Neither gone nor forgotten
It may have its day.
Yes, I know this blog remains rather quiet since I haven't posted anything here in a couple of weeks. In mid February, I got quite a few hits because of the story about Clareification, the Clare College student magazine. The editor was in hiding because he didn't realise that satire and Beardies don't mix.
Valentine's Day came and went without really stopping to be noticed. There's one pseudo-religious festival we could do without.
I'd also started going to the Muslim noodle restaurant because it was the only place open. I didn't know that it appears to be part of a chain because today when I went on a short adventure, I found there was another branch not far from the university. The options for places to eat eventually got narrowed down to KFC, although I did go to Jazzy Pizza in town one evening.
I reinstalled Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project which I hadn't played in ages. I also noted to myself that the FAQ about Duke Nukem Forever hasn't been updated in two years, which means that the comments are looking even more foolish now than they did then. 3drealms continue to make themselves look ridiculous by not cancelling the whole project altogether, or starting anew. Honestly, I think cancelling the project is the better option. Besides, are gamers really interested in Duke these days?
There was a whole bunch of high priority updates for XP, and Vista was reviewed with a shrug overall. It convinced me to put off buying a new laptop until next summer so that the bugs could be ironed out.
I was also beginning to find that if you mention something in a blog, it doesn't take long to get hits for it even although it may just be a passing reference. That's become more apparently in the past couple of days because news from home led to the number of hits on my Spaces blog soaring significantly.
The Spring Festival was dull and damp. It rained here this morning, was warm this afternoon, and rained again this evening. The end of the festival has been marked by a lot of fireworks which are still rumbling away in the distance. Last night I got pictures of the local Lantern Festival celebrations. But apart form these little moments of excitement, the Spring Festival was a rather dull affair. Apart from mid-evening bursts, there wasn't the prolonged barrage of fireworks that I was used to in Beijing.
Actually, things got so dull, I even perused a document about the government's reform of the House of Lords, noting in particular the indefensible excuses made for a religious presence in a reformed upper house. The information noted that barely any bishops bother with the House of Lords. Why aren't they ejected altogether?
I found an online translation of Camões' epic poem The Lusiads. It's a pity that a copy of the late 17th century translation by Sir Richard Fanshawe isn't available online. Mickle's heroic couplets just don't work.
I found a lengthy essay (somehow) about how Dungeons and Dragons is the tool of Satan. Yeah, right. D&D one day; virgin sacrifices the next; pleasuring goats the day after.
My keyboard is kind of in need of replacement. The left ctrl key and the spacebar have a tendency to stick, especially the former. I tried cleaning it, but that only produced a temporary improvement.
The flat continued to fall apart as plaster came down from the ceiling in the kitchen and on the balcony. Oh to have one of the nice flats in one of the blocks near the university.
Although it seems that Live Journal has been blocked from the inGlorious Motherland, I found that aol sites are accessible. I've always thought they were offlimits. Who needs unnecessary censorship when you can do it yourself.
My old digital camera finally annoyed me into buying a new one and, given that I had to find ways of wasting time, I went on various adventures and took some more photographs. The new camera has managed not to disgrace itself so far, especially with the pictures of the Lantern Festival last night.
I watched a bunch more DVDs, including the thirdly [sic!] series of Stargate Atlantis. Meanwhile, I haven't seen anything of more recent series of Stargate SG1. SA is really just SG1 with different villains and the same clichés.
I learnt about the background to petite anglaise, who worked in Paris, was sacked from her job because of the content of her blog (utterly anonymous), and is now writing the book. If Green Bamboo becomes popular enough, will the publishers be wanting to sign me up? Of course not. There isn't an excessive amount of sex; there are no children; there's nothing of any particular interest.
I did wonder what would happen if the PM were to be secular. That is, what if we had a PM who regarded Sunday as nothing special? I think that sooner rather than later this century, we will have a secular PM. I imagine that it'll be a Labour PM rather than a Tory, and the right-wing press will cast aspersions. Let's wait and see.
My sister turned 40 at the end of February. Little sisters aren't meant to be that old. The wedding is at the end of the month. Green Bamboo also passed 5000 hits and now, four days later, has got to 6000.
Actually, an early boost came via a link from Language Log. They mentioned a Telegraph blog that had asked readers to submit the most annoying phrases in English; I commented on some of the suggestions; and somehow Language Log got hold of my comments.
That pretty much brings up to date. The new term starts tomorrow with a slightly modified timetable, but at the moment a light teaching load. The good: nothing before third period; the bad: Class 13 last period twice a week.
Yes, I know this blog remains rather quiet since I haven't posted anything here in a couple of weeks. In mid February, I got quite a few hits because of the story about Clareification, the Clare College student magazine. The editor was in hiding because he didn't realise that satire and Beardies don't mix.
Valentine's Day came and went without really stopping to be noticed. There's one pseudo-religious festival we could do without.
I'd also started going to the Muslim noodle restaurant because it was the only place open. I didn't know that it appears to be part of a chain because today when I went on a short adventure, I found there was another branch not far from the university. The options for places to eat eventually got narrowed down to KFC, although I did go to Jazzy Pizza in town one evening.
I reinstalled Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project which I hadn't played in ages. I also noted to myself that the FAQ about Duke Nukem Forever hasn't been updated in two years, which means that the comments are looking even more foolish now than they did then. 3drealms continue to make themselves look ridiculous by not cancelling the whole project altogether, or starting anew. Honestly, I think cancelling the project is the better option. Besides, are gamers really interested in Duke these days?
There was a whole bunch of high priority updates for XP, and Vista was reviewed with a shrug overall. It convinced me to put off buying a new laptop until next summer so that the bugs could be ironed out.
I was also beginning to find that if you mention something in a blog, it doesn't take long to get hits for it even although it may just be a passing reference. That's become more apparently in the past couple of days because news from home led to the number of hits on my Spaces blog soaring significantly.
The Spring Festival was dull and damp. It rained here this morning, was warm this afternoon, and rained again this evening. The end of the festival has been marked by a lot of fireworks which are still rumbling away in the distance. Last night I got pictures of the local Lantern Festival celebrations. But apart form these little moments of excitement, the Spring Festival was a rather dull affair. Apart from mid-evening bursts, there wasn't the prolonged barrage of fireworks that I was used to in Beijing.
Actually, things got so dull, I even perused a document about the government's reform of the House of Lords, noting in particular the indefensible excuses made for a religious presence in a reformed upper house. The information noted that barely any bishops bother with the House of Lords. Why aren't they ejected altogether?
I found an online translation of Camões' epic poem The Lusiads. It's a pity that a copy of the late 17th century translation by Sir Richard Fanshawe isn't available online. Mickle's heroic couplets just don't work.
I found a lengthy essay (somehow) about how Dungeons and Dragons is the tool of Satan. Yeah, right. D&D one day; virgin sacrifices the next; pleasuring goats the day after.
My keyboard is kind of in need of replacement. The left ctrl key and the spacebar have a tendency to stick, especially the former. I tried cleaning it, but that only produced a temporary improvement.
The flat continued to fall apart as plaster came down from the ceiling in the kitchen and on the balcony. Oh to have one of the nice flats in one of the blocks near the university.
Although it seems that Live Journal has been blocked from the inGlorious Motherland, I found that aol sites are accessible. I've always thought they were offlimits. Who needs unnecessary censorship when you can do it yourself.
My old digital camera finally annoyed me into buying a new one and, given that I had to find ways of wasting time, I went on various adventures and took some more photographs. The new camera has managed not to disgrace itself so far, especially with the pictures of the Lantern Festival last night.
I watched a bunch more DVDs, including the thirdly [sic!] series of Stargate Atlantis. Meanwhile, I haven't seen anything of more recent series of Stargate SG1. SA is really just SG1 with different villains and the same clichés.
I learnt about the background to petite anglaise, who worked in Paris, was sacked from her job because of the content of her blog (utterly anonymous), and is now writing the book. If Green Bamboo becomes popular enough, will the publishers be wanting to sign me up? Of course not. There isn't an excessive amount of sex; there are no children; there's nothing of any particular interest.
I did wonder what would happen if the PM were to be secular. That is, what if we had a PM who regarded Sunday as nothing special? I think that sooner rather than later this century, we will have a secular PM. I imagine that it'll be a Labour PM rather than a Tory, and the right-wing press will cast aspersions. Let's wait and see.
My sister turned 40 at the end of February. Little sisters aren't meant to be that old. The wedding is at the end of the month. Green Bamboo also passed 5000 hits and now, four days later, has got to 6000.
Actually, an early boost came via a link from Language Log. They mentioned a Telegraph blog that had asked readers to submit the most annoying phrases in English; I commented on some of the suggestions; and somehow Language Log got hold of my comments.
That pretty much brings up to date. The new term starts tomorrow with a slightly modified timetable, but at the moment a light teaching load. The good: nothing before third period; the bad: Class 13 last period twice a week.
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