Christmas 2

Picked up the new compact camera today.....at last, a camera that really WILL fit in a pocket! Needless to say I haven't read the manual yet, but I charged the battery and took a picture of one of the kittens in a plastic bag guarding a box of cheese.....

.....well, it's a start!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS!!

Playing catch-up

Thank goodness for paper clips.....a minor kitchen catastrophe averted yesterday  when 'something got blocked' while Chris and Nick were cooking Christmas lunch

I'm still in the recovery position........

Just to prove I'm still in the land of the living.....

.....and I haven't broken the camera.....

Early morning trip into the big city, this would have been taken at about  9.00am and the crowds were already gathering for another shop-till-you-drop session.....I did what I had to then came home knackered. Achieved zero this afternoon. The plan for tonight is do the bare minimum of the stuff I should have done/be doing then have an early night....I'll worry about what I haven't done tomorrow!

Santa came early

Oh yes, we know how to do a proper office party round here.....Toblerones all round this afternoon when Santa turned up with his little helper....

.....and he stuck around long enough to drain a bottle of Chardonnay before hiccuping off to his sleigh. Then we had a few drinkies......

Yippee....2 weeks holiday....now,where's that bottle of port......cheers!!

Buildings in Use.....or then again, maybe not...

Busy day....a (not very good) shot of some of the action of the 'Buildings in Use' final poster presentation that's eaten up most of the day. Just in case you're interested, the brief is for groups of Building Surveying students to find new, innovative and financially viable uses for an existing down-at-heel local building. This year it was the Gibson Street Baths.....a gently decaying Victorian (ex) swimming pool/public baths/wash house a few hundred yards away from the campus. The boys and girls did some impressive work, but the bad news is there were great ideas there that'll unfortunately probably never get acted upon by the semi-fictional client.....no names, no pack drill!

Jeez.....that was serious stuff, not sure what happened there (think I definitely need a holiday!) I know, how about building your own snowflake, that sounds a bit fluffy with a seasonal twist.......

.....you can snip your own here without all that nasty mess on the carpet. I've already done one so it's an early bath for me! Roll on Friday!

A perfect gift for the kiddiwinkles.....

.....but read that caption under the photograph and it's a wonder some of them survived to tell the tale! From 'Gifts you can make yourself' (undated but it looks like late 40's from the illustrations) Didn't get out much today.....oh, you guessed!

TODAY'S SEASONAL SHENNANIGANS

Here's Fanny Cradock doing it with mincemeat, it truly brightened a dull afternoon.....watch out for the final sumptuous, mouth-watering table display. Top find Sarah!

bum issued by.....

....H.O. Wills...........no comment except to say I've hardly been over the doors all day and sometimes you have to work with what you happen to have on the kitchen table!

OTHER STUFF.....

Some alternative Christmas music.....very alternative.....but I like it!

"Cigar Box Nation offers our own gift of music to you.  This album is free for everyone this Christmas...just go ahead and download.  We've compiled almost one hour of holiday music played on cigar box guitars, ukuleles, dulcimers and more.    Please spread the word (and holiday cheer)!  May the world ring with the awesome sounds of cigar box guitars this Christmas." Download it here 

(sample track on the next link......)

This is just a screengrab from UMapper (the original plan was for an embedded map, but Blogger didn't like their code, and I haven't got time to work out why) so here's the link to my very first map (which is rubbish, but if you click on the '2' you'll find the audio file promised above!). You'll guess you can add your own photos and audio, even make your own map-based game, there's some video tutorials here if you fancy checking it out and doing a photo tour of YOUR block.

Shepherds pie/lots of veg/large pot of tea/couch, vintage videos and cuddly blanket here I come!

Nearly the same....

Nearly the same, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

....as yesterday, except a bit later and slightly to the left. As you can probably guess, I didn't make it off-campus today, at least not until it was dark.........a bit of a noisily nothing day really

I rather like this one....'love is patient', it's mesmerising.....click and you'll see what I mean

And lastly a bit of annoyingly 'stick-in-your-head' christmas music......don't worry, you don't HAVE to click......


Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

Sunrise over City Campus East

Sunrise over City Campus East, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

But I have to admit it was probably the best weather we had all day! I hate Mondays....but you've probably gathered that....

Think I'll indulge in a bit of BetaMaX Xmas later...........

Making tracks

Making tracks, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

Unfortunately I missed all the action.....story of my life really!

 XMAS BONUS LINK OF THE DAY.....

Lets just assume you have a small, but perfectly formed, gift to wrap this christmas (and access to a colour printer).....there's a shedload (as in180!) of downloadable pdf papers here

Cats-in-the-box

If you could read the label it says 'From: Paw to your Door' and it contained a couple of upmarket cat litter trays delivered during the week (now I DO hope you've already had your tea, otherwise that's probably too much information)......but the diddy puddy tats are blocking any moves towards removal of the box from the premises....someone, read 'boy-in-the-attic', might have to do it at the dead of night while they're locked in mortal combat with the senior cat and therefore otherwise engaged.

TODAY'S TOP FIND ON THE KITCHEN TABLE...

John Peel, 'The Christmas Songs that Santa Claus Forgot'.....I really can't remember where I got this or when it was originally broadcast (possibly 1992?) but it's 2 hours's worth of alternative Christmas listening that always somehow works in a way that Slade's 'Here it is, Merry Chistmas' and Cliff's 'Mistletoe and Wine' doesn't, so that HAS to be a plus. It comes complete with JP's inter-track chat and news bulletins. I've put the single mp3 file on SendSpace just in case you think the 200mb plus download might be worth it (I think the link will stay 'live' for about a month without a download, so get it while it's fresh!).....it worked for me, I've NEARLY got a shopping list!

Link to download

Welcome to the house of fun.....

.....aka Friday! Met up with the firstborn in downtown Whitley Bay at teatime for the opening of the annual French/Northumbrian farmers xmas market, we were just in time for a bit of surreal carol singing and some (definitely, and I speak from a life-long experience) non-alcoholic mulled wine....the French marketeers appeared to be drinking different stuff from under the table and laughing a lot, but I can't imagine why........

I got the call I've been waiting for all week at lunchtime....the Lab Xmas tree was 'erect' and 'live'. This year I decided it was time to record it in all it's glory and give it the media attention it deserves.....enjoy it's hypnotic power! (HEALTH WARNING....it's been known to make grown men weep!)

Mostly from yesterday

I had a computer-free evening last night.....very novel! (no particular reason except I felt as if I'd been staring at a flickering screen all day and needed a bit of a break) The above piccy was taken while on a quick trip to the local public library at lunchtime.....you need a good head for heights when you're browsing the vintage books like these ones.....

"Charles Booth's Inquiry into the Life and Labour of the People in London, undertaken between 1886 and 1903 was one of several surveys of working class life carried out in the 19th century. It is the only survey for which the original notes and data have survived and therefore provides a unique insight into the development of the philosophy and methodology of social investigation in the United Kingdom." There's an online archive (including maps) here if you fancy dipping in.

OTHER STUFF

A couple of photography links....

Liu Bolin 
Hiding in the City No.17 (No.2 of People's Policeman), 2006

Amazing stuff, unfortunately the images are quite small, must have a look for some bigger ones later.

Then I came across this site today that looks promising


Pictory


they say....
"Pictory is a showcase for people around the world to document their lives and cultures. Anyone can submit one large, captioned image to each of Pictory’s editorial themes. I’m editor, designer, and founder Laura Brunow Miner, and I will select a few dozen of the best items from each theme to appear in each showcase."

There's a "taster" to view and some categories open for new submissions.

Lastly the frivolous xmas link Elf Yourself. Upload up to 5 pictures of your friends (or enemies, it's even better with your enemies!) and watch them cavort. The granddaughter will probably kill me for this......

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Frankenstein's lab

I got a chance to view the mysterious 'Molecular Beams' lab under the stairs at work today, long defunct and being cleared out to make room for yet more building work and renovations. There were lots of strange, dusty bits of kit destined for the skip, puddles of water and and signs saying 'Beware LASERS' in BIG letters.....it was a bit spooky to be honest, quite glad I wasn't down there on my own!

So I've been making Imp's delicious soup tonight.....but of course I had to make some changes (partly due to not having some of the ingredients, and partly because I just can't stick to a recipe no matter how hard I try!) So the leek and the red onion was replaced with a large onion roughly chopped, the chick peas replaced with red kidney beans, and the chilli replaced with a heaped teaspoonful of smoked paprika, oh and I added a tablespoon or so of smoked sesame oil at the end.....otherwise it was exactly the same! AND it was/is delicious!

The boy-in-the-attic tells me he needs to reboot the router thingie, I'll post this now just in case it all goes pear-shaped!

LATER....it went slightly pear-shaped......

Seeing as its now December 1st I thought I'd try posting a daily 'seasonal' link.....ah yes, famous last words, don't hold me to it!
Background listening might be a good place to start....

Wet Monday

Well at least that's Monday nearly out of the way.....bleak weather with sleety showers and a really cold wind. Went out at lunchtime (got wet twice) and had to fight my way through the Xmas shoppers bristling with bags and umbrellas, rather wish I hadn't bothered to be honest. Tell you what, I was really glad to get home, put the kettle on and turn the heating up a notch tonight. Ho hum, onwards and upwards!

A bit early for Halloween

It's the same every year, I say I won't but I just can't resist listening.....the original 1938, Orson Welles version of 'The War of the Worlds' that caused a bit of a stir when it was first broadcast.



But if you want to try out a few alternative versions there's lots here....obviously I'm not alone!

Best wishes for a....

Inspirational wrapping

Make that boring pair of socks into a parcel that begs to be opened. Plenty of inspiration at here at Wrap Art (also damned useful if you run out of conventional wrapping paper and the shops have shut!)

The scientific guide to gift wrapping

The New Scientist explains all

Damp hankie time

OK, so I'm supposed to be festitivating(?) the house, but it's lunchtime....I look for a quick festive fix, remember I've got 'Miracle on 34th Street' (the 1947 version....none of that modern/remake crap in MY christmas kitchen!) sitting on the hard drive....so think, the way you do, 'maybe I'll watch just a little bit of that now' while I eat my bacon buttie..........

And sometime later (ie however long it lasted plus, maybe, 30 seconds) and I find this pile of damp paper tissues on the floor by the kitchen table.....no idea how they got there!

EVEN LATER....I just couldn't let it lie.... 'Holiday Inn' with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, now comfortably under the belt. 'Scrooge' with Alastair Sim, no problem, just the odd sniff (OK....3 tissues!) But still sitting there.....(deep breath) waiting to be watched is......(another deep breath) 'It's a Wonderful life'.....wish me luck, I'm going in!

3 HOURS LATER....I'm officially now just a sucked-out husk, emotionally drained and only fit for a hot bath and a stiff drink. My advice?.....don't try this at home unless you've discussed your intentions with a qualified medical practitioner!