Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes ♫ Managing Track Info fixes iTunes’ annoying lack of support for CD-Text.
Month: May 2006
what the tortoise taught us
Just finished Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile, the fictional thoughts of Gilbert White‘s pet tortoise. Verlyn Klinkenborg has really captured the pace of the tortoise’s life.
The tortoise/taught us rhyme doesn’t work if you’re Scottish; we pronounce it tor-toys, not taw-TUSS. Lewis Carroll didn’t think beyond the RP.
In memory of Timothy, I’ve geotagged this post with the location of a bridge in a nearby ravine, near which a little turtle used to snooze in the sun.
Your source for “Atomkraft? Nej Tak” badges
You can still buy these here: WISE – Nuclear issues information service. I just ordered a bunch.
(The above image belongs to OOA and is used without their express permission.)
Find out more at the smiling sun, nuclear power no thanks site.
Souvenir of Canada
We saw Douglas Coupland’s Souvenir of Canada movie last night. We liked it a lot.
too many wind turbines in the UK? Hardly!
Flying back from Denmark over the UK the other day, I hoped to see at least some wind farms. In a highly unscientific study, I peered out the window from approximately Nottingham to Iona. You know how many wind turbines I saw? Four. You know how many were working? One. Hardly something that’s taking over the landscape.
And strangely, the one I saw working, at Chelker Reservoir, I used to drive past quite often on my way to Skipton. I’ve never seen more than a couple of those old WEG 300kW two-bladers running. I was frankly amazed there were any of them left. Even from 10000m, you could make out the herky-jerky rotation.
Ã…rhus, in the middle of our street
And so our Danish Wind Odyssey draws to a close, after visiting Rinkøbing, Lem and Randers today. We’re up at an unsensible hour tomorrow to fly to Copenhagen. It was a great trip. Will post photies.
Happy Danish Sockets
Am I losing it, or do Danish power sockets look like smileys?
Two happy people:
Happy person with a chef’s hat (isometric view):
Do these remind you of anything?
But I’m not singing “At A Time Like This”, I’m singing …
The Hut Sut Song, perhaps the most infectious earworm you’ll ever hear.
… or if you want it a bit more accessible, here is an mp3 of The Hut Sut Song, converted from the same source.
A chilly evening in Søndervig
The concrete lump is a WW2 gun emplacement.
Danish Modern in Ringkøbing
I’m currently checked into a hotel which reeks of 70s Danish modern — blonde wood, bare brick, smoked glass surfaces — and, like many places in Denmark, cigarette smoke. Being in the presence of an authentic Beocom phone makes up for it though:
Also, there’s a cute little wind farm outside; a few Vestas V27s (or smaller) on lattice towers at 56° 7′ 22.11″ N, 8° 13′ 48.94″ E:
Herning: not just a gerund
Morning in rainy Herning. Not much to say except we’re zooming off to see the wind turbine nacelle factory in Brande this morning.
from on high near Bøvlingbjerg
(above thumbnail links to 2048×768 panoramic image.)
It’s nice here at the Risø test centre, with a view of over 70 wind turbines across Jutland. I’m on top of a Siemens 2.3 MW turbine. There’s an elevator, before you ask how I got up an 80m tower.
big big blades
Visiting Siemens’ factory in Aalborg, we saw the blade fabrication process. I was pleasantly surprised to discovered that a major component of their blades is balsa wood, which, when combined with clear glass fibre and epoxy, makes a lovely organic-looking surface. It’s a shame that they have to be painted, but environmental degradation will always get ya in the end.
These blades are big:
The above is a 45m blade being loaded onto a truck.
Here is a bunch of 45m blades waiting to be finished and painted. You’ll note that there’s still some mould flash on the edge of the blade; that gets ground off. The submarine-like thing on the right is the truly colossal Siemens B52 blade (as a lifelong fan of Kate, Cindy, Ricky, Keith and Fred, the name alone made me happy, even if I knew it denoted a 52m blade). It was so large our entire party managed to stand inside the blade root, with no stooping required.
in Aalborg
I like Aalborg. I think we’re staying in exactly the same hotel (the Scandic) as I stayed in 10 years ago with RES. We’re going to see some really big wind turbines tomorrow.
Oh, and the Google Maps locations I picked off for this hotel are pretty darn accurate; the one I double-clicked on for this hotel is less than 50m from my room. I like.
so it is true!
First-class airport lounges really do have free beer taps and open spirits gantries. It’s quite the opposite of the little shed that the Midwestern flights depart YYZ from.
a sneaking respect for convolvulus
Our front garden seems to be mostly convolvulus; that sneaky bindweed that trails white or pink trumpet-shaped flowers. It grows so fast, I’m wondering if you could harvest it for biomass energy.
I really dislike gardening, except for growing sunflowers. There are a bunch coming up quite well. I wonder if anyone else would like to use the rest of the garden, or suggest things to do with it?
cheap beer frenzy
Lakeport’s Wee Willy dark Scottish-style beer is not bad. At $1.10/bottle, it’s not bad at all.
… until someone puts an eye out, of course
Can I just say that styrofoam plate + cocktail sticks (the ones with the little fletches on them) + milkshake straw = teh fun blowdart game?
MP3s: Mayor McCa, Live at The Music Gallery – 6 May 2006
mother’s day treat: critters!
We were visited by the raccoon family last night; mother and four little ones. Please excuse the ‘painterly’ blur; it’s kinda hard to handhold a 300mm lens for 1/3s exposure. Plus, wee raccoons are speedy little things.
This one was taken a few days back (of the mother alone) in better light:
