2009 — 23 December: Wednesday
Another midnight. (Well, 00:33 if you insist on precision.) Thus, another "time for bed" time. Unless I do what my ex-ICL chum Ian tells me he has done, which is allow his "body clock" to run off the rails... "Last night I didn't get to sleep at all. I was awake so I carried on doing things or watching things till it was dawn, then breakfast time, and I thought at first I'd just power on through the day, pottering here as usual doing stuff."
Of course, he then crashed and burned.1 You can see why we're kindred spirits.
G'night.
Litany of travel horror...
... stories on the 08:30 BBC Radio 3 news summary a few minutes ago. Yuk. The frost is certainly severe at the moment though there are small gaps in the thick-looking clouds and just a hint of pink as the sun stretches its roseate fingers and yawns. (As it were.) Let's defrost the kettle, at least.
Well, I had never heard of "FG syndrome" until reading of Kim Peek's death. Stop with the "intelligent design" already!
I've obviously also failed to grasp the philosophic depths of Joan Collins:
My first "cropper"
A couple of minutes ago I ventured out down the two steps by the "patio" door to take some stuff out to my bins. I only managed one step before landing, quite hard, and removing skin from (left) knuckles and (right) thumb. I suspect I will shortly have a photogenic bruise on my hip, too. I would photograph the result if I could prevent camera shake :-)
I will settle for breakfast instead. Can't say I like this weather. It's 09:53 — I shall start counting my blessings. 09:54 — there, that didn't take long, did it?
Visual treats?
Although I've been buying the "Christmas" edition of the Radio Times for nearly 40 years I rarely seem to find much to watch. This year is no exception, though two of my chums have separately recommended the Hamlet that's also showing in hi-def later. But 185 minutes? That's asking rather a lot of my limited attention span. On the other hand, tonight I may just venture out into the largely unexplored territory of BBC3 for a dash of Stravinsky. There are benefits to having a large home library of stuff at times.
It's now 11:51 and raining quite hard. Let's hope the ice dissolves, and drains away, before Nature switches the refrigerator back on later.
Speaking of Nature, here's a story that would have made Christa giggle. And this (by Natalie Angier) is no less interesting, too.
Meanwhile if the overall UK university budget is set to fall by £533 million next year, how can the saintly "Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills" aka the Rt Hon Lord Mandelson2 ask universities to protect quality and access to higher education? If I knew where it was hiding on my shelves, I'd dig out Malcolm Bradbury's Cuts to see how well TV production transplants into academia. Mandelson's letter is here. (Do you suppose a Secretary of State types his own letters?)
Crikey, it's time for lunch. As of 13:30 the rain has stopped, but there's still very nasty-looking ice out there. And it's been too long since I dropped by the 2blowhards site. So long, that their numbers have swelled. Right! Food!!
Fluffy snow?
A woeful tale of non-Stephenson's-Rocket science in the Channel tunnel, it seems. Still, I recall some of the difficulties of shunting from Big Bro's Hornby Dublo days.
I've just (17:44) been warned that a huge thunderstorm in Romsey is heading our way. Are those wolves I can hear howling up in the hills?!
Define "fairly slow"!
Blu-ray players apparently still only account for 12% of DVD player sales:
Mike O'Mahoney, general sales manager at the consumer electronics company Pioneer GB, admits that take-up has been "fairly slow" but says that this year sales have been up 150-fold on 2008, helped by falling prices of players and discs.