tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46540814515353411752012-01-10T23:35:25.181ZOn an occasional basis, politics, football, family, work and slaying Hrothgar's heroes.Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.comBlogger3011100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-75826376606669140342011-01-01T22:21:00.001Z2011-01-01T22:21:52.571Z

It seems that my last post predicating the subject and date of the next was surprisingly accurate.Have a super year.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-90836514329198663082010-01-01T00:45:00.002Z2010-01-01T00:50:11.411Z

The last post that I made was about a year ago wishing my then regular readers and passing visitors a happy 2009. If there is still anyone out there arriving here I'd like to wish you a happy and prosperous 2010 even though I don't really go for all of this new year stuff.On current form the date and subject of my next post is probably predictable.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-81494087848681615232009-01-01T23:11:00.003Z2009-01-01T23:14:40.411Z

.... seasons greeting and best wishes for the new year for anyone passing this way.That said I don't really hold much store by the whole 'New Year' concept as my post of last year made clear but a little general good cheer can't do anyone any harm at the moment.G

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-79601064517490292952008-12-21T00:24:00.003Z2008-12-21T00:31:17.711Z

I’m a bit annoyed. I do spend quite a bit of time reading blogs. Lots of them are political ones and are pretty well known. Mike Smithson’s Political Betting is probably one of the best attracting comment contributors from all over the political spectrum. I do rather enjoy Guido and Iain Dale amongst quite a few others too. The main posts are always pretty good but as ever the comments

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-79250870952034687202008-12-18T23:31:00.000Z2008-12-18T23:54:07.286Z

One little vignette for the UK tax payers amongst you.Along side buying goods and services for the NHS Acute trust for whom I work, my department (or to be a little less self aggrandizing the department of which I am a part) also provides a similar service for our County's Primary Care Trust. The organisation responsible for the provision of first stop health services (like GP surgeries and

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-78011576524575176932008-12-17T22:40:00.001Z2008-12-17T23:06:17.115Z

Following on from the last cryptic post. I had this idea about adopting the personna of a character in the widely loved childrens television programme 'In the Night Garden'.Or from a parents perspective a programme widely loved by children if not themselves. Actually I'm rather fond of it to be honest although I know many peers whom it drives to distraction.It's a programme lots of other

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-25196134375755748402008-12-14T00:34:00.000Z2008-12-14T00:37:00.527Z

... as starting a completely different blog with a different persona as a short term experiment. The bane of Dane will be back.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-85053698604046642702008-11-28T21:49:00.000Z2008-11-28T22:02:06.798Z

Back to the musical stuff. I suspect that this, along with the science posts, was the one regular feature i was running prior to the hiatus that generated a degree of interest out there.In the last post I ended up in Prussia so I thought I would travel south to its contemporary, Imperial Austria and the march conducted by Strauss (Snr) in tribute to the Hero of the Battle of Novara Joseph

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-45919904026574999302008-11-25T22:00:00.000Z2008-11-25T22:51:11.149Z

Thank you all for your kind comments in reply to my previous post. Mutley wondered whether I had been anywhere and actually no. Life had just carried on as normal just minus a few hours hunched in front of a monitor hoping that the muse of the blog would touch me with a piece of inspiration.I have spent quite a bit of my time off blogging doing quite a bit of reading. Just revisiting a few of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-55828706254004538302008-11-22T00:34:00.000Z2008-11-22T01:05:15.298Z

I thought I had decided to give up this blogging lark. No bridges irreparably burnt of course but the whole thing had really become a bit of a burden. But I haven't really spent much less time closeted away on the computer since my 'departure', still been lurking here and there on the odd occasion and somehow feeling that this time spent had less of a reward, less interactivity and

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-47280668255715674162008-08-08T21:30:00.000+01:002008-08-08T22:05:10.467+01:00

As you may have noticed I haven't posted for ages. Well by my standards for ages anyway.I have often considered having a proper break from Blogging but have inevitably drifted back after a few days having stated my intention not to.Of course I know it's considered etiquette to announce the fact you intend stepping back for a while. I had intended on doing so and for a few nights after the last

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-46864863921730259892008-07-20T23:11:00.000+01:002008-07-20T23:21:52.750+01:00

I’m must admit I’m not really looking forward to going to work tomorrow as I will have to take part in my least favourite activity possible. Namely sitting as a member on an interview panel.Granted it’s probably a significantly better position to be in than being the interviewee but I really don’t like doing these at all. I get really nervous about the whole thing. Of course I and the fellow

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-27131171073062414002008-07-18T21:25:00.000+01:002008-07-18T21:44:54.121+01:00

It's been a bit of a slow blogging week this week. But I wouldn't want to miss doing one of my now established Friday night musical slots. Especially as tonight marks the start of this country's (if not the world's) premier musical festivals 'the Proms'.Apparently tonights composer will feature significantly in this years Proms programme and having noted over the last few weeks that I wanted to

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-32914377685043516662008-07-15T22:41:00.000+01:002008-07-15T22:45:01.333+01:00

This is a rather parochial post and is in response to a couple of the comments left on the previous one asking what video game could drag me away from the unforgiving mistress that is blogging. I’m quite a serious gamer. No actually that’s not true as this could be taken as implying that I’m any good at games. I tend to like quite serious games. Strategy games, sports games (cricket / motor

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-7318498148757519602008-07-14T22:31:00.000+01:002008-07-14T22:45:10.860+01:00

I'm currently in the middle of a game playing session hence the lack of posts for the last few days.I may discuss the outcome of this later. If in the meantime your stuck for a good read... well actually if you came here deliberately a good read may not have been your primary objective....you could do worse than check out the latest Blogpower Roundup prepared by the newest addition to our number

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-71490808852612729222008-07-11T23:01:00.000+01:002008-07-11T23:27:55.536+01:00

I was going to come back to England this week but with all this talk of bear markets I thought I would do a Russian detour instead.Again finding a decent recording on You Tube proved to be a little problematic. In the end though I found a recording of this piece (the prelude in C# minor) played by the man himself. A little on the crackly side but with so many interpretations available it's

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-3417688249313457362008-07-09T21:43:00.000+01:002008-07-09T22:08:28.435+01:00

Our Hospital’s intranet site is not, as I’m sure you can imagine, the most exciting read known to mankind. A few stats, Departmental Pages (the Purchasing one is OK as for reasons that allude me they let me author that one) messages from on high when the CEO exhorts us to redouble our efforts and details on the’ diversity’ of our workforce. It’s probably pretty similar to the internet and

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-65560620787250380492008-07-07T22:48:00.000+01:002008-07-07T22:51:52.661+01:00

With some help from Science Daily. An interesting piece of research by staff at the Vanderbilt University in Nashville has identified that the use of your imagination and mental imagery may actually influence how you see the world. Joel Pearson a research associate at the University’s Psychology Department explains: "We found that mental imagery leads to a short-term memory trace that can

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-38595019194660627902008-07-05T23:47:00.001+01:002008-07-06T00:43:58.227+01:00

I wasn’t planning on posting anything tonight but if it is true that James had closed his blog then it’s a sad day indeed. James has always been a friend of this blog (as indeed has Crushed) and his visits and comments have been regular and welcome. I think that this will be true for very many fellow bloggers. The appearance of the Higham avatar seems to be pretty ubiquitous on ‘

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-2471224479925455922008-07-04T00:02:00.000+01:002008-07-04T00:09:13.476+01:00

After last weeks posting of the Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens I had intended tactically withdrawing from France (having covered several French composers in a row) back across the channel to the more homespun delights of either Elgar or Vaughan Williams. Naturally I intended returning to the continent at the earliest opportunity. All very 1940 I know. However in the comments on last weeks

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-57272355939414211622008-07-03T22:32:00.000+01:002008-07-03T22:35:14.928+01:00

Via Science Daily. Another corking picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. I don’t think it could ever be possible to anything less than amazed by these. This time it is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago. In May 1006 observers from Africa to Europe to the Far East witnessed and recorded the arrival of light

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-76326467633796830342008-07-02T21:44:00.001+01:002008-07-03T00:19:01.912+01:00

After the rather unexpected turn of events back in May which resulted in my elevation / election to our local Scout Group's Executive Committee I attended the my first committee meeting last night.I must admit I was ever so slightly apprehensive beforehand and indeed during the meeting.Normally I tend to pitch into group conversations without reservation and spray comments, constructive or not,

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-82779507433996544612008-06-30T23:39:00.002+01:002008-06-30T23:53:13.890+01:00

I’m not really much of an expert on Art and Music. I know about some works and can just about do enough A Level style ‘Comparing and Contrasting’ to sneak a pass as a ‘Foundation Level dilettante’.Nevertheless my critical antennae were set a twitching by the latest work unveiled by 'Installation Artist' Martin Creed in the neoclassical sculpture galleries of Tate Britain. ‘Work 850’ is an

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-65978792135367535332008-06-27T22:46:00.000+01:002008-06-27T23:03:31.668+01:00

I know, another rather obvious 'pop' classical piece. But again another favourite as a kiddie and what a corker!I appreciate that this is two French composers in a row having done Debussy last week.I'll toddle off somewhere else next week.But until then...enjoy

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-8266445371779931422008-06-26T22:28:00.000+01:002008-06-26T22:30:25.727+01:00

Lode star provided by Science Daily A couple of days ago I read about an interesting hypothesis tying together astronomy, legend and the dating of the Homeric tales of the Trojan War. "Poor men, what terror is this that overwhelms you so? Night shrouds your heads, your faces, down to your knees, cries of mourning are bursting into fire, cheeks rivering tears, the walls and the handsome

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-78882508850426613072008-06-23T23:35:00.001+01:002008-06-23T23:50:52.337+01:00

Caption – I want my Sports Day!! It’s not often that our sleepy little coastal part of Sussex gets into the National News. It’s even more of a surprise when it’s your eldest child’s Infants / Primary school that is making the headlines. But towards the end of last week this was indeed the case as the Mirror, the Daily Mail and more reputable newspapers like the Times carried the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-70884346520119418542008-06-20T22:58:00.000+01:002008-06-20T23:30:12.996+01:00

Where to tonight?I think one of the things that most struck me when I first met Mrs. G was her ability to adeptly bash out the odd tune or two on the old pianoforte. Indeed she had attained a pretty stratospheric Royal School of Music Grade. All of which was rather impressive for a 'playing by the numbers' rock bassist / guitarist type like me.One of the first pieces that she played for me was

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-79945186105130730372008-06-19T01:00:00.001+01:002008-06-19T01:05:21.214+01:00

To Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth Defender of the Faith. If it pleases your Majesty I beg to present this petition, humbly requesting that you don’t give your assent to the EU (Amendment) Bill which has, recently, completed its

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-84580083042957724182008-06-18T23:06:00.000+01:002008-06-18T23:09:10.993+01:00

Science daily sets them up…. Published a couple of days ago ‘The Pattern Recognition Theory of Humour’ by Alastair Clarke attempts to provide an answer to the question of what is humour and why we find things funny. Previous theories have focused on what we laugh at or in other words whether one ‘gets the joke’. However Clarke maintains that humour cannot be explained in terms of content or

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-21489290538062331252008-06-16T23:40:00.001+01:002008-06-17T00:09:24.839+01:00

According to Reuters in Bucharest the residents of a Romanian village knowingly voted in a dead man as their mayor in Sunday's municipal election, preferring him to his living opponent. Neculai Ivascu, 57, who ran the village for almost two decades, died from liver disease just after voting began, but still won the election by a margin of 23 votes. A local official said the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-20348300763796420802008-06-15T22:53:00.002+01:002008-06-16T00:03:52.924+01:00

Science Daily assisting with getting to the point Actually when thinking back to my teenage years I have to say that I wasn’t that much of a rebel. I suppose I was tangentially linked to the mid eighties Goth scene if only from a sartorial if not a musical point of view. As regular readers will know I was (and still am) a big fan of the second gen. prog rock bands and at the time was in the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-74130729404784636272008-06-13T23:49:00.001+01:002008-06-14T01:29:34.439+01:00

It was quite a task to find a decent video of this one on You Tube. The majority of clips were of squeaky school band performances. So I had to go with a version to which the publisher has attached a montage of paintings by William Bouguereau. I guess some sort of supposed link between members of the 19th C Romantic Movement. Doesn’t really work for me though. Anyway for your delectation,

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-71695665900859938572008-06-12T22:53:00.000+01:002008-06-12T23:02:51.803+01:00

I haven’t done a straight forward political post for ages. I might touch on stuff tangentially these days but there are already enough centre rightish / Toryish bloggers out there who do a much better job! Also I must admit I have enjoyed going with a core of scientific research and family stuff more than the obvious open goals. But I can’t resist running quick a post on the David Davis

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-44560965859658854202008-06-09T23:26:00.000+01:002008-06-09T23:29:03.721+01:00

Regular readers will be more than aware of my dislike of the evil that are mobile phones. It’s not so much the technology itself but rather the effect on people’s psychology. The odd need to be constantly connected and available. The pronounced fear that you might be missing out if your friends aren’t constantly sending you bizarre jumbles of letters and numbers which apparently equate to a

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-10312188946190460222008-06-08T22:33:00.000+01:002008-06-08T22:37:21.009+01:00

I think I may change direction with this musical video posting lark. Although starting off with a fairly normal rock orientated output the last couple of posts have centred around tunes remembered from childhood which were basically popular classical pieces. Oh and Puff the Magic Dragon (natch). The difference with these though were that they actually generated a degree of interest and some

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-31059416760055903232008-06-07T22:35:00.001+01:002008-06-07T23:09:46.431+01:00

Fred’s school bag is more often than not brought back after a day at the educational pit face stuffed with letters and information from the school. Many of these provide details of the opportunities available for him to attend after school clubs or are in support of a fundraising drive of one sort or another. It’s usually something along the lines of pay one pound and your child may go to

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-11401097238858661882008-06-05T22:10:00.001+01:002008-06-06T00:52:08.247+01:00

I recently stumbled across an interesting piece of research that seems to challenge the widely held perception that ‘violent’ video games naturally make their players more aggressive. As I have often written I enjoy many a happy hour blasting, hacking, destroying in an orgy of visceral virtual violence. But have never had the urge to grab a meat cleaver from the kitchen and run amok through the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-72797368966903954352008-06-04T23:20:00.001+01:002008-06-04T23:24:36.494+01:00

Card marked by Science Daily A team at Duke University in the United States have produced a batch of dancing microscopic robots. Each ‘microrobot’ is shaped like a spatula but with dimensions measuring just microns, or millionths of a meter. They are almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind and weigh even less Bruce Donald, a Duke professor of computer science

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-65345861684730022962008-06-01T22:31:00.000+01:002008-06-01T23:22:05.566+01:00

It's often been said that one of the joys of parenthood (primarily for the fathers of boys) is that it provides a good excuse to play with lots of your children's toys.As an adult I'm sure it would be frowned upon if you independently took to fiddling around with Lego, the sandpit, or the wooden railway track. But of course using the thoroughly plausible and acceptable alibi that 'you're playing

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-64754471597909416952008-05-31T23:45:00.009+01:002008-06-01T00:50:48.929+01:00

As regular readers will know I have occasionally allude to the fact that I live within the vicinity of Brighton. Actually when I first moved down to this part of the world in my earlyish twenties I spent the first few years in Brighton itself.It was therefore with some interest that i read a couple of days ago that according to a survey commissioned by 'O2' Brighton was the 'happiest' place to

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-48563313016844441932008-05-29T22:36:00.001+01:002008-05-29T22:42:22.497+01:00

I seem to have descended into a ‘I can’t think of what to write’ phase again. Well actually that’s not exactly true. There are things to go with but I think it’s more of a case of not having the discipline to sit down and work the bare outline of these thoughts into a post. Also the science sites that I shamelessly plagiarise just aren’t coming up with bits of research that can be spun into

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-72147880328117311822008-05-26T22:19:00.002+01:002008-05-26T22:39:34.995+01:00

Another study has thrown up some interesting facts about the effects on the individual of playing video games. Could it be the copy cat hacking and slashing of innocent passers by? Believing that one is a hedgehog bent on collecting golden rings? Or thinking that just because you can execute a perfect cover drive on screen you will be able to do the same when you get to the middle in real

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-4991837454189281792008-05-24T23:49:00.001+01:002008-05-24T23:53:51.828+01:00

Other than the tidying up games which will resolve the final promotion places within the English Leagues that’s the end of the football season. Every other year this will mean a drought of football for a couple of months which does rather rip the beating heart out of a fans weekend. For the other years during the English closed season the gap in domestic fixtures is filled by either the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-58244254225153511502008-05-23T22:41:00.001+01:002008-05-23T22:59:12.709+01:00

Last time I did a music post I took a slight detour away from the intended path of highlighting the great and good in the (mostly bizarre) world of Progressive Rock. As you may recall I ended up posting a couple of videos of fondly remembered music from my much much younger days. And actually it was more fun to do. So I thought I’d do another one of these. There is of course the risk

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-5929955234205660282008-05-22T22:02:00.002+01:002008-05-23T00:01:38.319+01:00

A few posts ago I indicate that I was taking a break from blogging for a few days. Partly because work was a little more hectic than usual but mainly because I was spending a bit more time playing through a couple of games. I really do rather enjoy video games and have done so for years. I have always mainly played on the consoles rather than the computer though and have had a version of the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-7376586670933814282008-05-21T23:34:00.001+01:002008-05-21T23:39:26.830+01:00

I went along to the AGM of the Scout Group of which Fred’s Beaver Colony is a part this evening. I think it’s important to show a bit of support. Even if it means missing the first half of the European Cup Final. But that’s a different post altogether. Anyway it all took rather unexpected turn of events when they were running through nominations for the Executive Officials to serve for

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-31198461624581216422008-05-19T21:32:00.000+01:002008-05-19T21:38:14.110+01:00

....but considerably less than the one observed by a giant shrimp living on Australia's Great Barrier Reef which can see a world that is invisible to other animals according to a Swiss marine biologist and an Australian quantum physicist. Dr Sonja Kleinlogel and Professor Andrew White have shown that mantis shrimp, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers, not only have the ability to see colours from

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-24045764180587318692008-05-18T23:24:00.000+01:002008-05-18T23:26:09.867+01:00

Just having a few days off. Works busy and I'm playing through a couple of games at the moment.Seen you soon.G

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-54243969434862330182008-05-15T22:19:00.000+01:002008-05-15T22:27:38.239+01:00

At last the day arrived that I have been awaiting since my Birthday back in February. One of my favourite presents (much lobbied for) was a personal digital radio. As I have probably mentioned before I do listen to the radio a lot. Mainly Radio 5 (or Radio 4 when 5 are extensively covering some ghastly Horse racing or golfing event). The desire was not to be able to listen to

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-42674835669771155222008-05-14T22:01:00.003+01:002008-05-14T22:20:01.787+01:00

I received an e-mail at work today inviting me to attend the 'Procurement Solutions' exhibition to be held at Earls Court in June'This is a pretty typical trade exhibition organised by the Office of Government Commerce that basically deals with a lot of Public Sector Purchasing. Apparently there will be a FREE educational programme; hundreds of exhibitors; ‘inspiring’ celebrity speakers; 2

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-61281234129336342482008-05-11T23:31:00.001+01:002008-05-11T23:36:58.919+01:00

Another small milestone for this blog occurred earlier this morning when the number of visitors recorded by Sitemeter moved into 5 figures. I suspect that the actual figure may be marginally higher as it took me a couple of months from start up to discover what a ‘visit counter thing’ was. But if one doesn’t record these things…. I appreciate that to the vast majority of the bloggerati

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-47513173070991498892008-05-10T22:48:00.000+01:002008-05-10T22:53:08.661+01:00

I am indebted to the indefatigable Thunderdragon for drawing my attention to the current referendum on Gordon Brown. It appears that Madame Tussauds can’t make up their minds whether to make a waxwork figure of Gordon Brown and have asked the public to vote on the matter. As Tussauds explained ‘When Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair last year, for the first time in a 150 year

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-3171370752916848762008-05-09T22:17:00.001+01:002008-05-09T22:36:39.805+01:00

Back to the record collection.I haven’t done one of these posts for a while. Partly because of bad planning on my part. Partly because having done a small but reasonable spread of the 80 / 90’s Neo Proggers I wanted to go back to what was essentially the source material for these later groups and eventually my favourites. Trouble is you can’t just jump in and do the Genesis post. It’s a bit

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-68724224358034953412008-05-08T21:30:00.002+01:002008-05-08T23:38:40.932+01:00

On the day when Chris Parry, the new head of the Independent Schools Council, was widely misquoted as saying that he found state schools ‘offensive’ it seems appropriate to post the last in the series of literary gems provided by students in their English language essays. Tomorrow belongs to them, apparently. 25. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-66344922499398677602008-05-07T22:53:00.000+01:002008-05-07T22:56:59.212+01:00

I have always been a little ambivalent about working for the NHS. I have been told on lots of occasions that it’s something I should be proud of. Perhaps as a non-clinical purchasing person all of the skills are directly transferable in to the private sector as were my private sector skills when I moved into the NHS. But I’ve never really been pro, never really been anti, it’s just another

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-28832433178430469482008-05-06T22:13:00.001+01:002008-05-07T00:42:59.400+01:00

I do rather like elections. It’s not just the winning though. I’m partial so obviously don’t treat both impostors even-handedly but still find the whole thing enthralling. The build up to the day, savouring every minute of the walk to the polling booth after work, waiting until 22.00 hrs when the polls close and then watching the story unfolding over the course of the night. General

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-48888477638412205232008-05-01T22:48:00.001+01:002008-05-01T22:54:14.324+01:00

Posting and visiting may be a little lighter than usual for the next day or so as I plump up my cushions, crack open a few chilled tinnies and immerse myself in in the coverage as the local / London election results roll in.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-9969581191286076032008-04-30T00:12:00.000+01:002008-04-30T00:18:32.782+01:00

As I inferred a couple of posts ago Mrs G and I are not exactly on the same political wavelength. Although the truth is considerably more nuanced than the traditional pigeonholing she tends towards the wacky world of the centre left whilst I exist in the parallel universe of the centre right. And actually it’s jolly good fun that way. I suspect that dinner table conversation would be rather

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-88943188405374216902008-04-28T22:52:00.000+01:002008-04-28T22:55:54.680+01:00

It’s been a rather special day today in the Beaver Scouting life of our eldest having completed his project for and being awarded with the Chief Scouts Bronze Award. This is the highest award that a Beaver can obtain and for a seven year old is quite exacting and pretty hard work. The basic premise being that a Beaver Scout will have earned several other badges to qualify to take this and

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-37446404679685372692008-04-26T22:45:00.000+01:002008-04-26T22:54:42.558+01:00

But surely in this day and age what was being most beautifully satirised is a thing of the past. Well no not really. There may not be as rigid a class system as there was a few decades ago but it seems that hierarchies and pecking orders are still very much on our minds even if we wouldn’t really like to admit it.The American National Institute of Mental Health has found, through the use of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-27364598557987987462008-04-25T22:37:00.000+01:002008-04-25T22:48:10.535+01:00

How can you tell for sure if someone is lying to you. The sweaty palms, shifty eyes, defensive body posture, obscuring ones face whilst talking, an orange splodge of makeup on your forehead? Apparently according to new research undertaken at the Forensic Psychology Lab at Dalhousie University you can tell by looking at someone’s face but, it seems, not in the way generally believed. Instead,

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-37159627670734478962008-04-24T22:14:00.000+01:002008-04-24T22:16:40.904+01:00

And now for the third installment highlighting the literary creativity of some of those on whom our future prosperity depends in their English Language Essays. 16. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.17. The plan was simple, like my mate Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.18. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for while.19. "Oh, Jason, take

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-64117814553512804242008-04-23T21:39:00.000+01:002008-04-23T21:50:09.132+01:00

The relationship between music and mathematics has long been established. For example Pythagoras reportedly discovered that pleasing musical intervals could be described using simple ratios. And the so-called musica universalis or "music of the spheres" emerged in the Middle Ages as the philosophical idea that the proportions in the movements of the celestial bodies,the sun, moon and planets,

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-8638552692779189182008-04-19T23:00:00.000+01:002008-04-19T23:07:55.591+01:00

I think that one of my major failings whilst having a stab at this blogging lark has been around responding to comments that people have left on my posts. This is before I even consider commenting elsewhere.And I do feel rather guilty about that. If some one takes the time to visit, read and then comment on something that you have cobbled together it seems, at the very least, to be good

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-62180623977540821402008-04-17T22:39:00.000+01:002008-04-17T22:42:37.238+01:00

Science Daily / University of Michigan This seems to be turning into a bit of a science week here with me regurgitating lots of quite interesting research results. Imagine my surprise after posting the ‘are we alone?’ post yesterday to find that the BBC were running with it all over the news schedules today. I plagiarised first though, honest. And for today we move onto the hardwiring of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-34630824186048436462008-04-16T22:49:00.000+01:002008-04-16T22:53:33.593+01:00

I’m pretty sure that most people at one time or another, or indeed for a lot of people for a lot of time, have gazed up at the stars and wondered whether we are alone in the universe or not. My expectation has always been that considering the number of galaxies and stars there then surely there must be other complex life out there somewhere. But according to one scientist I’m afraid to say I’m

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-79746151783564868622008-04-15T00:37:00.001+01:002008-04-15T00:41:47.794+01:00

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have undertaken a study which has, apparently, provided new insights into blog readers' online habits as well as how they perceive their roles in blog-based communities. The research, led by Eric Baumer is the first to focus primarily on blog reading. The UCI study examined in-depth the blog-reading habits of 15 participants of various ages

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-42106088488475440622008-04-14T22:34:00.000+01:002008-04-14T22:38:44.686+01:00

And now for the second in the series highlighting the literary creativity of some of our best and brightest in their English Language Essays. 8. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.9. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.10. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-11661824571216523872008-04-12T22:39:00.000+01:002008-04-12T22:44:20.675+01:00

I must admit I am rather looking forward to this coming week. Well once the pain of Arsenals inevitable defeat by Manchester United tomorrow is dealt with. In our county it is the second week of the schools Easter break and it is my week to take time away from work to cover the childcare duties for our three little darlings. Both Mrs G and I have to work (albeit that she works on a part

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-84288372100366233192008-04-11T21:38:00.000+01:002008-04-11T21:45:34.204+01:00

..….to which the two obvious responses would be ‘yes it does’ or ’indeed there are’. Both are equally appropriate when viewing a truly marvellous photograph taken on the 23rd March by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of one of the planet’s two moons Phobos. The satellite was named after the Greek God, a son of Ares and Aphrodite. The name was chosen by the moons discoverer, the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-35099766205775763392008-04-10T00:18:00.000+01:002008-04-10T00:25:10.827+01:00

I was rather delighted to receive an e-mail from another blogging Grendel a couple of days ago. This particular scion of Cain hails from Western Australia and wrote as follows; ‘So here I am, 5 minutes ago, slightly bored at work (and yet it still awaits in great mountains of emails) and I google 'Grendel'. Vanity has driven me, because after all, am I not the most notable blogger named

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-56244521027509607282008-04-09T22:37:00.000+01:002008-04-09T22:49:27.438+01:00

I was rather amused to read that Chinese Officials have described as ‘Vile’ the actions of the pro-Tibet campaigners seen valiantly in action during the Peking Olympics Torch relay in London and Paris. Oh and I did mean to type Peking. I very much doubt if Paris has won the 2012 games we would all be referring to ‘Pareeeeee 2012’, so I don’t see why we should seem obliged to change the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-63934534210587476652008-04-07T22:30:00.000+01:002008-04-07T22:58:01.074+01:00

Dry technical work related stuff. Having trouble sleeping……..? April is another one of those fun times (are there ever any other type?) in the world of Health Service purchasing. Being the start of the new financial year it’s time to submit the departmental ‘workplan’ for the year. Contracts to be let, opportunities to investigate and savings targets to be received from on high. It would

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-19384441357985093022008-04-06T22:15:00.001+01:002008-04-06T23:21:46.953+01:00

One item that I have been intending on running with for ages is a list of metaphors, analogies, similes and general abuse of the language drawn from English Language essays submitted by students. It’s nice to know that irrespective of all the criticism levelled at the ‘kids’ they are as creative and imaginative with their well turned phraseology as I remember being. 1. Her face was a

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-16279799927059666792008-04-06T21:37:00.001+01:002008-04-06T23:12:04.453+01:00

Not what one would normally expect to find in Coastal Sussex during April. Or ever come to that.Our Second born was curious to know whether this meant it was Christmas time again. His disappointment was somewhat assuaged by the completion of a battalion of snow people.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-53051717390675399842008-04-05T23:03:00.000+01:002008-04-05T23:06:46.818+01:00

With a little help from Science Daily I stumbled across a piece of research a couple of days ago that brought to mind the youthful exploits of some of my friends way back when. Like most chaps in our younger 20’s who, being financially independent, single and able to cope with and even enjoy nights out in the City centre, we used to go out quite a bit to pubs and clubs. A few drinks, a bit of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-78605224242400946222008-04-04T22:50:00.000+01:002008-04-04T22:53:17.953+01:00

I would imagine that lots of people will be going with the story on the publication of MP’s expenses so under my normal rules engagement (keeping away from the stuff the serious politicos will do better) I won’t offer any particular comments. But touching on Gordon’s expense claims would it be terribly immature to wonder if there is any link between the £1,941.00 for TV subscriptions and the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-74777982578603661092008-04-04T22:02:00.001+01:002008-04-04T22:11:52.769+01:00

I am indebted to Mutley for sending me some magnificent pictures of what is thought to be the worlds biggest hole. Otherwise know as the Mirna Diamond Mine located in Eastern Siberia. The mine is the deepest open pit diamond mine and one of the deepest open pit ore mines in the world at nearly 2000 feet. It takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours for an ore truck to drive from the bottom of the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-50836780071043543682008-04-03T22:15:00.000+01:002008-04-03T22:19:16.673+01:00

Perhaps the most popular post to appear here in the last year was that produced by our eldest, Freddy. It certainly elicited more comments than my own rather feeble efforts. A couple of days ago he asked me if I was still running my ‘website thing’. I said that I was. ‘Why?’ he reasonably asked. ‘Oh it’s something to do. It’s better than just watching television.’ I replied. ‘Do people

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-77629138514575302502008-04-02T22:21:00.000+01:002008-04-02T22:23:58.887+01:00

A quick post for tonight congratulating Jams O Donnell on the second Blog Birthday of ‘The Poor Mouth’. Unlikely as it is, if you haven’t visited there before it really is worth the click. You won’t be disappointed.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-57756422117109172272008-03-31T12:38:00.000+01:002008-03-31T12:42:06.107+01:00

Ripping yarn from Science Daily As regular readers will have noticed I do have an interest in matters scientific. I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert in any of the fields but I suspect like most I have an interest in the universe around them. I also enjoy reading about all the different research projects that are being undertaken. Anything that advances the breadth and depth of

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-29790766402226053592008-03-29T00:02:00.005Z2008-03-30T11:51:26.485+01:00

Never thought this project would survive this long. It nearly didn’t on several occasions. But I’m going to be a little self indulgent for once. Well a little more than I normally am at least. In numbers – Founded 29th March 2007Posts 213Comments received 641Sitemeter visits 8,481 (since June 10th 2007)Est hours expended (opportunity cost!) 638 In Words - My Favourite

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-1264903265582762372008-03-28T21:46:00.000Z2008-03-28T21:50:27.373Z

Welcome to a third tumble into my record collection. I’ve done Marillion and Twelfth Night since I started this section a couple of weeks ago. Both were bands I loved greatly during the mid eighties. However they were both rather overtaken in my affections by the Cumbrian Rock Gods 'It Bites' in the second half of the decade. I’m sure that if you are of a certain vintage you will

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-72205816708370304752008-03-27T22:26:00.000Z2008-03-27T22:28:44.624Z

It’s coming up to that time of year again at work that I detest with an absolute passion. It’s staff appraisal time. I always disliked being an appraisee in previous jobs and often got quite nervous about the whole thing. But to be honest not as nervous as I do now as an appraiser. You know that your every word is being picked over and your performance in these sessions is as much under

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-23920917367726736022008-03-26T21:21:00.000Z2008-03-26T21:26:01.401Z

Regular readers (?) may remember a post I did a little while ago which basically explained how much I dislike mobile phones. The premise being based on your availability or the expectation that others may have of your availability 24 hours a day. However I went on to say that the thing I really disliked was text messaging. The constant ‘mipping’ noise indicating that a new message has

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-74589778995626964772008-03-25T22:38:00.000Z2008-03-25T22:53:02.695Z

No time tonight to do anything that requires any thought at all.Which of course means a quiz or two.So first up if you, for one reason or another that isn't terribly clear, found yourself stranded on the moon what would be your chances of survival?70%However if you fancy a real challenge you could always find out how many 5 year olds you could take on at a time in a bit of rough and tumble.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-7745683167143969182008-03-24T23:15:00.002Z2008-03-25T23:51:57.941Z

For everyone who missed my post on Saturday, which frankly would be more than the grains of sand on an average beach, I was prattling on about the 'Der Stuermer' of the New Labour Project (or the Daily Mirror if you prefer) who were running hard with the utterly irrelevant 'Cameron breaks road rules' bike story. I took this as a good news story. It seems to suggest that they are using every

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-91767501637519992372008-03-24T22:24:00.000Z2008-03-24T22:28:59.100Z

There has been a more than a faint sense of disappointment around these parts for the last couple of days or so.Regular readers will know of the footballing allegiances hereabouts and will therefore not be surprised that Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat yesterday by Chelski has come as a huge disappointment. The game itself was a cracker but the result pretty much kills off Arsenal’s chances of winning the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-64557963130830505552008-03-22T17:34:00.002Z2008-03-22T23:53:53.142Z

I must admit that I don’t really like the Daily Mirror. If the Guardian can reasonably be thought of as the Voelkischer Beobachter of the New Labour project then the Mirror must be its Der Stuermer with the delightful Kevin Maguire amply filling the analogous shoes of Julius Streicher. Verbally if not literally horse whipping ‘toffs’ at every opportunity. Although as witnessed by his nasty

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-7468526268532760082008-03-21T21:44:00.000Z2008-03-21T21:54:26.456Z

Back to my record collection. Every Beatles have their Rolling Stones, every Oasis their Blur and following on from last weeks Marillion post it must be time for a Twelfth Night video. The bands dislike of each other was no doubt vastly exaggerated. But huddled in the corners of 6th form common rooms whenever two or more neo-prog fans gathered together there was always the inevitable

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-77802807379424077522008-03-19T22:15:00.002Z2008-03-20T22:22:40.700Z

Well actually it isn’t really but I’m going with post that is even more parochial than usual. As a quick glance to the right of this post will confirm I set up an e-mail account specifically for anyone wishing to contact the ‘Mere’. I have received lots of e-mails from banks with whom I don’t hold accounts asking for lots of personal details, various African princes detailing not to be

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-35637145864512965452008-03-18T22:46:00.001Z2008-03-18T22:53:04.212Z

One of the very few aspects of my job in purchasing that brings me any joy whatsoever is the dabbling in the legal aspects. I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but one has to have a better than average understanding to be able to form contracts on behalf of an employer. Not that even this element is unconfined joy. The current raft of European Procurement Directives that

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-77045366400250991422008-03-16T22:13:00.001Z2008-03-16T22:22:52.600Z

Science Daily and Memory Lane Rather oddly I was reading about some research a couple of day ago that brought to mind a conversation that I was a party to way back when in the sixth form common room. And in particular one of my favourite fellow students, a lovely lass by the name of Claire. Now Claire was a pretty typical example of the ‘trendy lefty’ type of the time. Boots, West German

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-50205923796160296052008-03-14T22:28:00.000Z2008-03-14T22:58:58.143Z

I've long debated whether to get involved in the music video posting thing that many fellow members of the bloggerati do.I'm not sure that it constitutes the highest form of blogging. Not that many of my contributions probably do anyway.But I figure that as I signed up to You Tube to get the video link for yesterdays Ed Balls post it wouldn't do any harm to occasionally do a little space

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-82440113981249419552008-03-13T23:35:00.001Z2008-03-13T23:55:38.779Z

Dear Ed,I listened with interest to your off stage comments during David Cameron's reply to the Budget Statement in the House of Commons yesterday.It brought to mind a song I remember first hearing many years ago and so as a heartfelt tribute to your thoughtful contribution to that debate and your contribution to public life in general I would like to dedicate this video to you.I should warn my

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-56910003902109007722008-03-13T23:17:00.000Z2008-03-13T23:19:07.281Z

As regular readers will know I often publish a science themed post at the weekends. However I just couldn’t wait the extra day or so to run with the following. Science Daily providing the added dimension. According to a team of researchers at the Department of Physics and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech there may be a further dimension in the universe

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-78116537246133257012008-03-12T22:22:00.001Z2008-03-13T09:28:26.884Z

No, this really isn’t going to be a tedious post offering tips on how to be a better blogger. Quite the reverse in fact. Blogging for me is very much a seat of the pants affair. Most of the time when I sit my self down at the computer I never really know what sort of post I may or may not come up with. Occasionally I will formulate the bare bones of an idea whilst walking home from work,

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-24170346664321521592008-03-11T18:20:00.004Z2008-03-11T18:48:32.422Z

I bet many members of the bloggerati go with this but it’s such fun I couldn’t resist. According to sources many and varied the former attorney general Lord Goldsmith has suggested that school leavers should be encouraged to swear an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen and the Country. In what could be considered to be a constitutional ‘Cones Hotline’ moment Lord Goldsmith has recommended the

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-80548630395891205422008-03-10T00:27:00.002Z2008-03-10T00:57:33.334Z

Or the height of blogging laziness.Do let me know your 'grade' if you decide to take part.Truth be told I'm not exactly sure which age group 'Grade 8' encompasses but I suspect that this is one of those quizzes where you can't really fail.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654081451535341175.post-55085868396104335862008-03-08T22:27:00.001Z2008-03-08T22:31:26.385Z

I haven’t done one of these posts for a while but I stumbled across a quite magnificent picture of Earth and the Moon published a few days ago which was sent back by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. If you’ve ever asked yourself how your neighbours view you then this might provide an answer. Enjoy.

Grendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14517877929080302948noreply@blogger.com3