Saw an excellent production of The Hobbit at the Bristol Hippodrome. A clever set, some ferocious pyrotechnics, some dancing and a really camp Elvenking. The audience was roughly 50/50 children and adults, and some of the kids had some trouble in following the action it seems - especially with the pace they rattled through things. The plot stayed close to the book in almost all respects. Can't get used to beardless dwarves however. Expensive seats, but well worth it.
Regional Student Support meeting with the 'men from the ministry' (so to speak) in Exeter. Mostly about the new computer system which will mean things are much simpler - especially around our links with the Student Loan Company. Interesting stuff, and there is a real sense that the SLC and the DfES want to make this usable, dependable and flexible (after all, we may have a big change in the way fees are paid if the government gets its way). Lots of people at the meeting were very negative about the changes, which sort of disappointed me. Still, I feel vaguely optimistic about it.
Early start for the City of London. Arrived later than I hoped due to Underground complications. Much literary wandering. Starting from The Monument, via the Walbrook and Fleet valleys, London Stone and lots of landmarks, to Bunhill Fields to pay respects to William Blake (and Defoe and Bunyan who are keeping him company there), into Clerkenwell and eventually Bloomsbury. Off to some bookshops off Charing Cross Road. Became entangled in huge shopping crowds on Oxford Street. Got back very late and very tired.
A busy couple of days - despite feeling confused and useless in the office! Lots of changes going on, and some of the managers seem to prefer to manage this in a piecemeal and selectively secret fashion. Shame, because the senior manager concerned is working hard to be fair and considerate. Completed answers for the questions put to candidates in the GNOME Foundation Elections. My answers seem very buzzwordy and a bit pompous in the face of others, but I think I gave good account of my skills. Hard to convince people I'm not a single-issue candidate because of the freshness of the Membership debacle. New phone arrived - I'd asked for a 'long' phone because I have a strange paranoia that my voice won't go around the corner and into the microphone on these small modern things. Call centre type was confused, but offered a flip phone which he thought was longer 'unflipped' than the latest tiny Nokia effort. Large Parcelfarce bag arrived, containing smaller box, containing still smaller Samsung box, which contained a sort of jewellery presentation box which contained a tiny little blue telephone! At first I was scared. A few test calls later and I love it very much. Glumness about the place today.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
