Today we saw ..
.. our new nephew (three weeks old!)..
.. the "Eye of Grampian" ferris wheel..
.. and Aberdeen beach where I found lava rocks.
(Thank you so much for your helpful and insightful comments. I'll reply to each and everyone of you once I've had some much needed sleep. We've been on quite a bus journey today.)
I have no idea what this will become although I'm thinking "strange necklace" or "very strange necklace". I just liked the colour combination of the turquoise waxed cotton and the matte red beads. I have some big opaque white beads too which I think might also make an interesting necklace. I don't tend to wear much jewellery, so this is certainly a departure for me.
Regular readers might have spotted that I am dealing with persistent medical matters and that I tend to visit doctors and/or hospitals with alarming frequency (actually, there is nothing alarming about the medical matters but I prefer not to blog about very personal things. I never was a confessional blogger). Anyway, this week I was advised by my NHS person to relax as much as possible in the weeks to come and, I quote, "watch some trashy TV and read crap books".
Huh.
Trashy TV: I don't think I will ever be able to stomach this. I tried watching some nonsense "middle-age female TV presenter investigates cosmetic surgery" programme yesterday but I only lasted ten minutes before switching to G20 coverage on BBC News. Is there a trashy TV programme which I would potentially enjoy? Recommendations for standard UK networks (remember, I'm in Scotland).
Crap books: Granted the actual words were "light reading which won't rot your brain but won't tax you either" but the gist is certainly crap books. Any recs? I think I'd prefer historical fiction, regency romances, fantasy or crime novels set in the early 20th C, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm not keen on contemporary chick lit, hard-boiled crime novels or writers who have graphic sex scenes every 18th pages or less (Laurell K. Hamilton, I'm looking at you in utter disgust).
Today I trawled through the seedy secondhand shops in Glagow's Partick area and managed to pick up 9 books for less than £5 plus a fabulous knitting magazine from 1983 with hilarious sweater patterns, stress-inducing lace socks and a curtain for the auto-camper.. and the beads you see in the photo. I tried to go for "crap books" but sadly I ended up with mostly Booker prize nominees and post-colonial classics. I clearly need recommendations.
Kirsten Marie, my good friend and erstwhile bookish.dk contributor, visited Scotland this week. We spent a few days walking around Glasgow's West End, drinking coffee, and I talked her into buying some expensive Japanese yarn(!) too. It felt really good to talk in Danish again and I really enjoyed being able to make culture-specific jokes (like quoting Lars von Trier's Riget in a wholly inappropriate context). Walking around with Kirsten Marie, I realised how much more settled I feel here in Glasgow now than I did just a year ago or so. I can navigate Glasgow now and do so with ever increasing confidence. Vegan food? Oh, go to Sith, the 78 or Mono. Fair trade, you say? Bolshie's the place. Arty? There's a really great mural just down by Kelvinbridge subway station. Okay, so I wouldn't be able to point you to the local gun range, but I wouldn't have been able to do that in Copenhagen either
Knitting-wise, I have done a lot in the last few days owing to the fact that Kirsten Marie has been bitten by the knitting bug and not only demanded to be taken to yarn shops(!!) but also thought knitting in public to be a perfectly agreeable way of spending her holiday here. So I only have 6" to go on the body of my green cardigan before I can start the sleeves. I am still unsure about which buttons to use. Having been VERY monogamous with my knitting lately, I am dying to cast on one or two new projects (I never have more three WIPs on the go - I know it's sickening) but first I need to re-organise my stash. Other Half had to get something in the closet behind my yarn containers and everything's now all a-jumble. It's really lucky that I love organising books and balls of wool.
A few random links from the last few days:
+ The Other G20. My postcode happens to be G20 and a BBC journalist went to see what it's like here. One comment at the buttom nails it: "The schizophrenia of the postcode is emphasised by a local running joke: those originally from Glasgow who live in G20 say they live in Maryhill; those who have moved to G20 to the middle-class developments refer to it as North Kelvinside". I live in .. North Kelvinside. + Seven Abandoned Cities and Towns of Europe. Beautiful urban/rural decay. + Cornify: "the #1 unicorn and rainbow service worldwide, giving websites sparkle around the world." Yes, Cornify is really for all your unicorn and rainbow needs. + Sound Comparisons: accents of English from around the world.
Today we went to the Doctor Who exhibition at Kelvingrove. I had my photo taken with a rather short reincarantion of the Fourth Doctor (and Other Half rather worryingly said he fancied a Doctor Who scarf clearly not knowing how long it takes to make) as well as a very cute K-9. Loads of things to see, touch, go "woooh!" over and all that.
Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers have teamed up to make an adaptation of the children's classic Where the Wild Things Are. Growing up in Scandinavia, I confess I had never heard of this book, but the trailer looks stunning (and turn the volume up - the chosen song fits perfectly). Via John, aquarists at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay have uncovered the identity of a mysterious coral reef killer. Like John says, the accompanying picture really sells the story. It looks like really bad CGI from a D-list Monster Movie of the Week .. but it is not. Ew.
io9 lists The 7 Deadly Sins of Religion in Science Fiction which feels a bit lazy as they mainly focus on Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who with a bit of Heroes and the odd Star Wars mention. What? No, X-Files with their beatification of Dana Scully? I'm also rather unsure about the attack on the use of cargo cults.
On a similar-ish note: what do you get if you divide science by God is a strange little article:
The bizarre nature of quantum physics has attracted some speculations that are wacky but the theory suggests to some serious scientists that reality, at its most basic, is perfectly compatible with what might be called a spiritual view of things.
And so the journalist proceeds by asking random scientists about their spirituality and we are all somehow supposed to jump to startling conclusions about quantum mechanics, the existence of God and what not.
Oh, let's just end with a BBC headline which I first saw thanks to Anna: "God will not give happy ending!" Oh damn.
Suffice to say that I did not appreciate Let the Right One In. Despite liking little nasty books, I am definitely not a horror reader. It was also very, very wordy. From one of the programmers behind Etsy, I give you Orbital B. It is "a collection of particles operating on one simple rule: choose another particle in the system and orbit it with a fixed radius at a constant velocity." In other words: you get to play with little aplets and create really gorgeous art vaguely reminiscent of Umberto Boccioni (Italian Futurist whose artwork I admire).
If Orbital B isn't your thing, how about NewScan. You select your favourite newspapers and, hey presto, you get to read the news. It's pretty if a bit impractical.
Finally, some things once seen cannot be unseen; some things once heard cannot be unheard. So, keeping that in mind, here is Limahl and His Swing Orchestra. You can thank/threaten me later.