Random buzzings

This LJ may well spend a lot of time as 'friends only' - So, you know the score : Comment to be added

Okay.  I am impressed.
There are a few nits I could pick but nothing that derails it too badly for me.  I am looking forward to the concluding episode tonight to see how they tie it all up.

(Comments when unscreened may contain spoilers)


( Behind the cut there may be spoilers )

Just before the heatwave, I cut the meadow area back... ooops.  The subsequent spell of hot weather has turned it into a bleached patch with a few green bits (the indestructible grass)

The experimental veg' patch has run its' course, I've let it run to weeds as the weeds are (as I thought) actually wildflowers from a previous attempt at creating a meadow that have lain dormant.  Nice to have a few poppies at last :)

I placed a plastic tub in the shallows of the pond and filled it to the rim a couple of weeks back and the level within it has more or less tracked the level of the pond as a whole, so that puts the leak worry to bed.

The water crowfoot has died back and gone a slightly unattractive mushy-pea colour, so I've hauled a lot of it out before it rots.
There's a lot of filimentous algae in the shallow area (with water temps in the high 20's for a week solid I am unsurprised).  I'll keep pulling it out as an when I can, but it's not a huge problem at this stage.

The Brooklime plant has put out a few tiny flowers, very pretty.  The Creeping Jenny flowered over the latter part of June, which was a nice sight.

The surface of the pond is alive with pond skaters and there are lots of water boatmen and diving beetles still, which would probably explain why the tadpole population didn't make it.

The buried tubs for marshy plants don't seem to have yielded much of a result and the anenome I planted has died off, as have all the wild garlic.  We shall have to see what comes up in the spring I suppose.

But I'm raising a metaphorical glass to the three guys who never got to go - Chaffee, Grissom and White, the crew of Apollo One.


One of the mission patches for Apollo 1 was left on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11, so if you want to see their memorial... look up.

If ever there was a case in point for "why having people around you who can say 'no' when you try and do something stupid is important" it's Michael Jackson.   I am pretty sure that had his fame and money not meant that he could tell anyone who disagreed with him to f--k off, his life might have been strewn with a few less glaring clusterfraks.
I likened him to some of the Roman Emperors, all he had around him were panderers and sycophants with a vested interest in the whacky status quo (Honorius and his pigeons being something that struck a chord for me).

Is it heartless to say that I don't think he would have enjoyed growing old?

It's a shame he died before he had a chance to rescue his career (if not his reputation) but as my wife observed, the comeback tour he had planned for later in the year will be forever a "What if?" in the hearts and minds of his fans, with no chance of him disappointing them or cancelling due to ill health.

On a nerdy note... Michael Jackson would not have been out of place in the game universe of "Unknown Armies" although I've no idea what his occult schtick would be as most of what I learned about that game is purely from having been a few sessions of a truly amazing campaign thatjfs kindly let me in on.

As the relative who turned up (deliberately?) late to my mother's funeral once said "A troubled soul now at peace"

Somewhere, by the way, is a parallel universe in which he got to play Jareth the Goblin King in 'Labyrinthe'...  think about that ...

The Mekong river dolphin and the mexican vaquita, two species of cetacean are not long for this world.

Short of someone building a very very big aquarium or neutron bombing the human population of the countries surrounding their natural ranges pretty sharpish, they're doomed.

Just... damn it.

Losing species is one thing. losing species with Potential (*) is just gutwrenching.

ETA - There's more cetaceans up sh-t creek than just those two, which just makes me feel sick.



(*) Uplift potential  - See the SF works of David Brin

Somebody said I was cool the other day...

This perplexes me, as it's never been an adjective I'd've associated with myself.  I don't even DO anything 'cool'.

I've read that the studio had a word with Joss Whedon partway through the first season of 'Dollhouse' and asked him to change various aspects of the show.
I am beginning, I think, to see the first signs of this... Assuming that is that one of the things they mentioned was "Do we need QUITE so many gratuitious fanservice shower and underwear scenes?"  The first few episodes are essentially softcore nerd-porn in places and in a show that is about what amounts to rape, that's perhaps... unnecessary and sending the wrong message?

I get that Whedon is playing with existential concepts here, the artificial persona using the body is able to give consent so technically that's not rape and I suppose that's where Joss is going with some of this... Listen to Jubal Early in the Firefly episode "Objects in space" , that's Pure Joss Whedon Philosophy.  "If someone isn't in their bedroom, is it still their bedroom or do they have to be there to imbue it with purpose"

But it makes me more than a tad uncomfortable watching the high tech equivalent of drugged up crack whores though.  As the series is developing however we're getting more nuances and less fanservice, so maybe it's the usual Whedon thing of taking his time with the exposition and development. 

The Dollhouse is doing something utterly reprehensible to most moral compasses and the people running it aren't shown as moustachio twirling villains.  That's interesting too, as is the fact that one of those opposing the Dollhouse is not someone you'd want to get locked in an enclosed space with.

Or is it just me?

"Does that seem right to you?"

Yesterday we had some friends around for one of our intermittant game nights.  All afternoon the cat had been hanging around the downstairs office room and staring at the woodburning stove.  I thought we'd got "a live one" as in - a mouse, vole or rat let loose in the house courtesy of the cat.  So, I put down the live capture traps in that general area and kept the cat out the way to give whatever it was a chance to scurry out of whatever crevice and hopefully get caught.

Hours pass, no sign of the rodent.

Just as our guests were arriving, I poked about in the inglenook with a poker to see if I could flush the creature out.  I heard a noise from the woodburner.

Perplexed, I opened the door.

Now, we've not cleaned it out since we last used it, so it was full of clinker and ash. I looked in and one of the bits of clinker sprouted wings and flew out into the room.

A sparrow had managed to get down the chimney and into the stove!

We opened all the windows to the room and shut the door and after a few minutes it found the way out.

We've got a crowcatcher on the chimney so I'm a bit surprised it managed to get through it.

The cat saved that bird's life :)

Of course, I reckon he was telling me "Light the fire dad!  Light the fire! "

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8107039.stm

One in four South African men questioned in a survey said they had raped someone, and nearly half of them admitted more than one attack.


Say what now?

Looking at the coverage of the Romanian families being harrassed and attacked in Belfast I can't help but notice that the media is being very careful to not mention that (unless I am horribly mistaken) they are Roma Gypsies.

Given that the Roma get a very 'Daily Mail' treatment in the media a lot of the time with past reports dwelling on themes such as : Portraying them as asylum seekers with questionable adherence to the law, no jobs, squalid living habits, some relaxed attitudes to when you can marry your children off and how closely related you can be to the person you marry them off to, I am intrigued.

A sudden outbreak of media scruple?

Or is the spin "Racism is the new Sectarianism" the story people want to be telling about Northern Ireland at the moment?

Seeing Martin "Guess what I used to do for a living" McGuinness passionately declaring that "Attacking people based on their race or religion" is wrong could cause some of us with longer memories than the average flatworm to splutter our cornflakes but even so... fair play if he means it these days.


EDITED TO ADD - I notice they get listed as Roma on the BBC website. Just not on the TV reports. Interesting

(Well, A level physics anyway)

Anyone care to check my maths? :)

Taking the formula at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_does_water_evaporate to calculate water loss rates for my garden pond :

( Their formula )

Adjusting the windspeed to the average 5mph for most of the UK (~2.25 m/s)


((2.486-1.4916)x0.089 + (2.25x0.0782V))/2272 =0.0001163 kg/s/m2

The pond is about 1.8m2
So, per day that's 0.0001163 x 1.8 x 3600 x 24 = 18 kg

Or, about two decent sized buckets.

Does that seem right?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8100579.stm  "Primeval cancelled after three series"


It was hokum but it was fun hokum.
( RPG Nerd comment )

Make that two actually...

Ken Hite's "Day after Ragnarok" setting for SW
AND
The fact that they're releasing "Space 1889" as a setting ...

I love "space 1889" - Victoriana in space, before steampunk was overdone in gaming.  Alien princesses, scheming Belgians... what's not to like?

Up the Ox and Bucks!  Up the Ox and Bucks!

Sloth in my case...


Turns out my player group are free every weekend in June (well, a quorum of them are anyway) so I may be running a game tomorrow and/or next weekend at the very least.


Bugger


I have somewhat failed to do any prep work since the last session.  I think I was so used to their being a total cat herd when it comes to getting them to commit to a game date that I didn't believe I was going to get it sorted any time soon.

Nice to be wrong I suppose...

So then... there they are, middle of an enemy city, blundering around with hardly a single dot in Streetwise or Investigation between them, trying to unravel the schemes of a diabolist cult.
(see LJ passim)

What to do... what to do....

Only a few bees in the bee post this year thus far, although there're some in the holes in the masonry of the shed at least.  Not sure if the pole is in some way less appealing to them this year or if it's just not a good year for bees?

Lettuce and Spinach are meeting with the rabbit's approval.

No sign of any tadpoles in two weeks, I suspect they've paid the price for being near the bottom of a vibrant food chain.  Maybe they metamorph'd early but I am not convinced.

Still got at least one newt in there at least.

Blue damselfly showing interest in the pond, which was a pretty sight.  Less pretty but equally interesting was the presence of at least three quite sizeable damselfly nymphs in the pond shallows, having a good old lurk.  (see tadpole concerns above)  They either hitched a ride on a plant or were deposited soon after the pond was put in just under a year ago.

Loads of mayfly larvae or similar still in the pond and there are loads and loads of small waterboatmen and lesser diving beetles.  Pond skaters are out in force too.

Saw a flatworm the other week, primitive but cool, bimbling about the pond.

When a pond plant has a latin name like Veronica beccabunga, you can't not buy it really (aka Brooklime).  Also bought a water violet to go in the pond.

Wildflower area seems mostly to be yellow rattle, which is a disappointment.  Have re-mowed those areas that seem to be entirely stray lawn grass, buttercup, yellow rattle and plantain to see if anything else fights through.  Other areas are at least a mix of that lot and some native grasses, sedges and one or two flowers.

Tubs of annual butterfly mix going great guns, we've even seen some butterflies this week.  First 'proper' bumblebee of the season wandered past me this morning.

Bought a Wisteria, so we have the mystic triple of Otapu's tribe... "Primula, Wisteria, Leylandii"

Grapevine seems to be recovering.

Despite my finding adverts ironically or comedically using themes like the Dambusters or Great Escape funny, for some reason I get offended by adverts like the one I saw in a fashion magazine recently, featuring a model stradding a spitfire.
Call me a hypocrite or whatever, but there you go, it hacks me off and seems disrespectful to an extent that the old Carling Black Label ad' didn't.

However, it is not the most offensive use of a Spitfire I have seen all week.

Sadly, that distinction goes to the BNP (*) flyer I got through my door on Monday.

I mean, these people have no sense of irony surely?  An organisation that would more than likely have spent the years 1939-1945 behind barbed wire on the Isle of Man had it existed at the time using the imagery of the 'Finest Hour' to intimate that they are patriots?

What, I wonder, would the BNP stance be on admitting several thousand short, non-white fellows and their families into the UK following Joanna Lumley and her fellow protestors sterling work over the last few years eh?

Dear Gods of Olympus, I beseech thee, let them doorstep me...   I haven't gone to Defcon One with my acid tongue and hatred in quite some while.
Or of course, I could play "Nazi sympathy chicken" where you agree and agree and agree with them, slowly escalating the level of racism and evil in the conversation until you cross the line that they're comfortable with.

But I doubt I'd be that lucky.

(*) For the non-British readers that's British Nazi National Party

Well, it's Star Trek, but not as we know it.

That said, I rather liked it.
There've been some comments about the moral compass issue (Heya kadath) and the portrayal of Uhura and I totally agree there, Orignal Series had a strong moral tone, even if StarFleet can be likened to imperialistic root beer and there were some aspects to the movie that lacked that morality I think.  Uhura was a ground breaking character 40 years ago, just giving her a few more lines and making her a love interest is not progress, not 40 years worth.  I'd expect better from that franchise/fandom.   I can only hope that any sequel gets a chance to set that right.
The new McCoy was bang on for my money, brilliant introduction.
Sulu's fencing  has changed a bit... but I can live with what he uses if you're going to use it for actual combat outside of 17th century France.
Cadet Gaila looked rather fetching and I'm among those crossing fingers that we've not seen the last of her.  What can I say... those green Orion women :)  (Looking at the actress without the makeup, greening up seems to make you look plumper - Bit like Drow makeup I suppose)

The baddies... well, Yeah... bitter and mental is a good motivation.

All in all, 7/10 and I can see why the fans are divided with little room for shades of grey.

I really -ought- to stop shouting "squirm you corrupt feckers!  squirm!" when the political section of the news comes on (and thanks to the Torygraph, that's a lot of the news of late).

However...


I am of the opinion that it's good for politicians to be uncomfortable once in a while, actually... more than just once in a while.

Listening to them whine, bitch and moan about having their literal dirty laundry (or bills for the cleaning thereof) aired in public has been an amusing spectacle and I look forward to the report by the Commitee on Standards in Public Life... to paraphrase a certain Chinese leader, "I think it would be a good thing" (Standards in public life that is, that aren't the double sort).

They published the total parliamentary expenses last year, take a look at the Rt Hon Dennis Skinner MP's total and then compare it to the others.  Gotta love the Beast of Bolsover, less than 7 grand(*) when the average seemed to be 120k and you can hardly call him a quiet or ineffectual constuency MP.

When I can think of a way to be polite, I really need to drop my MP a line.  Not best pleased with the way he voted on the Ghurka issue (he is very loyal to the whip) but to be fair, a good man for the constituency. 


Speaking of Ghurka matters... Doesn't the immigration minister squirm well?  Mwuh ahahah

Go on Miss Lumley... stand against him in the next election... I'll bung a tenner into the warchest :)



ETA : (*)  Dennis Skinner's expenses in total are about 60k, rather than 6 but looking at his figures overall, my point remains.  (Also his figures in past years are pretty good too)