Hokey Pokey Squiggles...

...quite possibly the best biscuit in the world. I'm tucking into my Christmas stash. mmmmmm. Thanks mum!

I survived a week in the world of science

Thursday lunchtime, and it's the end of my (formal) week's work. One of the perks of being part-time (although I'm less part-time than I was at the beginning of the week - I've been upgraded to 3 days/week).

I've learned lots of new words, like transgenesis and hematopoietic (nothing to do with verse), attended a seminar which felt more like a piece of avant-garde theatre (incomprehensible but lots of juicy words), and discovered that posters are not what you and I might think of as posters. But I'm not quite as green as I was on Monday, and already have trips to Brussels and Bellagio in the pipeline. I still don't have a lab coat, though.

Snow, new job

As I type, Edinburgh is being blanketed in white. It's funny how the weather sometimes seems to be attuned to events in my life.

Today I started my new job, at EuroStemCell, as communications and outreach officer. The role will involve dealing with the media, developing an "outreach package" (including a short film, website and leaflets), and a lot of translating cutting-edge science into plain English. First, though, I need put together a communications plan.

It's a part-time job, 2.5 days/week, leaving me plenty of time to develop other projects. I'm based at Edinburgh University's Kings' Buildings, a 25 min walk from here, in a building that sometimes smells of mouse. I haven't been issued with my lab coat yet (although it's on my orientation list!).

The MORI Lady

Scotland has been in the grip of some crazy weather in recent days. Edinburgh has been spared the brunt of it - no floods here - but it's been unpleasant nevertheless.

So when the hapless MORI lady rang my doorbell on Saturday afternoon, looking apologetic, damp and windswept, I couldn't send her away. She promised her questions would take only 20 minutes, and would be interesting, so as I'm a pushover, I invited her in.

A torrent of hard-hitting, personal, political, bizarre and just plain daft questions was unleashed. First up was "who would you vote for at the next general election", and some general, opinion poll, impression of the government-type questions. They also asked about the biggest issue in education, and a lot of questions about retirement provision - would my parents be living with me in their retirement? - would my children be providing for my retirement? - and other such crystal ball material.

One of the most bizarre questions involved looking at pictures of egg cartons, and identifying whether they were free-range, barn or battery. As they all said what they were on the cartons, I'm not sure what the point of this was - reading test? I also had to pick my favourite real and fictional double acts - French and Saunders, Sooty and Sweep - perhaps Gordon and Tony have decided to work on their relationship and are looking for guidance.

I saw Scorsese's latest, The Aviator, on Friday. It's the story of aviation pioneer, eccentric billionaire, filmmaker and wooer of leading ladies, Howard Hawks.

Leonardo DiCaprio puts in a fantastic, nuanced performance in the title role, surrounded by a big-name supporting cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda and Ian Holm. Blanchett, in particular, manages to capture the essence of Katharine Hepburn - a character who borders on caricature - without overdoing it.

The film, at 166 minutes, is long, but flies by in a whirl of Hollywood glamour, fabulous costumes, business by instinct (huge decisions in split seconds) and airborne adventures. Yet accompanying the glamour and Hawks' outward ascendance is his inner turmoil and descent into madness. Hawks embodied the classic dichotomy - genius and madness . Scorsese treats it well. While mental illness frames both the film and Hawks' incredible achievements, leaving the viewer wondering what happened to Hawks, the darkness isn't overpowering or bleak - just human.

The Long Tail

An article in Wired that I found really interesting, analysing how media markets have changed, fragmented, specialised...and what that means for producers and consumers. Chris Anderson argues that:

"The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream...

Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service, from DVDs at Netflix to music videos on Yahoo! Launch to songs in the iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody. People are going deep into the catalog, down the long, long list of available titles, far past what's available at Blockbuster Video, Tower Records, and Barnes & Noble. And the more they find, the more they like. As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as mainstream as they thought (or as they had been led to believe by marketing, a lack of alternatives, and a hit-driven culture)...

Long Tail business can treat consumers as individuals, offering mass customization as an alternative to mass-market fare."

It's worth reading the whole article if you're interested in the impact of things like Amazon.com recommendations.

I'm in web research mode, as the above might suggest. A's back at work, so I'm thinking about work too - what that might mean in the year ahead.

white, shiny and new

It's that time of the year...contemplation, resolution, overindulgence, bad TV. Makes you wish it would just snow, make everything look clean and white, provide a meteorological distraction.

Last night, it did. We went to the movies (saw Garden State on a second-hand but reliable recommendation (Morg) ) and A said it would be snowing by the time we came home. It was. I don't know how he does that. It was especially exciting as the first snow of the season, and it's nice that it snowed on New Year's Day.

I really liked the soundtrack to Garden State, and the film's quirky randomness - images like the boyfriend in faded armour, the boat atop the crevasse, the beige Canterbury helmet, "we'll go after we've buried your mom, I guess," seem to have stuck in my mind.

Today my Bellshill rellies came for lunch. We ate split pea and frankfurter soup - sounds weird I know, but apparently all those round golden things are symbols of prosperity and just the thing for New Year feasting. I hope my unrisen bread didn't reverse the effect. We also ate "smelly socks cheese" (except the person who called it that), gooey brie and chocolate cake (but not all at the same time), washed down with gallons of tea. There were three Dohertys in the house, after all.

My uncle gave me a yoga book for Christmas, and I did a nice winter practice this afternoon (the book's chapters are in seasons). He also gave me a book about world peace and how I can help make it happen - I'll give it a go and keep you posted.

New Year's resolutions of sorts (may be updated after reading said book):

• Find a new way of making a living (that one's been forced upon me, but I am embracing it)
• Laugh more, fret less
• Blog more

I've got a Site Feed now, so you can find out when there are new posts, if you're that way inclined.

Happy New Year, y'all.

Merry Christmas from eh10

That's Jeremy, Andrew and me on a post-turkey, pre-trifle stroll. Jeremy's wearing flashing santas, Andrew's got a sparkly santa hat, and I think he might be trying to be a turkey.

Olly was the photographer, Netty was keeping warm inside (cruel Christmas flu).

We had a super Christmas, just like a childhood one (lots of toys and chocolate, endless dishes), only more champagne. Toy of the day was probably the i-Top, although the Powerball was also popular (Jeremy the reigning champ, much to the other boys' chagrin), and my favourite was my new pink iPod mini. So cute. Lots of lovely NZ goodies too, including a paua Christmas tree for our Christmas tree.

Speaking of Christmas trees, they are better here than in NZ. You get to choose from lots of different varieties - branchy ones or bushy ones, short or long needles, silver or green, 3 feet or 13 feet (metric still hasn't really caught on). Ours is branchy, and its piece de resistance is an African mama painted steel angel from South Africa.

There are a few more Christmas pics on atkd.

Sedition

It's great to see Timothy "electoral fraud" Selwyn up to old tricks again - and still wearing the same suit. Earlier this month, he was accused of an axe attack on NZ PM Helen Clark's electoral office, and has been charged with charged with "conspiracy to commit criminal damage and seditious conspiracy." Serious stuff.

Back in my student days, when I lived above the undertakers with a collection of weirdos and Tom, I got to know Mr Selwyn quite well. Not voluntarily, I hasten to add - he dated one of the weirdos, and spent a lot of time sitting in our kitchen dressed in only a towel. Enough to put a girl off her breakfast. He was also quite fond of expounding his particular view of the world (whether or not you wanted to hear it). It seems that he has developed even more forceful methods of putting across his "alternative viewpoint".

In need of a holiday

How can I tell?

• I just spent half an hour looking for a book of stamps that I had put in a safe place only half an hour before.
• I almost sent my computer to an early grave by dousing it in tea.
• The contents of our study and bathroom and some of our living room too are arranged around the walls of our bedroom, and everywhere else in the house is covered in dust or wet paint. There are works in progress - a good time to get out.

It's 23 deg in Fuerteventura! Christmas with a tan...it'll be just like being at home. Who am I kidding? I don't really tan. But maybe I'll be less translucent :-)

Life on site

Construction site, that is. I'm perched on a chair next to a freshly painted wall, atop some bright orange bubble wrap that makes a good, if noisy and at times fright-inducing, dust sheet. Pop. One sofa's obscuring the telly, another blocking access to the dining table. We've been painting.

Now A's busy (pop) exploring the fireplace we've just discovered. Pop. Well, we knew it was there, but didn't realise that it was so easily accessible behind a hinged door. No skeletons hiding in it. A's dreaming of installing an entertainment system, or shelving, or one of those flash modern fireplaces we can't afford (and I'm not mad keen on them anyway - too modern). I think we should just seal up the door and wallpaper on over it. Especially since we've bought such fab wallpaper.

The bathroom has a big hole in it too. One day the ceiling will be raised, but we're not quite sure how. So for now, a big hole where the water tank used to be.

Domestic bliss aside, I discovered today that the end of the year will signal the end of my employment contract...no funding = no job for me. I had been thinking about not renewing my contract anyway, but it's still a shock. It's somehow much better when you are free to make the decision yourself, rather than have it made for you. The positive spin, though, is that my boss feels bad and is being nice, rather than being annoyed that I'm leaving and being difficult. I'll get a good reference and maybe some intros for freelance work and, as I still have some holidays left this year, my last day will be this Friday! Four more days! I can't quite believe it.

To escape from the orange bubblewrap (pop) we took in a couple of movies this weekend. First up was Enduring Love, based on Ian McEwen's novel of the same name. I've read a few of his books, and now I'll definitely have to read this one. The detail in the film was so finely tuned that I was left wondering whether to admire the craft of the writer or the director (probably both...and the actors too). Small moments in the lives of real people. Blowing the dust out of plastic picnic cups before pouring the bubbly. Mundane detail, but utterly convincing. Great story, too, and the cinematography and art direction were gorgeous.

Quite different, but just as enjoyable (maybe more so), was The Incredibles. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments (like when Dash's flying feet propelled the Elastogirl rubber dinghy to shore), great characters (personal fave: Edna), super suits. Cool fun all round.

looking back on London

That's right, I was going to say some more about London-town.

It wasn't all art and views...we managed to fit in a bit of shopping (I always manage to). Top spot - Marylebone High Street, home of the Conran Shop, Cath Kidston, Skandium and other treasures. Coffee comes kiwi-style at the Tapa Room (flat whites even, and NZ mags), but even then it was beaten to the title of top London coffee by Fern's find Ottolenghi (staffed by Australians). Yum!

We also fitted in a grand tour of the beeb (Fern again, what a star) - even on a quiet day we saw Ruby Wax in reception and Kirsty Wark filming Newsnight. And the Blue Peter Garden. Cool.

It was nice to catch up with old pals, and to come back with two loaves of Vogel's (thanks Tanya!) ... we might even visit again. Urban Path looks like a good guide to the better things in the vast metropolis.

Closer to home, I'm jobhunting (again/still), developing a few projects, anything as an escape route from my current employment. A's making holes in the bathroom, training for a half marathon and helping with my projects. Busy times.

Keeping an eye on London

London Eyes (x8)

Twice the Taylors, last seen high in the sky on the London Eye, sporting sunset glows and family resemblances aplenty.

London was a fun town this time around (last time we had been travelling for 4 months and suffering from associated poverty/"will we find a job?" anxiety/general travel fatigue). It feels so much more the big city than dinky wee Edinburgh...more and better shops, busier streets, blacker snot, bigger distances.

We marvelled at fantastic art. The Saatchi Gallery was a definite highlight, with Tracey Emin's Bed, Damian Hirst's formaldehyde, Ron Mueck's Angel and other definitive moments in contemporary art. My favourite, though, was the oil room, a wood-panelled room filled torso-high with black oil, providing a perfect mirror image of itself when viewed from the inserted walkway...cool!

The ooh-ing and aah-ing didn't stop there. The London Eye, perfectly timed to catch the sun disappear behind Big Ben, afforded fantastic views of a flat and sprawling city, and the pink sunset further along the Thames made jewels of the riverside buildings. Cold, though. And can you find a pub when you want one? At about half past ten at night they start turfing you out, and are few and far between on the South Bank.

It's way past my bedtime (London pubs are long since shut), so you'll have to hold that thought till next post (soon, I promise!).

deepest, darkest...

Not secrets, but winter...it's descending, and fast. The clocks changed last weekend, and with the extra hour in bed on a cold morning came dark afternoons (4 or earlier)...and still almost two months of diminishing daylight before the shortest day. No snow yet, though.

It's been a while. Since last post, I've been:

• Shopping for some winter sun. After much deliberation, we opted for a cheap and cheerful (hopefully) week in Fuerteventura.
• Learning how to draw - at the Edinburgh College of Art. I'm taking a beginners drawing/painting class, which started with a whole lot of right-brain drawing . The theories behind this are quite interesting (basically, that to be able to draw well requires a switch from left to right-brain modes, and that this can be practiced and learned).
  
• To see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Carling Academy in Glasgow (last night). It was a stonkingly good gig of two sets - the first half from his latest album, the second a host of old faves, including the exquisitely delivered God is in the House, a blistering Red Right Hand, and Henry Lee (sadly sans-PJ). The stage was crammed full, not just with tall men in dark suits, but with a lot of kit (2 drumkits, a piano & two keyboards, guitars, flute, violin...), a lot of amplification (it was LOUD) and some gospel singers too.
• Teaching my new line manager how to open Microsoft Word (it gets more Office-like by the day in that place).
• To Lewis & Harris - with work this time. Stocked up on Stornoway Black Pudding while I was there.
• To see the Finns at the Usher Hall.

We're looking forward to a trip to London next weekend...

Things to do (3) - further afield

I already mentioned (in passing) the Botanic Gardens...a really nice place to visit, especially in summer. Although the hothouses are good all year round. From there you can walk all the way along the Water of Leith to the Dean Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art - worth a visit just to see Charles Jencks' Landform and sit in the cafe.

The Traverse is good for theatre, a beer or fine dining. A bit further up Lothian Road (en route to EH10), the Filmhouse cafe has a good vibe, the Cameo's got a nice new bar too, and Bennet's is worth a visit. The Apartment is The Outsider's suburban sister, up the hill to Bruntsfield, Peckhams, a cool stationery shop, my yoga school (straying outside tourist territory here!) , Luca's at Church Hill and you're on the home stretch. The Canny Man's is a very posh pub indeed (our local, I suppose).

Things to do part two - the New Town

This is refined Edinburgh at its best - Georgian townhouses, sweeping crescents, urban planning. And Princes Street - high street stores, architectural disasters (Princes Street Mall, anyone?), gorgeous gardens. Where to start?

Art-wise, galleries abound. For blockbuster exhibitions like the Age of Titian, The RSA and National Gallery, recently joined underground, are your best bet. The Portrait Gallery is tucked away on Queen Street, in a fabulous building, and has a proper old-style caff with famous, fabulous scones.

Just around the corner you'll find a shrine to all that is chic - Harvey Nic's. The cafe upstairs has a great view if you can score a window table, the merchandise is luxurious and nice to look at. They have the best window displays in town, too. Jenners is old Edinburgh's department store (third century of trading!), and is easy to get lost in. It also sports a 40ft Christmas tree at the appropriate time of year (how do they get it into the building?). Otherwise, for shopping, you're better off in Glasgow.

Views can be had all over Edinburgh...it's that kind of city. Top spots include the Scott Monument (not for claustrophobics), the terrace of Oloroso, North Bridge in either direction, Calton Hill, the Botanics looking back to the city and (insider secret) the ladies' loo in House of Fraser.

The Cafe Royal Circle Bar has amazing mirrors and tiling, The Dome has a nice...dome, the Opal Lounge is full of beautiful people, Centotre plays Italian lessons in the toilets.

Things to do in Edinburgh - the old town

We were chatting at work today about nice things to do in Edinburgh - visitors imminent and all that. Collectively, we came up with so many ideas that I thought it might be useful to note some down for future reference & referral. Pen and paper just won't do these days, so here they are, in my blog...

In the Old Town
Take a tour - above or below ground, by day or by night - not for the faint of heart, I hear.

Visit the new Scottish Parliament. You can take a guided tour at £3.50, or just wander, I think. Down that end of the mile, you can also visit Cadenhead's if you're a whisky geek, the map shop opposite if you're a map/print geek (or just for some good craic with the shop owner, quite mad but all the better for it), visit the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (across the road from the Parliament) - very nice door-hinges and, until 7 November, Dutch Paintings of the Golden Age. And you're not too far from Holyrood Park/Arthur's Seat/Salisbury Crags - perfect to burn off some energy, blow away the cobwebs and for a knockout view.

Moving on up the mile... Always Sunday's always ok for coffee (and, if you score a window seat, people watching). Sir Sean was seen last weekend at Cafe Florentin (although I have had bad coffee there). Explore some closes en route, or if you're heading for Waverley Station, Cockburn St is interesting (in a kids with piercings kind of way).

Spit on the Heart of Midlothian, be impressed by St Giles', avoid the tacky tourist shops and nasty £20 kilts.

The Mile ends (or more properly, begins), at the Castle, of course. Pricey (£9.50), but you have to do it at least once. I might be able to wangle a freebie for this weekend's visitors, in exchange for participation in the Big Draw!

Moving south ever so slightly, you could visit Victoria Street/West Bow for dinky shops, a nice gallery that I can't remember the name of, and the Bow Bar for a pint or dram in trad surrounds

Up on George IV Bridge, The Outsider is good for dining with a nice view in a nice place - fresh & tasty food too. Just around the corner, there's the Museum of Scotland and The Royal Museum - good for wet weather discoveries, coffee in the atrium, swanky dining in the Tower (I've never been).

That should do for starters.

They've bottled it

I made this discovery when tripping around the Highlands a couple of weeks ago. We took in a tour of the Glenmorangie distillery, way up in Tain, and spotted in the shop a whisky called EH10. The name is "a blend of the Edinburgh postal code and a reference to the ten premium whiskies it is made from", and the box features a catalogue-style image of a grinning couple below Edinburgh Castle, all black and white and yuppie-styles. According to its makers,

it encapsulates the sophisticated and stylish character of Edinburgh, from its vibrant café culture to the splendour of its historic traditions. We believe it will have real appeal to younger consumers.

Somehow I don't think I'm quite the target market. Oh, and café culture? Not so I've noticed.

The Scottish Parliament opened officially yesterday, but was rather a subdued affair. The Queen was there, but managed to look cheerless through most of proceedings (unruly, unpredictable, unwilling subjects, us Scots), and was the only one in the whole of the chamber not to take her neighbour's hand and sing Auld Lang Syne - the most uplifting and Scottish-feeling part of the day. Outside, cold and confused about what was actually going on inside (the lack of big screens or other broadcast of proceedings on this historic day to the amassed public kinda went against the whole "parliament of the people" ethos - you had to wander up the Mile and into a pub to find out what was going on), we were entertained by a singer/clarsach-player with dour classics like Loch Lomond and Imagine. Not very cheery stuff. Inside, the other highlight was Edwin Morgan's poem Open The Doors, composed for the occasion and delivered with great gallus by Liz Lochead. You should read it all, but here's an excerpt:

Did you want classic columns and predictable pediments? A
growl of old Gothic grandeur? A blissfully boring box?
Not here, no thanks! No icon, no IKEA, no iceberg, but
curves and caverns, nooks and niches, huddles and
heavens syncopations and surprises. Leave symmetry to
the cemetery.
But bring together slate and stainless steel, black granite
and grey granite, seasoned oak and sycamore, concrete
blond and smooth as silk – the mix is almost alive – it
breathes and beckons – imperial marble it is not!

Tuesday evening

The home-weigh job was even less accurate than we thought...and my package was over the magic 2kg mark. So much for physics.

I watched The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off on TV last night. And bawled my eyes out. It was an amazing piece of documentary, incredibly moving & very funny. Well worth watching if you get a chance.

Mail fun

Postal physics

Take one bottle of powerade, one plank of wood, assorted pre-weighed (and unopened!) groceries (eg 1.5kg pack of muesli as pictured) and a rudimentary knowledge of physics and - hey presto! - you have a set of scales with a margin of error of about 25%. Brilliant.

My dilemma was this. I wanted to post a parcel by surface mail (yep, Christmas shopping, feeling very organised!), but it has to be less than 2kg, otherwise the price jumps from around £8 to £29. Which is quite a big jump. Keen to avoid my mum's experience of removing string from her parcel at the PO to get it below 2kg, I wanted to make sure before packing it all up. Somehow, despite A's best efforts, I don't think we have conclusively established that the parcel is below the magic weight. But we had fun trying!

You have to be careful in the land of the free

It's a great title, of the novel I'm reading at the moment, by "Skarrish" writer Jim Kelman. One of the more challenging and yet engaging books I've read in a while, it's a 448 page chapterless, break-less, (brakeless?) stream-of-consciousness tale of a weegie about to take a plane home from America. The narrator, Jeremiah, is pure Glasgow linguistic delight.

The pic I posted last time was of the castle/youth hostel we stayed in last weekend, way up north. With marble statues, elaborate ceilings and resident ghosts (I'm sure I heard the phantom pipers) it ticked all the castle boxes, while funny tourists (not Germans but Aussies by the car-full), creaky bunkbeds and those sheets with inbuilt pillowcases reminded us that we were actually in a hostel.


statue gallery


crazy cornice