Having never studied geography, biology or any variation thereof, I have never been on a field trip in my life. So, it is with some trepidation that I embarked on that very endeavour today. Hopefully, I will last the week, but I fear the undergraduates I'm with may yet prove to be my downfall.

So, it's been how long since I last posted here...?  March, ouch!

I have an excuse, or rather several, which I beg your indulgence to explain.  Firstly, I've started a post-grad degree, a Masters in Research studying Strategic Resource Management.  This is an Environmental Management course run by Nottingham Trent University.  I've literally just finished the last of my first year assignments and tests, so I finally feel like I can blog without guilt.  My second year kicks off on Friday with a field course in Anglesey, studying Calcareous Mires and old Copper Mines.  It should be fun and a completely novel experience for me.  I've never even been on so much as a geography field trip, so I have very little idea what to expect.  I've got ideas, but I'm not sure if they're right.

Secondly, I've started playing music again.  I took a very long sabbatical from playing Eb Bass (or Tuba for the uninitiated) when I had a falling out with the conductor over his attitude towards me and a handful of other players who couldn't commit fully to the band because of other commitments, like University and Work back in about 2001.  His attitude was that the band came first and if you didn't show 100% commitment you were out, so I left before he could push me.  It was at about the same time I was preparing to go to University, so it didn't feel like a huge deal at the time, as I was going through all sorts of other stuff as well.  Looking back, it was probably one of the most damaging things I've ever done to myself.  It's only looking back now that I realise how much I missed it and how much I crave performing musically.  I am enjoying playing now more than I ever have done, but I really do wonder what if I hadn't stopped playing back then.

Thirdly, after coming back to Band I agreed to become their publicity officer, which gave me responsibility for getting the band into the press and advertising our engagements.  This was a stupid move, even for me, and I'm now struggling with working out a way to extricate myself without ruffling too many feathers.  I can see a way out, but it will have to wait a few weeks, for developments at work to develop, so to speak.  'Nuff said.

Fourthly, stupidly over-extending myself, I'm also running a 4th edition D&D game, which involves me writing a fantasy setting because I wasn't happy with any of the current D&D offerings.  Leastways, I figured I'd have to do so much work to fit my ideas into Forgotten Realms, for example, that I might as well start from scratch.  That worked out about as well as can be expected, and I'm now on my seventeenth nervous breakdown with my RPG group.

Finally, I've been working on a film project with a friend of mine, he wants a score for a documentary he's written about King Oswald, a local Anglo-Saxon king that our town is named for (Oswald's Tree = Oswestry).  Most of my music is in the can, thankfully, so I'm not stressing about that too much....

But enough about me...  How the devil are you?

The things I learnt today about roleplaying with my friends.

1. Don't include references to things that have happened in real life, people will think you're shallow, unrealistic or racist.
2. Don't include references to mythology or religion, people won't get the reference or won't care.
3. Don't include someone that's physically different, they, and you, will just be mocked.
4. Don't offer a choice between doing what is easy and what is right, as the players will ALWAYS choose what is easy, even if that involves torture, mental subjugation, indentured slavery or murder.
5. Don't point out that the players' actions may have consequences, because the players don't care about consequences.
6. You should make players roll dice for every action, even those that seem unimportant and don't affect the story, otherwise you'll be accused of favouritism when other players are asked to make rolls which ARE pivotal.
7. Players should be expected to not give a shit about the rules, except when they think you've made a bad call.
8. Players should not be expected to know the rules, actually.
9. Never play Mage, again. (Sorry Phil).

So, I have a theory...

( But it doesn't include bunnies, only possible spoilers )

[http://picasaweb.google.com/ravenshawprime]
I've recently been using Picasa to organise my photos and pictures on my computer. The best thing about this is that it makes it an absolute doddle to upload pictures to the web. For example:

Dream Theater

If I were to try and upload these pictures, I'd not only have to upload them to a folder I'd also need to make and upload thumbnails and if I wanted anyone to look at them, I'd need to write html, and a heck of a lot of it, to make sure they were easily accessible. All in all, a lot of work. Picasa does everything as near as damnit, automatically.I appreciate there are probably other photo hosting websites out there, flickr springs to mind, it' the ease of use that sold this solution for me.

 Just had a visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses.  I said a few polite words saying that thank you I wasn't interested and they left.  I looked down to see that I was wearing my 'Stand Back, I'm going to try Science' T-shirt from Matt.

See this century with its meagre charms
Paper thieves who still thrive on phantom fear
Hunters eat ready meals from frozen farms
But, careful, Big Brother didn't come here.
Instead see the e-mails, faxes and phones,
Disconnected, despite the networks and
The pale human lights who flash all alone
On the cyber space they make their last stand.
Escaping into the next life too soon
The fantastic can be all yours, my friend!
So, is this all that we've got, a boon
Of contact that doesn't last past the end
Of our internet connection?  Our meme
Exists, a house of bytes built on a dream.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/3322805/battlestarbook

Favourite update:  'Dr Gaius Baltar became a fan of himself.'

Is surprisingly good.

That is all.

While I was at University, I managed to gain some kudos amongst my peers for being able to write one of my two dissertations on Final Fantasy VII.  This wasn't strictly true, but it saved time when trying to explain the full title:

‘Who are you, What do you want?’: Freud, Creative Writing and Computer Games 

While not being exactly the same people, for obvious ideological reasons, the same type of people are now arguing, exactly as die-hard communists argue, that it's not the system that's at fault it's the way the system is managed.

Of course, the problem with this scenario is that pure capitalism has no regulation and therefore no coherent way to manage it. If you want to sell something, you can. If somebody wants to buy something, you can sell it. Currently that means hedging (I love the way this is from the gambling term to hedge your bets and no-one seems have noticed or drawn that particular parallel yet), short-selling and trading in ANYTHING, especially debt, without wondering what you're buying or the risk involved in doing so.

700bn dollars is huge, about $2292 per US citizen. That kind of intervention would never be allowed in a truly capitalist society. There wouldn't be a government to bail you out as you'd be using medicorp for all of your health needs, civicompany for collecting your dustbins and army plc to protect your borders. In pure capitalism there are no mechanisms to bail out failing companies, you should have been more shrewd with your money. What this relies on is the absolute trustworthiness and competence of all the people in the system. As we have seen recently, people are still making money from all of the dubious practices that got us in to this mess to begin with and the decisions that led up to this disaster are hardly awe-inspiring.

True capitalism, no matter how it's managed, is worse than the current system. Next time someone blames the management, let them know that greed got us in to this mess and as we all know from Gordon Gecko - 'Greed is good'.

Test Blog from Blogger

“Just because something lacks scientific support doesn’t seem to me a sufficient reason to omit it from a science lesson.”

It should, otherwise I've got a few scientific theories that I'd like teaching in schools, including how gravity propels things away from other things, electricity as a fun and efficient way cleaning your teeth and how magnets are powered by fairies.

Piano died.

Piano MUST die...

Well, that was interesting.

So, the day has finally arrived.

Or rather, it will arrive tomorrow. In fact, although I'm flying out of the country tomorrow, I won't be reaching Congo-Brazzaville until Wednesday so the day will arrive then, I guess.

I must admit I am really nervous. I don't mind flying, I enjoy looking out of windows and admiring the sheer awesome power of science in action, but the thought of a horrible crash or accident really scares me stupid. I know that I'm more likely to be killed walking to work or going anywhere in the car, but the primitive part of my brain can't shake the fear.

I figure once I'm on the plane I'll be okay, but I've got six flights to catch this week. Having seen the landing strip at Pokola, my destination for the duration, the middle two will be the worst. It's basically a dirt road, with a river at one end, a village on one side and the mill on the other. At least they've replaced the internal Antonov fleet, but I have no idea what with.

Suffice to say, if I don't make it back it's been a pleasure....

PS. Here are a few websites to whet your appetite:

http://www.whrc.org/africa/INFORMS/study_sites/Ndoki.htm - This is where I'm traveling to, visiting CIB.
http://www.gabrielopenshaw.com/CongoMain.html - A huge amount of info on Brazzaville, where I'm staying initially, and more on the south of Congo-Brazzaville. Please note the guns on the train journey, Yay!

Okay, a little less enigmatic might help, eh?

Originally my Boss, Vicky and her Boss, Tim Wood, were supposed to be traveling to the Republic of Congo to visit one of our suppliers. Tim left the company a few months ago under a veil of misinformation and Vicky became pregnant and therefore unable to travel so close to her due date. After talking it over with the Chief Exec, Vicky put my name forward as a possible candidate to go. Which was a bit of a shock.

After a brief discussion with Fay about whether or not she would mind if I went, she doesn't, I told Vicky that I would love to go in her stead with our Timber Imports Guy, Pete Scott. The itinerary is as follows:

We leave Manchester, stay overnight in Paris, fly to the capital of the Republic, Brazzaville, spend a night there, then fly to Pokola, the Forest itself.

I don't know if you've seen satellite pictures of the Congo, but it is essentially a green mass, with tiny areas that might be civilisation. There is a total of 1,242km of paved highways and 795km of rail track in the Congo. To put that into some perspective, the Republic of Congo is larger than the UK, but we have 370,000km of roads and 16,000km of rail track. Hence the reason we're flying everywhere.

After three days in Pokola we'll fly to Doualla, Cameroon, catch a night flight back to Paris and then hop on a plane to Manchester.

Apparently, we'll be at Pokola at the end of the dry season, as it is above the Equator, but while we're in Brazzaville, south of the Equator, we might need an umbrella as it's the end of the rainy season.

I've had some of my jabs, Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio in one arm, Hepatitis A and B in the other. I've got to go back for Yellow Fever and Typhoid Fever and to collect my Malaria pills as the Congo is bright red on the warning map the nurse showed me.

I hate heights, bugs and the heat. It could be an interesting trip.

I'm kidding, I'm going to love it.

Happy Xmas!