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Posts Tagged “Nice Things”

The Velvet Hearts: Into the World

Posted on March 3rd, 2009 by Rich

At last. The Velvet Hearts debut album, Into the World, has just been released. It’s currently available exclusively from CDBaby. It is the best of times, and the worst of times, to be trying to build a career as a musician. The online revolution is both generous in its audience and stingy in its fiscal [...]

A few fairly witted stalls

Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by Rich

One of our favourite TV Chefs (and surrogate conscience for Tesco) Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has just announced a Summer Food Fair at River Cottage HQ, this summer, naturally. Now, normally the idea of a fair, replete with wicker cutlery and forced vegetables is not my idea of heaven, but factor in the fact that there will [...]

The Velvet Hearts – A Gourmet Feast

Posted on August 17th, 2007 by Rich

When, by chance, we saw The Velvet Hearts at The Edge a couple of months ago, we were left with the overriding impression that this was a band who had taken a step beyond the norm and were producing something really rather special. We saw them a second time at the sunny Portsmouth Bandstand, and [...]

A Good Night at The Edge

Posted on June 1st, 2007 by Rich

After my viva last Tuesday we ended up at the edge of the wedge and what was already a very good day got even better thanks to some very talented musicians and a comfy stool at the bar.

Viva Voce

Posted on June 1st, 2007 by Rich

In Britain, the process of finishing a PhD involves the submission of a written thesis, followed by an oral examination called a viva voce (the literal Latin translation is “live voice”). The “viva”, as it’s commonly known, is an in-depth discussion into all aspects of the thesis which typically lasts between 90 and 180 minutes. [...]

Feckless Gig

Posted on May 21st, 2007 by Rich

We recently spent a couple of nights in Dublin without hearing the beat of a single Bodhrán or even a hint of live music coming from any bar. So last Friday night we were spoiled, with no fewer than two concurrent Bodhráns (and a guest washboard player), mandolin, guitar, accordion and bass thrown into the [...]

Teabags and Sugar

Posted on February 28th, 2007 by Rich

When making a pot of tea, I tend to add teabags and sugar at the same time; once the tea has brewed, I give it a stir, remove the teabags, add milk, and then with the aid of a knitted tea-cosy I get several hot mugs of tea in succession and can keep working without [...]

That Ozone Seaside Smell

Posted on February 2nd, 2007 by Rich

Picture this: it’s a sunny day at the seaside and you’re enjoying an icecream. The human predilection to follow scripted conversation formats is such that you cannot fail to overhear somebody appreciatively inhale before joyously proclaiming “mmmmm, smell that sea air!”, to which a companion will invariably offer a helpfully informative “ah yes, that’s ozone“.

Rahim of Pompey, Gavin of Africa

Posted on January 18th, 2007 by Rich

I was adding Raz to the list of people we know today when I had a quick skim over everyones website and noticed that Orange alumnus Gavin Spittlehouse has started a blog covering his just-commenced cycling tour of West Africa. Jealous? Well, apart from all that peddling, of course; and very much looking forward seeing [...]

Little Donkey

Posted on December 23rd, 2006 by Rich

Christmas cards are lovely. A small personalised message from someone you know, providing assurance that they appreciate you and think enough of you to select, purchase and deliver a card all the way to your home. So everybody near and dear to us will be wondering where the hell our card has got to. Well, [...]

Santa in Google Earth

Posted on December 20th, 2006 by Rich

Sometimes nice things come back and surprise you. Last year, just after I’d upgraded to Google Earth Plus, I was looking for some good Santa-stuff in Google Earth (so I could show my younger relatives something interesting on what is otherwise a very dull computer), and I spotted a shape: looking around Northern Europe I [...]

Gifts for Geeks

Posted on December 18th, 2006 by Rich

What are the best alternative presents for a geek? The typical geek has carefully selected and purchased their gadgets of choice, has a computer that’s tuned to perfection and needs no software purchased (because their entire suite is open-source) – so aside from comedy tee shirts with clever slogans that can only be understood by [...]

Killay House

Posted on August 17th, 2006 by Rich

The recent demolition of Killay House left a lot of memories without an anchor. It was a familiar shape to the thousands of people who travel on Gower Road daily, and it had been so for over 120 years. Growing up in Heol Glasnant (where the houses are tall), and going to school in Hendrefoilan [...]

Elvis Presleys Burning Car

Posted on August 16th, 2006 by Rich

I had never heard of Elvis Presley when he died twenty nine years ago today; but oddly, I distinctly remember where I was when I heard that he had died. It’s one of my earliest distinct memories. My best friend from the Bryn Nursery, James Morris (Mozz), was the bearer of the news whilst we [...]

Richards Fifth Birthday Party

Posted on August 15th, 2006 by Rich

This film has almost certainly never been seen by most of the cast. It was taken during my fifth birthday party in late 1977 (a fact that I’ve deduced from comparing the guests and their clothes with higher quality photos that I have; photos that also contain a birthday cake with five countable candles).

Hendrefoilan School Sports Day

Posted on August 14th, 2006 by Rich

This cine was taken at the Hendrefoilan School Sports Day, sometime between June 1978 and June 1980… ish.

Silver Jubilee Street Party

Posted on August 9th, 2006 by Rich

Wimmerfield Crescent is a residential street located in Killay, Swansea. It feeds three small residential cul-de-sac roads, one of which is called Heol Glasnant where I used to live. Heol Glasnant has the unusual property (in Wales) of being flat, and the lack of throroughfare made it an ideal venue for street parties.

Wimmerfield Crescent Garden Party

Posted on August 4th, 2006 by Rich

Having converted my Grandparents stash of cine film to a digital format earlier in the year I’ve at last found a few minutes to extract something of general interest (as opposed to the family-interest stuff), so here it is.

Who’s the Daddy?

Posted on July 20th, 2006 by Rich

We were delighted to receive news yesterday that Matt and Claire have created a whole new person for the world and called him Henry.

Rick Moeller on Cycling

Posted on June 21st, 2006 by Rich

We just got a message from Ann, tipping us off about Rick Moeller’s new cycling blog. Anyone who’s met Rick will know that he’s not one to dwell on the irrelevant things in life unless there’s good humor [sic] to be had therein, so it should be an enjoyable as well as insightful periodical.

Asics: Space Shoes

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by Rich

I have a lot of time for the products of Japanese shoe company Asics; I wore out two pairs of their shoes when training for the London Marathon and they managed to keep my feet in fairly good shape throughout.

Dr. Who welcomes Joseph Pagett

Posted on February 11th, 2006 by Rich

The babies are coming thick and fast! Not three weeks since Garry and Greta welcomed young Robert to the world, and we just received an SMS from Tim and Caroline to say “Please welcome to the world, Joseph Pagett…” who was born this afternoon at 15:15.

(Jedi) Master Smith

Posted on January 26th, 2006 by Rich

News has just reached us that my office mate Garry and his wife Greta became very happy parents for the first time yesterday morning – all details still to be absolutely confirmed because Garry had to hijack someone’s wi-fi connection to get the message out, but Greta and the lad (who shall probably be called [...]

The Breeze Cine Archive

Posted on January 12th, 2006 by Rich

I’ve already mentioned the photo’s (which I’ve pretty much finished scanning; although I do keep finding extras) so today I’m announcing the impending digital availability of the (larger) part of the collection – my Grandparent’s Cine films. I just got a call from the bloke who’s been transferring it for me , and it’s all [...]

What’s your British Blog worth?

Posted on November 23rd, 2005 by Rich

This service has now been retired. If you’ve ever wondered if your ‘blog is actually worth anything, then this may be your cup of tea.

Hello World

Posted on November 18th, 2005 by Rich

The data from Google Analytics has started to roll in, and the highlight (from a purely human point of view) is certainly the map view which shows where on Earth everybody who visits this site comes from.

Brave Caterpillar

Posted on November 9th, 2005 by Rich

If all you had to eat was chilli pepper then it would be likely to play havoc with your digestive tract. Spare a thought then for this brave soul, who made his home in a chilli that I was about to cook with last night.

iPenguin

Posted on November 7th, 2005 by Rich

Penguin Books have come up with a rather neat little hook to get people off their iPods and curled up with a book, an open fire, and a comforting mug of brownian motion this winter; they’ve started a regular podcast in which they hope to include the latest news and extracts from Penguin Books.

Terms of Reference

Posted on October 13th, 2005 by Rich

This is an an everyday lesson that I shall try to remember next time I’m at the requirements gathering phase of system design, or the next time I’m explaining to someone why common terms of reference are such an important part of Software Engineering.

Google Portsmouth

Posted on September 27th, 2005 by Rich

Google has recently added some new aeriel images to the Google Earth Database, and one of the places that has received significantly better coverage is Portsmouth, UK. Portsmouth College provide some fantastic (historical and current) aeriel pictures of Portsmouth on their website, so I thought I’d try comparing them to see just how good the [...]

Bonzer Cheese Gromit

Posted on September 16th, 2005 by Rich

The new Wallace and Gromit film “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is out, but only in Australia. I hereby request that any Australian readers (Chris, Jim, Dad, etc) go and see this film immediately and review it. The trailer which doesn’t give much (any) of the plot away is not exactly aimed at an audience [...]

Open Docs in Government: Domesday

Posted on September 7th, 2005 by Rich

Chris Samuel, pictured (naturally) with a cup of tea here, has just posted this wonderfully cogent message regarding the importance of open standards in government IT.

Discovery Launches

Posted on July 26th, 2005 by Rich

I just watched the Discovery launch. It’s easy to be over-familiar with images of a Shuttle launch, there have been so many; but this one was different. This launch was important because it’s the first since Columbia broke up on re-entry, which affects not only NASA, but the entire scientific research community.

Elliott-Butler Corp.

Posted on July 14th, 2005 by Rich

It has come to our attention that a significant merger has taken place today in Mexcio.

13th July – A special day

Posted on July 13th, 2005 by Em

For most people today is just a normal Wednesday, however, for a couple of people I know it’s far more than any other normal day.

Being Mrs B

Posted on July 1st, 2005 by Em

It’s funny….after being together for 10 years, I didn’t think being married would make any difference. However after 4 and a bit months I can truly say that it has.

Mini Midge, Mini Michaela

Posted on June 10th, 2005 by Rich

News just came over the wire that Midge and Michaela became the parents of a (probably titchy) bundle of joy yesterday evening, sometime around 18:30. Congratulations both, and well done Michaela for delivering only one day over schedule. I’ve no idea of if they’ve come up with a name yet, so I’ll be drinking to [...]

Tell me a joke….

Posted on June 8th, 2005 by Rich

Tell me a joke. No really; please, tell me a joke. A good one. I feel the need to hear a pants-wettingly-funny story. It can be your favourite, or one you overheard on the bus. Anything that genuinely approaches bladder-failure material will receive the honour of making it through moderation and will appear for public [...]

Episode III – Review (without Spoilers)

Posted on May 19th, 2005 by Rich

We just got back from seeing Star Wars Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith. We’d not planned on seeing it on the opening night, but when visiting the cinema website (purely out of curiosity) I found it was so well designed and usable that it would have been churlish not to have booked tickets.

Eglu Chicken Coop

Posted on May 17th, 2005 by Rich

There are some things in life that are just plain cool. Totally bonkers, but cool.

I have a very bad feeling about this.

Posted on May 16th, 2005 by Rich

Ok, call me crazy old fool, but with Revenge of the Sith out in a couple of days, I was clicking through the BBC website and got tempted into taking a miniature Star Wars test.

Look Around You – Series 2

Posted on January 26th, 2005 by Rich

The second series of Look Around You begins next week: Monday, BBC 2 – 10:00 pm

Happy New Year

Posted on January 1st, 2005 by Rich

Last night (New Years Eve) was a more quiet affair than normal.

iPlod: When Xmas Wrapping Goes Wrong

Posted on December 29th, 2004 by Rich

Mat, who is also working towards a PhD in my group, has a well kept picture log, which includes all the snaps he takes with his phone.

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24th, 2004 by Rich

It seems like the Internet has gone quiet as everybody logs off and journeys to wherever they’re going for Dec 25th.

Midge + Michaela = ?

Posted on December 17th, 2004 by Rich

Naturally, we’re both staggeringly happy about this….

Father Christmas – Why I Don’t Know Anything

Posted on October 18th, 2004 by Rich

Some time ago, through the miracle of the internet I got in contact with an old school friend who had moved away from Swansea when we were still in Junior School, his distinctive name played to my advantage and after searching on and off for several years I discovered a link to a wry, and [...]

beach volleyball; a british twist

Posted on October 8th, 2004 by Rich

For me, the sydney 2000 olympics beach volleyball was overshadowed by the constant references to Bondi Beach, as though somehow it was the most desirable place on earth. Pardon my skepticism but Bondi’s a tourist trap; a parody; it’s long way from paradise.

Exploding Dog

Posted on September 25th, 2004 by Rich

Exploding Dog* features pictures drawn by sam brown. It’s updated on an ad-hoc basis. Some of the pics are odd, some are unfathomable, some make you sad, some make you happy. one or two, every few months, are fantastic; they take you somewhere you’re not expecting.

burt phones home

Posted on September 12th, 2004 by Rich

We had not heard from burt in quite a while and had tried to contact him on all the numbers we had. we even trawled the net for evidence. all to no avail.

chalet la criosette

Posted on September 6th, 2004 by Rich

rodge has bought a chalet in the alps. how cool is that? initially he had considered calling it chalet doreen, but relented and went with a french name (la criosette) – literally meaning the little cross and often used to describe a crossroads or gathering point. hopefully i shall be visiting it soon and can [...]

roke manor volleyball tournament

Posted on September 6th, 2004 by Rich

this weekend we went along to what must be one of the best kept volleyball secrets in the south. the roke manor tournament. situated in the manor gardens (now part of a scientific research company which happens to employ several volleyball players) this was the fifth or sixth year that we’ve entered a team.

UK Advert Nostalgia

Posted on September 3rd, 2004 by Rich

i stumbled across an old adverts site today – and was shocked how many of them i remembered verbatim – i’m guessing the originals must have been part of a film shown on ITV which I recorded and watched repeatedly, thus watching the adverts repeatedly… cheesy adverts

greg’s pictures

Posted on August 21st, 2004 by Rich

i know three gregs, one of whom has a photo gallery – here are his favourite pictures.

People We Know

Posted on December 8th, 2003 by Rich

Some of the people who I’ve met along the way are also replete with a presence on the web; these are they, in alphabetical order. If you wish to inform me of new or modified web addresses, please drop me an email or enter a comment, and I’ll amend the page.