supercollider

I watched a film called "The Supercollider" yesterday, after recording on the TV.What a terrible film. There was a particle physics experiment, which went wrong and bad things happened. The head of the collaboration went into an alternative very bad reality. He was a goodish family man. It tried to be a concept film, but all the ideas were confused.

Perhaps as a particle physicist I am biased against films which show the collider exploding.

Dream attendance at a conference in Cuba

Last night I had a very vivid dream about being at a particle physics conference in Cuba. I was walking in the conference hall, because somebody split coffee on one of my slides. I wanted to get a  copy. The chair person of the session asked me what I was doing. Then people started  complaining about people waking around and not attending sessions. I was named and shamed.

The conference ended. I went outside the hotel to get a taxi to airport.  I couldn't find my bags. I was walking around the streets, asking whether this was a dream.

It couldn't happen here.

It is a bank holiday today in the UK. I did intend to do some more and indeed I did some in the morning. In the afternoon, I saw the sun shimmering and bright. I decided to finish reading the book: It can't happen here by Sinclair Lewis.  The story is about an American president who turrns himself into a dictator. I read it because it was recommended  as a  good book to understand the bid of Trump to become president of the USA.

I can see many parallels with the appeal of Trump. One big difference is that the plot in the book setting up of an SS like organization called the "minute men", which takes power,   however Trump is too disorganized to set up such an organization. I doubt that if Lewis was writing the novel now, he would worry about the communists at all.  It is written is a very lively style.

North Korea

Last night I dreamed that I was walking into a restaurant for a big family meal. I was talking to a woman who came from North Korea. I asked her, when she came to the UK and she didn't understand me. She sid ",OK I will go home with you. We will get a taxi home after the meal." At the restaurant we didn't end sitting together. I though I should make her sit next to me.

My dating life is much better in my dreams, than in reality. Of course perhaps she was a spy.

Dreams of the naked

Last night I had a long confusing dream about living in  a hospital. My room was small, but I had three room mates, one of which was a robot. There was a lot of tension in the flat. Yet another room mate joined the flat. She was a restless blond. A couple came around looking for directions. My female room mate was asked for help with finding the place they were looking for. She then pulled her dress off and sat their naked and proud. The visiting woman came back in the room and she was naked as well.

Needless to say I then woke up. What was most depressing was that I was happy to get out of the situation. Was I allowed to sleep with one of the women and which one?

Drinking in Brighton

The weather was fantastic in Brighton, so I manly sat outside and read my kindle. I did notice that Brighton is a bit of a party town/ There were not enough seats outside. A couple of times I sat down to start reading my book after breakfast. People sat beside me and started drinking. One time in the small park in front of my hotel. Two guys started on the vodka and orange. One of the guys asked me about my leg. He has some problem with his lung. Everyone is polite when they start drinking.They didn't offer me a drink I might add.

Another couple started drinking cans of cider in the morning on a park bench. They too were polite.

I didn't take a beer with lunch and I felt better for it. I did drink before dinner after 17:00, well I was on holiday. It is so expensive to drink in pubs now. I am almost paying 5 pounds for each beer. In one pub I noticed that they had a vending machine in the toilets which sold Viagra, rather than the more standard condoms. Most of the pubs were fairly empty, because it was a weeknight.

I did find an upscale Coctail bar where I drank my first Martini. Essentially, I ordered a "Vesper", which is a drink created by James Bond. This was not cheap, but I did get two for one.

This is why it is best to go on holiday with a girl friend. I was a bit woozy, so  I walked back to my hotel, I thought I would have a beer to sober me up. The bar I walked inn turned out to be a gay bar, but that was no big deal. It was two for one on beers, so I ended up with two pints. The server did say I didn't have to take the second beer, but did I mention how expensive it is to drink in pubs these days..

Suddenly I could see what people ended up drinking in the morning in Brighton. It was time to leave for the sake of my liver. I took a train to Eastbourne.

Start of a holiday in Brighton (on being banned from a Gay pride event)

Normally I take holidays outside the UK, because the weather is better and normally even with the airfare, it still turns out to be cheaper. This year I decided to have a holiday in Brighton UK It took just under 6 hours to get from Plymouth to Brighton. I tried to get a taxi from the railway station to the hotel. There was the end of a big gay pride event and the taxi driver thought my hotel was in the restricted area, where the main party was. As it happened my hotel was outside the area, where a wristband was required. The taxi left me at the wrong point and it took some time to find my hotel.

My hotel room did indeed have a sea view. After checking in I wondered around. There was a big party area, which I  couldn't go into because I didn't have a wristband. There was a lot of music. Many people were carrying around cans of beer, so it was a traditional British event.  I drank a German beer, then I ate a huge mixed grill meal from a Turkish restaurant. I was so full I could barely move. I was just sat on a piece of concrete. One of the security guys for the gay pride event went over to talk to me. I had a couple of scabs on my leg after banging into things. These were not serious, but they looked a bit bad. he told me they probably would not let me into the guy pride event, because of my leg. He felt that I would fall over. I didn't actually want to go in, I was just digesting my food.
Still I was banned from a gay pride event. Us people with bad legs should organize our own musical events with chairs and hotels with lifts. There will be much hopping madness.

Herschel museum of astronomy

I am holiday in Bath at the moment. I was looking at the map of the city and I noticed that there was a Herschel Museum of Astronomy.     This turned out to be a small house. I dimly knew (once reminded) that Herschel had discovered the Planet Uranus. What I didn't know, was that Herschel was originally a musician in Bath, but as a hobby he started to study astronomy. Then he started to build his own telescopes.

The museum was very small, but it made the discovery of the planet more real. He spent many many hours polishing mirrors.

For the love of physics

I have a lot of half read books on my kindle. Today I finished reading: For the love of physics by Walter Lewin. Lewin was famous for his physics lectures at MIT, particularly when they were posted online. The most iconic moment in his course was when he let a big pendulum off in front of him.




The book is enjoyable, but also a bit strange. It starts out with popular real world physics, but the second half is about his work on X-ray astronomy. The last chapter is about Modern Art. He is a big collector and he has worked with some artists. I liked the way he used in the end chapter the metaphor "ways of seeing" to unify his interests in art and physics. He is a bit arrogant, but that is normal for a famous physicist.
It is a pity that he was involved in sexual misconduct so his links with MIT were cut.

Bad day at black rock

I purchased the DVD of the film: a Bad day at Black Rock.      What a great film! I have dimly known about the film for a long time. I thought it was about a one armed man who comes back from Japan and he does some Judo. Now that I see the film, I see that he wasn't in Japan, and there is very little Judo, but still he is hard in  a very polite way. Also the scenery was amazing. He was tough in the way that only some one who has been in a war can be.

One  armed swordsmen are cool in martial arts of course.

Friday night in the pub

After work on Friday, I went to the gym. After the gym, I had a beer in the pub next door. The pub was called the Union Rooms.        . I intended to just stay for a beer or two, but ended up leaving about 12:30. It is a pub with a dance floor and a big garden. I often wonder where time goes when you are in a pub. At the end I switched to drinking coke, because my body can't cope with a big session any more. I do still feel ashamed of staying there so long. Now that I look at the web site, I see that it is open until 3:30 on a Friday night, so I did really go home early.

I did  notice that the modern trend is for many of women to buy cocktail jugs for themselves. They then dance with them. Not a great piece of insight about the modern world. Still I am exhausted and I need to do something to get my Mojo back.

Waz

A couple of days ago I watched a great horror film called Waz, which I recorded off the TV.

It was a very atmospheric film, with cops wondering around a city at the night. The serial killer was working off an equation. The lead man seemed to be sleep walking through some massive depression.

Walking to work

On my way to work, I was just about to cross the road. On  the other side I saw a crinkly broken man walking around with oxygen.When I was in hospital last year one of the nurses told me how great the small oxygen kit was and how easy it was to  walk around with it.  I was not convinced and watching the guy slowly walk up the road, I thought I hope that isn't me in 5 years time. I walked fast, as much as I can and turned into another road.

Over the road, I saw what looked like a transvestite. Thee were wearing an old blue dress and some of the most solid high heel shoes I have seen. Of course it might have just been an old woman, whose face had been ravished by drinks and drugs. They crossed over to my side of the road just behind me, I could hear the clunk of their shoes on the ground, as I tried to whip my crippled body into a faster limp. Luckily, she turned off into the eye hospital.

Moving to Chester

I actually dreamed last night. I was viewing a new flat to live in. It was actually smaller than my current flat, but still had most of my stuff packed into it. The stairs were very small. The flat was close to a very big bus station. The flat was actually in Chester, a very middle class city. So really my dream was a nightmare.

Lost eyes on the side of the road

After work I went shopping, then a small workout in the gym. I went to the pub before the bus. I came out of the pub. There was a pair of gold rimmed glasses lying on the road. I know I should have picked them up, but they looked so symbolic and sad.

Waiting for the bus in a pub

I am feeling really low and exhausted. I went into town to go to the gym. I almost didn't go the gym, but I wanted to go for beer and then get the bus home. But I went to the gym for a reasonable workout. Hopefully I will manage to go again this week..

Then I went for a beer and a whisky chaser in the Noah's ark pub. I go there for a number of reasons. It is not a student bar. Some of the people there are a bit crazy. It is also close to my bus stop.

Today I was in there. A number of women came up to buy drinks. Some guy was shouting at a woman, who was wasted. There is a horrible tone of voice for a wasted  person. The air seems to crackle with the voice of a heavy drinker. Perhaps I should have tried to talk, but I just stared at my drink. The final woman was wearing a straw hat and a flowing skirt. She ordered red wine for the road, but she was drunk in a controlled way. An old guy rushed up to talk to her. She started to quote a few phrases of Latin to him, in a way that made me think of a life with promise, but that the promise has long gone. 

Anyway I got the bust home.

Dreams

I dreamed I was working in a big team of young people to do some kind of military science fiction project. It wasn't clear what the goal of the project was, but it was very secret. David Bowie was there as well, although I was never a huge fan. We stayed in a big dorm room.

The dream is fading fast from my memory.

Plastic dolls in Plymouth

I did a bit of shopping at Argos after work today. The bus stop is at the bottom of the Royal Parade in Plymouth.  As the bus pulled out. I saw two women wearing shiny clothes walk into the buffet restaurant. They were carrying a large inflatable plastic sex doll. I have not seen that many hen night outs in Plymouth. But then I don't go out late drinking that much. And if I do I got to a grand dad type pub.

The big machine

Last week I finished reading "The Big Machine" by Victor LaValle. This was a strange book about a cleaner, who was almost clean of junk, who one day got a job at a mysterious library. After some months he goes into the field, where things get weirder yet.

I can't always remember why I buy books. I look at my list of books on my kindle. The author also wrote "Black Tom", which got me back into reading fiction this year.

Post gym beer and laughter

My flu session is slowly fading away. Last night I did manage to go to the gym. I didn't do a very hard workout. Afterwards, I went to Noah pub close to the bus stop for a beer and a glass of whisky. I wish I hadn't. There were a couple of old people in he pub, who were drunk and shouting.  The guy went up to the bar for another round of drinks. The barman refused to serve him, by telling him "he had enough." The guy wondered around complaining that he had been cut off because he was underage, although he was an OAP.

I thought it might get ugly. But I almost wanted him to come over and complain to me, so I could hit them. I don't know where this rage came from. Anyway they couple left quietely in the end. I finished my drink and got the bus home.

As I walked in the door of my flat. I could hear my next door neigbour laughing hysterically. 

Dreams and fatherhood

I had a strange dream last night. I was meant to look after a 1-year-old baby. I was working with a bunch of tutors outside for some reason. The baby didn't cry. I did hold it, without dropping it for a long time. But I had to go to work in a big store like Wilco. I left the sleeping baby somewhere.

The boss of the hardware store was very charismatic. There was a staff meeting. One person had been drinking on the job. The store manager decided to electrocute him. There was almost a  fight between the guy who was going to be electrocuted and me. The guy was electrocuted. It was the end of my shift, so I picked up all my stuff and left.  I went to find the baby (I wasn't the father, I might add.)

Anyway I think it is good I never had kids.

Quantum Night

I think I am a bit of sucker for book based on quantum mechanics. So when Amazon offered to sell me "Quantum Night" by Robert J Sawyer.    The book makes many interesting points about the influence of quantum mechanics on consciousness. I am not sure how correct the science was, but he used the words in the correct way.

You can tell the author is Candian, because no American would care so  much about Canada.

Vintage Murder

I have a bad case of flu this week. I could barely concentrate earlier this week. But I did manage to read some stuff in the last couple of days,  as I begin to feel human again. Yesterday I read my first Inspector Allen Mystery. The book was called Vintage Murder. It was a classic old fashioned mystery novel, but with a policeman as the hero.

The story was set in an occult church.

Watching the Grand National

I am just getting over a bad week long session of flu. I can now bare the cold weather and don't feel like the chilly wind is God punishing me.  Last night I wa sitting in the pub, before going to my friend's house for some food. I was stood up, but the pub seemed more full than normal.

The Grand National was being shown on the TV. I wished I had put a bet on it, mostly because the winning horse had odds of 33 - 1.  It reminded me of watching the Grand National race, over 10 years ago in a pub  in London. We sat in the pub from about lunchtime until closing time without any food. At the end, I had to get some chips.

After watching the racing I went to another pub for a couple of cheap beers. I took the bus home at 8pm.

I would have bet on the last Samurai horse.

Future shock The story of 2000AD

I am uncool, I know that. I know I should have read the 2000AD comic, but apart from picking up the odd copy, I never did. I do now own some novels of Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. Obviously I like the extreme violence.

Today I watched a film called "Future shock. The story of 2000AD". Thjs was an interesting film aout the history of 2000AD comic. It was a bit bitchy at times, but that is what creative types do, when the money is a lot shorter than the ideas.

Marauder

For some time, I have been reading Marauder by Garry  Gibson. I really enjoyed it, but my attention span is so short these days. The book had alien technology and spaceships, as well as machine enhanced humans.

The Devil's detective

I have just finished reading the devil's detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth. It was a strange book. Partly a detective story, but set in hell. There were big issues with free will and manipulation.

A drink in the Dolphin pub

Someone told me that you are not a real Plymouth person, unless you have had a beer in the Dolphin bar. I am really sick with  a fever at the moment, but last night I felt the need to visit the Dolphin bar on the waterfront in Plymouth. It was a regular's type pub in a tourist area. It was cold outside and I think I made myself more ill, by trying to find it. I had one beer before I limped through the grey evening air for a pre-bus beer.  

ill again

I had a nurse visit on Friday to talk about my breathing problem. She did a small blood test and told me that the amount of oxygen  in my blood was ok. About a day later, I got a bad case of the flu / cold.  The fever is not so bad, but I am pissed off, because I have got a lot of non-teaching things to do.

I used to just wait and let the fever burn out of me. But after a bad cold turned into a skin infection. I am more paranoid these days.

Another Saturday in the prison of my flat.

I intended to go down to the Barbican in Plymouth today for a few beers, but when it came to it, I couldn't muster the energy to leave my flat. I have too much to do for day time drinking. It was such a nice day as well, with a bright sun.

Exhaustion

I am exhausted. I occasionally find myself crying. Only for short bursts and very dry tears.  I wish the weather was better, so I could take a trip somewhere. I have not been out for a drink. I feel better than I did on Thursday.

Celebrate Easter with the Devil rides out.

I feel slightly guilty that I do nothing about Christianity this Easter. Ok, actually I don't. I have spent along time trying to forget about Christianity. I will only have the dim echo of memory from some Bob Dylan songs.  Of course if you take this route, it is easy to fall into sin. Anyway I was watching the great film: "When the Devil rides out",  an old hammer film about black magic.

At the end of the film, there is a fire in the room, where they are holding a black mass. The fire burns down all the symbols of Satan. At the back of the church is a standard cross. The perfect end to Easter Sunday!  If it was raining so hard, I would go out for beer to celebrate being saved.

Fumio Demura

Last night I watched a documentary on Netflix about the Karate master Fumio Demura. I had never heard of the guy, or so I thought. He was the expert who wrote a lot of books about karate weapons, such as the tonfa.

It was also interesting to see the way he organized demonstrations to enhance the visual aspects. Steven Segal was a big fan as well.

The demo below is fun. It is also impressive, given how old he was when he made it.

The documentary would have been better if they had shown his original training in Japan. Also he was important for the first Karate Kid film. It was a bit sad to see him so old, but his spirit seemed unbroken.


 

The ballad of black Tom

I have not read a fiction book for a long time. So it was good to get back into this reading for pleasure. So this weekend I finished reading: The Ballad of black Tom ,by Victor Lavelle. It was great short novella about black magic set in New York. It is always good to start Easter off with some black magic.

I should say that I really liked the prose style. Actually the book is also about racism, but I liked the magic elements better.

The Man with Iron fists 2

You can see how emotionally drained I have become, because I have not managed to make any blog
entries foe such a long time.

Last night I watched "The Man with Iron fists 2". I have watched the first film, which was OK, but not as good as the original films it copied.


I enjoyed this sequel a lot more. The main star is a rapper from the Wu Tang clan. He is a bit wooden. And he really needs his iron fists, because he doesn't have any good techniques. Still there was a lot of fighting, so I was happy.