Long after Ruth recommended it, we finally got around to watching Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman motorcycling from London to New York via (among other places) The Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia in The Long Way Round.
When it first aired (on Sky, I think), I didn’t pay very much attention, but I was aware [...]
Game On is a travelling exhibition about video games, and Sean, Mark and I went to the London Science Museum to see it.
We arrived early, and had time for a wander around the main museum, which is excellent. Some highlights for me included the Phillips Economics Computer - which uses flows of water to [...]
Debbie had another examiners’ meeting in London, so I followed her down there.
We took the train from Leamington on Friday evening, and emerged unscathed from Russell Square station in good time to check into a hotel, have a quick freshen up, and go out foraging for food. We had a corner room, with a [...]
The latest Decemberists album is their first on a major label.
My first reaction was to percieve an edgeing away from their usual quirkiness, but I think that’s just familiarity breeding contempt. After all, three tracks are devoted to the story of the Crane Wife: in which our narrator finds a wounded crane, nurses it [...]
Joanna Newsom’s The Milk-Eyed Mender was a revelation. I was initially put off by that voice, but they’re great, unconventional songs, the harp arrangements are wonderful, and the voice grows on you. I think it’s a classic. A desert island disk.
I was excited, therefore, by her followup, Ys, especially seeing the gushing previews and [...]
A few of us went to see the Borat film last week. It was hilarious, excruciating, shocking and horrifying by turn.
There seem to be two views about how Americans get treated in the film.
That their various failings mean they fully deserve the humiliation they get
That they are “easy targets” used for cheap laughs. (this [...]
I’ve done some further digging since my last post about the CO2 impact of cars and planes.
Firstly, according to Flight Pledge, “The warming effect of aviation is three times greater than that of its CO2 emissions alone, because of the altitudes and atmospheric conditions”.
Secondly, clues as to the comparative impact of trains, at Seat61.com [...]
Our weekend began with a well attended Happy Friday at Leamington’s new French place, Le Bistrot Pierre. I thought it was smashing — I had lovely lamb with lovely vegetables — but Gary told me this morning that his steak was tough.
On Saturday, Sean and Karen came to visit. We fed them, then took [...]
Before I start, apologies for my egregious use of non-metric measures in this post. This is because all the sources I’ve used provide Imperial values. I tried starting by converting to metric, but I botched it, and started again the lazy way.
Further to my last blog entry, I’ve seen quite a few articles in [...]