West Midlands
Today we drove out to Worcester (a bit south-east of Birmingham) to interview Paul, a 3rd-year music student who wrote a score for my video project. As part of the grade for the film archiving course, we have to put together a 20-30 minute piece incorporating archive film. My project is about the effect music has on silent films. Two different composers are writing a score to the same 5-minute film. As a part of the project, I am interviewing both of them about their approach to writing the score.
Anyway, Paul lives out in Worcester; about a 3.5 hour drive from Norwich. K and I made a bit of a road-trip out of it. She hasn't really been out of Norwich much since we got here, so she was happy to come along. But I also enlisted her as the interviewer as she's much better at that kind of thing than I am. It was almost like our days at CMN "back in '99/'00" (we did a few infommercials together).
The drive out there was nice, once we got out of the snow in East Anglia. Still haven't fixed my windshield sprayers, so we had to stop a couple of times to pour water on the windshield while the wipers were on. The spray from the salted roads plays havoc on visibility!
Over on the east side of England, spring has already sprung. The sun was shining, the trees blooming, and the daffodils unfurled. We couldn't believe it. Worcester is a nice little city, though it suffers from the same problem as most cities in England: sparse street-signage and house-numbering. Makes it very easy to get lost when you're looking for a specific address. I still think it's because when they took down the signs during WWII to fool the Germans, they never put them back up afterwards. After circling around for about 20 minutes, I parked at a supermarket and went inside to ask for directions. No one seemed to know where it was I was trying to go, so I was forced to use one of the ever-more-scummy pay-phones (which since the advent of the cell-phone have fallen more and more into disuse and disrepair). Paul came out to meet us and directed us to where to park.
The score he had written is fantastic! Really happy with it. He will undoubtedly go far if he gets exposed to the right people. The interview went well, though he was very nervous about being on camera. His girlfriend said he had been fretting about it all week. We did our best to make him feel comfortable. Afterwards, we took him and his girlfriend, Leela for a pint at a local pub. Had a nice chat.
It was about 15:30 when we started our return to Norwich. To make a little more of the trip, we decided to drive through "Shakespeare's" Stratford-on-Avon. Just as touristy as we thought it would be. We did not stop there. Instead we meandered up to Coventry (an armpit of a city) and nearly got lost in a dizzying network of over/underpasses and roundabouts. By this time we had gotten a feverish craving for an traditional English Sunday Roast so our goal was to find a suitable pub restaurant. Just outside of Coventry, we passed several enticing ones but we decided they were on the wrong side of the road and thusly not worth the trouble of a u-turn. Then lo-and-behold, around a corner and just ahead of us was a large gleaming white, red, and gold building called Toby Carvery. This was undoubtedly the reason why we ended up in Coventry. Ravenous, we pulled into their parking lot immediately.
What a feast! Choice of gammon steak (roast ham), roast turkey, or beef and then all the traditional "fixins" (Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, roast or mashed potatoes, savoy cabbage, "Swede", cooked carrots, gravy, cauliflower au gratin, etc. etc. etc.) you could fit on your plate for £7.99. You are allowed to go back for seconds on the side-dishes, but we were both about to explode after devouring our first round. If we didn't have to continue our long drive back to Norwich, we'd have taken a nap.
Made it back to Norwich by 19:45. Encountered a miniscule blizzard just south of the city, but strangely, there was no snow in Norwich.
Still full from dinner!
-RP-
Sunday, February 27
Friday, February 25
Monday, February 21
Buss in Brushels
I bet he doesn't even appreciate the beer or the chocolate... silly Texan...
"BRUSSELS - On Sunday United States President George W. Bush began a five-day European tour. He arrived at Melsbroek military airport outside Brussels at 9 pm, where he was welcomed by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. This morning the President and his wife were received by King Albert II and Queen Paola at the Royal Palace in Brussels. He then moved on to Verhofstadt's residence, where the two leaders were joined by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A possible cooperation between the two countries with regard to Iraq, Iran and Congo was on the main agenda.
Later on today Bush will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. He will also give a speech at the prestigious Concert Noble hall in Brussels. Excerpts of the speech have already been released to the press. The tone is conciliatory, with the President calling for the beginning of a new era of transatlantic unity. Bush is also expected to urge the European nations to give greater support to the new Iraqi government.
Finally, tonight Bush will host a private dinner with French President Jacques Chirac, one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq.
A huge security operation has been put in place for Bush's visit with 2,500 police and 250 U.S. Secret Service agents on duty in Brussels. On Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators rallied at the Brussels Stock Exchange to make it clear that the President is not welcome. The Socialist parties of the ruling federal majority, the Flemish SP.A and the French-language PS, gave their support to an anti-Bush demonstration scheduled for this evening which will include around one hundred peace, environment and human rights organisations. A spokesman for Verhofstadt questioned the presence of government coalition parties in the rally." (Source:RVI)
(snipped from www.xpats.com)
I bet he doesn't even appreciate the beer or the chocolate... silly Texan...
"BRUSSELS - On Sunday United States President George W. Bush began a five-day European tour. He arrived at Melsbroek military airport outside Brussels at 9 pm, where he was welcomed by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. This morning the President and his wife were received by King Albert II and Queen Paola at the Royal Palace in Brussels. He then moved on to Verhofstadt's residence, where the two leaders were joined by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A possible cooperation between the two countries with regard to Iraq, Iran and Congo was on the main agenda.
Later on today Bush will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. He will also give a speech at the prestigious Concert Noble hall in Brussels. Excerpts of the speech have already been released to the press. The tone is conciliatory, with the President calling for the beginning of a new era of transatlantic unity. Bush is also expected to urge the European nations to give greater support to the new Iraqi government.
Finally, tonight Bush will host a private dinner with French President Jacques Chirac, one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq.
A huge security operation has been put in place for Bush's visit with 2,500 police and 250 U.S. Secret Service agents on duty in Brussels. On Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators rallied at the Brussels Stock Exchange to make it clear that the President is not welcome. The Socialist parties of the ruling federal majority, the Flemish SP.A and the French-language PS, gave their support to an anti-Bush demonstration scheduled for this evening which will include around one hundred peace, environment and human rights organisations. A spokesman for Verhofstadt questioned the presence of government coalition parties in the rally." (Source:RVI)
(snipped from www.xpats.com)
Saturday, February 19
Mixed Bag
The weather has been very temperamental today. Started out raining, then a bit of snow, then some hail, then another flurry of snow, then hail, then sunshine. Later some more hail and just ten minutes ago, another short-lived flurry. I can see a pitiful sprinkling of snow on the sidewalk across the street, but it just looks like someone threw a handful of shredded paper on the ground.
All-in-all very noncommital. It'd be nice to get a decent layer of snow, enough so that you can hear the crunching when you walk. Maybe enough to throw a couple of snowballs.
-RP-
The weather has been very temperamental today. Started out raining, then a bit of snow, then some hail, then another flurry of snow, then hail, then sunshine. Later some more hail and just ten minutes ago, another short-lived flurry. I can see a pitiful sprinkling of snow on the sidewalk across the street, but it just looks like someone threw a handful of shredded paper on the ground.
All-in-all very noncommital. It'd be nice to get a decent layer of snow, enough so that you can hear the crunching when you walk. Maybe enough to throw a couple of snowballs.
-RP-
Thursday, February 17
The Moist British Landscape
The UK is a moist place. More moist than most places we've lived (with the exception of Florida, I suppose), our moldy bedroom situation is just one piece of evidence in this regard. We've never had a moldy bedroom before. It's a little bit unnerving. I usually wake up with slight congestion which disappears pretty much immediately after my morning shower.
Kristen has yet another cold. Probably the 4th or 5th since we've been here. It's most likely a sinus infection actually. One of the main causes of this is poor air quality. We're 99% sure that this has to do with the bedroom. I suppose all of these old "listed" historical buildings have problems like this. It's not good. We need to get the hell out of here. Kristen is not going to have any sinuses left soon!
But is it the mold? Or is it something else? She works directly with the public when she's at the theatre. A lot of sick people coming through there. Not only that, half of her coworkers always seem to be sick. Are there just more sick people in the UK than other places we've lived? It wasn't like this in most of the other places we've lived. So what is it? Is it the moisture? It can't just be that. So what is it about this island that promotes sickness?
The UK is a moist place. More moist than most places we've lived (with the exception of Florida, I suppose), our moldy bedroom situation is just one piece of evidence in this regard. We've never had a moldy bedroom before. It's a little bit unnerving. I usually wake up with slight congestion which disappears pretty much immediately after my morning shower.
Kristen has yet another cold. Probably the 4th or 5th since we've been here. It's most likely a sinus infection actually. One of the main causes of this is poor air quality. We're 99% sure that this has to do with the bedroom. I suppose all of these old "listed" historical buildings have problems like this. It's not good. We need to get the hell out of here. Kristen is not going to have any sinuses left soon!
But is it the mold? Or is it something else? She works directly with the public when she's at the theatre. A lot of sick people coming through there. Not only that, half of her coworkers always seem to be sick. Are there just more sick people in the UK than other places we've lived? It wasn't like this in most of the other places we've lived. So what is it? Is it the moisture? It can't just be that. So what is it about this island that promotes sickness?
Wednesday, February 16
The United Kingdom - The People's Nanny
In the UK, you are not allowed to buy more than two packets of pain-killer at a time. The cashier is in charge of "enforcing" this, so he/she needs to remember whether or not you have purchased any that same day. Of course, you can always go to different drug-stores if you want to buy more. But it's just the principle, you know? Who the hell are they to tell someone how much aspirin they're "allowed" to buy?! Just another part of the whole UK "Nanny State".
A related rule is that no place of business is allowed to stock its first-aid kit with aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. Just in case one of its employees medicates him/herself mistakenly. This is undoubtedly the product of another frivolous law-suit.
-RP-
In the UK, you are not allowed to buy more than two packets of pain-killer at a time. The cashier is in charge of "enforcing" this, so he/she needs to remember whether or not you have purchased any that same day. Of course, you can always go to different drug-stores if you want to buy more. But it's just the principle, you know? Who the hell are they to tell someone how much aspirin they're "allowed" to buy?! Just another part of the whole UK "Nanny State".
A related rule is that no place of business is allowed to stock its first-aid kit with aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. Just in case one of its employees medicates him/herself mistakenly. This is undoubtedly the product of another frivolous law-suit.
-RP-
Tuesday, February 15
As I'm sure I mentioned at some point, part of the film archiving Masters program is that I have to go on a 4-week (minimum) placement/internship at a film archive. There is no rule about where you can go. Anywhere you want really. They pretty much leave it up to you to arrange it on your own, so the placement is actually not affiliated with the school at all. It is just required for the degree. Anyway, I digress...
People usually choose to go to an archive that they would like to work for (in hopes that the internship will lead to a job-offer which, historically, it has for some people). My choices were no-brainers: Sweden or Denmark. I also had a soft spot in my heart for Belgium, but to be realistic, the language issue will not have disappeared. They still speak French & Dutch over there. Anyway, language-wise I had to narrow it down to English, Swedish, or Danish-speaking countries. So, US, UK, Canada, and Scandinavia. But I narrowed that down to just Scandinavia because I've been yearning to "reconnect with my roots", for one, and I'm really interested in what the Danish and Swedish Film Institutes are doing.
After sending my CV and letter of interest off to them, I have been offered an internship at the Danish Film Institute archive. They are currently involved in a long-term project of moving their film to a new building, a project that will not finish until 2006/7 (Hello, Job Opportunity?). While they are moving the film, they are checking its condition and re-cataloging it. These are films that haven't been seen for 60 years or more! This is an opportunity that I cannot miss! I'll be there for the month of April. Then I need to come back here to write my MA dissertation. If there is time later in the summer, maybe I'll try to go up to the Swedish Film Institute for a week or two.
So... that's why we've purchased those new reference materials. If things go the way we hope, we'll be moving AGAIN! To ANOTHER country! And poor Kristen will have to learn to speak Danish.
-RP-
People usually choose to go to an archive that they would like to work for (in hopes that the internship will lead to a job-offer which, historically, it has for some people). My choices were no-brainers: Sweden or Denmark. I also had a soft spot in my heart for Belgium, but to be realistic, the language issue will not have disappeared. They still speak French & Dutch over there. Anyway, language-wise I had to narrow it down to English, Swedish, or Danish-speaking countries. So, US, UK, Canada, and Scandinavia. But I narrowed that down to just Scandinavia because I've been yearning to "reconnect with my roots", for one, and I'm really interested in what the Danish and Swedish Film Institutes are doing.
After sending my CV and letter of interest off to them, I have been offered an internship at the Danish Film Institute archive. They are currently involved in a long-term project of moving their film to a new building, a project that will not finish until 2006/7 (Hello, Job Opportunity?). While they are moving the film, they are checking its condition and re-cataloging it. These are films that haven't been seen for 60 years or more! This is an opportunity that I cannot miss! I'll be there for the month of April. Then I need to come back here to write my MA dissertation. If there is time later in the summer, maybe I'll try to go up to the Swedish Film Institute for a week or two.
So... that's why we've purchased those new reference materials. If things go the way we hope, we'll be moving AGAIN! To ANOTHER country! And poor Kristen will have to learn to speak Danish.
-RP-
Monday, February 14
Saturday, February 12
Yahoo! News - Free Expression Can Be Costly When Bloggers Bad-Mouth Jobs
You might recall a similar thing happening to me last year while I was at "Bo-Ny", but at least I wasn't bad-mouthing the job (not harshly anyway) and I didn't get fired. Didn't even receive any disciplinary action, though they told me the head-manager of the call-center was going to meet with me about it. He never did! Dodged the bullet, I guess. Also learned my lesson: be careful about what you write in your blog.
-RP-
You might recall a similar thing happening to me last year while I was at "Bo-Ny", but at least I wasn't bad-mouthing the job (not harshly anyway) and I didn't get fired. Didn't even receive any disciplinary action, though they told me the head-manager of the call-center was going to meet with me about it. He never did! Dodged the bullet, I guess. Also learned my lesson: be careful about what you write in your blog.
-RP-
Thursday, February 10
English Vocabulary
British English really is a different language from American English. It's a wonder Americans and Brits understand each other at all. Pronounciation is a different story, but it needs to be covered in its own separate entry. Anyway, vocab-wise, here are a few that we've collated so far (there will likely be more later):
Starkers: naked (as in "I saw the professor starkers yesterday")
Knacker: to ruin something ("Bob knackered his PC with a hammer")
Knackered: to be tired ("I'm knackered") ; OR to be ruined (as above)
Knackers: testicles ("Don't touch 'me' knackers!")
Crumpett: a type of bread (similar to an English muffin); OR an attractive woman
Muffin: a type of bread (same as an English muffin in the US); OR an old crone
Knick: to steal; OR to be put in jail (as in "I was put in the knick")
Knicked: stolen (as in "I 'ad 'me' bike knicked last night")
Knickers: undergarments (as in "Where are 'me' knickers, then?")
Pants: undergarments (from "underpants"); OR instead of "sucks" (as in "You failed your test? That's pants!")
Cheesed Off: angry (as in "I'm really cheesed off because I failed my test!")
Doing my head in: becoming frustrated or confused (as in "All of these new words are doing my head in"); usually pronounced "du-in me ed in"
Tea: dinner/supper (as in "What are you having for your tea then?")
Dinner: lunch (yeah, we don't get it either)
Biscuit: a cookie without chocolate in or on it
Cookie: a "biscuit" with chocolate in or on it
Pudding: dessert, used interchangeably with (as in "You're going to bed without your pudding!")
Skive off: avoid responsibility (as in "Those teenagers are skiving off.")
Tosser: a jerk (as in "Ashcroft is such a tosser!")
Wanker: bastard, use interchangeably with (as in "George W is a wanker!")
Sorted: taken care of (as in "My archive internship is sorted."); ALSO "all sorted", "get it sorted", "sort yourself out", etc.
Bishy Bishy Barnaby: ladybug (regional Norfolk slang)
Ladybird: ladybug (nationally)
Bollocks: testicles; OR synonymous with "bullshit"
Dog's Bollocks: fantastic (as in "Belgian beer is the dog's bollocks!")
British English really is a different language from American English. It's a wonder Americans and Brits understand each other at all. Pronounciation is a different story, but it needs to be covered in its own separate entry. Anyway, vocab-wise, here are a few that we've collated so far (there will likely be more later):
Starkers: naked (as in "I saw the professor starkers yesterday")
Knacker: to ruin something ("Bob knackered his PC with a hammer")
Knackered: to be tired ("I'm knackered") ; OR to be ruined (as above)
Knackers: testicles ("Don't touch 'me' knackers!")
Crumpett: a type of bread (similar to an English muffin); OR an attractive woman
Muffin: a type of bread (same as an English muffin in the US); OR an old crone
Knick: to steal; OR to be put in jail (as in "I was put in the knick")
Knicked: stolen (as in "I 'ad 'me' bike knicked last night")
Knickers: undergarments (as in "Where are 'me' knickers, then?")
Pants: undergarments (from "underpants"); OR instead of "sucks" (as in "You failed your test? That's pants!")
Cheesed Off: angry (as in "I'm really cheesed off because I failed my test!")
Doing my head in: becoming frustrated or confused (as in "All of these new words are doing my head in"); usually pronounced "du-in me ed in"
Tea: dinner/supper (as in "What are you having for your tea then?")
Dinner: lunch (yeah, we don't get it either)
Biscuit: a cookie without chocolate in or on it
Cookie: a "biscuit" with chocolate in or on it
Pudding: dessert, used interchangeably with (as in "You're going to bed without your pudding!")
Skive off: avoid responsibility (as in "Those teenagers are skiving off.")
Tosser: a jerk (as in "Ashcroft is such a tosser!")
Wanker: bastard, use interchangeably with (as in "George W is a wanker!")
Sorted: taken care of (as in "My archive internship is sorted."); ALSO "all sorted", "get it sorted", "sort yourself out", etc.
Bishy Bishy Barnaby: ladybug (regional Norfolk slang)
Ladybird: ladybug (nationally)
Bollocks: testicles; OR synonymous with "bullshit"
Dog's Bollocks: fantastic (as in "Belgian beer is the dog's bollocks!")
Wednesday, February 9
Main transcept of Norwich Cathedral.
Woah! What's this? A picture IN the blog, instead of a link to click on!? Yep. I finally decided to give Blogger/Google's free picture-blogging service a try. It won't replace the our usual link method because that's still much more convenient format-wise for illustrating our blog entries. But, because "pictures speak a thousand words", you'll definitely see a random picture here from time to time in lieu of the usual boring text.
-RP-
Tuesday, February 8
Just got this random e-mail from a student in Singapore doing research about Blogging and ethics. Of course, I helped him out. If you're a blogger, I urge you to do the same:
"Hi,
I am an undergraduate from the School of Communications and Information, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). My fellow course-mates and I are conducting an online survey to study the practices and attitudes of bloggers on ethics and blogging as part of our honours thesis. We hope you can help us by taking part in our survey.
We have retrieved your e-mail address from your weblog. Your weblog was, in turn, randomly selected using weblog generating services freely available on the Internet.
Your participation in this survey is voluntary and should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. All information will be kept confidential. We really appreciate if you can take some time off to participate in our survey. You can start the survey by clicking on the link below.
Go to Survey
And if you would just give us a little additional support, you can mention our survey by posting our link on your weblog post, or forward this e-mail to your friends. We are working hard to have our survey disseminate globally across countries so that a wide demographic can be collected.
Upon the completion of this study, the survey results will be made available to all participants at The Singapore Internet Research Centre. You can visit the home page by following this link: NTU.
Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please contact me at: nes@pmail.ntu.edu.sg
Sincerely,
Andy Koh"
"Hi,
I am an undergraduate from the School of Communications and Information, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). My fellow course-mates and I are conducting an online survey to study the practices and attitudes of bloggers on ethics and blogging as part of our honours thesis. We hope you can help us by taking part in our survey.
We have retrieved your e-mail address from your weblog. Your weblog was, in turn, randomly selected using weblog generating services freely available on the Internet.
Your participation in this survey is voluntary and should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. All information will be kept confidential. We really appreciate if you can take some time off to participate in our survey. You can start the survey by clicking on the link below.
Go to Survey
And if you would just give us a little additional support, you can mention our survey by posting our link on your weblog post, or forward this e-mail to your friends. We are working hard to have our survey disseminate globally across countries so that a wide demographic can be collected.
Upon the completion of this study, the survey results will be made available to all participants at The Singapore Internet Research Centre. You can visit the home page by following this link: NTU.
Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please contact me at: nes@pmail.ntu.edu.sg
Sincerely,
Andy Koh"
Sunday, February 6
Christmas Pictures
I know it's maybe a little pathetic that it took this long, but the Xmas 2004 pictures are finally up! But in my defense, it is very time-consuming to get them web-ready and then to make all of the links in the blog. At any rate, the pictures appear in the following blog entries:
Dec. 15th
Dec. 18th
Dec. 22nd
Dec. 26th
Dec. 31st
And here are some more pictures that didn't necessarily get integrated:
Smooch
A very lucky horse.
Samurai Horse
The tuft of hair that looks like it's coming out of its chin is actually just the end of its lovely braided hair.
Timid Kitty
This is a very shy stray that is only brave enough to show up for food every day. Any kind of relationship beyond that is out of the question.
Pearl - Posessed Cat
No really... she is posessed.
Samuel, Sam, Samson
Not posessed... just a darn good cat!
Artistic Distraction?
The sun was coming through the window, making this houseplant glow. I liked the picture, but it's also been "Photoshopped".
Cold!
Another one of those "artsy" pictures... ice on a pond.
Fish Pond
Same pond that was in the pictures from our Oregon Summer, but this time the fish are hibernating.
Once A Year
Quite a lot of egg-nog was consumed. This brand was the house favorite. But there's a reason you only drink this once a year.
Fermental
I, however, stuck largely to the Northwest winter ales.
Fluffy Blanket
Another picture taken on the way from London, before reaching Greenland.
Friends
Bob, Margaret and Emma. Friends of ours from Seattle (near there anyway).
Happy Campers
K and J-Mom in the back of the "spaceship". We're on our way to the Markum Inn.
A Sign
The sign at the above-mentioned restaurant.
MMMMenu
Menu from the same restaurant. Just order the Double Jumbo Markum Burger with Fries. You don't even need to consider anything else!
Just What She Wanted
J delving into her Christmas stocking.
Two Fools
But we shine up real nice!
The Gals
J-Mom and her two lovely off-spring.
Me and Dad'n'Bev
One fool posing with K's Dad and stepmom. The tree came for the eggnog.
Godiva's Competition
Still working on the recipe, but we're almost there.
Chocolatiers
In the process of making the above-mentioned chocolates. The filling is made from Danish marzipan.
Advertisement
This Christmas is brought to you by... Starbucks.
I know it's maybe a little pathetic that it took this long, but the Xmas 2004 pictures are finally up! But in my defense, it is very time-consuming to get them web-ready and then to make all of the links in the blog. At any rate, the pictures appear in the following blog entries:
Dec. 15th
Dec. 18th
Dec. 22nd
Dec. 26th
Dec. 31st
And here are some more pictures that didn't necessarily get integrated:
Smooch
A very lucky horse.
Samurai Horse
The tuft of hair that looks like it's coming out of its chin is actually just the end of its lovely braided hair.
Timid Kitty
This is a very shy stray that is only brave enough to show up for food every day. Any kind of relationship beyond that is out of the question.
Pearl - Posessed Cat
No really... she is posessed.
Samuel, Sam, Samson
Not posessed... just a darn good cat!
Artistic Distraction?
The sun was coming through the window, making this houseplant glow. I liked the picture, but it's also been "Photoshopped".
Cold!
Another one of those "artsy" pictures... ice on a pond.
Fish Pond
Same pond that was in the pictures from our Oregon Summer, but this time the fish are hibernating.
Once A Year
Quite a lot of egg-nog was consumed. This brand was the house favorite. But there's a reason you only drink this once a year.
Fermental
I, however, stuck largely to the Northwest winter ales.
Fluffy Blanket
Another picture taken on the way from London, before reaching Greenland.
Friends
Bob, Margaret and Emma. Friends of ours from Seattle (near there anyway).
Happy Campers
K and J-Mom in the back of the "spaceship". We're on our way to the Markum Inn.
A Sign
The sign at the above-mentioned restaurant.
MMMMenu
Menu from the same restaurant. Just order the Double Jumbo Markum Burger with Fries. You don't even need to consider anything else!
Just What She Wanted
J delving into her Christmas stocking.
Two Fools
But we shine up real nice!
The Gals
J-Mom and her two lovely off-spring.
Me and Dad'n'Bev
One fool posing with K's Dad and stepmom. The tree came for the eggnog.
Godiva's Competition
Still working on the recipe, but we're almost there.
Chocolatiers
In the process of making the above-mentioned chocolates. The filling is made from Danish marzipan.
Advertisement
This Christmas is brought to you by... Starbucks.
Thursday, February 3
Has the bubble of PhD-Funding burst?
Arts and Humanities Research Board - Eligibility
"To be eligible for a full award
A full award covers both the cost of tuition fees, up to the DfES maximum, and a maintenance grant. To be eligible for a full award, you must show that you have a relevant connection with the UK, usually through residence.
To be eligible for a fees-only award
A fees-only award provides payment of tuition fees, up to the DfES maximum, but not a maintenance grant. To be eligible for a fees-only award, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EU for the three years immediately preceding the start of the academic year in which your award will commence."
It sure looks like it, unless UEA can advise me of some other option or lie on my behalf. I'm well short of having lived in Europe "three years immediately preceding the start of the academic year". It will be two years this September. My PhD options now:
1) Take a year off and apply next year
2) Don't do a PhD
3) Do the PhD part-time while I work at an archive
Hmmm...
-RP-
Arts and Humanities Research Board - Eligibility
"To be eligible for a full award
A full award covers both the cost of tuition fees, up to the DfES maximum, and a maintenance grant. To be eligible for a full award, you must show that you have a relevant connection with the UK, usually through residence.
To be eligible for a fees-only award
A fees-only award provides payment of tuition fees, up to the DfES maximum, but not a maintenance grant. To be eligible for a fees-only award, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EU for the three years immediately preceding the start of the academic year in which your award will commence."
It sure looks like it, unless UEA can advise me of some other option or lie on my behalf. I'm well short of having lived in Europe "three years immediately preceding the start of the academic year". It will be two years this September. My PhD options now:
1) Take a year off and apply next year
2) Don't do a PhD
3) Do the PhD part-time while I work at an archive
Hmmm...
-RP-
Tuesday, February 1
Visitor
We just got back from dropping my dad off at Stansted Airport (a couple of hours south of us). He was flying through London from Ft. Lauderdale, on his way to Denmark. Had a two-day layover because he was meeting with a broadband company in London. After the meeting (yesterday) he took the train up here to Norwich. He came bearing gifts: creamy Jiff peanut-butter, marshmallow Fluff, dark chocolate chips, beef jerky, American gossip magazines, Emergen-C vitamins, and cold-cuts. Most of these things we requested and my mom went out to gather. The meat products were my dad's addition. He was concerned that we weren't eating enough because we keep asking for peanut-butter. But I showed him how full our cupboards and fridge is, so I think he's convinced that we aren't living on peanut butter. We just like it and aren't satisfied with the tiny expensive jars that we can get here.
Anyway, he took us out to dinner last night. We pigged out at Loch Fyne Seafood restaurant. Delicious! Oysters, mussels, smoked Salmon sashimi, scallops, etc. Tasted great then, but I may have gotten some kind of "bug" from it because I haven't felt too hot today (I'll just leave it ambiguously at that).
Today we gave him a walking tour around Norwich, in particular, showing the Viking history. Then I showed him around UEA's campus before we headed down to Stansted. It was a short visit, but we had fun.
-RP-
We just got back from dropping my dad off at Stansted Airport (a couple of hours south of us). He was flying through London from Ft. Lauderdale, on his way to Denmark. Had a two-day layover because he was meeting with a broadband company in London. After the meeting (yesterday) he took the train up here to Norwich. He came bearing gifts: creamy Jiff peanut-butter, marshmallow Fluff, dark chocolate chips, beef jerky, American gossip magazines, Emergen-C vitamins, and cold-cuts. Most of these things we requested and my mom went out to gather. The meat products were my dad's addition. He was concerned that we weren't eating enough because we keep asking for peanut-butter. But I showed him how full our cupboards and fridge is, so I think he's convinced that we aren't living on peanut butter. We just like it and aren't satisfied with the tiny expensive jars that we can get here.
Anyway, he took us out to dinner last night. We pigged out at Loch Fyne Seafood restaurant. Delicious! Oysters, mussels, smoked Salmon sashimi, scallops, etc. Tasted great then, but I may have gotten some kind of "bug" from it because I haven't felt too hot today (I'll just leave it ambiguously at that).
Today we gave him a walking tour around Norwich, in particular, showing the Viking history. Then I showed him around UEA's campus before we headed down to Stansted. It was a short visit, but we had fun.
-RP-
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