Catching Up
Some people may have accused me on occasions of back-dating my posts (Hi Hillary).
I can assure anyone who thinks that the most recent few posts below have only just appeared, that you have, in fact, forgotten that you did indeed read these posts quite some time ago.
Er, yeah, okay, so actually I *am* a "blogliar". I've been a bit busy lately, and I've got a bit of catching up to do. Please bear with me while new, old (or possibly old, new) posts magically appear.
Granville Island
It's funny how there's always seems to be more time to take photos of the places you visit for a few days than the places you live for a lot longer.
I couldn't possibly have kept count of the number of times I crossed the Granville Bridge when on the bus when I lived in Vancouver (it must have been a hundred or so times though). Today I crossed on foot and got a few good shots of Granville Island (with the south side of False Creek in the background). I'll be down there again on Wednesday for some
improv and the
fireworks.
(click for the full image)
Back in Vancouver
Arrived in Vancouver on Thursday (that was a couple of days ago if you really believe the timestamp on this post) and was swiftly whisked off by Sarah to her new place in Langley. Thanks Shaun and Sarah for being so accommodating again, I really appreciate it, and it's good to have the chance to see another unfamiliar bit of BC.
Thursday night we went to see Ocean's Thirteen, Friday we hung out with Val and Dennis. At least I think that's what happened. I'm getting so forgetful (you'd be forgiven for thinking I was writing this stuff a year later - ahem!).
Saturday (erm I mean today), Sarah and I went for breakfast with Hillary at the Rugby Beach Club Grille (Eggs Benedict, yummy!). While Sarah went to study, Hillary and I hit the Yaletown Street Party (where we enjoyed chili tasting), took in some juggling and hat manipulation in Robson Square (if anyone from Vancouver Juggling Club finds this and recognises the hat juggler, I'd be happy to give credit), and Hillary introduced me to bubble tea (which was not unpleasantly unusual).
Labels: Juggling, Vancouver
Of Work, Pubs and Getting Lost in Central London at 1am
Okay, so I haven't blogged in about, well forever. I've been and am very busy. Let's just say that however "fine" a city is, an extra visit to Norwich every week becomes a little unwelcome after a while, especially if said weekly visit was not expected when one planned one's workload for the past and next few months. A holiday would be most welcome (fortunately I now have one planned-ish and I'll be in Vancouver at the end of July - Yay!).
But after another trip to the eastern abyss on Friday, I did manage to race back for a few drinks with the after work crowd for the first time in a while (I've just not felt awake enough for it lately) and had quite a nice chilled night. Perhaps a little too chilled, because when we finally left the pub, it was a little past Tube closing time, so I had to contend with the night buses and the increasing desire to fall asleep wherever I was.
Hunting night buses is best viewed as a sport though, and it can take you a little off the beaten track. I'm glad I had my camera with me for a view of the Eye I've not seen before.
Labels: no sleep, work
Oink!
Happy Year of the Pig!
It's Chinese New Year, and Oxford Circus has been decorated with
red lanterns again. I was asked to lead the teenagers group at church this morning, so I made the link between New Year and the
Transfiguration (today's theme). Both are about reflecting on the past, looking to the future, making changes and preparing for the journey ahead. The verses of the reading were hidden in
fortune cookies, and we thought a bit about mountain-top experiences and finding our own
thin places.
Theme Tunes
Regular listeners of
Phill Jupitas' breakfast show will know that he's been talking about theme tunes for the masses a bit recently.
It's a neat idea. TV characters have their own theme tunes, and now the major characters in films often have their own piece of signature music that plays away whenever they're in focus, often subtlety intermingling with the music of the other characters to reflect the action on screen. How much more interesting would it be if in real life we all walked around with our own musical accompaniment, improvising around a theme, in harmony (or otherwise) with the people we meet.
I'm picking Röyksopp's "Alpha Male" (from the album "the Understanding") (although the track title doesn't really fit me very well). For the uninitiated, you can find a sample
here, but sadly you'll miss out on the epic build-up, recurring themes and most of the subtle twists. I've been delving much further than this into the depths of obscure Scandinavian music recently, so I guess it's a fitting choice too.
So what's your theme tune?
My Myers-Briggs Personality Type
Thanks to
Sarah Cool for putting an old post in your sidebar and reminding me to blog about this.
I'm probably an INTP (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving). Apparently that makes me a 'Thinker' or an 'Architect' depending on whose description you read, although I'm a fairly borderline on the scale between 'P' (Perceiving) and 'J' (Judging).
Some snippets from the fuller description
hereAs an INTP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things rationally and logically. Your secondary mode is external, where you take things in primarily via your intuition.
INTPs live in the world of theoretical possibilities. They see everything in terms of how it could be improved, or what it could be turned into.
INTPs do not like to lead or control people. They're very tolerant and flexible in most situations, unless one of their firmly held beliefs has been violated or challenged, in which case they may take a very rigid stance. The INTP is likely to be very shy when it comes to meeting new people. On the other hand, the INTP is very self-confident and gregarious around people they know well, or when discussing theories which they fully understand.
The INTP is usually very independent, unconventional, and original. They are not likely to place much value on traditional goals such as popularity and security. They usually have complex characters, and may tend to be restless and temperamental. They are strongly ingenious, and have unconventional thought patterns which allows them to analyze ideas in new ways. Consequently, a lot of scientific breakthroughs in the world have been made by the INTP.
The INTP is at his best when he can work on his theories independently. When given an environment which supports his creative genius and possible eccentricity, the INTP can accomplish truly remarkable things. These are the pioneers of new thoughts in our society.
Dominant: Introverted Thinking
Auxiliary: Extraverted Intuition
Tertiary: Introverted Sensing
Inferior: Extraverted Feeling
London Open House 2006
My laziest
Open House weekend for a good few years. I spent the morning shamelessly doing nothing, then decided to cut my losses an go somewhere fairly local in the afternoon.
So I headed off to Peckham to see
Will Alsop's Library. It's a bit of an odd building that's not sure whether it should be clad in copper or brightly coulored glass, nor whether it is tall and thin or short and fat. Raising the bulk of the building 5 stories up creates a useful public space underneith (and gets around the problems of burried cables running through the site), but it also makes for an odd and unwelcoming entrance (I couldn't help wondering why no space was made for a librarian's desk and main entrance on the ground floor). The main floors include three of Alsop's trademark pods that make for an unusual, but still very functional space, and it's a shame that the fourth pod has been omitted from the ground floor to create more space.
While in Peckham, I dropped in on the
Peckham House (as seen on
Grand Designs). It's a very interesting and innovative house - it had to be to fit within the constrained site. Sorry, no photos though, as Monty was overwhelmed with visitors, and we were ushered through very quickly as a result, but take a look at
his website.
An A to Z of Switzerland
A is for
airport - Where we started our journey. Actually that's not true, our journey started at silly o'clock in the morning when we attempted to fit a weeks worth of luggage into the boot of Phil's tiny Japanese sports car. Having got to the airport and packed things back into the bags they came out of, things went a bit more smoothly. We found a handy parking space next to the control tower and popped into the terminal for a quick coffee before take off.
B is for
balloon - The one thing our destination, Château-d'Oex, is famous for is the hot air balloon festival that takes place every January, it's in all the guide books, apparently its pretty good, oh, and it's good for ski-ing too - except it's now September, hmmm!
C is for
castles - There is no shortage of castles in Switzerland. Here is a selection of our favourites:
Château de Chillon, Château de Gruyères and Château d'Aigle
D is for
daisy - There is also no shortage of cows in Switzerland. I have no idea whether any of them are actually called Daisy though, so I guess I'm cheating a bit (and I only made it to 'C', the shame). To distract you from that, I could tell you that cowbells are not only for waking the tourists up each morning. Cow herds are quite hierarchical, and the important cows have the biggest bells. To impress some cows (momentarily) ring a very large bell and watch them come running.
E is for
English - "Many people speak English well enough to help you find your way around", proclaims the guidebook. Unfortunately the waitress in the cafe where we had lunch on our first day doesn't and, despite three years of lessons at school, we don't speak enough french to find our own way around (although we can hold reasonable conversations about birthdays, family members, and talk at some length about a range of fictional pets). Fortunately though the universal language of pointing is sufficient for purchasing an unidentified sandwich and a warm beverage.
F is for
fondue - Bread dipped into a big pot of molten cheese, you probably know the score. Sadly Ruth and Emma went home early and missed our chocolate and fruit extravaganza.
G is for
Gstaad - Celebrities are frequently spotted here...
...except by us, perhaps we were preocupied by the best breakfast in town - tip: have breakfast at Charleys.
H is for
hire car - Hire cars are expensive at Geneva Airpot. Especially so on Sundays
I is for
internet - Internet access is free at Geneva Airport. Even on Sundays (can you see where I'm heading with this?). The internet is a good place to book a hire car at a discount, for immediate collection, ahem!
J is for
jokers - Despite there being no shortage of wonderful scenery, one of us decided to spend a morning making a two pack house of cards (yeah, okay it was me). I did complete the top row, but then it fell down a few seconds later. Phil has video evidence, honest.
K is for
kilometres - The European measurement of road distance. We must have liked kilometers because we covered a lot of them (mainly on the way to and from Vevey).
L is for
Lousanne - We spent an afternoon in Lousanne and visited the Cathedral, which looms over the town.
Deciding to stop for a coffee, we smiled and waved at a cafe owner as we sat down at what turned out to be one of the neighbouring cafe's tables - oops, sorry!. On the way back to the car I spotted the stunning Palais de Rumine, but we didn't have time to visit any of it's museums.
M is for
mountain - Our chalet was about 2/3 of the way up a mountain, or perhaps it was just a steep hill. It certainly felt like a mountain when we walked up it, but the views were fantastic.
N is for
night - We didn't really work out what there was in the way of nightlife locally. We had a quiet drink in the village with Ruth and Emma one night, and some raucous games of boggle on several others.
O is for
Ouchy and
Olympics - Ouchy, near Lousanne has a museum celebrating the Olympics, with a park of interesting Olympics realted sculptures. Why? - Who knows? A good place to spend an hour or two though.
The picture on the left includes sculptures showing the trajectory of the long and high jumps, while the sculpture on the right represents the change in an athlete's lung capacity
P is for
painting - Janet and Michael spent a large part of the week painting. This is Janet's picture of the view from our chalet
Q is for
quote - For more details of our linguistic deficiencies see 'E for English', but quote of the week goes to Phil for this classic conversation at the Chateau de Chillon ticket office:
Phil - Do you speak English?
Salesman - Yes, I'll try.
Phil (holding up fingers and speaking as slowly and clearly as possible) - t-w-o!
It turned out that the salesman had been an au pair in Golders Green and was reasonably familiar with English numbers.
R is for
Raclette - A feast of warm cheese and potatoes, apparently. We were a little cheesed out and opted for roast lamb at Phil's friends' house near Lousanne instead.
S is for
supermarket - Fortunately Switzerland has some decent supermarkets. Otherwise our linguistic shortcomings would have seen us both starve and fail to return home with suitcases full of chocolate. And luckily, we knew that fruit and veg needed to be pre-weighed to avoid embarrassment at the checkout.
T is for
tour - We were lead on a tour of the cheese factory at Gruyère by a disembodied cow's voice, which was interesting. We also tried to visit the local chocolate factory, which smelled great, but was exceptionally closed. We were given free samples to make us go away though, and Emma was determined enough to return another day.
U is for
up - We only went up from our chalet once. It was the hottest part of the hottest day of the week, and it was quite hard work...
V is for
view -
...but the view was worth it.
W is for
winter sports - Alas, there were no winter sports to be had in Switzerland in September. Phil had been quite keen to find a little summer snow, and I did my best to feign disappointment.
X is for
eXtra - In another hillarious display of our inadequate language skills, I managed to add an extra pear to our sausage and leek casserole one evening (though it would be slightly more honest to say that the recipe card included no pears at all - in my defence the French words for pear and pepper are very similar). I think we did quite well to work the other ingredients out, and the pear added a little je ne sais quoi anyway.
Y is for
yummy - The most appropriate word for describing Swiss chocolate
Z is for
zero - The number of local radio stations that we liked. What an odd selection of music. A humourous distraction from the roadworks on our most commonly used stretch of motorway though.
Gone Camping
I've decided this year not to bore you with the details of our youth camp. If you're dissapointed about that, why not re-read the archives from last year and bore yourself. So here we go, one post and four photos to cover 8 days of open-air merriment
We camped in the same place as usual, and did many of the same things. However, the loss of long-standing Captain Tigger meant that Ref. Flaky was at the helm, so church parade took place in sportswear, and the tent competition was scrapped, to be replaced by a series of early morning netball competitions
Again we learnt that planning a trip to the beach is a sure-fire way of making it rain, as is taking a busload of kids to a remote field to play wide games. Needless to say, it didn't rain while we were bowling, ice skating or watching movies.
Official camp stuntman Super-Steve tried his best to aquire a full-body plaster cast, but failed even to break the record for the most injuries sustained in a week (as set during last year's infamous tat-hunting incident). The week ended with a Masquerade Ball in the local hall for the campers, and a lesson in transporting bouncy castles for the staff. | | 
In Hilda's absence, Tel drives the van
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Johnny struts his funky stuff
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Dr. Gav demonstrates his spacious new tent | 
Most people make it back from the mountain biking in one piece |
Join the Kew
Strictly speaking this is
on-cycle*, as it was a work do, but hey ho, rules are there to be broken.
My company has reached one of those important ages, you know, the ones with a zero on the end. We thought it would be quite nice to do something a bit special and vaguely work-related to celebrate. So we headed off for a champagne cruise down the river to a garden party in some
nice gardens where we've done a little work recently.
We had a nice relaxing afternoon wandering around the gardens, enjoying a strawberry cream tea and playing a little petanque on the lawn, before a delicious dinner and a bit of a dance 'till late.
Bliss, but please nobody show me the bill.
*i.e. relating to the perpetual cycle of working, eating and sleeping that I don't blog about for fear of boring you to death.
Temple Baa
"It's Architecture Week, and what better way to celebrate the architecture of our fine capital city, than with a heard of sheep?" One wonders exactly what goes on in the minds of PR folk, but one can't help going for a look either.
So, a flock of sheep were driven from Borough Market, over the Millenium Bridge and through Temple Bar and Paternoster Square to Smithfield Market. Apparently it's been going on since 12th century, though obviously the Millenium Bridge hasn't been available to them for most of that time, and Temple Bar's not been back in London too long either.
Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, the sheep passed a man by Temple Bar who's travelling 40 miles with an old door, a pile of bricks and some loft insulation as a protest against recycling. Oh, and he's not walking, that would be far too easy, he intends to get there in about 25,000 forwards rolls. | | 
This photo contains both some sheep and a bridge, honest! - No, really, click if you don't believe me
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Oh, go on then, have a link
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