January Memories

We were fortunate enough to have a long holiday in South Africa earlier this year, we spent most of January down there in the Southern Hemisphere soaking up the sun, escaping the Northern Hemisphere Winter and touring around the Eastern Cape. It was a fabulous holiday, one that we'll never forget! I was reminded that trip this week as it's very warm in the UK at the moment, the heat down there is different though, less humid and altogether more aggregable, can't wait to return one day there's so much to see and do! 

Double Bubble

I found myself in Reading a couple of weeks ago waiting for a train home so I decided to have a quick beer in the Siren bar in town. I asked for 2/3rds of a pint of a particular beer and as the barman was pouring it the keg ran out. He was apologetic and I made another choice, he promptly poured me a pint of another beer. Once I'd paid for the drink he looked at the 3/4's full original beer and asked me if I wanted that as well, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth I said yes and walked back from the bar with two drinks for the price of one! Must have been my lucky day, I should have bought a lottery ticket!

Choice of B's

I treated my Daughter and her new boyfriend to a slap up meal in Borough Market last Friday and for wine we narrowed our choice down to a red Bandol or a white Burgundy, both interesting wines and both good matches for what we were having to eat. In the end we couldn't decide and since there were three of us present I got both, well, you have to live a bit now and again! 

Marxist Brunch

We had brunch in Primrose Hill yesterday, lovely little cafe and coffee shop called ARVO where my Son's girlfriend works part-time (mates rates!). Across the road from where we were sitting is an interesting blue plaque to Friedrich Engels (see picture above) Engels was probably most famous for his lifelong collaboration with Karl Marx and helped to develop the political system known as Marxism, I did wonder what he'd think about the house he once lived in now being worth several millions thanks to Capitalism!

Smelly Reminders

Saw this cartoon and it reminded me of when I used to work in an (open plan) office, the guy that sat opposite me used to eat leftover stew at his desk from a tupperware container (heated in the microwave) it used to stink the whole place out. It wasn't an unreasonable thing to do per se but on many occasions I had to take a break elsewhere for a while, in fact I should thank him as my lunchtime walking habit started there (which I still stick to today!)

Friday Smirk

The boys discussing the amusing way in which how people who have believed in God over the centuries often change the way in which certain claims of their holy books are "interpreted" depending upon whether or not the modern world has shown them to be nonsense (i.e. Astronomy, Biology, Physics, Philosophy, Medicine etc.).

Cloud Computing

Amazing hi-res pictures from the last NASA probe (Juno) to skirt the clouds of Jupiter revealing that the planet's core isn't solid but "fuzzy" and huge bands of Ammonia extend far below the cloud tops, all using 2010's technology, imagine if it had the resolution of today's devices! Juno completed its mission in 2025 by being crashed into the planet and burnt up in its atmosphere, this was to prevent contamination of any of Jupiter's moons, shame, anyway, good job Juno!