Month: December 2014

Hmm.

This one’s a tough one. I thought about doing a few random scribbles on a bit of paper and scanning that but … I’ve been seeing a few funny pics from people lately about christmas lists.

Been seeing that one a lot. Muahaha.

Just going to my Facebook page. Be right back.

I think I know a few people who would have that as their favourite top.

I definitely know a few people who resemble that comment. And they’re fun people too.

I’m getting to that age when I could do with the fat free stuff too.

I know a few people who resemble that too – muahaha. One last one ?

From a legend. Cya tomorrow ! Whatever shall I find for green. I’m asking. Seriously. I have no clue at the moment.

Be vewy, vewy, qwiet … the dwagon is sleeping :

I had a Cunning Plan for tonight, it involved breaching quarantine (didn’t have a great night last night) and heading out to see the rescreening of 2001.

I’m shocked ! It’s sold out ! And this for a film that’s older than I am ! Crikey.

So I’m watching it off dvd at the moment. I’m quite looking forward to getting my next telly, which will probably be this Xmas depending on the deals which are available. I’ll definitely watch the sequel to 2001, called 2010 Odyssey Two, on the new Big Screen.

2001 was a visionary book and a visionary movie. It predicted a huge amount of technology, some which has happened, some which will hopefully happen. They’re on the space station at the moment, about to go to the moon. What’s the tech in 2001 ?

Space planes – not got these yet. Hopefully the British Skylon initiative will get us there. And these would be true space planes, which can achieve an orbit with cargo or passenger transfers. The ill fated Spaceship 2 is just capable of short suborbital jaunts. The space shuttle needed a lot of help with external boost`ers. But Skylon’s advantage is rocket/jets with breakthrough technology in the intake coolers which should be able to push it up to orbit as a single stage.

Zero gravity – 2001 predicts that we won’t have solved the artificial gravity problem. All of the space scenes have zero g, with this affecting meals, clothing and simply getting about the place. However, simulated anti-centripetal gravity is in the movie. This is where you have the floor on the inside surface of a cylinder and spin the cylinder up. One of Newton’s laws of motion says :

Objects will remain at rest or continue in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.

And with that cylinder, a body in the cylinder will fall outwards until it hits the floor with forces between body and floor stopping the body from falling further. Think of the hamster in his wheel.

It makes sense but limits artificial gravity to cylinders and centrifuges instead of magical panels in the floor or walls.

Hand held cameras and small digital devices – This is accurate, although we’re only now really hitting the strides for these.

Video phone calls – these are getting fairly ubiquitous now.

That’s enough about the movie and the tech in it though. Except to say that it’s a true timeless classic. The models used are still fantastic quality today and hold up with the best of the computer graphic effects we have now. In fact, I’d say in a lot of cases, the effects from 1968 are considerably better. They’re believable too.

It’s going to be a busy week for movies …

Today is 2001, on dvd rather than cinema as first thought.
Friday – The Hobbit no 3. I hope they make this third one worthwhile. I’ve said before that I think they’ve stretched the Hobbit out way too far. It was a smaller, less detailed book than any of the 3 Lord Of The Rings books, yet they make it into 3 films. And they include some really fluffy, useless extra parts while stupidly extending sequences like the barrel escape. I hope this one restores some faith in the franchise.
Monday – Black Sea. Could be a bit late though. But I won’t mind because Cupid’s Gift hopefully will be ok with staying out late.

I’ve been pretty down lately as my body and mind prepare for hibernating through the Xmas break but the promise of an evening with a Pretty Lady is a sure thing for resurrecting me from any negative or tired feelings.

Looking forward to it.

More pics ? Let’s see what I got in the peace theme …

Anti-peace ? Maybe. Back to the movie :

I’ve just been accosted at the door by two carol singers with very wobbly legs.

Seriously.

Their legs were going all over the place. It was too weird to be some kind of strange carol dance. And that’s coming from a weird, strange person.

Poor things musta been cold so I sent them on their way quickly (with a small donation).

Wrapping paper ?

In case any price stickers are visible there, yes it is Sainsburys and other sellers of wrapping paper are permitted. Encouraged even. Find the most suitable for you !

But what I will quite happily say is that Sainsburys make the tastiest pasta bake ready meals. (And like all the endorsements I give, I’ve never been paid for any of them – more’s the pity)*

*(us internet publisher people are having to be more careful about full disclosure – I don’t monetise anything here, which makes me freer to say what I think. Although I do try to keep to the Say Nice Things principle)

I don’t use wrapping paper much these days. The various groups I exchanged gifts with have faded away over the years. The locals gave up after it got too ridiculously expensive for us and the family have given up on the presents too.

There’s a lot of stress involved in presents … Both the giving and the receiving. The giver stresses about finding the right gift and the receiver stresses about thinking of a suitable range of gifts that they don’t already own yet. And that’s not thinking about the buying of them either. People go a little bit crazy this time of year around the shops.

I do miss the presents thing although it seems like the “traditional” times are geared around the commercial aspect and not the festival aspect.

Thanksgiving in the States is supposed to be about the pilgrims surviving those early winters. It’s not about a frenzied assault on the shops and all who work within them.
Christmas should be about that certain festival, although that’s a religion* thing coming in again.

*I respect people’s religious wishes, although I don’t really follow any religions of my own. I believe in a certain superstitious luck. It’s only by a freakish combination of luck, through those early amino acids combining, our solar system producing a perfect planet, that correct level of radiation to drive evolution, all the rest of that luck that brings us to this world. And that is my answer to Why Are We Here ? But at the same time, I’ll respect other people’s religious views because that’s a key part to understanding them as people.

I think at this time of year, I’d rather celebrate things like the Midwinter Festival on 21/22 Dec or New Year.

I should be around in Bristol for that Midwinter Festival too.

Hint hint ? Maybe – lol 🙂

I talk a decent about the single ladies here. Part of that is in hope that they’re listening, reading, watching. Another bit of hope is that they’ll get in touch. Yep. Still single here and I know that a few of the regulars are still single too … It might look here sometimes as if I’m chasing a bunch of different ladies. I guess I am. But there’s a difference between chasing and committing.

Chase several – see a few ladies and find them to be highly interesting. Yes.
Continue chasing them all after one finds my heart ? No.

One last pic :

Perhaps. I hope they aren’t dragons ! That said, certain dragons are cute. Certain dragons (of the Pern variety) are intensely loyal. May she be one of the cute ones, I know I’m one of the loyal ones.

ARG ! Too much Deep Thought for one post !

Hmm – it's my biggest so far and there's nothing in the boot at the moment … (apart from a coat)

Only if you have a big car and a very empty boot…

We learned a long time ago to not take you anywhere near places like the Book Barn.

Ah, you have a picture of the inside of my head!

I dunno about you but I find wandering around the shops to be quite calming. Therapeutic maybe.

It’s weird though, there’s a dichotomy of feelings :

Positive – being out and about, looking at shiny stuff, getting smiles from the people around me.
Negative – realising that you’re looking at everything and not knowing what you want to buy or what’s best to buy

I’ve rationalised the Negative part of that. I don’t often buy much when I go shopping, I just enjoy the wander. Mind you, saying that, I’ve developed a bit of a sweet tooth for Thorntons. Bad Pete.

Picture ?

That’s the Bristol city centre shopping area, Cabot Circus, shown from the top deck. It’s an open air complex with the main part covered by those rain gutters you see above. It lets huge amounts of light in while keeping the rain off.

I’ve been visiting the Showcase cinema that you can just see to the middle right. It’s a better quality cinema than our usual Vue but … you have to pay for parking and the popcorn isn’t as good.

The central area has lots of munchie places around too and I really need to check some of them out. Perhaps with a willing volunteer to escort me to the best ones. That’s still a bit wishful thinking at the moment :

Cupid’s Gift still natters to me over text but we haven’t figured out another date yet. (I still think a midnight cruise would be fun – although I’d want to stop and chat to avoid being distant and half-attentioning* while driving)
* – is that a valid phrase ? Anyway – I’d hate to neglect the other person in the conversation by devoting my attention to not crashing !
The Noodle Queen – I spotted a visit on Friday and it’s much appreciated. You’re a little wonder who always makes me smile. But it would be great to properly meet in person.

(I do hope Noodle Queen reads this and recognises herself there !)

To be honest, I’d still not want to do anything beyond meeting up for a wander and chatting as I’m still looking and feeling like I’ve been dragged through that thornbush. It’s improving, steadily and visibly … but I’m still not fixed yet.

So at the moment, I’m in a place where I’d head out with someone, have a wander, maybe have a bit of chilling out later but I’d then want to go away and hide for a while. My body is reclaiming the bad bits into good bits but I know they’re still there. Plus there’s the bad neck which is actually being quite painful at the moment.

This is going on to a downer isn’t it ?

I hope not. Perhaps that’s a symptom that I’m tired and mentally getting ready for a long Xmas break. I have a fortnight off this year and really must devote some of that to tidying up the place and getting some long neglected jobs sorted out. My boiler is still having trouble, it can heat the water for showers etc but it’s not achieving much with the house heating. It never did really, I have a standalone convector heater that’s really helping out at the moment.

I just heard my dinner bell go off – so I’ll wrap up there.

Just 10 more working days to go ! Really looking forward to the break. Perhaps Cupid’s Gift or the Noodle Queen will give me an excuse to treat them at some point ?

I hope so 🙂 Or maybe they’ll go to that Chinese cake shop (see yesterday).

But – back to the shopping theme :

Books are awesome.

I confess.

I had a plan to get a picture of Christmas Lights. He says. I just overlooked one thing …

Get the picture at night time !

Here we go :

That’s from Cabot Circus in the middle of Bristol. It’s our fairly new shopping centre and … it’s actually pretty decent too. I have a problem with our local Cribbs Causeway Mall – there’s only a couple of shops that sell things I’m interested in. There’s no competition any more.

Well – the competition is there, it’s just in the online domain. But one thing the online people don’t give is the chance to wander around the shops, milling around just being around the people. I’m one of those who is fairly solitary but I can’t be without human contact for long.

I get cabin fever if I’m in the house too much and you can probably imagine the conflict between that cabin fever and my condition with my outsides. Being lonely makes me want to get out more, looking (and feeling!) like I’ve been dragged through thornbushes makes me want to hide inside.

I do need to get around those Cabot Circus shops some more. Why ?

The Happy Cookie Place (see yesterday’s post and I’ll post the pic again in a few weeks).

If you find yourself at the Bristol German Market, you need to have a few things (allergies and dietary preferences permitting !) :

Bratwurst – you need it
Hot Chocolate – with or without the alcohol. Or Coffee if you prefer that.
Visit the Happy Cookie Place*
Visit the cake shop
Buy a minion

I haven’t bought a minion yet and I need one. I need a minion hat too if I can find one. *I bought 2 cookies there yesterday plus a cake. The cake was bigger than my hand.

It was gert lush. As was the cookie. (Doh – slipping into the accent that the “German” Happy Cookie Seller Lady was sporting)

Back to the decorations thingy …

Why did I want to take the picture in the dark ? So the lights would show up more ! The lights in Cabot are quite pretty. They’re understated but really actually a quite tasteful addition to the town centre.

Oh – I mentioned coffee and cakes … One last pic before I go :

I will adore that cake. But I’m not desperate. I just :

Adore cakes and …
… Hate to see good coffee go to waste.

Muahaha – thought you might like that one.

And … fascinating Star Trek fact, the first to die were wearing blue shirts …