Sunday, February 27, 2005


Decided to scan in a few photos I took back in Glasgow and at my parents' house in Renfrew. Several of the shots demonstrate my ongoing obsession with Glasgow University tower. (Although I was quite disappointed to see that I seem to have vanished as a person from dcs glasgow, and can no longer get hold of the University ImageBase's shot of the spire from inside :-(  Posted by Hello

Tower and Chapel spires. Posted by Hello

University Avenue by night. Posted by Hello

The Tinderbox coffee shop on Byres Road. The medium cappuccinos are very nice. Posted by Hello

Wimsey taking a well-earned break from terrorising my parents. Posted by Hello

A very autumnal tree... Posted by Hello

Some trees reflected in the park pond. Posted by Hello

Someone walking through the Robertson Park. This was actually taken using some breed of chromogenic film (colour process black and white) and not, as Andy suspected, infra-red film. Posted by Hello

Games Workshop Online Store - Tentacle Pink Paint (2003 range)

At last! Michael bought me a jar of Tentacle Pink paint! Apparently the man in the goblin shop demanded an assurance that he wasn't actually going to paint any of the wee goblins he was buying this colour before he would sell it to him...Games Workshop Online Store - Tentacle Pink Paint (2003 range)

The Mathematical Bridge at Queens' as seen from Silver Street. Posted by Hello

The swan situation this time last year... Posted by Hello

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Swans and Britten

Went along to the first rehearsal of the War Requiem last night in Queens' Chapel. En route I spotted seven swans a-swimming on the river at Jesus Green; well several were asleep and one was on the bank, but I daresay they could have swum had the need arisen. There seems to be a new influx of swans at the moment after a terrible dearth for the last few months. I suspected for a while that the Council had had them assassinated for untidiness, but according to swan websites juvenile swans tend to congregate together until they're about 3 or 4 years old, at which point they find a mate and have cygnets. So it could be that these are the new teenage swans, although they don't seem to be ned swans as Michael feared, with Kappa wings and Burberry beaks.

It was all go in town by the time I got there as everyone was off to formal hall. It's generally a bad idea to cycle down Trinity St. at the back of seven in the winter, as it's barely lit at all and people dressed in long black gowns are likely to swoop out of the shadows into your path at any moment (I nearly ran over a kind of important looking one, complete with mortar-board, last year).

Anyway, finally got to Queens' and crossed the Mathematical Bridge (held together by Hard Sums and Blu-tac) just behind a couple of chefs in tall white hats who were trying to wrestle that evening's dinner over in a cart thing. I'd never been in Queens' before, but it's very pretty and mediaeval - lots of old red-brick buildings and cloistered passageways. And several very hideous seventies buildings, but you can ignore them. The chapel is also very frilly, in a kind of gothic manner (of a fake, Victorian nature apparently).

The rehearsal went quite well; the conductor looked a bit like Adrian and was very jolly and kept saying "Fab", although with the difficulties brought on by Britten's deployment of the Composition Spiders when writing the War Requiem, very little that I sang could have been described as "Fab" :-)

BBC NEWS | England | Cambridgeshire | Park and bride matchmaking trips

BBC NEWS | England | Cambridgeshire | Park and bride matchmaking trips
Apparently people should try out speed dating on one of Cambridge's Park and Ride buses. This is one of the few things I could imagine would make the Park and Ride experience worse than it is already. Allegedly '"The event will also promote Park and Ride as the place to meet people as well as get into the city centre hassle-free," said Alex Gee.'

Generally I find the Park and Ride buses an exceptionally trying experience, frequently characterised by the buses hurtling past when you try and stop them, with the driver waving smugly at you (although there are some very nice drivers). And the only person I remember meeting on one was a very strange man with a bag full of fake guns who sat across from me, saying he would just stare at me for the rest of the journey. Fortunately he changed his mind after I gave him a reproving glance and got off at the next stop...

BBC NEWS | UK | Founder of Amnesty dies aged 83

BBC NEWS | UK | Founder of Amnesty dies aged 83

Monday, February 21, 2005

Singing in the Snow

The madrigals went quite well tonight - it's actually starting to sound like music rather than some sort of dreadful accompaniment to a satanic ritual. The only drawback is that my part is so low that I sometimes can't hear what I'm singing and then I get lost :-( Kathryn and I are contemplating wearing fake beards next time as we're technically singing what would have been one of the men's parts, and in fact the tenor line is mostly higher than ours!

On the way back from Comberton, where we were rehearsing, it started snowing. The snow looked really weird from inside the car, as it seemed to be fanning out towards us from a point, giving a kind of Star-Trek-like "warp speed" effect.

Snow in Cambridge! There never seems to be very much snow here, which is just as well since the entire city grinds to a standstill if there's more than a couple of millimetres. Posted by Hello

Michael in the snow - the autofocus doesn't like the dark much, so the window's very sharp, but Michael's not. Or maybe it doesn't like Michael...;-) Posted by Hello

Sunday, February 20, 2005


Here's the guide thing for Cambridge Castle, which doesn't exist any more, but it does boast the only hill in the city! Posted by Hello

Here is the Castle Mound itself. I walked past it for weeks without registering that it was actually meant to be a hill. And oddly enough, I don't think the castle was ever on top of it. Although, as it's currently suffering from erosion, perhaps it wasn't of a suitable construction for putting castles on.  Posted by Hello

View from the dizzying heights of the Castle Mound Posted by Hello

Westminster College... Posted by Hello

The Library from the Castle Mound Posted by Hello

THE Bookshop! Posted by Hello

Some ducks out punting... Posted by Hello

An eagle on one of St. John's gateposts. Posted by Hello

A yale on the gatepost of St. John's, with the chapel tower in the background Posted by Hello

Here's cycling-with-radio man, as mentioned in yesterday's post. Unfortunately, in the excitement of spotting him I kept confusing all the buttons on the camera, so it's not a very good shot. But note the carrier bag on the handlebars carrying the all-important radio... Posted by Hello

Sepia-ised people on Trinity Lane Posted by Hello

People walking down Trinity Lane Posted by Hello

Towery bits on King's College Chapel Posted by Hello