Hanging In the Balance!

Where's the paper and scissors? I totally stumbled across this, this morning... and I want to know more about it. Apparently, someone somewhere has instigated this new art-form, known as rock-balancing! Just look at that picture above, isn't it amazing? Reminds me totally of "Myst Exile", I wonder if either the rock balancer or the photographer had that in mind? Anyhow, I will find out more about this and report back to you on the subject at a later date. It definitely merits further investigation.

OK, change of plan, and I've left the above to demonstrate just how fickle I can be. Wikipedia tells me that rock-balancing has been around far longer than I had presumed, and that there are three types of rock-balancing:

• Pure Balance - each rock in near-point balance (See Above)
  
• Balanced Stacking - rocks lain flat upon each other to great height
  

• Free Style - mixture of the two above; may include arches, etc.

It is suggested that there might be spiritual connotations involved, presumably traits from Buddhism, particularly as a great deal of patience is required in order to achieve perfection. Harmony with nature is another Buddhist element that one might associate with rock-balancing. I note however that some people get paid for doing it, and while artists need to make money, as soon as money becomes the principle motivation for doing so, the art is sure to suffer. I therefore cannot condone payment of any sort for rock-balancing. Long live the unpaid free-style rock-balancers!

Some Books, Some Clothes!

Yes, today we took a trip into Aberdeen, under the guise of stocking up on some early Christmas presents. My son and I headed off to the Bon Accord shopping centre for a nose around, so that on our return to Union Street, my wife and daughter would have done most of what was required. You know my clothes shopping hate, so I did this in order to survive!

I came back with two books; The War Of Wars by Robert Harvey (described as: the definitive one volume account of the Napoleonic Wars) and The Lords Of the Isles by Ronald Williams (describes the kingdoms and conquests of the Scottish Western Isles). My son was looking for PS2 games, but there seems to be a famine as far as those go. I wonder why, could it be that they're pushing the PS3 real hard at the moment?

Anyhow, surprise surprise, when we returned to Union Street after about an hour, my wife and daughter had acquired a blouse and a pair of boots. I'm convinced that they'd much prefer to spend the whole day just looking, they're good at looking and acquiring nothing. So I'm in a clothes shop 15 minutes and I have a pair of jeans, a pair of trousers, 3 shirts and 2 ties. That's how to shop! So, there were no early Christmas presents after all, only the ones I bought for myself.

The Tree Of Life!

I may have mentioned this before, but I do have a bit of the amateur genalogist in me! I started researching my family tree around 1990, and not long after probably started researching my wife's side of the family as well. Back then though, it was straight-forward. A visit to New Register House in Edinburgh, then back up to the North-East, trawling through Census records and Parish records (combined with the IGI) on microfilm. Some scanning through old newspapers, the odd local reference book, and of course scouring cemeteries for headstones.

I haven't done that type of research for several years now though, because the Internet changed all of that. At least, my discovery of the Internet. Four of five years ago, I took the liberty of uploading my family tree to several genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com, Genes Reunited (when they got going) etc. Since then, I haven't had to do any research, the information has come to me. Let me explain further:

• People anywhere in the World, can log-on to any of those sites and enter a name, possibly just a surname.
• They find a match.
• They look for the E-Mail address of the person who uploaded that name.
• They E-Mail me saying that they are descended from the individual in question.
• I respond with a sort of, I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
• Information is exchanged, and I add that new information to my tree.

At this point, I should re-upload my tree to show the new names on there, but this is something I haven't done for a year or two, but still I add and add new names to my tree. At this point in time, I'm just shy of 11,000 individuals dead or alive. Mostly dead I'm afraid. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep adding people. You'd think there'd be a ceiling of some sort, where the names just dry up, but not neccessarily. You'd be surprised how many descendants one person can have, for instance, take the wife's Gt Grandfather, Alexander Maver b.1855. My family tree software enables me to see that he has (or had) 254 direct descendants, and those are only the ones I know about. There might be more. I really should re-upload my tree, I think I'll do it now!

Top Gear Rules the Waves!

If you are a resident of the UK then you will be familiar with "Top Gear"! If you're not then it's a bloody shame, because Top Gear is absolutely immense. It is a motor show, but, anyone will tell you that I have no interest in cars whatsoever. And yet, my kids and I (and I suspect the wife even) enjoy Top Gear no end, because it's so funny. They're prepared to be outrageous, they take enormous risks and clearly enjoy driving and cars in general, particularly fast ones.

On Top Gear last night, the team: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, each built an amphibious vehicle (part car, part boat), which they then had to drive from London to Dover. Once at Dover, they recieved the next part of their challenge, to sail their ridiculous amphibious vehicles 28 miles across the English Channel to Calais. The idea was just plain stupid. There was no way any of their vehicles could possibly make it. At least that's what we thought.

Thei first attempt was a trial run within the harbour, which went quite well, but the second attempt was fairly disastrous. As they left the calmer waters of the harbour, James May's boat sank, Richard Hammond's rudder jammed and he started going around in circles in the harbour entrance as the gigantic Sea-cat came steaming towards him. The timely intervention of the coastguard saved the day. Attempt 3 saw James May join Richard Hammond as cabin-boy. This time the sea was much calmer, so they made a good start. Several miles out to sea however, Hammond's boat began taking on water and then capsized. The three hosts then all ended up together on Jeremy Clarkson's boat, which was a converted pickup truck.

They were going great, but then came the shipping lanes. The English Channel is quite probably the busiest shipping lane in the World, and these nutcases were weaving in and out between tankers, ferries and cargo ships in a floating pick-up truck with an outboard. It was completely insane. They are crazy. Then they started to take on water, but as they drew closer to France the water calmed and unbelievably they made it. They landed somewhere near Sangatte, off target, but considering they had no maps or guidance systems of any sort, pretty good I would say. Rivetting viewing that's for sure. Here's a preview to give you some idea if you missed it or couldn't watch it. Check out some of the videos on the Top Gear website though, and you'll see what I mean!

Sovereignty Surrender Imminent!

Don't say I didn't warn you! Many moons ago, in this very blog, I highlighted the inherent dangers of the revived EU Constitution, in the form of the new EU Treaty, due to be signed this week. At that time Tony Blair was still Prime Minister and refused to give the public a referendum, despite being elected on the back of just such a promise. Now, we have Gordon Brown, similarly refusing a referendum, claiming that the treaty is hugely different to the old constitution and that he has opt-outs on key areas anyway. Well, only this week a team of Labour MP's, returned the verdict of their investigation into the treaty documentation. Result, "Dear Gordon, this document is exactly the same as the old treaty!"

Well, of course, Gordon knew that anyhow. He was only stalling for time, and now it's too late. Only last week I read that Brown had only 10 days left in which he could allow a referendum, which is obviously too short a time anyway. As for Gordon's opt-outs, this morning I read that a German Eurocrat warns Brown that he has 5 days to surrender those opt-outs and sign the treaty. Oh dear, Gordon what have you done! Apparently (in a thinly veiled threat) he also said that other EU countries (principally Germany and France here I suspect) copuld not allow one country to destroy the hard work that had gone into this treaty when 25 other countries were in agreement.

Makes you wonder who won the war doesn't it? "What war?", you might ask if you're a German Euro-MP, because yes, they want to forget all about that don't they? They want school textbooks to totally play down the Second World War, portraying it as a European Civil War, as though we were a united Europe before that. Basically they want to brainwash kids into a sense of European as opposed to national identity. Why don't they just burn the old history books in the street like they did the last time? You may think I'm Euro-sceptic, not so, I like parts of Europe, other parts I have no desire to ever visit. My main beef is centralisation. It's going to benefit certain countries more than others and inevitably the result will be a desire for de-centralisation and consequently another European Civil War.

Templar Trial Minutes Published!

Big news today for anyone holding an interest in the history of the Knights Templar. It seems that trial documents pertaining to the trials of the Knights Templar are to be published by the Vatican Secret Archives, having been allegedly discovered in 2001. Discovered, as it is purported that the documents had been misplaced somewhere among the vast archives of potentially explosive documents that the Vatican would rather were not made available for public consumption.

Quite why they've made this material available is a bit of a mystery, although apparently, it in some respects exhonerates the then Pope Clement V of his part in the sordid affair, demonstrating his opposition to King Phillip the Fair of France. King Phillip is largely regarded as the main instigator of the dissolution and elimination of the order. He owed them vast sums and was intensely jealous of their power and influence. What the documents probably won't address, and what will likely never be known, is what hold Phillip had over Pope Clement that enabled him to pressurise the Vatican into doing his bidding.

Don't think however, that you'll get your hands on a copy of these documents anytime soon. With a price tag of 5,900 Euros and as part of a limited edition set of 599 copies, the chances are that the lay historian (ie. the guys who get real results) will never get a hold of it. Anyway, the Vatican does as it pleases, so who's to know if this is all they have, partial, or far from complete. Working to their own agenda, odds are that they only released those documents which they see as being in some way likely to cast the Catholic faith in a good light. But we all know what atrocities they have committed or permitted to be committed in their name, in the distant and not so distant past. Their are some stains which will never wash away no matter how much time passes!

Dustin Hoffman Impersonator!

I am a graduate! I have graduated! It's over, or is it? I was asked only yesterday if I would graduate again this year from the PGDE, and I said no quite firmly, but even before today's ceremony, I had started to wonder if I was committed to that decision. Only time will tell. I'm afraid to say that I was shamefully present at several photo opportunities and that consequently there may well be several pictures of me in the Northern Scot next week, which is not necessarily a good thing, as I caught a glimpse of one photo and it was fairly horrendous I must admit.

I should also mention that the inventors of the kilt clearly never took driving into consideration. Obviously there weren't any cars around then (whenever then was?), but not only does half the kilt remain outside the vehicle once you've got in it and closed the door, but the sporran won't go under the steering wheel, and I kept catching my hands on it while cornering. Kilt-makers of the future should consider these factors when devising their futuristic kilts.

The actual graduation ceremony went very smoothly, although it was obviously oinly one in a series, as it would have been impossible to accommodate all graduates in one sitting, especially nowadays when it's permissible to graduate at any level of qualification. Personally, I'd rather not have had to sit and watch people receive an SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) in second-rate cooking skills. Not that any achievement is not worthwhile, but surely they'd have been better organising the graduation ceremony by achievement rather than by subject areas, which is what they did.

On other news, I'm reading in the "Sun" newspaper that the average downloader of Radiohead's new album "In Rainbows" paid £4 for it, and there were over 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours of availability. That didn't even include me, as I had to wait slightly longer (See yesterday's post). If I'm right in thinking here then, they've probably already made more money off this album than they will have from any of their previous label releases, because all profits go directly to the band and the thieving record labels get nothing, yay!

I Still Love Radiohead!

The wait finally ended today, when I received my activation code to download the hotly anticipated new Radiohead album "In Rainbows". I should have had it yesterday, and I can only think that having an IP address from AOL is the reason why I had to wait. I did not enjoy being told by a fellow student with a passing interest in the band that he was listening to it on his Ipod on the way into Uni this morning. I had to leave home early, no time to check my E-mail.

What can I say about this album? From one listen alone so far, I am hugely impressed. Lots of string arrangements going on, courtesy no doubt of Jonny Greenwood's foray into orchestral composition for the BBC over the last couple of years. But, this album goes far beyond strings, it's overflowing with textures and rich layers of musicality, which some reviewers seem to be missing altogether, calling it minimalist. Are they really listening without comparing to Radiohead's previous work? Because while there are nods to songs of old, this is something altogether new. After all, it has been nearly 5 years since Hail to the Thief.

Whether or not this album release revolutionises the music industry, this album should be judged on the music contained therein. I think it's impeccably recorded, produced and sequenced. I much prefer this I think (yes, already) to Hail to the Thief. I think HttT was probably recorded too quickly (the polar opposite to this one, and Kid A and Amnesiac before). As a result, some of the songs on HttT were disappointing compared to the versions which they had played live before recording. I don't think that's the case here, but it should be interesting to see how the enhanced cd which will be released with the boxset, will come out sounding. If it's as good as this first disc, then it'll be a complete success for me!

I Hate Clothes Shopping!

Is that too strong, "I Hate Clothes Shopping!"? Is it hell! I hate it with a vengeance. Look at the clothes rack in the picture. If you're a woman, you'll probably be going "Hmm, look at the lovely colours" etc, but if you're a man of my disposition then you'll surely be thinking, "Look at that tat, looks like a jumble sale!" and feeling slightly queasy!

It's not a new found hatred. It's been around for a long time, but my wife does nothing to combat it, in fact she seems determined to make me suffer, by ensuring that I spend as much time as possible in clothes shops, while I feel my will to live draining away. For instance, today we went to Elgin to collect my son and my own, kilts for the graduation ceremony on Friday. My daughter got a dress last week, but my wife still had "nothing suitable" for the occasion.

So we wnet to Dorothy Perkins, New Look, Internacionale, TK Maxx, Happit, Marks & Spencers and finally Tesco, where she bought an outfit. So she got an outfit, but now I'm dead inside. This outfit will no doubt be worn once and never see the light of day again. You see me now, I only buy clothes on the basis of necessity. If I need an item of clothing or footwear, I will go to a specific shop, locate something passable and purchase it. That is how it's done. How do women shop then? This is how, they imagine an item of clothing in their head, then they drag you around every clothes shop they can find, quite surprised that none of them have the clothes item they require.

As I type this, I'm sitting here waiting for an E-mail confirming my activation code to download the new Radiohead album "In Rainbows", which is to be made available today. I see that they might have just intiated the death of the recording industry. Yesterday they were saying in the news that Trent Reznor has followed suit and parted company with his record label, and today the word is that Oasis and Jamiroquai are mooting similar ideas. As always Radiohead show the path for others to follow!

It Was A Heart Of Glass!

Nothing like a spot of role-playing on a Tuesday afternoon is there? I don't mean Dungeons & Dragons, I was giving my brother a hand putting some glass into an upstairs window, so I donned the role of glazier for a while. My presence was required for 2 o'clock having been assured that all would be ready and I would simply have to help him lift the glass into place and hold it while he got the beading nailed on. Of course, it wasn't ready at all, it quickly became apparent that there was old putty needing chiselled out first, which took a good half hour anyway.

My parents house (where my brother STILL lives) is close to the High Street you see, and so my brother was fitting sound-proof toughend glass into his bedroom windows. Sound-proofed because there are several pubs in the vicinty, and toughened because of the dregs of society which spew out of those pubs at closing time, throwing bottles and cans all over. He's seen and heard it all from his bedroom. People stripping right outside the house, pissing in the middle of the street, guys getting their heads kicked in by gangs, people smashing the windows and trying to kick the front door down. Yes, it's just another friendly North east fishing town.

I was going to mention something good I saw on telly recently, but I can't remember what it was, so perhaps it wasn't so good after all. I guess that's the benchmark for telly goodness, being able to remember what you watched the night before. OK, I've just remembered what it was, so it was quite good, even for Channel 5. It was "Banged Up Abroad". It featured 2 poor English saps who got pushed into being drugs mules. Before they knew it, they were on a flight to Venezuela and spending money that wasn't theirs. Of course it all ended in disaster and they spent 4 years of a 10 year sentence in prison. The prisons in Venezuela are run by the prisoners who have guns, grenades and such like, and people are killed daily. They were allowed out eventually to look for work and promptly fled the country. A harsh lesson though. I'm sure they won't try that again!