Yak & Natter

I had to go for my eye test the other week, and as it had been over 3 years since I got new glasses (being a mainly contact lens wearer) I figured it was time to find some. I really don’t enjoy shopping for glasses, as I find the choices daunting and I have no idea of what style/shape/colour etc I should be selecting. In the end I dragged a friend along and on her recommendation we went to Bromptons in Gardner Street. Such good service, the guy had time to help, offer advice, make recommendations on what would look good and what I should avoid. I walked away with the first pair of glasses that I think I’ve ever been really happy with.

I think I just heard this phrase on the radio:
“…meanwhile, over on Radio 4 long wave, lawn mower racing…”

A bit of digging reveals racemower.co.uk, and the fact that today is the British Lawn Mower Racing Association’s annual 12 hour race.

“As the grasshead racers gun their Atcos and Qualcasts round a field in Dorset at a dizzying 35mph, Murray [Walker] is moved to pick up his commentator’s microphone once more to describe this most spectacular, and democratic, of motor sports. ”

I’d better go tune in…

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Last Saturday evening we managed to catch an hour or so of the Stella Screen on the beach showing of Quadrophenia. Probably not the best way to really see a film, but a lovely way to spend part of an evening.

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We went to see Sussex v Hampshire at Twenty20 cricket on Friday evening. I’d expected a far higher scoring game, and at 6 for 3 I was wondering whether I should change allegiance to become a Hampshire Hawks supporter. It was my first cricket match, and it was quite enjoyable (although I didn’t get the hang of all the Twenty20 rules). I was very impressed with how family oriented the whole occasion was, with children playing ball games before the match and a good, friendly atmosphere with home and away supporters mixed together.

The beer was good, but the sausage and chips was a total rip off.

Someone at work send this around today. It’s pretty impressive! It’s not really much cleverer that the Tree of knowledge program we used to have on BBC Micros at school, but it’s quite a nice way of demonstrating knowledge based systems.

I had a lovely surpise arrive in the post this morning. My copy of Muriel Spark’s All the Poems arrived. It’s the hardback version, published by Carcanet Press and it has one of my pictures on the front of it, and a credit on the back. There is also a softback version published by W W Norton in the US.

For anyone who missed the NotCon’04 (like me), there’s now audio and video to watch.

NTK described NotCon as: “is an informal, low-cost, one-day conference on things that technologies were perhaps not intended to do”. I can recommend “Telling the time (not very accurately) using a Marks & Spencer prawn sandwich and a BBC micro”.

I’ve had the above newspaper clipping for what must be 10 or 15 years. I’ve no idea why I’ve hung on to it, or rather, I’ve no idea why I like it so much. Children’s TV is good.

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Seen in Brighton the other day.

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