K, this evening, I decided to make a steam pudding, and due to a rather dried out orange, it ended up being a lemon and orange steam pudding.
Which got us talking.![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amazing_holly isn't that familiar with the rhyme and, as is usual, miss_s_b seems to know a completely different version to me, which is again different to the ones I've found online (and neither of us can remember the exact lyrics we knew as a kid anyway).
I've found several online sources, best two seem to be Wikipedia and rhymes.org.uk, which also has the alternate London Bells nursery rhyme. However, none of these mention the Bell of St Stephen's, which Jennie swears blind was in the version she knew as a kid.
Can anyone else remember St Stephen's being mentioned? It's very likely it's not the Bell of St Stephen's (ie Big Ben) anyway, but...
Oh, wait, the pudding? You want a recipe? Oh go on then...
( Easiest and quickest pudding mix ever )
Nom nom nom.
Which got us talking.
amazing_holly isn't that familiar with the rhyme and, as is usual, miss_s_b seems to know a completely different version to me, which is again different to the ones I've found online (and neither of us can remember the exact lyrics we knew as a kid anyway).I've found several online sources, best two seem to be Wikipedia and rhymes.org.uk, which also has the alternate London Bells nursery rhyme. However, none of these mention the Bell of St Stephen's, which Jennie swears blind was in the version she knew as a kid.
Can anyone else remember St Stephen's being mentioned? It's very likely it's not the Bell of St Stephen's (ie Big Ben) anyway, but...
Oh, wait, the pudding? You want a recipe? Oh go on then...
( Easiest and quickest pudding mix ever )
Nom nom nom.
GIP* for @Paul0Evans1 / ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
paulevans
Nov. 19th, 2009 02:49 pm[*]Gratuitous Icon Post
The t-shirt is in the wash, but the text on the picture is accurate and answers his question.
The t-shirt is in the wash, but the text on the picture is accurate and answers his question.
*click*bzzzz*reboot from start...
Oct. 27th, 2009 12:27 amApparently, if I stop posting here, people will start ringing me to check I'm ok, or wondering what I'm up to, or other similar things. This is especially true if I just, y'know, stop writing stuff and stop commenting elsewhere.
Well, I did. It started as a weekend break from t'internet in which I didn't even look at my email, then it turned into a few months where I simply scanned my email for important stuff, occasionally checked into Twitter, but otherwise didn't read any of my reading, friends or feed pages and simply turned off. Honestly? It's been good.
So, what have I been doing instead? Well, making money definitely wasn't one of them. Ah well, that'll have to start changing. What I have been doing is enjoying life in many respects.
I've been helpingmiss_s_b in the garden, in which we have potatoes, beetroot, oregano and even scented geraniums growing well. The newly planted garlic is already sprouting, so that'll be nice for next year.
amazing_holly, reading, playing games, cooking and having fun. I managed to get her to teach herself the basics of multiplication and division while baking a cake. I even, as a reward for her for sticking with learning to be good enough at Speed Racer to actually beat Mummy in a championship cooked, with her,
But also? I've been playing games. A lot of games. For this you can mostly blameliadnan. Y'see, awhileback I had a catastrophic OS failure involving a critical Fx vulnerability and a dodgy porn site, and we gave up on fixing Windows and switched to Ubuntu for the main desktop. I had some problems getting a few things to work, and he pointed me at the wonder that is the world of Linux repositories. So I installed some, to see what I could find.
In the meantime, enough about me, what've you guys been up to, have I missed much?
Well, I did. It started as a weekend break from t'internet in which I didn't even look at my email, then it turned into a few months where I simply scanned my email for important stuff, occasionally checked into Twitter, but otherwise didn't read any of my reading, friends or feed pages and simply turned off. Honestly? It's been good.
So, what have I been doing instead? Well, making money definitely wasn't one of them. Ah well, that'll have to start changing. What I have been doing is enjoying life in many respects.
Learnt how to bake and cook
I've learnt, not just how to bake (which is quite easy), but also how to actually, y'know, properly cook. I am no longer scared by a recipe that requires I chop an onion. I know what a vichyssoise is (but not how to spell it), and have even made one. My carrot, cream and orange soup, adapted from Mary Berry's recipe, is quite simply gorgeous, and I successfully made baguettes yesterday.I've been helping
miss_s_b in the garden, in which we have potatoes, beetroot, oregano and even scented geraniums growing well. The newly planted garlic is already sprouting, so that'll be nice for next year.Biggest bestest cake in the world
I've been spending time withamazing_holly, reading, playing games, cooking and having fun. I managed to get her to teach herself the basics of multiplication and division while baking a cake. I even, as a reward for her for sticking with learning to be good enough at Speed Racer to actually beat Mummy in a championship cooked, with her, the biggest bestest cake that Mister Mat has ever made!which has, somehow, now become the biggest bestest cake in the world. Well, she is 6. It was fun making it though, even if it was so big it had gone dry before we finished it.
But also? I've been playing games. A lot of games. For this you can mostly blame
liadnan. Y'see, awhileback I had a catastrophic OS failure involving a critical Fx vulnerability and a dodgy porn site, and we gave up on fixing Windows and switched to Ubuntu for the main desktop. I had some problems getting a few things to work, and he pointed me at the wonder that is the world of Linux repositories. So I installed some, to see what I could find.Open source, extendable games
Mostly, I found games. Open Source, extendable, games. Based on some wonderful classics like Elite, Civilisation, Sin City and similar. I will, I hope, write up the ones I enjoyed, just so I can have a record of them. I may even write up the ones I hated, to remind me not to install them again. In the meantime, I'm back. I've been reading, and even commenting on, most of my reading pages, and plan to completely reorganise them to keep my sanity in place.In the meantime, enough about me, what've you guys been up to, have I missed much?
Links, pics, silliness and stuff
Jun. 26th, 2009 06:08 pmK, looks like I kinda forgot to update for awhile. Oops. You know what that means right? A backlog of silly, informative, thinkworthy or merely funny links. In no particular order:
Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite". Sounds fun to me. Street View solves Dutch mugging. See? Useful. Random chance, but still useful.
Next up, researchers do study that finds obvious finding. Except it's not obvious, because if it were, you wouldn't still have idiot politicians the world over trying to pretend the exact opposite is true :-( Professor Kelly Musick and Dr Ann Meier of Cornell University have carried out a study of children whose parents stay together for the sake of the kids: ( more explanation with longer quote ) What matters is the quality of the parenting and the attitude they inculcate to opportunity, not whether they pretend to be happy for the kids sake.
And on that subject, this comic is particularly apposite:
( 'A famous person has died, we go live to somewhere tangentially related' )
One of my favourite authors is, as many of you know, Charles Stross, also known asautopope, he's up for the Hugos, again, this year, and has been writing an auto-biographical series of blog posts for the last week or so that I've been meaning to link to as they are, frankly, quite funny, and also count as a nice little rundown of the history of how the web came to be—you can blame the need for a robots.txt file on him, and his time working for a Demon subcontractor where part of my official job description was to keep Danny the tomcat from pissing on the modem rack is also amusing.
This is really cool to know, assuming that they're on the button: All of Earth's people, according to a new analysis of the genomes of 53 populations, fall into just three genetic groups. Unlike in many other species, we have multiple possible mutations that could make us, for example, short, and populations famous for small stature, like pygmies, simply have a large number of them instead of one specific key change. Same applies to things like the ability to tolerate cows milk.
Now, simple little question, how many colours are there in the following pattern (via):
( Spiral image pattern with clever optical illusion )
Yup, that's right, there are ( look at the image first damnit! ) colours there, funny how our mind tricks us by filling in assumed blanks, full explanation at Bad Astronomy.
Not sure about this one: science explains why Yorkshiremen like pies so much. Um, I like pies, and I only moved up here 18 months ago (SRSLY, a whole 18 months). Shame that decent non-meat pies are a pain to get hold of. Still, really happy about this one: Alastair Reynolds scores unprecedented 10-year, 10-book deal from Gollancz for his 'mean line in alien cultures and technology'. Completely different writing style to Charlie, but one I also really like, and it's nice to see grand sweeping plots with a background that seems to make sense. In 'so obvious now you think of it' mode, I concur withrhodri, I really hope that the designer of The folding plug makes lots and lots of money, especially the multi-plug adapter design. I wants them I does...
Slightly more seriously,![[staff profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png)
denise got interviewed for American NPR, and it's another case of stating the obvious until people listen—social networks that try to make money from ad revenue are going to be in trouble, much better to provide a service people actually want (in DW's case, damn fine blog hosting with a good feed aggregation service bolted on) and charge users for it in some way. By the way, no link for this one, Livejournal is soon going to allow people to host their own adverts on a revenue-sharing model; I personally have less of a problem with this than the way they're plastered all over the dormant basic accounts now, but some of you might like to know...
On the subject of blogging, one of its principle strengths has always been what's called "the long tail"—( defined )this tail is getting a lot shorter. Charles Arthur at The Guardian explains why. ( I mostly agree )
Back to silliness. The US economy was too reliant on crap made by General Motors. Have a look at this: Ten Vehicles That Bankrupted GM. Seriously, these things sold? Ouch.
Now, it can't have escaped the notice of most of you that have met me that my wardrobe is, shall we say, a little bit monochrome.susannah_banana claims I'm not a goth because I'm not goth enough. She's one of the DJs at one of the top goth nights in the UK, but she's wrong, here's why: About Goth [stereo] Types - All Types. I am #19, and I claim my £5. (created by sinju, a now defunct journal that was very very cool while she was still documenting her time in Japan).
WANT
More sciency stuff: Flourescent lightbulbs are not the saviour they're being sold as and incandescents have still got some light in them yet. Personally, I can't stand reading by the horribly light they output (we use candles by the bed) and they set of my photic sneeze reflex something chronic.
BASTARDS
One of the best uses of animation within a webcomic I've seen, very cleverly done.
Royal British Legion to Nick GriffinMEP, leader of the BNP: Stop it, Mr Griffin. Just stop it. First rule of politics: don't piss off the veterans association.
OK, that's loads. I've cut the images and longer explanations, but left the rest open for easy clicking—if I do a post this long again is that still the best plan?
ETA: I'm getting a massive pile of spam comments on this specific entry, all in Japanese script from what I can see, so I've set anonymous comments to be screened and turned off notification emails, if you want my attention for this post email me directly?
Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite". Sounds fun to me. Street View solves Dutch mugging. See? Useful. Random chance, but still useful.
Next up, researchers do study that finds obvious finding. Except it's not obvious, because if it were, you wouldn't still have idiot politicians the world over trying to pretend the exact opposite is true :-( Professor Kelly Musick and Dr Ann Meier of Cornell University have carried out a study of children whose parents stay together for the sake of the kids: ( more explanation with longer quote ) What matters is the quality of the parenting and the attitude they inculcate to opportunity, not whether they pretend to be happy for the kids sake.
Neologism of the Day—Huxleyed:
To have died with a degree of fame or notoriety that would have guaranteed extensive media coverage, save for the death of someone even more famous or notorious immediately afterwards. From Aldous Huxley, who died an hour before President Kennedy was assassinated. Usage: "Farrah Fawcett was completely Huxleyed by Michael Jackson."And on that subject, this comic is particularly apposite:
( 'A famous person has died, we go live to somewhere tangentially related' )
One of my favourite authors is, as many of you know, Charles Stross, also known as
autopope, he's up for the Hugos, again, this year, and has been writing an auto-biographical series of blog posts for the last week or so that I've been meaning to link to as they are, frankly, quite funny, and also count as a nice little rundown of the history of how the web came to be—you can blame the need for a robots.txt file on him, and his time working for a Demon subcontractor where part of my official job description was to keep Danny the tomcat from pissing on the modem rack is also amusing. This is really cool to know, assuming that they're on the button: All of Earth's people, according to a new analysis of the genomes of 53 populations, fall into just three genetic groups. Unlike in many other species, we have multiple possible mutations that could make us, for example, short, and populations famous for small stature, like pygmies, simply have a large number of them instead of one specific key change. Same applies to things like the ability to tolerate cows milk.
Now, simple little question, how many colours are there in the following pattern (via):
( Spiral image pattern with clever optical illusion )
Yup, that's right, there are ( look at the image first damnit! ) colours there, funny how our mind tricks us by filling in assumed blanks, full explanation at Bad Astronomy.
Not sure about this one: science explains why Yorkshiremen like pies so much. Um, I like pies, and I only moved up here 18 months ago (SRSLY, a whole 18 months). Shame that decent non-meat pies are a pain to get hold of. Still, really happy about this one: Alastair Reynolds scores unprecedented 10-year, 10-book deal from Gollancz for his 'mean line in alien cultures and technology'. Completely different writing style to Charlie, but one I also really like, and it's nice to see grand sweeping plots with a background that seems to make sense. In 'so obvious now you think of it' mode, I concur with
rhodri, I really hope that the designer of The folding plug makes lots and lots of money, especially the multi-plug adapter design. I wants them I does...Slightly more seriously,
denise got interviewed for American NPR, and it's another case of stating the obvious until people listen—social networks that try to make money from ad revenue are going to be in trouble, much better to provide a service people actually want (in DW's case, damn fine blog hosting with a good feed aggregation service bolted on) and charge users for it in some way. By the way, no link for this one, Livejournal is soon going to allow people to host their own adverts on a revenue-sharing model; I personally have less of a problem with this than the way they're plastered all over the dormant basic accounts now, but some of you might like to know...On the subject of blogging, one of its principle strengths has always been what's called "the long tail"—( defined )this tail is getting a lot shorter. Charles Arthur at The Guardian explains why. ( I mostly agree )
Back to silliness. The US economy was too reliant on crap made by General Motors. Have a look at this: Ten Vehicles That Bankrupted GM. Seriously, these things sold? Ouch.
Now, it can't have escaped the notice of most of you that have met me that my wardrobe is, shall we say, a little bit monochrome.
susannah_banana claims I'm not a goth because I'm not goth enough. She's one of the DJs at one of the top goth nights in the UK, but she's wrong, here's why: About Goth [stereo] Types - All Types. I am #19, and I claim my £5. (created by sinju, a now defunct journal that was very very cool while she was still documenting her time in Japan).WANT
More sciency stuff: Flourescent lightbulbs are not the saviour they're being sold as and incandescents have still got some light in them yet. Personally, I can't stand reading by the horribly light they output (we use candles by the bed) and they set of my photic sneeze reflex something chronic.
BASTARDS
One of the best uses of animation within a webcomic I've seen, very cleverly done.
Royal British Legion to Nick Griffin
OK, that's loads. I've cut the images and longer explanations, but left the rest open for easy clicking—if I do a post this long again is that still the best plan?
ETA: I'm getting a massive pile of spam comments on this specific entry, all in Japanese script from what I can see, so I've set anonymous comments to be screened and turned off notification emails, if you want my attention for this post email me directly?
Apes aren't monkeys damnit!
Jun. 26th, 2009 12:21 amDear BBC.
You've just assaulted my eardrums with some music—in a news report on Radio 4, a radio station which has as a selling point a lack of music.
In it, the reporter revealed, once again, a complete lack of basic understanding. Chimpanzees are APES, not MONKEYS. Please send your reporters on a refresher course. I'm sure this little guy is upset enough, you don't need to insult him as well.
You've just assaulted my eardrums with some music—in a news report on Radio 4, a radio station which has as a selling point a lack of music.
In it, the reporter revealed, once again, a complete lack of basic understanding. Chimpanzees are APES, not MONKEYS. Please send your reporters on a refresher course. I'm sure this little guy is upset enough, you don't need to insult him as well.
Brain fried—send aircon
Jun. 2nd, 2009 11:11 pmThose of you enjoying this supposedly "glorious" weather? Spare a thought for those of us that just cannot function in this heat. At all.
Notwithstanding the photic sneeze reflex making going outside (and even driving) a little annoying, the massively high risk of skin cancer groups I'm in from both sides of my family, my brain just seizes up when it's this hot.
I moved to the North to get away from this sort of weather damnit!
( European elections linkdump and ramble )
Coherence might happen tomorrow, if I a) get some sleep and b) have a good brain day.
( Appeal, if you live in London, consider voting for Jonathan Fryer, he bought me beer and is thus a top bloke )
Sorry, I said my brain was fried, right?
In the meantime,miss_s_b dragged me to B&Q today so she could buy more plant pots and stuff to put in them. We got more basil, rocket, oregano and other useful stuff. She also bought a chilli plant. It's a chilli that'll burn your mouth off at 50 paces. It's sat next to her at her computer desk as it needs to be brought in at night.
She's called it George.
I'm doomed.
[1]Honest, it would be.
Notwithstanding the photic sneeze reflex making going outside (and even driving) a little annoying, the massively high risk of skin cancer groups I'm in from both sides of my family, my brain just seizes up when it's this hot.
I moved to the North to get away from this sort of weather damnit!
( European elections linkdump and ramble )
Coherence might happen tomorrow, if I a) get some sleep and b) have a good brain day.
( Appeal, if you live in London, consider voting for Jonathan Fryer, he bought me beer and is thus a top bloke )
Sorry, I said my brain was fried, right?
In the meantime,
miss_s_b dragged me to B&Q today so she could buy more plant pots and stuff to put in them. We got more basil, rocket, oregano and other useful stuff. She also bought a chilli plant. It's a chilli that'll burn your mouth off at 50 paces. It's sat next to her at her computer desk as it needs to be brought in at night.She's called it George.
I'm doomed.
[1]Honest, it would be.
Tags:
Baking suggestions: What should I cook?
May. 28th, 2009 09:42 pmOK, miss_s_b cooked us a lovely veggie cottage pie this evening, with cheap garlic bread using a baguette from Tesco's bargain bin.
So I need to cook pudding after Shrub's gone to bed. I've done loads of steam puddings recently, as well as cookies, muffins, biscuits and bread variants (recipes might get posted on request, I still have the bread recipe in drafts somewhere). So...
Preferably not involving nuts (because I'm allergic) or chocolate (as Jennie's allergic). Stuff involving syrup or jam is an added bonus but not essential.
miss_s_b cooked us a lovely veggie cottage pie this evening, with cheap garlic bread using a baguette from Tesco's bargain bin.So I need to cook pudding after Shrub's gone to bed. I've done loads of steam puddings recently, as well as cookies, muffins, biscuits and bread variants (recipes might get posted on request, I still have the bread recipe in drafts somewhere). So...
Any suggestions?
Preferably not involving nuts (because I'm allergic) or chocolate (as Jennie's allergic). Stuff involving syrup or jam is an added bonus but not essential.
A nice little mix of stuff in this lot, though the politics averse amongst you should be warned that with elections next week there's a fair bit on that, though not much of it is serious.
-
There are elections next week across the UK. In Britain, the votes are counted using the D'Hondt closed list PR system. This is one of the few electoral systems I've encountered I consider to be worse than the one we use for Westminster, when you get critics attacking "PR", they're having a go at this pile of arse, which no one sane suggests for Westminster (and Labour had to force through the Lords after a lot of opposition). If you're not sure who to vote for, and don't want to spend too much time thinking about it, go out and vote either Lib Dem or Green; there's a small chance the BNP could win a seat in the North West. Giving Nick Griffin a tax funded salary and the ability to hire a bunch of staff just doesn't appeal. It's unlikely he'll get in, but it could happen. So just go vote, please? Even if the system is arse, the EU parliament does actually have power these days, even if it's not as much as would be liked.
-
Not a bad bit of viral marketing this: what happens when the stuff on the display screen starts falling over. A nicely animated product catalogue as it slowly blows itself up.
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I pretty much agree with this. Most of us writing our own personal blogs and journals are copying the old small press pamphleteers and chain letter writers. We're just doing it with better technology. Most of the established newspapers grew out of various small presses—the biggest blogs online now have copied this model, bringing in lots of individuals to create a more coherent whole.
-
Some of them really are a bit daft, yes, but still worth thinking about. What the antis always seem to miss is that most supporters of EU membership also constantly argue for reform of the system. That it's a bit crap isn't disputed, how to improve it is. Bit like everything else in life really.
-
A UKIP campaign slogan that doesn't make sense and is based on unfounded and uncosted hyperbole? really? Never would've guessed.
-
There are Euro elections due. One of the issues the EU legislates on is software patents, the Free Software Foundation thinks we should ask the candidates their views on this. Makes sense to me, go do it...
-
The underdog can always win if enough effort is put in. Being able to put that effort in is the main barrier. Does this apply to any walk of life, if at all?
-
Makes sense to me: a successful web technology will have cute cats, porn and activism. If it doesn't have a mix of the three, something isn't working right.
-
This, however, is one of the crazier ideas for solving the EU governance issue—when the paranoid fringes talk about 'plots to break up Britain'? This is the sort of thing they're referring to. But, y'know, interesting idea, even if he does make godawful beer.
-
Apparently from a Spitting Image annual from the mid 80s. It's really quite funny and rather accurate. Note to those supporting Cameron's modern Conservative party (or even those that can remember Major). Yes, Thatcher's Tories really were like this. Some of them still are. That the majority of MPs after the next General Election will be 'untainted' by this association doesn't mean those of us that can remember will trust them.
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If your identity has been used by a fraudster, and you're required to log all your movements, the authorities will keep trying to arrest you. And a national mandatory identity scheme WILL get cracked by a fraudster almost instantaneously. WebOfEvil shares a personal anecdote
-
Dear Warner. Getting YouTube to remove your subsidiaries officially posted music vids because they infringe your copyright means that people won't see your videos. You know, the ones you paid for to advertise your product? Is there a chance that, at some time soon, the recording industry will grow up and get a clue?
-
Paging George! This bloke seems perfect for you girl...
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Heh—banning books from teens makes them more likely to want to read them. So a kid running a library of banned books is encouraging her schoolfriends to read more. Cool
-
I never did understand the whole "he'll grow out of it" approach to my liking of SF and fantasy when I was a teen, why would I WANT to grow out of it? Just because I like Asimov and Stross doesn't mean I can't appreciate Nabokov (who wrote some SF anyway) or the likes, just as liking Therapy doesn't prevent me also liking Dvorak or Gershwin. Silly elitist snobs. Still, at least we're winning...
-
Really. It's a hoversnail. It's cool. Go look.
Ever thought about the influence geography has on the way you vote? You probably ought to, it's had a massive effect on me. Y'see, I grew up in the 80s and did my GCSEs and A Levels in the 90s. that's under Thatcher and Major. But that's not the main reason I distrust the Conservative party, nor the main reason I hate the Tories[1]. That can be explained by a very simple statement.
Anthony Steen was my MP. He's still the MP for my parents, both surviving grandparents, two aunts and four cousins. Yes, that Anthony Steen. For a very very simple reason to hate the git[2], have a listen to this[3]:
( BBC flash embed of the audio of the interview. I can listen to this again and again and again, it makes me happy ) I've met him. He visited my school a few times when I was a kid, and I met him subsequently. He really is like that. That interview has effectively ended his fairly undistinguished career. The great shame is that he's been forced out, because despite him representing one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, his behaviour since re-election in 2005 has been, well, interesting, and I reckon he'd have lost without the most recent revelations. Here are some highlights:
( A summary list of some of the more egregious idiocies he's managed )
So, there you go. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, if you have a git like that as your MP, if you want to get rid of him, you have to vote for the candidate most likely to beat him. If you get used to voting for that party time and time again because they're the best chance of beating the incumbent git, many people begin to consider themselves supporters specifically of that party.
In 1997, I voted in my first General Election, and specifically voted against Steen. It was a vote for the Lib Dem candidate, but also broadly a vote to get the bastard Tories out and replace them with Blair. I often wonder what, if any, my partisan allegiance would be if I grew up in a part of the world where the Lib Dems were a distant third and Labour were challenging the Tories. Let alone if I'd grown up in a safe Labour area where the Tories had no chance.
One of the stupidities of the UK system is that where you live matters a lot more than who you support. I think it's about time we changed that, how about you?
( Footnotes )
Anthony Steen was my MP. He's still the MP for my parents, both surviving grandparents, two aunts and four cousins. Yes, that Anthony Steen. For a very very simple reason to hate the git[2], have a listen to this[3]:
( BBC flash embed of the audio of the interview. I can listen to this again and again and again, it makes me happy ) I've met him. He visited my school a few times when I was a kid, and I met him subsequently. He really is like that. That interview has effectively ended his fairly undistinguished career. The great shame is that he's been forced out, because despite him representing one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, his behaviour since re-election in 2005 has been, well, interesting, and I reckon he'd have lost without the most recent revelations. Here are some highlights:
( A summary list of some of the more egregious idiocies he's managed )
So, there you go. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, if you have a git like that as your MP, if you want to get rid of him, you have to vote for the candidate most likely to beat him. If you get used to voting for that party time and time again because they're the best chance of beating the incumbent git, many people begin to consider themselves supporters specifically of that party.
In 1997, I voted in my first General Election, and specifically voted against Steen. It was a vote for the Lib Dem candidate, but also broadly a vote to get the bastard Tories out and replace them with Blair. I often wonder what, if any, my partisan allegiance would be if I grew up in a part of the world where the Lib Dems were a distant third and Labour were challenging the Tories. Let alone if I'd grown up in a safe Labour area where the Tories had no chance.
One of the stupidities of the UK system is that where you live matters a lot more than who you support. I think it's about time we changed that, how about you?
( Footnotes )
Family, donchajustlovem?
May. 18th, 2009 11:28 pmSo, today was the 2nd annual visit of the parents. They do a lot of weekends away, spent last weekend in Cheshire at an event and have an event next weekend in North Yorkshire, so they come to visit us today and tomorrow.
So we have an attack of planned vs actual.
( So, about that late afternoon arrival time... )
( My Mum orders a 'snack' lunch for us... )
( A damn fine evening meal, only slightly spoiled by not having enough space left in our bellies... )
Tomorrow? We might go to Holmfirth. We might go to Wakefield for the National Sculpture Park (if only just to annoy Germaine "call me Professor" Greer). Don't know yet. I do know it requires us meeting my parents and the ungodly early hour of 10am. Wish us luck.
So we have an attack of planned vs actual.
( So, about that late afternoon arrival time... )
( My Mum orders a 'snack' lunch for us... )
( A damn fine evening meal, only slightly spoiled by not having enough space left in our bellies... )
Tomorrow? We might go to Holmfirth. We might go to Wakefield for the National Sculpture Park (if only just to annoy Germaine "call me Professor" Greer). Don't know yet. I do know it requires us meeting my parents and the ungodly early hour of 10am. Wish us luck.
Linkspam for 14-5-2009
May. 14th, 2009 04:37 pm
The shorter Neil: George R.R. Martin is not your bitch. I still don't get why people can't understand that authors and other creative types don't have on/off switches. I wan the next book too, but I want it to be good, and released when it's ready. In the meantime, I have a whole library full of other books to read.
Oh look, something else we already knew but have to keep repeating because people refuse to believe it. Immigration makes us better off. All of us.
Chris has a historical analysis of MPs pay compared to the average. Does show that they've been going down, comparatively, since the early 80s—strangely, allowances have been going up since then, can't think why. Oh, wait, it was a fiddle created by Thatcher to keep the troop in line but keep the headline salary low. That worked REALLY well didn't it? Can we scrap the stupid allowances scheme, reduce the number of MPs, abolish safe seats and give the replacement lot we elect fairly a decent salary so that there're less absolute numpties and careerist arseholes please?
Interesting talk on how society exploits both men and women, but traditionally in different ways. In many ways it similar in analysis (if not conclusion) to the feminist patriarchy critique, and definitely worth a read as a good contribution to the debate.
Does exactly what it says on the tin. And is probably more accurate than my actual real knowledge.
Of course, the Cornish aren't too happy about this. But then, the Cornish never seem to be happy about anything.
On the subject of the best things coming from Devon, this does of course include pasties. (USians—that's a type of pastry pie, not a silly thing moralists make strippers wear, the A is soft, paaasteee). The British Pie Awards says the best Cornish Pasties are made in Devon. And everyone knows the recipe comes from there anyway.
The (true?) story of how Ada Lovelace became the worlds first superhero crime fighter. Or something. It's cool. And silly. Computers. Invented in Devon. Like all the best things.
Paulie suggests that ISPs should contribute money to content creators out of the money they make selling us connections and similar. Not sure I agree with him, but it's an interesting argument. Much prefer it to the special pleading and subsidy requests some of them are doing at the moment.
Have I mentioned how much I dislike terrible puns? I have? Well, I'll mention it again. Ariane is gorgeous, funny, and smart. But this is one of the biggest collection of terrible fish based puns ever. Even if she is, on balance, having ago at those annoying pescetarians
Well, you will if you like a lot of pics of animals either being cute or in strange poses. I especially like the MeerCat, while SB preferred the snake & robin.
It's a Thesaurus that only throws up shorter synonyms. Useful if a) you use Twitter/SMS a lot or b) you're a verbose git. Like me. Works in the Firefox search box as well, which is nice.
TVSciFi attends a Red Shirt convention. It's utterly daft, but amusingly so.
The good Dr Pack demonstrates that I'm nowhere near the biggest hostiry geek in online Lib Demmery witha pretty good analysis of this classic speech. This REALLY OLD classic speech. Surprising how much it still resonates really, still, those who refuse to learn the lessons and all that...
Andrew makes the point about the damage that can be done to YOUR cause if you, or people on your side, make things up or inflate statistics. One I completely agree with
My (future) mother-in-law is doing a charity run with a friend. She'd appreciate donations. I appreciate a happy mother-in-law. I'm sure you understand, right?
Star Trek and the Small Person
May. 12th, 2009 09:36 pmI knew, when I moved in with miss_s_b, that I was moving in with a massive SF geek. What I didn't realise at the time was the extent that I was moving in with two SF geeks, one of whom was 4 and will be 6 next month.
Today, we took her to see her first film in the cinema. Given she's watched every single episode of TOS and has the Animated Series in her pile of favourite DVDs, the choice was obvious and we figured there was a good chance she'd enjoy it.
We were slightly worried, as it's certificate 12A, which means kids only with an adult, but I did look it up on the rating site and the reasons given made it look like it was fine for her. It was—she had to hold Mummy's hands a few times and give her a hug when Mummy got upset and emotional, but, y'know, what are 5-year-olds for if not to look after their big soppy mother?
I'll spare you the acclamatory review. The casting was excellent, the characters were played perfectly, the whole establishment of the parallel universe thing was cool, the science was suitable crap and full of PSB, they made up at least two impossible plot devices, and I didn't want to kill Simon Pegg. Nimoy was cool, the girl playing Uhura was gorgeous (#29), and there were lots of big bangs and cool explosions.
They didn't destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, but came close—perhaps an actual Trekkie can explain to me why they built the HQ of Star Fleet, the most important institution in the galaxy, on the wrong side of a major fault line?
Anyway—go see, and if the kids like SF, take 'em, just be prepared to hold their hands a few times.
Her review? As the credits rolled:
ETA: Jennie's write up is here.
miss_s_b, that I was moving in with a massive SF geek. What I didn't realise at the time was the extent that I was moving in with two SF geeks, one of whom was 4 and will be 6 next month.Today, we took her to see her first film in the cinema. Given she's watched every single episode of TOS and has the Animated Series in her pile of favourite DVDs, the choice was obvious and we figured there was a good chance she'd enjoy it.
We were slightly worried, as it's certificate 12A, which means kids only with an adult, but I did look it up on the rating site and the reasons given made it look like it was fine for her. It was—she had to hold Mummy's hands a few times and give her a hug when Mummy got upset and emotional, but, y'know, what are 5-year-olds for if not to look after their big soppy mother?
I'll spare you the acclamatory review. The casting was excellent, the characters were played perfectly, the whole establishment of the parallel universe thing was cool, the science was suitable crap and full of PSB, they made up at least two impossible plot devices, and I didn't want to kill Simon Pegg. Nimoy was cool, the girl playing Uhura was gorgeous (#29), and there were lots of big bangs and cool explosions.
They didn't destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, but came close—perhaps an actual Trekkie can explain to me why they built the HQ of Star Fleet, the most important institution in the galaxy, on the wrong side of a major fault line?
Anyway—go see, and if the kids like SF, take 'em, just be prepared to hold their hands a few times.
Her review? As the credits rolled:
Is it over? I don't want it to be over.On the way to the car:
Me: What was the best bit Miss Holly?She was genuinely upset that there wasn't more to see. Wrath of Khan with her soon then (we've got two copies of the DVD after all).
ETA: Jennie's write up is here.
[DW] Profile link icons update.
May. 7th, 2009 05:11 pmIn my Monday post about icons, I gave replacement codes for the 5 icons that DW commonly uses as well as the 3 that LJ commonly uses. I missed one that DW uses, namely direct links to LJs using the new custom site code.
If you didn't know, rather than the old [lj-user="matgb"] code, DW has replaced it with [user name="matgb"], ie removing the LJ bit given, obviously, it's not on LJ. But cunningly, they've also added another option, if you code [user name="matgb" site="livejournal.com"] it will link to matgb on LJ, not DW. And it'll take the LJ usericon from the LJ server as well.
Which would be cool. Except it doesn't auto-discover whether it's a person, community or feed. So my post Tuesday mentioning the Russian President's blog displayed it as a person, not as a community. Which I think is slightly unintuitive and misleading. So I've fixed that.
I've added another bit of code for DW so that off-site links to LJs instead display the LJ pencil, to show it's something on LJ, not a bloke regardless of what it is on LJ. So, if you look at this post on DW using my style, it'll show the little pencil when I repeat the link. Look:blog_medvedev. I suspect I could keep doing these for ages—if you regularly link to IJ, WP, JF or whatever people, y'know what? Sort your own code out, ask me if you need help.
If you didn't know, rather than the old [lj-user="matgb"] code, DW has replaced it with [user name="matgb"], ie removing the LJ bit given, obviously, it's not on LJ. But cunningly, they've also added another option, if you code [user name="matgb" site="livejournal.com"] it will link to matgb on LJ, not DW. And it'll take the LJ usericon from the LJ server as well.
Which would be cool. Except it doesn't auto-discover whether it's a person, community or feed. So my post Tuesday mentioning the Russian President's blog displayed it as a person, not as a community. Which I think is slightly unintuitive and misleading. So I've fixed that.
I've added another bit of code for DW so that off-site links to LJs instead display the LJ pencil, to show it's something on LJ, not a bloke regardless of what it is on LJ. So, if you look at this post on DW using my style, it'll show the little pencil when I repeat the link. Look:
blog_medvedev. I suspect I could keep doing these for ages—if you regularly link to IJ, WP, JF or whatever people, y'know what? Sort your own code out, ask me if you need help.Social media inward looking wankery
May. 5th, 2009 10:01 pmCouldn't resist writing this one up: In post-Soviet Russia, President blogs you. The President of Russia has a Livejournal (blog_medvedev) and updates it (or gets someone to, anyway) fairly regularly.
( LJ, its future, DW not a threat and SUp taking it in the wrong direction )
Ah well. I'm supposed to be writing up what's wrong with the OpenID implementation on both LJ and DW, but I keep getting distracted.
Short version: ( Both sites are problematic, DW has the excuse of being new, LJ has no excuse at all )
That's pathetic. Hopefully the competitive pressure from DW will push them into making more improvements, like it has done elsewhere. Competition is, after all, a good thing, and LJs been stuck in its own little rut with nowt but a bunch of clones for too long.
Meh, rambling. Time to go do something constructive.
blog_medvedev) and updates it (or gets someone to, anyway) fairly regularly. ( LJ, its future, DW not a threat and SUp taking it in the wrong direction )
Ah well. I'm supposed to be writing up what's wrong with the OpenID implementation on both LJ and DW, but I keep getting distracted.
Short version: ( Both sites are problematic, DW has the excuse of being new, LJ has no excuse at all )
That's pathetic. Hopefully the competitive pressure from DW will push them into making more improvements, like it has done elsewhere. Competition is, after all, a good thing, and LJs been stuck in its own little rut with nowt but a bunch of clones for too long.
Meh, rambling. Time to go do something constructive.
Tags:
One of the things I like about journalling platforms based on the LJ codebase is the easy shortcut for usernames that'll link to both the blog itself and the profile, with that nice little logo for the profile link.
I have, naturally, chosen a Doctor Who theme to my replacement images—feel free to replace them with something else if you wish. I forget where I got the original code for to do this, it's heavily updated now, but I'd like to credit the author, so if you know, gimme a link?
Anyway. Dreamwidth users should go to the DW Custom CSS page and paste the code into the big box.
Livejournal users should go to the LJ Custom CSS page and, go on, have a guess...
Yup, copy and paste the code into the box. One little caveat—it's replacing images taken from l-stat.livejournal.com, if LJ changes their CDN again, then the URL might change and the code'll stop working, I'll update it as soon as I know to, it's likely to be a simple change the letter hack (it used to be p-stat.*)
The Colin icon is taken fromallah_sulu's Ten Doctor's. If you want to use different images, then replacing the image location is fairly easy, just make sure you also change the dimensions in the 'padding' area, the first two are effectively height and width.
Ideliberately haven't done one for OpenID accounts, I might change my mind on that but I think the OpenID logo ought to be got used to. I'm considering a DW staff replacement, but not sure what I should go for (either Five or 
appeal a bit). Haven't bothered with sponsored Comms, probably ought to, not doing so means the image won't show up at all.
As always, feel free to link or comment with questions, etc.
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I have, naturally, chosen a Doctor Who theme to my replacement images—feel free to replace them with something else if you wish. I forget where I got the original code for to do this, it's heavily updated now, but I'd like to credit the author, so if you know, gimme a link?
Anyway. Dreamwidth users should go to the DW Custom CSS page and paste the code into the big box.
Livejournal users should go to the LJ Custom CSS page and, go on, have a guess...
Yup, copy and paste the code into the box. One little caveat—it's replacing images taken from l-stat.livejournal.com, if LJ changes their CDN again, then the URL might change and the code'll stop working, I'll update it as soon as I know to, it's likely to be a simple change the letter hack (it used to be p-stat.*)
The Colin icon is taken from
allah_sulu's Ten Doctor's. If you want to use different images, then replacing the image location is fairly easy, just make sure you also change the dimensions in the 'padding' area, the first two are effectively height and width. I
appeal a bit).As always, feel free to link or comment with questions, etc.
Look, a poll in a post
May. 3rd, 2009 03:25 pmOK, testing again. Using the Dreamwidth poll wizard, then looking to see if/how polls crosspost to LJ. Odds are you'll need to login with OpenID to vote, etc, but it's about time you did that anyway.
Poll #197 Poll wizard testing
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 24
Poll #197 Poll wizard testing
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 24
You use the Web posting form for
View Answers
all of your posts
13 (56.5%)
most of your posts 4 (17.4%)
some of your posts 2 (8.7%)
none of your posts 2 (8.7%)
What is this posting thing of which you speak? 2 (8.7%)
The web posting editor
View Answers
You use the HTML page 19 (79.2%)
You use the Rich Text page 1 (4.2%)
You switch depending on need/mood 2 (8.3%)
I told you, I don't use that page 2 (8.3%)
The Rich Text page poll wizard
View Answers
Of course I knew it existed 9 (37.5%)
You didn't? But I thought Mat knew everything 6 (25.0%)
It's quite nifty isn't it? 3 (12.5%)
You mean there's an easy way to post polls? 5 (20.8%)
Polls? That means having a paid account 5 (20.8%)
Ticky Box! Ticky boxes are cool 15 (62.5%)
There is no spoon
View Answers
Yay Matrix! 11 (50.0%)
Yay Dog Soldiers! 6 (27.3%)
Huh? 4 (18.2%)
Mat's forgotten the crucial cultural reference that I shall elucidate in the comments 1 (4.5%)
In amazing news released today, HBO television and renowned author George R. R. Martin have announced they have made a deal with a convicted terrorist in order to film a series based on Martin's Game of Thrones in territory controlled by the terrorist.
OK, the convictions may be over 30 years old, and McGuinnes might now be a senior Northern Ireland politician and deputy first minister, but even so, how cool is this?
Of course, the real question is---( SPOILER )
OK, the convictions may be over 30 years old, and McGuinnes might now be a senior Northern Ireland politician and deputy first minister, but even so, how cool is this?
During our recent trip to Los Angeles, the First Minister and I met with senior executives from HBO to help finalise the deal to bring the TV production hereIt's confirmed, not only are they making a series based on the books, but it's going to be flimed in Belfast, and the two most senior NI politicos were heavily involved in negotiating the deal and made a joint statement announcing it's been finalised. (via)
~~Martin McGuinness
Of course, the real question is---( SPOILER )
Gotta love the Gu
Apr. 22nd, 2009 12:01 amSo, a lot of the recipes I've been looking at going
So while in Sainsbury's today, we had a look. Because Jennie thinks the idea of home cooked creme caramel is a good one, and I wants to make me some mouse.
Individual ramekins in the cookery/homeware isle= £1.50 each.
Gu chocolate puds, complete with nommy chocolate pud and perfectly acceptable ramekins= £1.50 for two, on offer.
Hmm, that was a tough choice. So now I need to cook up and eat 3 more gu puds. Because I had one earlier, and it was lovely. Although I reckon I could make them just as good now I know what I'm doing.
I need a food/cooking icon. Someone want to make/recommend me one?
Hmm, yes pleaselast few days have required ramekins to cook them in. We don't have any ramekins.
So while in Sainsbury's today, we had a look. Because Jennie thinks the idea of home cooked creme caramel is a good one, and I wants to make me some mouse.
Options:
Individual ramekins in the cookery/homeware isle= £1.50 each.
Gu chocolate puds, complete with nommy chocolate pud and perfectly acceptable ramekins= £1.50 for two, on offer.
Hmm, that was a tough choice. So now I need to cook up and eat 3 more gu puds. Because I had one earlier, and it was lovely. Although I reckon I could make them just as good now I know what I'm doing.
I need a food/cooking icon. Someone want to make/recommend me one?
Holy electronic cover version, Batman!
Apr. 20th, 2009 07:26 pmI am having difficulty figuring out words for describing how cool this is:
My quote of the day is from the description:
Also, I'm testing the DW crossposter, apparently there are issues with post edits and embedded videos that we need to iron out. So comments off on LJ and on on DW, I don't plan on making a habit of this until it's way out of closed beta, but you all know me and plans...
My quote of the day is from the description:
Keep in mind the scanner and floppy drive are not musical instruments. These are mechancial devices whose frequencies tend to drift and can cause some notes to be out of tune.Seriously, how cool is that? (via)
Also, I'm testing the DW crossposter, apparently there are issues with post edits and embedded videos that we need to iron out. So comments off on LJ and on on DW, I don't plan on making a habit of this until it's way out of closed beta, but you all know me and plans...
