about Pripyat

Posted on 8th Apr 2008 by essiep

7°C, clear.

Pripyat, as seen in this video ought to be my next project to tackle, though Harlech Castle is nearly done so may as well complete that first.

another avian meeting

Posted on 2nd Apr 2008 by essiep

13°C, cloudy, lighter winds C=33 miles.

Climbing a sunken lane, there was a crow perched in the left embankment. Strange place for a crow so I stopped. He looks injured but didn’t fly away when I approached. See the photo. Poor creature seems to have a head injury, perhaps he was concussed. The other worry is that he has a disease, West Nile virus affects crows in the USA.
He stood there for a while, looking around and blinking but otherwise quite still. So I picked him up and took him over to a nearby field. Like other biords, he was quite calm once covered in a raincoat, even wild animals seem sedated by darkness. On letting go, he flew a short distance but crash landed in the undergrowth. I left hime there, at least he couldn’t get run over there. I wished him well and continued my journey, there really is nothing I could have done.
Good luck…

Anslow Rheas

Posted on 1st Apr 2008 by essiep

13°C, windly but a nice sunny start. c=27 miles

Rode up to Anslow bank today to find those "Emus" that I spoke of here previously. I got a bunch of photos this time, but on looking them up in Wikipedia, they turn out to be Rheas. No less curious for that I say.

Spring, starts here…

Posted on 30th Mar 2008 by essiep

14°C, W wind, mostly sunny.

An excellent way to start Spring, warm sunshine, clear skies and England has got its colour back. Finally, I have cleared the remnants of that dreadful virus from the end of last term.

Coniine

Posted on 25th Mar 2008 by essiep

Cold strong N Wind, some rain, 41 miles on the bike.

Riding in the rain wasn’t so bad this afternoon. Perhaps I have physically adjusted to the colder weather after four days hiking in the driving rain and snow of North Wales. The house we stayed in was damp and draughty which made drying clothes difficult and keeping bodies warm impossible. The sea was distinctly green and covered in white horses, visble from the kitchen.

It was a great trip though, Cader Idris looked fantastic covered in snow, but we didn’t get up there- the snowstorms were drawing in at a time when sunset was getting near. At this point we hatched the idea of a hiking holiday in the Pyrenees. Hannah is fit enough to really enjoy this on equal terms.

Thujone

Posted on 12th Mar 2008 by essiep

8°C, very strong winds. Dry though.

Gales forced me into driving to work today. Damn.

Sap’s rising, inlcluding my little Artemesia plant, which now smells. It didn’t last autumn when I bought it. Such a strange smell too. There must be other exotica hidden amongst our ordinary overlooked weeds in this landscape.

A great storm approaches

Posted on 9th Mar 2008 by essiep

9°C, few heavy showers so far.

Duxford – to take some Japanese Visitors to leer at aeroplanes, who called this practice “transport porn”? Here is an old Cockpit from a VC10 airliner.

This coming storm could be fun, for me anyway. Not so good if you’re at sea in the southern approaches.

Control Panel scrambled.

Posted on 6th Mar 2008 by essiep

11°C, windy and grey.

Tracking down faults: so apparently, the control panel can be corrupted by some reg server32 getting unregistered (are you following this), – that is something that can easily be re-registered. At least the machine has net access so I can pose questions of Google and get workable answers.

Beyond that, the 3D scenery design will have ot wait for a week or so while I get a two graphics jobs done first.

Cinema: or why I like Tarkovsky’s films. They don’t sound great on paper; for example: Stalker: a science fiction film; with no special effects; long scenes heavily dependant on dialog; mostly in b/w, no music and don’t forget: it’s in Russian. Currently I am watching Andrei Rublyev in installments. these are films about the present, none of the Americanish obsession with plot, and what’s going to happen next. These films are full of scenes that concentrate on the now; they look long, hard and without distraction at themes like the weather, dogs, water and tinge it all with anxiety. Read this site to get a more articulate explanation http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/tarkovsky.html

I don’t expect you to wat one though.

STOP 0x000000IE

Posted on 2nd Mar 2008 by essiep

8°C, Windy, but milder

STOP NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM at NTOSKRNL.exe: I have a poorly computer. In the week I changed the RAM but not soon enough, one crash caused by it has scrambled the anti-virus’ database so it won’t run. It won’t uninstall either, nor does the update patch work. Looks like a re-install of windows is the only resort.

Nevermind, at least I have had more success with the other PC, the Chernobyl scenery is substantially done. The main site of the accident is done, so now my attention turns to the town of Pripyat, and possibly the famous Ferris-wheel.

Anslow Emus

Posted on 24th Feb 2008 by essiep

8°C, grey, plus a band of rain at 2pm. Cy=54 miles.

Odd the things you see, riding through a rural farming area, passing houses on the edge of the village of Anslow, I heard loud bird noises, and looked over to see 2 large grey Ostrich shaped birds. they were grey so must have been Emus I presume.

I took lots of photos of Rugeley power station. There is somethig mysterious, slightly menacing but intriguing about that place. Maybe it’s the industrial architechture, designers must have a field-day when they come up with ideas for them. It is a mixture of old Art deco, and new age sci-fi, but all covered in soot & dust.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Author Archives: essiep