tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55747282012-01-17T21:39:27.519ZA view of reality. Not necessarily a good view.Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.comBlogger3591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-80230077644175637082012-01-17T21:39:00.000Z2012-01-17T21:39:27.537Z

1995 After a period of increasing tension and escalating border incidents, full-scale war erupted between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. ... On October 7th, 1996, the Bundeswehr crossed the border between East and West Germany and began attacking Soviet garrison units still in the country. ... While the political leadership of the European members of NATO debated the

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-57700384276911202552012-01-03T20:20:00.000Z2012-01-03T23:28:00.054Z

Bowie, in particular, in a series of 'camp' incarnations (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Mr Newton, the thin white duke, and more depressingly the Blond Fuehrer) achieved something of a cult status in the early 70s. He attracted a mass youth (rather than teeny-bopper) audience and set up a number of visual precedents in terms of personal appearance (make-up, dyed hair, etc.) which created a new

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-10703751151381587112011-12-19T18:21:00.000Z2011-12-19T18:21:02.300Z

I haven't been posting much recently, mostly because I've been working three different part-time jobs (two lecturing, one note-taking), and apart from the time spent travelling to them and doing them, I haven't been up to much other than writing lectures. A couple of weeks ago a tornado happened in Stockport. More than that, it happened in Heaton Moor, just as I was walking home from the

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-55527621080576294822011-10-29T22:14:00.000+01:002011-10-29T22:14:18.529+01:00

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-25378078518434725632011-10-20T15:27:00.001+01:002011-10-20T15:30:32.713+01:00

So Gadaffi's dead, which was kind of predictable. While I'd much rather have seen him in the dock at the ICC, it's probably much more fun shouting "SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!" than "WE NEED AN EQUTABLE AND ROBUST SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE!" And now the really hard bit starts in Libya...

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-50860615748275243532011-09-18T19:26:00.002+01:002011-09-18T19:26:27.000+01:00

I can tell you that this is the most exciting story to come out of Stockport in years.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-779990772880161882011-09-07T16:30:00.002+01:002011-09-07T16:30:17.973+01:00

  Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, September 2011

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-32569797912354395922011-08-31T22:26:00.000+01:002011-09-07T16:30:17.976+01:00

Edgeley Park from the Cheadle Stand. Note comedy head accidentally photobombing in the lower right. It's a long time since I went to watch Stockport County. Despite them being my local club, the first football match I ever attended was Fulham away at Chester City in 1996. The second match I attended was Stockport, though, and I went quite a few times during my last year at school and my

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-5860868803255143342011-07-31T19:34:00.002+01:002011-07-31T20:49:31.202+01:00

When I was a teenager, Pulp were My Band. They were the band that made it OK to be me. In some ways they still are. This was proven by going to see their reunion gig in Hyde Park, about a month ago. I had seen them once before, at the Apollo in Manchester in 1998, and missed out on seeing them in Nottingham in 2001 for lack of anyone to go with. The fact that, in addition to my sister (who was

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-23953892340233303272011-07-09T20:42:00.002+01:002011-07-09T20:54:44.455+01:00

One week ago I met Yvette and Dominik in a pub in Wood Green to watch the Klitschko vs. Haye fight. I'd never really watched a boxing match before, but fortunately Yvette was on hand to give some expert opinion. We got there well before the start and bagged a table, which was a good job, as the pub soon filled with aggressive north London blokes.The fight itself was disappointing as a spectacle,

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-67140119046224149842011-06-28T20:41:00.001+01:002011-06-28T22:11:45.665+01:00

'Los Gatos'...was also the last thing The Sleepers ever recorded, as the group lost patience with their out-of-control lead singer. "'Los Gatos' shows the effects of speed," says Michael Belfer. "We had to drive Ricky back to his grandparents every night while we were recording; if he went into the city, he'd disappear. One night we tricked him: we said we'd take him to the speed dealer. All five

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-2135015045376510492011-06-17T20:32:00.003+01:002011-06-17T20:37:48.122+01:00

With age comes the realization that of all William Gibson's protagonists, the one you resemble most closely is Coretti from "The Belonging Kind".

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-7450152476654255922011-05-31T23:35:00.003+01:002011-05-31T23:42:58.786+01:00

For the first time in a long time I've gotten around to doing a little bit of non-academic writing. It's only a fragment, but unlike everything else I've done before this is - at least nominally - part of something larger. Long time readers may remember me pondering writing a science-fiction novel set in Athens, and this is the first bit of progress I've made with it. The fragment, called "

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-18622311347987031302011-05-26T11:34:00.003+01:002011-05-26T11:56:11.459+01:00

I was clearly wrong in assuming that the American operations had had little effect on this valley - they had freed up the antique smuggling market.'And what have you found out about the life of this ruined city?''I don't understand. What do you mean?'I tried again. 'Have you found out roughly what the plan of the city was... where the bazaar was, the religious schools?''No''The smaller mosques,

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-38418179547612740022011-04-28T21:16:00.002+01:002011-04-28T21:31:10.783+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to pass my driving test at the second opportunity. Today I completed the Pass Plus course, which covers things like rural driving and city driving. The last bit was motorway driving, which meant I had to drive to Leeds and back. Motorways aren't as difficult as I'd thought they might be, although travelling at high speeds is something I'll have to get used to. And

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-86870009456881013472011-04-26T17:26:00.003+01:002011-04-26T17:33:20.129+01:00

I woke up this morning and found Twitter telling me that Poly Styrene, singer with the under-rated punk band X-Ray Spex, had died of cancer at 53. Here's their appearance on Top of the Pops in 1978, doing the single "Germ Free Adolescents":

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-21783518328469370582011-03-31T14:48:00.002+01:002011-03-31T14:59:27.985+01:00

You don't expect to hear about people being arrested for possessing Semtex anymore: up-to-the-minute British terrorism seems to involve explosives made in your kitchen, which I suppose shows that the drugs trade is better funded than Islamic fundamentalism. Semtex, like the phrase "Christmas bombing campaign", belongs to a bygone era. It's only a matter of time before Peter Kay does a "Do you

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-36295625061790771602011-03-25T22:34:00.002Z2011-03-25T22:51:22.315Z

I've deliberately not been commenting on Libya here, for fear that I'll end up issuing orders to General Steiner, but a turn of phrase in one of Gaddafi's speeches this week conjured something up from memory:You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on - into the dustbin of history!- Trotsky to the Mensheviks, at the Second

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-8504769106521022972011-03-12T18:29:00.002Z2011-03-12T18:33:32.284Z

Inspired by this post:1981 - Living at home in Stockport with my parents and sister.1991 - Living at home in Stockport with my parents and sister.2001 - Living in a student house in Nottingham.2011 - Living at home in Stockport with my parents.Hmm.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-60346206831394892662011-02-14T22:20:00.002Z2011-02-14T22:38:23.371Z

The menace of the blackout gangs reached the headlines with the Skipton Street murder of seventeen-year-old James Bolitho Harvey, on Saturday 21 March 1942. Harvey and his younger brother had come out of the Elephant and Castle station at midnight on their way home from a West End show. They went to the coffee stall and then towards the stop for the Brixton tram. Almost at once, they were set

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-33169457604425047022011-02-04T18:01:00.002Z2011-02-04T18:08:25.937Z

I've been refraining from commenting on Egypt here, on the basis that I don't know anything about Egypt, and that my main opinion - that an Egyptian democracy would be better than an Egyptian dictatorship - doesn't add much to the discourse.Yesterday, watching the BBC's piece about the role of the internet in the protests, I was struck by how vast and diffuse the body of data is. Anyone who wants

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-5633000509022440592011-01-06T18:48:00.001Z2011-01-06T18:53:13.533Z

Sheffield, January 2011.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-67357392107086681252010-12-31T13:47:00.002Z2010-12-31T13:59:36.660Z

Ridicule is nothing to be scared of.One for panto season this, but there's also the fact that the video to Adam & the Ants' Prince Charming (1981) is, from about 1.40 in, one of the finest music videos ever made.The video serves to illustrate something that I think is missing from chart music at the moment. At some point in the late 1980s or early 1990s, pop music lost its ability to be as

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-48862806211479653492010-12-10T18:04:00.001Z2010-12-10T18:06:56.846Z

University College London, December 2010.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-13187440213477192232010-12-10T00:55:00.003Z2010-12-10T01:26:53.819Z

On this lower level faint and far off I could just barely see some of the old wooden derricks of the oilfield from which the Sternwoods had made their money. Most of the field was a public park now, cleaned up and donated to the city by General Sternwood. But a little of it was still producing in groups of wells pumping five or six barrels a day. The Sternwoods, having moved up the hill, could

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-49468499184411361292010-11-29T18:04:00.001Z2010-11-29T18:06:26.194Z

Delamere Street, Chester, November 2010.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-42426684686490644792010-11-22T17:42:00.003Z2010-11-22T18:12:46.113Z

Don't understand youDon't know what you meanWe don't want youWe want your machines- The Weirdos, "We Got The Neutron Bomb" (1978)These people have hit on an interesting idea: producing adverts for items of modern technology if they had existed in the 1970s. The results are fantastic:This comes hot on the heels of the news that Malcolm Craig, designer of the Cold City and Hot War RPGs is

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-47814677648674285982010-11-13T01:28:00.000Z2010-11-13T01:29:14.832Z

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-49762919729817965612010-10-30T16:42:00.003+01:002010-10-30T16:50:52.549+01:00

A year after seeing the film in the cinema scared the bejeezus out of me, I discover an alternate ending to Paranormal Activity. I'm not sure whether I prefer this ending or not, although it does add some interesting ambiguity to the conclusion.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-70506900855284444912010-10-20T12:01:00.002+01:002010-10-20T12:04:57.530+01:00

"The majestic quality of the law which prohibits the wealthy as well as the poor from sleeping under the bridges, from begging in the streets, and from stealing bread."- Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault (1844-1924)

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-22582733010114822062010-10-15T18:55:00.003+01:002010-10-18T17:24:12.971+01:00

Yesterday I started my lecturing at A University In The North-West Of England - a temporary post teaching one module until early January, but good experience, and hopefully good from a CV/references point of view. The first lecture went pretty well, and the class seems keen enough. I've also been able to apply for three years of post-doctoral funding from the British Academy, with A University

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-41854933344805775692010-09-24T16:55:00.002+01:002010-09-24T17:02:29.227+01:00

Oxford Street, Liverpool, Autumn 2009.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-43206953700144303912010-09-16T20:00:00.003+01:002010-09-16T20:04:43.655+01:00

I'm working for the month in the reprographics department at a school in Stockport. Tonight is the school's awards night. Whilst we were working on the programmes for the event, the following conversation occurred:A: There's a kid from last year's Year 11 who got no qualifications, but he's on this list.B: He's not getting an award, is he?A: Not unless there's an award for nicking laptops, no.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-12822394775746170952010-09-09T20:37:00.002+01:002010-09-09T20:49:51.035+01:00

It was 1947. Botafogo against Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro. Botafogo striker Heleno de Fritas scored a chest goal.Heleno had his back to the net. The ball flew down from above. He trapped it with his chest and whipped around without letting it fall. His body arched, the ball still resting on his chest, he surveyed the scene. Between him and the goal stood a multitude. There were more people in

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-13546219408518957412010-08-16T11:16:00.003+01:002010-08-16T12:29:45.598+01:00

The list-articles over at Cracked are a great way to pass the time, but it's not often that one really provides you with something to think about. In my case, though, 8 Online Fads You Didn't Know Were Invented Decades Ago proved fascinating. It's the depiction of the exploitable technologies of the past, a world of phone phreaking, lace cards, and the possibilities of online communication via

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-85679413765961748522010-07-21T00:23:00.001+01:002010-07-21T00:34:46.429+01:00

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-25998982140209177642010-07-06T22:48:00.002+01:002010-07-06T23:01:50.649+01:00

So, police in Columbia have found a replica World Cup made of cocaine. Despite everyone's thoughts instantly jumping towards a high-profile member of the Argentine management team, it was apparently being delivered to Spain.The real question, though, is this: how many of the Colombian police have been able to resist the temptation to have themselves photographed holding their seizure aloft in

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-7360751483896608892010-06-28T23:13:00.002+01:002010-06-28T23:28:49.509+01:00

I might never be able to say that I've seen England win an international trophy, but I will be able to say that I've seen their worst World Cup result, so that's something. I was far less upset by losing 4-1 to Germany than by Fulham's narrow loss in the Europa League Final, or by the various England penalty exits. This is largely because, unlike those occasions, we were definitely outplayed.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-80021102393317175322010-06-14T22:10:00.002+01:002010-06-14T22:18:49.065+01:00

It's my third driving lesson tomorrow, and so far I haven't actually damaged anyone or anything. In fact, my instructor reckons I have a pretty good sense of space and distance, which came as a surprise to me, as I never seem to be able to correctly estimate any distances. I'm also working my way through the theory test pack, learning all sorts of things, like what colour the flashing light is

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-22846872577335433792010-06-01T00:25:00.002+01:002010-06-01T00:43:12.094+01:00

So, the month of the World Cup has arrived, and to celebrate, here's one of the best World Cup goals I've ever seen live, from the first World Cup I ever watched - France 1998. It's Dennis Bergkamp's 89th-minute goal for the Netherlands against Argentina in the Quarter-Finals, with the added bonus here of Dutch commentary.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-35038976590199155782010-05-16T20:35:00.002+01:002010-05-16T20:59:29.178+01:00

I'm pretty sure that I didn't blog about my first experience of running last year, when I did the Manchester 10K. This is probably due to me being busy writing the corrections to my PhD thesis on a cocktail of depression, rage and hate, which is enough to distract anyone. Today I ran it again, so here are my impressions.Having run the course in 01:07:ish last year, I really wanted to run it in

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-10646158066992658302010-05-08T13:27:00.002+01:002010-05-08T13:59:37.864+01:00

It's high time I contributed my deeply misinformed opinions to the post-election discussion, so here we go. At this point I'm making the assumption that the next government will be a Conservative-Lib Dem pact, but that could be superseded.From a strategic point of view, I think this actually went surprisingly well for the Labour Party. Having been in power for 13 years, with a major recession

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-13507115176010129362010-04-21T21:13:00.002+01:002010-04-21T21:17:49.483+01:00

A͛̄̀̈́nͣ̂ͧ̊dͩ̾ ̅̍̆͊̓ͭ̃whͨ̊͋̍̽̌̍a̿̊t͊̂̿̎̃̊ ̏coͨ̿ͬs̓ͦ̂̋̏ͧt́ͦ͐́́̓̔u͒̇ͪ͛ͭmē ͪ̎s̿hͯ͛ͭ̚a̎lͮͨľͬ ͯ̎͆ͮͩͩt̂̇̀̄ͯͧ̎hͩ̽̄ëͩ̃̈́͑ ̔͒̍ͦ̅̈p͊o̍͑̓͒͋o̒͛ͥͤr̐̽́ͣ̌ ͌́ͯͦ̋̈͛g͒̒͂͗ͧ̍͂iͣ̽̈̚ř̊̅̑̀l̽̚ ͫͫ̔w̓̂̓̔e̔̂a͋r͑̾̋̊̚ ̇̿͂To̓ͦ̎ͬ̓ ̐a̓ͣl̋̽͋̇ͫ͋̈́l̅͋̌ͪ ̂̎ͫ͑ͭ̿̑t͗̆ö́ͥ̊̇̿ͬ̈́m͆ͪo̍͊ͣ͑ͬ̈́̅rͪrͭ̉ͯͭoͭͨ̂́̚ẁ̈͊͂̎'͋ͨ͌̌̓s̀͂̄̇̆ͩͣ ͦ̂ͮpͭ̂ͣͭ͑ǎ͐ͩ̅r̆̊ͮͤ̓t̓ͦi̐e̅͂́ͪ̋̎s ͒̇̌ͫ̇ͧͬͧ̚Aͥ͒ͦ͒̇̾ hȧ̔ͭn̅̅̿͊ͥd-̏me-ͯ̽͗̚dͥ̽̚ow̄̆͆̅ͫ̌n̓ͥ̀ͯ̚ ͆ͫ̔̎d̍͛r̐ͩ̇̒̅̈́͛

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-34633827882059952912010-04-09T23:18:00.002+01:002010-04-09T23:26:49.063+01:00

So there goes Malcolm McLaren, and, as is the tradition with these things, even the people he ripped off quite badly (Note: This is almost everyone he worked with) are saying nice things about him. The claim that he invented punk is, of course, wrong in that the New York and London scenes existed prior to his arrival on the scene.What's good about his contribution is that it's impossible to tell

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-56232869858178161762010-03-14T00:42:00.001Z2010-03-14T00:42:48.360Z

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-79248747342978396382010-03-10T21:13:00.000Z2010-03-10T21:14:25.920Z

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-19397569675530363462010-02-26T16:49:00.002Z2010-02-26T17:06:08.398Z

Look at him again. This 23-year-old with a day job and a kid, a wife and lover and a debilitating, unpredictable illness, all of which are killing him. This is his moment. He isn't fucking about on Later, he will not be clinking a bottle of green-room Budweiser and sharing a few jokes with Jonathan Ross and The Kooks about his dancing. He will not be putting his arm around his bandmates'

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-18368047420397654862010-02-11T20:54:00.002Z2010-02-11T21:39:07.040Z

My sister was up from London last weekend, and coincidentally Friday was the opening of FAC251, the old Factory Records building, as a new live music venue and club by Peter Hook of New Order, so I got tickets for it. Apparently the tickets had sold out in about 10 minutes, so I seem to have done pretty well.There's been a bit of backlash about the whole thing in some blogs as an cash-in

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-6030532880743383072010-01-26T16:30:00.002Z2010-01-26T16:53:56.341Z

Sometimes, good songs have inexplicably bad videos made for them. Recently this point was hammered home to me on viewing the video for The Sisters of Mercy's 1988 single "Lucretia, My Reflection".I think it's best if I keep a log of my reactions:0.17: The line "I hear the roar of a big machine" is illustrated by filming Andrew Eldritch standing next to a big machine. This does not bode well

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-69448409436916094092010-01-19T18:57:00.002Z2010-01-19T19:56:41.391Z

I did spend a weekend at a conference in Athens last month, but was too busy with one thing and another to post much about it here. I thought I might share some choice photos, though.Oh, what a surprise. Yes, the crane is ancient - IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR?The conference was at the main building of the University of Athens, seemingly unscathed by the anarchist riots a week before.Not far

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-65447866224319829842010-01-05T15:55:00.004Z2010-01-19T19:59:38.676Z

The North, where we do what we want - or would if we weren't worried about getting the car back into the drive.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-13233605851790534192009-12-03T12:08:00.000Z2009-12-03T12:09:55.007Z

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-21548900827243536182009-11-26T16:00:00.000Z2009-11-26T16:01:49.268Z

From an RPG.net thread:"My brother was interviewed recently by a Christian group seeking to introduce its (teen) membership to a variety of faiths.One of the questions he was asked, non-ironically, was 'Do atheists dream?'"

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-28180820661444581322009-11-23T12:15:00.002Z2009-11-23T12:20:44.732Z

I've had the copy of the revised thesis I gave to my tutor back, and there are no major issues. Tomorrow I should get the copy from my internal examiner, but I saw him today and it doesn't seem like he's picked up much either. I should be on course to actually re-submit it quite soon. All that will remain is what the external thinks. I don't think he'll be able to say that I didn't address

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-48596567997929949532009-11-09T12:33:00.002Z2009-11-09T18:53:30.318Z

Renshaw Street, Liverpool, summer 2008.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-44459373438860854222009-10-07T17:43:00.002+01:002009-10-07T17:48:10.477+01:00

Just brought to my attention, the flag of the Χρυσή Αυγή ("Golden Dawn") party in Greece:Hmmmmmmmmmmm. That's the most interesting use of the Greek meander pattern I've seen in a while.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-21475733711500294342009-10-02T17:34:00.002+01:002009-10-02T17:38:09.797+01:00

My housemate has just moved out of the place where I live, so I currently have the place to myself. Actually, since when I move out at Christmas the landlord will move in here to do some renovations before selling it on, I'm the last tenant to ever occupy the house.It's strange, because until quite recently I really hated the idea and the reality of living alone - dig back in this blog far

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-48592872629303221832009-09-27T11:03:00.002+01:002009-09-27T11:30:58.657+01:00

with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.There is a common agreement - repeated so often that it has become cliche - that the 1960s ended with the death of Meredith Hunter during The Rolling Stones' set at Altamont in 1969. The point where other pop-culture decades ended is usually less clear. I'm not sure I've

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-29866778399667254792009-09-16T18:22:00.002+01:002009-09-16T18:36:56.771+01:00

I was recently in Dublin for a "War and Death" conference, and it reminded me that I still had videos of the bronze sword display from WAC-6 last year. I though people might be interested in seeing them, so here we go:Dr. Alan Peatfield uses a bronze short sword on a melon.Dr. Barry Molloy uses an Egyptian khephesh on rolled tatami mat, simulating a limb.Drs. Peatfield and Molloy demonstrate the

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-51434234149026268842009-08-31T17:25:00.003+01:002009-08-31T17:59:10.633+01:00

It was the President Madagascar meme which first put me on to Pandemic 2 - a free online Flash game in which you play the part of a global pandemic, with the aim being to wipe out humanity as quickly as possible. The joke is that Madagascar has only a single seaport as a point of entry in the game, and the government there is extremely quick to shut off all communications before your virus

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-46650113821137656922009-08-20T16:19:00.002+01:002009-08-20T16:27:40.795+01:00

Yesterday brought the revelation that my internal examiner is a big fan of BBC Three's not-as-good-as-Boosh-or-Conchords-but-still-good-fun comedy We Are Klang. This is funny both because he himself reminds me a lot of the guy in it who plays the teacher in The Inbetweeners, and because I suspect the programme represents his view of the department.There's also the matter of this little gem on

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-54398109274153340912009-08-07T10:32:00.002+01:002009-08-07T10:39:01.093+01:00

I think I first saw The Breakfast Club when I was about 15, which is probably the perfect age at which to do so. A few years later, when I was at university, I forced some of my friends to watch it. They didn't get it, I still did. These things stay with you: I'm considering re-creating the Judd-Nelson-on-the-football-field pose here in Liverpool when I finally get the thesis re-submitted.It's

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-50051760715046945422009-07-31T17:26:00.002+01:002009-07-31T17:28:57.915+01:00

This week I submitted an application to an institution in New York which funds research into human aggression, domination and violence. It should probably be there now, in fact. I asked for a year's funding to expand the work of my thesis into a published monograph. I have pretty much no expectation that the application will be successful, but there you go.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-28920322114282134302009-07-20T14:19:00.002+01:002009-07-20T14:33:09.363+01:00

So here we are at the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11. For me the most surprising thing is discovering that Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were all 39 when they did the mission. Clearly there's plenty of time left for me to do something important.It seems to be pretty common these days for people to dismiss the whole Apollo project as a meaningless exercise which cost a huge amount of money which

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-55693625268309250732009-07-07T20:57:00.002+01:002009-07-07T21:52:46.395+01:00

At the point in British pop-culture when it was imperative that one chose between Blur and Oasis, I chose Blur. In Manchester in 1995, this was an interesting and perhaps hazardous choice. However, looking at the post-Britpop careers of the two bands, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice. Thanks to my sister, we got tickets to the first of the Blur gigs in Hyde Park on Thursday last week.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-62132788675172796352009-06-28T18:47:00.002+01:002009-06-28T18:55:51.779+01:00

Well, this week saw me doing a little outreach work for the department, by giving the Greek pottery session that I do for the undergraduates to classes of Sixth-Form students, in the hope that it'll encourage them to come here and do archaeology. It's a tough balance to strike: you want to be upbeat and friendly, but it's very easy to slip into doing this to nightmarish levels - see Graham

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-67527294135716577392009-06-22T20:21:00.003+01:002009-06-22T20:30:48.170+01:00

There is, of course, a question as to whether I can afford the time or the money to go and see them. There's also a question as to whether I can afford to *not* have the bass line to "At Home He's a Tourist" echo around my ribcage.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-81903568977577520502009-06-06T15:36:00.002+01:002009-06-06T15:38:49.856+01:00

Found here, a "new" photograph of a familiar and moving scene. Remarkable.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-80579354459432709912009-05-08T14:34:00.004+01:002009-05-08T14:45:05.881+01:00

In a spectacularly good coincidence last week, Channel 4 had George Romero's The Crazies (1973) on, which I had heard of but hadn't seen before. The premise of the film is that a virus causing homicidal insanity has accidentally become loose in a small town in America. In a sense, what we have is a zombie film without any zombies.Being made in-between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-55873136870686408102009-04-28T14:34:00.003+01:002009-04-28T14:51:13.630+01:00

I recently aquired a scanner for the purposes of OCRing foreign-language papers and then running them through an automatic translator, rather than actually being able to read foreign languages like proper academics do. One spin-off from the purchase is that it came with a gadget to let you scan slides.Now, unlike most people I know, I do actually have some slides - the product of spending your

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-78062488762695361602009-04-17T14:24:00.003+01:002009-04-17T14:38:12.947+01:00

[River Deep-Mountain High] was the simulacrum of all Spector's grandiosity, his overarching ambition; it was all his passion, his thirst for revenge and his madness. It was a record that swept you up into its particular psychosis and left you stunned and exhausted in its wake. You could be enthralled by it, but you could never love it. - Mick Brown, Tearing Down The Wall Of Sound: The Rise and

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-53349568272116947692009-03-24T21:20:00.003Z2009-03-24T23:49:39.475Z

As promised, videos of the wildlife from my visit to "Ocean Park" in Hong Kong.The dolphins are housed in a place called "Dolphin University". This one just got a 2:2, but it's OK: that's what he expected to get.In this one, the Dolphins can be heard talking, although the subject of the conversation is unclear.A popular pastime for the members of "Dolphin University" is to roll over on their

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-3559835507334249402009-03-13T16:04:00.003Z2009-03-13T17:39:25.958Z

It's high time I finished off the posts about my visit to Hong Kong. I was up pretty early on the morning of the wedding itself, thanks to the effects of jet-lag. This did, however, give me plenty of time to go and poke about Aberdeen Harbour. From here you can get boats out to the floating seafood restaurants, but given that the food they serve is apparently pretty bad, and that they aren't

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-88262723872983117992009-03-02T11:40:00.004Z2009-03-02T12:20:41.481Z

I spent this weekend in London, becuase my sister had cleverly gotten tickets to the premieres of the Red Riding Trilogy at the BFI, before the first one screens on Channel 4 later this week.As readers of the blog and people who know me in real life will know, I'm a big fan of the novels, and of Peace's writing in general. Combined with the fact that this is my very own blog, I've never had such

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-86174602624466146512009-02-25T22:32:00.002Z2009-02-25T23:06:10.031Z

I got into Hong Kong airport at about 2PM, and after failing to get my mobile phone working at the airport took the fast train into Central. At the Pacific Coffee Company in the IFC mall I was able to get internet access with my coffee, and discovered that I'd forgotten to put a "+" in front of the country code. I was then able to call Tom, who was able to round me up with his mum, brother, and

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-74418355212025410092009-02-21T22:54:00.005Z2009-02-21T23:47:17.091Z

The beginning of a full report of my visit to Hong Kong this month. As originally planned, I was going to spend about two hours in Qatar at Doha airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Hong Kong. As it turned out, a thick fog meant that I missed the connection, and had to wait 20 hours for the next one. I ended up being given a visa for Qatar, presumably to stop me escaping and living out

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-49051957578721394872009-02-18T10:47:00.002Z2009-02-18T10:50:29.517Z

I have now returned from Tom's wedding in Hong Kong. A fuller account will follow, with pictures and videos and everything. For now, please be content with this fragment of conversations, which I thought was worth preserving.Tom: That's the tower that Batman jumps off in "The Dark Knight".Tom's Mum: That seems like an unwise thing to do.Tom: He's always been a bit of a loose cannon, that

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-8791121140838381002009-02-02T22:28:00.000Z2009-02-02T22:29:46.614Z

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-55163294437651520332009-01-21T14:13:00.002Z2009-01-21T14:23:53.087Z

Well, this week I got my rejection letter from the museum, having failed to get an interview for it. I'm reliably in formed that it was an inside job, so it doesn't seem that there was any danger of them letting the likes of me anywhere near it anyway. This doesn't really change the question, though, which is that if I wasn't considered suitable for this post, is there a post that I am going

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-56935289025105789552009-01-11T15:14:00.002Z2009-01-11T15:29:44.578Z

The first half of 2009 contains a couple of things in film and television which are of considerable interest to me - both of them David Peace - related. I already knew that a film adaptation of The Damned United with Michael Sheen as Brian Clough was going to be out. Now a preview of the year in one of the papers has informed me that Channel 4 will be screening an adaption of the same author's

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-68597743770616726682008-12-13T17:20:00.002Z2008-12-13T17:34:05.875Z

I was not killed outright during my PhD viva. In fact, I'm told I did rather well in it, referring constantly to things that were in the text, and mounting a vigorous and robust defence of the points I'd made. Perhaps the Mark-out-of-Peep-Show part of my subconscious was invoking Order 227?The actual result was that I have passed subject to substantial corrections - they should take at least 6

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-46604275650975434952008-12-02T14:12:00.003Z2008-12-02T14:17:41.375Z

Well, the viva is a week tomorrow, and I think the nerves are starting to kick in. I've got some of those books out of the Library. You know, the ones with titles like How Not To Be Killed Outright During Your PhD Viva.Still, if all else fails I might finally get to use the Simpsons "You're not the time, Kent! YOU'RE not the time!" defence, so beloved by Emily and myself, in a proper context.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-35417305332114905342008-11-24T14:21:00.002Z2008-11-24T14:32:09.511Z

For various reasons, many of them probably connected to the release of Fallout 3, I've been interested in retro-apocalypse stuff recently. This led me to Youtube, and to the T.V. segments of the British government's "Protect and Survive" programme, which capture the apocalyptic mood of the early 1980s.There are two main unsettling elements to these ads. One, of course, is the matter-of-fact way

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-24360631862742453622008-11-18T12:11:00.001Z2008-11-18T12:14:28.438Z

Well, things are, finally, happening. At the end of last week we found out that I will be vivaing on the 15th December. In the e-mail that my internal examiner got it was also apparent that the external examiner has got the names of me and the internal examiner mixed up. This could result in an interesting situation.I'm also applying for a position at a Very Prestigious Museum in London, which

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-79175804348249225962008-11-08T15:10:00.001Z2008-11-08T15:11:21.289Z

Yes, it's a little late, but I was up until 4 on Wednesday morning watching the results come in.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-20650208033512275972008-10-29T12:12:00.002Z2008-10-29T12:21:39.788Z

Looking at media headlines over the last few months, it's often seemed that we might, in fact, be living in the sort of dystopian future that 80s science-fiction was predicting. This week, the fact that stories about Iraq, global economic recession, and a child being murdered in Liverpool are taking second billing to two comedians making prank phone calls are only reinforcing the impression.It's

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-5898850518720467882008-10-23T15:19:00.002+01:002008-10-23T15:33:41.517+01:00

More dispatches from the world of Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Unlike previous mentions in this blog, however, they're not here for straddling that line between really clever and really ridiculous that I like so much, but for having done something that's actually rather good. This is the video to "Dancerama" (1989), but the focus here isn't on the song (although, as one of the YouTube comments says,

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-83640647086782279052008-10-14T10:31:00.003+01:002008-10-14T10:44:37.092+01:00

Well, that's the thesis. We have no idea how good it is yet, but it is reassuringly thick. There's no date for the viva as yet, but the latest news is that it may be possible to do it in December rather than January, which is good.I actually handed the thesis in on 26th September, my final deadline day. I've been meaning to post about it here for a while, because not everyone who reads this is on

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-78082790592788614512008-09-10T19:24:00.002+01:002008-09-10T19:27:15.083+01:00

A video, taken by me on Saturday evening, of "La Machine" in Liverpool with their giant mechanical spider . At one point near the end you can just about see a couple of people by its feet, to give some scale.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-727552454654322082008-08-14T15:07:00.002+01:002008-08-14T15:12:10.329+01:00

This morning the Continuing Eductation course-list booklet arrived in the post, and there I am on page 15. Hopefully there will be enough sign-ups to allow the course to go ahead. Should any regular readers want to join, they're welcome, although coming up here every Tuesday from the start of October would be a problem for most of you.*Reference to a now-infamous Frank Miller Batman comic.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-69535916662987216372008-08-04T12:41:00.002+01:002008-08-04T12:53:35.206+01:00

I have to confess, I hadn't realised that Solzhenitsyn was still alive. I've got my father's copy of The Gulag Archipelago sat on a shelf at home. I should really read it.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-51559923986825296162008-07-23T23:28:00.002+01:002008-07-24T00:10:09.672+01:00

Those of you who knew me a few years ago may remember my habit of flinching whenever I thought someone was going to touch me. According to Robert Graves, its a habit I shared with T.E. Lawrence. That, surely, was enough reason for me to go and see Lawrence of Arabia on a big screen at Philharmonic Hall. Oh, and he was an archaeologist, so that sealed it. Prior to the film was a short

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-57114741146494354062008-06-26T13:27:00.003+01:002010-02-19T23:58:07.829Z

More new terminology being spread by the internet: "photobombing" describes the fine art of sneaking into someone else's photo and doing something hilarious. The list of photos over at the blog List of the Day appears to be the start of a definative catalogue.Surely there should be world championships for this? If so, I believe these people would make the finals:

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-74844230254809776242008-06-04T13:32:00.002+01:002008-06-04T13:43:00.964+01:00

I have just been alerted to the existance of Garfield Minus Garfield, a website which removes the eponymous cat and his speech bubbles from the cartoon strips. It's a simple concept, but one which turns an otherwise bland daily comic strip into something darkly surreal.Some highlights:

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-6472222552153552422008-05-26T20:46:00.002+01:002008-05-26T20:55:35.370+01:00

As an archaeologist, it was pretty much mandatory fro me to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so over the weekend I did. While it has its moments - many of them being call-backs to the original three, the overall film is only OK, and I would say that the three 1980s films were better. Yes, even Temple of Doom. There was also a nagging feeling that Indiana Jones is somehow

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-44870174112307861792008-05-18T15:11:00.002+01:002008-05-18T15:14:14.578+01:00

The word on the archaeological street is that during the week, the British School at Athens will be informing those who applied for the MacMillan Scholarship whether or not they got an interview. Hopefully I'll be amongst them, as the MacMillan is my last opportunity to get funding that starts in September 2008 rather than September 2009.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-60153166415366822882008-05-11T13:53:00.002+01:002008-05-11T13:57:18.842+01:00

I'm not sure I've ever been so worried about a football match that it worried my sleep before. Last night, however, I was dreaming about today. My subconscious has some good verisimilitude, because it didn't have me at the match, it had me sat in front of my computer watching the automatic updates on Yahoo! Sport. As I recall, Fulham simultaneously won and lost the match.In real life, I don't

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-3676309323292895402008-04-28T20:20:00.002+01:002008-04-28T20:27:23.556+01:00

Today I applied for a job at Birkbeck College. I'm almost entirely certain that they won't be interested in me - the advert is for a lecturer of Classical Archaeology or the Material Culture of the Greco-Roman world, which I only fit if you squint quite a lot. It's also possible that they'll get at least one application from someone who's actually given a lecture at some point. On the other

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-6020114574321100312008-04-19T18:17:00.002+01:002008-04-19T18:21:27.136+01:00

I just had confirmation of who the external examiner for my PhD will be. Prior to that, in July, he'll also be at WAC-6 in Dublin, in the same conference session as me. I hope he likes my paper...

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574728.post-25362554728670680542008-04-05T03:18:00.001+01:002008-04-05T03:19:33.241+01:00

Tinkering is occurring, and because the old code was in such a state, there's no way back! Let me know if anything mysteriously stops working, as we boldly head off into the unknown.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185607466557136654noreply@blogger.com5