Notorious

Posted on 17th Oct 2010 by essiep

12°C, clear.

Hitchcock film (1946): Strange how they used to make them. Cary Grant’s performance was the big puzzle for me- he was an actor right? that means he was paid to act- not just read out his lines. Or is that how they did things back in the 40s? It felt, to me, like I was watching a football manager talking, all I wanted was for the guy to say it as if he meant it. It’s true that modern films from the US are typecast, full of unadventurous clichés and mostly un-creative; but so was this- from a master director too. I didn’t dislike the film overall, but Cary Grant’s performance was hopeless.

Single speed, two wheels

Posted on 11th Oct 2010 by essiep

12°C, clearing, ENE winds:

Should I order a new bike when I get that winter bike back? I’m considering a frame with track drop-outs which mean it would have a hub-gear (like a modernised sturmey-archer) or even a single speed rear wheel. With such a frame it’s easy to swap wheels to get a change of gearing- it’s even possible to use a fixed wheel. the big advantage is reliability and a large saving in weight. Dérailleur gears are over a kilogramme heavier and less reliable. So, it’s fairly easy to think up reasons to get one. The next problem is where to get one- mine needs a 59cm top-tube. Otherwise my knees hit the handlebars or toes catch the front wheel.

Single speed bike

Fixed wheel bikes are dead trendy right now-especially in London ( but it is flat there- so a natural choice). All this machine needs is a change of bars, add a rack/guards & it’s ready to go.
Shopping round it’s priced at £350, if it fits, I’ll have one.

immunology

Posted on 8th Oct 2010 by essiep

18°C, cloudy & warmer

That lurking cold have come out of the shadows. Nose blocking, with sore chest and mouth. The curious bit, though is that Achilles tendon. Why, when I have a cold do they hurt? Do these viruses go global in their attack on tissue types or is it just certain types or membrane? Any immunologists out there who could offer an answer?

Symphony No.4

Am I right to be annoyed that I couldn’t get the insert booklet out of this CD case without tearing it?

Torn.

Posted on 6th Oct 2010 by essiep

15°C, clearing, light Westerly

How to use next weekend. I am badly torn; at one end are the Welsh mountains plus a good weather forecast. I hate this feeling.

Where is it?

Posted on 3rd Oct 2010 by essiep

13°C, heavy rain

It’s about time Mercian Cycles finished that re-spray. I really miss that bike, we’re getting into darker days, there is lots of rain so a summer race bike is really unsuitable for the daily commute.

Stink

Posted on 1st Oct 2010 by essiep

13°C, heavy rain

‘Smelly’ cyclists asked to leave New Forest pub:BBC. How did they manage to stink after only 6 miles. I’m not even going to ask why stop for a break before they’ve warmed up. I can only guess that one of them was wearing a wiffy jersey from their last ride.

here we go

Posted on 30th Sep 2010 by essiep

15°C, cloudy with slow rain.

What is this- a cold? Maybe, that slow feeling is visiting, a cold could come or maybe it’s all nothing.

Settling in

Posted on 29th Sep 2010 by essiep

15°C, rather wet.

WordPress is as unreliable as other servers when it’s busy. 7pm is the worst time for many and it’s no different here. I will have to edit the style sheet, there is too much white-space here and the default fount is too large for my taste.

Tonight, I am marking some short essays by year 10s. The main question nods towards feminism and positive discrimination in the workplace.

Re-housing scheme

Posted on 27th Sep 2010 by essiep

13°C, cloudy and dark grey

This new house is all clean and white, no dust anywhere.
I’ve left thoughts unblogged recently, and now I find Microsoft are offloading their blog service here.
I don’t mind this; here things look a bit more grown-up to me.

Hello world!