Check out some awesome pictures over at The Big Picture of the Ares I-X launch.
Category Archives: Life
Ares I-X Launch
I’m not a huge space buff. But I can’t help but be amazed by the space programme and I’m always interested in launches of new craft. I’ve been listening to NASA TV for a couple of days while they went through the process of test launching the new Ares I-X Rocket, and they got it off the ground today.
There’s a longer video on the NASA TV site, but I can’t seem to generate a direct link, and certainly can’t embed it. Here’s the link to their main site and you can find the video under Most Recent, Ares I-X Lifts Off on Flight Test.
More sunset
Something about this time of year, and where we live, gives us these sunsets.
More of the Spider
More spiders beyond the click. Don’t click if you don’t like spiders, etc., etc.
Here be Spiders!
This post contains photo’s of spiders.
If you don’t like ’em then look away now. You have been warned.
Books!
Have read both The Naming of the Beasts (Mike Carey) and The Ghost Brigades (John Scalzi) recently (as in, over the last couple of days). Both very different books, but both excellent. The Carey book is, well, hard to put into a box. Maybe urban fantasy, maybe urban private detective fantasy, maybe just urban, whatever it is it’s the fifth in the Felix Castor series and well worth reading. The books can be a little bleak at times because the subject matter is a little bleak, but the payout is worth it. The Scalzi book is clearly sci-fi with a solid emotional backing, and is the second in the series (although not a direct sequel). It’s engaging, and packed a bigger emotional punch than the Carey book for me but that’s because it tugged at all the tight emotional triggers. I’ve reviewed them both over on Grete’s BookThing website (the links above take you there).
Photo Past
I’ve just been sent this photo.
What’s the first thing you think when you look at it? My first thought was, wow, look how boxy those cars are, this must be from the 70’s! Actually, it’s from 1990. That’s the street in which the house I lived in during my second year at university was placed. I think it was Briar Road in Sheffield.
You can use Google Street View to get roughly the same view as the above photo, using this link. I see both the trees are still there. And generally, the cars don’t look as boxy. Thanks to Andrew for sending this photo (and a few of the inside of the house, which I might post and laugh at later!)
Pease Pudding results
Made the pease pudding, used too many split peas, and overall it’s turned out a bit bland. Not totally sure what I can do about that other than getting a different source of flavour. Anyway, the good news is that the resulting soup (using some of the water from the gammon+split peas stock) is super delicious.
Crap iPhone photo, sorry.
Got two of those tubs out of the batch. Think I’ll work on it.
Pease Pudding (again)
I haven’t tried making pease pudding since a couple of goes in 2000 where it was okay, but not brilliant. Since then however, I’ve perfected making the soup my mum makes, albeit with my own twist and variation. And tomorrow, I’m going to try making some pease pudding in roughly the same way she makes it.
Basically, take your soaked yellow split peas, put them into a muslin bag, and boil them with the ham (gammon in my case) until they’re soft and then beat them into a paste.
Fingers crossed, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Got cats?
So I’m playing a computer game (yes, Lord of the Rings online as it happens) and Bubbles decides she wants to sit on my lap. She’s taken to jumping onto my desk and sitting, staring at me until I move by chair back far enough for her to get to my lap. I guess it’s getting toward winter.
Anyway, yesterday I was a little busy, so I ignored her for a few moments. But she decided that wasn’t good enough. Click for the full images.
It’s not easy taking photo’s of your left arm, with your iPhone in your right arm when you can’t see the screen.