Flying Ship Crash and Missile Attack!

OK, so I had some strange dreams last night. Not for the first time, but definitely the first time I've had what I would describe as a Sci-fi dream. I haven't been watching any Sci-fi whatsover recently, so there's nothing to which I can attribute the reasons for having such a dream. I once had a very vivid dream in which I was a Roman standard-bearer descending a mountain and planning a night-time raid on a fort, both in the snow. But, that was a one-off I thought, because I don't really tend to remember my dreams very often.

Since some people put a lot of stock in dreams, although I'm a little sceptical about that myself, I thought I'd outline the main thrust of my dream for anyone who might like to try and interpret it. It started off with myself and several others (unknown) on top of a flat-topped mountain, althought there was a building there and overhead power lines. We were hearing thunder, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. Next thing this massive vehicle flies into view overhead. It was comprised of 3 box-like sections, a small one at the front, a large one in the middle and a medium size one at the back. I enquired of my compatriots what it was and they told me it was a weather ship.

The ship then rose vertically into the clouds, rather quickly. I note that it was getting dark at this point. Then suddenly the ship came straight back down as if it were going to land right in front of us. But the overhead power cables were between us and the ship, and for reasons unknown, the ship lurched suddenly towards us and the front section which I instictively knew was where the pilot was located, hit the cables and burst into flames. the front section crashed to the ground and erupted in a fireball, followed by the other sections. We raced to the tail section where we knew someone else had been, to see if they had survived, but it was completely burned-out. Nothing but ash inside of the burnt shell that remained.

Ok, that was weird, but it then got even weirder. The source of the thunder was about to become apparent as darkness fell. We suddenly become aware of flashing streaks in the distant night sky. Somene asked if they were shooting stars. I continued watching and saw the number of streaking lights multiply, with many lights coming out of each one. I realised they were missiles. My intital reaction was that they were nukes, and there were tens of thousands. A sense of doom crept over me. Then I saw some missiles hit and although the explosions were fairly large, I realised that they were conventional missiles and that escape might still be possible. We ran!

OK, there was more, but I realise that you can only digest reasonably sized portions of text, so I'm not going to cover the rest. What do you think anyway? Is my unconscious mind deeply disturbed, or am I a prophet of doom, a doomsayer? Let me have your comments please!

The Philadelphia Experiment!

Today, I thought I'd take a look at the "The Philadelphia Experiment". There's a fair chance that you might never have heard of it, but assuming that it really happened, it was perhaps one of the most momentous events of the 20th century, and that's saying something!

The year was 1943, and the US War Department had gotten wind of research work into electro-magnetism at Princeton which had apparently succeeded in making some small objects invisible. Of course, the only thing of interest to the War Department was how they could use the technology to influence the course of the war. It was decided that it might be possible to make ships invisible to radar using the technology.

The USS Eldridge was appointed to the task. First, they tried animals on board. The ship disappeared, but when it reappeared many animals had radiation type burns. Despite this they decided to try it out with a crew. The crew were unaware of what was about to happen. What exactly did occur over the following 5 hours until the ship returned is unclear, but what came back was a horrific site. Many sailors were insane, some were on fire, others were already dead or sticking out of the ship's super-structure. Some sailors were disappearing and reappearing at random, for instance several disappeared while in a pub several days later, and others still, reported seeing aliens and monsters.

It has been suggested that the greatest scientsists of that time were involved; Albert Einstein, Jon von Neumann and Nikola Tesla. Einstein was purported to have been so horrified by the results of the experiment that he burnt all of his personal notes relating to the experiment, declaring "Mankind is not yet ready for this technology!" Did the ship travel to the future (40 years some witnesses have testified), or alternative dimensions? Who can say? If you want to read more, there's a nice article here!

No Change Of Heart!

Classic example of the knock-on effect. For years my daughter has been banging on at me to let her have a pet. Now, for several reasons, I have absolutely refused to give in to her pleas, no matter how desperate. These are:

• They make a mess
• They're destructive
• They smell
• They will die
• I will end up having to feed it
• Pet food smells too

I could go on and on. Basically, I can think of no other reason for getting a pet other than that becasue my daugter wants one, and believe me she has tried. I've had pleas for; a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a hamster, a gerbil, all sorts. Up until now there hasn't been any major problem in simply refusing her a pet, but what have her friends parents gone and done? They've only bought a bloody kitten. So, my daughter is playing at her friends after school today, and we have to drive over and drop off a change of clothes. Out comes the kitten, "look at the lovely kitten!", "isn't it cute?", "why can't we have one?"

You see, my duaghter's a sensitive soul, she even cries when someone dies in Emmerdale. I know that if she had a pet, it would die and she'd be broken-hearted. I'm probably only postponing the inevitable, but she can wait until she has a boyfriend before she suffers such emotional turmoil, which hopefully won't be for a long time yet. Maybe I can prevent her from having one of those as well!

Disruptive Elements Will Be Forcibly Removed!

I had the sensational experience of witnessing some 1st year classes in action today. Three very different classes, that ranged from the sublime to the horrendous. The first class was moderately well behaved, but the second wasn't behaved at all. Just like in the photo above, one lad had to be removed from the class, he was so disruptive and he was creating this area of disturbance around him. I observed that he was not able to do the work at all, and supect that his behaviour was largely borne of frustration with himself. Even when he had been removed though, there were still some individuals pushing their luck. I thought the teacher showed a great deal of restraint with them. I'm not sure I could have.

The final 1st year class that I observed were impeccably well behaved. It was a fairly large class, but they worked away in almost complete silence. They got loads of work done, and demonstrated alarming skills for 12 year olds. When the lesson ended, they pushed their chairs in and stood behind the chairs, until given permission to leave. I couldn't believe it. I've seen 4th year classes this week that were many times worse discipline-wise.

My observation period is now drawing to a close, but the teacher has assured me, that upon my return in 4-5 weeks, I will be thrown to the lions, so to speak. Meaning, I'll be taking classes pretty much form the off. I can't say that I don't feel a degree of trepidation, who wouldn't? I'm sure though, that once I've overcame those initial nerves and just get on with it, I'll be alright!

Let's Negotiate With Reptilian Hominids!

I hear that Halo 3 is released today and everyone's talking about it, much as they were about Bioshock a few weeks back, and yet I am unmoved. To be honest, I don't see what appeal those types of game have. Shooting aliens, zombies, whatever, can only hold someone's attention for a very limited time I would have thought, or am I missing something? I find it quite disturbing, how kids can get so much enjoyment out of virtual killing. Medal Of Honour, now that's a differnet story, the killing is justified. I've yet to meet an alien or zombie that was anything other than amicable and courteous.

I may have mentioned it before, but I've been playing Final Fantasy XII for a while now, on and off. It's a fairly massive game and a certain level of character development is required before more difficult areas can be completed. Also, much time has to be spent in combat, in order to acquire items which can then be traded for weapons, armour, spells or potions etc.

I think I've covered the decline of gaming in general here before, so I won't mention it again, only to say, I wish the developers would put a bit more need for thinking in there. Killing all the aliens won't bring about universal peace, we need to get them round the table and analyse their thirst for human blood. For instance, would some sort of plasma substitute provide enough succour for them, or could we broker some sort of deal where we exchange vagrants for technology? There may be other options, but simply obliterating every reptilian hominid with a raygun, obviously isn't the answer is it? And, they shoot back with more accuracy in real-life! On account of the multiplicity of eyes that they have developed!

Back To Basic!

Back in school today. Rumour had it that I might even take a lesson, which fortunately for me didn't transpire. I don't think I'm quite ready for that, as of yet, although I have no qualms about going around the pupils and seeing if I can lend assistance. I have no problems whatseoever with what most of them are doing, but I did get a bit of a surprise when I saw one lad's VB code, and on first appearances it looked fairly alien. On closer inspection however, I quickly got a grasp of what the program was trying to do. More to the point, after a few attempts I managed to locate the source of his difficulties.

I think I'll probably want to give myself a bit of a VB refresher. It is difficult though approaching a bunch of code without even having seen what the program is intending to achieve. I don't really have any problem with the coding concepts, at least not those I'll be dealing with day-to-day. VB is a great piece of software on which to learn basic programming, hence the "basic" in the name I suppose. I'm hearing that Java is being mooted as a possible classroom replacement for VB, but I suspect that there would be major difficulties selling Java to Standard Grade level pupils.

Even though most programming languages have a bunch of similarities, what makes VB such a useful tool for learning programming, is the visual element. Each item has code attached to it, and this compartmentalisation makes it so much simpler to learn. Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!

A Point Of View!

I'm spending the whole of this week doing what they call classroom observation. Basically, I go into the school, or more specifically, in with a computing teacher, and observe all of their lessons, noting everything from behaviour management to the types of question they ask! I'm making lots of notes and asking lots of questions. But, I do have a list of specfic things I need to focus on.

What I'm realising is just how big a job being a teacher is, and it's not only in terms of subject knowledge that a teacher stands or falls. There are 101 other things that they have to deal with daily. There's the constant threat of a visit form the HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectors), tracking assessment scores and coursework, using feedback from pupils and assessment scores to evaluate own teaching performance and pinpoint areas for improvement. Take into consideration the fluidity of computing as a subject, (is there any faster moving subject in the curriculum?) and you can easily see the enormity of what I'm getting myself into here!

I cannot however fault the teacher I'm in with, he's outstanding, and I don't think I could have been placed with anyone more helpful had I hand-picked them myself. He offers advice freely when asked for, and is completely transparent about every aspect of his work. Not only that, but he slung me copies of many of the course textbooks and said I could keep them, along with a pile of other teaching materials. I was going to buy those. He said, "Never buy anything in this profession!" An attitude with which I intend to do my utmost to comply. Words like laudable and commendable spring to mind. The school also has some amazingly cheap sources for computer components and peripherals, which I may well be tempted to call upon given the opportunity!

Orbiting the Dance Floor!

I was at a a wedding dance last night. The wedding actually took place a while back, but for certain reasons, which I know nothing about, the dance was held off until yesterday. Anyway, on this occasion the kids were staying with their granny, allowing us free reign to consume copious amounts of alcohol, which we (I at least :-}) proceeded to partake of! In fact I probably drank more last night than I have anytime for several years.

So was I ill? Not at all! Was I drunk? Well, oddly I felt more drunk when I got up this morning than I did last night! So, all in all, it was a good night. I probably chose the wrong day to do this, but today I've been trying to set-up a digi-box I got from someone, because our old one had started playing up, freezing and getting stuck on certain channels. It was becoming a pain! So, I've got the new box in, but it looks as though I have to move the dish, because the card that came with it is for a different sattelite. My dish is conveniently located about 12 feet up the side of the house, so I'll need a ladder for that! I did buy a special little tuning gadget several weeks ago, having forseen this occasion well in advance. It was £3 from Lidl. I don't like Lidl, but sometimes they have some interesting things on sale.

To be honest with you, I am starting to get a small hangover, but nothing a spot of lunch won't remedy. I might have to call a man with a ladder in this afternoon to assist in repositiong my sattelite dish, but hey, that's what daddies are for right? Of course he'll want it reciprocating in some way that will mean he gets more out of it than I do, because that's how he operates. No doubt, there's some small painting job at the parents house, with my name on it!

Who Started This?

This week's theme seems to have been "Nostalgia". I apologise for that. I wasn't necessarily feeling very nostalgic, just that I was very conscious that me prattling on about Uni all the time would ve annoying. However, after spending a whole day at Uni, the only thing I can actually think about is Uni, so be grateful for my seeming nostalgia, such as it is!

I've decided to move on to a much more serious and sobering subject today. I read in the paper how some British General was appaled about the way British soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are being treated. Basically, the public are not supportive of them. I don't think this would come as a surprise to anyone really. His actual words were more along the line of, "The public are not supporting our troops, in a war that they instigated". Hmmm, I don't recall instigating any war. I didn't thinkt it was a good idea at the time, since or ever will.

The suggestion that British troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the British public want them there, is frankly ludicrous. I don't know anyone who wants then there, or believes they should be there. In fact, like me, many are wondering, "Why the hell are our troops there in the first place?" The fact is that our government wanted this war, despite massive public opposition. They wanted us signed up to an EU treaty, despite massive public opposition, and they will no doubt bring in ID cards, despite massive public opposition. The threat of terror is the stick with which they keep goading us. I would suggest to you, that the only reason there is any credible terrorist threat, is because British troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. That threat is largely from homegrown terrorists, who deeply despise our military actions.

Having said all of that, British troops should not be treated harshly by the British public, they're only doing their jobs, and following orders. I'm sure most of them don't want to be there, and probably wonder just like us, what the long-term objectives are. This is clearly demonstrated by the number of soldiers quitting the forces. They're leaving in droves. This only exacerbates the situation, as our forces on the ground are becoming increasingly stretched. There's also that age old problem of knowing friend from foe. The peace-keeping role isn't what soldiers want to do, they want to see the enemy and engage them in combat. That's what keeps soldiers happy!

Sugar-coated 70's Sweet Nostalgia!

Maybe I'm getting old, but when I discuss the sweets of yesteryear with the lads at Uni, they look at me like some kind of nostalgic fool. They have never sampled the delights of:

• Spangles (Square Boiled Fruit Sweets)
• Pacers (Square Mint Flavoured Chews - White with green stripes around them)
• Texan Bar - See Above, lovely chocolate

Just as the food in the 70's was rubbish, the sweets were brilliant. At least that's the way I remember it. I do consider the possibility though, that they were only brilliant because the occasions on which I had any were so few and far between. Was I deprived? Nah! Money was tight right enough, but it was the same for everyone. When you got a sweet, you savoured it. It's true what they say, "You can have too much of a good thing!"

Our sweets are all Americanised now, and while some of them (such as M&M's, the peanut kind) are OK, in general I would say that sweets were better back then, it was the golden age of the Britiish sweet. Plus, they put way too much sugar into sweets nowadays, it wipes out the flavour. It's a disgusting practice which I condemn with all my vigour!

A Long Forgotten Ancestral Punch-up!

I sat down last night to watch some telly, and I said to the wife "Remind me to watch "Who Do You Think You Are?" tomorrow night, because I missed it last week". Just as I said this I turned over the channel and started reading a book, when I heard the unmistakable voice of Griff Rhys Jones coming for the box in the corner. I realised straight away that "Who Do You Think You Are?" was already on and a day earlier than expected.

Even though I'd missed the first 20 minutes it made riveting viewing. Griff had been brought up to believe that his Gt Grandfather had been a engine driver killed in a rail crash. The reality was very different. He had been killed in a drunken punch-up outside a pub, which he may well have been the instigator of. I think it's really important that people have a sense of where they've come from and what's gone into making them who they are today. Every family has secrets and it's so much better to have them out in the open.

Of course, my peers will recall Griff from "The Not the Nine o'clock News" and "Smith and Jones" shows, which to my mind were incomparable in their day, apart from Monty Python perhaps. Griff and Mel had and still have I believe a great friendship, which made their act work all the better. I've had some of their stuff on this blog before, check this video for instance. That's just a small glimpse of their material.

I'd Rather Eat Now Than In the 70's!

I had Macaroni cheese for supper! So simple to make and yet surprisingly delicious. I realise that I have a bit of a penchant for food of Italian origin, but not the sort that Keir eats. Silvio isn't putting any of his man fluids in my grub thank you! Taking Tikka Masala out of the equation, my next favorite foods are lasagna, canneloni, macaroni, pizza and so on ad infinitum. I'm procrastinating yet again in making my point clear, so I'll get to the point shall I?

If you are of a similar age to myself (36... cough), then your childhood memories certainly won't involve any of the meals listed above. My abiding supper-time memories are of:

• Mince & Tatties
• Fish Fingers, Frozen Peas and Smash
• Cullen Skink
• Tatty Soup
• Beef Stew

Gladly, the variety and tastiness of meals has increased dramatically since the 70's. I feel like Oliver Twist when I think back upon what we had to eat then. In all probablility the vastly improved nature of the British diet is to contribute for the fact that most kids are way taller now than what they used to be in days of yore. Most kids are over-taking their parents height wise nowadays, and before they get to High School in some cases.

I don't think that the ready availability of delicious grub at present is the only cause of obesity in this country. The reason there weren't so many obese people back then was because nobody could really afford snack-foods, and ordinary grub was simply crap, however you dressed it up. People were willing to starve rather than face Fish Fingers again. They were a rubbish convenience food that mothers up and down the land embraced simply because it was quick and easy to cook!

It Comes But Once A Year (Or Twice)!

It comes but once a year (6 monthly if you're that way inclined) and like Christmas, it leaves me well out of pocket. Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded Road Tax. I had to bow to the inevitable and fork over £180 at the Post Office this morning. Don't give me that "If you're not happy about it, use public transport instead" malarkey. Have you ever been here? It's like the edge of the World. The nearest train station is 9 miles away. the train runs every 2 hours through the day. The buses running to and from the railway station run on some sort of random timetable. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it's already there, sometimes nothing. The ordinary bus service runs every hour, but goes round every little village along the way. It's dreadful, just dreadful!

I also had to follow up on the kilt restrictions at graduation thing from Saturday. No restrictions, I can wear what I like, which is good news, but I suspect that the wife was eyeing some expensive looking clobber, to hire, so maybe the other side of the coin is "heads" as well!

I also spent sometime this morning, going through my little filing cabinet under the stairs, where I keep all the household bumph, such as bills, letters, invoices, whatever! I was looking for my M.O.T. Certificate and Car Insurance, so I could go and get the Road Tax sorted. Looks like the other half had already been in there, everything was jumbled up and in the wrong places. I have a simple system, which doesn't amount to stuffing everything that comes in wherever! I tried to convey that message, but I don't think it was getting through to be honest! I guess that'll be another job for me this afternnoon, sorting everything out... AGAIN!

Talking To Strangers Again!

I got chatting with a woman on the train this morning (no, not like that!), who was from Zimbabwe. She was over here doing care work, because the currency there is worthless, and in order to survive they need to get a hold of foreign currency. I knew things were bad out there, but the stories she told me only reinforced that opinion... 10 hours queueing for petrol in stifling heat, can't get hardly anything from the shops. She actually compared it to Darfur! What I found really surprising though was just how passionate she was about her country. She said she would never leave, and was highly optimistic that change would come.

We found out today where we're going for our school experience placements. I won't tell you where because that wouldn't be appropriate, but let's just say within a 10 mile radius, for me. I'm happy enough with the 2 schools I'll be going to. I already know one of the teachers and he's a really nice guy, so I'm sure that's going to be a great benefit. I know it's going to be hard, but I plan on steeling myself for it. I know what I need to do to get where I want to be, and there's no way around it, so I'll just have to get stuck in. I hope that if I treat every experience as positive in some way, then I can only improve.

I've also realised that not only am I the only Computing student in this area, but it also look as though I'm the only Trainee Secondary School Teacher from this area. I have a list which shows where everyone has been placed and no-one is going to the same schools as me. That' really surprising. We have some fairly large schools round here and I would have expected others to find places here, but I guess that I must be the only Trainee living in the area. Good or bad? I'm uncertain at this stage. It might have been handy to have some other trainees to exchange opinions and ideas with while on placement, but it's not going to be possible now.

Another Legend Lost!

I was saddened to hear this morning that the Scottish Rally Driver and former WRC Champion, Colin McRae, had been killed in a helicopter accident. For as small a country as we are, we don't half seem to do well at producing top class sportsmen, and anyone living in Scotland will tell you that we're at an immediate disadvantage because of the lack of facilities and funding available.

I actually have something in common with Colin McRae, believe it or not. My own father was a rally driver back in the late 70's and through the 80's, just like Colin's father Jimmy McRae. I'm sure my father competed in several races in which Jimmy was also competing, although my father was more semi-pro while Jimmy was at the top of the tree so to speak, at that time.

Unfotrunately, rallying is a very expensive sport, as my father discovered, and even with sponsorship, which he had to go out and get himself, the costs of keeping a car racing were phenomenal, and eventually he had to pack it in. He did win a lot of races though, and also placed highly in many pro-events. His Co-driver/Navigator was actually a Primary School Headmaster, would you believe? I certainly don't have the same "Need For Speed" that my father had, but having had a few trips in his rally-car as a kid, I can telly you, that you do get a real adrenaline rush. The nearest thing I can acquaint it to is taking off in an aeroplane with a short runway, when they hold the brakes on until the engines are screaming. When they let the brakes off the acceleration is amazing. I'm talking about Aberedeen airport here in particular, but I'm sure it would apply to other small airports. Perhaps it's the actual need for the adrenaline rush which is addictive. I think I could understand that!

Back In Print!

So, I headed into Elgin this morning in order to:

• Hire a Kilt for Graduation
• Buy a Laserjet Printer
• Get my niece her birthday present

Two out of three ain't bad is it? As Meat Loaf used to sing! On the kilt front, yes, I finally saw some kilts, but then the guy in the shop queried what the College rules were on the wearing of kilts. Apparently certain things are permitted, while others are not. It was pretty much suggested that I return when I've acquainted myself with that information. Bah, people always have to make things difficult, I just want a kilt!

Regarding, my desperate need for a Laserjet printer, I went to Argos to buy one that I'd seen in their catalogue! I checked online yesterday and it said they had plenty in stock. Liars! I checked every printer in the book when I was at their store, guess what, they didn't have any printer in stock, not least the one I was after. I'm talking about the Samsung MI 2010, for £79.99. In desperation I decided to try a small computer shop up a side street. They had the same model on display for £99.99, and as I said, desperation took a hold of me and I decided just to go for it. So the shop salesman goes through the back, and my son and I followed. He tells me that the one on display is the only one left, but that they have plenty of the newer model in stock (ML 2510), but he doesn't know the price, he'll check it! We go back to the till so he can scan the barcode and I'm thinking £120, maybe £130. Then up it comes £70.49. I nearly tore it out of his hands, of course I bought it. It's very rare that something like that happens to me, these days.

Bought some curling tongs or hair-straighteners, whatever, for the niece, and that's her sorted as far as I'm concerned. My wife was saying, "what about perfume, what about this, or that, blah, blah, blah?". Just buy the first semi-suitable item you see, that's my motto. Who cares if they need it, or even if they want it. You've bought them something, that's all that matters! With a little luck, you might have got them something they were needing, result. Then you look like a truly considerate person who spends time deliberating a birthday purchase.

Sing A Song For You!

I forgot to mention yesterday how fortunate both I and my fellow commuters aboard the 5:15 from Aberdeen, were, to have in our midst, some Scotland fans, quite obviously still on their way home from the match against France. When you're travelling home after a long and tiring day, believe me, the last thing you want to hear is a slurred but raucous version of "Flower Of Scotland", sang repeatedly, regardless of whether the team pulled off a great vistory or not. Clearly, they did achieve a massive win, but most of us are not in the fortunate position where we can spend the following day getting hammered.

Going back to my attempts to hire a kilt for graduation day, as I narrated to you a couple of days ago, I went back to the shop this morning at 11am, certain that this time it would indeed be open. Well, it wasn't! When it is open, if ever, remains a mystery. How the hell can you run a business like that? Now I'll have to hire a kilt from Elgin, which will make things a lot more awkward for me!

I've got so much work to do today, but I'm procrastinating yet again, as you can see. There's not really much time for blogging these days, but I do it anyway. It's a sort of diary in many ways, in others it's a mirror into my soul... maybe! Oh yeah... one of my fellow students warned me that Laserjet printers are bad for your health, something about micro-particles. I think that any worries about dying from a printer related illness should be of very little concern to someone about to embark on a profession in teaching!

Courting Controversy!

You certainly won't be aware of the fact, but on several occasions I've written my post for the day then deleted it in its entirety, simply because the content was too controversial. I know that it's my blog and that I should be able to say whatever I like, but that's not really the case. Since I'm going to be a teacher (hopefully), I don't think I should comment on yob culture or crime and punishment for instance. There's also the matter of the Iraq War. Well, are we still at war? Apparently not! It supposedly ended ages ago, we're only peace-keeping now! That seems to be going well! Why exactly did they (we?) invade Iraq again?

It's not that I don't think I should mention certain "taboo" topics, because believe me, I've got plenty to say about events that are happening right now and the potentially catastrophic situations that certain governments in the World are creating for the future. The reason being, I've come to realise that right is left and up is down. I used to think that we were the good guys, and we still are, only we're being completely misrepresented abroad, by our misguided leaders, and our allies are genocidal maniacs. Does that about illustrate the position I'm assuming? I think so!

Doing a volte-face again, I told you that I might be getting a digital camera. Well that's on hold, becasuse I now need to acquire myself a Laserjet Printer, simply owing to the copious amount of documentation that the University keep uploading. I have a £1 print allowance, which I haven't even bothered to touch, and more reading material than I can ever handle. I guess Manfredi's "Spartan" book will have to be put aside until I get a break, possibly until next Summer, the way things are going

What's In Your Sporran?

So, I've been putting it off, but this morning I decided it was time to go and see about hiring a kilt for graduation day, which is in about 4 weeks or so. The trouble is, the gown is a dark navy blue colour with yellowish-gold trim (that's how it was described to me), and I'm having difficulties picturing in my head, just exactly what colour of kilt is going to go with that.

Anyway, there's a shop here in town, which hires kilts, so I decided to have a walk over and see what they have, bearing in mind that it's a small shop and that their range would probably be limited in respect of that. Quite unsurprisingly, because I live at the ends of the Earth, the shop was closed. I decided to inspect the times as advertised in the window, these are the notices I saw, in order:

• Open Monday - Saturday 10am - 4pm!


• Only open for returns on Monday's!


• This shop will be closed on Wednesday's until further notice!

What is it with people around here? There is no ambition! They open 6 hours a day, 4 days a week? Why bother? I have grave doubts abut these people's committment to kilt hire. So, I'm not sure that it would be a good idea to order from them, given that my graduation is on a Friday morning, I'm in Uni all day Thursday that week, and they're closed on the Wednesday, which is the only time realistically that I can collect my kilt prior to graduation. Besides which, I still don't know what colour to get!

The Real Shakespeare!

Haha, who is this ridiculous looking Elizabethan gentleman? Why it's none other than the greatest man of his time, Sir Francis Bacon. It's quite possible that you've never heard the name before, other than there was an artist who shared it also, but this man was surrounded by mystery and controversy, and still is to this day. What did he do to generate such mystery?

To all external apperances, Bacon was a genius. He was student of philosophy, nature, science and law. He was also a great writer and statesman, the greatest of his time probably. His oratory skills were unrivalled as well. He curried such favour with Queen Elizabeth, that it was widely believed then (and still is by many today) that he was her illegitiate son. However, the suggestion which has most firmly attached itself to Bacon, is that he was the true author of Shakespeare's plays. There is a great deal of evidence from that time to indicate that only he and no other could have written such momentous and elaborate works of literary genius.

While there is much evidence to suggest that Bacon was the true author of the Shakesperean plays, there is probably just as much evidence to demonstrate why Shakepseare could not have been the author. The man was a largely ignorant fellow who couldn't possibly have possessed the worldly knowledge and knowledge of court, law and philosophy, which shines through in the plays attributed to him. Unless one assumes that he absorbed information and ideas from those he met, like a sponge, then clearly the plays were conceived and written by another, by a man who did possess the knowledge and intellect. The only man of his time who did, was Sir Francis Bacon! Did Bacon take a slightly promising fresh-faced actor, newly arrived in London, and with the promise of riches, use him as a vehicle to publish plays which quite often contained satirical digs at the nobility, churchmen and monarchy of the period. Plainly, using a stooge, Bacon could air his grievances in public without fear of retribution. I'll bet he had a jolly good laugh in doing so too!

Forced To Exercise!

Yes, I'm unfit, yes, I'm out of shape. I don't really exercise per se, despite that. I'm a student, students don't exercise. I've way too much reading and assignments to do! But today turned out to be one of those days when divine intervention forced me to exercise, unjustly and against my own good judgement.

It started with an ascent up several flights of steps to get the bus on Union St, the alternative being to walk a few hundred yards around. The morning tutorial took place on the 9th floor, and the exodus following the tutorial virtually renders the lifts unusable, so I had to descend 18 flights of stairs (2 between each floor) to the ground floor. Since it's almost 2 miles from the Uni to the train station I catch the bus, and today was no exception, but the train coming home was at 5.15 and the bus only got me back to Union St. around 5.10, so I had to virtually run the 300 yards or so to catch the train. It was either that or wait another hour and a half, which I was not prepared to do. I was the last person on to the train just before the doors closed, sweating and panting, and unable to get a seat. I was therefore obliged to stand for about 15 minutes before some people got off.

The result of all that unnatural and rather unwelcome exercise was that when I got home I was starving. I had images of Lasagna and Chips in my head, but the wife had made soup. You see how terrible life gets for me sometimes? You people don't know how lucky you are! That was a joke, please do not respond with hostility, it's quite likely some of you have also had occasion to eat soup, especially students!

Your Family Were Pirates!

This week marked the return of a series which I can actually say that I take enjoyment in watching, although sometimes I do wish they would pursue certain threads a little further, as I know well they can. I am of course talking about the brilliant "Who Do You Think You Are?" For those unfamiliar with the programme, it takes celebrities on a journey of discovery, finding out who their ancestors were, where they came from, what they did, and looks at the major events which they were caught up in. The first show featured newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, whose family came to the UK from Belarus, via South Africa. Turns out her family, who were Jewish, were treated just as badly as most European Jews during WWII, and were murdered by the Nazis. What always amazes me about family history, is just how little people know about their own family when it comes down to it.

Other TV treats this week. The IT Crowd continues, not as good as the first 2 episodes,. but still showing the odd flash of brilliance, such as this clip form the start where Moss and Roy are about to watch a pirated dvd and are reminded quite expilicitly how piracy is theft:

How did you enjoy that? Yeah, I thought so too, isn't humour marvellous?

The Deadly Star Wars Secrets!

Scientists are a vulnerable lot aren't they? Particularly scientists that are working on goverment defence projects. There's a tendency for them to commit suicide when ever they've just made some major breakthrough. It doesn't make sense does it? If any of you reading this have shown an interest in the often sordid underhand dealings of officials running shady operations such as Area 51 and The Philadelphia Project, then you'll already know that whistle-blowers and people who've seen too much, have a tendency to commit suicide or have a nasty accident. It's part and parcel of the job, even though most of them were probably pressured into the role in the first place.

Where am I going with this? Well, a few days ago, I came across this article online, which makes very interesting reading. It seems that, 22 British computer scientists involved in work relating to the American Star Wars defence project, killed themselves in the 80's. What makes this article all the more interesting is that they were British and it all mainly happened here in Britain, yet I've never heard about this before and I'm sure most Brits haven't either. What's truly disturbing is how at the inquests into each death, on almost every occasion, the police reported that the victim was suffering from depression or stress, when the victim's families reported the exact opposite to be true.

Now, the finger can be pointed in probably any of 3 directions here, assuming they were not suicides;

• The US secret service wanted to keep elements of the research, secret to such a degree that they had the scientists who knew too much knocked off.
• The Soviets were having the scientists assassinated so as to hinder the progrees of the project.
• The British Secret Service may have found out that scientists were selling top secret information, to the Soviets or elsewhere, and plugged up the leaks effciently.

I think that the British Secret Service had to be involved. How else could the police be persuaded to give false testimonies at the inquests. I'm fairly certain that this type of "silencing" goes on all the time, the case of Dr. Kelly, the former UN Weapons Inspector who was made a scapegoat by Tony Blair, being an obvious more recent example. People who slash their wrists tend to bleed a bit, but when Dr. Kelly's body was found on Harrowdown Hill, there was no blood. Plainly, he had died elsewhere, and probably not by his own hands.

I Got Me Some Bargains!

I picked up a couple bargains this morning, when the wife and I went on our bi-weekly grocery shopping trip to Elgin. I always look at the book section in Asda's because quite often they have some decent novels for £3.50 ish. Harking back to my Italian holiday in July, if you were keeping up, then you would remember that I read "The Tower" by Valerio Massimo Manfredi while I was there, and that I promised myself to buy his other books once back home in Scotland. Well I did have a look on ebay, but then the focus went elsewhere and I forgot all about it. Anyway, there I was this morning, looking at the books in Asda's when I saw "Spartan" by Manfredi for £1. Woah... bargain book buy or what? So, I snapped that up and "Wolf Of the Plains" by Conn Iggulden for £3.50. That's a novel about the life of Genghis Khan. Yep, you're starting to see just what type of novel I go for, aren't you?

Following that coup, we had to go and try and get some music book for my daughter, for flute, which of course wasn't in stock. They never are! My wife decided to look in some clothes shop and waved me off to Ottakers book-shop, although I wasn't really intersted, but then I found the best buy of the lot, despite costing me £10 this time. I looked under education, you know, just on the off chance that I might see something worthwhile buying, when I spotted a book called "The Trainee Teachers Survival Guide" by Hazel Bennett. After 2 or 3 minutes flicking through it, I relaised that this book might just save my life. Not only has it a wealth of pointers on all aspects of Teacher Training within the Uni, but it also has lots of helpful tips for what to expect and to do while on school experience. I should have had this book a few months back, but better late than never, as they say!

Brace Yourself For Drama!

I'm going to miss a day of Uni today, because I have to take my son into Aberdeen to see the orthodontist. Bascially he needs a brace, and the only place he can get seen to is in Aberdeen or Glasgow. Did I mention that it took 2 years to get an appointment? That's why I'm having to miss a day of Uni, even though it's probably crucial that I don't miss any classes this early on. Such are the joys of having kids though, they always come first.

Added another little feature to the blog today... ClustrMaps. Unbeknowest to you perhaps, I can already see where all my blog visitors come from; Country, City sometimes, length of visit, what content they viewed etc. I guess the only benefit of ClustrMaps is that it allows the blog visitor to see where other blog visitors came from. Is that really worthwhile? I'm not so sure, but I'll let it do it's work and see how it goes.

My daughter is currently going through a Hilary Duff adoration phase. She's collecting all her movies, all her albums, posters, the works. Worse still, she's constantly watching the movies and listening to the albums. She says she wants to be just like her, and why can't we move to Edinburgh right now so that she can enrol in drama school? She's 10! I refer back to my previous statement regarding having kids!

Jumping Through Hoops!

This is me yesterday and this morning... jumping through hoops! Idiotially, I volunteered to be the head person for our tutor group this week and only afterwards realised I had no idea what the task was. When I eventually found the details of the task to complete, it became apparent that I would have to access a research paper for the information required to complete the task. So, simple I thought, just use the online library service for the Uni, it cost them £55 million, so it's bound to be simple enough.

I logged into the library, searched for author... nothing, searched for journal... nothing, searched everything... still nothing. So, I logged into Athens... just a huge list of material, but not what I was looking for. Enough time wasted, so I E-mailed the tutor asking how the hell I could find this paper.

I got the reply this morning. Via the Uni library website, into Athens... select some seemingly arbitrary item off the list there.Travel to another website, serach there, check some box, click another arbitrary link, download the .pdf. How simple, I wonder why I never figured that out for myself. Then cheekily, at the end of the E-mail, my tutor suggests I see the librarian about a getting a tutorial. Well, I've already had the tutorial, and contrary to expectations, it never taught me how to jump through hoops!

Meet the Skate Meat!

Ckeck out this trailer for EA Skate Meat. My son and I had a great laugh together when we saw this. He's played all of the Tony Hawks' games, where the bails are hardly realistic. This game apparentlly uses ragdoll physics, I nearly typed "ragtime" there, that would have made it an entirely different game. Anyhow, you have to see this video, realistic bails, slams and the stereotypical rail-slide gone wrong. Check it out!

Gorillas In the Milk (Chocolate)!

What's going on here then? Yes, it's a gorilla pretending to be Phil Collins. No frills, just for laughs. There doesn't really seem to be any Dairy Milk connection apart from through the medium of Purple. Apparently, their next advert is going to be even funnier. I'll make sure and keep an eye out for you!

An Airbag Saved My Life!

Yes, I know I missed yesterday's post, but I was late getting back from Uni, I had a migraine and couldn't be arsed really! But, I'm going to make it up to you today. First off, check out the video above of the 2006 Pride of Arizona Radiohead Part1 and 2 (UW Game). Why don't we ever have stuff like that in the UK? I'll tell you why, it's because we have no vision. Yes, the Americans have guns and a genocidal president, but at least they get to do cool stuff.

You want to know what's in the video before you watch it? Well, it's a marching band playing Radiohead songs right before some big American Football match. What struck me was the choice of songs that they selected; Airbag, Paranoid Android, Optimistic and The National Anthem. Now while I prefer the 2 more obscure tracks from those 4, I imagine the crowd at the game were largely ignorant of Radiohead. But, why? OK Computer is largely hailed as the Best Album Ever and certainly the Best Album of the 90's. Radiohead's headline act at Glastonbury 97 has also been voted the Best Concert ever. You get the picture? If you haven't heard the albums then what are you waiting for?

I'm going to post a couple more interesting videos today. Just stuff that has come to my attention for one resaon or another. Let's face it, you could sit watching videos all day, if you had the time!

A Snapshot Of the Future!

I'm toying with the idea of buying a digital camera. I know, hard to believe that I still don't actually have one. Well, there were a couple reasons for that; firstly, I had my camcorder, which had a camera facitlity, albeit woefully inadequate, and secondly digital cameras were fairly expensive for a long time, while not being very good at all. Now, I believe that the cameras are of a suitable standard for me to make a purchase. Although the cost of "extras" concerns me a bit, I must admit.

There are several good reasons for my acquiring a camera;

• I need to take more family photos
• I can use my own photos for blogging purposes
• It's handy to have a camera sometimes, when you see something unexpected

I'm rapidly coming to the realisation that I may be living and breathing teaching over the next year or so, and possibly the following year, and even forever maybe. Don't get disheartened when I spout heaps of legislation and teaching standards etc. It will only be because I've been brain-washed. I don't mind, this is the path I've chosen. I will try and retain my personality as far as possible, but it may be difficult to do so.

I've met a good few of my prospective fellow teachers now and I'm certain that I'm as capable as any of them, of being a good teacher. When it comes down to it though, only the School Experience will offer a true test of potential. That's where we'll either be broken or be all conquering. Say, in about 5 weeks time!

3-D TV!

So scientists have taken the first step on the road to developing 3-dimensional television, except no they haven't really. The image in the photo is created using a mirror spinning at what is probably a dangerous speed. Notice also, how the lines at the extremities are slightly blurred while those in the centre are sharper. It seems that white light is the only type workable at this point as well.

Clealry, there's a long way to go until we see television akin to that demonstrated in 2000AD, back in the early 80's, with their Halo Jones series. That's where I first saw the concept, and it made me stop and think at the time, "Will this ever be possible?" As I've said before, so many ideas demonstrated in 2000AD have come to be, and in some instances I suspect it was former 2000AD readers that brought them to fruition.

I was trawling through Digg this morning, when I spotted a link to an Asimov short story and thought "I'll have a qucik squizz at that then!" See the Sci-Fi connection coming through again, nothing wrong with a bit of Sci-Fi, especially 50's-60's, when anything was thought possible. Quite a nice little short story, it reminded me of the time when I had to take a book out of the school library for 'O' Grade English. I just sort of randomly selected a short stories compilation, which was mainly rubbish. The one exception was a Ray Bradbury short, which if I recall correctly had some time travellers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs, where they had several dramatic encounters. The twist in the tale being that, on returning to their own time, they found that everything was slightly different, back to front in fact. And, it was all because one of them had crushed a bug. Very thought provoking, especially when you're 13!