Selectadisc to close: *LOUD SOBS OF ANGUISH*

Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not good! Nottingham's awesome Selectadisc record store is to close at the end of next month. I accept that this is an inevitable result of changes in music purchasing more than the credit crunch, but this has just not helped make my week better...

Update on life, the universe and a lack of blogging

*sigh* sorry folks, its not been a good month for blogging from me.

Still, I am apparantly better than expected in the Sitting Tennant stakes: which is nice.

Reading and stuff: not really blogging...

Read two Jasper Fforde books this weekend (The Big Over Easy and Something Rotten).

Watched Spearhead from Space. Plastic scares me.

Had a day out in Lincoln.

I seem to have lost the blogging mojo. Bear with me....

I can comment but not much else. Sorry.

Tardy and hampered by time and rubbish systems

The Internet keeps falling over (*hits IE* and wishes she could move to Safari/Firefox/any f&*%ng system that reliably worked on her office computer).

I've been short of time (busy starting to watch S5 of The Wire at last and having a nice Valentine's Day)

Generally, this week I have mostly sucked at blogging.

Apologies.

For those of us who never will: Stu_N reports on The Fat Duck experience

Whatever your opinion of the food and experiences Stu describes of his important birthday visit to The Fat Duck I would merely recommend that you simply revel in the sumptuous way in which he describes the whole experience in magnificent detail.

Best food writing I have read in a long while. Almost makes me wonder if we shouldn't do this sometime. Then again, The Fat Duck isn't exactly local to us... and I'm not sure how long it would take us to save up...

Jeff Vader - lego brilliance

I'm sorry I know this has been around for an age but I am so in need of giggles I have to share:

TV celebrities/characters to be stuck in a lift with: inspired by MediumRob via the Guardian

Anna Pickard started it (though I doubt it's a new meme in itself).

Subsequently, MediumRob has offered up his selections and Dan his own list.

The meme is: which ten TV celebrities (real or fiction) would you like to be stuck in a lift with.

Inevitably, given the sonic screwdriver, The Doctor has hit several people's thoughts. Well, yes. Duh. However, that would surely cover more of the 'people USEFUL to be stuck in a lift with (as they could help you get out)'.

Which frankly, if we're talking Tenth Doctor here, seems something of a wasted opportunity.

So with that in mind, here are my thoughts:

People to be stuck in a lift with:

• The Doctor (because that brain, of any incarnation, with or without sonic screwdriver, would certainly work out some exit strategy; plus, you know, interesting)
• Stephen Fry (smart and experienced in these matters; the go-to guy for the task)>/li>
• Ross Noble (he'd probably have me giggling at the lights)
• Josh Lyman - the West Wing (he'd sigh and rage and just be generally good company in his own peculiar way; plus, ya know, Bradley Whitford... *sigh*)
• Lester Freemon - the Wire (because he'd be calm and methodical under the pressure)
• Willow Rosenberg - from Buffy (because she'd use magic in a good way, right?)
• Paul Merton (he'd help pass the minutes away)
• Kathy Burke (because it would be interesting to see who Cloud would be more pleased to see when he sees us exit after being rescued)

Final thought:

• David Tennant and Dougie Henshall (frankly, don't rush the rescue if I'm stuck with them)

UPDATE: as at 12 Feb, MediumRob has already stirred one of the most active comment threads in ages. Take a look: we've got a little out of hand you could say...

Rullsenberg in new glasses

Yep, my eyes are deteriorating*.

But I do like my new glasses.


*No jokes at the back of the class thank you!

Types of Intelligence Quiz

I really should avoid quizzes but they can be irresistible sometimes.

Your result for Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test...

Linguistic

22% Logical, 35% Spatial, 55% Linguistic, 29% Intrapersonal, 27% Interpersonal, 43% Musical, 4% Bodily-Kinesthetic and 18% Naturalistic!

"Verbal-linguistic intelligence has to do with words, spoken or written. People with verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words and dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and via discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking. Those with verbal-linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages very easily as they have high verbal memory and recall, and an ability to understand and manipulate syntax and structure.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include writers, lawyers, philosophers, journalists, politicians and teachers." (Wikipedia)

Take Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test at HelloQuizzy

ITV Saturday drama: sort yourselves out!

Well, Demons is over. Did anyone who was still watching it actually really muster up much caring when watching that finale???

*sigh* so much promise squandered.

But its ending does raise another concern: when the heck is Primeval coming back? The initial expectations were for an early new year start: but then Demons blundered its way in. Now, we seem to be lurching away from that evening slot being drama, back to it being family entertainment with AntOrDec.

We're now counting on the idea that after 6 weeks of A&D we might finally get to see S3 of Primeval. This will just about make it qualify for the Spring launch that ITV seemingly promised for it.

Get your act together ITV.

NOTE: this post has nothing to do with my need for a fix of Scottish loveliness. No sirree...

Tube people by Stu

Stu_N has an occasionally regular slot where he writes vignettes of people encountered in the London transport system.

Not only does he write incredibly eloquently of the behaviour and possible personalities of the people observed, but it's also a lovely and inspiring way to make your own journeys by public transport more interesting.

Who have you recently seen and imagined a life for?

Nottingham makes best use of the snow

Hat tip to Mike at Troubled Diva (and via, via as such things are in blogland) for alerting me to a gem of an image of Nottingham's Old Market Square.

I wonder how many people were aware of it as they walked through the city centre...

Warning: this probably say everything you need to know about Nottingham in the winter weather. We're a really classy bunch.

Torchwood - Children of Earth trailer

Come on then BBC, tell us EXACTLY when you will be screening the five-night spectacular that will be Torchwood: Children of Earth?

Trailer was released today (Thursday 5 February 2009) with a hat-tip to TV Scoop.

New Zealand at Highland Peaks, Dunedin

Whilst we were away in New Zealand, Neil's mum very kindly organised a trip away down to Dunedin (which is even further down the South Island coast of New Zealand). We had a spectacular journey down and great weather during our all-too-brief stay. But mostly we had a great time because we stayed at Highland Peaks. This is a Bed and Breakfast with a difference: hosts that really make you feel welcome, accommodation that is superb and food provisions to make your mouth water. Di and Peter were delightful hosts and Bud has to qualify as one of the most adorable dogs ever to fuss for food.

Highly recommended for a taste of luxury (in every sense!)

Music recommendation: To You - Headless Heroes (cover of an I Am Kloot song)

Headless Heroes' cover of To You (originally by I Am Kloot, apparantly) has been pretty much my favourite song for several weeks now, ever since I finally managed to get hold of the album from which it comes (The Silence of Love). I just can't stop playing it. It's competing with the loop of replaying that is Cressida Cowell's How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse -and that is being played for entirely different reasons...

Anyway, I just can't recommend highly enough the ethereal loveliness of this particular Headless Heroes cover (and I'd also recommend the rest of the album as well, especially the preceeding track Just Like Honey).

Enjoy!

Cross-posted on Music is Our Hot Hot Sex