site while I'm in orbit.

A Lull in the Action

Things are a bit quiet at the moment - Easter is now behind us, and it finally appears that winter has ended, but the competition season is yet to start and we're not really in summer either. So it seems like an ideal time to take a short break, take stock, and then strike out from a position of strength.

Unfortunately, things are rather uncertain for that to be a workable strategy. Still, never mind. I'm sure once the season gets going, and I'm busy pretty much every evening and every weekend, things will be much calmer...

Yeah, right.

Events Occur in Real Time...

I finished series eight of 24 this morning, as a consequence of waking up at half four with a really sore neck (which isn't fun). Given that that's the last full season, and despite still having "Live Another Day" to re-watch, I thought I'd take this opportunity to rate the various series.

My favourite remains series 3, which I feel is the one with the tightest storyline all-round. It's also the only series with all the core characters (Jack, Tony, David Palmer, Kim, and Chloe) in place, and the last with David Palmer as president and with Jack and Tony at CTU.

Second is series 4, which surprised me in the re-watch with just how well put together it is. I'd forgotten an awful lot that happened in this one which really helped. Plus, I'm a big sucker for the 'redemption' storyline that Tony enjoyed, and I also really liked Bill Buchanan, who is introduced here.

Third for me, although only very slightly behind series 4, is series 7. This one benefitted hugely from being pushed back a year by the writers' strike, and brings an awful lot back to the series that was lost in series 6 (see below). The use of Tony as a villain here is excellent, especially if the show as a whole is watched fairly quickly, and the new characters of President Alison Taylor and Renee Walker are great. Alas, Bill Buchanan bows out here, but I guess we can't have everything.

And then we have series 5. This is an odd one, because I actually didn't like this series when I first watched it, but it really benefits both from being revisited and also from being watched fairly quickly (rather than an hour a week). In particular, Christopher Henderson makes for a wonderful villain here, and the events of the very first episode are particularly shocking, in a good way. (I'm still not sure the overall plot here really makes sense, but it moves fast enough that that almost doesn't matter!)

And then there's the final series, number 8. This one starts very well, then has a serious lapse, before ending extremely strongly. If it wasn't for that weak middle section, this series would be much, much higher on the list. Again, we have several good new characters (I especially like Hastings), and I liked both that Jack is now pretty much a legend in his own universe and also that the end saw him going up against a president that he (and I) actually like and respect. My only slight disappointment here is that I kinda wish that president had been David Palmer and the last mole Nina. But, of course, that's not possible. I do think they were right to end it here, though - I think by this point the show was pretty much exhausted and needed a break.

Following the last series we have the first, series 1. This is a hard one to rate, because those first thirteen episodes are actually the best level the show ever reached, largely because they really set the tone for the whole. Unfortunately, the last eleven are much weaker, a consequence of the show initially being ordered only for half a series - they thought they'd only get thirteen episodes, so they told a complete story and then had to stretch it out. Plus the amnesia storyline is probably the most idiotic thing in the show as a whole, rivalled only by the cougar in series two. So, this is a great series, but it drops harshly because of that big weakness.

Then we have series 2, which just couldn't match the intensity of the first one, not least because it had to do things differently, which only kind-of works. It's still enjoyable, but this isn't a series I'd choose to re-watch except as part of the whole - this being the first series that I'd say that about.

And, finally, we have series 6, which I'm afraid is the nadir. This is probably the only series I would describe as being bad - it's mostly just rehashes of previous material, but not done as well. Actually, one of the characters in this series perfectly embodies this issue: as President Wayne Palmer is a poor shadow of David, so too is series 6 a poor shadow of the others. (That said, Powers Boothe is excellent as Noah Daniels, so that's something!)

I haven't included either "Redemption" or "Live Another Day" in my list, because neither is a full series - I'm something of a purist, so not having the full 24 episodes is a deal-breaker for me, as is including a time-jump. Still, if I had to rate them, I'd place "Redemption" just after series 2 (because I didn't particularly like it), and "Live Another Day" somewhere around series 8 (probably just after - it was good to have it back, but it also suffers from being a continuation of a show that was right to end when it did). Actually, "Redemption" is a bit of an odd beast, because while I didn't care for it in itself, it actually serves to make series 7 much better by setting up so much. So it's very much worth watching despite not being terribly good in itself.

Anyway, that's that. I'm hoping to watch "Live Another Day" over the next few weeks, and then I really will be done. After which I'm not planning any big re-watch... though "Buffy" is tempting...

#22: "Rogues", edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Gah!

Twice now, we've had someone booked to come look at the flat. Twice now, we've put in a fair amount of effort to get it ready for viewing. And twice now the viewing hasn't taken place!

On the plus-side, at least this time the person involved let us know in advance, rather than simply not showing up. So that's a step forward, at least.

Still, it doesn't really seem fair.

#21: "Pathfinder: Wrath of Thrune", by Thurston Hillman

Experimental Cookery 2016 #2: Nick Nairn's Cook School

For my birthday last year, LC got me a voucher for a course at the aforementioned cook school, which was valid for a year. Unfortunately, in the months since then I've found that the vast majority of the courses conflicted with other things that I had on, and so there was a lot of waiting for something that looked intriguing and that didn't conflict. And so, finally, on Saturday I attended my course.

It was a three-hour course run by Nick and Tony Singh. The menu was Peanut Butter Chicken and Passion Fruit Souffle with Coconut, Lime, and Chilli Sorbet.

It was an interesting experience, and not quite what I had expected. The session was split between demonstrations and actual cooking - demo, cook, demo, cook (and then eat). Which was pretty much as expected. What was less expected, though, was that I enjoyed the demonstrations considerably more than the actual cooking.

The course was very well presented - Nick and Tony work extremely well together, and they both have a very good, and very informal, presentation style. And it was very interesting to see them at work, and especially when things didn't go quite according to plan (at which point the key lesson was that there's always a way to salvage the situation). My one, tiny, issue was that at a couple of points both presenters were working on something at the same time, and it was a bit tricky keeping track of both at once. But other than that, it was a lot of fun.

However, I didn't enjoy the actual cooking nearly as much as I had expected. Partly, this was due to numbers - the plan was for people to work away in pairs, which was great except that there were 25 of us, and I was left as the odd man out. That's not a big deal, since I'm quite happy to just work away by myself, except for the bits where they said that one of us would do X while the other would do Y. But never mind - I just multi-tasked (because, yes, I can do that). Still, it wasn't ideal being the only one on his own.

The other issue is that it's surprisingly awful cooking in someone else's kitchen. That's actually tied to something they made quite a big deal of - they called it "mise en place", which is basically about having everything in its place. Which is never quite the case with a foreign kitchen, no matter how well arranged. So there was a frisson of panic as we got sent off for the first cookery step and I couldn't find anything.

(My other slight disappointment was that we actually only cooked the Peanut Butter Chicken, which was easy and I could have done anyway, and only watched the Souffle being made - that being the thing I've never tried before. That's fine, and I think I've got a decent idea of how it's done, but I think I would have preferred it the other way around. Still, no big deal.)

Still, it was a fun day. I learned a few things, and I was also reassured to have confirmation that a lot of what I was doing was indeed the right thing.

Would I go again? Well... perhaps. I think if I were to go again, I would go for one of the full-day sessions - the 3-hour format was fine, but perhaps a little cramped. And, in particular, if I were to go again then I wouldn't go alone - better to take a partner with you, and that way you're guaranteed not to be stuck on your own!

And that was the big excitement of the weekend.

#20: "The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (contains "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", a book from The List)

An Important Question

While the Tories and the press have got us all looking at some not-very-damaging revelations about David Cameron's tax affairs, who or what have they got us all not looking at?

(Bear in mind that the Tories are all about power, and that they have a playbook going right back to the English Civil War. David Cameron is just the latest figurehead - and ever since he announced he was stepping down his main use has been as a blame magnet.)

#19: "The Long Utopia", by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Day 100: Update on Goals

Today is Day 100 of the year, which means it's time for another update on goals. And so, without further ado:

• Weight: Yeah, there's nothing to report on this one, again. Poor, poor show.
• Books: This one is going extremely well - I'm currently reading book nineteen of the year, and a large part of the way through book twenty as well. Given that I should be at 16.3 books read by this point, that's pretty good, and all the better when I note that I'm up-to-date on all the sub-lists as well.
• Games: There's not really anything to say here - "Firefly: the Lost Episodes" is now on hiatus, and potentially cancelled. "Eberron: Dust to Dust" is ongoing, with three sessions done and the next scheduled, so that's pretty solid.
• Super Secret Goal #4: This remains very stressful. Unfortunately, there's nothing to say at this point, much as I wish it were otherwise.
• Band: The competition season is now only five weeks away, and things are looking okay. I kinda wish we had more time, but we are where we are. My students continue to make progress, although a bit more slowly than I had hoped. Still, that's all going reasonably well.
• Church: We've now completed our commitments to the church, and so are all set for the move. Once we've moved, we will need to find a new church, but that's a matter for the future.
• Lent: Despite some difficulties, this was completed successfully.

And so, this is much the same as last time - two going well and two less hopeful. The three "not really goals" are a bit more positive - two done and one well in hand - but those are, of course, not really goals.

All in all, that's okay, but it's a little disappointing compared with where I had hoped we would be. Oh well.

#18: "Wars of the Roses: Bloodline", by Conn Iggulden

The Cloakmaster Question

One of the benefits of the internet is that it has occasionally allowed me to track down a book that I've been keen to read that has been unusually obscure, long out of print, or both. Which is rather nice, really.

Many moons ago, TSR published a six volume series called "The Cloakmaster Cycle" set in their Spelljammer universe. I read the first two of these when they came out, and they were okay. I then read the next two when they came out, and they were much better. Then, finally, some years later I chanced to find volume five in a Virgin Megastore in Oxford (that places the event 23 years ago, since I've been to Oxford exactly once). The fifth volume was okay, but not great, but it did end on a cliffhanger.

And that was that; I never found volume six, which was apparently only published in very small numbers, and never reprinted.

As noted, the internet makes tracking down this last volume relatively easy. However, unlike those other books I've mentioned, "The Ultimate Helm" is regarded as being fairly poor, even by the standards of game fiction, and there's a fairly significant mark-up in the price due to the rarity of this particular book. Plus, I would have to reread the other five volumes before tackling this one, as it has been half a lifetime since I read them.

On the other hand, it would finally get me to the end of that series, and resolve a cliffhanger that has been stuck there for a very long time.

And so the question is obvious: do I buy this last book to complete the set and resolve the cliffhanger (and, of course, satisfy my sense of neatness), or do I simply let it go and leave the story unfinished?

Today We don't Celebrate Our Independence Day

Had the vote in September 2014 gone the other way, today was the expected day that Scotland would have become independent. I felt I couldn't let the day pass without at least some marker.

So here it is.

At present, I have no desire to see a repeat of the referendum - the evidence is pretty strong that a second referendum would result in another "No", so there's no point. However, if there were another referendum at this point, I'd still vote "Yes", because none of the reasons I cast that vote have changed. (Things could have been different, but they're not. If anything, things are worse now than they were.)

I do think another referendum, eventually, is inevitable. And, actually, I do think independence itself is also inevitable, unless the EU becomes a genuine state first (with the consequent abolition of France, Germany, and the UK). Though I'm far from certain that that latter will result from the second independence referendum. Indeed, I'm not absolutely certain it will result from a referendum at all.

But in terms of the eventual second referendum, I think there are two possibilities. If the UK votes to leave the EU and Scotland votes to stay, I think that will essentially force the SNP to hold a second referendum. (I couldn't possibly predict the result of that - the polls are almost exactly neck-and-neck now, and it is thought that Brexit would give a ~6% swing towards independence. But there's usually a late swing back towards the status quo, so even that wouldn't normally be enough... except that Brexit would mean the status quo actually wasn't on offer.)

The other possibility, I think, is that the second referendum is likely in 2021, when the UK is 'enjoying' a third term of Tory governance under the glorious leadership of either George or Boris, and Labour are busily engaged in their next round of civil war. And, honestly, that's probably around the right time frame for a second referendum anyway, since it will mean there are a lot of voters who were too young to vote in 2014 but would be old enough by 2021. (And, also, 7 years matches the precedent in the Good Friday agreement in NI.)

(For those in the media who seem confused by the SNP's support for a Remain vote for the EU, given that Brexit would lead to an early referendum, there's a really easy explanation: the SNP leadership don't want to have a second referendum; they want to win one. If they feel that waiting longer and, crucially, picking their moment gives them the better chance of winning, of course they'll favour that!)

And that's pretty much that. Other than to say that in honour of this not-event I'll not be putting up bunting tonight, won't be letting off fireworks, and won't be eating cake.

Women's Tennis (again)

Somehow, the old argument about prize money for women's tennis has cropped up again, with some rather unfortunate comments being made.

My position on this is pretty simple: the winners in women's tennis should absolutely be paid the same as their male equivalents. However, they should also equalise the number of sets played by men and women at the Grand Slams (and the Olympics). I would prefer this to mean that women should play best of five sets, but it works equally well if men play only best of three.

The reason for saying prize money should be equal should be obvious. The reason for equalising the number of sets is that as long as it is unequal, there is a fig leaf of respectability for suggestions women should be paid less - they're doing less 'work'. Best to remove that fig leaf.

About the Sugar Tax

It's fair to say I'm not a fan of Jamie Oliver's Sugar Tax - I don't like the government trying to engineer society in this manner, especially in an area where personal responsibility should apply. That said, I'll concede that this is probably a tax that's come, and also that there is a fairly serious issue with obesity in the country that public health initiatives have simply failed to touch.

So, fair enough, I guess. Paying an extra 8 pence for a can of Irn Bru isn't going to kill me.

That said, I do have a fairly serious concern about the likely response to this, in that I foresee the soft drinks manufacturers reformulating their drinks to lower the sugar content... and doing so by replacing it with artificial sweeteners.

I'll admit that my reasons for this are entirely selfish: I was advised some time ago to avoid artificial sweeteners as they cause problems for my digestion, something I was more than happy to do since I don't like them anyway. (I suspect the GP who thus advised me would probably also advise skipping the soft drinks altogether, but that's not happening...)

Since I was given that advice, Coca Cola have actually done both a good and a bad thing (from my point of view) in their product lines.

The good thing was the introduction of Coca Cola Life (the green bottle) - a drink that claims to taste the same as regular Coca Cola, but which replaces most or all of the sugar with Stevia. Now, I have no idea whether it actually tastes the same, or whether it's at all pleasant or not, since I haven't tried it. It's just one more option for me to ignore, which is a good thing.

The bad thing was the reformulation of Sprite to replace the sugar with Stevia - the same process, but instead of being another option it was a replacement. The consequence of this move is that I can no longer drink Sprite. Not a good thing.

In fact, the list of soft drinks I can have is fairly limited: pretty much everything other than Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up, and Irn Bru is on the barred list. Which is fine - four options is plenty. (I could even drop to three, losing either Coke or Pepsi, except that bars and restaurants never stock both. Meaning that 50% of such places would then be problematic.)

(The awkward thing there, of course, is that the stated purpose of the Sugar Tax is precisely to encourage manufacturers to reformulate to get rid of the sugar. I suspect George's real reason is actually just to get more money, but that's another matter.)

So, I'm not terribly happy about the Sugar Tax, but it's not too terrible and I'm willing to pay it. And if the manufacturers respond by introducing new options for low-sugar versions of their drinks, then that's fine too (good, even). But I really hope they don't do so while removing the four remaining soft drinks that I actually can have.

#17: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge", by Ian Doescher

Big Hero 6

I've been meaning to watch this for some time, and with the 2-for-1 offer currently available on Disney DVDs we took the opportunity to pick up "Big Hero 6" and "Inside Out" at the weekend. And so we watched Disney's follow-up to "Frozen" last night.

I enjoyed it, a great deal. I'm a little torn over whether I prefer this or "Wreck It Ralph" - I think, on balance, I prefer the earlier film, but it's a close one. I mean, really, it's all robots and superheroes; what more could you want?

Of particular note, I especially enjoy the short films that Pixar and now Disney package with their features - "Paperman" with Ralph, "Lava" with "Inside Out", and "Feast" here - they're such a good way for them to try out new tricks and new technologies, to develop their staff, and also to practice their storytelling. Plus, they're good fun in their own right.

So, yeah, good stuff. Disney (and Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm) seem to really be on a roll right now.

#13: "Trigger Warning", by Neil Gaiman
#14: "Brideshead Revisited", by Evelyn Waugh (a book from The List)
#15: "Pathfinder: The Hellfire Compact", by F. Wesley Schneider
#16: "Doctor Who: Time Lord Fairy Tales", by Justin Richards

Would you rather? Book edition ("Borrowed" from Kezzie)

Being something of a bookworm, I thought it might be worth answering the questions I saw posed on Kezzie's blog for myself. (She in turn "borrowed" it from someone else, who it seems "borrowed" it in turn. Perhaps, one day, an inquisitive soul will track this back to its originator, at which point they will declare that they would have gotten away with it...)

1. Read only trilogies or stand alones?

Standalones. I've read more good books that get everything wrapped up on one volume than I have good trilogies. (And I've ranted about the open-ended fantasy epic before...)

2. Read only male or female authors?

Like Kezzie, I genuinely don't care either way. However, if I absolutely had to choose, I'd choose male authors, but only because there are more men than women working in my favourite genre (fantasy) and Bernard Cornwell, Neil Gaiman, and Conn Iggulden (my three favourite living authors) are all men. But I sure would miss Robert Galbraith's work, or finding out how J.V. Jones finished her series.

3. Shop at a book shop or Amazon?

Amazon. These days I tend to find it hard to find the books I want in a real shop - because so much of what I want is fairly obscure, or is Part N of a long series, or because I'm looking for a very specific title, the odds of it being in stock at any given store at any given time are quite small. Amazon, for all their faults, basically have everything.

4. All books become films or TV shows?

Ick. Neither, really - the book is better. But, again, if I absolutely had to choose then I'd go for TV. Film is good for mediorce novels or good short stories, but is a poor format for translating a good full-length novel.

5. Read five pages a day or five books a week?

Ouch, this is a difficult one! I'd have to go for five pages a day, as I simply don't have time to read five books a week. But five pages a day is nowhere near enough.

6. Be a professional reviewer or author?

Author. Actually, if I were to win the lottery, that's what I'd do with my time. (But I have no illusions that I could actually make a living at it, and I don't have time to try my hand at it in addition to everything else.)

Of course, since I don't actually play the lottery, that's all rather unlikely.

7. Only read your top 20 books or only ever read new books?

I assume that by "new books" it means "new to me"? In any case, since I very very rarely re-read a book (and, indeed, have reread fewer than 20 books ever), I'd have to go for new books, every time. It would be a shame to never again revisit Middle Earth or Discworld, but I would regret never visiting other places even more.

8. Be a librarian or book seller?

To be honest, neither really appeals. But if I had to choose, I guess librarian. Ook!

9. Only read you favourite genre, or read every genre except your favourite?

Every genre except my favourite. Despite fantasy being my favourite genres, almost all the best books I have read have not been fantasies.

10. Only read physical books or only read e-books.

Physical. No contest.

Gherkin Theory

A few months ago, I saw that McDonalds were attempting to spawn a 'viral' marketing campaign - they posed a question and tried to encourage people to tweet back an answer. I expect that this failed abysmally, as I really hope people have better things to do with their time, but it did lead me to put a name to something I'd been pondering for some time.

The question was whether or not people liked having gherkins on the Big Mac.

My theory is that even for people who don't like gherkins having them on the Big Mac improves the experience.

Now, before I go any further, I should note that this applies only in the case where the gherkin is the only thing the person doesn't like about the Big Mac - if you don't like the gherkins and the salad and the sauce, then the Gherkin Theory doesn't apply... and what you want is a different burger. (Oh, and of course, I'm only talking about people who don't like gherkins. A person with an actual intolerance or allergy to them is entirely a different matter!)

Anyway, on to the theory itself...

I learned some time ago that when people make up perfumes, they can't just take a bunch of nice scents and blend them together. If they do that, the resulting perfume is invariably sickly-sweet and will be rejected by the vast majority of people. Therefore, they always include one (and almost always only one) less-than-pleasant scent in amongst the selection. This single "off note" is subtle enough not to be consciously detected by the potential customer, but is just enough to cut through the sweetness of the others, and gives a more mature, more rounded, and more satisfying whole.

(The same applies in cookery, too, of course, where by pairing foods you can improve the whole. In particular, using lemon juice to cut through the sweetness of many fruits is a common trick.)

So, when we come to the Big Mac, we have three rough groups of people (at least, as far as relevance to this discussion is concerned): people who like the gherkin on the Big Mac, people who mildly dislike the gherkin, and people who really hate the gherkin.

Now, for the people who like the gherkin, there is little further discussion required. The likelihood is that the reason they like the gherkin is precisely because of the contrast that it brings to the other components - in effect, they're already applying what I've mentioned above.

For the people who dislike the gherkin, the benefit of them being present is as I've outlined above - by including that single "off note", the other flavours are brought together. Huzzah!

Now, for the people who hate the gherkin, how can I possibly argue that their experience is improved by having the gherkin present? Well, it's in this: by getting the Big Mac with gherkins present, they then get the great joy of removing and discarding those gherkins prior to eating the burger. Which gives them a victory over their hated enemy - they've now taken action that has directly (albeit almost trivially) improved their lives. (And the value of small victories shouldn't be overlooked - some days, those are the only victories you might get, and be all the sweeter for it.)

(Of course, one might argue that having the gherkin on the Big Mac even for a few moments somehow contaminates the rest of the burger. Which sounds like a reasonable argument, but it has two flaws: (1) your palate is almost certainly not sensitive enough to detect such a tiny trace, and (2) if it is, then you surely wouldn't be eating at McDonalds.)

Anyway, that's the gherkin theory. It is, of course, largely nonsense. But it has a name, which makes it better. (But that's "Name Theory". I may come back to that.)

Incidentally, the wider implication of Gherkin Theory (which I was discussing with Captain Ric at the wedding on Saturday, which inspired this post), is actually that being exposed to, and indeed appreciating, the minor imperfections in life is a good thing. Otherwise, you'll spend your life constantly striving for a perfection that is simply unattainable, and so becoming frustrated. But if you're used to, and indeed content with, things that are almost perfect, life is that bit sweeter - you can focus on all the many things that are right, and not focus on the one or two things that are just not quite what you would have wanted.

But that's all rather philosophical for a silly little post about gherkins, isn't it?

(I could, of course, have equally named my theory "Sprout Theory", "Minor Imperfection Theory"... or "Ewok Theory". The latter not to be confused with "Jar Jar Theory", which is what happens when that minor imperfection is over-exaggerated.)

Playing at a Funeral

As a rule, I don't like playing the bagpipes for money. I take the view that I have a job and that I'd therefore rather keep my hobbies as hobbies, without the expectations that come with making money from them. (Plus, it's worth noting that playing for money has tax implications, and it's really not worth adding a second, very small, income stream as doing so is more hassle than benefit.) So, for the most part, if someone asks me to play at an event, it will be a friend or a family member, and I'll donate my time rather than charge for it.

That said, every so often I do get asked to play at an event by someone I don't really know. In which case, my first impulse is to pass it on to someone else - there are people in the band who do play for money, and for whom it represents a decent portion of their income, and so are glad of the extra work. But if that's not possible, then I'll do the event is possible. Because if someone asks, presumably it's because they'd rather like to have a piper.

There are three types of events where a person will typically ask a piper to play. Two of these are 'happy' events - weddings and Burns' Nights. In both cases, people are celebrating some event, they're generally happy events, and if the piper can add something to the event then that's all to the good.

But the third of these is the one I really don't like playing at: funerals.

I actually don't mind funerals in general, because every funeral is different - most of the admittedly few I have attended have been markers of the end of a long life well lived. They've been quiet affairs that served to bring a conclusion, and to celebrate a life.

But the concern when playing the bagpipes at a funeral is that you just don't know how things are going to play out. You're inevitably playing for people who are hurting, even in the best of circumstances, and in both of the cases where I've played at a funeral it has been for people I didn't know well. And you can't know how people will react if you play the wrong, or perhaps right, piece of music. It's just difficult.

(And the worst thing of all is dealing with the money. Which really sucks, because the last thing you want to do is ask someone who is in the midst of grieving for the payment that's been arranged, but given that it has been arranged... A useful note for anyone in that position: when confirming the booking, ask the client to give the payment in an envelope to the funeral director. They're used to handling such things, and are good for maintaining a professional distance.)

So it's fair to say that playing at funerals isn't exactly my favourite thing in the world.

(There's an obvious reason I'm mentioning this now: on Friday I played at my second funeral. The lady involved was actually the last of the three daughters of the founder of my pipe band, who I had first met during our centenary celebrations - her father had composed three tunes, one for each of his daughters, but she'd never actually heard them played. So I learned the tunes and played them for her. And so, with her passing, we were asked again if a piper from the band could go and play at the funeral. Naturally, we made sure that someone, specifically me, did just that.)

#12: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Clone Army Attacketh", by Ian Doescher

Experimental Cookery 2016 #1: Indonesian Chicken Curry

Yes, it's true - tonight I did my first Experimental Cookery of 2016. For Christmas, LC's parents got me a box containing three curry pastes - an Indonesian paste, a Balti paste, and a Thai Green curry paste. As the one of the three that I'd never tried before, the Indonesian paste was selected for tonight's meal.

Not being entirely sure what to do with this paste, I adapted Jamie's Korma recipe - the chickpeas and dessicated coconut came out, and lime leaves went in instead, but the base was the standard onions, ginger and chilli. It was a quick and easy meal to make, about an hour from end to end, and served with rice (and haggis pakora, since we're Scots).

I'm sure it wasn't even remotely authentic, but I'm largely unconcerned with such things - what was important was that the curry tasted very nice. And, as an added bonus, we now have three additional portions tucked away in the freezer for later use. Huzzah!

The one thing I think was perhaps a mistake was that I attempted to use half of the jar but misjudged it and ended up using closer to three quarters. This leaves us with a little left over - maybe just enough to do a meal for two at some later point. In hindsight, I should have added a little more chicken, used the whole jar, and gone for eight portions instead of five. Oh well, I'll know for next time.

And that, pretty much, is that.

#10: "Pathfinder: Breaking the Bones of Hell", by Amber E. Scott
#11: "Pirate's Prophecy", by Chris A. Jackson

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

LC and I went to see this on Saturday. We were a little surprised to find that it was already reduced to only one showing a night, and in pretty much the smallest screen the cinema had available. Still, I guess with both "Deadpool" and "Zoolander 2" starting, they probably needed the screens.

Anyway, it's a pretty enjoyable film, though not necessarily what I'd describe as a "good" film - it's a light-hearted romp that does what it sets out to do but doesn't exactly stretch itself. Which, if I'm being honest, probably sums up Jane Austen's oeuvre, so I guess that fits.

The two leads, Lily James and Sam Riley, were both fine in the roles of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam, though they were upstaged rather by Tywin and Cersei... I mean Charles Dance and Lena Headey (as Mr Bennet and Lady Catherine respectively). And the highlight was Matt Smith as Mr Collins (Parson Collins) who was amusing throughout. (That said, I was struck once again by just how much of Lily James' acting technique boils down to breathing in and out. I'm not sure that's a recommendation.)

And that's pretty much all there is to say about that, really. Except to note that I really should read the book. Oh, and indeed that I find the notion of a Regency + Zombies RPG quite intriguing...

A Mid-season Break

A few weeks ago, the family were drafted in to help one of my brothers move home. It was a fairly miserable day, especially due to fairly heavy snow. As is my wont, I listened to the coverage of football that afternoon, which saw a lot of games cancelled due to the weather, and some games start only to be abandoned. And, as always happens when that occurs, the major debate of the day was about whether Scottish football should have a mid-season break in January to prevent matches being called off.

The problem with that strategy, though, and the one that always gets brought up when this is debated, is that the weather in Scotland is fairly unpredictable - there may be heavy snow in January and matches may be called off... or January may be fine and February be marked with terrible weather. We just don't know from one year to the next. So scheduling a mid-season break is problematic.

But I would have thought something can be done. Specifically:

1. Look into starting the season a couple of weeks earlier and/or ending a couple of weeks later, as if the season were being structured for a mid-season break.
2. Don't schedule a formal mid-season break. However, when the weather is poor in December, January, and February, be quicker to call off a match. Where now the default approach is that a match will be on unless the pitch is truly unplayable, the approach should instead be that if the weather is notably bad then the game should be called off by default. (And, basically, almost no game should ever be abandoned - if the weather is bad enough that that was a meaningful risk, the game should have been called off long before.)
3. If we get though December, January, and February with no, or very few, games called off, the fixtures later in the season can be spread out a little more, allowing the players more time to recover between matches. Whereas it's currently not at all uncommon for teams to have three matches in eight days near the end of the season, that would simply not happen if the three worst months were playable.

It's crazy, but it just might work!

Day 50: Update on Goals

Somehow, we're already 50 days into 2016. I'm rather shocked at this, but simultaneously quite glad that we're coming out of the worst of winter. It's been grim. Anyway, it's time for an update on goals for the year:

• Weight: Actually, there's nothing to say here - I haven't stepped onto the scales in several days. But I've been hovering about the same weight for ages, and doubt that that's changed significantly.
• Books: This one is going extremely well - I'm currently reading my tenth book of the year, and am up to date on all the sub-lists.
• Games: A mixed bag here - the first session of "Firefly: The Lost Episodes" went spectacularly well, but it also looks like this may be the last session of the campaign for quite some time. (Ironic since I'd just started to make some plans for that campaign!) "Eberron: Dust to Dust" has now had two sessions this year and is also going well. I suspect it is this campaign that will survive the move intact, though how long it runs before the end, and whether it is indeed my last D&D 5e campaign, remains to be seen. All in all, I've had three game sessions this year, which is good going, especially so early in the year.
• Super Secret Goal #4: Oh, so stressful. I'll provide a fuller update once this is all done, but it's not exactly fun right now. It's also my #1 priority right at the moment, which is difficult since it's also the one thing I don't have control over.
• Band: Not a goal, but still important, things with the band are going well. We're well advanced in our preparations for the upcoming season, and I'm involved in teaching three students, one of whom looks set to play in Gala Days this year (and competition next year), one of whom is just a couple of months behind her (and so liable to just miss out on the Gala Days, but will perhaps compete next year), and one who has just started. I've informed the committee of our pending house move, but I've also committed to seeing out this upcoming season if it is at all possible - come September the band will probably have to find a new chairperson/webmaster/tutor/trustee, but that's a problem for another day.
• Church: Another not-a-goal but also relevant, LC and I have begun the process of disentangling ourselves from our commitments in the church, again in preparation for the move. We're scheduled to do the tea and coffee duty at one evening service next month, and then that's it. Likewise, we'll be dropping out of "Small Groups" either as soon as we move or at the end of the current session (not sure which - might be whichever comes first, might just be when we move).
• Lent: There was an incident with some ice cream a couple of days ago (where said ice cream came complete with a chocolate that I couldn't eat), but desite that - and subject to the Valentine exemption - the Lenten aversion to Irn Bru, alcohol, and chocolate remains intact. But, again, the end of the season in 37 days remains something to which I can look forward.

And that, basically, is that. Two goals well in hand, one that's ongoing but very stressful, and one that has no report. Things otherwise are proceeding apace. All in all, that's not too bad.