Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. Today is my last day at work until June 15th and I've been trying to get things finished off before I go home tonight. Add to that the fact that I've battling through a cold and you'll understand that blogging has been done my list of priorities a little. It hasn't helped the cause that it took twice as long to get to work as normal this morning. All in all, a bit of a nightmare.
Although I won't be at work for the next two weeks, I will still be blogging since we're not going away (apart from a weekend break somewhere, hopefully).
I have just about managed to keep up with how the chain has developed; there are now at least twenty posts in ten separate strands and it continues to grow. I'm going to be adding to one of the strands when I can find a spare five minutes (probably tomorrow, then) so look out for that. I hope you're all enjoying following the links into unknown areas of blogland and seeing how the theme mutates along the way. Hopefully, you'll find your blogroll expanding as a result of reading someone new through chainblogging.
I think the ultimate sign that this latest venture of mine has been successful will be if when I come back to work there are still new posts being added to the chain. That would be absolutely fantastic.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Chainblogging Update
Chainblogging has been going for a day now and we already have at least eleven posts across six strands. The longest strand has five posts in it and from here goes via Blue Witch , Headcleaner, and Santiago Dreaming to Lost Pilgrim.
So far we have had posts on a variety of subjects, including weddings, photography, music and living in the country. I think it's fantastic to see it working so well.
However, I don't think we've reached critical mass yet. Maybe a few more strands reaching out into parts of the blogworld that aren't normally seen from here and this could really become huge. So if you haven't participated, yet, then why not do so? Add to an existing strand or start a new one from somewhere.
BTW, I've noticed that when some of you are writing your posts, you're only linking back to the blog that came before yours in the chain instead of the specific post. While this is okay for now, before long the posts will start disappearing into archives and the chain will become much harder to trace backwards. If you use the permalink to the previous post then the chain will last for ever.
Keep up the good work and watch as this thing grows...
So far we have had posts on a variety of subjects, including weddings, photography, music and living in the country. I think it's fantastic to see it working so well.
However, I don't think we've reached critical mass yet. Maybe a few more strands reaching out into parts of the blogworld that aren't normally seen from here and this could really become huge. So if you haven't participated, yet, then why not do so? Add to an existing strand or start a new one from somewhere.
BTW, I've noticed that when some of you are writing your posts, you're only linking back to the blog that came before yours in the chain instead of the specific post. While this is okay for now, before long the posts will start disappearing into archives and the chain will become much harder to trace backwards. If you use the permalink to the previous post then the chain will last for ever.
Keep up the good work and watch as this thing grows...
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Chainblogging: Tube Adverts
Have you ever noticed how the adverts at London tube stations vary depending on where you are? Like any other sort of advertising medium, it's most effective when it's tailored to the audience and that is the reason for these differences.
Adverts for West End shows are prolific everywhere but especially so at the major railway termini, like Euston and Waterloo, where tourists entering the city are most likely to see them. Of course, in Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square you see little else.
Along the shopping corridor of Oxford Street you start to see ads for department stores and exclusive boutiques, trying to tempt you as you travel up the escalator. In particular, Tottenham Court Road is full of adverts for electrical goods, in light of the plethora of electronics stores just up the road.
Quite naturally, you'll see ads for major tourist attractions in the local tube stations; London Zoo at Camden Town; the museums at South Ken; the London Dungeon at London Bridge.
The widest range of all can be found in the heart of the financial city. At Bank station you'll see posters for shows, job opportunities, holidays, personal finance, alcohol, newspapers, books and all sorts of other products. It looks like an odd mix to start with until you see that the advertising is targeted at two different sets of people; those who want to further their careers and those who want to escape from them.
So, next time you're underground, staring blankly at the posters as you go past, why not take a little more interest in them and see if you can work out why that advert in front of you is there and who is meant to see it.
This is part of a chain of posts linked together by word association. The previous link in the chain was here. If you want to write another link here's what to do: Find a word, phrase or theme from this post to inspire your own and go and write it. It's that simple. Try not to write something that's similar to this post. That way the subject of the posts along the chain will vary. E.g. if I write about going to the doctor's, then don't talk about the last time you were ill, instead describe how you used to play Doctors and Nurses with the girl next door. Get the idea? Your post can be in any style you want. Copy this paragraph and tack it onto the end of your post, updating the link to point here, then leave a comment here that points to your new post.
Adverts for West End shows are prolific everywhere but especially so at the major railway termini, like Euston and Waterloo, where tourists entering the city are most likely to see them. Of course, in Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square you see little else.
Along the shopping corridor of Oxford Street you start to see ads for department stores and exclusive boutiques, trying to tempt you as you travel up the escalator. In particular, Tottenham Court Road is full of adverts for electrical goods, in light of the plethora of electronics stores just up the road.
Quite naturally, you'll see ads for major tourist attractions in the local tube stations; London Zoo at Camden Town; the museums at South Ken; the London Dungeon at London Bridge.
The widest range of all can be found in the heart of the financial city. At Bank station you'll see posters for shows, job opportunities, holidays, personal finance, alcohol, newspapers, books and all sorts of other products. It looks like an odd mix to start with until you see that the advertising is targeted at two different sets of people; those who want to further their careers and those who want to escape from them.
So, next time you're underground, staring blankly at the posters as you go past, why not take a little more interest in them and see if you can work out why that advert in front of you is there and who is meant to see it.
This is part of a chain of posts linked together by word association. The previous link in the chain was here. If you want to write another link here's what to do: Find a word, phrase or theme from this post to inspire your own and go and write it. It's that simple. Try not to write something that's similar to this post. That way the subject of the posts along the chain will vary. E.g. if I write about going to the doctor's, then don't talk about the last time you were ill, instead describe how you used to play Doctors and Nurses with the girl next door. Get the idea? Your post can be in any style you want. Copy this paragraph and tack it onto the end of your post, updating the link to point here, then leave a comment here that points to your new post.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Post Association
You may remember, and indeed have taken part in, the word association games the Blue Witch played a few weeks ago. Well, that sort of gave me an idea for another CBS Blogevent. Not word association but Post Association.
Tomorrow I am going to write a post and I want you to pick out something I from it; a word or phrase or something; and use that to inspire a post on your own blog. You will in turn ask your readers to do the same and hopefully we'll have a chain of connected posts in a few days or so.
There won't be many rules to follow or anything; just a simple explanatory note to put at the top of your post and to leave a comment on the post you've just been inspired by so people can follow the chain from beginning to end.
I think the best resuls will come out of this if you try and go off at a bit of a tangent from the last post in the chain. For example, if I write about going to the doctors, then instead of you writing about the last time you were ill, talk about how you played Doctors and Nurses with the girl next-door when you were kids or something. Get the idea?
Also, whatever you write about, try and allow plenty of points of inspiration for anyone who might want to follow on from your post.
That's about it really. The first post in the chain will appear here tomorrow lunchtime.
Tomorrow I am going to write a post and I want you to pick out something I from it; a word or phrase or something; and use that to inspire a post on your own blog. You will in turn ask your readers to do the same and hopefully we'll have a chain of connected posts in a few days or so.
There won't be many rules to follow or anything; just a simple explanatory note to put at the top of your post and to leave a comment on the post you've just been inspired by so people can follow the chain from beginning to end.
I think the best resuls will come out of this if you try and go off at a bit of a tangent from the last post in the chain. For example, if I write about going to the doctors, then instead of you writing about the last time you were ill, talk about how you played Doctors and Nurses with the girl next-door when you were kids or something. Get the idea?
Also, whatever you write about, try and allow plenty of points of inspiration for anyone who might want to follow on from your post.
That's about it really. The first post in the chain will appear here tomorrow lunchtime.
Up and Down
I was down in Bristol at the weekend for a friend's birthday. Having been out late on Saturday night and slept in most of Sunday morning, we decided it would be a good idea to walk up to Clifton, see the suspension bridge and get some lunch.
My friend and her boyfriend live in a flat at the base of the hill near the waterfront. The bridge, which famously spans the Avon Gorge, is a mere half-mile away. However, to get there, you have to climb the hill and boy, was that tough. The slope averaged about 1 in 5 and was as steep as 1 in 4 in places and we were knackered when we got to the top. Still, we were there and walked across the bridge and back, admiring the views (which are fantastic). From there we walked the rest of the way up onto the downs (not much further, really).
At that end of the downs, near the cliff face, is a camera obscura and the entrance to something called Giants Cave. This is a cave about halfway up the cliff face that you could get to via a tunnel out the back of the observatory. We'd seen it from the bridge and it was only a pound to go down there so we decided to do it.
The cave is about ninety feet down from the top of the cliff and the tunnel down to the back of it goes pretty much straight there, so it's ridiculously steep. There are steps all the way, but the problem is in the height of the tunnel. My friend is only about 5'6" or so but even she had to bend at times. Towards the end of the tunnel it got so steep that you couldn't bend forwards any more and instead had to lean backwards and try and peer round your feet to see where you were going. Nice.
Once we were down there we spent a few minutes looking out at the view and standing out from the cliff face on a metal grill, trying not to look at the drop immediately beneath us. Not good is you don't have a head for heights. Thankfully, I do. We then killed ourselves getting up to the top again and swore never to do it again.
As we were heading back towards Clifton to go for a drink, we passed what my friend called the "Slidey Stone" - a great slab of rock which is exposed from the hillside. This slab is sloped fairly gently and down the middle of it a path about 15-20" long has been polished smooth by the passage of generations of bottoms. There were people sliding down it even as we stood and watched; nervously starting off at the top before picking up speed and frantically trying to stop before the smooth rock ran out and a rough sandstone boulder began. Not all of them were entirely successful and a couple of faces were contorted in pain as the came to a halt.
For some reason I refused to have a go.
We then went for a drink on a terrace overlooking the gorge. We basked in the sun and let our legs recover before we took ourselves off again, down the hill to the flat.
All in all it was a very good weekend. I just have to catch up on some sleep, now.
My friend and her boyfriend live in a flat at the base of the hill near the waterfront. The bridge, which famously spans the Avon Gorge, is a mere half-mile away. However, to get there, you have to climb the hill and boy, was that tough. The slope averaged about 1 in 5 and was as steep as 1 in 4 in places and we were knackered when we got to the top. Still, we were there and walked across the bridge and back, admiring the views (which are fantastic). From there we walked the rest of the way up onto the downs (not much further, really).
At that end of the downs, near the cliff face, is a camera obscura and the entrance to something called Giants Cave. This is a cave about halfway up the cliff face that you could get to via a tunnel out the back of the observatory. We'd seen it from the bridge and it was only a pound to go down there so we decided to do it.
The cave is about ninety feet down from the top of the cliff and the tunnel down to the back of it goes pretty much straight there, so it's ridiculously steep. There are steps all the way, but the problem is in the height of the tunnel. My friend is only about 5'6" or so but even she had to bend at times. Towards the end of the tunnel it got so steep that you couldn't bend forwards any more and instead had to lean backwards and try and peer round your feet to see where you were going. Nice.
Once we were down there we spent a few minutes looking out at the view and standing out from the cliff face on a metal grill, trying not to look at the drop immediately beneath us. Not good is you don't have a head for heights. Thankfully, I do. We then killed ourselves getting up to the top again and swore never to do it again.
As we were heading back towards Clifton to go for a drink, we passed what my friend called the "Slidey Stone" - a great slab of rock which is exposed from the hillside. This slab is sloped fairly gently and down the middle of it a path about 15-20" long has been polished smooth by the passage of generations of bottoms. There were people sliding down it even as we stood and watched; nervously starting off at the top before picking up speed and frantically trying to stop before the smooth rock ran out and a rough sandstone boulder began. Not all of them were entirely successful and a couple of faces were contorted in pain as the came to a halt.
For some reason I refused to have a go.
We then went for a drink on a terrace overlooking the gorge. We basked in the sun and let our legs recover before we took ourselves off again, down the hill to the flat.
All in all it was a very good weekend. I just have to catch up on some sleep, now.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Rail Disruption
Today is the last day that trains on the West Coast Mainline (the Silverlink part of it, anyhow) will be running without disruption until 21st June. There are minor amendments to the published timetable over this weekend but on Monday the fun and games really start.
There is a revised timetable in effect for Monday to Friday next week. In actual fact, we appear to benefit from this change rather than suffer. Our usual morning train (the 7.49 from Hemel) is still running but now appears to be starting from Hemel, so there should be plenty of seats available. In the evening, not only is our normal train running as it does now but there is an additional service leaving just four minutes earlier that is first stop Hemel, which will shave about 15 minutes off our homeward journey. During the off-peak times of the day, services are more drastically affected.
Tomorrow week things get worse. The whole of the West Coast Mainline from Euston to Birmingham will be closed for nine days, ensuring travel chaos will ensue. For the four workdays that fall into that period, rush-hour passengers will be taken by bus to nearby stations on alternate lines that will hopefully be able to cope with the extra numbers. For us that would mean going to Amersham and getting on the Metropolitan Line. Going from Amersham to Moorgate would take 75 minutes (about as long as the journey takes me door-to-door at the moment) so the total journey time would be up at two hours or more. We've done the sensible thing and booked time off instead.
On Monday 7th June the line reopens again but next week's revised timetable is in force for another two weeks before everything gets back to normal.
So, what will they be doing during all this disruption? Well, there's actually quite an impressive list of work that should be going on over the next month. It includes putting in new signalling, repairing bridges, overhead line maintenance and lengthening some platforms so that all stations can hold twelve carriage trains. It's this last one that interests me the most because it should mean it will become easier to get a seat in the future.
If they were to do all of this work at weekends, it would take months to complete and, to my mind, it's as well to get it all out of the way as soon as possible. I just hope it's all worth it and we will end up with a better, more reliable rail service as a result.
There is a revised timetable in effect for Monday to Friday next week. In actual fact, we appear to benefit from this change rather than suffer. Our usual morning train (the 7.49 from Hemel) is still running but now appears to be starting from Hemel, so there should be plenty of seats available. In the evening, not only is our normal train running as it does now but there is an additional service leaving just four minutes earlier that is first stop Hemel, which will shave about 15 minutes off our homeward journey. During the off-peak times of the day, services are more drastically affected.
Tomorrow week things get worse. The whole of the West Coast Mainline from Euston to Birmingham will be closed for nine days, ensuring travel chaos will ensue. For the four workdays that fall into that period, rush-hour passengers will be taken by bus to nearby stations on alternate lines that will hopefully be able to cope with the extra numbers. For us that would mean going to Amersham and getting on the Metropolitan Line. Going from Amersham to Moorgate would take 75 minutes (about as long as the journey takes me door-to-door at the moment) so the total journey time would be up at two hours or more. We've done the sensible thing and booked time off instead.
On Monday 7th June the line reopens again but next week's revised timetable is in force for another two weeks before everything gets back to normal.
So, what will they be doing during all this disruption? Well, there's actually quite an impressive list of work that should be going on over the next month. It includes putting in new signalling, repairing bridges, overhead line maintenance and lengthening some platforms so that all stations can hold twelve carriage trains. It's this last one that interests me the most because it should mean it will become easier to get a seat in the future.
If they were to do all of this work at weekends, it would take months to complete and, to my mind, it's as well to get it all out of the way as soon as possible. I just hope it's all worth it and we will end up with a better, more reliable rail service as a result.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Memories of Parties Past (II)
One of the best nights out I had in Manchester was New Year's Eve in 1997. I was back from Germany for a few weeks and was kipping for a couple of nights on the sofa in the place that my ex-housemates were now sharing with my ex-girlfriend (we're still friendly so it wasn't a problem). There were quite a number of us staying there plus a few more staying elsewhere so there was getting on for twenty of us going out in all.
We started off the evening at the house, drinking and making merry before we went out for the night. We'd each paid a fiver, which doesn't seem like a lot now but back then we thought it a bit steep, to get into a pub called Hardy's Well in Rusholme. If you know South Manchester at all then you may well know Hardy's. It's on Wilmslow Road at the southern end of the Curry Mile and it has a huge poem covering almost the whole of one of the side walls. You can't miss it if you're heading up Wilmslow Road towards the university. When we got in there, the pool table was miraculously free and we commandeered it, and the surrounding area, for the night.
At about nine o'clock there were a couple of stand-up routines. The first was some guy from Key 103 and was largely unmemorable. The second, though, was the legendary Frank Sidebottom. Him of the giant papier-mache head and squeaky voice. Absolutely mad but absolutely brilliant.
The night moved on towards midnight and we were having a great time. The music (cheesy disco tunes) was just about right for the mood we were all in, the beer was flowing well and we had almost exclusive use of the pool table. After the bells had rung to signify the new year had begun and we'd sung the obligatory round of Auld Lang Syne, the music started right back up again with that all-time cheese classic, YMCA. Amazingly, we were pretty much the only people in the pub who knew the dance so we took it upon ourselves to teach everyone else. And we did, even if it meant having to repeat the track three times.
Eventually we were chucked out of the pub and made our way, drunk and happy back to the house to carry on until we passed out wherever we stood.
At another time, a night like that could quite easily have fallen quite flat but the combination of people, music, entertainment and alcohol that night was such that we all had a fantastic time and we still talk about it from time to time even now.
We started off the evening at the house, drinking and making merry before we went out for the night. We'd each paid a fiver, which doesn't seem like a lot now but back then we thought it a bit steep, to get into a pub called Hardy's Well in Rusholme. If you know South Manchester at all then you may well know Hardy's. It's on Wilmslow Road at the southern end of the Curry Mile and it has a huge poem covering almost the whole of one of the side walls. You can't miss it if you're heading up Wilmslow Road towards the university. When we got in there, the pool table was miraculously free and we commandeered it, and the surrounding area, for the night.
At about nine o'clock there were a couple of stand-up routines. The first was some guy from Key 103 and was largely unmemorable. The second, though, was the legendary Frank Sidebottom. Him of the giant papier-mache head and squeaky voice. Absolutely mad but absolutely brilliant.
The night moved on towards midnight and we were having a great time. The music (cheesy disco tunes) was just about right for the mood we were all in, the beer was flowing well and we had almost exclusive use of the pool table. After the bells had rung to signify the new year had begun and we'd sung the obligatory round of Auld Lang Syne, the music started right back up again with that all-time cheese classic, YMCA. Amazingly, we were pretty much the only people in the pub who knew the dance so we took it upon ourselves to teach everyone else. And we did, even if it meant having to repeat the track three times.
Eventually we were chucked out of the pub and made our way, drunk and happy back to the house to carry on until we passed out wherever we stood.
At another time, a night like that could quite easily have fallen quite flat but the combination of people, music, entertainment and alcohol that night was such that we all had a fantastic time and we still talk about it from time to time even now.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Further Recollections
Today, the backblog goes even further back in time, almost as far as it can go, to Feb 1999 with a tale of a beginning.
Is that a bomb in your pocket...?
If you happen to live in London or the Home Counties you may have seen a local news item a couple of weeks ago about armed police patrolling stations in Hertfordshire on the off chance they might find a terrorist. It's really just for show; a way of reassuring passengers that Hertfordshire Police are on the lookout for terrorist activity.
Well, this morning they were at Watford Junction; patrolling the platforms, probably conducting random searches, you know the sort of thing. I tell, you, it's one thing seeing them on the news but actually in front of your eyes it's something else.
Those guns. Bloody hell they're big. You definitely wouldn't want to be looking down the wrong end of one of them. They're not you prissy little handguns. These are huge, mean-looking semi-automatic weapons. Very impressive.
I thought about it as we pulled out of the station. I think that's probably the first real gun I've ever seen; in this country, at least. It didn't shock me, though. You get so used to seeing them on the news, I suppose, that seeing them for real doesn't come as a surprise.
In the seats directly behind us was a woman and her young daughter. The girl couldn't have been more than five or six and as the train was sat alongside the platform said:
"Mummy, does that policeman use the gun to shoot bad people?"
"Yes, he does" (in a tone that said "No, he doesn't but you're too young to understand the difference")
"But we're not bad, are we?"
Out of the mouths of babes.
Well, this morning they were at Watford Junction; patrolling the platforms, probably conducting random searches, you know the sort of thing. I tell, you, it's one thing seeing them on the news but actually in front of your eyes it's something else.
Those guns. Bloody hell they're big. You definitely wouldn't want to be looking down the wrong end of one of them. They're not you prissy little handguns. These are huge, mean-looking semi-automatic weapons. Very impressive.
I thought about it as we pulled out of the station. I think that's probably the first real gun I've ever seen; in this country, at least. It didn't shock me, though. You get so used to seeing them on the news, I suppose, that seeing them for real doesn't come as a surprise.
In the seats directly behind us was a woman and her young daughter. The girl couldn't have been more than five or six and as the train was sat alongside the platform said:
"Mummy, does that policeman use the gun to shoot bad people?"
"Yes, he does" (in a tone that said "No, he doesn't but you're too young to understand the difference")
"But we're not bad, are we?"
Out of the mouths of babes.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
May Madness
There's something about the month of May when it comes to having children. Yesterday morning, 4 birthday cards for people in my department landed on my desk for me to sign. Then, at lunchtime, we all went to the pub to celebrate with another two members of the department who were suddenly a year older.
At the end of last week there was a seventh birthday and, I think, an eighth earlier in the month. So, between a quarter and a third of the department were born in May. That's a pretty high proportion.
What is it about balmy August evenings when it comes to making lurve?
At the end of last week there was a seventh birthday and, I think, an eighth earlier in the month. So, between a quarter and a third of the department were born in May. That's a pretty high proportion.
What is it about balmy August evenings when it comes to making lurve?
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