Avarice, taa

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+1.7°C, clear, dry & still.

Lame I know. but I’m off to the cinema later and will need to wear opposite-polarised glasses. Yes, it’s Avatar night.
With some luck, they’ll have the clip-on version. The paper cutout ones are of no use, the lenses are always too close together..
I’ll let you know….

lascia ch’io pianga

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2 to-2°C, NW wind, clear.

Re-watched Antichrist. Indeed it is a stunning film, beautifully shot and punctuated by an Handel auria that gives this post the title. Surprise surprise at the end, the dedication to Tarkovsky. Curiously, that appeared just after a shot that seemed like something from Ingmar Bergmann to me.

Rinaldo, Lascia ch’io pianga, HWV7, Georg Friedrich Händel
Lascia ch’io pianga
mia cruda sorte,
e che sospiri la libertà.
Il duolo infranga queste ritorte
de’ mei martiri sol per pietà.

Leave me to weep
over my cruel fate
and let me sigh for liberty.
May sorrow break
the bonds of my anguish,
if only for pity’s sake.

How would you do this?

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5°C, light cloud, sun too.

Picture this:

you’re driving a dustbin lorry, you’ve just finished with a load of bins and need to reverse into the left turning ahead. So you pull out, roll forwards and then reverse into that road to your rear-left. My question is this- how would you indicate? 
Bear in mind that it’s rush-hour and busy with walking-pace traffic.
This is what the guy did this morning:
Pull out, stop, put hazard lights on and do the reverse turn.
What should he have done?

Blue wednesday

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2°C, rain.

We live here very near another zone of snowfall, the Malverns got the most it seems.
Last Monday was ‘Blue Monday’ I’m told. Actually, I was quite cheerful last Monday, less so today. After a box of chocolates, I’m lifted out of the gloaming though. Could be paying the price for that tonight with an interrupted night’s sleep. Damn.

Incomplete impression

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4~8°C, clear, dry.

Antichrist: wouldn’t normally do this, but this film has made such an impression. this is an interim review because I have not watched the whole film yet. Beautifully shot, a slow build-up to disgusting events in the lives of two sole characters. There is Tarkovsky in this, maybe some of "Misery" by Clint Eastwood too. Okay, plus a bit of the Exorcist. the atmospheres are enticing but never without a sense of menace.

I shall return to this page after watching it again.

readback

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1°C, slow thaw, some further flurries. About ½" overnight, but the end is in sight

Reading back over previous year’s posts, they follow the same patterns and themes; things like poor sleep, exercise frustrations. My newer posts are longer however, and my grammar is better too.
Using the Gym in work, and I have the turbo-trainer at home. Should have bought one during christmas week.
Alternative holiday names: looking for a non-christian name for some of our holidays is a strange & tricky problem, one full of pitfalls. How about naming them after the nearest meteor shower, so winter holiday becomes Ursids; summer is Perseids; Easter, Lyrids; and so on. Unless you have a better idea.

Turboshed

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+1°C, a slight thaw, or do my senses deceive me?

After so long bleating about a lack of exercise, I have bought a turbo-trainer for the bike. It works well enough during the 1h 10′ session I had today.

When the kids get old

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-9 to0°C, yes that’s minus nine! Cloudless & still

When the kids get old, they’ll be able to say "we don’t get proper winters anymore like back in my day"

…Mark my words

.

This graph’s title is a bit misleading- it isn’t "through December", it’s from 1950 to the end of 2009. Also, Ranges like summer 1968-71 were all below freezing. Surely not! There is a North American ‘z’ in Standardised so perhaps this data comes from Alaska or something.

‘Snowday’ Eve

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+2°C, but falling under clear sky.

Snowday– the snowfall from yesterday  has lost its powdery softness as it turns to hard ice. That’s why they called off work tomorrow. I saw a few cars slipping around on the way home this evening.
There Will Be Photos: taken at lunch, but dammit for leaving the camera in school.

There is my place of work.