I'm back!

Yep.

Not that exciting I know as I'm sat in the office and all my pictures and what-not are on my PC at home - so don't expect too much today either! - but we should be updating again shortly. Failing that, there's always something to moan about. For example, my office has been switched around. I've come back to find that my books are all out of order, my blinds have been fiddled with and my tea making facitilties have been hit. Coffee has moved. Sugar has moved. Spoon is missing.

There is no spoon!!

Out to lunch

Sorry folks, away at conference (in Reading) until next week. Normal service will be resumed on Monday. :)

Free stuff

Plus, I've got hold of a few more free books. One of the old lecturers in the department is retiring - though to tell you the truth, he hasn't been in psychology for years now, as he was a big cheese in the Faculty (i.e. upstairs in the literal sense). Still, it does mean that he's had an office full of books to get rid of so they were bought over here and dumped in one of the rooms downstairs. We're all been swarming over them and I've managed to get my hands on "Human Memory - Theory and Practice", a "Cognitive Psychology" text book, and a "Biological Psychology" text book. I'll probably never read them but like all lecturers, I crave books to fill up my shelf space and make my office look more impressive. :-)

Brine is thicker than blood

Of interest to me is the news in the paper that we - the British - are genetically identical to the Germans, or at least, those Germans from Friesland, Holstein and Jutland. Still, the concept of a "people" is more than just flesh or blood. The difference, it seems, is due to the geographical fact of us being seperated from Europe, and as such, we've avoided the otherwise certain conquests by Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV of France, Napoleon and Hitler. Whereas we've gone 940 years without being succesfully invaded, the French have had five republics, two empires, two monarchies and three occupations since 1789. The Germans have had two republics, a monarchy, an empire, a dictatorship and two occupations. Spain has had three monarchies, two occupations, a dictatorship, two republics and a civil war. And so on. In return, we've had one monarchy. 21 miles of English Channel, we thank you. :-)

On another note, I was out for a few drinks last night at "Sleepers", one of the new wave of trendy pubs hitting Hull. In case you're thinking that I'm being a bit patriotic in the first paragraph, I'd like to point out that you can't beat a Czech lager. Or three...

Hottest day ever?

According to my Tory Rag (The Mail), today *could* be the hottest day on record, with temperatures hitting 102f (39c) in the South-East... Thank God I live in the North-East. (Note: Roll on September). Still, it's 5-a-side football today. It's hot, and we had a possible "Chair" (an academic one, not a four-legged one) give a presentation at 1.30pm, so it got set back until 4pm. Imagine my distress on reading this in the paper:

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"The day is usally warmest not at noon, as many might think, but at around 4pm. This is when buildings and the ground, which have been warmed all day in the sun, are radiating heat back into the atmosphere."
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Bugger.

Still, all is not bad news. Important alcohol-related facts are evident. Whilst a cold beer will reach bathwater temperature in 15mins at 100f, chilled white wine will be undrinkable in ten minutes. [Ice cubes are recommended. :-)]

Perils of an open microphone

Taken from the BBC news website:

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Forget prime minister, Mr Blair, or even plain old Tony. The new way to address the prime minister, we learn, is "Yo Blair". That at least is how George Bush greets the PM in private, according to unguarded remarks they both made in front of an open G8 microphone.

We also learn how Mr Blair refers to international commerce as "this trade thingy".

And there was some strong language used as well. The US president apparently believes the Middle East conflict could be ended if only pressure were put on Syria "to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit".
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Since Jason also mentioned the whole Israel vs Hezbollah in Lebanon thing, I thought I would, even if only to discuss the above perils of nattering away in front of activated microphones. Is it just me annoyed to find that the leader of my country is referred to as "Blair" - as in "Yo Blair!" - by George Bush. Adds a certain hierarchy, doesn't it? I mean, if I was at a conference and my head of department, sprawled across a chair, called me over with a "Yo Jackson!", I'd be miffed. Having said that, I didn't mind the "trade thingy" at all, as it makes Tony sound a bit human - rare for someone tucked away in the Downing Street bunker for nine years - and Geroge Bush was actually talking a little bit of sense there too.

But "Yo Blair"? Grrrrr.

Aha. Found it. Just click on the video.

An in-joke

'Nuff said. :-)

My continuing quest...

It doesn't sound like much but I've been on a mission these past two weeks to get my Staff card updated. Like many places, you need your staff card to swipe your way into the library and the teaching labs. Fact is, mine has never worked since I got a new one and I've always knocked on the door and had students let me in - but enough is enough, eh? While taking some students around on an Open Day, and not getting into the library *again* (I rarely go btw, as I request stuff from document supply or get it electronically), I asked "Why doesn't my card WORK?". Turns out, it had a number missing, and that the barcode thus didn't match. After the hassle of making it, it turns out that I had 599765 underneath, not 599765-1. So, I went over to Admin - far far away across campus - and got a new one. I also asked if I could get it changed from Mr James Jackson to Dr James Jackson - well, you would if you had the opportunity, surely? No, oh no, we can't do that - they said. Why not? Well, this was University Human Resources, not Faculty Human Resources. Only they were allowed. Anyone can change it, but only Applied Science and Technology Human Resources were allowed to do so for me. So off I went - all the way across campus. Now, I actually know these people, so I asked to be upgraded on the system. Of course, they said. I remember you handing your completed PhD in. Well done. Do you have any proof? But you know I passed! Yes, but we need proof... So I stomped back to the department. Find PhD, photocopy PhD, get it signed by Head of Department - took a while to find him - and then back to Faculty. Updated, yay! Can I get my new card now? No, sorry. It takes 24hrs for the system to be updated, you'll have to wait.

So bugger that, I left it for a week. I went this morning (back to University Admin all the way across campus). Guess what? This very morning, they're moving the card generation/printing software to another server so it can't be done. "Can you come back tomorrow??"

Argh!!

Hmmm...

I have to admit, I'm curious as to what Materazzi said to annoy Zidane so. From a peek on the BBC website this morning, it was "something very serious". Wash your mouth out with soap and water, that man!!

Today's most pointless e-mail (so far)

Dear James Jackson ,

Your O2 bill for 06/07/06 is ready for you to view online. The balance on your account shows that you do not owe us any money. You need take no further action.

Doctor Gear - or is that Top Who?

Try as I might, I can't get these photographs to stand side by side. Blogger just doesn't seem to let me...

Still, as Doctor Who draws to it's season climax, is it just me, or do David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Richard Hammond (Top Gear/Brainiac) look *slightly* similar?? Sally says no, but then she would as she fancies the former, but not the latter. ;-) Still, I maintain that if you grew Richard Hammond another foot (of height), and added some better teeth, then there you are: a Time Lord!! Thoughts anyone??

And no, I have no idea who is standing next to David Tennant... - I mean Richard Hammond - in the second photo. Best one I could scrape up from Google Images. :-)

And so it ends...

Yep, England's World Cup dream is over in typical fashion. An average start, Wayne Rooney skillfully running past three defenders in a moment of brilliance, shortly before being sent off. Half of the second half and extra time spent defiantly holding on while a man down, and then losing on penalties. England through and through, eh? No-one ever said that watching England play was easy... Still, Doctor Who was on aferwards and we had cybermen and daleks in the same episode. :-)

Let's put things in perspective though. It's only a game, however much we were all swept up in it. July 1st was also the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1916). The blooidest day in the history of the British Army. 20,000 men killed in a single morning as they went "over the top". My grandfather was almost one of them, as he was shot as well. In fact, when he staggered back to the starting trenches, he had to hold his bloodied hands high above his head so that the Military Police would see he actually *was* wounded, and not shoot him out of hand for cowardice. (He went on to be shot twice more in the war, but survived into a grand old age, passing away in the mid/late seventies, a few years after I was born). Getting knocked out of the World Cup or fighting in the Battle of the Somme? I know which I'd pick.