Ten (!) years ago, I wrote a blog post entitled "Concerned about the church" in which I expressed a concern that the way things were going, the church would die out simply of old age. This week, I'm now reading reports that the church has lost some 20% of attendees in the last five years, probably for exactly that reason. Those reports indicate that at the same rate of decline, the Church of Scotland will be effectively extinct in 30 years. Worryingly, I expect that rate of decline to accelerate rather than remain steady.
(Incidentally, I was recently told that Funsize's baptism was the first in about a decade or so at the centre we attend, although the same parish has had a few at their other location. Similarly, there have been no weddings at our centre in that time, and precious few at the other, but there have been plenty of funerals at both.)
Now, there are several reasons why church attendances are in decline, and plenty of reasons why the Church of Scotland is having problems attracting young people in numbers. (It should be noted that there are some denominations, even in Scotland, that are growing among young people - but they're growing from a very low base.) However, one thing that really doesn't help is that, for an organisation that is supposed to provide moral authority, the church is publicly very bad at taking a stand.
Here's the thing: the Church of Scotland makes the news approximately once a year, when the General Assembly is held. For people who don't attend, that may be the only time in the year when the church gets even the briefest thought from them.
And for as long as I can remember, the coverage of the General Assembly has been dominated by the ongoing controversy concerning homosexuality - whether it's the ordination of gay ministers, same-sex marriage, or whatever other flavour of the issue is under discussion that year. And every year, the outcome of the General Assembly is a fudge, a bad compromise... and then the issue rears its head again the year after.
In the meantime, attitudes in secular society have shifted very significantly, and the issue of same-sex marriage, at least, has been resolved pretty conclusively. And young people in particular are very comfortable with that. There are still some details to work out (such as the continued need for, and access to, civil partnerships), but basically the issue is dealt with. (I should note that here I'm referring specifically to gay marriage - I'm well aware that equality is still a way off.)
The upshot of that is that, for many young people, their only exposure to the church consists of (mostly) old men arguing over an issue that, frankly, they thought was resolved years ago.
That's not an image of an organisation that's good at things. It's not an attractive image for the church. And, for an organisation that should be providing moral leadership, that's very poor.
And since both sides in the debate base their arguments on competing verses in scripture, here's one (Rev 3:14-16, edited):
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
Now, I do understand that the church is in a hard place, since there are very strong views on both sides, and since both sides back their arguments with scripture. (And I'm willing to accept that, for the most part, their arguments are based on a sincere belief in that scripture, rather than other motives.) And I therefore understand that taking a firm decision, either way, is likely to cause a split.
But here's the thing: there is a very real possibility that even the least-damaging decision will lead to the effective end of the Church of Scotland. It's probable that the more-damaging decision will lead to that end. But I'm certain that failing to take a decision at all will lead to that end. The clock is ticking; you can't take forever.
The church is called on to be salt and light. If it can't make a clear decision, whether that means going with the zeitgeist or standing against it, then what is the point of it?
(Incidentally, you'll note that I haven't at any point stated what I think that decision should be. I know where I stand on the issue, and I'm also well aware that I'm at odds with a number of people I know, and some whom I respect a great deal. But we're at the point now where I think it's critical that the General Assembly makes some decision, even if it's one I disagree with.)
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Assembling the Barbecue: And in Under a Decade!
On Saturday, in between not watching the wedding and not watching the FA cup final, I took the opportunity to not watch the Scottish cup final and instead built my barbecue. This was the usual exercise in frustration, with the instructions appear to have been written by an engineer, probably as the last "I don't really want to do this" task in the list of things to do. So we had text that didn't quite make the process clear coupled with diagrams that did - or would have, had they not been printed at a tiny size.
Still, I managed to assemble the barbecue without resorting to industrial language, so that's good. And, what's more, it took less than a decade to achieve this feat!
I should probably explain that one.
Shortly after I purchased the flat in Falkirk, it was pointed out to me that Asda had a really good offer on barbecues - if I recall correctly, it was a then-£150 barbecue for £75 - and that I shouldgo buy one. So I did. (In fairness, that was a pretty good deal. But maybe not the best use of funds.)
Anyway, I purchased this barbecue, put it into my lock-up, and then did nothing with it. For eight years. Amongst other things, I didn't actually have anywhere to have a barbecue, what with it being a top-floor flat, and with the bit of common ground being strictly reserved for drying clothes and nothing else.
It's possible I didn't quite think that one through.
So the barbecue sat in the lock-up, untouched, for all that time. Then it went into storage with the rest of our belongings, and then into the garage at the new house. And, finally, it came out of its box on Saturday and is now sitting, assembled, in our garden.
But at least there's now some chance of it actually getting used...
Still, I managed to assemble the barbecue without resorting to industrial language, so that's good. And, what's more, it took less than a decade to achieve this feat!
I should probably explain that one.
Shortly after I purchased the flat in Falkirk, it was pointed out to me that Asda had a really good offer on barbecues - if I recall correctly, it was a then-£150 barbecue for £75 - and that I shouldgo buy one. So I did. (In fairness, that was a pretty good deal. But maybe not the best use of funds.)
Anyway, I purchased this barbecue, put it into my lock-up, and then did nothing with it. For eight years. Amongst other things, I didn't actually have anywhere to have a barbecue, what with it being a top-floor flat, and with the bit of common ground being strictly reserved for drying clothes and nothing else.
It's possible I didn't quite think that one through.
So the barbecue sat in the lock-up, untouched, for all that time. Then it went into storage with the rest of our belongings, and then into the garage at the new house. And, finally, it came out of its box on Saturday and is now sitting, assembled, in our garden.
But at least there's now some chance of it actually getting used...
Surviving the Dragon
Technically, the first book I read to Funsize was not "The Hobbit", but was in fact a poorly-selected "I know my..." book. However, it's certainly true that "The Hobbit" was the first story I read to my daughter, so that counts. We started about a week after she did, and finished this weekend. It took us rather longer to get through than might be expected, largely because she was scared of the dragon - and who can blame her?
Probably my biggest impression from reading the book to FS is that it reading it aloud is a very different experience to reading it myself. The simple act of vocalising the words means that the whole story proceeds more slowly. But, also, it changes the nature of it all - rather than just describing the thing, it becomes important that the words fit together well, that the sounds go together. This is especially true of the songs, of course, which are easy to skim when reading to yourself but which are much more poetic aloud.
My second impression, as this was my first re-read since the films came out, is that this novel is probably unfilmable. Which is an odd thing to say, but I'm now more than ever convinced that the films called "The Hobbit" aren't films of this book (or story) at all - they're quite another thing. (To the extent that you can't edit down the films to excise the added material and thus arrive at the story in the books.) But I don't think that simply filming the story as presented works either - too many of the dwarves amount to a name and a colour for the hood, with no other character to speak of. I don't see any sensible way to resolve that problem, especially as the stated motive for Bilbo going on the quest is to avoid the company having thirteen members!
Thirdly, regarding the choice of "The Hobbit" for a week-old child: well, why not? At that age, it's not actually as if it makes much difference what is read to her, since it's mostly about hearing our voices anyway. So it might as well be something the reader can enjoy. Plus, it has the great advantage that her geek credentials are now unimpeachable. So there.
Next...
Well, LC is apparently reading "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" to FS. Meanwhile, I've made a start on a storybook Bible - we received two copies of this as gifts, and narrowly avoided a third, so it comes highly recommended.
#21: "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien (a book from The List)
#22: "O.L.D. Fantasy Heroic Role-playing Game", by Russ Morrissey
Probably my biggest impression from reading the book to FS is that it reading it aloud is a very different experience to reading it myself. The simple act of vocalising the words means that the whole story proceeds more slowly. But, also, it changes the nature of it all - rather than just describing the thing, it becomes important that the words fit together well, that the sounds go together. This is especially true of the songs, of course, which are easy to skim when reading to yourself but which are much more poetic aloud.
My second impression, as this was my first re-read since the films came out, is that this novel is probably unfilmable. Which is an odd thing to say, but I'm now more than ever convinced that the films called "The Hobbit" aren't films of this book (or story) at all - they're quite another thing. (To the extent that you can't edit down the films to excise the added material and thus arrive at the story in the books.) But I don't think that simply filming the story as presented works either - too many of the dwarves amount to a name and a colour for the hood, with no other character to speak of. I don't see any sensible way to resolve that problem, especially as the stated motive for Bilbo going on the quest is to avoid the company having thirteen members!
Thirdly, regarding the choice of "The Hobbit" for a week-old child: well, why not? At that age, it's not actually as if it makes much difference what is read to her, since it's mostly about hearing our voices anyway. So it might as well be something the reader can enjoy. Plus, it has the great advantage that her geek credentials are now unimpeachable. So there.
Next...
Well, LC is apparently reading "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" to FS. Meanwhile, I've made a start on a storybook Bible - we received two copies of this as gifts, and narrowly avoided a third, so it comes highly recommended.
#21: "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien (a book from The List)
#22: "O.L.D. Fantasy Heroic Role-playing Game", by Russ Morrissey
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Competition Season Begins
Camelon & District Pipe Band had their first competition of the season last weekend, at Dunbar. According to the RSPBA website, they did rather well, which is nice.
Personally, I'm finding that I miss the competition season not at all. I was never particularly keen on that aspect of the band - I always preferred the social aspect, and really didn't need the stress. It was just that that was the local band, and they competed - so if I wanted to play, that was more or less a pre-requisite.
So, I wish them the very best of luck for the season ahead. But I'm also quite glad to be able to look on from the outside!
Personally, I'm finding that I miss the competition season not at all. I was never particularly keen on that aspect of the band - I always preferred the social aspect, and really didn't need the stress. It was just that that was the local band, and they competed - so if I wanted to play, that was more or less a pre-requisite.
So, I wish them the very best of luck for the season ahead. But I'm also quite glad to be able to look on from the outside!
Space: Above and Beyond
As part of my effort to phase out my Region One DVDs, I made a list of films and series to replace, and somehow "Space: Above and Beyond" made the cut. This was due to some fond memories of the show, and led to me finally purchasing a new, Region Two, set and re-watching the show over the past several weeks. That re-watch concluded last night.
It turns out that it was a mistake to replace that set, with the new disks now immediately finding themselves as prime candidates to be purged next time we have a clear-out.
I've watched "Space: Above and Beyond" four times. The first time was back in the 90's, when I caught the latter half of the TV transmission (if I recall correctly, this was late at night on either BBC 2 or Channel 4 - back when terrestrial TV was five whole channels!). When it was released on DVD I would have watched the series then, and I re-watched it a few years ago.
My recollection of the show was that it starts out pretty weak, but somewhere around halfway through it suddenly gets much better, and that it ends very strongly.
Well...
It's true that that trajectory is broadly accurate, but it rather exaggerates how good the second half of the series is. In fact, there are a couple of very good episodes, and a number that are pretty much okay. As a whole, though, the series really doesn't hold up. And given how far TV storytelling has advanced even in the last six years, it's no longer really worth considering.
That said, there is one potential point of interest in the show. "Space: Above and Beyond" does have a pretty strong concept, and several of the character do have stories that are worth telling (though it's rather unfortunate that the 'main' character is actually the least interesting of the bunch - a fact that the writers seemed to realise pretty early on). The show just doesn't manage to fulfil its potential.
What that means is that "Space: Above and Beyond" is probably a prime candidate for a reboot - especially if looking for something to fill the niche once held by "Battlestar Galactica". That said, I'm not convinced that it has enough name recognition to make such an effort worthwhile... and BSG itself now ended a fairly long time ago, so maybe that niche no longer exists.
(In related news, I'm now within touching distance of the end of my cull of Region One disks - my 'replace' list is down to four entries, none of which is a TV series. With luck, I'll get that done by the end of next month.)
It turns out that it was a mistake to replace that set, with the new disks now immediately finding themselves as prime candidates to be purged next time we have a clear-out.
I've watched "Space: Above and Beyond" four times. The first time was back in the 90's, when I caught the latter half of the TV transmission (if I recall correctly, this was late at night on either BBC 2 or Channel 4 - back when terrestrial TV was five whole channels!). When it was released on DVD I would have watched the series then, and I re-watched it a few years ago.
My recollection of the show was that it starts out pretty weak, but somewhere around halfway through it suddenly gets much better, and that it ends very strongly.
Well...
It's true that that trajectory is broadly accurate, but it rather exaggerates how good the second half of the series is. In fact, there are a couple of very good episodes, and a number that are pretty much okay. As a whole, though, the series really doesn't hold up. And given how far TV storytelling has advanced even in the last six years, it's no longer really worth considering.
That said, there is one potential point of interest in the show. "Space: Above and Beyond" does have a pretty strong concept, and several of the character do have stories that are worth telling (though it's rather unfortunate that the 'main' character is actually the least interesting of the bunch - a fact that the writers seemed to realise pretty early on). The show just doesn't manage to fulfil its potential.
What that means is that "Space: Above and Beyond" is probably a prime candidate for a reboot - especially if looking for something to fill the niche once held by "Battlestar Galactica". That said, I'm not convinced that it has enough name recognition to make such an effort worthwhile... and BSG itself now ended a fairly long time ago, so maybe that niche no longer exists.
(In related news, I'm now within touching distance of the end of my cull of Region One disks - my 'replace' list is down to four entries, none of which is a TV series. With luck, I'll get that done by the end of next month.)
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Two Mistakes - and a Lesson
On Monday, I got to work nice and early, reached into my pocket to move my mobile phone onto my desk... and discovered I had LC's car keys with me. Oops. Fortunately, we have a spare set, so she was able to manage without me having to rush home to return them, but it was rather a pain.
Today, I walked to the gym (as is now my wont). It being a nice day, I left my jacket in the office, since I didn't need it. However, when I got to the gym I suddenly realised that my membership card, without which I can't get in, was still in my wallet, which was in the aforementioned jacket in the office. Oops.
The lesson from these is about keeping things in the right place - both those car keys should have a place where they live, and neither of them was in that place. After I drove LC's car on Sunday, I should have taken the keys out of my pocket and put them where they lived. As for the gym membership card, it was simply living in the wrong place - since it will only ever be used when I'm using my bag of gym kit, it should be stored in that same bag (and not in the wallet I carry with me all the time). That way, when I get to the gym I either have the card or I have bigger problems.
Of course, neither of those are truly revelatory. But I figured they might be amusing. Slightly.
#19: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Force Doth Awaken", by Ian Doescher
#20: "Pathfinder: Songbird, Scion, Saboteur", by Crystal Frasier and Richard Pett
Today, I walked to the gym (as is now my wont). It being a nice day, I left my jacket in the office, since I didn't need it. However, when I got to the gym I suddenly realised that my membership card, without which I can't get in, was still in my wallet, which was in the aforementioned jacket in the office. Oops.
The lesson from these is about keeping things in the right place - both those car keys should have a place where they live, and neither of them was in that place. After I drove LC's car on Sunday, I should have taken the keys out of my pocket and put them where they lived. As for the gym membership card, it was simply living in the wrong place - since it will only ever be used when I'm using my bag of gym kit, it should be stored in that same bag (and not in the wallet I carry with me all the time). That way, when I get to the gym I either have the card or I have bigger problems.
Of course, neither of those are truly revelatory. But I figured they might be amusing. Slightly.
#19: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Force Doth Awaken", by Ian Doescher
#20: "Pathfinder: Songbird, Scion, Saboteur", by Crystal Frasier and Richard Pett
Tuesday, May 08, 2018
The Handmaid's Tale
I'm a little surprised that I've never actually blogged about this...
I read "The Handmaid's Tale" way back in 2010. My reaction at the time was that it was exceptionally well-written, and quite disturbing. However, I took considerable comfort in the consideration that not only was it not the world we lived in, but also that it wasn't realistic - too many people would have to operate in a manner contrary to their own interests for that to happen. (And I don't mean that women could stop it. We have four entire industries (fashion, cosmetics, diet, and glossy magazines) whose entire business model is based on women spending lots of money. They would be the ones to stop it.)
That said, I've since watched the electorate in both the UK and the US voting contrary to their best interests, so maybe there's something in it after all...
Anyway, we watched the first season of the show last year. It's not exactly fair to say we 'enjoyed' it, since we didn't, but it was extremely well made. That said, the quality wasn't uniform. In particular, there was a clear divide between the bits that were in the book and those areas where it was changed or expanded - with the new material being markedly weaker.
The first season, of course, adapts the whole of the book. Which leaves them in a position where everything in the second season is going to be new material. Which doesn't bode well.
But there's also a big problem. The end of the book (and also the first season) is delightfully ambiguous - things really don't look good for Offred, with her being bundled into a van for... some purpose. We're also told that, at some point, Gilead will fall, but there's no clear indication as to the time-scale involved.
So, this leaves a big question: where does the show go from here? And I don't find any of the answers particular satisfying...
The 'realistic' answer is that Offred is in for a world of hurt. A society such as that depicted would have all manner of control mechanisms in place, such that Offred's various rebellions would not be tolerated. And given the issues with the other handmaids in the last episode, they would be coming down with a hammer blow. So the likely outcome isn't good - here come ten episodes, essentially, of torture porn followed by her giving birth and then, probably, a rather nasty public execution. I have no desire to watch that.
The other possibility, which is the one I rather expect them to go with, is much the same for the first several episodes, followed by a heroic rescue, the tide turning, and Offred spearheading a fight against Gilead. With the season ending in one of two ways: either Offred is reunited with her husband or, more cruelly, them being reunited some time earlier followed by his dying at the end of the last episode. The problem with that is that it's too fantastical - if Gilead is so easily defeated (in that it pops up and falls all in a single generation), that rather undercuts the menace of the series. I have no desire to watch that.
The third possibility, of course, is TV stasis - because they want to run the show for the indefinite future they'll move the pieces around a bit, but ultimately the second series will end up pretty much in the same place as the first one did. Only with Offred now having two children to search for, rather than just one. And given that I didn't enjoy the first season that much, I think I'll give that a miss, too.
The bottom line: I'm not going to be watching the second season of "The Handmaid's Tale". And, frankly, I'm reasonably sure that they'd have been much better to just leave it at one.
I'll still recommend the book, though. Because it's very good.
I read "The Handmaid's Tale" way back in 2010. My reaction at the time was that it was exceptionally well-written, and quite disturbing. However, I took considerable comfort in the consideration that not only was it not the world we lived in, but also that it wasn't realistic - too many people would have to operate in a manner contrary to their own interests for that to happen. (And I don't mean that women could stop it. We have four entire industries (fashion, cosmetics, diet, and glossy magazines) whose entire business model is based on women spending lots of money. They would be the ones to stop it.)
That said, I've since watched the electorate in both the UK and the US voting contrary to their best interests, so maybe there's something in it after all...
Anyway, we watched the first season of the show last year. It's not exactly fair to say we 'enjoyed' it, since we didn't, but it was extremely well made. That said, the quality wasn't uniform. In particular, there was a clear divide between the bits that were in the book and those areas where it was changed or expanded - with the new material being markedly weaker.
The first season, of course, adapts the whole of the book. Which leaves them in a position where everything in the second season is going to be new material. Which doesn't bode well.
But there's also a big problem. The end of the book (and also the first season) is delightfully ambiguous - things really don't look good for Offred, with her being bundled into a van for... some purpose. We're also told that, at some point, Gilead will fall, but there's no clear indication as to the time-scale involved.
So, this leaves a big question: where does the show go from here? And I don't find any of the answers particular satisfying...
The 'realistic' answer is that Offred is in for a world of hurt. A society such as that depicted would have all manner of control mechanisms in place, such that Offred's various rebellions would not be tolerated. And given the issues with the other handmaids in the last episode, they would be coming down with a hammer blow. So the likely outcome isn't good - here come ten episodes, essentially, of torture porn followed by her giving birth and then, probably, a rather nasty public execution. I have no desire to watch that.
The other possibility, which is the one I rather expect them to go with, is much the same for the first several episodes, followed by a heroic rescue, the tide turning, and Offred spearheading a fight against Gilead. With the season ending in one of two ways: either Offred is reunited with her husband or, more cruelly, them being reunited some time earlier followed by his dying at the end of the last episode. The problem with that is that it's too fantastical - if Gilead is so easily defeated (in that it pops up and falls all in a single generation), that rather undercuts the menace of the series. I have no desire to watch that.
The third possibility, of course, is TV stasis - because they want to run the show for the indefinite future they'll move the pieces around a bit, but ultimately the second series will end up pretty much in the same place as the first one did. Only with Offred now having two children to search for, rather than just one. And given that I didn't enjoy the first season that much, I think I'll give that a miss, too.
The bottom line: I'm not going to be watching the second season of "The Handmaid's Tale". And, frankly, I'm reasonably sure that they'd have been much better to just leave it at one.
I'll still recommend the book, though. Because it's very good.
Avengers: Infinity War
Friday saw LC and I take FunSize for her first trip to the cinema. For this purpose, we had purchased a set of noise-reducing headphones for her to wear, which led to two slight concerns - firstly, that she might simply reject them entirely; and secondly that they might not be enough. (Seriously, what's with the volume control at the Vue these days? They have the volume set considerably higher for the adverts and trailers than for the film itself, to the point where it's frankly painful. While the trailer for "Mission Impossible: Fallout" was playing, I was concerned we'd have to give up, given how FS was responding to all the noise, and that despite the headphones.)
Anyway, we made it through the trailers, and in to the film itself. And it's good - "Infinity War" is very much the culmination of everything they've been building for 10 years, and it therefore benefits greatly from all that lore. Don't go unless you've seen a good portion of the films leading up to this (seriously, why would you jump in at chapter 20 of the long-running series?). But if you have, and you've enjoyed most of the entries, you'll probably enjoy this one.
That said, while it's good, it's not great - this isn't on a par with the first "Avengers" film, and it's certainly not in the same league as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" or "The Dark Knight". There's just too much crammed into too little space (and that despite a 2 hour 40 mins run-time), and too many characters.
From here on out, there are spoilers. So if you don't want to know, skip to the next post. You know the drill by now. :)
I think the thing I liked most about this film was the way it really did sum up everything we've seen so far - the film didn't waste any time re-introducing characters or locations, but just got on with things. We saw (or heard referenced) all the locations we've seen to date (Asgard, Knowhere, Zandar Prime...), caught up with pretty much everyone we'd seen thus far.
Although, having said that, the thing I actually liked most was the tiny moment where Bruce Banner finally reunites with Natasha Romanov - there's barely any dialogue there, with everything communicated in silence. It might seem strange, but that's probably the best character moment in the whole film.
The big weakness of the film, though, is that it does just try to cram in too much - too many characters, too many locations, too much story. Everything is therefore compressed and urgent, skipping from one thing to the next just to get the pieces into place. And then there's the big CGI showdown (yawn). We do eventually come out on the other side of the CGI showdown, and get back to the characters, and that's good... but I'm just not sure it's enough.
Also, I'm afraid the tone is inconsistent. Partly this is inevitable - whereas in the first Avengers film they did a good job making the Iron Man bits feel like an Iron Man film, the Cap bits feel like a Captain America film, and the Thor bits feel like Thor; here they're trying to do that and add Spider-Man bits and Doctor Strange bits and Guardians of the Galaxy bits... and given that the latter, in particular, is quite at odds with the seriousness of everything that's going on, it just didn't quite come together. Which is a shame.
And then there's the ending. Which would have been very powerful... if we didn't know that most of the dead characters have sequels in the works. We know Doctor Strange and Spider-Man and Black Panther are coming back, so their deaths are immediately undercut.
Incidentally, it's worth noting that Thanos' master-plan is absurd. That's fine, since he is after all "The Mad Titan", but it's really rather depressing watching various supposedly-intelligent people seriously discussing it. But that's not a problem with the film...
So, the upshot is that this is a good film, but not a great one (as I said above). It's probably a film I'll rewatch a few times, notably just before "Part Two" comes out, but I don't expect to rewatch it too often - certainly less often than any of the Captain America films, the Guardians of the Galaxy films, or "Thor: Ragnarok".
(I was going to sign off by noting that it was still probably the best new film I've seen this year. But it occurs to me that that's not true - "Black Panther" has it well beaten.)
Anyway, we made it through the trailers, and in to the film itself. And it's good - "Infinity War" is very much the culmination of everything they've been building for 10 years, and it therefore benefits greatly from all that lore. Don't go unless you've seen a good portion of the films leading up to this (seriously, why would you jump in at chapter 20 of the long-running series?). But if you have, and you've enjoyed most of the entries, you'll probably enjoy this one.
That said, while it's good, it's not great - this isn't on a par with the first "Avengers" film, and it's certainly not in the same league as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" or "The Dark Knight". There's just too much crammed into too little space (and that despite a 2 hour 40 mins run-time), and too many characters.
From here on out, there are spoilers. So if you don't want to know, skip to the next post. You know the drill by now. :)
I think the thing I liked most about this film was the way it really did sum up everything we've seen so far - the film didn't waste any time re-introducing characters or locations, but just got on with things. We saw (or heard referenced) all the locations we've seen to date (Asgard, Knowhere, Zandar Prime...), caught up with pretty much everyone we'd seen thus far.
Although, having said that, the thing I actually liked most was the tiny moment where Bruce Banner finally reunites with Natasha Romanov - there's barely any dialogue there, with everything communicated in silence. It might seem strange, but that's probably the best character moment in the whole film.
The big weakness of the film, though, is that it does just try to cram in too much - too many characters, too many locations, too much story. Everything is therefore compressed and urgent, skipping from one thing to the next just to get the pieces into place. And then there's the big CGI showdown (yawn). We do eventually come out on the other side of the CGI showdown, and get back to the characters, and that's good... but I'm just not sure it's enough.
Also, I'm afraid the tone is inconsistent. Partly this is inevitable - whereas in the first Avengers film they did a good job making the Iron Man bits feel like an Iron Man film, the Cap bits feel like a Captain America film, and the Thor bits feel like Thor; here they're trying to do that and add Spider-Man bits and Doctor Strange bits and Guardians of the Galaxy bits... and given that the latter, in particular, is quite at odds with the seriousness of everything that's going on, it just didn't quite come together. Which is a shame.
And then there's the ending. Which would have been very powerful... if we didn't know that most of the dead characters have sequels in the works. We know Doctor Strange and Spider-Man and Black Panther are coming back, so their deaths are immediately undercut.
Incidentally, it's worth noting that Thanos' master-plan is absurd. That's fine, since he is after all "The Mad Titan", but it's really rather depressing watching various supposedly-intelligent people seriously discussing it. But that's not a problem with the film...
So, the upshot is that this is a good film, but not a great one (as I said above). It's probably a film I'll rewatch a few times, notably just before "Part Two" comes out, but I don't expect to rewatch it too often - certainly less often than any of the Captain America films, the Guardians of the Galaxy films, or "Thor: Ragnarok".
(I was going to sign off by noting that it was still probably the best new film I've seen this year. But it occurs to me that that's not true - "Black Panther" has it well beaten.)
Experimental Cookery 2018: Jamaican Goat Curry
Some time ago, I became aware that there's a stockist of goat meat between home and the Grand-parents', and since then I've been wanting to give it a try. Following a visit down South at the weekend (that was sadly unsatisfying), and despite my phone's best efforts to auto-correct 'goat' to 'boat' I was finally equipped. And so, Sunday's main meal was a true experiment, with a new and exciting ingredient (and, indeed, a case where the main ingredient was new and exciting).
The recipe comes from the Hairy Biker's "Great Curries". I make no claim that it is even remotely authentic (of course) - not that that has ever stopped me!
It was quick and easy to prepare. The meat came ready-diced, so all that was needed was to cover it in the spice rub, mix, and let it sit for a while; then fry up some spiced onions; then combine these, along with some water and other additions. And then it baked for two hours.
The result was... interesting. This meal wasn't like anything I've had previously, although the goat meat was only really a small part of that. The spices were pretty strong - almost overpowering.
But it was nice. I liked it. Perhaps more importantly, LC liked it, polishing off her whole meal. So that's a win, not least since there are four other portions now waiting in the freezer.
We'll certainly be having this again, even after those four portions are going. And we'll probably have goat in some other meals at some later stage. However, I will have to investigate other stockists, since I can't be tied to that particular trip in order to get it...
All in all, that's a win.
The recipe comes from the Hairy Biker's "Great Curries". I make no claim that it is even remotely authentic (of course) - not that that has ever stopped me!
It was quick and easy to prepare. The meat came ready-diced, so all that was needed was to cover it in the spice rub, mix, and let it sit for a while; then fry up some spiced onions; then combine these, along with some water and other additions. And then it baked for two hours.
The result was... interesting. This meal wasn't like anything I've had previously, although the goat meat was only really a small part of that. The spices were pretty strong - almost overpowering.
But it was nice. I liked it. Perhaps more importantly, LC liked it, polishing off her whole meal. So that's a win, not least since there are four other portions now waiting in the freezer.
We'll certainly be having this again, even after those four portions are going. And we'll probably have goat in some other meals at some later stage. However, I will have to investigate other stockists, since I can't be tied to that particular trip in order to get it...
All in all, that's a win.
Wednesday, May 02, 2018
The Gym Shower Rant
So I went to the gym at lunchtime, which was fine. Afterwards, I went for a shower, of course. And there my woes began...
As discussed previously, getting a good temperature setting on a shower is an exercise in frustration. But today that wasn't the issue.
On most home showers, there's some sort of on/off control - press a button when you want to start a shower, press it again when you're done. But for gym showers that doesn't work: inevitably a minority of customers will fail to stop the shower, and huge amounts of energy and water will be wasted. So there has to be some sort of automatic cut-off. (That of course means that a minority of selfish muppets have ruined it for everyone else. Which basically describes the whole world.)
In every gym and swimming pool I've seen, the solution to this has been to have a button that switches on the shower for a limited time, before it then cuts off again. And that's okay, I guess... most of the time.
Where it doesn't really work is when that cutoff time is set to about 3 seconds. Or, more accurately, the exact amount of time it takes to get your shampoo lathered up so that you can't open your eyes to see the button to press it again.
Honestly, is it really too much to ask that the cutoff be set to a decent length of time? Granted, setting it to 1 minute would lead to an average of 30 seconds of wasted time, but is that truly so terrible? (And if it really is, I could accept a 30 second cutoff, leading to an average of 15 seconds of waste.)
Better still, of course, would be to fit the shower with an automatic sensor, just like the toilets in the same gym use to control their auto-flush - press the button to start, and then it will detect when you move away and stop the shower automatically.
As discussed previously, getting a good temperature setting on a shower is an exercise in frustration. But today that wasn't the issue.
On most home showers, there's some sort of on/off control - press a button when you want to start a shower, press it again when you're done. But for gym showers that doesn't work: inevitably a minority of customers will fail to stop the shower, and huge amounts of energy and water will be wasted. So there has to be some sort of automatic cut-off. (That of course means that a minority of selfish muppets have ruined it for everyone else. Which basically describes the whole world.)
In every gym and swimming pool I've seen, the solution to this has been to have a button that switches on the shower for a limited time, before it then cuts off again. And that's okay, I guess... most of the time.
Where it doesn't really work is when that cutoff time is set to about 3 seconds. Or, more accurately, the exact amount of time it takes to get your shampoo lathered up so that you can't open your eyes to see the button to press it again.
Honestly, is it really too much to ask that the cutoff be set to a decent length of time? Granted, setting it to 1 minute would lead to an average of 30 seconds of wasted time, but is that truly so terrible? (And if it really is, I could accept a 30 second cutoff, leading to an average of 15 seconds of waste.)
Better still, of course, would be to fit the shower with an automatic sensor, just like the toilets in the same gym use to control their auto-flush - press the button to start, and then it will detect when you move away and stop the shower automatically.
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
On The List
While I'm at it...
Generally speaking, I'm rather impressed with the system used for elections to the Scottish parliament - a number of constituency MSPs elected via First Past the Post, followed by a further number elected via lists to top it up, on a proportional basis.
However, there is one very significant weakness to the system: if a particular individual gets themselves into a position at the top of one of the 'big' party lists (SNP, Tory, Labour), they're pretty much guaranteed a seat, and it becomes effectively impossible to get rid of them. That's really not democratic - the electorate really should have a meaningful ability to elect or reject a candidate.
(There's a case in point here: one of the Tory MSPs has been in the parliament on the list for 17 years. In that time, he has stood for a constituency several times, and been unsuccessful every time. And yet, despite that explicit rejection by the voters, he remains in place.)
I'm inclined to think that this quirk of the system should be closed, if it is practical to do so. And, fortunately, there's an easy fix: institute a one-term limit for MSPs serving on the list.
That is, if an MSP enters the parliament by winning a constituency, they should be free to stand for re-election and continue in their role. If, however, they enter parliament by virtue of their position on the regional list, they then become ineligible for a place on a regional list at the next election. If they want to continue in the parliament, then they must fight a constituency and allow the electorate a say on them specifically.
(This doesn't entirely eliminate the possibility of a party playing the system. But it's enough of an improvement that I think it's worth doing.)
(I should note that this also hits the Green party harder than any other - since they don't have any constituency MSPs, all of their incumbents would become ineligible for a second term (unless they did happen to win a constituency). Even then, I'm not convinced that that's too terrible, as the main effect would be to expand their range of people with parliamentary expertise. Which is surely no bad thing?)
Generally speaking, I'm rather impressed with the system used for elections to the Scottish parliament - a number of constituency MSPs elected via First Past the Post, followed by a further number elected via lists to top it up, on a proportional basis.
However, there is one very significant weakness to the system: if a particular individual gets themselves into a position at the top of one of the 'big' party lists (SNP, Tory, Labour), they're pretty much guaranteed a seat, and it becomes effectively impossible to get rid of them. That's really not democratic - the electorate really should have a meaningful ability to elect or reject a candidate.
(There's a case in point here: one of the Tory MSPs has been in the parliament on the list for 17 years. In that time, he has stood for a constituency several times, and been unsuccessful every time. And yet, despite that explicit rejection by the voters, he remains in place.)
I'm inclined to think that this quirk of the system should be closed, if it is practical to do so. And, fortunately, there's an easy fix: institute a one-term limit for MSPs serving on the list.
That is, if an MSP enters the parliament by winning a constituency, they should be free to stand for re-election and continue in their role. If, however, they enter parliament by virtue of their position on the regional list, they then become ineligible for a place on a regional list at the next election. If they want to continue in the parliament, then they must fight a constituency and allow the electorate a say on them specifically.
(This doesn't entirely eliminate the possibility of a party playing the system. But it's enough of an improvement that I think it's worth doing.)
(I should note that this also hits the Green party harder than any other - since they don't have any constituency MSPs, all of their incumbents would become ineligible for a second term (unless they did happen to win a constituency). Even then, I'm not convinced that that's too terrible, as the main effect would be to expand their range of people with parliamentary expertise. Which is surely no bad thing?)
The House of Lords
Looking back at the blog archive, I don't appear to have ever posted about what I think should happen with the House of Lords. So...
I'm inclined to think that the House of Lords has now gone beyond the point where it cannot be meaningfully reformed; it needs to be replaced entirely. I'm also persuaded of the argument that simply having it be elected in the same manner as the House of Commons is a bad idea - partly because that leaves us subject to the same broken duopoly that has subverted our democracy, partly because it's better if only the HoC has the legitimacy of the democratic mandate (so that a conflict can be clearly resolved), and partly because of the purpose of an upper chamber: the scrutinise and revise laws.
The thing is, to get the best scrutiny for laws, your ideal body is not, in fact, one constructed via a popularity contest. Rather, you're better off with a body comprised of subject matter experts.
Therefore, I would propose replacing the Lords with a 300-member Senate. Every 5 years, 100 of those members would be nominated for a single 15-year term (a different third each time, such that once 15 years have passed all the members have been replaced). As noted, once an individual has served a single term, they cannot be nominated again.
The nominations, meanwhile, should be divided among appropriate bodies: the various political parties should each nominate some (based on their proportions in the Commons); the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Ireland governments should each nominate some (with a further group nominated by the PM to represent England, unless and until an English assembly is convened); the universities could nominate some, the NHS, the Armed Forces, the business community... and so on. The idea is to get a wide range of experts from across the nation so that they can provide expert input and proper scrutiny.
(Needless to say, I haven't thrashed out all the bugs. But that's the broad outline of the idea. Not that I think it matters anyway - we've been talking about House of Lords reform for at least a century, and the only changes we've managed to make have been to make it even worse. There's about as much chance of proper reform as there is of federalism. That is, none.)
#18: "Dangerous Women", edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
I'm inclined to think that the House of Lords has now gone beyond the point where it cannot be meaningfully reformed; it needs to be replaced entirely. I'm also persuaded of the argument that simply having it be elected in the same manner as the House of Commons is a bad idea - partly because that leaves us subject to the same broken duopoly that has subverted our democracy, partly because it's better if only the HoC has the legitimacy of the democratic mandate (so that a conflict can be clearly resolved), and partly because of the purpose of an upper chamber: the scrutinise and revise laws.
The thing is, to get the best scrutiny for laws, your ideal body is not, in fact, one constructed via a popularity contest. Rather, you're better off with a body comprised of subject matter experts.
Therefore, I would propose replacing the Lords with a 300-member Senate. Every 5 years, 100 of those members would be nominated for a single 15-year term (a different third each time, such that once 15 years have passed all the members have been replaced). As noted, once an individual has served a single term, they cannot be nominated again.
The nominations, meanwhile, should be divided among appropriate bodies: the various political parties should each nominate some (based on their proportions in the Commons); the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Ireland governments should each nominate some (with a further group nominated by the PM to represent England, unless and until an English assembly is convened); the universities could nominate some, the NHS, the Armed Forces, the business community... and so on. The idea is to get a wide range of experts from across the nation so that they can provide expert input and proper scrutiny.
(Needless to say, I haven't thrashed out all the bugs. But that's the broad outline of the idea. Not that I think it matters anyway - we've been talking about House of Lords reform for at least a century, and the only changes we've managed to make have been to make it even worse. There's about as much chance of proper reform as there is of federalism. That is, none.)
#18: "Dangerous Women", edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Autopilot
A few years ago, I went through a process of making sure my finances were all under control. (Not that they were ever out of control, particularly; it was more a question of taking stock rather than cutting back.) At that time, I set up a number of charitable donations to come out of my account on a monthly basis, in order to set a level of giving with which I was comfortable.
And then I promptly forgot all about it (mostly). The great beauty of setting these things to run automatically, after all, is that then I don't need to worry about them.
However, as a consequence of LC and I finding a new church and transferring our membership is that I've been compelled to look again at those standing orders. Which has left me shocked at just how easy it is to let things run on autopilot...
(The good news is that it's going to be a matter of increasing my charitable donations to reflect the fact that I'm making more now than I was five years ago, rather than that I've built up a lot of expenses that have run amok. Still, it would be better to be keeping track of everything that bit more closely.)
And then I promptly forgot all about it (mostly). The great beauty of setting these things to run automatically, after all, is that then I don't need to worry about them.
However, as a consequence of LC and I finding a new church and transferring our membership is that I've been compelled to look again at those standing orders. Which has left me shocked at just how easy it is to let things run on autopilot...
(The good news is that it's going to be a matter of increasing my charitable donations to reflect the fact that I'm making more now than I was five years ago, rather than that I've built up a lot of expenses that have run amok. Still, it would be better to be keeping track of everything that bit more closely.)
Friday, April 27, 2018
Rangers Management Woes 2018
Rangers this year have done much like Jeremy Corbyn did in the 2017 election - they've done much better than should probably have been expected, but they've come second in a winner-takes-all competition, and they weren't ever really close to winning. I think they'll come second (just), but it's largely irrelevant - if Celtic win the Scottish Cup, as they probably will, then the teams that come second, third, and fourth in the league will all qualify for the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Rangers are an utter mess on and off the pitch, and are once again in the market for a new manager.
At which point I have to say: I am simply stunned that there is serious discussion about the possibility of Steven Gerrard as the next Rangers manager.
Just over a year ago, I wrote about the then-chaos after Mark Warburton left, at which point I said Rangers had two ways forward: if they had significant new investment lined up then they should get a top-quality manager and back him with significant funds to rebuild the team; if they didn't have such funds available then they should look for a cheap(ish) option to serve as a safe pair of hands.
Instead, the board took a massive risk on a largely unknown manager, Pedro Caixinha, and backed him with, frankly, more funding than the club could really afford. They didn't have the significant new investment that they needed, but they brought in many new players nonetheless...
And the result was disaster - Caixinha lasted less than a year, and left Rangers with a yet-more-bloated playing staff, a crippling wage bill, and almost no progress. For the second time, Murty was put in interim charge of the team, and then given the post until the end of the season. I think the board hoped he would be a revelation and they could appoint him long-term, but it was not to be.
Now, here's the thing: Steven Gerrard is not unknown, but he is known as a player, not as a manager. In management terms, he's even less well known than Caixinha was, and indeed has exactly as much experience in management as Murty - he's currently a youth coach looking for his first 'real' management position.
So Gerrard would represent a big risk at a time when Rangers can ill afford one. He also won't be a cheap option - given that he would also be taking a risk taking on Rangers as his first management job, he will demand significant investment in the team (as he should - it needs it), and given the significance of his name he'll also demand significant personal renumeration.
Now, it's worth noting that an inexperienced manager can work out - Souness did it, and Neil Lennon over at Celtic (and now Hibs) has done extremely well. But that's very much the exception, not the rule. And, frankly, neither Souness nor Lennon had a manager of the calibre of Brendan Rodgers to deal with. (That's assuming Rodgers doesn't leave for the Arsenal job, of course... but even if he does, Celtic may well replace him with another big name in a bid to do better in Europe.)
And after a sequence of risky appointments, going back to McCoist, and given their current state, the Rangers board really should know better.
Which brings me back to the same conclusion I reached a year ago. The Rangers board should take one of two courses, entirely dependent on whether they have significant new investment available.
If they do indeed have such investment available, they should look to recruit a big name manager (of at least the same calibre as Rodgers), and back him with something in the order of 20 million pounds for new players. In which case Gerrard just doesn't fit - he doesn't have the experience. (Of course, there is the possibility that the new investors want to pick their manager, and choose him. That's about the only scenario I can see where this appointment makes sense.)
If Rangers does not have significant investment available, they should probably keep Murty in the role - he has the same experience as Gerrard (or slightly more), he knows the club, and he's a cheaper option. They should restrict their recruitment to free transfers and loan players, and continue to do just enough to qualify for the Europa League, and run down the clock on the existing contracts until they can clear the wage bill. And then they can look to advance. (Or, if they're determined to replace the manager, look for someone who has a proven track record of getting the best out of an existing group of players, without worrying about the big name.)
I really can't see a scenario where appointing Gerrard makes sense without the major new investment - he'll need to bring in a lot of new players, who probably won't be good enough (since they'll be recruited without the money needed to do the job), they'll demand good money and secure terms of employment, and the likely result therefore is that this time next year Rangers will be looking for another new manager, with an even bigger playing staff packed with not-good-enough talent, an even more crippling wage bill... and one less year in which to stop ten-in-a-row.
On the other hand... maybe this is all about selling season tickets right now in order to keep the lights on for a few more months. So they need a manager with a big name, but are desperately pushing the consequences into the future because the crisis has become existential...
Meanwhile, Rangers are an utter mess on and off the pitch, and are once again in the market for a new manager.
At which point I have to say: I am simply stunned that there is serious discussion about the possibility of Steven Gerrard as the next Rangers manager.
Just over a year ago, I wrote about the then-chaos after Mark Warburton left, at which point I said Rangers had two ways forward: if they had significant new investment lined up then they should get a top-quality manager and back him with significant funds to rebuild the team; if they didn't have such funds available then they should look for a cheap(ish) option to serve as a safe pair of hands.
Instead, the board took a massive risk on a largely unknown manager, Pedro Caixinha, and backed him with, frankly, more funding than the club could really afford. They didn't have the significant new investment that they needed, but they brought in many new players nonetheless...
And the result was disaster - Caixinha lasted less than a year, and left Rangers with a yet-more-bloated playing staff, a crippling wage bill, and almost no progress. For the second time, Murty was put in interim charge of the team, and then given the post until the end of the season. I think the board hoped he would be a revelation and they could appoint him long-term, but it was not to be.
Now, here's the thing: Steven Gerrard is not unknown, but he is known as a player, not as a manager. In management terms, he's even less well known than Caixinha was, and indeed has exactly as much experience in management as Murty - he's currently a youth coach looking for his first 'real' management position.
So Gerrard would represent a big risk at a time when Rangers can ill afford one. He also won't be a cheap option - given that he would also be taking a risk taking on Rangers as his first management job, he will demand significant investment in the team (as he should - it needs it), and given the significance of his name he'll also demand significant personal renumeration.
Now, it's worth noting that an inexperienced manager can work out - Souness did it, and Neil Lennon over at Celtic (and now Hibs) has done extremely well. But that's very much the exception, not the rule. And, frankly, neither Souness nor Lennon had a manager of the calibre of Brendan Rodgers to deal with. (That's assuming Rodgers doesn't leave for the Arsenal job, of course... but even if he does, Celtic may well replace him with another big name in a bid to do better in Europe.)
And after a sequence of risky appointments, going back to McCoist, and given their current state, the Rangers board really should know better.
Which brings me back to the same conclusion I reached a year ago. The Rangers board should take one of two courses, entirely dependent on whether they have significant new investment available.
If they do indeed have such investment available, they should look to recruit a big name manager (of at least the same calibre as Rodgers), and back him with something in the order of 20 million pounds for new players. In which case Gerrard just doesn't fit - he doesn't have the experience. (Of course, there is the possibility that the new investors want to pick their manager, and choose him. That's about the only scenario I can see where this appointment makes sense.)
If Rangers does not have significant investment available, they should probably keep Murty in the role - he has the same experience as Gerrard (or slightly more), he knows the club, and he's a cheaper option. They should restrict their recruitment to free transfers and loan players, and continue to do just enough to qualify for the Europa League, and run down the clock on the existing contracts until they can clear the wage bill. And then they can look to advance. (Or, if they're determined to replace the manager, look for someone who has a proven track record of getting the best out of an existing group of players, without worrying about the big name.)
I really can't see a scenario where appointing Gerrard makes sense without the major new investment - he'll need to bring in a lot of new players, who probably won't be good enough (since they'll be recruited without the money needed to do the job), they'll demand good money and secure terms of employment, and the likely result therefore is that this time next year Rangers will be looking for another new manager, with an even bigger playing staff packed with not-good-enough talent, an even more crippling wage bill... and one less year in which to stop ten-in-a-row.
On the other hand... maybe this is all about selling season tickets right now in order to keep the lights on for a few more months. So they need a manager with a big name, but are desperately pushing the consequences into the future because the crisis has become existential...
My Favourite Time of Year
On reflection, I think the six weeks in the latter part of April and early part of May are probably my favourite time of year, closely followed by the equivalent weeks as we go into early Autumn.
The reason for this is simple enough: we often get a spell of pretty decent weather, sunny but not overly hot, with all the bright colours of the change of season.
This contrasts with the supposed Summer, which all too often is disappointing (and where it is not, the alternative can be that it is then far too hot - especially onerous when stuck in an office all day). And Winter these days seems to amount to six months of wind, rain, cold, and general misery (occasionally broken up with just the wrong amount of snow).
So, yeah, I think this week has been just about as good as it gets.
The reason for this is simple enough: we often get a spell of pretty decent weather, sunny but not overly hot, with all the bright colours of the change of season.
This contrasts with the supposed Summer, which all too often is disappointing (and where it is not, the alternative can be that it is then far too hot - especially onerous when stuck in an office all day). And Winter these days seems to amount to six months of wind, rain, cold, and general misery (occasionally broken up with just the wrong amount of snow).
So, yeah, I think this week has been just about as good as it gets.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Hey Samsung...
Next time you update your phone software, how about adding a button that allows you to not only hang up a call but instantly add the caller to your block list? As it is, my daily annoyance with the "have you had an accident" calls (or sometimes the "have you checked your PPI?" calls) is then compounded by needing to go through a six-tap process to block the number (not counting unlocking my phone) - getting that down to just one would be a very satisfying addition.
Also: isn't it amazing how when technology improves to make everything hugely and immediately better (such as upgrading to a smart-phone), the level of perceived annoyance experienced as a result of the remaining irritations jumps as a consequence?
Also: isn't it amazing how when technology improves to make everything hugely and immediately better (such as upgrading to a smart-phone), the level of perceived annoyance experienced as a result of the remaining irritations jumps as a consequence?
So What Am I Supposed to Drink?
To my horror, I discovered about a week ago that Robinson's "Fruit and Barley" has now reformulated to remove the added sugar and replace it with artificial sweeteners. With the net effect that that's another thing I now can't drink. (Rather naively, I had assumed that diluting fruit juices were sweetened with, you know, fruit, and so wouldn't include masses of additional sugar. I guess not.)
Anyway, this caused me to go have a look at the various brands that are available... and the results are not good. Pretty much all of the big brands and all of the 'own' brands loudly trumpet that they have "no added sugar", which translates as "added sweeteners", which translates as "you can't drink this". There are a very few more obscure brands, mostly the very expensive niche brands, that are still not using sweeteners but there's no indication as to how long this will last.
I also learned yesterday that San Pellegrino had also reformulated to reduce sugar and added artificial sweeteners. So that's another thing I can't drink.
I'm rapidly coming to a point where there is very little I actually can drink, and those options are significantly flawed: either they include huge amounts of caffeine (Coke and Pepsi), or they're hugely expensive (Fentimans), or they're very much niche products and so not widely available. Or, of course, there are alcoholic drinks, but they don't work when I often have to drive.
So I'm left with a question: just what am I supposed to drink? Is the answer seriously going to be water and nothing else?
Anyway, this caused me to go have a look at the various brands that are available... and the results are not good. Pretty much all of the big brands and all of the 'own' brands loudly trumpet that they have "no added sugar", which translates as "added sweeteners", which translates as "you can't drink this". There are a very few more obscure brands, mostly the very expensive niche brands, that are still not using sweeteners but there's no indication as to how long this will last.
I also learned yesterday that San Pellegrino had also reformulated to reduce sugar and added artificial sweeteners. So that's another thing I can't drink.
I'm rapidly coming to a point where there is very little I actually can drink, and those options are significantly flawed: either they include huge amounts of caffeine (Coke and Pepsi), or they're hugely expensive (Fentimans), or they're very much niche products and so not widely available. Or, of course, there are alcoholic drinks, but they don't work when I often have to drive.
So I'm left with a question: just what am I supposed to drink? Is the answer seriously going to be water and nothing else?
Monday, April 16, 2018
Days Like These Are Far Too Rare
Yesterday was the baptism of Funsize, which took place at our new church in Livingston. This is another of our Great Days, joining the Wedding of Kilt/Man and Lady Chocolat and the Epic of the Cakes.
We had been planning the baptism for some time, indeed pretty much since Funsize was born. This shouldn't come as a shock, since our faith is rather important to us, and baptism is one of the key sacraments through which that faith is marked. So we spoke to the minister, and made it so.
It was a gloriously sunny day, at least for the morning and early afternoon. This paired well with the baptismal gown that FS was given to wear - the same gown that LC wore back when it was her turn. The gown was gleaming white, and in the sunlight it was radiant.
The church service itself was a fairly simple affair, as is appropriate to the occasion. We had selected the first two hymns, before and after the event - "Great is Thy Faithfulness", which featured at our wedding, and "Shine Jesus Shine", which ties into the name. (We were also lucky enough that the reading, which we did not select, fit neatly into the same theme. And the cake likewise bore an appopriate inscription.)
For the baptism itself, LC and I stood at the front together with FS's god-fathers, who are two of her uncles (my brother G and LC's brother A). One other nice touch was that the minister had invited the children forward for the all-age talk (as they had been displaced from their normal scenes), and he had them stay at the front so they could easily see. All in all, it was a really lovely occasion.
Afterwards, there was a buffet lunch and the aforementioned cake. This was really another highlight of the day, as it was a great opportunity for our families to mingle, for the many nephews and nieces to play together, and to catch up with friends - including some we hadn't seen since FS arrived, and some I hadn't seen since my 40th birthday. It was all a really positive event, with good feeling all around.
There are many thanks that should be given: to the church for allowing us the use of their hall after the service, to the caterers and the cake-maker for providing the food, and most of all to LC for arranging both. And to so many friends and family for their well-wishes and for the pleasure of their company.
Hopes For Our Daughter
One of the things we were given by the church was a storybook Bible, and for this we were asked to contribute some words of hopes for our daughter. I had somewhat expected these to be read out as part of the service (or, indeed, to be asked to read them out myself), but it was not to be. That being the case, and since we gave quite some thought to them, I thought I'd add them here:
First and foremost, may you always know that you are loved and that you are treasured.
As you go through life, may you make friends easily. May you know that words may be a balm and also a weapon, and therefore may you have the wisdom always to know the right words to use. May you always have the courage to be whoever it is that you decide to become.
May you be a light for others, even when all other lights go out. And may God go between you and harm, in all of the dark places where you must walk.
#16: "Coruscant and the Core Worlds", by Craig R. Carey, Chris Doyle, Jason Fry, Paul Sudlow, John Terra, and Daniel Wallace
#17: "Espedair Street", by Iain Banks
We had been planning the baptism for some time, indeed pretty much since Funsize was born. This shouldn't come as a shock, since our faith is rather important to us, and baptism is one of the key sacraments through which that faith is marked. So we spoke to the minister, and made it so.
It was a gloriously sunny day, at least for the morning and early afternoon. This paired well with the baptismal gown that FS was given to wear - the same gown that LC wore back when it was her turn. The gown was gleaming white, and in the sunlight it was radiant.
The church service itself was a fairly simple affair, as is appropriate to the occasion. We had selected the first two hymns, before and after the event - "Great is Thy Faithfulness", which featured at our wedding, and "Shine Jesus Shine", which ties into the name. (We were also lucky enough that the reading, which we did not select, fit neatly into the same theme. And the cake likewise bore an appopriate inscription.)
For the baptism itself, LC and I stood at the front together with FS's god-fathers, who are two of her uncles (my brother G and LC's brother A). One other nice touch was that the minister had invited the children forward for the all-age talk (as they had been displaced from their normal scenes), and he had them stay at the front so they could easily see. All in all, it was a really lovely occasion.
Afterwards, there was a buffet lunch and the aforementioned cake. This was really another highlight of the day, as it was a great opportunity for our families to mingle, for the many nephews and nieces to play together, and to catch up with friends - including some we hadn't seen since FS arrived, and some I hadn't seen since my 40th birthday. It was all a really positive event, with good feeling all around.
There are many thanks that should be given: to the church for allowing us the use of their hall after the service, to the caterers and the cake-maker for providing the food, and most of all to LC for arranging both. And to so many friends and family for their well-wishes and for the pleasure of their company.
Hopes For Our Daughter
One of the things we were given by the church was a storybook Bible, and for this we were asked to contribute some words of hopes for our daughter. I had somewhat expected these to be read out as part of the service (or, indeed, to be asked to read them out myself), but it was not to be. That being the case, and since we gave quite some thought to them, I thought I'd add them here:
First and foremost, may you always know that you are loved and that you are treasured.
As you go through life, may you make friends easily. May you know that words may be a balm and also a weapon, and therefore may you have the wisdom always to know the right words to use. May you always have the courage to be whoever it is that you decide to become.
May you be a light for others, even when all other lights go out. And may God go between you and harm, in all of the dark places where you must walk.
#16: "Coruscant and the Core Worlds", by Craig R. Carey, Chris Doyle, Jason Fry, Paul Sudlow, John Terra, and Daniel Wallace
#17: "Espedair Street", by Iain Banks
Friday, April 13, 2018
Ready Player One
G and I went to see the film of "Ready Player One" on Monday - LC and I had hoped to go together, but the timing with Funsize didn't really work out. As I mentioned on the blog, I had read the book last month, so I was curious to see how they'd translated it to film. I was also somewhat doubtful - with the book fresh in my mind, and given that the book is always * better, how would the film stack up?
* Not always - the actual rule is that the first version is always better. But since, these days, I'm much more likely to see a film that has been adapted from a book, rather than reading the book of the film, that effectively means the book is better. Anyway...
I didn't like RP1.
From here on out there are major spoilers for both the book and the film. So, if you want to avoid them, skip the rest of this post - there's nothing at the end to come back to!
The truth is that the book of RP1 is basically a piece of lightweight fluff, with an extremely basic plot. The only real reason it is so well regarded is that 80's nostalgia is big right now, and the book wallows unashamedly in it. And that's fair enough - there's a place for lightweight fluff, and there's a good reason that particular plot is retold again and again. And there were a couple of really quite clever moments... in addition to some quite lame ones.
In theory, the film version should be much the same. Indeed, they took the wise step of replacing most of the geek references from the book with other geek references in the film. Which means that it's fundamentally the same, but should also be different enough to stand on its own.
Unfortunately, it really felt to me like all the things they'd changed were for the worse, and all the things they kept were weaknesses in the book. Mostly, then, it made me nostalgic for other, better films - and knowing that I have many of those films on DVD, and many of the others are shown fairly regularly on TV, I'm left wondering why bother with RP1 - just watch those other films instead!
The problems start pretty much right away. One of the big changes between the book and the film, at least in gamer circles, was the replacement of the "Tomb of Horrors" with an unwinnable race. On the face of it, that's wise, since the book both gets the Tomb wrong and then has the protagonist play against Acererack at "Joust" which is, frankly, lame. So switching to something more cinematic and being able to introduce all the characters very quickly should be a good thing.
Except...
One of the few genuinely clever parts of the book is the placement of the Tomb on the school-planet of Ludus. Which is a Latin pun, but also shows one of Halliday's key values - you don't need money to win at his quest.
Switching to the unwinnable race removes that. Suddenly, you do need money, for vehicles, fuel, etc, in order to meaningfully compete.
Unfortunately, it also makes everyone in the setting an idiot. The notion, in the book, that nobody found the Tomb in five years of searching is a stretch, but it's just about feasible - it's hidden in plain sight, but somewhere nobody would really think to look.
But faced with an unwinnable race, coded by someone who is known to have a great delight in Easter Eggs, and in five whole years of searching, we're expected to believe that nobody thought to look for secret doors?
Hell, there's a real good chance that somebody's grandma would find that one entirely by accident!
But, okay, I guess.
Then we come to the next problems in the film: the supporting cast. Specifically, Art3mis and Aech. In the book, these are very much peers of our hero. Indeed, both are actually much more established Gunters than Parzival - if anything, Aech is the mentor figure, while Art3mis is actually better at it all than Parzival, but has missed one lucky guess.
In the film, Art3mis is introduced almost immediately as needing Parzival to rescue her. Then, when they decamp to Aech's workshop, he proceeds to inflict on her a test for "fake geek girls" (where the supposed geek girl must prove her credentials by recognising each and every reference the gatekeeper can muster - and yes, it's exactly as offensive as that sounds). Why they thought that was a good idea to include, I'm not sure.
Aech, meanwhile, is recast mostly as comic relief, and notably in the middle section of the film. On the face of it, this section is really good, transporting the characters into "The Shining". It's really well done, except for one thing - we're supposed to accept that Aech has never seen the film (because he "doesn't like scary movies"). When pretty much the sole qualification to be a Gunter is to immerse yourself in the culture loved by Halliday, and when that's one of his top films, that rather negates Aech's claim to competence.
Most of the rest of that middle section is absolutely fine - sure, they bring together the "High Five" in the real world rather more quickly than in the book, but that's fairly harmless. And, frankly, they should have killed off Daito (as in the book), as again that was one of the few things that gave it any weight. Oh well.
One other big change to the film is the means by which Parzival comes by his Extra Life. In the book, he stumbles on another Easter Egg, 'wastes' quite a lot of time on what seems a red herring, and so comes by a priceless artifact. In the film, he is basically given the Extra Life on a whim by another character... just because. But, I guess, in a 2 hour 20 minute film they can't include everything.
But then we come to the end, where it all proceeds to fall apart.
In another change from the book, Art3mis is captured by the enemy and sent to one of their "Loyaly Centres" (because, of course, the female character is the one who should be captured and need a rescue). The bad guys then proceed to show their massive incompetence - they put her to work inside the impregnable shield. For the main reason that if they didn't, the plot would come to a screaming halt.
So, of course, the heroes get Art3mis out of her prison, but she stays within the Matrix in order to bring down the shield. The bad guys, realising that she must still be inside, proceed to run around desperately trying to locate her. You'd think they'd have mechanisms to determine which of their rigs is currently using her unique login ID, or at the very least a mechanism to lock her out of the system, or something. (Also, see below...)
While Art3mis is busy bringing down the shield, Parzival and the others whistle up an army. In the book, this takes some time - they make the announcement, set a date, and wait to see who shows up. In the film, Parzival makes his speech and the army shows up seconds later. This highlights something really quite important - it takes very little time to get around in that setting.
So, they have the big fight. It's standard stuff these days - a mess of CGI fighting it out, with very little ability to actually see what's going on. It's all very pretty, but mostly just a waste of time. Especially since we've seen it all before.
Anyway, the good guys win, leading to the bad guys using their Ultimate Weapon - a bomb that kills all avatars in Sector 14. Except Parzival, of course, since he has the Extra Life. This therefore gives him a free run to the final challenge, and since he knows how to solve it, he can do so in a few minutes.
Except...
For those few minutes, he has to stand right there out in the open. And as we've just discussed, it takes little to no time to travel to his location. So it's a matter of a few seconds of one of the bad guys' reserve forces to go there and shoot his avatar dead. And the bad guys win.
(The book addresses this point - when you engage with the final challenge, you get shunted into a pocket dimension where you can't be interfered with. So Parzival gets a few minutes' head start, but can't be stopped by a simple bullet. The film omits this, to its cost.)
Anyway, our bad guys don't bother with any of that. Instead, they rush around in the real world trying to stop our heroes. Which is nicely cinematic but hugely inefficient. Especially as they've been shown to have drones that are quite capable of delivering an explosive package. So it would be nice and easy for them to find the van, drop off some explosives. And the bad guys win.
Anyway, they don't do that. Instead, they get themselves defeated, their agent gets himself arrested, and our heroes win the game. Yay!
Except, again...
When Art3mis was imprisoned in the "Loyalty Centre", she wasn't being detailed illegally. Instead, she had been assessed as owing the company some thousands of dollars that she needed to work off. And while working it off, she would be charged for any failure to do her job, any damage to company equipment, and pretty much anything else they felt like charging her for. And, indeed, they company had been shown to be utter bastards about that - indeed, that was exactly what they had done to her father.
Now, Art3mis wasn't an observer in the final battle; she was very much an active participant. And, indeed, she triggered the battle by disabling a priceless one-use artifact.
So, being utter bastards, and given that they had just lost the contest directly as a result of the actions of someone who (a) has just been given a fifth of the prize and (b) who represents significant leverage on the other four winners, the bad guys would surely not simply take that lying down. Sure, a couple of their agents had just been arrested, but corporations have rogue employees all the time, of course, so they can be easily disavowed.
Our bad guys, therefore, should just levy absurd charges to Art3mis' account, potentially charging her for everything that was lost in the final battle, including the priceless one-use artifact. At the very least, that gives them a 20% control in the system; most likely, it leads to the other winners buying her out. And the bad guys win.
The upshot of all this, I'm afraid, was that I was unimpressed.
Ultimately, the film is very pretty, but it's also pretty dull - a very basic plot, very thin characters, and a requirement that the bad guys make really bad mistakes at key times just left me cold. It reminded me too much of better films, and didn't have enough in itself for me to recommend it. Which is a shame, though maybe something I should have expected.
* Not always - the actual rule is that the first version is always better. But since, these days, I'm much more likely to see a film that has been adapted from a book, rather than reading the book of the film, that effectively means the book is better. Anyway...
I didn't like RP1.
From here on out there are major spoilers for both the book and the film. So, if you want to avoid them, skip the rest of this post - there's nothing at the end to come back to!
The truth is that the book of RP1 is basically a piece of lightweight fluff, with an extremely basic plot. The only real reason it is so well regarded is that 80's nostalgia is big right now, and the book wallows unashamedly in it. And that's fair enough - there's a place for lightweight fluff, and there's a good reason that particular plot is retold again and again. And there were a couple of really quite clever moments... in addition to some quite lame ones.
In theory, the film version should be much the same. Indeed, they took the wise step of replacing most of the geek references from the book with other geek references in the film. Which means that it's fundamentally the same, but should also be different enough to stand on its own.
Unfortunately, it really felt to me like all the things they'd changed were for the worse, and all the things they kept were weaknesses in the book. Mostly, then, it made me nostalgic for other, better films - and knowing that I have many of those films on DVD, and many of the others are shown fairly regularly on TV, I'm left wondering why bother with RP1 - just watch those other films instead!
The problems start pretty much right away. One of the big changes between the book and the film, at least in gamer circles, was the replacement of the "Tomb of Horrors" with an unwinnable race. On the face of it, that's wise, since the book both gets the Tomb wrong and then has the protagonist play against Acererack at "Joust" which is, frankly, lame. So switching to something more cinematic and being able to introduce all the characters very quickly should be a good thing.
Except...
One of the few genuinely clever parts of the book is the placement of the Tomb on the school-planet of Ludus. Which is a Latin pun, but also shows one of Halliday's key values - you don't need money to win at his quest.
Switching to the unwinnable race removes that. Suddenly, you do need money, for vehicles, fuel, etc, in order to meaningfully compete.
Unfortunately, it also makes everyone in the setting an idiot. The notion, in the book, that nobody found the Tomb in five years of searching is a stretch, but it's just about feasible - it's hidden in plain sight, but somewhere nobody would really think to look.
But faced with an unwinnable race, coded by someone who is known to have a great delight in Easter Eggs, and in five whole years of searching, we're expected to believe that nobody thought to look for secret doors?
Hell, there's a real good chance that somebody's grandma would find that one entirely by accident!
But, okay, I guess.
Then we come to the next problems in the film: the supporting cast. Specifically, Art3mis and Aech. In the book, these are very much peers of our hero. Indeed, both are actually much more established Gunters than Parzival - if anything, Aech is the mentor figure, while Art3mis is actually better at it all than Parzival, but has missed one lucky guess.
In the film, Art3mis is introduced almost immediately as needing Parzival to rescue her. Then, when they decamp to Aech's workshop, he proceeds to inflict on her a test for "fake geek girls" (where the supposed geek girl must prove her credentials by recognising each and every reference the gatekeeper can muster - and yes, it's exactly as offensive as that sounds). Why they thought that was a good idea to include, I'm not sure.
Aech, meanwhile, is recast mostly as comic relief, and notably in the middle section of the film. On the face of it, this section is really good, transporting the characters into "The Shining". It's really well done, except for one thing - we're supposed to accept that Aech has never seen the film (because he "doesn't like scary movies"). When pretty much the sole qualification to be a Gunter is to immerse yourself in the culture loved by Halliday, and when that's one of his top films, that rather negates Aech's claim to competence.
Most of the rest of that middle section is absolutely fine - sure, they bring together the "High Five" in the real world rather more quickly than in the book, but that's fairly harmless. And, frankly, they should have killed off Daito (as in the book), as again that was one of the few things that gave it any weight. Oh well.
One other big change to the film is the means by which Parzival comes by his Extra Life. In the book, he stumbles on another Easter Egg, 'wastes' quite a lot of time on what seems a red herring, and so comes by a priceless artifact. In the film, he is basically given the Extra Life on a whim by another character... just because. But, I guess, in a 2 hour 20 minute film they can't include everything.
But then we come to the end, where it all proceeds to fall apart.
In another change from the book, Art3mis is captured by the enemy and sent to one of their "Loyaly Centres" (because, of course, the female character is the one who should be captured and need a rescue). The bad guys then proceed to show their massive incompetence - they put her to work inside the impregnable shield. For the main reason that if they didn't, the plot would come to a screaming halt.
So, of course, the heroes get Art3mis out of her prison, but she stays within the Matrix in order to bring down the shield. The bad guys, realising that she must still be inside, proceed to run around desperately trying to locate her. You'd think they'd have mechanisms to determine which of their rigs is currently using her unique login ID, or at the very least a mechanism to lock her out of the system, or something. (Also, see below...)
While Art3mis is busy bringing down the shield, Parzival and the others whistle up an army. In the book, this takes some time - they make the announcement, set a date, and wait to see who shows up. In the film, Parzival makes his speech and the army shows up seconds later. This highlights something really quite important - it takes very little time to get around in that setting.
So, they have the big fight. It's standard stuff these days - a mess of CGI fighting it out, with very little ability to actually see what's going on. It's all very pretty, but mostly just a waste of time. Especially since we've seen it all before.
Anyway, the good guys win, leading to the bad guys using their Ultimate Weapon - a bomb that kills all avatars in Sector 14. Except Parzival, of course, since he has the Extra Life. This therefore gives him a free run to the final challenge, and since he knows how to solve it, he can do so in a few minutes.
Except...
For those few minutes, he has to stand right there out in the open. And as we've just discussed, it takes little to no time to travel to his location. So it's a matter of a few seconds of one of the bad guys' reserve forces to go there and shoot his avatar dead. And the bad guys win.
(The book addresses this point - when you engage with the final challenge, you get shunted into a pocket dimension where you can't be interfered with. So Parzival gets a few minutes' head start, but can't be stopped by a simple bullet. The film omits this, to its cost.)
Anyway, our bad guys don't bother with any of that. Instead, they rush around in the real world trying to stop our heroes. Which is nicely cinematic but hugely inefficient. Especially as they've been shown to have drones that are quite capable of delivering an explosive package. So it would be nice and easy for them to find the van, drop off some explosives. And the bad guys win.
Anyway, they don't do that. Instead, they get themselves defeated, their agent gets himself arrested, and our heroes win the game. Yay!
Except, again...
When Art3mis was imprisoned in the "Loyalty Centre", she wasn't being detailed illegally. Instead, she had been assessed as owing the company some thousands of dollars that she needed to work off. And while working it off, she would be charged for any failure to do her job, any damage to company equipment, and pretty much anything else they felt like charging her for. And, indeed, they company had been shown to be utter bastards about that - indeed, that was exactly what they had done to her father.
Now, Art3mis wasn't an observer in the final battle; she was very much an active participant. And, indeed, she triggered the battle by disabling a priceless one-use artifact.
So, being utter bastards, and given that they had just lost the contest directly as a result of the actions of someone who (a) has just been given a fifth of the prize and (b) who represents significant leverage on the other four winners, the bad guys would surely not simply take that lying down. Sure, a couple of their agents had just been arrested, but corporations have rogue employees all the time, of course, so they can be easily disavowed.
Our bad guys, therefore, should just levy absurd charges to Art3mis' account, potentially charging her for everything that was lost in the final battle, including the priceless one-use artifact. At the very least, that gives them a 20% control in the system; most likely, it leads to the other winners buying her out. And the bad guys win.
The upshot of all this, I'm afraid, was that I was unimpressed.
Ultimately, the film is very pretty, but it's also pretty dull - a very basic plot, very thin characters, and a requirement that the bad guys make really bad mistakes at key times just left me cold. It reminded me too much of better films, and didn't have enough in itself for me to recommend it. Which is a shame, though maybe something I should have expected.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Day 100: Update on... Stuff
It's day 100, so time for another update...
Books: By day 100, I 'should' be at 16.44 books read. I'm currently at 15 and a bit, so I'm some way behind. I had actually caught up last month, but "A Fine Balance" took me ages to get through.
In terms of the actual goal I set, I'm just about on target, in that I've read 3 of the remaining books, leaving a further 8 (or 7 - "Hamlet"). But given that "A Fine Balance" was one of them, and they're getting harder...
Band: Things have been going well, but there's not much to report since last time. We do have a heavy schedule of gala days and similar events for the summer, but I won't be doing them all. In fact, unless they sort out what they're doing with getting me a uniform, I might not be doing any of them!
Gaming: Nothing to report since last time.
Weight: I got back to the gym just before going back on holiday, which was a good thing. Between that and carrying Funsize around, I've actually lost about half a stone, which is good.
Blogging: This has fallen way behind, with me not having posted anything on either blog this month. We'll see if that rate picks up any over the next while.
And leaving the most important until last...
Project Tadpole: As noted, this came to its end in February. Funsize is due to be baptised on Sunday. Beyond that, though, I won't be reporting on events in these regular updates, though I daresay I may mention her once or twice elsewhere in the blog!
Until next time...
#14: "A Fine Balance", by Rohinton Mistry (a book from The List)
#15: "Pathfinder: Crownfall", by Thurston Hillman
Books: By day 100, I 'should' be at 16.44 books read. I'm currently at 15 and a bit, so I'm some way behind. I had actually caught up last month, but "A Fine Balance" took me ages to get through.
In terms of the actual goal I set, I'm just about on target, in that I've read 3 of the remaining books, leaving a further 8 (or 7 - "Hamlet"). But given that "A Fine Balance" was one of them, and they're getting harder...
Band: Things have been going well, but there's not much to report since last time. We do have a heavy schedule of gala days and similar events for the summer, but I won't be doing them all. In fact, unless they sort out what they're doing with getting me a uniform, I might not be doing any of them!
Gaming: Nothing to report since last time.
Weight: I got back to the gym just before going back on holiday, which was a good thing. Between that and carrying Funsize around, I've actually lost about half a stone, which is good.
Blogging: This has fallen way behind, with me not having posted anything on either blog this month. We'll see if that rate picks up any over the next while.
And leaving the most important until last...
Project Tadpole: As noted, this came to its end in February. Funsize is due to be baptised on Sunday. Beyond that, though, I won't be reporting on events in these regular updates, though I daresay I may mention her once or twice elsewhere in the blog!
Until next time...
#14: "A Fine Balance", by Rohinton Mistry (a book from The List)
#15: "Pathfinder: Crownfall", by Thurston Hillman
Friday, March 30, 2018
Why the Return of Optimus Prime is a Bad Thing
This blog is never one to shy away from controversial topics, nor from addressing the burning issues of the day, and so we come to a blog post that may surprise some.
A few weeks ago, as part of my project to retire my Region One DVDs, I purchased a set of the Transformers DVDs for series 2-4. I'm now nearly at the end of my watch-though, with only two episodes in series 3 (plus the 3 episodes of series 4) to watch. Those last two episodes are the long-awaited "Return of Optimus Prime", where the producers responded to the massive backlash from the film by bringing back the most beloved of all Saturday morning heroes. (Indeed, so massive was the controversy that when the film was released in the UK they felt the need to add an epilogue in which that very return was promised! And they call this the Snowflake generation!)
But there's a big problem with the return of Optimus Prime - it's a really bad thing.
"Transformers: the Movie" is little more than yet another retelling of the Hero's Journey - Hot Rod starts as the brash young hope, gradually learns maturity and leadership, and eventually fulfils his destiny to release the power of the Matrix. (Incidentally, it's also something of a retelling of the end of the Exodus - Optimus Prime is Moses, the leader who is allowed to see, but not to enter, the Promised Land, Ultra Magnus is Joshua the warrior, and Hot Rod is David the promised king. Oh, and Unicron is Goliath. But I digress.) And the Hero's Journey is essentially the story of the transition to adulthood - the boy becomes the man.
One of the big themes of the third series of Transformers is Rodimus Prime's (Hot Rod's) struggle to live up to the legacy of Optimus Prime. He's constantly doubting himself, and needs reassured that he's doing a good job. Indeed, in two episodes ("Dark Awakening" and "The Burden Hardest to Bear") gives up leadership for one reason or another. But in both cases he eventually learns his lesson, resumes the mantle, and grows as a result.
Now, Rodimus Prime frankly isn't a patch on Optimus, partly because nobody could be, and partly because the character is really quite lame - right from the name ('Rodimus' comes from mashing up 'Hot Rod' and 'Optimus'); the fact that the toy is less good than Optimus, Ultra Magnus, or even Hot Rod; and that self-doubt makes for difficult storytelling. And yet, that character arc is actually one of the strongest parts of the otherwise very poor series 3 - having to overcome doubt and learn that you don't have to live up to an illustrious predecessor is a surprisingly mature theme for a children's TV show.
The problem with the return of Optimus Prime is that it necessarily reverses all that, and negates everything that has gone before. Rodimus is forces to give up the Matrix, and leadership. He reverts to the brash young hope that is Hot Rod. He ceases to be the adult he has become, and instead returns to being a child. Which, as life lessons go, just sucks.
The death of Optimus Prime is one of those things that I'm sure the makers of the series really wish they hadn't done, but it's also one of the biggest strengths of the movie, and one of the reasons that it still holds up where so much else from that time just falls by the wayside. And replacing Optimus with Rodimus was always going to be a really hard sell. But, from a storytelling perspective, it is really better to live with it and move on, rather than just negate the whole thing and pretend it never happened.
A few weeks ago, as part of my project to retire my Region One DVDs, I purchased a set of the Transformers DVDs for series 2-4. I'm now nearly at the end of my watch-though, with only two episodes in series 3 (plus the 3 episodes of series 4) to watch. Those last two episodes are the long-awaited "Return of Optimus Prime", where the producers responded to the massive backlash from the film by bringing back the most beloved of all Saturday morning heroes. (Indeed, so massive was the controversy that when the film was released in the UK they felt the need to add an epilogue in which that very return was promised! And they call this the Snowflake generation!)
But there's a big problem with the return of Optimus Prime - it's a really bad thing.
"Transformers: the Movie" is little more than yet another retelling of the Hero's Journey - Hot Rod starts as the brash young hope, gradually learns maturity and leadership, and eventually fulfils his destiny to release the power of the Matrix. (Incidentally, it's also something of a retelling of the end of the Exodus - Optimus Prime is Moses, the leader who is allowed to see, but not to enter, the Promised Land, Ultra Magnus is Joshua the warrior, and Hot Rod is David the promised king. Oh, and Unicron is Goliath. But I digress.) And the Hero's Journey is essentially the story of the transition to adulthood - the boy becomes the man.
One of the big themes of the third series of Transformers is Rodimus Prime's (Hot Rod's) struggle to live up to the legacy of Optimus Prime. He's constantly doubting himself, and needs reassured that he's doing a good job. Indeed, in two episodes ("Dark Awakening" and "The Burden Hardest to Bear") gives up leadership for one reason or another. But in both cases he eventually learns his lesson, resumes the mantle, and grows as a result.
Now, Rodimus Prime frankly isn't a patch on Optimus, partly because nobody could be, and partly because the character is really quite lame - right from the name ('Rodimus' comes from mashing up 'Hot Rod' and 'Optimus'); the fact that the toy is less good than Optimus, Ultra Magnus, or even Hot Rod; and that self-doubt makes for difficult storytelling. And yet, that character arc is actually one of the strongest parts of the otherwise very poor series 3 - having to overcome doubt and learn that you don't have to live up to an illustrious predecessor is a surprisingly mature theme for a children's TV show.
The problem with the return of Optimus Prime is that it necessarily reverses all that, and negates everything that has gone before. Rodimus is forces to give up the Matrix, and leadership. He reverts to the brash young hope that is Hot Rod. He ceases to be the adult he has become, and instead returns to being a child. Which, as life lessons go, just sucks.
The death of Optimus Prime is one of those things that I'm sure the makers of the series really wish they hadn't done, but it's also one of the biggest strengths of the movie, and one of the reasons that it still holds up where so much else from that time just falls by the wayside. And replacing Optimus with Rodimus was always going to be a really hard sell. But, from a storytelling perspective, it is really better to live with it and move on, rather than just negate the whole thing and pretend it never happened.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
None of the Above
In light of the recent events in Catalonia, and especially the EU's silence on the matter (especially of elected politicians being jailed pre-trial by the Spanish authorities), I find I can no longer support the EU or our continued membership in it.
Unfortunately, I'm also in a position where I can't support the decision to leave, won as it was through outright lies (see: the bus), and fuelled by a mix of nostalgia for a golden age that never was (and an Empire that the world is better off without) and an unpleasant amount of xenophobia. (I should note: voting Leave doesn't make a person a racist, but unfortunately it does put you on the same side.)
Which means I now find myself in a position where, given a binary choice, my answer is "none of the above".
(Realistically, I would still vote to Remain, but it is despite the EU rather than because of it. Having seen the damage that leaving has caused already, and knowing that what's coming is going to be much worse, it's a no-brainer. But it's not a matter of self-interest, rather than of principle. Which is a lousy position to be in.)
Unfortunately, I'm also in a position where I can't support the decision to leave, won as it was through outright lies (see: the bus), and fuelled by a mix of nostalgia for a golden age that never was (and an Empire that the world is better off without) and an unpleasant amount of xenophobia. (I should note: voting Leave doesn't make a person a racist, but unfortunately it does put you on the same side.)
Which means I now find myself in a position where, given a binary choice, my answer is "none of the above".
(Realistically, I would still vote to Remain, but it is despite the EU rather than because of it. Having seen the damage that leaving has caused already, and knowing that what's coming is going to be much worse, it's a no-brainer. But it's not a matter of self-interest, rather than of principle. Which is a lousy position to be in.)
Fake News
The BBC Scotland website currently has an article, "Irn Bru sales go up after new recipe introduced", indicating that Barrs have just had their best-ever year of sales.
Specifically, the sales numbers referred to are those up to the 27th of January this year (see the twelfth paragraph). The problem with that being that the recipe change occurred in late January of this year - indeed, I purchased at least some original Irn Bru even in February of this year.
So, in fact, this is a story about Irn Bru sales going up before the new recipe was introduced.
Ultimately, this is a story that doesn't really matter - Barrs will no doubt be looking at the up-to-date sales figures and will make a decision based on the reality and not the friendly spin the media has chosen to give them.
But it raises (again) a question: if they're willing to lie to you about this, what else are they willing to lie to you about? (Well... I suppose it's possible that this is just gross incompetence on the person who wrote the headline. I'm not sure that's really any better.)
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Another Cause for Celebration
Today I received confirmation that I'm getting a promotion at work. Which is good - it's something that has been on the cards for quite some time, and that I've been working very hard to secure.
Later, there may be cake. Or ice cream. Or both.
Later, there may be cake. Or ice cream. Or both.
Monday, March 19, 2018
A Poor Substitute
It looks like my plan to switch from Irn Bru to Coke (or Pepsi) is a non-starter. Over the past several weeks we've been drinking fairly copious amounts of the stuff, largely because we've needed the sugar hit to counteract the extreme lack of sleep.
Unfortunately, the main effect of this has been to leave me twitchy and strung out, with a side order of not being able to sleep at night (though, of course, I could readily sleep during the day, when I ideally want to be awake...).
(I should also note: at one point, my go-to replacement would have been 7-up, that being another of the four drinks that didn't use artificial sweeteners. Alas, during the Christmas break I noticed that it, too, had changed over. Disturbingly, that change was made without any notice, which is rather concerning when you consider that a small number of people react to these things much more strongly than I do. Anyway, the net effect is that my choices are now Coke, Pepsi, or nothing.)
So it's no good. Once my stockpile of Irn Bru runs out, and unless Barrs come to their senses and bring back the original formula (which I'm losing hope of), I guess I really will have to just learn to go completely without.
(And, worryingly, I notice that some diluting juices (Ribena) are now also making use of artificial sweeteners. At this rate, I'll be down to water and nothing else.)
Friday, March 16, 2018
Two Thoughts About Russia
When considering the situation with Russia, I'm struck by two thoughts that I just can't get past:
Firstly, the case against Russia seems to be almost exactly as strong as the case against Saddam Hussein was prior to the Iraq War in 2003. Unfortunately, I'm also well aware of how that turned out.
Secondly, I find myself trying to think of anything our current government has done well and in the interest of the people of the UK. And I'm coming up with nothing - this is the most shockingly incompetent government in my lifetime, up against some very stiff competition. And, in particular, their handling of foreign affairs has oscillated between tragedy and farce.
Given those two, I can't help but be extremely worried by our current course of action. While I agree that Russia is the most likely culprit for recent events, and while I agree that if this is proven we'll need to take action, I'm deeply concerned that we seem to be rushing to judgement in order to appear strong. I very much hope we're not rapidly heading for another tragedy.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Back To Work
I've now finished up my Paternity Leave (and vacation) and so returned to work this morning. It's been pretty heard going so far! The morning was more or less okay, since I'm traditionally a morning person but, as anticipated, once we got into the afternoon I started the flag. And it didn't help that the various catch-up jobs I had to do, which were time-consuming but low-thought, have now almost run out. At some point, I'm going to have to actually think, which isn't so good...
Sleepy...
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Pink
Funsize and I had a fairly important discussion the other night. Well, mostly I talked, and she rolled her eyes. Anyway, the reason for our conversation was that I was busy changing her into a bright pink sleep-suit, and it concerned the colour pink.
Ever since FS arrives and proved to be a girl, we have been given huge numbers of clothes for her to wear, for which we are very grateful. And I've been fairly stunned - I hadn't realised there was so much pink stuff in all the world - sleepsuits, dresses, tights, leggings, socks... This has caused some slight unease for me, and perhaps rather greater unease for LC - we're conscious of the dangers of pigeon-holing FS as a girly-girl, as "Daddy's Little Princess", or whatever else. On the other hand, we've received so many clothes that there's basically no need to buy FS anything else for some months, and it would of course be churlish and rude simply to dismiss those gifts.
And so, the need for the conversation. During which I pointed out to FS firstly that pink is a perfectly acceptable colour, and should not be considered in any way inferior. Equally, however, I pointed out that FS would be entirely free to determine her path - if she wants to play with dinosaurs and monsters, and pirates and robots then that's fine... as indeed if she wishes to play with princesses and dolls. And if she chooses to mix-and-match, then that will be just fine too. Really, it's up to her.
And as for her clothes... I expect there will be plenty of pink in her future. Hopefully, there will also be a whole rainbow of other colours as well.
#11: "Pathfinder: Beyond the Veiled Past", by Thurston Hillman
#12: "Ready Player One", by Ernest Cline
#13: "The Black Elfstone", by Terry Brooks
Saturday, March 03, 2018
Life Lessons for my Daughter
One of the great joys of parenthood (rather more pleasant than changing all those nappies - about a million so far), is the opportunity to pass on all of my great wisdom. Or, failing that, some stuff that sounds good that I've probably nicked from a book somewhere.
Funsize is now ten days old, and in that time we have passed on three great nuggets of wisdom...
- If you're frustrated, you won't get it. This one was from LC, and was in response to a feeding mishap - FS was struggling to find food and was getting annoyed and thrashing about. This, of course, was counter-productive, hence the life lesson.
- You've got to plan ahead. This one came this morning. I was in the shower and FS woke up demanding to be changed right now. That was fine, since LC was on hand to do the necessary. However, FS then decided it would be highly amusing to poo everywhere - her sleep suit, the changing mat, the carpet, LC... everywhere. Anyway, this was all fine, except that LC then proceeded to take her own shower immediately thereafter in order to clean the mess, leaving me with FS. And then FS realised that she was also hungry, with no choice but to wait. If, instead, she had planned ahead, she could have waited for me to get out the shower, and then I could have been the recipient of the amusing poo, leaving LC free to feed her. A classic blunder.
- Never start a land war in Asia. This is a bit of a niche lesson, but important to learn - it's the most famous of the classic blunders, after all.
As you can see, it has been an education, for both of us. (We've also been educating FS in all the cultural cornerstones - thus far being "The Hobbit" and "Transformers"...)
#10: "Only Dead on the Inside", by James Breakwell (an early candidate for book of the year)
Thursday, March 01, 2018
A Little Blog House-keeping
I've decided that the time has come to retire the old "happy?" tag for blog posts, and have instead replaced it with the more definitive "happy" tag.
That is all.
Snow Day! Oh... wait...
As a consequence of the bad weather, my work closed the office yesterday afternoon and sent everyone home. Which is as it should be: nothing that we do is truly essential, so far better to get everyone to safety and take pressure off the roads and other support services. (And while we're encouraged to take work home with us as possible, if circumstances don't allow for it then so be it.)
Of course, this all falls into the period while I'm on paternity leave anyway, so it makes little difference to me. Though I did have to walk two miles to Asda today to avert a toilet paper shortage. Which wasn't too bad, but considerably more tiring than that would normally be.
#9: "Feersum Endjinn", by Iain M. Banks
Sunday, February 25, 2018
LC Labours Long (and succeeds!)
Firstly, and most importantly, I have a daughter! Project Tadpole came to a successful end on Wednesday morning, and so she shall no longer be referred to as Tadpole - she has a real name, and also a blog name that I shall introduce later.
It was all a bit of a nervy time. LC had been due on the 9th of this month, but that came and went without incident. And when she went to see the midwife last week, it didn't go well - an attempted sweep was just too uncomfortable to complete.
So I had my last day of work on Monday, and then we were booked in for an induction on Tuesday morning. The first phase of which is the installation of some sort of hormonal pill, after which we went home.
Tuesday was a fairly uncomfortable day - LC was complaining about back pain all day, which seemed to get worse as the day went on. Which was pretty horrible. About 11 we went to bed, though it was unlikely we'd get more sleep. And that plan was to go to the hospital again the next morning for the second phase of induction, and a long wait in the hospital.
In the event, it was unnecessary - LC's waters broke just before midnight, we called the Labour ward, and off we went!
Five minutes later, we were at the hospital. We did make a mistake in going to the wrong ward initially, but were soon at the Labour ward, gained admission, and waiting for a room to be ready for us.
The theme of the next several hours was of waiting. LC did a lot of work - I tried to do what I could, but the reality is that that was very little. The midwife was great, but really it was LC who was magnificent. She didn't even use much pain relief - she took a paracetamol and some codeine early on, and then some gas and air for an hour from 1.30 (but then stopped because she was feeling nauseous), but that was all.
Things actually proceeded really fast, and just after 4 it was time to push. Alas, that was the end of the 'easy' bit. An hour later, and it was time for a doctor to be consulted.
The upshot was that our baby needed a bit of help to reach the world. There was also some concern that she might be facing the wrong way, which wasn't good - but the doctor couldn't be sure, as the examination was just too painful to perform. So the recommendation was for LC to have an anaesthetic, and then the examination would be possible. From there, a forceps delivery might hopefully be possible... if not, a C-Section might be needed.
Well... this was the point where I got really worried, because while I'm aware that these things are fairly routine these days and the risks are pretty minor, the fact is that the risks are non-zero. And even if the odds are 10,000-to-1, someone still has to be that one. And when you're talking about the two most important people in my life, that's a hell of a thing.
But, of course, saying any of that really isn't helpful. The key thing was that LC had done as much as she could possibly have done, and it was time to let them help her out. And then pray.
In the event, it all went as easily as could be hoped - as soon as the anaesthetic was applied, LC found she was no longer in pain (as you'd expect, really), which was a huge relief, it turned out that baby was the right way around, and so although forceps were needed a C-Section was not. And both came through okay.
Project Tadpole came to a successful end at 6.20am on Wednesday 21st Feb 2018. She weighed in at 9 pounds 15 ounces (and a bit).
As she was born, I had the great pleasure of informing LC of the sex of our child. That was quite a thing, because although we genuinely didn't know until that moment, we'd more or less convinced ourselves that we were having a girl. Not that it matters, of course - her first clothes (from us) were still an R2-D2 onesie, and she's still been watching Transformers with her Daddy. She's my little girl, but she's still my little geek. Until she rebels and grows up secretly normal.
The rest of the story is pretty straightforward - LC and baby were kept in for the rest of the day for observation, and then we came home on Thursday. We've since been having very little sleep, we've been enjoying a multitude of visitors, and have been very much imposing on Gran's willingness to do the ironing. And the nappies have been horrific.
Now, I said she now has a real name, which I'm not going to reveal here. However, she also now has a blog name, which is rather important. As you know (maybe), LC is short for Lady Chocolat. I therefore toyed with calling her Little Chocolat, since she is very much her mother's daughter, albeit much smaller in stature (for now). However, that would need to be abbreviated to lc, and that would just be confusing. Therefore, I shall name her after another form of little chocolate: Funsize (FS for short). Until someone in the comments points out that that's a really bad idea...
And now... sleepy. So very, very tired.
Oh yes, one more thing: we need to say a huge thank you to the staff at the hospital. You were fantastic from start to finish.
#8: "The Sorcerer's Daughter", by Terry Brooks
Monday, February 19, 2018
If Now Is Not The Time, This Is...
As a matter of principle, I take the view that the question of gun control in the US is a matter for citizens of the US. It's not really my business.
But...
Every time there is a mass shooting in the US (about three times a week), the response is on the one hand to send thoughts and prayers, and on the other hand to declare that this isn't the time to discuss gun control. And then the media cycle moves on, and somehow "the time" never quite seems to come around. And then it happens again, and all the same things get said... and the big discussion never quite happens.
Some of the survivors of the Florida shooting have now called for an end to this cycle. They've accepted that now isn't the time... but they've also set a date. Good for them.
Here's the video:
Survivors of the school shooting in Florida are calling for a march on Washington to demand action on gun control. "People are saying that it’s not time to talk about gun control, and we can respect that. Here’s a time: March 24, in every single city." https://t.co/ObmdZo67La pic.twitter.com/qaJfAZy99k
— ABC News (@ABC) 18 February 2018
Day 50: Update on... Stuff
Normally at this point in the year I would put together an update on my goals for the year. However, having only one goal fixed makes that somewhat pointless, so instead here's a more general update on various things:
Books: Normally, by day 50 I would be targetting just over 8.2 books read. As of last night, I have read 7 books exactly in 2018. It would be more, but "Against a Dark Background" really slowed me down. (Funnily enough, it was an Iain Banks novel that also nearly derailed me last year.)
Anyway, that's no big deal, since I didn't set that goal for this year. Instead, my target was to get through the remaining books on the British side of The List. And on that front I have read 2 of the entries, leaving a further 9 (or 8, given that "Hamlet" is a duplicate). So, in theory at least, I'm right on target. That said, the two I've read are probably the shortest two of the options, so it gets harder from here...
Band: It has been a bit weird going through the winter without practicing heavily for a competition season. That said, joining the new band has motivated me enough to keep practicing, which is good. And it has been going well, though it has been a little disconcerting that I've now twice found myself left in charge of the practices. Which wasn't quite what I'd intended...
Gaming: Just as I was taking part in my final Pathfinder game, a new game kicked off at work, which has been interesting. The format is quite limiting, with us only having one hour to play per week, but it's better than nothing.
Weight: As noted elsewhere, I have been attending the gym twice a week since starting back at work, which has been tough. I have also lost about half a stone, which normally would be great... except that that mostly puts me back where I was at the start of last year. And since getting back to that point it has stalled. Grr.
Blogging: I've been finding it rather difficult to find good topics for the blog, and as a consequence I haven't maintained the post rate I would prefer - the Imaginarium is not far from my target, but one has fallen quite short. Must do better!
And leaving the most important until last...
Project Tadpole: Still waiting. Otherwise, you would have heard about it by now!
And that's basically that. See you in seven weeks!
#7: "Lolita", by Vladimir Nabokov (a book from The List. Also, ick.)
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Black Panther
LC and I went out to see the latest Marvel film last night. And it's good.
The recent Marvel films have tended to go one of two ways - either they take a very offbeat tack (Guardians 2, Thor 3), or they tell a fairly straightforward story in an unusual way (Dr Strange). "Black Panther" falls into the latter category - at its heart is a story of family drama, set in a fictional African kindgom where natural resources have given them super-tech.
And Wakanda is pretty cool, but where the film really shines is in the cast - Chadwick Boseman had a key part to play in the success of "Civil War" (providing the emotional heart of that film while Cap and Tony are busy tearing each other apart), and he's great here too. I would say he carries this film, but that would be unfair on the others.
Opposite Boseman, we have Michael B. Jordan playing another grieving son. He was great in "Creed" (itself far better than it has any right to be), and he's good here, filling the character with a great deal of menace and danger, and yet still not being entirely one-dimensional.
(Edit: When I wrote this post I hadn't yet realised that Ryan Coogler was the director of both "Creed" and "Black Panther", which explains a great deal. That's a name I'll have to look out for in future.)
And then there are the women: the bodyguard, the spy, and the scientist (Dania Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, and Letitia Wright, respectively). Very varied roles, very varied characters, and all great. Plus Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker in small but significant roles.
(Even Martin Freeman did well. I really didn't like his character in CW, but they did a good job of turning him around here. He's not a good guy, as such, and he's not a bad guy either. He's somewhere in the middle, which is cool.)
Looking past the cast, there's the set design which is new and unique (at least in the MCU), and the sound, which again isn't quite like anything else in Marvel films to date. Good stuff.
I do have two slight quibbles. The first is that, again, we have the big CGI battle to end the film - the trappings are different, but it's still just pretty cartoons going against one another. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how you get around this - they did a pretty good job of setting up the competing agendas that led to the big fight (again, as in CW), but once you get there it's still a lot of sound and fury.
The other was that at times I found the fight scenes hard to follow - the camera seemed to do a twisty-zoomy motion that gave things a somewhat dreamlike feel, but also made it hard to keep track. It wasn't as bad as "Transformers", probably because nothing is, but it was still far from ideal... especially when there were a lot of characters wearing very similar uniforms running around.
But those are quibbles - the strengths of this film are very strong. Chalk up another winner for Marvel.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Waiting
There's not much going on in our world right now - we're mostly just waiting for Tadpole to make an appearance. We may or may not get a chance to see "Black Panther" before this happens. (I'd kind of hope not, but it's not up to me.)
It's funny how much harder it is to wait for things when you don't know how long you'll be waiting. After the fiasco with the sale of the flat, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. Oh well.
In the meantime, the latest books:
#5: "Pathfinder: Tower of the Drowned Dead", by Ron Lundeen
#6: "Against a Dark Background", by Iain M. Banks
Tuesday, February 06, 2018
Hmm, that's odd
I find myself lined up to pipe at a wedding in June of this year in the USA. As a consequence of this, I thought it would be quite nice to play something suitable American for the event, and while the "Star Spangled Banner" doesn't work terribly well on the pipes (due to the range of notes available), "America the Beautiful" should indeed work.
Or so I thought.
The thing is, while I've found sheet music for the tune easily enough, and although that music seems to match up with the way I'd expect the tune to be played, all the videos I've found of people playing the tune are at odds with this - there's a High-A being played where the sheet music shows a High-G. And as a consequence it all sounds really weird, and obviously wrong.
I suppose it's possible that Sinatra just sang it wrong, and that the tune should indeed have that High-A. But that really doesn't feel right, given how obviously wrong that High-A sounds in that context.
I dunno. It's just odd.
Anyway, the upshot is that I'm going to learn it the way that the music says, and if anyone questions it I'll just blame Frank.
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Experimental Cookery 2018: Chicken Noodle Stir-fry
This one also comes from Jamie's "5 Ingredients" book, which I strongly suspect will be the more-used of the two cookbooks I got for Christmas, but which hasn't had quite the impact I thought it might. I had to replace the brocolli in the recipe with green pepper (as I can't eat brocolli), and I also added some spring onion as a garnish because I figured why not...
The meal was, as anticipated, very quick and easy to put together. I think it took about 20 minutes from end to end, which is pretty good for a week-night (the book claims 16, but I don't entirely trust the cooking time for the chicken, and I did include time for washing and chopping the veg before I applied heat to anything).
The result was mostly fine, but way too salty. I suspect that's a matter of having too much black bean sauce in the mix. However, I'm not particularly inspired to have this again too soon - it was fine, but I have a number of other chicken/noodle dishes in my repertoire already, and this doesn't do anything to displace them.
Still, a worthy effort for the second of the year.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Washing Machine Down
Our washing machine died yesterday. It looks pretty serious - my guess is that it's the main board that has given up the ghost, which is theoretically fixable but probably not worth it. However, this isn't a disaster, as we already have a new washing machine, which we bought for the flat a couple of years ago. So, really, all that's needed is to take out the old washing machine, put the new one in its place, plug it in...
Unfortunately, that's where the next problem comes in, because the washing machine and tumble drier in our utility room aren't plugged in to the wall at all - some bright spark decided the thing to do was to wire them in directly. (I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I can't find the offending post...) So what is needed is a multi-step process - first, pull the appliances away from the wall; switch off the power in the house; unwire the existing appliances; wire in a new socket; switch the power back on; lift the old washing machine into the garage and bring the new one into the house; plug the new one in. (And much the same for the tumble drier.)
And, alas, the washing machine, at least, is too heavy for one person to lift by themselves.
So it's all a bit of a nuisance, especially since we're in a position where we can't easily make plans, and where I don't get home until after it gets dark. And, of course, it's now a job that can't really wait - we can just about make do without a washing machine for a short period, but it's really not for the best.
Monday, January 29, 2018
A Tiny Victory
On Sundays at the moment, Channel 4 have a show "The Biggest Little Railway in the World" which, really is one of those shows that exists because they have holes in the schedule so they find some colourful characters, set them an absurd challenge, package it all up with some historical context, and call it good. Anyway, it's a relaxing way to waste some much-needed time, so that's fine.
Anyway... (Oh, and spoilers, I guess...)
LC and I have been watching the show since about mid-way through the first episode, and it's been interesting. I'm particularly enjoying the engineering challenges. It's all a bit odd, but it's good fun.
However, last night's episode was filled with the tragic moment when the team lead decided that the Age of Steam would have to come to an end - they were taking too long servicing the steam locomotive, so that they weren't going to meet their target. So he replaced the steam locomotive with a battery-powered one that, while obviously more efficient, just wasn't as good. New is not always better.
Anyway, that was the way of things for about a quarter of the show - they'd shifted from steam to electric, it had all gone modern, and that was that.
But then, triumphantly, they brought back the steam engine! This seemed mostly to be due to stubbornness - the team lead had to go check in on another team, so the lead engineer (who was then in charge) brought back the steam locomotive because, let's face it, it's just better. (Seriously, that seemed to be the argument - we like steam, so let's have it. Huzzah!)
But what's most interesting, and the reason that I'm bothering with this post, is that Tadpole seems to particularly enjoy this show (it's probably the music). And at the exact moment when the steam locomotive was restored, Tadpole chose to dance the Dance of Celebration!
Thus proving two things: Tadpole is a person of taste and discretion, because steam is indeed better, and Tadpole is clearly going to be an engineer when she grows up. Huzzah again!
Unless she decides to do something else instead, of course.
(Also, the pronouns aren't a clue, because I don't know. I may need to edit this post in a couple of weeks to change them.)
The Day of Sorrows is Upon Me
For the past several weeks, the Tesco list has had "Irn Bru?" on it, as a consequence of the impending change to the ingredients. Until this week, a check of the bottles has revealed that we were still on old stock, and so I've gradually built up a supply (as each week I have bought enough for two weeks).
Yesterday, reading the bottle revealed the horrible truth that we were now on the new stuff. So that had to go back on the shelf while I completed my shop in dismay. (In the end, the story had a happy ending - it turned out that while the bottles were new, they still had cans that were in the old recipe. Score one more for the good guys!)
Which means that we've come to the crunch time. Things can go one of three ways: either the sales figures will hold up (or even improve), and the new recipe will be here to stay; or they'll drop by a reasonable amount, but not enough to force a rethink, and the new recipe will be here to stay; or sales will plummet and they'll fairly quickly have to reverse the decision (as happened with New Coke). I hate hoping for something to fail, but...
On the larger topic, I do understand why this measure has come about. The impending Sugar Tax left Barrs in a tricky spot. They had three choices: they could swallow the tax themselves, and devastate their profits; or they could pass on the tax to customers, and see a large hit in sales; or they could do what they have done.
What they couldn't do, unfortunately, is just reduce the sugar content without adding other sweeteners. The Sugar Tax is a binary thing - you pay nothing up to a threshold, and then you pay the full amount no matter how far above it you are. Irn Bru was at about double the threshold. So a reasonably reduction in sugar wouldn't be enough to avoid the tax, while cutting it by half would drastically alter the flavour (probably making it undrinkable). So, to avoid the tax, it had to be artificial sweeteners.
(They could, of course, have launched either "Irn Bru 50/50" as a new option, or introduced "Irn Bru Premium" that maintained the sugar but at a higher price. But there are problems with both options - basically, you're competing against yourself, which never ends well.)
So, that's where we are. I believe I have enough in stock to take me through to my birthday (especially since I'm still giving it up for Lent, starting on the 13th of February). By which time we'll know the outcome one way or another - either the new stuff will be here to stay, or the old recipe will be back. Or, just possibly, that "Irn Bru Premium" I mentioned may have arrived... though I'd be surprised.
#4: "The Darkling Child", by Terry Brooks
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Gym and Bear It
Ever since work moved to our current office about 5 years ago, I have been a member of the university gym. It's actually a very well-stocked gym (except for the lack of a swimming pool), and at a very reasonable price - and, indeed, it's even more reasonable since I'm technically classed as university staff (for book-keeping reasons) and so get a lower rate, and work subsidise the membership.
That said, any price is still too much if you don't actually use it, and despite the occasional visit over the years, and despite a brief flurry a few years ago, I haven't really had my money's worth. Indeed, about two years ago they built a whole new facility, and in all that time I'd only actually been back once - and that was for lunch!
Late last year, a couple of months after moving house, I received some spam-mail from the gym. This was sent to my home address, was duly redirected in the post, and so reminded me that I needed to update the gym with my new home address. Then, on the morning when I was about to head over there to do that, I received an email from them, noting that I hadn't been in a while and inviting me to come along for an induction session.
That conveniently all tied up as a big reminded that maybe I should think about going.
And so, the big development of 2018 so far (albeit one that is soon to be eclipsed) is that I've actually been going to the gym regularly.
It's worth noting that this isn't a New Year's Resolution, largely because I don't do those, but also because this all started up in the last working week of December. Indeed, I even went over to the gym on Tuesday the 27th, though that proved to be a mistake (since it was crazy busy).
I'm still not convinced that it's doing me more good than it's causing me pain, but never mind. The big challenge, though, will be to resume going after the arrival of Tadpole - that last flurry of visits I mentioned stopped as soon as I had my first holiday of that year, so taking a break is known to be dangerous...
#3: "On the Road", by Jack Kerouac (a book from The List)
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Experimental Cookery 2018: Lemony Courgette Linguine
For Christmas I received two cookbooks, and the first Experimental Cookery of the year came from one of these, Jamie's "5 Ingredients" book. This was one I'd seen on his programme and wanted to try, so...
Well, as expected the meal was quick and easy to put together, with the most involved step being to slice up the courgettes. Not exactly tough. So, it was all done and on the plate inside 25 minutes - I could have done it faster if I'd chopped those at the same time I cooked the pasta.
Taste wise... it was okay, but I'm afraid no more than that. Certainly, I'm not inspired to do this one again. A shame, but not a disaster.
And that's that. I don't have a next Experimental Cookery planned, but one will no doubt come up...
#2: "Pathfinder: City in the Deep", by Amber E. Scott
Monday, January 08, 2018
Theresa's Reshuffle
One for the media: if you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't endlessly harp on about the Tories being inept on social media, and instead bring us the news of what's actually happening. Indeed, a nice table showing all the jobs as they get filled in would be just right.
The thing is, while it's amusing that the Tories are having a bad time of it on Twitter, that's really not important in the grand scheme. It is, after all, really easy to hit "Send" before you realise you've got the wrong name in place, or to drop in a spelling mistake. Yes, it's funny. But it's no more than that.
More important, though, and what I'd like to know, is who is going to be ruining the country for the next year or so.
And that's not a typo.
#1: "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún", by J.R.R. Tolkien
Monday, January 01, 2018
Books of the Year 2017
As part of the end-of-year round-up, here's the list of the books of 2017:
- "Pathfinder: The Whisper Out of Time", by Richard Pett
- "Reaper's Eye", by Richard A. Knaak
- "Far From the Madding Crowd", by Thomas Hardy *
- "Jarka Ruus", by Terry Brooks
- "The Player of Games", by Iain M. Banks
- "Ravenspur", by Conn Iggulden
- "Pathfinder: What Grows Within", by John Compton
- "Jude the Obscure", by Thomas Hardy *
- "Tanequil", by Terry Brooks
- "Use of Weapons", by Iain M. Banks
- "Pathfinder: Black Stars Beckon", by Jim Groves
- "Through the Gate in the Sea", by Howard Andrew Jones
- "The Remains of the Day", by Kazuo Ishiguro *
- "State of the Art", by Iain M. Banks
- "Straken", by Terry Brooks
- "The Immortal Throne", by Stella Gemmell
- "The Color Purple", by Alice Walker *
- "Armageddon's Children", by Terry Brooks
- "Pathfinder: Trail of the Hunted", by Amber E. Scott
- "Excession", by Iain M. Banks
- "Pathfinder: Fangs of War", by Rob Lundeen
- "The Woman in White", by Wilkie Collins *
- "Gears of Faith", by Gabrielle Harbowy
- "The Elves of Cintra", by Terry Brooks
- "Inversions", by Iain M. Banks
- "Pathfinder: Assault on Longshadow", by Benjamin Bruck and Thurston Hillman
- "The Flame Bearer", by Bernard Cornwell
- "The Gypsy Morph", by Terry Brooks
- "Look to Windward", by Iain M. Banks
- "She's Come Undone", by Wally Lamb *
- "Pathfinder: Siege of Stone", by Thurston Hillman
- "The Long Cosmos", by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- "Madame Bovary", by Gustave Flaubert *
- "Bearers of the Black Staff", by Terry Brooks
- "Pathfinder: Prisoners of the Blight", by Amanda Hamon Kunz
- "The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner", by Terry Pratchett
- "Matter", by Iain M. Banks
- "The Power", by Naomi Alderman
- "The Secret Garden", by Frances Hodgson Burnett *
- "Measure of the Magic", by Terry Brooks
- "Pathfinder: Vault of the Onyx Citadel", by Larry Wilhelm
- "Go Set a Watchman", by Harper Lee
- "Surface Detail", by Iain M. Banks
- "Anne of Green Gables", by L. M. Montgomery *
- "Pathfinder: The Lost Outpost", by Jim Groves
- "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", by George R.R. Martin
- "The View From the Cheap Seats", by Neil Gaiman
- "Wards of Faerie", by Terry Brooks
- "Germinal", by Émile Zola *
- "Pathfinder: Into the Shattered Continent", by Robert Brookes
- "Bloodfire Quest", by Terry Brooks
- "Beren and Luthien", by J.R.R. Tolkien
- "Witch Wraith", by Terry Brooks
- "Pathfinder: The Flooded Cathedral", by Mikko Kallio
- "SS-GB", by Len Deighton
- "Xanathar's Guide to Everything", by Wizards of the Coast
- "The High Druid's Blade", by Terry Brooks
- "Swallows and Amazons", by Arthur Ransome *
- "Moby Dick", by Herman Melville *
- "The Hydrogen Sonata", by Iain M. Banks
So, that's 60 books exactly, including twelve from The List. Of these, there are thirteen RPG books, and only one re-read ("Use of Weapons"). The Pathfinder Tales sublist had to be curtailed, as these suddenly stopped being published (with still no news of them restarting), but the other sublists were completed, and sufficient additional new books were added to make up the total. So I'm happy with that.
The book of the year was, surprisingly, the very last one I read: "The Hydrogen Sonata" by Iain M. Banks, which was the best of a strong series, and a very fine way to send off that series. I should note that, until book 60, the previous best had been "Inversions" by the same author. Also of note is "Germinal" by Zola, which was strong stuff but very depressing.
The most disappointing book of the year was itself a disappointing category, as three books were in very strong contention for the position, meaning that the quality of the year as a whole took a hit. "The Power" was abject nonsense, but it was at least well-written and mostly entertaining nonsense, so it's spared the title. "Go Set a Watchman" was likewise a huge disappointment, and indeed a book I wish I had never been published as it achieves the almost impossible and makes "To Kill a Mockingbird" retroactively less good. But I was aware of the risk going in, so I have to blame myself, at least in part, for that one.
The book that gets the title, sadly, is "Beren and Luthien", which I didn't enjoy and which also disappointed my high hopes for it. I'd expected, and hoped for, something on the lines of the excellent "Children of Hurin", and although I was uncertain how this could be done (since as far as I was aware, Tolkien never finished a long-form version of this story), I'd hoped that something had come to light to allow it. Alas, this was not the case - "Beren and Luthien" reads much more like an academic tract, bringing together and discussion lots of different versions of the story, without actually presenting the whole thing as a cohesive narrative. It's a book about a story, not really the story itself. (Which is a shame, since that and the story of the Fall of Gondolin, would be extremely interesting additions to the canon of Middle Earth, if it were possible for them to be brought together.)
2018 is another year of transition, and like 2012 I'm therefore not setting goals of the same sort. In fact, the one goal that I am setting is a reading goal, but it's not a total number of books but rather more specific: I intend to read ten specific titles over the course of the year. I've discussed the specifics of this on my post about goals, so won't reiterate them here.
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