Alien Overlords

Posted 31 January 2008 By mac and has 2 comments.

They are among us, and ruling us.

They have huge leathery wings, and look a bit like the chaps in Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End, a book of which I’m very fond. These lords are, however, less benevolent.

We knew they were coming, of course, as we were walking across the horned bridge by the Watershed, and I remarked on how many jets there seemed to be in the sky. We assumed that there was some sort of delay at Heathrow and that they were stacking the planes. But when we got home, we put the news on; all the power was off, but the television was working. And we were informed. And then the milk was delivered.

They don’t allow us to have anything sharp unless we’re supervised. And I’m working in a sort of industrial growing house – like a farm, but under cover, and I’ve lost my dibbery thing. It’s shiny with a red plastic handle – if you find it, could you give it back, because I’m frightened of them.

Very odd dream, really.

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[sniff]

Posted 27 January 2008 By mac and has no comments yet.

Like probably thousands and thousands of people have done in the past few days, last night we pulled Brokeback Mountain off the shelves for a rewatch.

We’ve only seen it once – we bought the DVD as soon as it came out, but haven’t watched it again since them. What an extraordinary film – even more poignant on a second viewing, I think. There wasn’t a single scene out of place, and every actor gave an astonishingly subtle performance. And the scenery – I’ve long hankered to go and see the big skies of cowboy country, but I doubt I ever will now.

I still wept at the scene in Jack’s parents’ house – so clean and scrubbed and poor, with the unsaid acknowledgement of what had been, and might have been. And I still howled when Ennis opened the cupboard door. Film making at its best, I think.

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People are Very Odd (an occasional series)

Posted 26 January 2008 By mac and has 12 comments.

I was in our local farm shop this afternoon; a chap knocked down the wicker basket with the baguettes in it, and they fell on the floor. He started picking them up. *With tongs*. And putting them back in the basket.

This struck me as odd, to say the least. When I pitched up to the checkout and discovered he was not a member of staff, but a customer, so I said in dulcet tones to the girl that someone had knocked down the baguettes onto the floor, and put them back in the basket. The staff were not amused, and he scuttled off rapidly.

I then returned home from my round trip, and although our wonderful huge Amana American fridge / freezer was, without doubt, utterly full, I managed to feed it the following:

  • 2 packs of lamb mince, to make kofta meatballs
  • 5 packs of turkey mince, because Iggy loves it so
  • 12 hot cross buns
  • 8 bagels
  • 1 pack of sliced duck breast fillet, on special offer (will make a nice stir fry)

Yes, I went to Sainsburys – something I rarely do, because I hate it so, but we did need some bits, and there wasn’t enough to make a worthwhile online order, and it’s the cheapest place for petrol (although cheap is a ridiculous word, given the price of the bloody stuff).

And I bought a set of inks for the Canon in Staples, which are more expensive than bloody petrol. It’s no wonder we’re all broke.

Now then, shall I order a new Mac Pro? What do you say?

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weekend 20-21 jan 08

Posted 21 January 2008 By mac and has 2 comments.

Fairly quiet, as the weather was vile. Seems ages since we went for a yomp across the fields :(

On Saturday, we had lunch in Cafe Ceiturica – they had only one portion of kofta meatball casserole left (wah), so we shared it, and had a plate of their lovely kebabs too. Then Aldi for bits, down to Stoke Bishop for episode x of the Eternal Hunt for the Perfect Gas Lighter (no, this one ain’t it either), and the farm shop on the way home for meat and veg. We were still full when it came to supper time, so I made some cheese scones and some banananananana muffins. We ate the scones, but had to leave the muffins …

Sunday was mostly spent in evaluating visual mySQL tools, as the data we have inherited on the New Project is utterly incomprehensible. These tools seem to be pretty much all awful – Aqua Data Studio would be the best if it a) weren’t so slow, and b) didn’t disconnect itself silently from the database server. And at $400 a copy, I’d like to see a searchable help file, thankyouverymuch. I think we’ve settled on DBVisualizer, which seems to work reasonably well, and is priced at a more acceptable $149. 20 days left of the evaluation copy, so time will tell.

Had a brunchette of scrambly egg and bacon on toast, then cooked pork pot roast with mushrooms and apple for supper. This left 3/4 of a bramley, so I made the world’s smallest apple crumble with it. Freehand, as the battery in the scales gave out just as I’d measured the wholemeal flour. Still good, though.

And that’s it, apart from a rather soggen Cat Incident, which I am about to write up on the cat blog, should anyone be interested.

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blimey

Posted 11 January 2008 By mac and has 7 comments.

It’s *chucking* it down with snow …

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The Kite Runner

By mac and has 1 comment.

The Kite Runner | Khalid Hosseini

This is another of those books which has received stonking reviews, and every one of them is entirely justified. I finished it yesterday on the Hammersmith and City line, and attracted one or two odd looks as the tears poured down my face.

This book is … astonishing. A hugely evocative portrait of Afghanistan over 30 odd years, and a story of love, loyalty and betrayal. The characters are so finely drawn, and yet the end of the first “section” hit me like a blow in the chest.

This is one I will read and read again – highly recommended.

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The Book Thief

Posted 6 January 2008 By mac and has 3 comments.

The Book Thief | Markus Zusak

The Book ThiefI’m always a bit nervous of books which have hugely glowing reviews, and for the first half, this simply didn’t work for me, although I can see why others loved it so. And then, suddenly, it grabbed me, and I could barely put it down.

A story, narrated by a most unDiscworldlike Death, of a small town outside Munich during the second world war. A tale of an ordinary, yet extraordinary family and their friends and neighbours, of love and courage and the power of words. I’ll join in the paeons of praise and tell you all that you should read this, you really should. It will make you weep.

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Books read in 2007

Posted 2 January 2008 By mac and has 3 comments.

60 books in total under the cut

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