So it took me to chatting to a mate on messenger this morning that reminded me I wanted to go to the movies. I used to love going to the movies, even on my tod, but on the darker nights it is just easy to get into a habit of going home from work and doing very little.

So Twilight. I had read a bit out this teenage vampire flick and being a vamp flick it sparked my interest. Although I had never heard of the books before the film (there are 4 or 5 now I believe), I have since come to understand that they are better sellers in the US than the UK. 

I was just going for a movie to watch really, but I found the whole thing very absorbing and was surprised by the fact. There were a couple of moments when I cringed back at a bad aspect or line, but for the most I was involved all the way. 

There have been a rash of these types of movies ever since Harry Potter hit the screens, but here is the kicker; I found Twilight more interesting and captivating than Mr Potters adventures. Maybe he suffers from the movies not living up to the books (as in the majority I don’t believe they can) and I did not know the story of Bella and Edward. 

I didn’t feel it fell into the trap of being too teenage; there were moments of Dawson’s Creek anguish but mostly it was a darkly played to a very good result.

My only question now is if I do take up Mr Borders offer of 3 for 2 on the book and the next one? The brief review of the book have read this afternoon suggests it can be wordy and verbose; may the book be too Dawson’s? That might spoil my enjoyment. Maybe just an afternoon in Mr Borders Emporium with a mug of coffee and a couple of chapters to test it out……

…. oh and I am going to go back to the movies more often…. I have Cineworld card for a reason!

The Atheist Bus Campaign; 800 buses feature the slogan: “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

“The evidential basis for God is the same as for believing there are fairies at the bottom of the garden, and if you don’t believe the latter, you shouldn’t believe the former,”
A C Grayling defending said campaign.

Two stories on politics.co.uk:

1. Atheist buses to challenge religious message.
2. Christian challenges atheist bus advert.

January…. one of the bleakest darkest times of the year, nothing to look forward to except February (officially the direst month of the year, and the pay packet. So we decide to torture ourselves by giving up something that has probably been a major crutch in our lives, or worse still we start doing something that goes against our very grain of life in this dark month (anyone gone back to the gym in the last 7 days after an absence of many months?).

Yeah okay, we need to make changes in our lives; we are all getting fat, clogging up our arteries with fatty proccessed foods, doing the 1 mile school run in our SUVs and leaving the TV on standby every night. But for the love of goodness it is JANUARY! You don’t want to be heading to gym after work at 6:30 in the pitch black icy cold weather. Or giving up the wine or the ciggies when there is no where else to go or do that doesn’t involve a restaurant, bar or movie, and for goodness’ sake the kids don’t want to walk to school  (and you sure as anything don’t want to have to walk with them!).

Giving stuff up is good for us, we are going to have to give a lot as the credit crunch bites and the sea levels rise. Buying that new car every three years or picking up that handy plastic bag in the supermarket are all things we are going to have to change as much as eating a bit more healthy and getting more active. 

However, you have to give something up, or take something up, because you want to. Not because the year has click up one.  Look at life, realise what is good and what is not so good, diagnose it first and work out why you do it, then do something about it. 

For me, I will give nothing up on any January 1st; I may give something up in March, June or September but never in January….. and don’t get me started on Lent!

The one shocking part of the time off though, was my complete laziness, in fact I must admit that (if I believed and cared) I firm adopted 2 of the seven deadly sins during the holidays; sloth and gluttony, to the extent that I have put on about 3/4  of a stone since the start of December.

I was also very much a recluse over the holiday, I ventured out on day to see the family and give the gifts, had some friends over for Hogmanay (which I still think is a bigger social and community event than xmas in Scotland), for drinks, laughs, Mario Cart and Wii Sports, and out of the house on New Year’s Day to a friends house for dinner.

This all may not sound very much like a social holiday that people expect it to be, but then I always think people expect too much from the winter holiday and are often disappointed and slightly aggrieved when it is over and they have spent a lot of time (and sometimes money) doing stuff and being places that they have not ultimately wanted to be……

I am not advocating selfishness, just a little care and consideration for yourself. How often do you get almost 2 weeks off without dashing off to the sunshine in some forgien climate? I do advocate fitting in some ‘down time’ in the winter holiday…. it works.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

In short, it is a group people of renown for their efforts to work for the betterment of Humanity. They are now ‘elder’ statespeople from across the world, with the respect and wherewithall to broker deals in areas of conflict and strife that the rest of the world seems to be turning there backs to.

From an original idea of Peter Gabriel and Richard Branson who pitched it to Nelson Mandella. Today there are 12 Elders, including Aung San Suu Ky sho has been almost under perminant arrest in Burma for almost 20 years.

1. Offering a catalyst for the peaceful resolution of conflict.
2. Seeking new approaches to seemingly intractable global issues.
3. Sharing wisdom: reaching out to grassroots Elders and to the next generation of leaders. Listening and helping to amplify voices for good all over the world.

I cannot help that with people like these individuals and their supports, both generally and financially, that the world would be a better place. I think is shows a kinda of hope that people want change, not just for the benfit of themselves or their nation.

Wee Magic Stane
O the Dean of Westminster wis a powerful man,
He held all the strings of State in his hand,
But with all this great business it flustered him nane,
Till some rogues ran away wi’ his wee magic stane.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Noo the Stane had great pow’rs that could dae such a thing
And withoot it, it seemed, we’d be wantin’ a King,
So he called in the Polis and gave this decree–
“Go an hunt oot the Stane and return it tae me.”
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

So the Polis went beetlin up tae the North,
They huntit the Clyde and they huntit the Forth,
But the wild folk up yonder just Kiddit them a’,
For they didnae believe it wis magic at a’,
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Noo the Provost o’ Glesga, Sir Victor by name,
Wis awfy pit oot when he heard o the Stane,
So he offered the statues that staun in the Square,
That the High Churches’ Masons might mak a few mair.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Whan the Dean o’ Westminster wi’ this wis acquaint,
He sent for Sir Victor and made him a Saint,
“Now it’s no use you sending your Statues down heah,”
Said the Dean, “But you’ve giv’n me a right good idea,”
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

So he quarried a Stane o’the very same stuff,
And he dressed it a’ up till it looked like enough,
Then he sent for the Press and announced that the Stane,
Had been found and returned to Westminster again.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Whan the reivers found oot what Westminster had done,
They went aboot diggin up Stanes by the ton,
And fur each wan they finished they entered a claim,
That this wis the true and original Stane.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Noo the cream o the joke still remains to be telt,
For the bloke that wis turnin them aff on the belt,
At the peak o production wis so sorely pressed,
That the real yin got bunged in alang wi the rest.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

So if ever you come on a Stane wi’ a ring,
Jist sit yersel doon and proclaim yersel King,
Fur there’s nane wud be able to challege yir claim,
That you’d croont yersel King on the Destiny Stane.
With a too ra li oor ra’ li oor a li ay.

Somebody actually did it by accident. In 1978, Russian researcher Anatoli Bugorski performed a high-energy physics version of the old ‘looking into the hose to see why it’s not working’ slapstick staple. Believing that the accelerator at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino was turned off due to a fault, he looked in to check on it – and was hit by a proton beam. His faced swelled up, his skin peeled off and all the nerves on the left side of his face burned away over the course of a few years. However, he survived – albeit with a half-paralysed face and a tendency toward seizures as a memento of his brush with the particle beam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski

What interesting information for a sunday morning!

Well this past weekend was QE2′s last ever visit to her home river, the Clyde. It was over 41 years ago the Queen Elizabeth II launched her and today the Clyde, and it’s people, showed QE2 a magnificent time as she came home.

My mate had booked tickets to do several cruises on the MV Balmoral; a morning trip to sail down the river and lead QE2 up to Greenock, a daytime trip to sail past while she was berthed and then an evening cruise to escort QE2 from the Clyde. I was really glad when he offered me one of the tickets for the morning and evening trips.

Sailing out of Greenock early on Sunday morning and going down the Clyde we knew that it was going to be a glorious day. For the last couple of weeks it has left that autumn had well and truly arrived in Scotland, but for one last day, the day QE2 was coming home, we had a final day of glorious summer sunshine.

My mate has made a complete page on his website for the day, I was using his video camera so all the shaky handed movies are my work, but his photos are amazing.

The flotilla of boats that were out there to meet QE2 was incredible, and included HMS Manchester, which gave the liner a military escort up the river, and at one point put the pedal to the metal (can you do that in a ship?) and showed some impressive charging through the water.

At Greenock, in fact all along the coast, the crowds came out to welcome and cheer QE2, lots of saltires and lion rampants were flying, from both ship and shore. I think it is fair to say that a lot of people around the Clyde, who remember the ship being launched or perhaps even worked on it, still that she belongs to them.

The evening sailaway was another amazing scene; fireworks going off over QE2 and still a fair few boats were out on the Clyde to escort her down past Toward and watch her sail off.

 Judith has just bought a new property and it was, to say kindly, a bit run down. The fixtures and fittings had seen better days, in the 70s when they were fitted! So it was a few hands to a few pumps yesterday to lift carpets, explore basements and, the therapy of the day, remove the kitchen.

I focus on the kitchen as it was all accomplished with the use of hammers only, and after the last week in the office it was the perfect stress relief! The ‘breakfast bar’ didn’t put up much of a challenge and the real fun began with the shelves. One almighty whack of a shelf resulted in a single tile falling off the wall, landing on the work surface completely intact. Further investigation proved the theory that the only reason the tiles had stayed up was the fact that they were all fitted tightly together. Not the fact that they were stuck to the wall, as they weren’t!

A hammer blow to the tiled wall and there started a cascade of tile collapse. Very shortly later Judith got another hammer (I looked as if i was having to much fun) and in one swift running move took the tiles of the splash-back off. Needless to say all the frustrations of life came pouring out upon the poor tiles and J and I hammered and bash our way to contentedness.

It was bliss. I can say no more.

I wish J all the successes in the renovation of her wee place (beams and joists this week / ) and below is the gang later attacking the fireplace.