Blogtastic

I'd forgotten where this was. I just found it linked to my ancestry.co.uk page. I've started writing music again and have recorded some rough takes on webcam to consider taking further. The later ones were better, after I'd found out how to record the sound to PC. See my youtube channel (Name: Cryospyke)

The Heart of Everything

Well, it finally arrived, and I have had chance to listen to it several times to get the feel of it.

The band have made some small musical changes that are refreshing, but it does not vary much from the Gothic metal that served so well on "The Silent Force" album.

I managed to get the last ticket for the Bristol concert for next Tuesday, and that means that WT have sold out across the UK - not a bad achievement for their first full tour here.

Trailer for the movie, "The Crow"

Below is the trailer for "The Crow", one of my favourite films.

The Longest Week

I have finally had some days off from work, my first for 3 weeks, and have spent them editing MySpace and this blog. In the background, I have had Last FM playing, and there have been some really good songs.

However, now I must drag myself out to town to post a parcel and do other errands. I'm waiting for Within Temptation's new album The Heart of Everything to come through the post that I had on pre order as well.

Keep fit?

For the first time in years, I played 5-a-side football with some of the guys from work. Though it only lasted an hour, we were all exhausted at the end, with a satisfying score of 7 goals each.

Afterwards, in a fit of extreme madness, I decided that since my muscles were all warmed up, and I could do with regaining my fitness, I would go cross-country running over White Coppice afterwards.

Using the valley to control my breathing, I then made my way up though the woods (walking on the slippiest, steepest parts), I reached the metalled track from the road at the top and ran across the moorland at the top. The wind up there was bitter, particularly since I was in shorts. It was even colder as I began my descent to the right of the gorge, running slowly because the ground was wet (it's wet up there in summer, let alone mid-November).

I was grateful for the shelter further down and picked up the pace back to car park and spent ten minutes to pull on some warm clothes and do some warm-downs.

Even so, for the remainder of the day, I continued to feel sore and stiff, and if I sat still in one position too long, the cramp in my legs would be particularly painful.

Still, I've been planning to return to training for some time, and I just hope I can keep it up. I'll have to brush up my football skills too, since everyone else seemed to be much better than me.

Chess Rating

This link shows how my rating has changed according to games lost or won at Chessworld.

As you can see, I seem to be holding steady at around 1100, therefore I have decided it is time to start reading up on how to improve my tactics. The first book I have purchased is, "Rapid Chess Improvement" by Michael de la Maza, which discusses tactical thinking and 'Chess Vision' as the foundation upon which positional knowledge should be built, rather than the other way around.

Works on house

When we first went in and turned on the water, there were several leaks and we could hear the elctrics fizzing as the water poured down the switches and light fittings. We fixed those temporarily, and began work.

So far, we've stripped out the remaining furniture, removed most of the wallpaper, knocked off the plaster to a meter high, and had the damp course done and wall ties fitted. The old boiler, gas fire and mantelpiece have also been despatched to the tip.

We have designed a compact kitchen and are considering the best solutions for the bathroom and central heating.

Books and Films

Over the last few weeks, I have steadily been working my way through the Morse series. I don't know if it is a particularly healthy thing, but I seem to identify with him; from the crosswords to the ale to the disillusionment and loneliness.

In addition, I've watched all 4 Crow films. I had watched the first with Brandon Lee years ago and loved the whole Gothic atmosphere and soundtrack. The 4th is the weakest by far of the set, where the bad guy, nicknamed "Death", is obsessed with making himself the Devil incarnate, and it is up to The Crow to stop him.

The 2nd reintroduces Sarah as a seer and show her befriending a street girl, that seemed to be setting the scene for the next story in the sequence, though it didn't work out that way.

I've read the novels "No Mercy" and "Sleepyhead", which are both forensic crime thrillers. The plot devices in "No Mercy" were a bit predictable, and were transparently links to the next action sequence. "Sleepyhead" was different in that the killings were accidental - he sought to force his victims to exist in a permanent paralysis unable to function without the assistance of the outside world.

Bank Holiday

As often is the case, the Bank Holiday was one with mixed weather. So, I took a ride on the Ribble Valley Railway shown in the pictures below, and then went to the Odeon to watch Xmen: The Last Stand. The reviews I read for this film described it as reasonable but not up to the same standard as the 2nd, which (according to that particular reviewer) was the best of the three.

Personally, I think that they wanted to wrap the franchise up before it became boring and stale, and that was why they made this. It was visually engaging and the dialogue was fairly believable, but there seemed to be dynamics only between the characters central to the plot, with a lot of extras thrown in to fill the screen up a bit. In other words, too much room was made for the action at the expense of telling the story well.

 
 
  

 
 
 
  

 
 
 
  

Ribble Valley Steam Dock Railway

The Ribble Valley Steam Railway is a recently formed attraction that runs on the Preston docks railway when it is not being used for its primary purpose serving the bitumen plant there. It has a reasonable collection of smaller locomotives as shown in the pictures. It runs at weekends and Bank Holidays and seems to be particularly popular with either young families or retired couples, but anyone interested in industrial or transport history, or who is just stuck for somewhere to go for the day will find it worth the trip.

 
 
 
  

The Square in front of "the Church of the Crooked Spire", Chesterfield

  St Marys and All Saints Parish Church in Chesterfield attracts visitors due to the crookedness of its spire, but it is a fine building too. 

Queen Street, Bottesford

  This is Queen Street today 

St Marys, Bottesford

  The church at Bottesford is huge, compared to the size of the villages it serves 

Bottesford Station

  Bottesford railway station is in a traditional village style. 

St Johns, Spittlegate Parish, Grantham

  This church and tower is built on a small parcel of land, with the rectory below. 

The Maltings, Grantham

 The Maltings is another historic curiosity. 

Spittlegate House, Grantham

 Spittlegate House is on the main London Road, and is not far from the old workhouse location (which is near the railway).