Just installed 4OD or "4 on Demand" on my PC Like the BBC's iPlayer it allows you to download and watch recent programmes, except Channel 4 rather than BBC of course. Will wait to see how much 'geographical' content is available...
Posts
Knock on the door a couple of minutes ago brought a welcome parcel: a book I saw in the Liverpool Tate shop: "Patterns of the Earth". Like the sticker on the front which says "Essential for creative thinkers and inquiring minds." and the second book was one I've been waiting for for about 3 months, and which has had great reviews by people such as Rory McLean, Andrew Motion and Tim Adams. Search for "wild places MacFarlane" to read the reviews for yourself. He visits places I know well myself: Norfolk, Loch Coruisk and Raasay.. Even the map at the front of the book makes you look at the country from a different angle.. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this, but first I have to cook tea...
Seaside Special... Piers are a favourite of mine. Below are some images of (and from) Southwold Pier Hunstanton , which is the nearest town to where I live, had a pier until the 1970s when bad weather swept away much of the structure which had been damaged by fire several times. There is now an entertainment centre which itself is a rebuild from a structure which was burned down in 2002. Some images of the FIRE HERE . There is also a list of the various towns which have LOST THEIR PIERS here. Here is an early image of the town with pier from the TOWN COUNCIL website. For me, a pier would really bring a focal point into the town, but I understand that it's not popular with everyone. My 'local' paper: the Lynn News has a long running correspondence going on in the readers' letters page. There are plans for a marina development for the town as well, in association with Searles Resort , which has a population greater than Hunstanton during the summer months... BURA is th...
Image by Flickr user ISDKY - great image of Saddleworth Moor. "Way way way down the motorway...." The programme of the summer so far were episodes 1 & 2 of "The Secret Life of the Motorway" These had some amazing images from the building and opening of the first motorways, particularly the effort that went into building the top section of the M62, which I spent 3 years living next to (well, not RIGHT next to...) When this gets repeated (or shown on BBC1 or 2) I urge you to watch it... Plenty of Geography mentioned and geographers featured...
Great quote by Will Self: "All that is required to teach contemporary urban youth about our social history, the impact of industrialisation on Britain, our environment and what threatens it is to stick stout boots on their feet, a map in their hands, and have them walk into the country." Will Self Also exploring this site: SHOP HORROR . Some ideas for CONSUMPTION and RETAILING.
Get your kicks on the M66... If you have satellite / cable TV there's an excellent series (by the look of it) to be shown next week on BBC4, called " The Secret Life of the Motorway " Here are the details from the BBC website: Episode 1 (Tuesday) This series pays homage to Britain's motorways – the people who built them, the people who use them and the people who risked their lives to stop them. Along the way, everything from early driving experiences and the joys of motorway services to the rise of the protest movement are re-lived. At just six miles long, the first stretch of motorway, the M6 Preston Bypass, was opened in 1958. For the first time, people could travel further, more easily and quicker than ever before, thanks to this groundbreaking "road revolution". This programme charts the beginning of Britain's love affair with motorways, meeting the engineers and builders who designed and built this first motorway, through to those who toiled to...
L is for...
L is for... Originally uploaded by ~Bellatrix~ Like this a lot. Wonder if this could be adapted for some Geographical purpose as a project ?
Guerrilla Geography Day 1 Well done to Dan, Simon R and Nicole, plus Jimboe for their Guerrilla Geography action in Birmingham yesterday Here is a YouTube taster with a radio interview. Also check the blog: http://guerrillageography.blogspot.com/ Dan also featured in the Guardian today on the decline in numbers taking 'A' level Geography. More news items, this time on BBC Midlands Today ! Great clip ! And here's another
Today is the anniversary of the Lynmouth AND Boscastle floods ... Well done on a 'nice' set of AS and A2 results today KES Geographers ! and thanks to Mr. Bilbie for passing on all the details... SLIDESHARE's largest group is now the GEOGRAPHERS There are over 170 slideshows there now... A quick random search today also led me to this very stylish presentation which should be recommended reading for all those colleagues who use Powerpoint (and me) A great job by Alexei Kapterev
Talked to a friend in Sheffield yesterday, and he told me that one of the outcomes of the recent flooding in Sheffield was a beer festival that was held last weekend (and which resulted in him having a 'bit of a head' the following morning) The beer festival was called 'Floody Hell' and involved some of the breweries that were damaged in the flooding, such as Kelham Island brewery (brewers of Pale Rider, one of my favourite ales) Special beers that were brewed had appropriate titles: FLOODY HELL - Kelham Island Brewery WADE IN THE WATER - Kelham Island Brewery LADY'S BRIDGE - Thornbridge Brewery SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN - Durham Brewery DON VALLEY DELUGE - Sheffield Brewery RIVERWARE - Bradfield Brewery TORRENT - Acorn Brwery HERE COMES THE SUN - Derby Brewery RIVER'S CASCADE - SHEFFIELD BREWERY SANDBAGS & GLADRAGS - Kelham Island Brewery
I love the opportunities that summer holidays provide for pottering little jobs... Yesterday went up in the loft and wandered down the ladder with a few samples from a huge box of tapes that I hadn't played for years. On with the wi-fi headphones (a great invention!) and out into the garden with a bottle of 'Cologne style lager' from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich (pic below of my daughter standing on the Prime Meridian earlier this year) One of the tapes was classic Pat Metheny "Offramp" from 1982. Used to play this a lot as a student, and particularly like the track "Eighteen" - driving and melodic... For those who haven't heard Pat Metheny before - check out this solo acoustic medley... Will keep you updated with some other 'classics from the dusty box' as I work through them...
Staithes, N Yorkshire
Staithes view Originally uploaded by Clonidine The first of my 3 favourite views of Britain, to go with the posting above on the ITV Britain's Best View programme... Great image from Clonidine Had a fab Christmas here a few years back, when we got snowed into the village for the whole week, and had a white christmas day of snow.
Buachaille Etive Mor with snow on...
Sunny Buachaille Etive Mor Originally uploaded by bicameral One of my 3 favourite views, to go with the posting above on the ITV Britain's Best View programme... Great image from bicameral I once stopped to take a picture of 'the buckle' and left my camera on top of my car. It fell off as we set off and got crushed between the wheels of a lorry that was following. Not good !
Cuillins from Tarskavaig
Cuillin Sunset 1 Originally uploaded by pete_thedoctor_smith One of my 3 favourite views, to go with the posting above on the ITV Britain's Best View programme... Great image from pete_thedoctor_smith
Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court
Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court Originally uploaded by Undeleterious Would quite like to be popping in here today...
iTomato
iTomato Originally uploaded by petenator40 And here's another great image by the same photographer as the post below...
FLICKR Explorations
green pepper Originally uploaded by petenator40 Just having my daily dose of Flickr and came across this excellent image. Fits in with some work I'm doing on the way our food is moved around the world, with ideas from Sarah Murray's "Moveable Feasts"
Just sent back my ballot to see if I can get a ticket for Michael Palin's New Europe lecture at the RGS-IBG in October. Fingers crossed... Regular readers of the blog will know that I'm fond of whisky, particularly those served in the Taychreggan Inn in Dundee. Recently discovered that the only whisky distillery in England is in fact in Norfolk . The English Whisky Company's manager used to work at Laphroaig, so this may be rather good when it appears in 2012... I also like these t-shirts which have just been produced which give away the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I've only shown you half of them though - I'm not a spoilsport... Just putting together a lot of resources on the new VELIB scheme in Paris. Will let you know more about them when they've finished, but now I'm off for a game of bowls in the evening sun...
Summer Holidays I was born in the early 60's, so the school holidays that I remember most fondly were in the mid 1970's... Of course the sun was hotter then - never mind Global Warming... We had 1976, which was the drought year... Also had summer play schemes where we could go and be entertained. We used to play down the woods for hours without our parents being too concerned - although they still worried of course... Did a quick search on my favourite cultural archive: You Tube. 'Robinson Crusoe' is first up: black and white (as most TV was) Come 'White Horses' was next.... Also in black and white and German (unfortunately, embedding is disabled...) And 'Flashing Blade': "You've got to fight for what you want..." And don't forget 'The Double Deckers': a group of kids who hung around on a bus... Anyone remember any others ?
A pottering day, but Geography came in as always... Out to the opticians as needed an eye check: fortunately my IWB projector doesn't seem to have made a difference to my eyesite but apparently my ability to focus is on the way out, just part of getting old... Ordered new glasses as my existing ones snapped a few days ago (hence the Jack Duckworth reference in an earlier post) Weather was very changeable today. Free Horrid Henry for my daughter with the Times. A few books catching my eye in book shop: interested in Richard Girling's 'Sea Change': a useful resource to download as well with an extract HERE . (PDF download) Richard Girling article in THE TIMES on flooding in the UK. Also bought a copy of Sarah Murray's "Moveable Feasts" which looks at the journeys that our food makes: useful for some resources I'm developing - also the key role of the shipping container, which I've long mentioned as being a key part of globalisation in terms of reduc...
WalkScore is a website which has just been mentioned by Lucy Rawe on SLN. You put in your address or postcode and it measures the distance from your house to a number of key services: shops, pubs, fitness etc. My house scored 15 - my previous house near my place of work scored 69... What does my score mean? Your Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100. The walkability of an address depends on how far you are comfortable walking—after all, everything is within walking distance if you have the time. Here are general guidelines for interpreting your score: 90 - 100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car. 70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car. 50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car. 25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are withi...
Staying out of the heat: it's 30 degrees out there... Sitting under a tree with a cold beer is nicer, and getting on with my major writing project for the summer. Just discovered the new British Geological Survey site which allows you to explore the BLAKENEY ESKER. This is a case study that we have used in the past as it is local to us. May even introduce this as an extension of our fieldwork visit... just thinking out loud. Well done to those who were involved in the production of this resource. Also check out the MAKE A MAP interactive Geology map, which is available to download. And finally for this update on the last 15 minutes of good discoveries, here's a new game which was highlighted by GeoDave on SLN Forum. I discovered a version of TETRIS last week which used American states rather than geometric shapes, and you had to put them in the right place. There's now a version where you have to put in the countries and islands that make up EUROPE . Could be a good one fo...
The Campaign to Protect Rural England 's PLANNING DISASTER site which I have mentioned before has a useful map now added which allows you to choose to add a series of layers which have details of proposed developments which would change the character of rural England. You can explore which are local issues, and perhaps choose to develop these in the classroom. A quick look brings up some proposals, including the structure below, which I can see on clear days from close to my house, not that I'm necessarily for or against it. Any ideas what it could be ? Answers in a comment please... Hot today. Must say I actually prefer the cooler weather. And could this (released in November) finally be the first decent album since Amarok ? The signs are not ideal I have to say - Hayley Westenra ? Mind you...Faith Brown ??
Just started my trial with this. Downloaded the first episode of Mountain : a hefty 265 Mb which took just about 45 minutes to download - good picture quality - programmes are available for a limited period and last for 7 days from the time you first watch them. Particularly interested in snippet in Mountain of the work of Lotte Glob , who makes art from firing rocks until they melt and merge together, to create books like the one pictured below: geographical art... She also has the most amazing house ! Would love to own one, but they're a bit beyond my price range unfortunately...
