Civilization

I've just finished Civilization: The Six Killer Apps of Western Power by Nial Ferguson. He makes some compelling arguments for the success of the Western world over the the rest. He terms the six killer apps

• Competition
• Science
• Medicine
• The Rule of Law
• Consumption
• Work Ethic

I broadly agree with his thesis and there is some interesting historical fact backing up the arguments. I found the bit about the protestant work ethic a bit of a stretch, but overall a really good read. It made me wonder if we really are seeding our own destruction by allowing the erosion of the rule of law and failing to instil a good level of education on the masses.

I got an example yesterday when my colleague and I were talking about a sugar free drink, I related a piece from BBC TV's Trust me I'm a doctor, in which they showed that saccharine an artificial sweetener can cause (in some people) a rise in blood sugar. At which point another colleague piped in "yeah because the Nazis experimented on the Jews with aspartame". I know what your thinking, saccharine is a different sweetener than aspartame! I'm not sure where on earth she got this one from. the NAZI's did indeed experiment on the Jews in terrible human trials. Not however with aspartame, given it wasn't actually synthesised until 1964, nearly 20 years after the second world war ended.

I put together a timeline;

• 1879 Saccharin discovered
• 1^st September, 1939 Start of World War 2 establishment of Jewish Ghettos
• 17^th July 1941 Hitler gives Himmler responsibility to eliminate “any perceived threat to German Rule
• October 1941 OPERATION REINHARD sees upto 2 million Jews killed across Europe
• Spring 1942 establishment of Auschwitz-Birkenau as  a mass killing facility, in which 1 million Jews were murdered mostly using poison gas Zyklon B
• 1^st August 1944 Warsaw uprising, the aftermath of which led to the Germans raising the entire city of Warsaw. Up to 200,000 people were executed. There included soldiers, Jews and Polish civilians who harboured Jews
• 9^th May 1945 Victory in Europe
• 2^nd September, 1945 End of World War 2 following atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• 25^th June 1950 Start of Korean War
• 27^th July 1953 Division of Korea
• December 1965, while James Schlatter was re-crystalling aspartame from ethanol, the mixture spilled onto the outside of the flask. Some of the powder got onto his fingers. Later, when he licked his fingers to pick up a piece of paper, he noticed a very strong sweet taste.

Sunburn

Judging by this year's presents haul I have successfully transitioned from a couch potatoe to a runner. I got a run light from Kath to shine a light in dark places, a useful pouch and drinking bottle from Paul and Saskia. It s all useful as I train for my first marathon in April. Yep you read that correctly, I have signed up to run 26.2 miles. So far my longest distance is 15 miles but I have a couple of months to train so hopefully I will make it.

Bruce must think I am destined for a life of crime, he gave me an amazing see through padlock and a set of lock picks.

Regardless of the presents it was a special Christmas  for me as Kath and I spend our first ever Christmas day together. Previously she had always been working. Its been a year of changes for us, Kath moved over to the UK for good in March. Then just this month she started her first job in the UK at the Countess of Chester hospital. I could not be more proud of her.

We went to see my parents on Christmas day they made the traditional meal, whether it was because Kath was joining us for the first time the meal was spectacular. The turkey cooked to perfection and even though he nearly forgot to give us the potatoes they were done to perfection.

Two pieces of transport related news today, I contacted TfGM to enquire whether there were any plans to port the excellent journey planner to mobile devices.

Great news;

I am pleased to advise you that TfGM are currently building and testing new travel planning tools. At the end of this year we will have scheduled travel information on the TfGM website.
We will then build on this in early 2016 by including real-time information for bus, train and tram. At this time, we will also enable customers to register for updates on services they are interested in; notifications and information on updates will come to you via email, text alerts and push alerts to mobile apps. This service will enable customers to receive information regarding cancellations or delays for services they have registered for.
This information will be available on the TfGM website and will be mobile friendly. Along with this, TfGM will also be delivering dedicated mobile apps on iOS Apple devices, Android and Windows Phone.
Additionally, real-time data will be integrated into information displays at the more recent TfGM interchanges; however, real-time data will not be available at bus stops. Updates on this will be found on the TfGM website in the near future:

In addition to this, Manchesters' smart card for transport 'getmethere card' is too be made available for bus travel. You can load getmethere with the SystemOne travel cards. You can order a getmethere card for free (for a limited time). It seems to be accepted by most bus companies operating in Manchester.

The bay

One of the things which differentiate humans from animals is our ability to learn not just from our own experiences but to be able to learn from others.

Kath is proving her abilities this morning doing her specialisation exam in Warsaw. I am here too sat in the hotel bar waiting for her to return. I have very faith in her abilities but exams are fickle, all questions are easy when we know the answers. I have my fingers crossed for her.

We arrived on Tuesday night, taking an Uber from the airport to the hotel. It was the first time I used uber and I was very impress with the service. Not only do you know where and when you driver will arrive but you also follow a real time map to your destination which stops the driver taking the scenic route. You get a free credit if you follow my link to sign up.

After arriving in the middle of the night we decided to have a long lie in and take a lazy day to relax before the stress of the exam. We wondered around the largest mall in Warsaw, then in the evening went for a burger at Cwiercfuciak. Its an excellent burger joint, and very friendly too.

Afterwards we retired to the bar for a relaxing drink. I don't know how Kath slept but I tossed and turned, I think I am more stressed for her then she is for herself. I had lots of dreams about the past, things that were, and things that could have been. I guess we are all products of what we have done and what we learn from.

I am currently reading Five Star Billionaire, its about the lives of several different characters diverging set in the backdrop of a thriving but dangerous Shanghai. It took em back to travelling there, the combination of extremes the modern colliding with the past, the throngs of people everywhere all striving.

I think I might have overdone it a little

In the last few weeks we have been very busy. It started with a trip to Snowdon to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.

We have become parkrun junkies since we started running together a few months ago. With the drive to Wales on Saturday we didn't want to miss out on our weekly fix of free 5KM run. I planned ahead and on our journey to Wales we stopped off to take park in the Conwy parkrun. Conwy was excellent, the run started at the lovely bird sanctuary then out along the river up to the castle before continuing along the river before looping back. It is a flat and fast track which I managed to get within two seconds of my personal best and so did Kath. After the run we enjoyed a coffee while admiring the view of the Wildlife park. It was very picturesque. So as not to be sweat we went for a shower at the nearby Conwy leisure centre before continuing on to Bangor for lunch.

Kath and I lunched at bar called The Feral Cat, I had a huge Feral Cat burger and it was fantastic and well deserved after all the excercise we have done. As the check in at the hotel was in the late afternoon we decided not to waste the day and go to visit Penryhn castle. It is an incredible place, a huge castle to wonder around complete with a small railway museum on to the side. It was like something out of Downton Abbey and to be honest impressed Kath and I more than our recent visit to Holyrood Palace. It was certainly a lot quieter and easy to enjoy looking around, but its so well kept and full of interesting bits to see. Also (as it really paid off) we became members of National Trust, looking forward to local Cheshire (and not only) adventures, especially Lyme Hall for free!

Cookies on top of Snowdon

After wandering round the castle and gardens we set off to Llanberis. We checked into the Y Gwennedd Inn. It is a small independent inn right in the centre of the village. The staff were really friendly but there were a few niggles with dodgy repair work, our shower head was held up with gaffer tape!

On Sunday Kath and I enjoyed the generous full English breakfast before heading out to make the long walk up Snowdon's Llanberis path. The path is 8 km from the Inn to the summit. At the top of Snowdon we reached 1044 meters above sea level. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best. The visibility at the top was less than 100 meters. On the way down the rain hit us hard lashing down and turning the pathway into a river! What was really incredible was the number of people walking up a mountain completely unprepared for the moody forecast. The weather report was warning of high chance of rain and wind, yet they chose to walk in trainers and not bring waterproofs but umbrellas instead, incredibly stupid!

The day after we both felt pretty exhausted, but it was our anniversary! Two years and we are as happy as ever. We headed off home, stopping once more at Conwy for a walk around the walls and the town. It has been years since I spent any time in the town. We had a great time wandering around. We made one more stop on the way home at Cheshire Oaks. I treated Kath to a new pair of running trainers for our cotton anniversary, as she really wore off the old pair.

Panoramic of Conwy Harbour

To finish our anniversary we headed out to the Odeon Screen Unseen in Trafford Centre. The film they played was Me Earl and the dying girl. Screen Unseen is a cheap ticket price but you have no idea what the film will be. We were lucky as it was an excellent film we both enjoyed and a great way to round off our day.

Today was Cycle to Work Day 2015 so I cycled into the office, it is about 9 miles each way. After getting home to stay on track with my training plan I went out for a run, it was only 8.5KM but I really struggled and had to stop and buy a Lucozade to get the energy to finish. Fortunately apart from a drop on the 5KM I managed to make it at a reasonable pace.

Fitbit

Just wanted to write a post about how good fitbit customer support are. After buying my surge I absolutely loved it. Not only does it track steps, stairs climbs, and calories burned but it also has GPS to accurately track runs. I sync it with strava to get distance speed, terrain and maps, along with time.

Anyway I have been super happy with my surge, right upto unto Friday morning when after cycling the 10 miles to work I found that my surge had condensation behind the screen.  Given Surge is supposed to be waterproof up to 5 atmospheres I was more than a little surprised.

I contacted fitbit via there web support, and after a short conversation the agent arranged for a new unit to be sent out to me in 10-14 days. It was so simple, I cannot recommend fitbit enough right now.

In contrast, I ordered a TrackR from expansys. A trackR is a GPS locator which is suppose to let you tag something and track it so stop it getting lost. It arrived and basically is useless. It wont sync with either my One Plus One android phone nor with Kaths Iphone 6. I tried to contact expansys for an RMA, no response as yet other than a stock your message will be answered email. Very disappointing.

Woodbank running

Yesterday Kath and I met up with Helen for a parkrun in Woodley. It was a lovely sunny morning, though a little on the warm side for putting in a personal best so I settled for 25:59 64th place. Its quite a good parkrun, starting off from the athletics track going round Woodbank park then into Vernon Park, then looping round once more before finishing back at the track. The drop then climb in Vernon Park is very challenging.

My car was in for some work at Nissan nearby so it was a convenient parkrun, but also a good one with nice views of Stockport on the run downhill in Vernon Park.

I had the rear brakes and bushes changes along with a new Xenon bulb, all told an expensive morning, made better thanks to the running.

Kath and I spent the evening playing some games, I tried to teach her how to play Mario Kart.

Play it: Manchester

On Friday evening Kath and I headed into Manchester to visit Play it. An exhibition of computer gaming over the last 30 years. With everything from Classic systems, like the BBC micro including Atari, Commodore and Spectrum, Megadrive, SNES and Nintendo 64 through to PC, PlayStation and Xbox. To the ultra modern demos using Oculus rift.

I got to relive my childhood playing Mario Kart, PacMan, and Goldeneye amongst others.

Kath had never seen some of the computers and games before, a legacy of growing up behind the iron curtain. It was great watching her playing Sonic the hedgehog, collecting rings and blazing round at hyperspeed.

Kath also enjoyed the classic BBC Micro, as shown in the picture.

After the exhibition we went for a Byron burger in Piccadilly Gardens. Before running to catch the train home, an exciting evening!

A run in the park

This morning I did my twelve parkrun, at Woodbank in Stockport. parkrun is a great concept, every week at 9am on a Saturday there are free timed 5KM runs in parks all over England. Everything is done by volunteers using free public spaces. Since I started I have visited several in the local area including Bramhall, Wilmslow, and Wythenshaw. We even managed a leisurely jog in Edinburgh. Any ability level can take part in a parkrun even, from a super fast 16 minutes to simply walking the course in 50 minutes.

My first parkrun was Cheadle Hulme back in September 2014. I managed 5km in just under 30 minutes, 29:43. Todays effort my second best parkrun to date was 25:37. I suppose 4 minutes isn't a bad improvement in just under a year.

I got Kath into it too she has run 11, catching me up by one when I volunteered as a Marshal at Wilmslow.

Since starting parkrun I have done several other runs including the excellent Great Manchester Run. With an excellent atmosphere I and 39,999 other runners took to the streets of Manchester for  a 10km race. My time was 54.58 which for a 35 year old who spends most of his life sat behind a screen isn't too bad at all. Hopefully with a bit a of practise I can improve next year. I certainly find that I run faster in a group of people than when I am on my own. I guess I just havent learned to pace myself nor push myself hard enough.

Distant Past

After enjoying watching the Vulcan last week we fancied some more. Fortunately for us Sunday was Manchester Airshow 2015. Kath and I headed to Manchester City airport at Barton for the show.

There was a park and ride scheme so we parked at the Trafford Centre and took the bus to the airport. We arrived just in time to catch the BAC Strikemaster.  The show was split into two parts, with 5 displays in each.

The Strikemaster couldn't use the grass airfield at Barton. It jetted around the sky.  Next up was the Pitts S1S Special flown by Lauren Richardson, she put on a fantastic display of acrobatics. Lauren was followed by Steve Caver in the Special 260.

Changing tack then the Huey helicopter made us feel like we were extras on M.A.S.H.  then the air total Gyrocopter proved that I still don't really understand how gyro copter fly. They do fly exceptionally well, putting on a great display.

Finally to end the first part of the show the Battle of Britain display of a spitfire and a hurricane. They were incredible still looking great and they put on a good show flying together in formation then breaking to put on individual displays.

In between the displays we decided to grab a bite to eat as it was 13:00. Unfortunately they facilities provided were somewhat in inadequate. It took us over 1 hour in the queue during which the weather changed from blazing sunshine to overcast. The queue were worse for the ladies toilets stretching back as far the eye could see. Overall the display was great but they really need some more people organising on the ground and more toilets and food stands otherwise people wont come back.

We watched the start of the second act while in the queue, the chinook was particularly impressive. A colleague informed me that unless its regularly tuned two rotors produce so much torque it rips them in two!

We had planned on staying until the death but after eating the heavens opened and the rain came down. We made our way to the bus back getting soaked. Good old Britain, sunburn and a soaking all in one day.

Vulcan to the Sky

Yesterday Kath and I went to a very crowded Woodford to watch possibly the final flyover of a Vulcan bomber XH558.

The Vulcan was built at Woodford factory by AV Roe and had service in the RAF from 1956 until 1984.

Designed as a strategic strike bomber it relied on speed and high altitudes rather than onboard weaponry to avoid detection.

Its primary use was as a nuclear deterrent, and was therefore made more or less redundant with the introduction of the Trident nuclear submarines.

The Vulcans were used in operations in during the Falklands conflict.

It was a day tinged with sadness that the aircraft factory is now mostly demolished and nothing like this will be build again at the site.

Edinburgh

Kath and I travelled to Edinburgh on Thursday morning after the Foo Fighters concert. It is a long drive, having enjoyed the gig a lot the night before, we listened to most of the Foo Fighters albums en route and then moved onto the the Manic Street Preachers Holy Bible.

It was the first time Kath had listened to whole album and I made her read the lyrics. It is a dark album full, but cleverly written so I hoped she would like it.

We arrived and checked into the hotel. Then, curious of what was out there, took the 15 minute walk to the town centre, we strolled through some of the Royal Mile before finding somewhere to eat. Fancying something spicy we tried out the Gurkha cafe and restaurant. It was excellent Nepalese food, even better than the Ayo Gurkhali back home in Wilmslow. Feeling full but not ready for bed we decided to go and watch a film. There was a small Odeon cinema hiding underneath a restaurant on the way back to our hotel. We watched the modern remake of Poltergeist, it passed the time for our tired brains. Then went back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

Our first full day in Edinburgh we headed to the Castle, starting with the excellent free walking tour then exploring the many buildings there, including the Scottish Crown Jewels.

After the Castle we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Albanach. A charming pub restaurant on the Royal Mile. While eating our fish and chips Kath got her IELTS results, which she passed brilliantly! With an extra spring in our step, food and a few drinks in our belly we walked along the Royal Mile to Holyrood. There we had a wonder the very modern Scottish Parliament building on our way to the Palace.

The Palace was impressive however its mostly faded glamour, the grandeur was put in a long time ago and is simply maintained. It was interesting to see the place where Mary Queen of Scots lived and her confidante David Rizzio was killed.

In spite of all the walking we decided to go on an evening ghost tour. There are many walking tours which tell about the dark heart of Edinburgh, stories about the body snatchers Burke and Hare, the disputed final resting place of David Rizzo and infamous villains of the Cowgate were all brought to life by our guide. It is clear there is a lot of grizzly history to draw on.

Saturday we planned to see the Manics in the evening, but we started the day by going on the Edinburgh parkrun. It was the best parkrun we had done so far, taking place outside the city on the Cramond/Silverknowes Promenade. We took it easy and enjoyed jogging in such nice surroundings and glorious weather.

After a shower and a change, we spend the day taking in the Scottish National Gallery. There are some amazing works in there including those by Rembrandt, Turner, and Degas. It is large and took us quite some time to walk around.

In the evening we went out for some sushi before heading to Usher Hall. Usher Hall is quite an impressive building, we had seating on the top but the view was good. Unfortunately the seats were pretty uncomfortable, I was actually glad that there was an interlude so I could stretch my legs.

The Manics did a full rendition of the Holy Bible complete with 90's era costumes. Then a set of their greatest hits. I really enjoyed the venom of the Holy Bible you can see how much they have changed especially songs like Your Love Is Not Enough.

Everlong

Wednesday Night Kath and I started our mini break to Edinburgh in Manchester as went to see the Foo Fighters at Old Trafford Cricket club.

I had a bit of back ache thanks to an over enthusiastic training session at the gym. The painkillers meant that I couldn't drink so we opted to drive to Didsbury and catch the metro to Trafford park from there.

Kath has never been to a stadium gig before, so I was excited taking her. I little dismayed that the weather was true to Manchester form, rain! Fortunately just before the start of the gig the rain lightened then petered out.

We arrived early at 7 but weren't in time to catch the support acts. The Foos started early with a promise they wold play as long as possible with no encore. The set list was amazing starting off with Everlong, and covering all there hits. They also did a set of covers including an amazing version of Queens under pressure with Taylor Hawkins doing a perfect Freddy Mercury.

Filing out of the concert with 40,000 people our ears were ringing but we had smiles on our faces. Joe B posted on Facebook he could hear the concert 5 miles away in Levenshulme.

Tears in the rain

Kath and I have been having a few days of cinema. On Sunday after a lovely BBQ at Bruce's house we headed to Odeon to watch Avengers Age of Ultron.

Bruce and Nina had put on a great spread, smoked beef, chilli and other tex mex style dishes. It was great to see them and Connie, even is she did cry after Nina made me hold her. Ian and Helen turned up which was a nice surprise, Helen put Kath and I to shame by doing parkrun while we sat in bed. Joe and Holly look like they might be moving home soon which is exciting, and of course Nick and Charlotte, who didn't attend the BBQ are getting married next Saturday.

We watched Avengers on IMAX at the printworks. It was well worth spending the money on such a visual feast. I really enjoyed the film in spite of a few hammy moments, and odd pacing it was an entertaining watch.

Last night was a different sort of film altogether, one I am not sure would be made today. We went to see the Final Cut of Blade Runner. In spite of it being one of the seminal films defining the way futuristic films looked for over two decades Kath had never seen it. Its starting to get a bit dated now, the dire predictions of a future 2019 when Los Angeles is under a constant cloud and humans are colonising space using replicant slaves.

Replicants are banned on Earth and Deckard the main character played by Harrison Ford is a replicant assassin or Blade Runner. Deckard is tasked with hunting down several replicants including a Nexus 6 the newest and most powerful form played by Rutger Hauer. Along the way we meet Raphael, a Nexus 6 who doesn't realise she is not human thanks to implanted memories.

Panned in its initial release in 1982, the film has become a cult classic. While some directors cough George Lucas have steadily diluted their original vision the re-cutting of Blade runner has made it an even more enjoyable film, increasing the tension and immersion of the futuristic world.

The replicants force us to ask existential questions about ourselves, they are more real, more physical with an artificially short lifespan. what makes them less human, is it because humans designed them even though they are superior to humans in physically and in some cases mentally. Towards the end of the film Rutger Hauers' character tells Deckard he has seen things that he can only dream of, in some way the replicant being more than human.

One question I have wondered is whether Deckard is a replicant? At one point Racheal asks him if he has ever taken the test used to differentiate replicants from Humans. The police chief also refers to him as a killing machine after retiring one of the replicants.

Even if in the 1980's predicted the city of the future 2019 would have flying cars but still use payphones and photographs, it is an incredible vision which still looks unique and is one of my favourite films.

Changes

Two weeks ago saw the end of our five years of wait. Kasia said goodbye to Poland and moved to the UK. I went over to Poland, helped her pack up the last of her clothes into suitcases, and we had meet ups with her friends there to say goodbye. Kath was pretty emotional on Saturday night as we said by bye to her close friends, I hope some of them will visit us in the UK before too long.

Back in the UK it has been quite an adventure so far. Trying to reorganise the house a bit and fit everything in has led to no less than four trips to Ikea. Initially the idea was to use a company to make a custom wardrobe, we contacted Sliderobes whom have a local office in Stanley Green. However the prices we were quoted were pretty steep to start with and rose quickly as we configured the interior. In the end we worked out that we could have a very similar Ikea wardrobe with all the extras and have enough money left over to buy a new desk, chair for Kath and to pimp up my old wardrobe putting in a light divider and trouser rack. Our fantastic new PAX wardrobe was complete with mirrored sliding doors, lights, and draws including a special cufflink jewellery drawer. It is a little smaller than the alternative but at 1/4 of the cost we lose only a few square feet.

Kath helped me to clear out my office, tons of old books and wires finally going away. The spare room is now set up for Kath, with her text books, desk and chair.

Apart from furniture building we have been enjoying ourselves catching up with people, we took my mum and dad out for mothers day for a great meal at the Bull Head.  Kath has been studying for the IELTs exam she must take before she is able to get a licence to practice as a doctor in the UK.

Craptops

I bought my dad a new laptop for Christmas, a little HP it was really cheap but surprisingly capable of running all the sorts of application he needs.

The only disappointing thing about it was the amount of junk software installed. Not just lots of useless apps put actually dodgy apps ready to hurt the unwary. For the first time I saw an uninstalled which on one of the steps actually installed more software! Basically relying on the social engineering that most people just keep hitting next then end up with yet more crap ware to remove. If I was head of HP I would not want this junk of my hardware, it just makes it look crumby, certainly the repetitional damage is not worth the few quid they advertisers are paying.

It not just hardware manufactures getting caught out though. I recently fixed my barbers laptop and like a lot of computers I see it had all sort of dodgy browser extensions installed. It displayed fake adverts for Adobe flash which installed yes you've guessed it more junk software. The laptop was so full of this junk as to be unusable. These programs are for some reason not recognised as viruses, in spite of their virus like behaviour, changing settings ruining the user experience and driving the user to specific pages for finance gain. I am unsure why this junk is allowed to exist.

Overall I have to hand it to Apple, every Mac which I have used comes with software that enhances the computer not just to sell advertising space. There is a hell of a lot less of this junk which affects Apple.

Road to Sata

I just got a message from fitbit to tell me that I have now recorded enough steps to walk the length of Japan 3,007. It reminded me of a book I read some years ago, when I was trying to learn Japanese.
The books were The Roads to Sata: A 2000-mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth. His first book written while he was living as a writer living in Japan. He basically set off on a strange journey across Japan on foot. Charting his experiences, anecdotes of the people and places he met on the road intermingled with historic information. It is a very good book, full of fantastic characters and a real product of its age the 1980's when Japan was conquering the world before the crash and the stagnation which followed.

I never did get very far with my Japanese course, after the first two enjoyable semesters the third went down hill after the college amalgamated two classes. Strangely later to just like my Polish course also hit the buffers after three semesters thanks to a lack of students.

I am really looking forward to the release of the Fitbit Surge which should mean I can wear that instead of the two devices I use now when running; my current Fitbit flex and Alpha Mio heart rate monitor. The flex has been a great device and having a fitness tracker really does help to motivate me to get out more often, however its not got a watch and its annoying to wear two devices.

Is it 2015 already?

I had my car serviced today, in an odd experience they emailed me a video of my car being inspected including a breakdown of the many expensive fixes it needs. Sign new Brakes, callipers and disk sigh just what I need after Christmas.

Kath was here for nearly two weeks over Christmas. She arrived on Boxing day at Liverpool. On the 27th we had redux of the Christmas meal with my parents. They made the full works again, from turkey to cranberry sauce to sausage meat and sprouts.

We had an awesome time together. Kath got me a new camera lens for Christmas, 70-300mm. We took some really nice photos whilst on walks to Poynton Canal, Lyme Park and Macclesfield forest. It was a great present, took great photos and memories.

Apart from walking we managed to catch up with as many people as possible. Including a lovely meal out at Sam's Chop house with Andy, Tilly, Ian, Helen, Dave, Claire, Will, Tracey and Macca. We also had a couple of Japanese style meals thanks to the sushi set Bruce and Nina got us. We made a meal for Jo and Holly one evening and had enough to make another for Phil and Caroline the next day.

Making the Japanese food was both fun and stressful, somehow we managed to have an argument about measures of water for the sushi rice. On a positive note I don't think I will forget how to season the rice. After the hiccups we managed to make up and in the end prepare some great food which I think Jo and Holly enjoyed very much.

On New Years eve we were invited to Matt and Christelle. She made a lovely meal and we all had a great evening chatting drinking and eating large amounts of food.

Christmas 2014

Last night was fun, a group of us met up in the Victorian in Bramhall. Nick Charlotte Helen Ian and Myself. As we arrived to a very packed bar, I saw one of the weirdest sights I have ever witnessed while stood at a bar. A young and very drunk young lad stood behind us guzzling a takeaway including shovelling a pie into his face and a cup of peas, it was very entertaining.

The Victorian was very very packed, and very humid so we decided to switch the venues. Mark and Helen joined us and we strolled over to Beluga. Unfortunately it was ticket only so we ended up sat outside Nappa. Eventually the cold had us move back inside.

Bruce, Wooller and Andy Bruce joined us in there. Bruce was in a great mood, still waiting on Nina to give birth. It was nice to see everyone chat and catch up.

I cadged a lift home with Bruce, and we exchanged our presents.

Today I went to my parents for Christmas dinner, they made the full works turkey stuffing sausage meat. It was delicious, and there is plenty more to have with Kath when she arrives. Kath bought me a new lens for my camera which is awesome. Wanda got me a gorilla tripod, cant wait to get out and try them.

Kath arrives from Poland tomorrow I cant wait to see her, that is the best Christmas present.

It was the night before Christmas

Nearly Christmas, next year I will be spending it with Kath, this year Christmas Day will be at my parents.

I had to work this morning, leaving at lunch in time to get my presents wrapped. I tok my parents theirs round, finding Jono and my aunty there. Was nice to say hello and merry Christmas. Next stop was Phil and Caroline, I dropped off their presents and saw his mum there. We had a quick chat and a coffee before I headed home for dinner and a change.

I am waiting for Ian to pick me up with Helen, we are planning an evening in Bramhall with Nick and Charlotte and maybe a few others.

Using Keybase.io to secure communications

I has been over a year since Edward Snowden first started releasing information on how the American secret service along with the "five eyes" (USA, Britain, New Zealand, Canada and Australia) have been monitoring email, and network traffic of millions of people across the world. Including harvesting private pictures of peoples instant messenger chats and maybe even paying private companies to deliberately reduce security of encryption technology.

In the post Snoden era it pays to secure some of our communications to ensure rouge elements are not snooping.

I have used PGP in the past, however it has always been a  real pain to manage the keys and identities.  Finally it looks as though there is a solution. A new service called Keybase.io enables you to link Social accounts and emails to a PGP key. Basically making sending secure encrypted communications simple. It is well worth signing up, I have associated my twitter and github accounts.

If anyone fancies an account I have some invitations, tweet me a private message to @cookiesworld.

All for the best

Friend or foe?

Wearables or technology that you can wear have become a big thing of the last few years. This is set to accelerate with he launch of the Apple watch next year. From the simple pedometers these devices have evolved to recorded detailed information about sleep, movement and even heart rate. Combined with mobile phones they can track a large amount of objective information.

These devices generally collect information to the cloud, held on third party servers. Now lawyers have cottoned on to the fact  a wealth of information is available. A case in the USA is using data from a Fitbit account in a personal injury case to demonstrate the objective and measured changes to the plaintiff's lifestyle.

I myself own a Fitbit  I use it to monitor my activity, it certainly has helped me walk more and be a little more active. It is disturbing to me to realise that lawyers could request this information. I imagine the intelligence authorities are or will be attempting to access this data soon, does elevated hear-rate mean somebody is running a marathon or, maybe planning a terror attack?

Waves

This time last week I was arriving in Poland, after an early morning wake up, a short flight and queuing for what felt like an eternity at Modlin border control I met Kath and we boarded the coach bound for Bialystok.

That afternoon Kath, Wojciech and myself headed out to the Alpha department store to watch a Gone Girl at the cinema there. I had very much enjoyed reading the book and wondered how it would transfer to film. I really enjoyed what they did with the film, it lost a few details of the book but the characters really shined, especially Neil Patrick Harris as the creepy ex and Rosamund Pike.

We were a little speechless after the film, its pretty dark and asks a lot of questions so we went for a walk through the park to  get some Sushi at Tanoshii. We had an excellent platter of Sushi and some Japanese beer.

On Sunday Kath and I decided to have a lazy morning watching TV and enjoying each others company. We don't get enough time together so it was really nice. In the afternoon we went for a walk around Bialystok from her flat to the little Zoo. The wildcats and bears were out. I really enjoyed the wildcats, one of them was stalking round the cat like an more angry, less fluffy version of Coco, with a black harry potter lightning marking on his back.

The bears were being fed as we arrived so we only saw them for a few minutes as they headed into there home for dinner.

In the evening went for drinks, starting at Sherlock Holmes pub then onto Castle, then to a few more before taking a kebab back to the flat. Originally we had planned to meet up with some people but we ended up spending the evening together.

Tuesday was my last day in Poland. We had breakfast at Kaffka bistro, it was excellent fresh eggs delicately fried with bacon sausages with salad and fresh coffee. It filled me up until the evening. After breakfast we had a wonder round the park and took some papers Kath needed to the Polish GMC. Before boarding the coach for the long drive to Modlin before the flight home. Modlin airport is tiny, its a modern building but its overstretched supporting Ryanair. The gates were too small to hold the number of passengers getting on we flowed out into the next gate. After being hurried through by dire warnings over tannoy. I stood in a mass of people waiting, first we were let outside to stand under bus shelter type contraption while watching the passengers from another flight disembark.

I was fortunate with the weather while there was a storm in the UK Poland enjoyed a gorgeous Autumn day, I must have flown over the storm as when I arrived back in the UK there was no wind left but plenty of tree branches blown off.

R.I.P iPod

Wired are reporting Apple have killed off the iPod. It had been on the fall every since the iPhone had been introduced. Oddly phones back then could play mp3, I remember my Nokia could, the problem was it was clunky, the Apple iPod was a thing of beauty, Jonny Ives industrial design. It did only one job playing music, but it did that very well.

A decade ago, I bought my first iPod, a 3rd generation, before they came up with the click wheel. I felt so excited getting it out of the box. Apple were far more generous back then, my 20GB iPod came complete with a dock, a combined USB and Firewire cable for super quick transfer of files.

In those days Apple were on the resurgence, they were cool but not popular in the way they are today. They were not the first company to have an MP3 player, but the iPod was simply better than the other players out there. I remember Bruce had bought a Creative DAP jukebox. It held a lot of music but it was large, clunky and took forever to load music thanks to the slow usb 1 interface. I steadfastly hung on to my sony mini disk player, which while it had better sound quality thanks to the Sony ATRACK compression only held an hour worth of music.

Buying an iPod considered with my second trip to Australia, I remember sitting on the flight playing what track is this with Danny, and listening to music in Paul's apartment in Kings Cross Sydney. I am sad to see iPod disappear, even if I didn't own one for years it  is linked to some special memories for me.

Holiday in Sicily: Taormina

After braving Etna we decided to go and visit the Greek / Roman amphitheatre in Taormina. It was a slightly longer drive than to Catania, again taking us onto the autostrada.
This time I failed to understand the signs and ended up taking the wrong lane and missing picking up a ticket for the autostrada. That meant when exiting at the super busy Taormina exit I had a problem. At first I had visions of a huge fine, fortunately playing the dumb tourist paid off and after serval minutes talking via intercom we paid the 1.60 euro fare.

Making the mistake of setting the sat nav to search for the amphitheatre we drove into Taormina, around and up up up way into the hills on narrow steep and scary roads with nowhere to turn. After about 40 minutes driving up down round and through the pedestrian zone we gave up and parked, parking was a ruinous 3 euro per hour but after the ups and downs I would have paid any price to get out of the car.

After a strong coffee, we found the the theatre is in the pedestrian part of town which we hadn't driven around. It was however worth all the effort, the views were spectacular, and the amphitheatre its self is incredible. Build by the Greeks then extended by the Romans perched with views over the Ionian coast. It must have been a thing of true wonder when it was build, they still do concerts there now, indeed they were setting up for an event. I think Philip would have been impressed.
After having a good look round and taking many pictures we headed back into Taormina for a wonder around the town. It is much more touristy than Acireale, indeed there were plenty of English tourists. We bought some souvenirs and had a walk. It is a picturesque and nice town but not so impressive as Dubrovnik was last year.

Holiday in Sicily: Etna

What holiday in Sicily would be complete without a trip to Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in Europe. We decided to take one of the excursions in offered by Geo explorer after seeing their brochure in our hotel, and have it recommended to us by the receptionist.

Our guide picked us up from the hotel at 9.30am. Getting into the back of the 4x4 Landrover it was a little bit of a tight squeeze in the back with three other couples. The trip cost 50 Euro each plus 5 Euro shoe hire. I certainly would recommend the show hire as the scree could be difficult to negotiate in light shoes.

Our tour guide drove us up to the Etna park stopping first to the park a view inside a cave formed after a lava flow, a walk around an old crater at 2000M and a snack.

After the cave we headed further up Etna, looking at some of the past lava flows. The next stop was a basalt quarry, it was interesting to see how the lava cools, and where all the stone for the roads and buildings come from.

The trip then took us further up the Etna, first to a rest stop then on to the highest point of the trip the Silvestri Craters. These were old craters forming a line, one of which we walked round. The guide explained the process of their formation and pointed out some of the features like the rocks ejected out of the volcano. The views up there were nothing short of spectacular, though it was very crowded.

The final part of the trip was an excursion to a viewing point on the Southern side of Etna, here there were less lava flows but sometimes you can get a glimpse of the active area, this time we did not. The views were stunning though.

Finally we were taken down to the village of Zafferana for a snack. The snack was Arancini, a Sicilian delicacy. They are basically rice balls stuffed with ragu coated with breadcrumbs and fried.

I thought that the trip was a good value, especially considering the excellent context given by the guide and the lunch. I don't feel I would have appreciated some of this had we taken the trip alone. We did not get to see the active area, nor to the higher part above 2000 meters.

Holiday in Sicily: Catania

After several relaxing days we decided to venture from the Hotel and see some more of Sicily. We decided to start with Catania. A tourist and student hub Catania was destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruptions in the 17th century and rebuilt in the baroque style.  Etna is still a visible presence on the horizon.

The drive to Catania was my second attempt at driving on the right. Again it made me curse Italian drivers for the total lack of empathy. They seem intent of barging through the smallest of gaps only to sit in traffic, honking their horns and gesticulating from behind the wheel.

Stall on the Catania fish market

We made the trip parking a short walk from the centre. Heading first to the fish market, we were pleasantly surprised to find a vibrant market with all sorts of fish from swordfish stake to sea urchins.

After absorbing the sights and smells of the market we stopped for a granita and a coffee in the centre of the town, the Fontana dell'Elefante. An impressive centre flanked by the Cathedral, the centre of which is taken by a rather odd looking statue of a smiling elephant topped with an Egyptian obelisk.

Bellini Theatre

We took a walk around Catania taking in the Cathedral, and the Bellini Theatre. As with Acireale there were many boutique shops. The outsides are sometimes scruffy but looking inside they are often incredible displays, almost art like in there objectification of the wares.

Holiday in Sicily

After arriving we spent a couple of lazy days enjoying relaxing by the pool. I read The Impossible Dead on my new Kindle Paperwhite.

The pool area was lovely, from the pool area you could see out to the sea. The pool itself was a good size if a little oddly shaped, we divided our time between the sun loungers, and the pool itself. Taking lunch al fresco on the terrace. The lunch menu consisted of either salad or a sandwich and a tall glass of Italian beer.

We did also find time to explore the town of Acireale. It is essentially a small compact town full of Churches. It is a popular place to get married and we witnessed a wedding virtually every day we walked around. Similarly to Spain the Sicilians take a siesta during the warmest part of the day, the shops close for this and reopen in the evening.

The architecture is particular to the region a mix of baroque, building are limestone with added basalt lifted from the many volcanic outpourings of Etna. This black and white effect has a pleasing effect and the buildings can be pretty.

There were a few decent restaurants in the town our favourite was Vecchia Aci. They commandeered a strip of park next to the Basilica creating a lovely outdoor area. There was took a bottle of Wine and a pizza, enjoying cool of the evening after a hot day.

Oddly we found in many of the places the starter before pizza is a plate of chips or crisps!

Holiday In Sicily: Arrival

Saint Sebastian Basilica

Kath and I decided to take our summer holidays in Siciliy this year. Neither of us had ever visited this part of Italy before, and the climate though hot being an Island was more hospitable than mainland Italy.

We left on Sunday morning flying form Manchester Airport Terminal 1, via EasyJet to Catania, Sicily. The flight was a brief 3 hour jaunt, slightly elongated by a delay leaving. This was thanks to the security at the airport.  They were really being thorough checking us in the security crewe, much more throughly than I remembered.

This year we decide to hire a car, I have never driven on the right side of the road before, and the car we were given was an automatic, another new experience. There followed a hair raising 45 minute drive, during which I learned, Italians don't follow any sort of traffic rules, Red light appear to be optional and right of way is determined by who gives first. We drove part of the way on the autostrada, a kind of low rent motorway which requires a toll. The toll from Acireale was 1.60 though the collection desk was closed so we didn't pay.

Fortunately we made it to the hotel safe and sound in spite of the super tight roads, my driving Kath's navigation managed to get us safely to the hotel.

The hotel was small and welcoming. We strolled passed the pool area to the desk and picked up the key. After a short siesta we headed out into the town to find some dinner. We stopped at a restaurant opposite the Saint Sebastian Basilica. I ate seafood pasta and Kath had a ravioli with spinach and ricotta in fish stew. It was a great way to start the holiday.

Uptight downtown

Mr Storm having a rest

Yesterday I dog sat Storm for my parents; they were going on a day out to Chester. Storm didn't seem too enthusiastic to start with. I took him for two walks one in the morning and one later before his tea time. He is getting old now only managed a couple of throws before he wanted to head back home. On the way back from the second walk he flopped down half way to have a rest.

Yesterday evening I met up with Bruce, he was showing off his new car; an Toyota Hilux. It is very awesome, leather seats aluminium lined trailer, I was very impressed.

Bruce myself and Jono went for a drink at the Unicorn, Bruce drove so we could have a ride in the beast.

The Unicorn was quiet, I wonder in contrast to the Bulls Head which was very busy.

Today is Kaths' birthday. Unfortunately I could not make it to Poland to visit as the flights are currently very expensive. Instead I surprised her with gifts I had her brother intercept, and with a bouquet of flowers. She seemed very happy, so win for husband.

Bendy Man

Last night in an attempt to help improve my posture and flexibility I went to a Yoga class. I found BendyYoga via google.  I liked that this was a drop in class, mixed ability and open for all. I wanted to avoid making a block booking as required by yoga Bramhall. Just in case I didn't enjoy the class.

Last time I went to a Yoga class it was with Martina back in 2007, that class was in Cheadle on a Wednesday night. It was mostly middle aged women so I didn't feel like heading there on my own. Also given the instructor Julia was a friend of Martina, and the way Martina and I fell out with each other I decided there were too many reasons against.

There were about 9 people in the class plus the instructor. He started by working through some basic stretches, then more complex ones. Moving on the posture then finally meditation.

I found 80 minutes doing various poses was very challenging, I am anything but flexible. I knew my hamstrings were tight, however I had not realised how tight my arms and shoulders were. The room was very warm thanks to the day being hot. In spite of the heat thought I felt much better at the end.

Falling down

Last night Bruce came round last night. We watched the classic 1980s film falling down. Starring Michael Douglas as D-Fens a man struggling to cope with what he sees as flaws 1980s society.

The film opens with D-Fens sat in his overheating car, a fly buzzing round his head. Something snaps inside and gets out of the car and starts a long walk towards his home. During the walk he passes through the latino, and affluent areas.

It is an excellent, and complex film. The main character is D-Fens, a man who thinks of himself as the hero, on his way home to his family. On the way we learn more about D-Fens life and why he ended up so angry.

Oddly its one of the first films I can remember where the central character is so much of an anti hero, even if he doesn't know it. I also liked that there were good back stories for the cop on his last day came out from behind his desk to track down the man in the suit. The final scene in which the cop confronts d-fens suggesting that he always knew that he was on his way to kill his family and then himself; point of no return.

My favourite scene is in the burger joint where, firstly he in 5 minutes late so they wont sell breakfast, then after pulling a gun on the manager the burger he is given looks nothing like that image behind the counter delivers a speech about the ills of America to the terrified diners.

The sense of place and time was palpable, the phones booths, huge mobile phones graffiti, strong colours.

I think that the depiction of gangland were naive, the 80s was a time when the city was a dark and dangerous place crumbling while people escaped to the suburbs. Over my lifetime that has changed. Cities cleaned up there acts, now the city centre is a place people want to live and work.

Overall its a classic, well acted well shot and despite what be modern standard (think the wire ) has a naive portrayal of the Latin Americans is a great watch.

Influence

I have just finished reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasionby Dr. Robert Cialdini. I picked up this book after hearing it talked about on Radio 4 a good read picked by Daniel Finkelstein, Associate Editor, columnist and leader writer for The Times, was also an adviser to John Major and William Hague.

In Influence Cialdini writes about the power of persuasion. Using examples drawn both from his own life and psychological studies he examines some common themes which lead us to be manipulated (or to manipulate). Each chapter is about a particular method including;

• Reciprocation
• Commitment
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity 

Each method is a unique example of how people in groups or as individuals react in certain circumstances. He gives specific example of how marketeers use this tactics, sometimes they do so even sub consciously to make us buy, buy more or give references. He also tells us how we can realise when specific methods are being used on us and to say no. I find it quite hard going their are a lot of psychological terms. It was however incredibly rewarding illustrating perfectly moments I have exactly felt. The chapter on commitment and consistency was particularly interesting to me as I have certainly been taken in. Hoisted by my own words by a clever salesman, getting me to commit and have my own words used against me, so much so I felt like I could not back out of the sale.

I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in marketing, or wow has ever felt powerless to salesmen or charity people.

Planning

I

I went for a walk yesterday evening to get out of the house. My back is getting better at least now it more discomfort than pain.

As I walked to Tesco I saw an official looking sign indicating that the footpath is planned to move. Looking at the planning website it appears they want to turn the current footpath into road access to coppice way.

Bye bye Orkut

Time moves fast on the internet, remember back in 2006? It wasn't that long ago really. Facebook was still a niche player only really open to specific universities and schools in the US. I stumbled upon a social network called Orkut. It was at the time quite unique, it allowed user created communities, and you could rate friends as Cool or Trustworthy. Facebook didn't really let you do photos beyond profile pictures properly until 2007, remember having to link to use sites like photobucket?

Communities were most like GeoCities allowing people with share interest to comment post and share. Nothing really replaced this until Facebook beefed up groups and twitter appeared.

I joined up on Orkut amused met a couple of people, used it for a while, migrated first to Myspace then to Facebook, twitter and google+.

Today I got an email informing me that on the 30 September 2014 Orkut will be closing. I hadn't logged in since 2011 so its no real lose, it does go to show how quickly a site can go from popular to zero in internet land.

Paradise Circus

I managed to injure my back while doing deadlifts with my trainer at the gym last week. I have spent the week in pain mostly laid in bed unable to walk much further than the bathroom.

It rather changed the plans I had made given Kath was visiting last weekend. We were supposed to visit Phil house for a house warming bbq, however I had to cancel that and a meet up with Ian on Sunday. It was a shame because I was really looking forward to meeting Helen.

I got some strong pain meds from the doctor, however they wont do anything else for six weeks. I decided to try an alternative and went to see the Osteopath on Wednesday. He immediately suggested that my part of my back was twisted. He did some manipulation after which I felt in pain but somehow more free in moment.

While laid up I have managed to do a couple of things. I caught up on American Horror, a series exploring the darker side of human nature, and luther the title track of which I am obsessed with. The series itself was good, I watched 1 & 2 on Netflix. I read also two books Mindfulness: Be Mindful. Live in the Moment. and The Son.

Mindfulness is a very interesting book which explains some strategies to be more in the moment, calmer collected. It reminded me of a book Paul lent me ages ago called the power of now. Though while the power of Now seemed (at least to me) fairly cultish Mindfulness has some excellent practical strategies to be deal with modern life, improve work life and cope with change. The point of the advice is to be more in the moment, let go of the past and don't focus too much on the future.

The Son is a Jo Nesbo standalone book about a Son who has thrown his life away after his father a believed mole committed suicide. As usual Nesbo paints a compelling set of interlocking stories, well paced and full of intrigue. It was a really enjoyable crime novel, though while it is more confidently written I still prefer his Harry Hole Novels especially the Oslo Trilogy. Having read so many of Nesbos' books I actually feel like I know Oslo pretty well, hope to visit one day.

On point

I had an unusual evening. My back has been causing me problems for a few weeks so I decided to go and visit the osteopath. He was in a very good mood, since I last visited him we have both got married.

On the subject of marriage congratulations to Ian whom got engaged to Helen, romantically proposing in Time square. Congratulations to them!

On the way home from Hartford, my route took me through Knutsford. I saw a women walking down the street clutching a bottle of Champaign, it makes a change form Wild n' White cider ;) Going through Wilmslow I was sat behind a World War two Troop transport with a few burley looking guys in the back (not in military fatigues though). Hopefully they aren't part of a paramilitary group planning to take over Manchester.

I decided to go for a walk after dinner, the days are pretty long now, and the sun is out which is perfect for my solar panels. I decided to walk round Handforth Dean, past Tesco there are a few empty industrial lots mostly populated by rabbits.

I have generated close to 1000 units of power, and on average more 50% of my electricity usage is covered by solar. Its looking like it will pay off pretty well, though I wont know for sure for about a year (as the generation is cyclic).

Orange is the new black

On Sunday Kath and I spent  lazy morning together then in the afternoon we headed to Matt and Christelles' house for a BBQ. We arrived to find Matt in full BBQ mode. We started with sausages and salad made by Christelle. Next up were lamb kebabs then steak. Christelle made a tarte for desert which was very tasty, served along with homemade ice cream. The ice cream was a little solid but very good, and despite Matts dire warning about ice cream being one of the most dangerous things in terms of food poisoning we were good the next day.

The kids were amusing themselves on the trampoline while we eat. We had a great evening, chatting about kids, life and many things.

Matt recommended Orange is the new black which Kath and I ploughed through. I found it an interesting series with some good characters. Kath and I enjoyed sitting together in each other company watching TV. We see so little of each other that just enjoying each other company is amazing.

Today we went out for a meal with my Parents and Jean to the Bull Head. Kath and I shared a fisherman's platter, while my parents and Jean all had fish and chips. The food was very tasty, I think that we had a great meal. Afterwards everyone came round to our house to see the garden and give coco a stroke. Coco certainly enjoyed the attention. It is always nice to see Jean she is such a lovely person, its hard not to be happy when she is around.

You make me

Saturday I picked up Kath at 13.20, her flight had been delayed leaving Modlin. We planned to meet our friends in the evening for the Stockport Beer Festival. We went an did some shopping and had lunch.

Matt S picked us up in the evening, he decided to leave his car at the office. Arriving we met Bruce, Nina, Caroline, Phil, Jo Holly and Wally. Nina and Bruce had some amazing news, Nina is pregnant, due in December. She looked very happy (and despite the setting was sticking to soft drinks), Bruce looked happy too.

It was a great evening, I spent a lot of time chatting with Phil Bruce and Matt. Phil and Matt had a little game of whom could buy the strongest beer for each other. matt started by getting Phil a rather dodgy looking Cider rather than an IPA, Phil responded getting Matt a Old Tom.

After the beer Phil, Caroline, Kath Matt and I headed for some food. We went to the Kantipur Nepalese. I had the spicy ginger, I was sweating eating it but it was incredibly tasty. It took us a while to get a taxi home we were stood on the A6 trying different companies before we managed to hail down a minicab.

Misirlou

Tuesday night was the 20 year anniversary of Pulp Fiction. I was 14 when it was originally released so never saw it in the cinema. I think the first time i saw it was on a Pirate video at school.

I also remember one night watching it with Phil and our then girlfriends when he lived about the wedding shop in Woodford. It feels like yesterday even though its over a decade ago.

Re watching it today had several effects. Firstly its still shocking, strong violence and the language it is certainly not politically correct. I could certainly see that it was made on a budget, but despite some aspects being firmly 90's only a couple of mobile phones, people using pay phones, it didn't feel dated as some films of the era.

The violence in Pulp Fiction is less comic, and less bloody than in Tarantino's later films like kill bill and inglorious bastards.

In my opinion Tarantino redefined cinema with Pulp Fiction. Prior to its release that films had become extremely formulaic, to the point when with ever single line of dialogue existing to further the plot. Pulp fiction turns that on its head, presenting the narrative out of sequence and adding scenes only to entertain with dialogue. Yes the language and tone are shocking, again this is a pastiche of 70s cinema (where some of the visual style comes from and what was considered a golden age of cinema). There scenes with Samuel Jackson discussing burgers or John Travolta dancing badly (remember he was best known for his dancing in Saturday night fever).

Overall I really enjoyed re watching a modern classic.

Lazaretto

I have just returned from the airport after having dropped off Kath. We have spent the last week together, I think it's the longest time we have spent together since Christmas.

She arrived last Tuesday evening, I picked her up after work on the late flight. I had to work Wednesday and Thursday so she relaxed and visited with my mum.

Thursday evening we went out to Lobster Steak at the Radisson Blu hotel in Manchester. An interesting concept they only have two menu choices, lobster or steak. You get unlimited fries and salad on the side whichever you choose. Kath and I both ordered steak medium rare. Kath's was more on the rare than medium (almost blue) so we had to send hers back for more cooking. The meal was very pleasant though I think my steak had a little too much gristle, and personally would have preferred chips to fries but overall a very nice restaurant treat.

Friday, I had the day off so we went round the shops. Primarily we were looking for some new furniture for the garden. Nothing seemed to be comfortable at a price we wanted to pay. Stopping in at Waitroise we bought some nice cheeses and meat to make a platter which we ate watching the Wolf of Wall Street. It was an enjoyable film, Di Caprio was on top form.

Saturday we had a leisurely

morning then went off to see the garden at Tatton Park. The Japanese garden there is amazing, the best I have seen outside of Japan. Its well worth a visit.

Inspired by the Gardens we decided to have an evening meal at the Samsi in Wilmslow. Chatting to the waitress apparently she and her partner have taken over running it. We did noticed a few new touches and the food was excellent, especially the sushi rolls.

Afterwards we headed into the Bollin Fee for a drink. Taken in by the marketing we enjoyed a Captain Morgans served in a plastic cannon ball, living like the captain!

Sunday, we went to my parents for a roast pork lunch. It was very tasty, even got some crackling. After lunch we had a chat with my parents, enjoying a coffee. Then Kath and I headed to Bramhall Park for a walk.

Monday, we decided to tackle the garden a little more. Replacing the old rotten tub out the front with a more contemporary pot. At the back we turned a small patch of dirt near the gate into a rockery.

It looks really nice, with golden grit and new alpine plants.

In the evening Nina and Bruce arranged for another curry at the Sangam. It was basically a replay of two weeks ago with the addition of Kath and Ian. Apparently Ian has managed to sell his flat and is enjoying life with Helen. Unfortunately she wasn't able to join us, hopefully I will get to meet her soon. Bruce was telling us all about a website where you can buy surplus equipment from the armed forces. He was after an ICBM launcher from the Cold war era, or an armour plated Bentley! Overall a throughly enjoyable evening.

Youth

Last night I went out for a meal with a few people. Jo and Holly had arranged for us all to meet at the Sangam III in Heald Green. Jono joined me after walking round from his house, I asked him if he was going to walk home, but he declined.

We arrived last meeting Phil, Caroline, Bruce and Nina along with Joe and Holly. They were sat having a drink waiting. I got myself a Diet Coke and the waiter showed us to our table.

Jo and Holly told me about their break to Yorkshire. It sounded really nice time. They both looked like they had caught the sun and been able to relax.

I ordered a Jalfrezi, it was very tasty. The waiter was really fun, having a few jokes with us, even daring Phil to eat some Naga chillies.

Green shell suit

I am typing this blog on my new mechanical keyboard. I have wanted one for ages but this purchase was prompted by my colleague at work buying one. I had some vouchers from doing surveys for IPSOS so I finally bit the bullet and bought one. I ordered a Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Brown. It has Cherry MX Brown mechanical switches which has a good combination of noise, feedback and actuation pressure to be useful for typing and gaming. So far I am really enjoying typing on it. I have used a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard for years but the key-presses were starting to fail a little, typical of a traditional keyboard as the domes wear out over time.

It's been a tough week, I managed to hurt my back on Sunday so I have had to take this easy. Next week I am off to London for DevWeek.  I am excited to go, I have never been to a developer conference before so should be an interesting experience.

I just finished a book given to me by my mother. The City of Strangers by Michael Russell. A book set just before the outbreak of the second world war. A country Garda Sergeant is sent from Ireland to New York in order to bring back a murder suspect. He gets caught up in intrigue. It is in interesting insight into the beginning of the Irish state, the IRA and the pro German and pro Irish groups in America. It was well worth a read and I enjoyed it.