Spofforth Castle

This morning's excursion was to Spofforth Castle ( 53.95481, -1.452384 for you Google Earth folks out there). Afterwards we had a picnic in the car (too windy on the field). Flickr set is here.

Thomas and Friends

Today we went a couple of towns over to see Thomas the Tank engine, Percy, and others. The big bouncy Thomas moon bounce (or Bouncy Castle as they're all called here, whether or not they're castles) was a big hit, as you'll see in the flickr set (I love my new camera!)

More details over on M's blog.

New Hotness!!

Week of new things!

- New Nephew! Congrats to the Mechams!
- New Camera! Michelle surprised me with a Canon digital SLR - I LOVE IT! flickr set is here
- New Knives! I got a couple of Calphalon Katana series knives to see if I want more. Guess what: I like them!
- New TV! We don't have our furniture yet, but we got a new TV since we couldn't ship our old one!

I cheated.

I wanted to be Lizzy, and cheated on question 7 to help my cause.

Take the Quiz here!

(via Cousine Marie)

Five word movie reviews

Pleasantville - Interesting idea gone horribly preachy!

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Too much Sam Rockwell butt.

A River Runs Through It - Pretty; plodding. Like fly fishing.

District B13 - Best French Parkour movie, EVER!

One Fine Day - Arguing is not romantic comedy.

Spirited Away - Original, yes, but also overrated.

Transformers - HOT DAMN that was fun!

Key Largo - Hey Bogey: Grow a pair!

The Darjeeling Limited - I could watch this again.

White - Some Europeans cannot be understood.

Yay Vonage!

Those of you who know our old Virginia phone number can now use it to call us! Like, for example, those of you about to have a baby! Best time is ~2-3pm EST if you want to talk to the kiddos, up till maybe 5pm EST if it's M you're after, and maybe until 7 EST if you need to talk to yours truly.

Like the Desert Island Disk question, but real...

Here's a hypothetical situation to place yourself in:

You like music, but a few years ago you put all your discs into mp3s and gave alway all but about 10 of your CDs to a few lucky friends. Then, you start working at a place that allows only CD players - no ipods, and only commercial discs - no mix CDs. So now your music selection consists of:

- A few Beautiful South CDs you couldn't part with
- Jesus Christ Superstar 2-disc edition (I know, random, right?)
- OMD - Liberator
- Social Distortion - Social Distortion
- Johnny Cash - American IV
- Music for Holy Week - Cambridge Kings College Choir
- Pennywise - Unknown Road
- Radiohead - The Bends
- The New Pornographers - Challengers

And maybe a few more you'll find when you get all your earthly possessions in a few weeks. But that's basically all your commercial music CD collection consists of. You like to listen to music while you work. You've gotten used to buying individual songs that you like on iTunes, so you're willing to buy a few CDs, but only if they're chock full of listening goodness - and listening goodness that's good to work to (unlike Music for Holy Week, which puts you to sleep).

Tell me the next 3 CDs you buy, and why.

Criteria:
- Must be in print and commercially available
- Should be "whole-album" good.
- Should hold up under lots of repeated listening
- I should like it the very first time I hear it

I'll post albums I'm already considering in the comments

Camp Nerdly 02

Well, Camp Nerdly happened without me this year, but a good time was had by all. Friend Jason was thoughtful enough to get some friends together for this little video

Fountains Abbey trip

Today we went to Fountains Abbey, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!




Pics on my Flickr page.

Your Guide to the British Bathroom

Lots of things are different here, some better, some decidedly worse, some just different. Bathrooms are one place where it seems American ingenuity hasn't quite made the passage yet.

The Loo

Key Features:

• Lever seems to require about three pumps before it actually decides to flush
• Square shape impedes water from swirling
• Seat has sharpish inside lip that hurts to sit on and (one imagines) leaves quite a mark

The Sink

Key Features:

• Separate freezing and scalding water spigots to make washing hands in warm water impossible without filling the sink
• Extra wide basin to keep separate spigots as far from eachother as possible, lest you be tempted to try mixing the water in your hands
• Low flow helps you conserve water!
  

The Shower

Key Features:

• Red switch outside the bathroom controls whether or not the shower is capable of providing hot water - great for getting back at housemates!
• Shower apparatus requires you to push a start button, at which point cold water will immediately shoot forth onto you, becoming hotter in a few moments.
• Multiple ways to end up with a cold shower: adjust any dial for a most refreshing frigidity
• Or, adjust it to WAY TOO HOT!
• Yes, you're seeing that bottom pic right - there is a shower wall only halfway out along the tub on one side. Note that this makes it impossible to bend over to pick up your shampoo without water splashing off your back and all over the room.
  
• Half wall swings out of the way at the slightest touch, allowing for more chances to get your dry clothes wet
• As with the sink, there are separate spigots for freezing and scalding water, making it risky to put a kid in the bath while still filling it without some chance they will get burned.
  

Also, as I am planning to do lots of "Britain is Different: Good" and "Britain is Different: Bad" type posts; I need a name for these. Shall I steal "A little Brit different" from BBC America, or can you give me a better name?

Our sister, er, uxoral blog

Those of you anxious for news and views of our family should head over to the just-launched

http://shellsandthegang.blogspot.com

We're Here!

We made it to Britain. We are safe, sound, and starting to get used to the time change. Right now we're staying in a 2-bedroom flat while we look for a home. More to follow.

Camping out at home

The movers took everything that's going to England today, which means we're sleeping on air mattresses and borrowing towels to dry ourselves with. The end is near, even at the very doors.


In other news, David Mamet has an interesting change of heart.

Decision Tree: NYT Diagram

Here's more from the NYT, this time regarding Gygax and his influence. Snarky, but appropriate in its way:


Here's my path(s):

Are chemicals that enhance brain power 'wrong'?

Interesting piece from the New York Times about the implications of using prescription drugs that allow for better attention or studying. What are your thoughts?