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Another quick catch up

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Admit it: The Army Corps Of Engineers Has Released a 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure is the sort of headline that makes you want to go and look at the 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure. It’s also the sort of headline that made me think that it would be the perfect subject for a blog post.
And it does exist: just click the link above. Sadly, it’s also really disappointing.
So… er… maybe don’t click the link above.

Coverify is an online playlist cover making app. And if you don’t have Photoshop or something similar, then it’s perfect for making your online playlist covers. I do have Photoshop or something similar, so I do my own, but I did enjoy the simplicity of the Coverify process and the results do look pretty good.

I knocked out a reasonably decent 7km this morning, (given that I’m still struggling with this) with just a bit of hill thrown in for good measure.

No world records were in any danger, but on the positive side of things, while I’m aware of my ankle, it’s not causing me any big issues after this morning’s efforts. Yet.
Tomorrow may bring a World Of PainTM, but for the moment, I’m feeling pretty good and highly motivated.

Fair point. I’ll tone it down a bit.

The Cut-Off Low (see here) which threatened the interior of the Western Cape this weekend, did its best to cause panic and mayhem. Grabouw got 84mm of rain yesterday, Kirstenbosch got 48mm, Struisbaai 35mm and Laingsburg (which has a bit of history of these sort of things) (the museum is excellent, btw) thankfully managed just a single mm.

I made some Yorkshire Puddings last week and they weren’t quite up to my usual standard. They were still damn good; it’s just that I set myself very high standards for that sort of thing.
Could this air-fryer recipe (I can almost hear my ancestors turning in their graves) be an option for next time?

Right, and on that bombshell, it’s back to the studio time to end. More tomorrow.

What’s the Matter?

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Or… Feeling Horny? Or… ok. Let’s not.

Superduper 4k (and beyond) ascent of the Matterhorn in Switzerland via the Hörnli Ridge.

Oh – and in just a few seconds – thanks to a being a FPV drone.

Beautiful footage, with amazing views and crystal clear clarity:

FPV drone flight up the Matterhorn’s epic Hornli ridge. I’ve wanted to try this flight for a while and finally went for it during my month in Switzerland this winter (2022). I flew an Iflight Chimera 7 with DJI air unit and crossfire. The video was shot on a GoPro Hero 10 in 5K 30 and stabilized in Realsteadygo.

I only brought 1500mah batteries so the only way to assure that I reached the summit was to get closer. I decided to leave my skis at the top of the lift and hike the rest of the way to the Hörnli Hut with crampons and ice axe as the path was covered in snow and ice. I launched the drone from the Hörnli Hut and I was able to fly the remaining 4000ft (1,200m) vertical and 1 mile (1.6km) distance to the summit and surf down the ridgeline. It was extremely windy and the wind just got stronger as I neared the summit but the chimera 7 performed very well.

It’s nothing short of incredible what even basic consumer drones are capable of. It still feels like we’re in the future when it comes to some of the stuff that is available off the shelf right now. Of course, you still need an iconic mountain to get the full effect, but…

Please also note the handy AirB&B at 2:03 on the way down. “Rare Find” “Superhost” etc etc.

A few things

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Firstly, go and play Puzzgrid. It’s like the wall on Only Connect, but online.

And if you want a 4-star difficulty challenge to begin with, try this one that I made earlier. I’m planning on making a few more (because mainly they’re stored in my head at the moment, and quite honestly, I need the space.)

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Next up, remember this quote?

Well, my rule of thumb is going to be a bit broken if this happens…

Wait… Watt*?!?
But that would mean 32 hours… and there are only 24…

Wow. Who would have thought that the straw that finally broke the network’s back was simply running out of enough hours to shed in a day?

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Then: Was Eyjafjallajökull the final volcano?

Year 9 iGCSE Geography dictates that one must do a class presentation on a volcanic event. And additionally, that one must build a model of said volcano to demonstrate your knowledge thereof.
I helped transport a model of Eyjafjallajökull (remember him?) into the school today, and was asked by the principal, who we saw along the way, if this was the final volcano project for our family.

I hadn’t really thought about it. But just maybe it was.

Volcano models are a rite of passage throughout your school years. You can learn more, and more, and more about them, depending on how far you want to go. You can do loads of geography, sociology, history, English, art and science about them. And yes, you can build models, from the super simple, through the vinegar and bicarb stage, and onto geographically and morphologically accurate representations, including glaciers, treelines, and – somewhat inexplicably in this case – a café.

And we’ve done them all. Twice over.

In total, our kids have over 24 years at that school.
And yes, this might well have been our family’s final volcano project. That’s actually rather sad.

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Also: Qatar Airways unilaterally cancelled several of our flights this morning without any explanation. And then emailed me and asked me to “Acknowledge the changes” or “Request a refund”. I think I’m going to have to click both buttons there, aren’t I? I don’t think it’s quite enough for me to choose between the two, given how much COLD HARD CASH has gone into buying the tickets, and the CONTINUING NEED to be in certain places at certain times – with accommodation and car hire and connecting flights already booked. Because of many reasons (but mainly because of emigrating nearly 20 years ago), I have done a lot of international flying. This is the first time that I have used Qatar Airways. And this really is the first problem I’ve ever had.

Sadly, we’re kind of tied in with them now, so we need to rearrange another lot of flights with them, and hope that these ones actually exist when we try to fly on them.

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And finally – in the style of Trevor MacDonald – this:

I mean, if even he is saying it, then it must be true, right?
Full marks for whoever cropped this meme (it wasn’t me) so that we were spared a sight of the offensive (and sinful) footwear.

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* so many apologies for this

This was England (and the IOM)

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A lovely little collection of images in The Guardian late last week, promoting an exhibition which includes the work of documentary photographer Chris Killip.

This one is a fog-(on the Tyne)-gy Wallsend, dated on the site as being taken in 1976. But the Tyne Pride – one of the huge ships being built at the Swan Hunter shipyard which was the be-all and end-all for all the families living in that area at that time – was actually launched in late 1975, so I think that might be incorrect. They built BIG SHIPS there back then. Here’s a better view of just how big:

Mark I Raleigh Chopper FTW!

I know Chris Killip’s work from his time on the Isle of Man, mostly documenting Manx farming life in the early 1970s. Not a lot had changed in the previous 100-odd years for many of those communities at that time, and not a lot changed in the 15 or 20 years after that either, so I recognise quite a few of the places and scenes (and maybe even one or two of the people?) from my time over there as a kid.

There are plenty of those images on the Manx Museum ‘iMuseum’ site here.

Words

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These ones from the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Queen’s Funeral earlier today:

People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer. 
But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten.

Indeed.

It was a wonderful sermon.
I just wonder if anyone to whom his words were directed, was listening.