A Feb 29th Bug?

The Cartoon Blog is currently giving me the following mouseover!

That makes it 1970 which sounds really suspicious!

Music Biography as Gossip column

My current reading on the train on the way to work contains the following footnotes:

• Hon Alice Katherine Sibell Grosvenor, youngest daughter of 2nd Baron Ebury, m. Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimbourne. She was William's constant companion in the last years of her life (p 4)
  
• Wife of Sir Kenneth Clark, director of the National Gallery, later Lord Clark (p 32)
  
• Daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Reading, nee Lady Joan Rufus Isaacs (p 34)
• Wife of the 2nd Baron Aberconway, nee Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghton (p 34)
• Viscount Moore, subsequently (1557) 11th Earl of Drogheda (p 35)
• 5th Baronet (1892-1969), eldest son of Sir George Sewell (1860-1943), and brother of Sacheverall, later 6th Baronet, and of Edith (p 46)
• 14th Baron Berners (1883-1950) (p 50)
• See Andrew Motion, The Lamberts (1986) (p 51 - some mistake surely?)
• Born 1901, daughter of Prince Alexander of Erbach-Schoenberg and his wife nee Princess Elizabeth of Waldeck and Pyrmount. Through her mother, Imma was a first cousin of HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (p 73)
• Lady Cunard, widow of Sir Bache Cunard, 3rd Baronet, and herself a noted society hostess (p 79)
• Nee the Hon. Margaret Campbell Geddes (p 112)
• Later Mrs Sweeny, and subsequently the third wife of the 11th Duke of Argyll (p 128)
  
• 2nd Viscount Maugham, nephew of Somerset Maugham, and himself a successful author (p 152)
• Marina (Mimosa) Parodi Delfino, youngest daughter of Senator Leopoldo Parodi Delfino, a leading Italian industrialist. She first married Francisco (Baby) Pignatari, Brazilian magnate and international playboy, and secondly Prince Fernando del Drago (p 165 - phew eventually get to the title)
• A daughter of King Edward VIII's mistress, the Hon. Mrs George Keppel, and first wife of the Hon. Roland Cubitt, later 3rd Baron Ashcombe (p 178)
• Lord Peyton of Yeovil, created Baron in 1983 (life peer); MP, Yeovil, 1951-83; POW Germany 1940-5 (p 185)
• 3rd Viscount, born 1906 (p 196)
• Lord Hunt of Fawley, created Baron in 1973 (life peer), CBE 1970, MA, DM, Oxon, FRCP, FRCS, FRCGP, President, Royal College of Gen. Practitioners 1967-70, Hon Fellow Green College Oxford, since 1980 (p 210)
• Lord Goodman of the City of Westminster, created Baron in 1965 (life peer), CH 1972, MA, LLM (p 212)
• Wife of Sir Eric Penn, Comptroller, Lord Chamberlain's Office, nee Prudence Stewart-Wilson (p 230 - apparently no title but the job description does contain the word 'Lord')

That's all the footnotes - none missing! I think the subject of the biography and probably the author are obvious but will blog a little more when I've completed the last few pages.
I attempted this book around 10 years and was ready to fling it at the wall after around 50 pages - this time, now that the bedside pile has got down to it, I've persisted!

Culinary delights

from the Far East - link sent by a kind contributor to uk.r.c - you may not want to follow this link before breakfast!

As any fule kno

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Thanks to pseudopiskie giving me the change to brag.

Ouch!

video of a wind turbine having problems - via Bifurcated rivets

Watch the ad

at words in sand

Cheese carving

From the Guardian - obviously it's a Valentines linked article but this page has been sitting for some time as a tab in my firefox and I've not seen it linked elsewhere...

How big?!

I use mailfilter to remove unwanted email from my POP servers so that I don't have to download the really spammy stuff, just now I was looking for recent large files and I spotted this

-rw-r--r-- 1 robert robert 110036290 Feb 23 14:16 /home/robert/logs/.mailfilter.log

100 meg!? I periodically compress and rename the old one - this log file was only started in January this year. I've hastily moved this one out of the way!

The temptation to nick!

Go and read Maggie Dawn on tomorrow's readings

Where do we worship God? What's our theology of place - do we need sacred spaces or not? The answer Jesus gives seems to be both yes and no. And the life that Jesus describes, the life that is fully human, is described in metaphors of spirit and water and food.

I'm speaking about that reading too - I think that's where I'll be focussing.

Teh Samrtn womun iz liek "OMG I iz a Samrtn and u iz a Jew and u sez u wants mah bukkit? lol." (teh Jews and teh Samrtns iz not frenz no moar, remmiber?.)

Have I really not seen this site before?

SQL on rails

Brilliant, via The Gay Bar

The Spanish Labyrinth

Spent a pleasant evening yesterday at the SilkScreen watching The Spanish Prisoner, I suppose it would now be titled the Nigerian spam, wonderful with wheels within wheels. Our side of the cinema were most amused but whether that was relief at not being in the hero's shoes, I'm not sure! Recommended!

View from the front door

.. taken a few minutes ago - those are new lights on the local multi-storey car-park which has now been closed for around 2 hours. Carefully moulded shields so that the light doesn't pollute upwards - but it shines down on us. We'll be lucky to see the moon let alone the eclipse tomorrow!

Memory jogging sought

Back in the 70's I spent a weekend with my aunt and uncle in New Yatt near Oxford and took these two photos - now scanned


I now can't remember the locations. If anyone can jog my memory that would be much appreciated!
As I have at least one Oxford clergy occasional reader the second one should be simple!

Like watching a train crash

Sorry! - but not very!

Over the fields

Across the fields

passing a goat, to Church this morning

the vicar of this parish 'crossed the Tiber' and announced his resignation at the end of December finishing two weeks ago, so this morning the rural dean (Paul Welch) was there to support and calm things - whilst competing with a starling that got in and headed up to the ceiling. It was interesting to see a church at the start of this journey - a rather more unsettled start than ours - where we're now coming up for a year long vacancy.

Sunrise on the M42 to twilight on the Sussex downs

Sunrise warwick services
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Saturday was another journey down to Sussex - nothing like driving down a quiet motorway with a glorious sunrise vista whilst listening to the dawn section of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe on the cd player!
Unfortunately by the time I got to the services (the above photo is at Warwick) the photogenic bit of sunrise had almost gone - need passenger to take the photos!

In the evening another trip to the Squire and Horse at Bury near Pulboroough (third dining out occasion of the week!). The venison is recommended! - the sweets were rather on the over sweet side next time I shall have to have a starter instead!

Eating out

Doing well this week - apart from a meal before the film on Monday at the Cornerhouse we went yesterday to La Viña - the Alderley Edge branch. Very reasonable, much enjoyed and recommended! Unfortunately not in walking distance so I had to drive afterwards..

Can we have another phone poll?

Apparently, last week, the newspapers were ringing around general synod members trying to find ones who wanted Rowan to resign - they managed to find two (and I guess they'd both come to this view long before last week's events)[1]. On Wednesday the Bishop of Carlisle said some 'interesting' things at a meeting to launch a book that mixes the mildly sane with the absolutely barking. I'm sure the telephone pollsters could find more than 2 people calling for this bishops removal!
I have a book somewhere by Chris Sugden (one of the authors of this collection) written back in the early 1980's when he may have been a little more balanced - I'm currently trying to find it - any suggestions as to what I should do with it? - I'm so against book burning.
[1] and more on the BBC's undistinguished role in those events detailed is here

street furniture

street furniture
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Another shot on the way to work

Looking level eyed..

Just back from a trip to see the film of Bauby's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly almost unbearable at times this film is well worth seeing - I've read the book (in French) but the impact of actually feeling oneself locked into the plot (and your seat) will not be forgotten.
The English version of the movie site is here - I get dreadful distortion on the trailer on that site- I assume it isn't deliberate. The Guardian review but an interview with Claude Mendibil is here

News from the Team

The Times appear to have visited the Team Parish

Andrew Brownell

(I gather from googling that this may result in World of Warcraft hits...) Last night to the Macclesfield Music Society recital by Andrew Brownell

He played an initial interesting sequence of night themed pieces

• Schumann "Des Abends" from Fantasiestucke, Op. 12
  
• Chopin Nocturne in E flat, Op. 55 No. 2
  
• Debussy "La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune" from Preludes Book 2
  
• Hindemith Nachtstuck from Suite "1922"
  
• Britten Notturno
  

I did enjoy these - rapt quietness - he said he'd built the sequences as a means of programming the Britten - though I thought the central 3 items were the best.
We then continued in the open air with the Beethoven Sonata in D Op. 28 (Pastoral) lovely even playing for one of the not so dramatic sonatas. In the second half we had the Schumann Three Romances, Op. 28 which I wasn't familiar with and then the Chopin 3rd Sonata which I've loved ever since I first heard it back in the 60's the wonderful passagework we already heard in the Beethoven came to an exciting climax with the final movement.
Well worth hearing him...

Classic!

[on the sharia law hoo-hah]

Daily Mail readers would probably be in favour[of public beheadings], as long as it wasn't the Muslims doing the chopping

from Paul Wright

Speaking of loonies

Here's another accordion
(via Bifurcated rivets)

BBC1 news taken over by loonies

At least that's impression after two days of coverage of Rowan Williams on Sharia law. For some sanity try Bishop Alan who writes:

At the time of Roman Catholic emancipation back in 1829 we experienced big social hysteria about how people who theoretically owe allegiance to other systems of law could be completely part of English society.

or this comment off Dave Walker's cartoon blog

Rowan Williams, being a very intelligent man, knows that sharia law is far more complex than this. The vast bulk of Islamic laws that are invoked within Muslim communities (yes, present tense because it is a current reality here in Britain), concern family relationships (divorce and separation), and inheritance matters. The trouble is, the media and our beloved political establishment are either not intelligent enough to know this or, and God forbid this be the case, prefer to play to the simplistic public perception (sharia = stonings etc) for short term electoral expediency.

and as for the comments at the Times, they seem less intelligent than the yokels when deciding to send a torch party up to castle Dracula.
And as for the BBC's assertion that General Synod is the chief body of the Anglican communion - I'll try not to mention it (oops!)

Ash Wednesday - iii

And following up from the last post - hat-tipping to Peter Ould - go and see this cartoon at ASBO-Jesus

Ash Wednesday - ii

Hypocrites! things seem to be moving rapidly towards the demise of SPCK, closing of bookshops, sackings by email, once great shops seem to have been maliciously destroyed. See Dave Walker's cartoon church blog for the painful details. Fume!
In other news in the lesser black comedy we went to see Kieslowski's White last night - I have it on DVD but it repaid the watching on the big screen at the Silk Screen - good crowds for Ash Wednesday and the night of an England match, then on to a service and the imposition of ashes...

Ash Wednesday - i

in the desert with Terragen

Shrove Tuesday

Whilst working spent the afternoon listening to the Charles Ives symphonies which seemed to be an appropriately unbuttoned way of celebrating the day. Home for pancakes :-) I've been looking for a moment to link here - a rather different meal - the Leonardo Last Supper in incredible detail!

Eight to go!

Well maybe it's not as substantial a move as the Guardian would have you believe but it is still a pretty brave change for James Jones to admit. The next Wycliffe council might be interesting...

Spanish with a kick

Hat tip to Lindsay

Coming soon...!

this is the cinema trailer, no doubt recorded clandestinely! And rather patchy in quality - the recording that is, hard to tell about the content Hat tip to Room 515

Skiing on the BBC

Looks like a white-out - or the almost complete absence of racing coverage which now appears to be the norm.

Accordions du ciel

(well actually it is the Trondheim Akkordion Ensemble) Polka'in though the Widor toccata..

hat tip to Chris