In an exciting development, I've worked out how to set up automated blog-posts. So even though I'm writing this post on Sunday morning, you won't get to read it until later on tonight, which is when it would make more sense to read it but is also when I'm much more likely to forget to publish it.
Isn't technology marvellous?
(Oh yes, the song. It's a cover version. It's great, and I say that as someone who loved the orginal.)
Sunday 27 February 2011
Monday 21 February 2011
The Poetry of Wine
Lots of half-written but not quite finished blog posts kicking around my drafts folder at the moment. This is (was) one of them.
I bought some winethis last week. I'm on a self-imposed wine buying hiatus at the moment, after an unfortunate episode involving a wine fair and my credit card and some very drunken maths, the details of which are too painful to recount. But after trying this particular wine last week a few weekends ago, I had to make an exception. It's lovely. All smoky and earthy and full of depth; the kind of wine which wraps itself around you like a warm cardigan and makes everything right with the world. I spent ages yesterday some indeterminate number of days after I bought the stuff (I'm really starting to wish I hadn't started this business with the temporal corrections now) trying to work out what it reminded me of, and then I realised.
It tastes like a Robert Frost poem.
I adore Robert Frost. One of the first of his poems I ever read was this:
I bought some wine
It tastes like a Robert Frost poem.
I adore Robert Frost. One of the first of his poems I ever read was this:
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningIt is still one of my favourites. There are others.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Sunday Night Music Club
I was spoiled for choice tonight. So spoiled for choice, I very nearly picked something else. But like the jackdaws, that something else will just have to wait.
This band are, in my opinion, criminally underrated. Yes, they are "modern". Yes, they are slightly mass-produced and yes, they are (or at least they were when they recorded this) barely post-adolescent, testosterone fuelled, pimply faced boys; making them - let's face it - just about the most undesirable creatures on the planet. * But you know what? They sing a darn good pop-song. I'm not afraid to admit it - I love them. Even though I'm probably not supposed to, what with being old enough to be their mother and all.
If jangly guitars, catchy vocals and sunny, innocent lyrics are your thing, then you will love this. If not, then more fool you.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present for your enjoyment: McFly.
If you ever wanted to woo me with music (I know you've been wondering), this song would probably do it. They also do an excellent cover version, as per here (Town Called Malice) and here (Queen's "Don't stop Me Now") and here (beatles)
* Unless of course you're a barely post-adolescent, testosterone loving pimply faced (or otherwise) girl.
This band are, in my opinion, criminally underrated. Yes, they are "modern". Yes, they are slightly mass-produced and yes, they are (or at least they were when they recorded this) barely post-adolescent, testosterone fuelled, pimply faced boys; making them - let's face it - just about the most undesirable creatures on the planet. * But you know what? They sing a darn good pop-song. I'm not afraid to admit it - I love them. Even though I'm probably not supposed to, what with being old enough to be their mother and all.
If jangly guitars, catchy vocals and sunny, innocent lyrics are your thing, then you will love this. If not, then more fool you.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present for your enjoyment: McFly.
If you ever wanted to woo me with music (I know you've been wondering), this song would probably do it. They also do an excellent cover version, as per here (Town Called Malice) and here (Queen's "Don't stop Me Now") and here (beatles)
* Unless of course you're a barely post-adolescent, testosterone loving pimply faced (or otherwise) girl.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Wildlife corner - part two (contains sad news)
This wasn't going to be what part two was about, but then a chance sighting of a story about race-horse breeding reminded me I hadn't dropped by the Alpaca Station website for a while, so I did, and discovered some bad news. The jackdaws (who were supposed to be part two) will just have to wait.
Regular readers might remember Ivano, that pillar of the alpaca community:
Very sadly, he passed away over the winter. There's a nice tribute to him here. I'm genuinely quite moved by this.
Regular readers might remember Ivano, that pillar of the alpaca community:
Very sadly, he passed away over the winter. There's a nice tribute to him here. I'm genuinely quite moved by this.
Wildlife corner - part one
A few days ago, over a long, boozy Sunday lunch I found myself (as you do) debating the existence of purple squirrels. As it turns out, they do exist. Well at least one does. I mean, did. There's a good chance his fur has fallen out by now according to the wildlife experts.
You can read all about Pete the used-to-be-purple squirrel here ; he was first spotted outside a school and various theories have been proposed about how he turned purple. I've been swayed by the suggestion that he'd been chewing on some abandoned printer cartridges, but one of my lunch companions was convinced that "too much beetroot" was to blame. I guess we'll never know.
Sunday 13 February 2011
Sunday 6 February 2011
Sunday Night Music Club
In the summer of 2002 I spent a month driving from New York to Los Angeles, through the (mainly) southern states of the USA
It's a trip I'd highly recommend. We saw, among other things, the Blue Ridge mountains (which made this John Denver fan-girl particularly happy) and cowboys and the White House and cave paintings and Graceland and sea-lions and deserts and beaches and the Mississippi river, and no bears. (Plenty of warning signs about bears, though.) We line danced in Nashville and sang karaoke in New Orleans and sky dived in Las Vegas, and almost drowned in a place I can't remember when our tents got blown away in a massive thunderstorm. Oh, and our van broke down in Death Valley. Twice.
From Nashville to Memphis to New Orleans, to others, this song was playing EVERYWHERE. Irritatingly, it was never released on an album which means it's virtually impossible to get hold of. Which is a shame, because I think it's pretty ace. And after two seconds of listening to it, I'm back in that white van, trundling along an American highway, wondering what adventure will come next.
It's a trip I'd highly recommend. We saw, among other things, the Blue Ridge mountains (which made this John Denver fan-girl particularly happy) and cowboys and the White House and cave paintings and Graceland and sea-lions and deserts and beaches and the Mississippi river, and no bears. (Plenty of warning signs about bears, though.) We line danced in Nashville and sang karaoke in New Orleans and sky dived in Las Vegas, and almost drowned in a place I can't remember when our tents got blown away in a massive thunderstorm. Oh, and our van broke down in Death Valley. Twice.
From Nashville to Memphis to New Orleans, to others, this song was playing EVERYWHERE. Irritatingly, it was never released on an album which means it's virtually impossible to get hold of. Which is a shame, because I think it's pretty ace. And after two seconds of listening to it, I'm back in that white van, trundling along an American highway, wondering what adventure will come next.
Saturday 5 February 2011
Bit Cross
Yesterday in tweets:
@73caroline: DLR delayed. Jubilee line closed. Blackwall tunnel stationary and full of police. #willIevergettowork?
As a lot of Londoners will know by now, there was carnage on the Jubilee line yesterday morning. Now peak hour tube travel is never pretty - crowded trains, minor delays and someone else snatching the last copy of the Metro are all quite the norm for most London commuters – but this was bad even by those standards. For about two hours, from 7.30am until half past nine, there were no trains running in either direction between London Bridge and Stratford. None at all.
By the time I tweeted the above, I had been trying to get to work for about an hour and a quarter. Normally I catch a bus from my house to the DLR station at Woolwich. The same bus goes on to North Greenwich tube station, but I’ve worked out it’s slightly quicker to get off at Woolwich, catch the DLR to Canning Town and pick up the Jubilee line there. More changes, but it shaves about ten minutes off the journey and, as an added bonus, there’s a bus from Canning Town station to my office. As any Jubilee line user will tell you; it’s always good to have a backup plan.
Just before I left home I caught a news bulletin on the radio which said there were minor delays on the DLR. No problem, I thought. I’ll just stay on the bus all the way to North Greenwich. A change is as good as an arm which is fore-warned, and all that. (I may be mixing my metaphors slightly.) The news about the Jubilee line came to us, via the bus driver, just long enough after we’d passed the DLR station to make it not worth going back. But that was fine. As a seasoned Jubilee line user, I had a Plan C up my sleeve. Plan C involved getting on another bus at North Greenwich which would take me, via the Blackwall Tunnel, to Bromley by Bow. Which it did ,eventually, but not before it spent several life-times sitting in the Blackwall tunnel.
I did get to work finally; about two hours after I first left home, and half an hour late. I wasn’t the only one.
@LDN: TfL to refund passengers affected by Canary Wharf disruption this morning http://LDN.in/i9C2NW (via @anniemole)
I was mildly irritated by this headline; the ‘disruption’ I experienced this morning wasn’t anything to do with Canary Wharf. Stupid lazy journalism (I thought). I clicked the link which took me to a news story on the Transport for London website, and then my blood began to boil.
@73caroline: FUMING about this: http://LDN.in/i9C2NW Jubilee line runs through the most deprived areas of London. Why only Canary Wharf users refunded?
Turns out it wasn’t lazy journalism. Turns out that TfL are going to refund tube users who suffered yesterday morning, and give them a free trip home. But only if they get on or off at Canary Wharf or its neighbouring DLR stations.
Within minutes, I had a reply:
@Cbp76: @73caroline dont think u read that properly mate, try again
I don’t know @Cbp76 at all, so the ‘mate’ rankled me slightly, while the ‘try again’ tacked on the end seemed needlessly patronising. Still, I re-read the article carefully.
It said exactly what I thought it said.
@73caroline: @Cbp76 Er, think I did, actually! Canning Town passengers, say, would be refunded if they were fined for incomplete journey ->
@73caroline: @Cbp76 <-- but someone who commutes from/to Canary wharf would have had their fare waived completely. Doesn't seem fair....
I still think I'm right about this. Here, word for word, is the information as it appears on the TfL website:
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Transport for London are offering passengers some kind of compensation, even if they’re only doing it because Boris Johnson shouted at them for making him look like a bit of an idiot.
What I’m not happy about is the inequity. Especially since as a whole, the people getting on or off the tube at Canning Town or Stratford are going to be a)less financially solvent and b)less able to navigate their way through the complicated process of applying for a refund than the ones using the stations at and around Canary Wharf. Who, let's face it, will mostly be bankers.
Now I know that I'm generalising slightly. And yes, I know that bankers are easy targets. But why give the automatic refund and a free journey home to them, but not to the other commuters who were affected? The ones to whom the extra money might make a real difference? It seems fundamentally unfair to me.
@73caroline: DLR delayed. Jubilee line closed. Blackwall tunnel stationary and full of police. #willIevergettowork?
As a lot of Londoners will know by now, there was carnage on the Jubilee line yesterday morning. Now peak hour tube travel is never pretty - crowded trains, minor delays and someone else snatching the last copy of the Metro are all quite the norm for most London commuters – but this was bad even by those standards. For about two hours, from 7.30am until half past nine, there were no trains running in either direction between London Bridge and Stratford. None at all.
By the time I tweeted the above, I had been trying to get to work for about an hour and a quarter. Normally I catch a bus from my house to the DLR station at Woolwich. The same bus goes on to North Greenwich tube station, but I’ve worked out it’s slightly quicker to get off at Woolwich, catch the DLR to Canning Town and pick up the Jubilee line there. More changes, but it shaves about ten minutes off the journey and, as an added bonus, there’s a bus from Canning Town station to my office. As any Jubilee line user will tell you; it’s always good to have a backup plan.
Just before I left home I caught a news bulletin on the radio which said there were minor delays on the DLR. No problem, I thought. I’ll just stay on the bus all the way to North Greenwich. A change is as good as an arm which is fore-warned, and all that. (I may be mixing my metaphors slightly.) The news about the Jubilee line came to us, via the bus driver, just long enough after we’d passed the DLR station to make it not worth going back. But that was fine. As a seasoned Jubilee line user, I had a Plan C up my sleeve. Plan C involved getting on another bus at North Greenwich which would take me, via the Blackwall Tunnel, to Bromley by Bow. Which it did ,eventually, but not before it spent several life-times sitting in the Blackwall tunnel.
I did get to work finally; about two hours after I first left home, and half an hour late. I wasn’t the only one.
@LDN: TfL to refund passengers affected by Canary Wharf disruption this morning http://LDN.in/i9C2NW (via @anniemole)
I was mildly irritated by this headline; the ‘disruption’ I experienced this morning wasn’t anything to do with Canary Wharf. Stupid lazy journalism (I thought). I clicked the link which took me to a news story on the Transport for London website, and then my blood began to boil.
@73caroline: FUMING about this: http://LDN.in/i9C2NW Jubilee line runs through the most deprived areas of London. Why only Canary Wharf users refunded?
Turns out it wasn’t lazy journalism. Turns out that TfL are going to refund tube users who suffered yesterday morning, and give them a free trip home. But only if they get on or off at Canary Wharf or its neighbouring DLR stations.
This seems fundamentally unfair to me. Particularly since, as noted in my tweet, the very eastern end of the Jubilee line runs through the borough of Newham, which regularly pops up on ‘most-deprived-areas-of-the-country’ lists.
Within minutes, I had a reply:
@Cbp76: @73caroline dont think u read that properly mate, try again
I don’t know @Cbp76 at all, so the ‘mate’ rankled me slightly, while the ‘try again’ tacked on the end seemed needlessly patronising. Still, I re-read the article carefully.
It said exactly what I thought it said.
@73caroline: @Cbp76 Er, think I did, actually! Canning Town passengers, say, would be refunded if they were fined for incomplete journey ->
@73caroline: @Cbp76 <-- but someone who commutes from/to Canary wharf would have had their fare waived completely. Doesn't seem fair....
I still think I'm right about this. Here, word for word, is the information as it appears on the TfL website:
Customers who exited Canary Wharf Tube, or Heron Quays, West India Quay or Canary Wharf DLR between 07:15 and 10:30 this morning will have their journey fare refunded.
Any passenger who incurred incomplete journey charges during this period at these stations, or while travelling through any station on the Jubilee line between London Bridge and Stratford, will have these automatically waived.
In addition, anyone travelling from Canary Wharf (Jubilee line or DLR), Heron Quays or West India Quay between 16:00 and 20:00 this evening will have their journey fare automatically refunded.
The refunds, which apply to Oyster pay as you go users, will be applied automatically when passengers travel through the gate line as usual at their regular station.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Transport for London are offering passengers some kind of compensation, even if they’re only doing it because Boris Johnson shouted at them for making him look like a bit of an idiot.
What I’m not happy about is the inequity. Especially since as a whole, the people getting on or off the tube at Canning Town or Stratford are going to be a)less financially solvent and b)less able to navigate their way through the complicated process of applying for a refund than the ones using the stations at and around Canary Wharf. Who, let's face it, will mostly be bankers.
Now I know that I'm generalising slightly. And yes, I know that bankers are easy targets. But why give the automatic refund and a free journey home to them, but not to the other commuters who were affected? The ones to whom the extra money might make a real difference? It seems fundamentally unfair to me.
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