I got a spontanous urge to translate a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), probably because it's an autumn day outside. It is one of my favourites, one of those I know by heart. As usual, I went for closeness to the original rather than art in its own right; I wrote the translation without much polishing, following my emotions as I recited the poem to myself.Autumn Day (1902, from Das Buch der Bilder - The Book of Images)Lord, it is time. This summer, it was great.Now lay your shadow on the sundial hands,And on the fields set free the gales.Command the last fruits to fully ripen;Give them two more days of south,Urge them to perfection, and driveSome last sweetness into the heavy wine.Who has no house yet, will not build one now.Who is alone now, will long remain alone,Will stay...
Duns Roamin? Scotus ReturnsI don't know who selects what items from the Berwickshire should go on line but this week is an example of a really interesting article, well written and researched, being omitted from the website. So you will have to fork out 62p (a silly figure) and turn to page 3 where any thought of a topless filly (and in Berwickshire it would be a filly) has been abandoned in favour of the camp image of John Duns Scotus-similar to Huttonian's post of a few days back. Unsurprisingly similar as it is the same statue which graces Duns Park. Next November is the 700th anniversary of Scotus' death-the statue was to mark his birth in either 1265 or 1266; birth certificate mislaid presumably. The writer claims Duns Scotus as the town's greatest son and even more distinguished...
waffle → Cr-24
‘Google Chrome is a funny creature.’ The UI sounds kind of interesting. Shame there’s no Mac or Linux version as yet.
Flickr: iPhone Cubism
Interesting iPhone camera glitch. Not happened to me as yet.
Fantastic Journal: The 1:43 Scale Atrocity Exhibition.
Dropbox Review: Easy Backup, Sync and Sharing | position: absoluteI’ve been using it for a while now, and it really is a brilliant way of keeping stuff in sync between various computers and out on the web. (No more subversion for me, in other words.)
TUAW Faceoff: Nike + iPod versus iPhone 3G ChallengersComparison of the various GPS tracking apps for the iPhone, for folk who are either improving their fitness or, like me, have a strange desire to look at where they just went on their bike on...
Remember my recipe for Canadian Apple Pie? Well, it's been one of my most popular recipes - and for a good reason, as it's incredibly tasty. BUT. None of my Canadian friends could recognise the cake, that is to say, they loved the cake, but couldn't confirm its Canadian origin.I'm a bit afraid this Swedish Lingonberry Cake recipe is the same. You see, the recipe is from a Finnish women's weekly magazine, Me Naiset, where it was published in September 2005 and called "Ruotsalainen puolukkakakku" (that's "Swedish lingonberry cake"). But I've got no particular reason to believe it's Swedish, so I apologise beforehand to all my Swedish readers :)As I'm off to a Stockholm day cruise next Monday, I thought it's appropriate to share the recipe with you. It's a bit drier than my usual forest...
Planning on the HoofA 'Name and Address Supplied' Has written to the Berwickshire as followsSIR, - Staggering is the only word for it.We may not always agree with what we perceive to be the decisions that the “planners” make but we must be aware that they, the “planners”, are often completely at the mercy of the councillors on the Berwickshire Area Committee.Attending the committee last Tuesday was an eye opener - what a farce! The ignorance of planning policy, voted for by the councillors themselves, and of basic legal procedure defies belief. What is the point in employing professionals to form policy, and then to try to implement that policy, when it is regularly overturned by councillors who are completely subjective in their judgement and make up policy on the hoof. Of the...
And the first questions are as follows:How much shit do you drink?Do you keep your mouth shut when you shower?Bottled water for brushing teeth?How are your dishes and cutlery washed?Rinsing fruit or salad, is it under the tap?Sanitation in this country, pfftt, it simply does not exist (with the possible exception of Lippo Karawaci where an acquaintance of mine ensured that the sewers and water mains went in before the buildings went up), and worse, the government does not seem to be interested despite the fact that it is a danger to public health and as a result, actually costs money through lost work days, illness, flood damage and, unfortunately death. Here, waste is carelessly disposed off, dig a drainage ditch to alleviate flooding, it becomes a rubbish bin, river nearby, it...
LifeStream WordPress Plugin | David Cramer’s Blog
Similar to Action Streams for Movable Type, a Wordpress plugin that gathers your activity from other sites (Twitter, Flickr, &c.).
iLeopard
iLeopard is a free theme for Mac OS X that looks gives the look and feel of iTunes 7 to all the interface
Google on Google Chrome - comic book
Google’s browser explained in a rather lovely comic book.
Google Chrome, Google’s Browser Project
Details on the new browser, in non-comic form.
macosxhints.com - Sync with .Mac (MobileMe) from the command line
I Have A Dirty Sack | Ask Metafilter
Innuendo-laden AskMe thread. Made me LOL.
Bare Bones Software | BBEdit 9
I’ve been avoiding downloading the demo just in case it’s ace (I’m sure it is for coding types, but...
Its That Bear AgainHuttonian had rather hoped that we had heard the last of the Polish fighting Drinking Smoking Bear-Voytek by name- who has once again put Hutton on the map as the wretched animal was briefly 'posted' there with the Polish army in the latter stages of the war. It ended its years in retirement in the Embra Zoo. If you want an unexpurgated frank account of this rather unpleasant animal you can read about it here It made an appearance on the BBC TV One Show earlier this week with the energetic Mrs O, SNP candidate for Dumfries etc at the next general election, making her pitch for a memorial for the beast in the Hutton area. Recently a local writer has written a book about the bear-see here and a mention on the One Show will do its sales no harm. Given the number of...
So the U.S. trade sanctions against Sudan are at last beginning to bite. Here is the screen I got when I tried to download Google's new Chrome internet browser from Khartoum.
Something similar happened with Google Earth - at the time Google said it blocked downloads in Sudan saying it couldn't distribute its software in the blacklisted country.
First Google Earth. Now Google Chrome. Sudan's geeks are going to be enraged. Could this be what finally brings the Khartoum regime to its knees?...
Well my faithful readers as you might gather from the lack of postings Riga is seriously quiet right now. Little or no cretins to moan about - no real activity at Zvannieki, but hopefully the latter might change this week, as I expect to visit there alongwith that rare bread of persons in Latvia - an electrician.Elsewhere one of our beloved village people has been a smidgen unwell whilst on holiday, personally I put it down to the socks he wears - but I understand from our local Doc - V , that he is now on the road to recovery and may soon return to the fold in the next week or so. If anybody out there would like to send him a speedy recovery from his ailment - then just think what he would treasure most !On the domestic front the said cat has grown, and I can now state without fear of...
Thàinig am barr an-diugh gu robh Palin na ball uaireigin na AIP, Alaska Independence Party, Parti Neo-eismeileachd Alasga 's seo fad dà bhliadhna. Tha feadhainn a' feuchainn rudeigin a dheanamh dheth.Ach an robh i riam na ball parti a tha airson neo-eismeileachd Alasga bho na Stàiten Aonaichte? A bheil i neo an robh i riamh air a son-se?Uill, chan eil fhios 'am le chinnt. Tha mi teagmhach gu robh i riamh airson neo-eismeileachd Alasga ach cha chuireadh e iongnadh sam bith orm nan robh i uaireigin na ball AIP agus cuiridh mi geall gur ann eadar 1994 's 1996 a bha seo.Bha sgaradh anns a' pharti nam Poblachdach aig àm iomairt an taghaidh airson Riaghladar ann an 1994. Bhuanaich Jim Campbell mar thagraiche nam Poblachdach ach bha an duine sin gu math leabralach agus dh' adhbhraich...
Sorry the Brit Blogger game wasn't set up for last night.It will be on tonight on Full Tilt at 8.30pm BST.Playing and writing the same old stuff about a game of cards seems a little pointless just now, but I am grateful people choose to spend their valuable time to stop by and read my nonsense so here's an update... On Sunday evening the S-man came round and we watched the superb "Glen Garry Glen Ross".It's always been quite a poignant film for me.When I worked in quite a high pressure sales job a few years ago, management brought a life support machine to one conference to emphasise how serious our situation was.We entered the hall to the sound of beep,beep,beeeeeeeep.The girl who sat next to me in the office found it very hard to cope with the stress of the job ( and no doubt had other...
I just filed a review of Inspirations, an exhibition at ArtDeCaf, a café in Glasgow, and then did a quick Google to see if it has been reviewed elsewhere. It hasn’t, but the coverage the show received in advance of its opening is interesting.
Pieces in the Times and the Sunday Herald both focus on artist Shahin Memishi. Seeking asylum in Glasgow, having been forced to flee his native Kosovo, Memishi (an art teacher) had something of a revelation on seeing work by the so-called New Glasgow Boys for the first time, and this show matches his portraits of the artists he admires with examples of their work.
I’m absolutely not having a go at the writers of these pieces. The curatorial conceit of showing a relatively unknown artist alongside the old guard who inspired him is...
Sunflower DunsOriginally uploaded by old_greywolf2000The wife is planning a Sedum (spl?) roof on the kitchen extension flat roof in the small house in Duns. But a neighbour has beaten us to it with a dashing Sunflower which emerged from her roof, presumably as the result of some clever gardening by a passing bird. The wife does not have sunflowers in mind for our project-me,I 'd like brambles interspersed with gooseberry bushes. In the end I suspect we will end up with a carpet of boring wild flowers and the odd...
“Jesus shocked the established authorities by being a friend to all—not only to the destitute and hungry, but also to those rich extortioners, the tax-collectors, whom all decent people ostracized … The shocking thing was not that he sided with the poor against the rich but that he met everyone equally with the same unlimited mercy and the same unconditioned demand for total loyalty. If we look at the end of his earthly ministry, at the cross, it is clear that Jesus was rejected by all—rich and poor, rulers and people—alike. Before the cross of Jesus there are no innocent parties. The cross is not for some and against others. It is the place where all are guilty and all are forgiven.” —Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand...
World Names Profiler
A site that maps surnames. Or would do, if it actually worked - at the moment it just throws an error for me (Safari) or fails to load its maps (Firefox).
The Orwell Diaries
I’ve really been enjoying George Orwell’s posthumous weblog.
Danny O’Brien’s Oblomovka » 2008 » August » 29
Simple python script to delete the contents of a folder, with a bit of feedback, designed to clear out your downloads folder every week (good for Trash, too).
The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube | Technology | The Observer
D90 | D-MOVIE
Sample videos from the new Nikon.
BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Food Programme, Anchovies
Will have to Listen Again this. My love for the anchovy knows no bounds. It is the antithesis of the dreaded banana.
0xDECAFBAD -...
Quilt of light, originally uploaded by ccgd. Now that we are at the end of summer, the mornings are cooler, and we get some spectacular cloud formations over the...
Bha mi airson sgrìobhadh mu buaidh a bhiodh aig Palin air iomairt an taghaidh anns na Stàitean Aonaichte ach 's dòcha gun dean mi sin turas eile.Chuala sinn an-diugh gu bheil nighean Palin trom. Tha i seachd bliadhna deug a dh' aois agus chan eil i posta. Thuirt Palin gum pòsaidh iad ge-ta. Dhomh-sa, chaidh cus a dheanamh mu dheidhinn seo mar tha ach tha aon rud ann deidhinn sin a tha inntinneach dhomh-sa. Chuala mi gu robh feadhainn a' càineadh nach do rannsaich McCain Palin mar bu chòir agus chan eil i deiseil airson a bhith na ceann-suidhe agus chan eil seo ach na dhearbhadh dheth sin. Mar a thuirt mi an-dè, thàinig gu ar n-aire an-seo ann an Juneau mu trì mìosan air ais gu sgioba bho iomairt McCain ann an Juneau 's cha robh e doirbh obrachadh a-mach carson a bha iad...
A few years ago I had just bought first digital camera I signed up for the new photo service flickr. Now Flickr is widely considered to be one of the best online photo storage sites and I have had a paid membership for the last 3 years. One added benefit of Flickr is that it provides an offsite backup for all of your photos which means should your external hard drive, PC and laptop all give up the ghost in one fowl swoop or are involved in some catastrophic event (such as a house fire!) all your precious memories are stored somewhere else. Should this ever actually occur though there isn’t to my knowledge a way to download your full catalogue of photos which sets us up for the entrance of freeware application Flump: "Flump downloads all the photos from a user-specified...
Now sleeping about 14 hours a day. Just eating and...
Anyone want a SheriffAlthough it may be a bit late to make a significant career move Huttonian would like it known that he is happy to be invited to serve as an Honorary Sheriff in support of the diligent Sheriff Kevin of Duns. According to the Berwickshire three new Honorary Sheriffs have been sworn at, no, sworn in in Selkirk-the article is here Apropos of the the Selkirk trio I am not sure that it is a wise move to have one of the sheriffs with a possible personal grudge against the criminal fraternity especially if she can lash out with the odd stiffened custodial sentence. In my case I have no (local) scores to settle and although I am not a direct descendant of John Buchan there are one or two decent writers up the ancestral sleeve - if this is a desirable qualification for the...
Chuala mi mu trì mìosan air ais gu robh ùidh aig Iain McCain ann an Riaghladar Sarah Palin gu bhith na h-iarr-cheann-suidhe cuide ris. Bha iomradh ann ans siud 's an seo gu robh sgioba rannsachaidh bho iomairt McCain airson a bhith deanamh beagan rannsachadh mu deidhinn.Uill, bhon uair sin, bha mo shùilean 's mo chluasan fosgailte airson iomradh sam bith agus thòisich mi meòrachadh air a' cheist seo, dè seòrsa de thaghadh sa bhiodh sin dhan iomairt McCain agus mar a bu mhotha a smaoinich mi air, 's ann a b'fheàrr a bha seo nam shùilean. Sna làithean mu dheireadh, bha mi fhìn 's cuid de na caraidean agam ar bioran feuch an rachadh McCain le Palin. Agus aig a' cheann thall, sin a rinn e agus bha sinn air ar dòigh.Uill, chuir sinn iogngadh mòr air an t-saoghal agus tha e...
A line of orange, originally uploaded by ccgd. In Sornoway...
Recently Kompass, the largest selling newspaper in Indonesia reported that the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission had reprimanded television stations for airing animated television shows deemed unsuitable for children. The quote went as follows: "After three warnings, transmission of the shows will be temporarily suspended until the stations make improvements," independent TV observer Arif Fuckwit said, “adding that the shows were unsuitable for children due to the amount of violence and impropriety contained “.Apparently, the main issue arose from three animated shows -- Bleach, Detective Conan, and Naruto which it is claimed violated the 2002 law on child protection and had been misclassified. (Fuck knows what these are about?)"People often think that just because its cartoon, it's...
All that travelling around not only gives me plotbunnies, I also have tons of old material I haven't posted yet, and there's always new stuff adding up. So today we'll go back to that Roman villa rustica in Wachenheim I presented last summer. View towards the remains of the villa, the roofed area is the cellarOne of the most interesting features of the Wachenheim villa is the cellar which has been preserved in its original height - probably got filled with rubbish and mud and was missed by the stone filching farmers. With a size of 11.90 x 3.90 metres (46.50 square for those who, like me, suck at maths) it is one of the largest in the Roman settled lands along the Rhine. Light came in from six air shafts on the west wall, albeit not very much. The walls had been whitewashed and were...
A couple of years ago, my chum, Claire and I "broke" Smokey to drive. I put the word "broke" in inverted commas because I don't like the work and I certainly hope he wasn't "broken". To cut a long story short, all was going swimmingly until we had a freak accident and our respective confidences took a bit of a knock. Shortly after the accident, I was contacted by a chap called Simon Mulholland, who designs, builds and drives (with Henry) the Saddle Chariot www.naturaldriving.co.uk. At the time, we were going off on holiday (July 2007), and I kind of put it on the back burner. Anyway, I had another look at the website a couple of days ago and emailed Simon. He called today and we had a bit of a chat on the phone. I'm hoping we'll eb able to meet up soon.
Unfortunately, Simon seems...
Some of you mey recall from an earlier post that I am determined to keep better records of our poultry flock. At the beginning of August, I carried out a headcount and committed this to a spreadsheet. I also decided to leg ring different batches of hens - as opposed to marking individual hens. Our two RIR are Mrs Red and Mrs Green, and three of our Light Sussex are Misses Yellow, Pink and Purple respectively. This doesn't really work now that we've got bigger numbers and more Black Rocks - not enough colours, you see.
A couple of weeks ago, the three Copper Black Marans got yellow leg rings. Today, all the "grown up" Black Rocks got "red on right". The broody was given an additional yellow ring, as a mark of honour!
I also intended to ring the six Black Rock pullets we have -...
We're back. Arriving at Prestwick on Friday to a heroes' welcome, the hero being my Scots-Italian buddy who, though suffering from Crohne's Disease which debilitates him sorely, overcame the odds to lead us in to Oslo on Wednesday night.This was, I think, the greatest adventure of my life. We cycled from Gotenburg to Oslo in five days, taking one day of rest on the gorgeous island of Valon on Sweden's west coast archipeligo. I was so fortunate to have seven great guys for company and we have raised a pile of money for CHAS, children's hospice foundation which does great work with terminally ill kids and their families.Do I feel good? You bet.Please visit http://www.chas.org.uk/ to see the work that CHAS do, and remind yourself how luck you...
Megaphone Development: The outcomeIf you look here*you will see that Huttonian has tracked down the application referred to in the post immediately below. He thought it might be turned down.It was.Lesson there somewhere.(*On opening the link scroll down to 'Hutton and Paxton Community Council' in the appropriate search slot and put in 01/04/2008 as the start date and 01/08/2008as the finishing one and Bob's your new...
Here's an interesting example of journalistic style from a story on today's court appearance of five men accused of murdering U.S. aid worker John Granville.
All five men wore beards and traditional white gowns, and a Reuters reporter at the court saw two of them spit in the faces of two Western women journalists before walking into the building with iron shackles on their ankles.
It would have been more informative but less journalistic to say:
All five men wore beards and traditional white gowns, and I saw two of them spit in the faces of my wife and a friend before walking into the building with iron shackles on their ankles....
