geo-nut!

I'm turning into a geo-nut.

Been out hunting geocaches again today.  Sought five and found only three.... one of the ones I didn't find is actually starting to drive me Miss Daisy!

So, you're unfamiliar with the geocaching thing?  It's like following a treasure hunt, with no map, and usually no treasure at the end of it all.  Still interested?  Read on MacDuff!

You will need....  one GPS enabled device (I use my mobile phone) with a piece of software called "Viewranger"; One account on Geocaching ; Several crappy plastic things; and Ikea pencils!; Optional - A pencil sharpener or penknife!

So you head over to Geocaching website and set your account up.... you look the the maps of where you want to go for a walk and see what caches are located in the vicinity and you input the co-ordinates to your GPS enabled device (I use my mobile phone).

Then you go for a walk, using your GPS enabled device (I use my mobile phone) to home in on the co-ordinates you've picked out.

You reach the right area and turn over a few stones, get stung by a few nettles, scratch your head, have a drink, get ready to leave then at the last minute stumble on the correct location and get hold of the cache.... note this is caCHE which is in no way related to caSH!!

Note:  Before digging out the cache - please ensure you are not seen by "muggles" - the non-geocaching community!

Usually the cache is a Tupperware box with a book, a blunt Ikea pencil, and some *crappy plastic toys in it.... half of the time it will be waterlogged.  You laugh at how silly this all seems... You sign the (usually) soggy log-book to say what fun you've had, put everything back in the container and stash it back wherever you found it..... and continue on your walk! 

*If you want to keep any of the plastic crap in there you must replace it with item of similar or greater value!

Whe n you get home you simply update the website to say if you did or didn't find the cache.

It's free - it's harmless, it's global and it's a good way of enhancing any walk.

As my old meerkat friend would say "squeak squeak" because meerkats actually can't talk

My latest Flickr set is here!.

Stuff....

.... and nonsense.

I've been busy doing "background" tasks.

These tasks are essential to my "online" existence and take up a great deal of time. Not many people notice that I have done them or even care, but I know things are tidier, neater, more organised, and much happier - In complete contrast to my "real" life!!

So, for a few examples:

Flickr - I have been adding, subtracting, tagging, geotagging, dating, uploading, and generally making my whole collection there as comprehensive as possible. New sets for Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Black Moss walk. Lots of new "phone camera" pics too.

Random Shopping - I am trying to make sure that my "Random Shopping" blog doesn't die on its arse. It's hard enough to keep one blog going (as I am sure you lazy non-updating-buggers will agree) but to keep two on the go, and make them remotely interesting is a task of some size. In order that I DO keep Random Shopping open, I have diversified into the world of discarded shopping lists.

Reading - I now subscribe to forty-four blogs in my snazzy Google blog reader. I need to subscribe to so many, so that at least someone will give me something to read each day!! Consider yourselves "roasted" for inactivity, AGAIN!

In an "offline" context I've also been quite busy:

Reading: Having recently finished another Lynsay Sands historical - The Switch, I've moved on to: Ben Elton - Stark (in the bedroom) and Robert Sabbag - Snowblind (in the reading room!).

Watching: I don't get much time to watch a lot of television at the moment. I love the 4OD and BBC iPlayer, because they allow me to download the television I missed and watch it at my leisure. I am loving CH4's Dogface, and have been watching ITV's Hell's Kitchen (which has of course (for me at least) been dreadful and compulsive).

Playing: Sims 2 with my left hand and Pogo with my right.

Picking: Blackberries. Nature's bounty is exploding around us. We managed to harvest ten pounds of blackberries on Saturday morning. Nettle stings, and ripping of thorns. The blackberry plant seems so ancient and unsophisticated, yields its fruit so easily, and you can't help but feel the primeval surge, knowing it has always been this way. Low effort in, maximum reward. Survival.

Anything else?:

Getting depressed at the quality of these photographs.

Finding this link for my tap-playing cousin.

Drinking "real ale" at the Three Pigeons (an art deco pub) in Halifax.

Eating curry at Zam Zams in Elland - Bloody gorgeous!!

Fury.

I've been asked to look after my mum's house for a couple of days.

For those that remember my last attempt at this task, you will remember my abject frustration at the broken internet connection there. This problem, I was assured, had been fixed in the interim period.

I am sure you can all imagine, without too much effort, what the real state of the internet connection is!!

Suffice to say, I have abandoned my post, and retreated to my house in order that I can check my email at least!!

I am going to spend some time drinking coffee and sorting out my "Yorkshire Sculpture Park" photo album on Flickr.

Surprise!!

I am truly surprised by the reaction to my previous post. It would seem that my passion for birdfeeding is not such an isolated case. Messages of support have been flooding in.... well a couple of people mentioned that they also indulge, and that's nice.

This year is the first year that I have had baby birds living in and around my garden, and it fills me with delight.

There's a family with three baby goldfinches. The juveniles looking similar to their parents, but lacking the vibrant red patch on their heads. They have a resplendent yellow "Z" down their wings though.

A family with three baby robins, and they are just starting to get their red breasts and to lose their spotty juvenile down. They've been such good company this summer. Apparently they are rarely seen in July and August, but I have had a garden full of them.

Bluetits nested in the holes in the cement between my house and next door. You wouldn't even know there was a hole there to be honest, and it took me a while to actually find where they were flying their beakfulls of worms into. Lots of chicks and still a good number in the garden.

Other feathered friends without families it would seem are:

Collared dove; Starling; Dunnock; Wren; Sparrow; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; Blackbird; Thrush;

In other news.....

Big Brother.... we're winding down, and tomorrow is the final. I'd be lying if I said I was excited, but I am looking forward to it. I think I have managed to keep my blog fairly Big-Brother-free during the mammoth thirteen week stint.

Beer: I've got a hankering for some real ale this weekend. I am going to give both The Star at Lockwood, and The Grove at Springwood a shot. From what I've read, they are two of Huddersfield's finest "ale" pubs, and I am getting a bit old for drinking wihtout being able to speak to my companions.

Antichrist: I have made the fatal error of reinstalling the antichrist of video gaming onto my computer. I had it before, but after it ruined my lust for gaming and lowered my self esteem to nothingness, it had to die. The Sims 2 rides again!! How many weeks will I spend maintaining my virtual real estate, while my real house and life fall into complete disrepair around my ears??

Yorkshire Pudding: You don't scare me, you big puddin'!

Random kindness: Still working on this one. Pol, it was also on R2 the other day when the lovely Davina was standing in for someone. Those blagards have robbed me blind and cast me assunder.

Blog updates: I know it doesn't look like I have been here much lately, and the posts have been thin on the ground, but believe me, I've been working my fingers to the bone for you. Here's a brief list of things that have changed:

Random Shopping has started again.

The navigation stuff on the right hand side of my page was looking really shabby, and there were so many sections with different little snippets in them, and I know nobody read any of them, so I have turned each section into a blog entry.... Feel free to click some fo the things under the "Blogbits" section on the right hand side to see what I mean.

Flickr: Not only did I upload a little section of photos for Connor (and tag them all, and geotag them all, and title, and description them), but I also uploaded a few new ones of my own. Feel free to head across to Flickr and look at mine and/or Connor's pics.

Bloglines: My cousin Sophia mentioned (sometime earlier this year) that there was a product out there called "bloglines" which manages all the blogs that you read. My list of blogs to read was becoming so long, that I have (more by necessity than curiosity) invested some effort into it, and I am loving it. If you have a long blog list to trawl through, then I suggest you set it up for yourself. Thanks Soph.... Also: I found the Guitar Hero disc that I couldn't find when you were here - didn't take me long huh?

Bowling cam: More new pictures on my dedicated bowling cam highlights page.

Pogo; Sims2; Battlefield 1942; Dungeon Keeper2 - Too much time to mention on the aforementioned.

Choke....

Choke, gasp, gag........

Last night was an adventure. I introduced the lovely Dawn to the world of tapas. A restaurant I had never tried before, in an unfamiliar village, but with very pleasing results.

The downside of this, was of course, double garlic overload..... We ate a little TOO late, and both had a restless, acid indigestion plagued night's sleep, and heaven forbid.... The sheer stench emanating from where monkeys shove bad nuts is unbearable!!

I've never been very good with garlic. I love it, but it's not a mutual relationship.

Coupled with the fact that I have a really sore neck, for which I am taking anti-inflammatory painkillers that equally disagree with my digestive system, I now feel like I have been staked out in the sunshine and force fed a barrage of flaming rats.

Big Brother has now entered its final week. A double eviction tonight has dispatched of two of my least favourite characters, and this time next week we will know who has won (or indeed who has not lost by default). I am secretly looking forward to being given back some element of control over my life once the sun goes down. I've been a TV slave the same this year as every other year!!

The mousetraps remain empty - I am unsure whether this is a good sign or a bad one. Good if there are no more mice to catch..... Bad if they have become impervious to the delicious scent of peanut butter, and are secretly having a mouse sized Oktoberfest under my kitchen units, where they all play the alpenhorn and wear lederhosen and eat pickled onion monster munch, that come in a packet that has on it a competition to win a split level bungalow in the exact colour of orange of your dreams, and a shoe that's far too big to put your foot in.

I knew I shouldn't have eaten that cheese!!

See Connor's very own mini photo album here.

Standardly.

Sunday..... A day of rest.... sort of!!

Went out for a Mongolian barbeque last night.... Pretty good, but I couldn't eat a full one.

Ate too much, and spent the remainder of the evening in Arctic Fox's patented "poorly dog" mode. For those that don't know about this, it's like when a dog has eaten too much and is to be found rolling around on the floor with its legs in the air, whimpering.

Woke up early(ish) this morning, with a mouth like a Mongolian monkey's armpit, and a Cambodian rice belly. Not a pretty sight!!

Chilled for a while, playing Age of Empires.

Dawn came round, with Stevie the wonderdog, and after a boiled egg and soldiers, we went for a brief constitutional. Didn't walk too far, but managed to take a few photos, which of course (excuse the plug) you can find on my lovely Flickr album. Today's set is called "Outlane Walk" and there's a quite nice panoramic shot, which includes the view over the top of my house and into Halifax.

This afternoon was spent "Mother's Day" shopping, for the impending Mothering Sunday next weekend. Probably the first time in my life, that I have managed to get this thing all done, with a week to spare.

Ok, enough of my "standardly" Sunday, already.

I simply wanted to pass on a little information, to anyone who might be interested. There's this thing, right? It's an art exhibition I guess, that runs at the Musee D'Elysee - It's called "All Photographers Now".......

Far be it from me to try to explain..... but I will summarise, and you can go there and find out more if you are so inclined.

Basically, you submit your photograph(s), and they may or may not decide to exhibit them, via projecting them onto the wall of this exhibition. If they do choose to do so, they email you back a picture of your picture on their walls. Simple. They will also pick a few photos, to print them out and add them to the museum's archives.

And so, if you have ever taken a picture, you ought to at least have a shot at it.... I'd love to hear from anyone that succeeds, and of course I'd love to have a copy of and pictures that get emailed back from the museum.

Go on, it's free, and you could make some art.

The thing I love about this concept, is that it's truly modern art.... made by the people, for the people..... there are no boundaries, no borders, just pure, unadulterated, collaborative global art. Should be right up every Flickr user, and every bloggers pipe!! Digital art at its very very finest.

Adieu the noo!!

Humbled.

Seems there doesn't a week go by lately, where I don't have some cause to eat a large slice of that bitter bastard of a pie, known only by it's humble name.

I know it shouldn't taste so bitter, but generally, it's force fed to me, and usually rammed up both my nostrils at the same time!!

Blogging, for me, started out merely as an "organic" method of maintaining some sort of website, where I could gather: Thoughts, links, pictures, files, and anything else. That a blog could be easily maintained without wading through pages of html code, just to make a small change. I maintained a few websites before I discovered the relative calm and simplicity of blogging.

Even now, although my intentions are good towards blogging, it sometimes feels like a chore and a mandatory daily exercise, to find words that can actually say something. I know that nobody likes to read about me lazing about all day pretending to be a sniper, without actually getting dressed, or taking my slippers off (although the slippers do make for extremely quiet walking, and I can run to the paper shop in them with unfathomable haste when I run out of milk or bread or something equally staple).

Yesterday, was my attempt to "unclutter" my head. To get some troubling issues out onto a page, to simply free up a bit of headspace. It worked, and today, I feel, not only better for this cathartic experience, but positively uplifted and a bit overwhelmed by the responses it derived.

I also went out of my way to find a few new blogs. I used to make a weekly effort to do this, to branch out, to explore other people's thoughts and ideas. The blog fish pond can be very insular at times, and it seems, as more of my regular haunts fall by the wayside, I now rarely find the time or energy to change the water, in whatever is left of this fishbowl of life.

If anyone else feels the need to check out some new blogs, then might I point you in the direction of these two local gents?

Yorkshire Pudding

Walls come tumbling down

And so, on to the pie....

A big thanks to everyone for their continual support.... It's frikking great to know that so many people stop by and take time to look into my fishbowl. It's all too easy sometimes to forget that bloggers are just real people, writing whatever happens to float through their heads at the time they happen to be near a computer!! (Perhaps it's more like, during the time when they are not away from their computer!!). I got a big warm hug from everyone yesterday, and it made me feel great.

In other news....

You still have time to sponsor my cousin's efforts for MS.

Ferny - You signed my guestbook, but there was no link to track back to your blog.... If you've got one, share it with us please.

Dawn - I love you!

Sophia, and Spice - Thanks for your good advice, and hopefully I will be visiting in the near future.

Kenny - Thanks for the donation.

You can still see the "Mad Peakers" inaugural gig here!

My Flickr album of high quality images is still here.

Oh, and I almost forgot, if anyone wishes to see what I looked like in those heady days of my youth, when I used to pretend to play a saxamaphone... look no further!! Those elasticated bow ties really did chafe somewhat.

I'd like to thank my mum, and my dad..... and anyone else who knows me...... yadda yadda.

Please, next time, would someone remember to bring the custard?

Sidetracked.

It's not often I get sidetracked into something else.... Ok..... let's start again....

I am always sidetracked onto something else.

My current fixation is Flickr.

I have been beavering away, squirreling photos, and updating the titles, descriptions, tags, and geo-tags.

So far I've uploaded about a hundred of (I won't say good, because they are not) my more memorable photographs.

I have to be careful not to turn this into an out-and-out advert blog, but I am loving it!!

Go, take a look, leave a comment, view the sets, explore, have fun, see what you think.

Arctic Fox's Flickr pad!