Ian's Wyrdness

Rhyming Slang of the Day - Jeremy Hunt

2009-09-25T08:38:38Z

I don't normally do politics, but this hypocrite has really got my back up today.

In June, Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was saying that Alan Sugar's labour peerage was incompatible with him presenting The Apprentice
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8087648.stm

Now today, he's calling for the BBC to actively recruit members of the Conservative Party as to its news team
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8274088.stm

So he seems to think that it's not right for someone affiliated with Labour to present a light entertainment programme, but it is fine for the Tories to influence the BBC news. Doesn't he realise how hypocritical he looks here?

ian_wyrdness @ 2009-04-18T08:35:00

2009-04-18T07:36:23Z

This video must surely be the funniest thing on YouTube:

Guide to Goth Stereotypes

2008-11-10T22:01:10Z

I've just been pointed in the direction of this excellent guide to Goth Stereotypes. I fall somewhere between the Hippy and Medieval types, probably leaning more towards the pagan/hippy, ever since first hearing All About Eve in the 80's. wychylips is definitely a Medieval goth.

So what type, if any, are you?

Back to work

2008-07-08T14:07:30Z

I came back to work yesterday, after nearly three weeks off for paternity leave. When I phoned my boss last week to tell him that I'd be back on Monday, he somehow forgot to mention that we'd moved offices. So I turned up yesterday morning and our team had gone! It was only our team moving, so other people were still there. It wasn't entirely unexpected, as they've been telling us that we'll be moving 'imminently' since at least last November and we've had the seating plan for the new office for months. We're much closer to the canteen, gym and Tesco now, as the last office was rather isolated.

I've also been trying to create a slightly more senior role for myself, and my boss has just asked me to write a job spec for it. I've no idea if there'll be any more money, but it will certainly look good on my CV. So I'm busy trying to think up a list of roles and responsibilities. I just know that this is going to upset one particular contractor who I have issues with. He's a senile old git who sleeps in a van in the car-park and lives out of a collection of plastic bags under and around his desk. He looks (and smells) like a tramp and isn't particularly good at his job. In the office move, we tried to position him as far from everyone else as possible, as no-one wants to sit anywhere near him. He's been programming since the early 1970's but still writes code like a beginner. It would be nice to have some seniority over him, as he hates criticism of his shoddy work.

Mini-Me

2008-06-18T16:56:52Z

There's a few of our first baby photos under the cut. We've decided to name him Luis Ewan. Luis means 'rowan tree' and was Gemma's first choice of name.

Labour Intensive

2008-06-17T05:13:19Z

Gemma's contractions started at around 11pm last night. Neither of us have had much sleep. I managed about 2 hours, and she's had less. She phoned the hospital and we're going in soon so that they can give her a check over. They might just tell us that nothing is lively to happen for quite a while and send us home, but they may want to keep her in.

I'll post updates whenever possible.

Steampunk Telectroscope links London and New York

2008-05-23T18:26:59Z

A pair of Victorian-style Telectroscopes have been installed near Tower Bridge, London and Brooklyn Bridge, New York, allowing the good citizenry of each city to peer at each other. This is a most wonderful idea and it's a pity that they're only going to be up and running for a few weeks. I really think that they should be permanent. I don't think that markrimmell is going to be visiting NY whilst he's in the states, or we could go and wave at him.

There's more information and pictures on the Torygraph website.

ian_wyrdness @ 2008-05-01T11:23:00

2008-05-01T10:29:24Z

Happy 60th Birthday to geodhinn

For anyone who doesn't know him, geodhinn is Gemma's (wychylips) dad.

For posting this photo, I guess that I owe Geoff a beer or two now!

Hell on Earth - talk

2008-04-08T17:16:04Z

At the Moot With No ~~Point~~ Name, tomorrow (Wednesday) night:

Apr 9 - Jeremy Harte - Hell on Earth: Devils in the Mediaeval Landscape

Behind the scenes of mediaeval life, a vicious secret struggle took place between demons and the men of God. Though saints might drive the last devil out from the ruins of the pagan races, the fight went on against the old enemy with the cross raised high on mountains and steeples to carry holy war into the kingdom of the air. But the demons never quite went away, flickering like shadows among the wild spaces of a half-cultivated countryside. A stranger met on the road might turn into almost anything, and even good and evil sometimes seemed confounded. "Is it surprising that we turn vicious?" said the well-dressed young man with one warped boot. "After all, you demonise us." An eerie landscape of marvel and miracle unfolds in Jeremy Harte's talk.

The Moot with No Name meets Alternate Wednesdays, 7.30 for 8pm.
Upstairs, Devereux pub near Temple tube station. £2.

Opposite the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand (near Aldwych) is
a Tudor-style pub, the George. The Devereux is down the alley next to
this. See map at http://tinyurl.com/cp7u2

Interview Candidate

2008-04-03T12:54:38Z

We're interviewing people for a couple of jobs. One candidate didn't show up, so my boss phones him. Boss says, "Where are you?", candidate replies, "Sitting outside in my car. The interview isn't until 1:30". Boss replies "It's now quarter to two". Turns out that he forgot to change his phone to British Summer Time. That gave us a good laugh.

He's here now, so off to conduct interview.

The Colour of Magic

2008-03-06T20:13:41Z

It looks like Sky have made another Terry Pratchett film:
http://www1.sky.com/colourofmagic/index.html

Am really looking forward to this. Looks like a good cast, including David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Christopher Lee (voicing Death).

Apparently they're making Going Postal next. I'd prefer one with Granny Weatherwax or Death, like Witches Abroad or Mort.

Back to the Future

2008-02-16T11:09:50Z

Morgan has designed a retro-futuristic hydrogen powered car, which they're calling the Life Car. With its streamlined design, it looks like a 1930's design for a twenty-first century vehicle. They're officially announcing it at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

More info from Wired.

I'd love something like this, but I suspect that it will be well out of my price range. I really would like to own a Morgan one day.

A Day Out in Devon

2007-12-15T11:37:50Z

If only....

Someone's been drinking all of my beer

2007-12-14T23:12:28Z

Social Networking for the Elderly

2007-12-14T10:36:15Z

Scan

2007-12-09T20:13:05Z

For those who haven't already seen wychylips livejournal, she had her first scan at 14 weeks on Friday. I was going to take the day off work as holiday, but we've got a deadline next week so I decided to work from home. I took my laptop to work on Thursday to set it up and then spent Friday morning sitting in our comfortable reclining chair with our laptop ("my laptop and my comfy chair", says Gemma).

In the afternoon I went down to the Whittington Hospital to meet Gemma. I carried on working with laptop in the waiting room and was told off by Gemma for taking calls on my mobile from work.

We were relieved when the scan showed that there was actually a baby in there. It was hard to make out which end was which, but after a while I could make out its head, body and limbs, complete with little fingers, and see its spine. Her next scan is at 20 weeks (on 25th January) by which time we might be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl. We've been unable, so far, to think of any boys names which we like.

Life Membership?

2007-11-27T18:30:41Z

I've just had a letter from the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) saying that my Life Membership is due for renewal on 01/01/2008. I thought that the point of a 'Life Membership' is that it's for life. I shall have to query this since, as far as I can tell, I'm still alive.

Do they know something I don't?

Tim Burton to make Alice In Wonderland fiml

2007-11-16T15:36:48Z

Tim Burton has announced that he's going to make a 3D version of Alice in Wonderland. I wonder if it will be in IMax. He's also making a full length version of his early short film Frankenweenie - about a kid who brings his dead dog back to life.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7098063.stm

I hope that Alice will turn out to be as good as it sounds.

ian_wyrdness @ 2007-11-11T19:51:00

2007-11-11T19:51:31Z

Since everyone else seems to be doing it...

Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal Ian in me.

Which work of Shakespeare was the original quote from?

Great British Beer Festival

2007-08-06T10:56:00Z

Is anyone planning on going to the Great British Beer Festival this week?
http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=195496

ian_wyrdness @ 2007-07-21T14:41:00

2007-07-21T13:44:15Z

I just popped into Brent Cross shopping centre for a few minutes. Whilst I was in there, it started to rain. Since I was on the bike, I decided to wait until the weather improved. Whilst wandering around the shops, I saw that John Lewis were selling the new Harry Potter book for just £5. It was £10.99 in W.H. Smiths and is £8.99 on Amazon, so that's a bargain. So that's made Gemma very happy.

House hunting

2007-07-06T18:08:49Z

We've put our flat on the market and are hoping to buy a house. We haven't really been house hunting yet, but we saw that a Victorian house was up for sale in a village where some of our friends live. So today I went to view it. The house was a bit smaller than I'd hoped, but it is larger than our flat, with the possibility of converting the loft into another large bedroom. The garden is long, but very narrow, but at least we'd have a garden. Importantly (for me, at least) there is a good pub right opposite with real ale and a weekly bikers night. I expect that many of you have drunk in there at some time. The downside is that the house is fairly expensive and a long way from London. It's too far to commute into work daily, but I might be able to arrange with my boss to work from home two or three days a week, as there are already people in the office who do this. I have been told that it's an ideal place to bring up kids, er, I mean cats. Oh, there's also a fairly impressive rockery, which is a big plus!

The Italian Job

2007-06-25T15:18:44Z

We've just booked flights to Italy for wychylips birthday. We're flying out to Pisa at the end of August for a week. The plan is to divide our time between Pisa and Firenze (Florence). If the weather is particularly good, we may also visit the coast.

Can anyone recommend places that we should visit, things to do, places to stay or eat, or tourist traps to avoid?

How Triumph Motorcycles are made

2007-06-08T11:07:59Z

Hilarious mockumentary about the manufacture of the Triumph Rocket III (worlds largest production motorcycle)

LOLCode

2007-05-30T21:20:22Z

You geeks out there might find this somewhat amusing: http://lolcode.com