Memoirs of a Roadie

Boat On The River

Posted on 10th January 2008

It seems that Nicole and I have a bit of talent on our hands. These two pictures were painted yesterday by Ethne at her playgroup. Apparently she's painted an even better one, which is currently hanging up in the room they use.

Considering she will only be 3 in a month's time, yet can manage to paint a recogniseable snail and a boat on the sea (complete with sun), is quite staggering, or maybe that's just my parental pride coming out. Either way, Nicole's artistic talents have obviously come out strong in Ethne, as she's always loved drawing and painting ... especially on herself!

Seeing as I don't have a cubicle at work in which to hang my kids pictures, adding them to my website will have to be the next best thing :)

The Hanging Garden

Posted on 7th January 2008

Yesterday I finally opened up the game Alhambra, which I brought back from Vienna. After a bit of searching for the games rules (the box contained the German language rules), I discovered that the manufacturers website has kindly translated the rules into several different languages with a PDF download for each. After downloading the English language version, DanDan and set about laying out the game peices and started playing. Unfortunately it wasn't until about half way through the game, that I read the slight variation for a 2 player game. The game took a little longer to play with the two of us playing the full rules, but it did help us to understand the game. Next time playing the two-player rule changes will not only make for a quicker game, but also might make it a bit more interesting in terms of the points. As it was DanDan wiped the floor with me, as I couldn't get the right money to begin with to buy what I wanted.

The game won Game of the Year in 2003 and I can see why. It's a fairly straight forward game and involves buying and building materials to make a palace, but is a very engaging game. For DanDan it's good for his maths as he has to calculate how much he can spend and what money he needs to buy the materials he needs to construct his palace. Considering he's only 7 and the age suggestion on the box is 8, I think he did rather well for a first attempt. He seemed to like it too, and it made for a nice change from Hunters And Gatherers. I think Alhambra will be getting played a lot this year :)

New Year's Day

Posted on 1st January 2008

You could be forgiven for thinking I'd abandoned my diary over the past few months. With being so busy I just haven't had the time to sit down and write my thoughts out. I've had loads of things I've wanted to say, and many possible posts get formulated on the drive to or from work. But then I get distracted.

This year I plan to sort out quite a bit of stuff, both offline and online. My todo list needs to reduce somewhat. Ethne needs her own room, I need to clear through the backlog of photos and I also need to update the ARK site I've been promising to do for the last couple of years.

Here's hoping I get at least some of it done. Happy 2008 wherever you are.

Top Of The World

Posted on 26th August 2007

Day Six: So that was it, our holiday in Torquay. We headed home, and Nicole once again took photos as we crossed the bridge over the River Avon. It's quite amazing the difference a week made. As Phil from Malvern LUG had mentioned that we ought to call in on the way home for a cup of tea, I decided to take him up on the offer. However, Nicole wanted to the opportunity to see part of The Malvern Hills. We weren't planning to walk up the whole way, but the path up zig-zagged in such a way as to be quite easy to leisurely stroll up. Even DanDan and Ethne walked virtually all the way there themselves. I only carried Ethne the last few feet on my shoulders.

It really is a lovely view up there and I think we'll be going back to climb The Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point of The Malverns. But today we managed to make it to the top of Sugarloaf Hill, and that was just about enough. It took a while to get up the energy to walk down, but it was quite pleasant just watching the world pass by, even if the wind was a bit too much for me.

Once we got back to the car, we finally headed off round the corner to visit Phil. we spent a couple of hours chatting and finally the kids were getting a little too restless and we left Phil to walk Pepsi (their dog), and made the final leg back home. A great holiday, and I think we all enjoyed the break. Definitely thinking of going back again.

• Aug 3 - The Malverns
  

Caught Somewhere In Time

Posted on 26th August 2007

Day Five: The holiday was coming to an end, but there was still far too much to see. We opted for Kents Caverns and Bygones Victorian Museum.

Kents Caverns was actually Nicole's favourite sight of the whole holiday. There is so much history there it really is quite staggering. Dave, our guide, was brilliant. A great sense of humour and a good rapport with his audience made for an excellent tour. At the end of the tour I asked him if he was studying archeology, but it seems not, he's a Sociology student :) The Caverns themselves are huge and very impressive. It was a shame that my camera work wasn't up to much as there were points when I failed to capture some of the awesomeness of the rock formations and patterns. The light in the caverns is all artificial, and at one point in the tour, the lights are switched off to show how dark it really is. It's probably the first time I've ever been in complete pitch darkness and you really can't see anything in front of your face, even a few millimetres away.

After coming out we discovered that due to the weather, the Caverns had become quite popular today. It seems we had arrived at just about the right time. They also have a kids discovery area, which both DanDan and Ethne enjoy being archelogists and uncovering fossils. They they got to draw on the chalk boards.

After lunch we headed back to Babbacombe and to the Bygones Victorian Museum. We had passed the museum earlier in the week and it looked like it was worth a visit. It's quite amazing just how much they have crammed into the building. They even have a small full size engine, which you get to walk onto the footplate. Although it is very much centred on the Victorian era, it does also feature a small section on the World War I. DanDan was a bit too unnerved by it, but Ethne didn't bat an eyelid. It is probably the only part of the museum that is potentially frightening for kids, as it is quite dark. It's quite amazing just how much memorabillia they have managed to accummulate or recreate about the era. However, I think DanDan and I would have to agree the traditional cream soda was the defining moment of the visit :)

• Aug 2 - Kents Cavern & Bygones Victorian Museum