Back to work

Well that is it , the holidays are over and I am now back at work. It always comes as a bit of a crashing realisation to me that I will have to go back to work after being off. It seems particularly hard in that I have had 2 weeks at home with Robert where we can spend all day every day together and now we will be not be able to do that. It makes me miss the fact that we no longer work together. Yes we worked together in the same office with me testing the code that he had written, and I have to say I really liked it.

Anyway while off we decided to work our way through some of the DVD's that we had managed to accumulate what with one thing and another. I had recently received a box set that contained the Blade films. As you may have already seen I am not a huge fan of the second film - in fact I may go as far as to say as I remember thinking that it really did suck. Anyhow following watching the first film, in the interests of completeness we decided that we would watch the second, and it was then that something quite odd happened. It turned out that the film works much better on the small screen than on the big! This time I could actually see what was happening in the fights and could take in everything that was going. Anyhow I have revised my opinion and I guess it is fair to say that it is not as sucky as I recalled. It still does not come close to the first and third films but then again not a lot does.

If you are looking for a nice trip out then I can recommend going to Great Cumbrae (Millport) and taking your bike. You get there from going to Largs and getting on a wee ferry for 15 minutes and then you are there. They are really cycling friendly and it makes a really nice change to see that in the summer there are more cyclists that anything else. At only 11 miles round is is a manageable trip for even novice cyclists and you are sure to have a good day.

A cool place that you all must visit. Amazonia. I know it sounds eird but it is a new attraction that has opened at Strathclyde Country Park. Sounds naff but actually it is kind of cool. Basically the idea is that it is Scotland’s biggest indoor tropical rain forest. You need to pay about £5 to get in but when you do you can spend as long as you want walking around the exhibits looking at the animals, listening to talks and taking part in the animal handling sections. They guys that run and own Amazonia really care about the animals and are one of the few teams who have managed to successfully breed pygmy marmosets. It is well worth a look. They have a website (http://www.ama-zone-ia.com/) it is not the beast that you will have seen but you can at least find out about them.

Anyhow it is late and I am going to crash out as it is another busy day tomorrow - but hey it will be Wednesday (my least fave day of the week) but if nothing else we will be half way to the weekend ;-)

Hooray Hooray I’m still on holiday

Yep Im on holiday – have been for the past week and there is still one more week to go. I am not going anywhere special other than the odd day off here and there but it is great to be able to chill out and not worry about anything other than where and when I am going to get my next cup of tea (yes I know this is a recurring theme but what can I say I like tea).

Anyhow the relaxing is great and I am thinking that I will be trying to find more time to fit it in when I am back at work – even if it is just to go out to the beach a bit more.

It has to be said that the beach is one of my favourite places to be – I always find it a peaceful and inspiring place – just watching the ocean lap and the world pass by is great – really soothing for the soul. We have been to both Ayr beach and the Isle of Bute – Man you can just forget everything and chill out there – it really is top. Bute would be a place that I would love to move to – small quiet peaceful and by the sea – what more could a girl want – it could be my idea of paradise. Anyway if you are wanting a nice day out then Bute is well worth a short trip.

Anyhow other than that holidays there has not been a lot going on here. I have just finished another of the Kim Harrison books – Every witch way but dead. A very entertaining book that focuses on the idea that people like witches, were creature, vampires etc live alongside humans. Worth a read if you like that kind of thing.

Along the same vein of thought (well ok not really but it does link into Vampires) I watched Blade again today – top film – I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it when I saw it at the picture house. Stephen Dorff is top as the bad guy Frost and even Wesley Snipes does a good job as Blade. I considered watching Blade II but resisted – I never really liked the film and found the whole thing a bit pants to be honest (It even retroactively ruined the first one for me). I guess I may watch it again though before I watch the third instalment (Blade Trinity). Now that was a top film – much more like the original. That is something to look forward to at least and you never know it may get me through film 2.

In terms of other films – There have been a number of surprisingly good films that I have seen of late – Sahara was one – looked funny, thought it would be pants but it rocked (taking me back to the days of the Indiana Jones Films). Anyhow the past few days I have been pleasantly surprised by another couple of films for which I had no hope. First of all was the Wedding Crashers staring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

Now don’t get me wrong I think both of these guys are great actors (I am sure they are really concerned with my opinion – Not ) and they have been involved in some really funny films (as well as some that were not so funny). Anyhow this was another film where I figured that all of the funny stuff was in the trailer (a la death becomes her – I am still annoyed about how much of my life was taken up seeing that film – I want that time back to spend it more profitably by doing….well anything other than watching that film !) and the rest of the film would, to be frank, suck. Much to my surprise the trailer is taken from the first 5 minutes of the film – and the rest of the film was even funnier – well worth a trip (in my humble opinion).

The second film I had no hope for – but yes I still went to see it – and it was (drum role please) The Fantastic 4. You know what – it was not great, the effects for Ben Grimm and Read Richards were not great – but it had heart. It is by no means the best comic book adaptation but also not the worst.

The only problem with the up and coming comic book adaptations is that they have a lot to live up to in terms of look and content. It all started with Spiderman and X-Men where the looks were good and the stories kept you interested and lately has been . buoyed back up with Batman Begins (another top film). People are more discerning and they have high expectations – and I think eventually we will get the glut of films that just don’t make the grade and then we will see the comic book films fade out for a bit. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Guess I should say a wee bit about Batman Begins – you know after the other Batman disaters ( ok so I thought 1 was ok and 2 could have been worse but the others, man if something could both suck and blow at the same time they would have been it) I think I was pretty jaded about the whole thing. For once however I was pleasantly surprised – the film made sense, you could see what was happening (see Tim Burton lighting is good) and the bad guys were actually eerie and not the stupid panto baddies that they were in the other films (who knew they could make the Scarecrow work). I went to see it on the opening night and the first time you see the bat signal there was a round of applause and at the end well there was a standing ovation. Now I know that there would have been a lot of the die hard bat fans there but you know what –still was a good film, Heck I have not seen a standing ovation at the pictures before (Rob says the last time he saw one was at Rocky 3). Anyhow you should give it a look for no other reason that some of the special effects if nothing else.

X-3 – They have a director, they have a beast (Kellsey Grammer) who I think has the right voice for the blue furred Dr and they seem to be looking for a Gambit. I fear he will suck I mean the whole Cajun accent – we will just have to wait and see I guess.

A few other films I have enjoyed of late
Constantine – Not that close to the comics but a good film non the less
Sin City - Was everything and more that you could have hoped for (Mickey Rouke was top)
Mr & Mrs Smith – A good old no brainer of an action flic – turn off your brain and revel in the gun fights
Million Dollar Baby – Oh man this is a film that will make you smile and cry – truly moving and Clint is back on form

Anyhow its late and I think it is time to sign off for a while till I think of some other random mutterings to post, and before I rant some more about films.

Slater

Youv'e Been a long time baby

Well it has been a while since I put a new entry into the blog (well over 3 months now but lets not count shall we). I really don't have an excuse - well actually that is not true - I have a lot of excuses it is just none of them are any good. I mean I could tell you I got lost in the wilds of my back garden while hunting the elephants that live there (not as unlikely as you might think) but to be honest with you it would not be true.

Anyway a lot has happened since my last entry (unsurprising when you think about how long it has been between entries)

I guess we should cover the not cool things first off

In the month of June a very important person in my life passed on. My grandfather Rev Kenneth MacLeod eventually fell to illness and died peacefully in his sleep. We were all at a loss, loosing a person that had meant so much to so many. For me he was a second father, a man who listened and loved and carried on quietly, a man who taught lessons in his own way and was loved by all the family. We were blessed to have him with us happy and healthy for another 6 years following a massive heart attack, and he even managed to help at my wedding - something we thought we would never see.

Today (July 7th) an attack was launched on London. As we watch the death tolls rise we have to count the costs to us all (an not just financial). Our thoughts and best wishes as with those who are affected be they victims, friends or family. To those who know that their loved ones will not be coming home - we hope you find peace.

G8 Protests - This past week the G8 summit has been going on, and (for those of you that have not noticed) there has been a campaign to bring to the attention of those at the summit that we need to help reduce the debt we currently hold against Africa. while this has been a worthy cause the message has been lost in the un-rest that has accompanied these times. At what stage it became a good idea to wreck property, to attack people and generally make an arse of everything, I am not clear - but in my oppinion (and that is all this is) it makes a mockery of what people are trying to do. Lets try and remember what was hoped to be achieved and what the real aims of the campaign are.

Anyhow enough of these things it is time to look at things that are more uplifting. Basically it is back to the cool stuff

So I already mentioned audible last entry - but we have increased our use of this site and it is great - really you should give it a shot

At the end of May Rob and I made our first trip abroad together - going to Paris. for the long weekend we walked around this truly interesting city, marvelling at the architecture and the sheer magnificence of the buildings. I mean I have never seen a place that so liked their gold (almost every statue had something gold coloured on it). We had a wonderful time despite the fact that it was about 90 degrees and we have no tolerance for the heat. Anyhow we have taken a heap of photos that we will put on line when we get a chance - along with some more details of the trip. Anyhow we had a good time.

Other cool stuff - yesterday a friend of Rob's took us sailing on his racing dingy. While the wind was not strong we had a wonderfully tranquil evening that we all enjoyed. It was helped by the scenery which was wonderful, I have not had a such a peaceful time for a long age. We were at Loch Venachar, Stirling - you should go there just to see the scenery if nothing else.

Anyhow it is late and I have work in the morning so I am off to wind down and crash out for the night. I will aim to update this and have another blog entry soon.

Slater J

Books, books, books.....

Ok so I have had some of my tea, put a lasagne in the oven for dinner, petted one of the cats and have pondered my last posting. What I thought was that it seemed a shame to have the rambling post that did not really have a lot to say but it did get me thinking about books.

What - you may (or may not) say - is there to ponder about books. Well my answer would be that it depends on what role books play in your life and the life of your family. In my family books have always been an integral part of our lives. As children we always had access to books - we had books that were bought for us as gifts and every couple of weeks we would have a trip to the local library. For me the council Library was a magical place. It was the place where there were so many books it would take you years to read them all. It was an Aladdin’s cave where you could rummage about for what ever kinds of treasure you wanted. I think that my love of books is one of the most precious things that my parents have given to both me and my brothers.

As the years have gone on I have bought more and more books is a variety of forms from text books to Science Fantasy and Fiction to Autobiographies. Now this never seemed like too much of a problem to me - until I met Rob. Now luckily for me he understand my passion for the printed form - because he shares the same attitude. Now this may sound ideal however it does pose some problems - most notably that we own thousands of books between us. Recently we made a big decision - when we rearranged our book cases we would review each book and see if it was one that we had any interest in reading again. If the answer was no then they went in one pile - while the others went onto a book shelf. Locally we have found an Oxfam charity book shop and we have seen that there is a book recycling centre. We have decided that we will donate the majority of the books to the Charity shop and hospitals and those that we cannot do this for we will recycle. To give you an idea of the scope of the issue I have books that I got when I was born.

Anyway I was thinking about this and have realised that things have now changed a bit in my family. More and more I am saying to people here you should read this and giving them a copy of something to read. This is the case with my parents as I find things that I think they will be interested in. For me this means quite a lot as I am sharing something that reflects one of my strongest interests. For me there is nothing more magical than being able to loose yourself in another world and dream about things that may or may not be. On its most simple level - for me - books are escapism - they are your portal to another world. They also have the ability to elicit in people strong emotions that you may not expect from a page of words. Books can make you scare, happy, sad, angry and a myriad of other emotions - depending on the talent of the author. How can y0u not love that.

Of late I have been thinking about libraries again and wondering if in 10 years time - will we still have the village/town/city library where children and adults alike find a place to escape. It saddens me to say that I do not believe that there will be anywhere near as many about. This makes me sad as we will be loosing a valuable part of the ability to educate ourselves and out children. I guess that these days children do not have the urge to go to the library - I would think that they may not see it as being exciting enough - and that may br true - but for me it is sad.

Anyhow I have decided that I will take my own action and support the local libraries - so within the next couple of weeks I am going to find out about joining one of the local libraries. I would encourage you all to go out there and support all the local amenities that you have like this - why?? - well because - to quote Jonnie Mitchell - (dont it always seems to go) you dont know what you got till its gone.

Audio Books – A cool site

Anyhow on to some cool stuff. If you like the idea of books and the stories but not actually reading them then why not consider Audio Books. I have always really liked audio books – especially for when you are no up to reading for what ever the reason. Robert has only just gotten into audio plays and books since we started listening to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Anyhow we had a look about on the web and came across Audible.com
This is a really good site for buying downloads of audio books, plays and magazines – though I would recommend that you only go for the unabridged copies. Anyhow we picked George R R Martins A game of thrones (the first book). It comes in 4 parts but you get all the downloads when yo buy it. A cool thing about the site is that once you have bought a download – it remains in your account so that you can download it again if something happens to your PC. Pretty cool huh! Anyway why not go and have a look at it and see what you think


Anyway -some of those web sites for good Author Blogs

kelleyarmstrong.com/index.html

http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/MainPage.htm

Colds and things that are not cool

Today I am feeling somewhat sorry for myself - why? - becuase I have a cold. very pathetic and girly I know but never the less I have one. It is one of theose colds where the back of your throat itches and generally you just feel totally and utterly warn down - which is never a good thng. This is being exacerbated by the fact that we are currently entering on of the busiest time of year for us at my work. This means stress and a lot of work needing to be done in not very much time. That is just the way of things though and I guess I just am feeling grumpy - as well as sorry for myself.

Anyway on to cooler things. My friend Clare - who got married a couple of weeks ago is now back in the country following her honeymoon where she went dog sledding - she looks well rested and she and Brian had a good time - which is all you can really ask when on a trip like that. We met up for lunch today - and a it was cool to catch up and have a chat - though it was a strain to go back to work after all that.

I have been wondering about all kinds of stuff of late - I am quite good at that - and something that I really like is the fact that a lot of the authors I read have now got web sites - where they have their blogs and all kinds of other cool stuff. My favourite is by far Kelley Armstrong’s where she writs online e-books and short stories for the fans - now how cool is that. It is something that really impresses me especially as the fans are the ones that get to choose what she is writing about. With the e-novels it was a chapter or 2 a month and now it is a short story a month. I think it is a great way to reward the fans and I hope that there are plenty of other authors out there that will also take this up. What these guys need to remember is that without fans - their books would not be doing as well as they are - and it is good to reward those that are loyal to you (and your cause).

In terms of books - I have been utterly astounded at the appeal of the da Vinci Code. Now those that have read anything else that is on this site will have seen that I have waxed lyrical about this novel before - and how much I enjoyed it but I decided that I would pass on my copy to my Father as I thought that he would read it. My dad is not a great fan of reading - I think he enjoys it - but it does take him ages to get through a book because he only reads at night when he goes to bed. Anyhow - the other day when I asked if he liked it - he told me that he was over half way through !!!. For those of you that have not seen this book (though I am not sure quite how you will have managed that) it does not have a small word count - and in less than a week he was more than half way through. He actually sat up till one in the morning reading it because he could not put it down. Inspired by this I bought another copy and took this one to my Father in Law - he has yet to read it but I will wait and see if he likes it as well. Having now given away out copies of this book -I had to go and buy another one - this time one for Rob as he has been wanting to read it before we go away. Mr Dan Brown - I seem to be lining your pockets. Ah well such is life. We will see how the fascination with these books continues - as I have bought my folks copies of these as well.

Anyway I am off to drink some of my tea that Rob made for me before he went for his nap and then I have to get dinner