Tuesday 19 July 2011

The Two Ritas

This morning around mid-day I felt in need of some exercise, and it was a sunny day, possibly the last for a while, so I decided on a walk along the prom towards West St Leonards and perhaps a meal out. On the promenade near the Azur restaurant I was stopped by two ladies, who turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses. I'd met at least one of them before, having argued with her at the door of my home, and she remembered me as being a Humanist. We exchanged names and some banter. She was Rita, and so was her companion.

I carried on with my constitutional, which Rita had called "power-walking", as far as the end of the cycle-path. No sign yet of it being extended to Bexhill. Turning back there I noticed that the "Bridge Cafe" on the corner was open, so went in for a late breakfast and cup of tea. I didn't remember it being open on other times I've walked past, but apparently the people who run it have been there for ten years. While I was there a group of eight businessmen came in, though there's not much sign of business around there now, since the wood-store closed down.

Maybe I ate my sausage, egg, bacon, beans and tomatoes too quickly, or didn't rest long enough to let them digest, because as soon as I got back home I began to have a bout of hiccups. Once it starts I find it difficult to stop. After a rest it seems to stop, but as soon as I make some strenuous move it starts up again. I think I will call it a bout of "The Two Ritas" in future!

Thursday 14 July 2011

Digging, Hacking and Tweeting

On Tuesday morning I finally got round to weeding and digging over the little strip of front garden I have. The next day I felt very stiff, no doubt due to using unaccustomed muscles. There was a forecast of rain for the afternoon, and I was thinking of sowing some grass seed, but the rain never came, and it has remained dry since. I suspect if I sowed the grass seed in the dry ground the pigeons would soon have it, so I'll wait for some rain.

Yesterday I had an email fron Vodafone saying they were sending me a SIM card. This was odd since I've never had any dealings with them. I deleted it as spam. Today I received the SIM card. It says "We're delighted to enclose your free SIM card and details of the Vodafone TopUp and Get International Freebee you selected." But I've never "selected" any such thing. I have an old pay-as-you-go mobile phone that I got from Virgin but have not used for over a year, and have no intention of reviving. I did think of emailing Vodafone, but their website wasn't very helpful and came with lots of warnings and popups, so I think it best to just ignore it.

My twitter account was apparently hacked a few days ago, and a message under my name was sent to a number of my "followers". Originally the message came from someone I follow and said "is it you in this photo" I clicked on this thinking it might refer to the photo of me with Ken Ham taken in Leicester in 2006 that was published on the Answers in Genesis site. However the link just led back to the twitter log-in site. I changed the password on my account, and the problem has not recurred, but it seems this sort of annoyance must be very easy to do.

I've now sent over a hundred tweets and have over 30 followers, though a number of them just seem to be local businesses in St Leonards that are no doubt angling for my trade. The most useful contacts I have made are with mathematicians who have provided a lot of interesting links, to websites and PDFs. I also had an amusing exchange with Bob Churchill, formerly of the BHA, about the type face "Comic Sans" which I use for the navigation links on the Mayhematics site, but he doesn't like. He wrote that we must be "aesthetically incommensurable", to which I replied that that must mean I'm rational while he is irrational (a mathematical joke for those not in the know).

Friday 1 July 2011

Light Music Festival

I've been following the series of programmes on Radio 3 in the BBC's "Light Fantastic" music festival over the past week, since I enjoy this type of music, at least when it is well done.

An article by Stephen Hough in the Telegraph on line praises light music and has some links to several classics.

On the Sunday however I went to the concert put on by the Cory Band at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and, although I stood it all through to the end, found it extremely disagreeable simply because of the sheer loudness. Their only interpretation of forte was as fortissisimo. Maybe on a bandstand in the open air the sound dissipates, but at the back of the hall it was unpleasant.

Some pieces I've not heard for years, and have not so far heard on the programmes are "Parade of the Tin Soldiers" by Leon Jessel and "Do Not Forsake Me" (from the film "High Noon") by Dmitri Tiomkin; but I suppose these don't count as British Light Music. Another is the Oxford Street march by Eric Coates, although I have a CD with an old recording of this; I found the tune running through my head earlier today, and had to check that's what it was.