Something silly!

A disclaimer: The blog author wishes to make it abundantly clear that the text below does not infer or imply a dislike of all things American. This post is not intended as a racial slur or a rant in favour of Anti-Americanism. The intent is to promote the humour inherent in the views of those who are passionate about the television series Doctor Who.Over the last few days I’ve been active in an online discussion based on the statements below:

The latest Pirate outing for the Who shows the commercial desire to beg fiscal favour from the American market.
An obvious pillage of Depp's franchise, as to make the Who instantly familiar to the American audience
The previous episodes were festoon with star spangled reference
To flatter to enrich BBC coffers
Isn't there a basic essential Englishness to Who?
And aren't we losing it as commercial forces corral to Americanise the franchise?
All the great American standards will be s[t]ucked into the creative vortex as Moffat resells the Who as distinctly American in flavour.
Expect future programs to include: Western, War Movie, Romantic Comedy, Horror, Action, Gangster, Melodrama, Social Conscience, Musicals

The author of that twaddle continually refers back to this as a support for the debate, when some makes a post that disagrees with or disproves his claims they are either ignored or the comment is cherry picked for any possible comment that supports the opening comments.

I did a bit of research and looked through the last few years of Doctor Who episodes, I was intentionally looking for any link, no matter how tenuous, to the Americanisation of the series, this is what I found:

Rose: The first thing we see is the American continent from space, the episode also features a conspiracy theorist, the episode also features animated shop window dummies.

End of the world, A song by American band REM, robotic spiders similar to those in Runaway with Tom Selleck and Minority Report.

Dalek: set in Utah and features many American characters.

The long game, Adam Mitchell leaves a message on an answerphone, the first commercially available answerphone was in the US.

Fathers day, the first time the tradition of Fathers Day was observed it was in Fairmont West Virginia.

The Empty Child: American Air force, “Are you my Mummy?” The modern series of Mummy film star Brendan Fraser, he’s American don’t you know!

The Doctor Dances: features music from American band leader Glenn Miller.

Boomtown, A nuclear Power station is going to be built, the first operational nuclear power station was built in Idaho.

Bad Wolf: There are wolves in North America, and it features an American character.

The parting of the ways, Features an emergency hologram of the doctor, an emergency medical hologram featured heavily in star trek: voyager, The link; emergency hologram doctors.

The Christmas invasion, the doctor quotes the lion king, a Disney film.

New earth, set in new new new new new new York.

Girl in the Fireplace, Set in France, the French assisted the American during the war of independence, this episode is clearly a nod of gratitude for that help.

Rise of the cybermen, over the course of the two parter we see airships, one of the most famous airships is the Hindenburg which crashed in America.

The idiots lantern, the Doctor was planning to take rose to New York to see Elvis Presley, you can’t get more American than Elvis, The Doctor sports a very Elvis like quiff.

Smith and Jones, the title is clearly a reference to a series set in the old west called Alias Smith and Jones, also features a moon landing, the first man on the moon was American.

Gridlock, Gridlock is the American term for a traffic jam, and again new new York.

Daleks in manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks: New York Again High rise buildings, elevators not lifts, lots of American accents The American iconography in these episodes are too many to list in full.

The Lazarus experiment, marvel comic rip off: a good old mad scientist, with an experiment gone wrong, and an outrageous super-villain on the loose. The monster is very scorpion like in its design, the Scorpion King featured an American wrestler known as “The Rock” The Rock is an alternative name for Alcatraz, a notorious American prison.

Blink: Billy Shipton refers to Sally Sparrow as “hot” an American term used to express how atractive a male finds a female.

Utopia, Has an American in it.

The sound of Drums, features a track by Rogue Traders entitled Voodoo Child, The F-101 Voodoo is an American jet fighter .

Last of the time lords, features the Valiant, Chrysler, an American car manufacturer built the Valiant and the plymouth Valiant, it also made the Chrysler valiant, The USS Valiant NCC-74210 featured in a DS9 episode of the same name, DS9, as we know is an American series.

Voyage of the damned, In 1912 the Titanic was sailing to New York.

Planet of the Ood, An Ood says Do’h! A phrase in constant use by Homer Simpson.

Eleventh Hour, Young Amy gives the doctor an apple, the Big Apple is an affection term for New York City ,

The time of Angels, the City of Angels is Los Angeles, which is where Hollywood is!

There have been 76 episodes from Rose to The Doctors Wife

Discounting the current season, 29 of those episode contain blatant or concealed references to The United States, 6 of those contain or indirect references to New York City.

Bearing in mind that many of the links are extremely sublime, my intent with the above was to illustrate the fact that if you set your mind hard enough to find a thing you will find it even in the smallest reference. If you were to do the same you would find links to almost any subject you chose,

Peeps, pups and Vikings

It’s been an odd weekend, Friday was very busy for herself, she went shopping for the grub for Saturday, I got invited to go into Folkestone for a few beers with some bloomin’ good mates. I must admit that I felt a bit of a heel at the thought of leaving herself to sort everything out, but she pointed out that she would probably get on with things if I weren’t getting in her way. Taking this as a cue to leave her to get on with it, I got the next bus down and made my way to Chambers. They were holding their annual beer festival, the first drink of the day was a (not very) lemon cider, to be honest I don’t really like cider much; I used to drink it a lot in my younger days, so it didn’t really grab me. My second drink was a pint of Strawberry Fruli, this stuff is incredible. It can only be described as a melted strawberry mivvi that has fermented just a little bit to become a strawberry flavoured lager, I say strawberry flavoured, what I mean is, being clouted firmly around the head with a punnet of strawberries that has cunningly been disguised as an alcoholic drink, you really can’t taste the alcohol. It was then decided to head down to the Pullman, a place that I haven’t been to for many years, mainly based on the reputation that the pub had, it was always a bit of a chav bin. Fortunately the reputation has been lost and it seems to be a decent place to sit and chat whilst enjoying a pint. I was studying the pump labels when it was pointed out to me that they sold my favourite beer, Doombar. I have to admit that I really like this ale, so I had a pint. We headed into the beer garden where we sat and talked and told lame jokes, and I had another half of DB. All too soon the afternoon came to an end and I headed home.

Saturday morning I woke with a start, quite literally as herself came bursting into my room, loudly informing me that it was five to nine, she scared the pants of me, well my PJ’s actually. I let out a bit of a yell, although she says I screamed like a girl. To that I say PAH! Last minute sorting was done in anticipation of the arrival of Clare, Neil and their pups JD and Max. They arrived at eleven and we had a cuppa and Clare handed Trudes a bag full of goodies, at we point she got all blubby, the great girl! Ronnii was extremely well behaved, she only growled a little bit, the most surprising of these was when Clare tried to help Ronnii onto the sofa, I can only put it down to the fact that there was new people and two strange pups in the house. JD & Max are lovely pups and so different, JD was content to lay on the sofa and take in all the events going on around him, A quiet retiring little chap but not unfriendly, in fact quite the opposite. Max on the other hand is very curious and explored the house and garden and followed Ronnii everywhere, but he too is very friendly and gentle. Trudes bought out some frozen yoghurt and peanut butter treats for the pups and the Schnauzers tucked straight in, Max made very short work of his and realising that his brother appeared to be having difficulties, he offered to help. JD didn’t bat an eyelid, he just looked at Max nicking his treat and let him get on with it. The treat was retrieved and put back in JDs’ bowl and he wasted no time in preventing Max from having another go at pilfering his treat. Shortly after this the pups were treated to a slice of Ronniis birthday cake. It was quite a remarkable looking thing, if you weren’t told that it was made specifically for dogs you wouldn’t have known, it looked quite yummy and our two canine guests soon cleared their bowls. Sadly Clare, Neil and the pups had to leave and set off back to Clacton. It was so nice to meet them all, I was impressed by the good behaviour of the pups and Clare and Neil are extremely nice people, it was a bit saddening to see them leave.

Later that day a contingent of friends from Folkestone and Ashford arrived, and we had a good time chatting and enjoying the sun. A friend from Dover also dropped in and it was nice to see him, even if he has had an extreme haircut.

The time that we spent with our friends was far too short over the weekend and the house was restored to just Trudes, me and Ronnii, so she said that I could watch Doctor Who. I’d been looking forward to this for about two months, and for me it wasn’t disappointment. The episode started off with a bang and delivered the highs and lows we have come to expect from the series, I can’t wait to see the next episode.

Sunday was nice and relaxed; herself had gone off to Thame for a dog show and to catch up with friends from the rescue. I stayed at home with Ronnii and caught up with a few hours of mind numbing TV and sleep on the sofa snuggled up with my pup, bless her!

Monday was very quiet, Trudes was recovering from the excitement of the dog show, fortunately she had a brilliant time, but it had worn her out somewhat. I had been invited to see Thor with a couple of mates on Monday night, it was a last minute thing as I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to afford it, but my sweet missus had kept some cash by so that I could go, aint she lovely!

The film was good and I recommend it, but I can’t say too much except that the lads will like it because it’s yet another comic book adaptation and the girls will like it because the chap who plays Thor is, well let’s just say that he has serious on screen presence. Oh yeah, Anthony Hopkins id brilliant as Odin!

So that was my weekend, Friends old and new, adorable pups and Norse gods.

Free time….

It’s still very strange in the house, but things are not too bad. I miss Richie terribly but I will come to terms with him not being here. Smiffy came up on Wednesday for a spot of painting, he commented on how quiet his welcome was, I guess that anyone who regularly visited the house will notice Richies absence for a while.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent at work after a two day break, and we then went into a four day weekend for Easter. I’m looking forward to this weekend as we will be having a few friends over for a celebration of Richie and Ronniis birthdays and our sweet little Molly Popples A fitting way to remember the pups that we have had the pleasure of welcoming into our homes over the last year.

Friday was reasonably hectic, herself was up before me and set about making preparations for the weekend, a trip into town for supplies was in order. I set about sprucing up the bathroom and washing and filling a paddling pool. I then got a call from my bro’ asking if I would be joining him and other friends at Chambers for a couple of beers. I initially declined as this would mean that Trudes would be left to do the sorting on her own. Herself had a different view on this and she said that if I went out I wouldn’t be getting in her way and she would probably make better progress with me out of her way. So I headed into town to catch up with some good friends and have a couple of pints. The first was a half of a not unpleasant lemon cider, although not overwhelming in the lemon department it was rather refreshing. After that I had the obligitary pint of Frulli, a strawberry lager that is extremely nice and is one of the few lagers I could happily spend the day drinking. We left Chambers and headed down to the Pullman, I thought it had closed, fortunately I was wrong. A quick glance at the tap badges and I was very pleased to see that they had Doom Bar on tap oh sweet joy! Those of you who know me well will be aware that this is my favourite ale, describing it as delicious does not do it any justice at all. All to soon the afternoon drew to a close and we headed our separate ways. some to Ashford, some staying in town and little old me heading home on a bus, well eventually, I had to wait half an hour for the bus.

There’s a few last minute things to do before the big event, one of which is to bath Ronnii so that she is all sweet and shiny for her day.

Sunday will see herself head off to Thame with a friend to attend a dog show, I’m a little worried that she may not come back empty handed, I know there are going to be some wonderful pups there and she’ll have trouble not ‘napping a couple, as for me, well with herself away and it being just me and Ronnii, I shall make the most of the day and spend the time walking my pup and painting models.

I’m not sure about Monday yet, I do know that I may have to avoid the net for most of Saturday to avoid spoilers, herself has said that she has no problem with me watching the Doc on Sunday whilst she’s away, so that’s something else I can look forward to, although there is one cloud over the Doctors return and that is the loss of Elisabeth Sladen earlier in the week, the beeb has announced that there will be a fitting tribute to her on Saturday night. I had the good fortune to meet her twice. The first was at a convention in London and the second was at the SFX weekender in February last year. She was very warm and friendly and chatted to everyone that waited to meet her and for the whole time I was in the line up I never saw her looked dismayed or downhearted at having to shake the hand of yet another fan, I also saw her interaction with Tom Baker and you could clearly see that the two were great friends.

I’ll let you know how the weekend goes and my thoughts on Impossible Astronaut, until then enjoy your weekend and don’t stay in the sun too long.

Middle aged meanderings!

It’s strange how these things affect us, when Molly left us I was totally devastated and could hardly stop blubbing, Richie has been gone just over a day and although my heart hangs heavy, I’m not blubbing quite as much. Trudes says it’s because we have Ronnii and didn’t have to face the silence of a dogless home this time, maybe she’s right. Trudes got home from the vets and she said that Richie’s passing was very calm and quiet, he didn’t complain and just fell asleep in her arms and drifted away. I’m so pleased that our little man suffered as little as possible in the end. I think it also has a lot to do with the vet that he saw, Anthony is such a gentle man, one of those types that is doing his job because he care about the animals he sees rather than that they are just a down payment on a posh car*. He treated Molly with respect and dignity at her end and Trudes said that he was just the same with Richie. He went so far as to alter his schedule so that he would be the one to help Richie on his way.

The house is very different without him, Richie that is, not the vet, that would be odd. Last night Trudes was about to ask if I’d given him his tablets, she stopped herself when she realised, for me it’s walking him that I really miss, he would stop and check the smells on everything, lamp posts, trees, bushes, Ronniis butt! I couldn’t help but have a giggle at the way he would spin around before setting to his business. The annoying way he would bark as loud as he could when he saw another dog. Ronnii and I had our first walk without him last night, I am sure she misses him sticking his nose up her bottom or shoving her to one side for the best pee spot. we’d probably got halfway on our usual route when she stopped and sniffed the air then she looked around with a quizzical “something’s missing” look about her, she then gave a dismissive shake of the head and we continued on our way, a few steps later she stopped again. this time she walked around me almost searching for our lost companion. Ronnii’s spent he morning today wandering from the front room to the kitchen and back and occasionally coming over to me or Trudes all at a loss. She definitely senses that something’s not right.

For the afternoon we headed into town and walked down to the harbour, where we, the human members of our party, had a cuppa and a packet of crisps, the pup had to settle for a dish of water and a cookie that she found rather distasteful, something that Trudes confirmed apparently £1.10 was a bit over priced. After the cuppa we headed down to a, not quite as crowded as the rest of the beach, corner where Trudes rid herself of her stylish yet affordable shoes, took Ronniis lead from me and marched into the sea with little miss fluffy butt close behind, as the waves lapped at Ronniis little furry paws she did what any dog would do in that situation and sat down. She now had a soggy bottom to match her soggy feet. After the paddle we headed back to get some chips whilst Ronnii took in the sights and piscine aroma wafting from the various fish mongers on the harbour. We headed home and had to be collected by the friend that was visiting, she was supposed to arrive at 3 but came fifteen minutes early. We spent the next hour or so catching up on events since we last met up and then she and her little lady headed off. I headed down to check on a feline friend, I was rather surprised to learn that Ronnii was not completely worn out after the mornings stroll and was desperate to join me. It turns out That she does seem to get on with cats and Obi took quite a shine to her, there was head butting which is always a good sign.

The next thing that will be different for me will be coming back from work, I won’t have captain shouty welcome me home with woofs and wags, Ronnii may be excitable but the shouting won’t be there.

We’re also having company tomorrow evening, Smiffy’s due over for an evening of painting, that’s something to look forward to.

I’m back at work for two days and then of for the Easter holiday, there’s a slight chance that Trudes may be away for the day on Sunday, she’s asked if I would like to go along but I wonder whether it may be good to let her have the time out.

It’s a few days away yet and you never know I may change my mind, I do that from time to time.

Anyways, ta ta for now.

Goodbye little friend

A sad silence has fallen upon the house, in yesterdays post I mentioned that Richie’s health had seriously deteriorated over the last couple of weeks and that we would soon have to make a very difficult decision.

Today we said goodbye to our brave little man as he crossed the rainbow bridge to run free and chase squibbles with his sister.

It was not a choice we made lightly, but it was made for him. It is better to remember the way he was rather than watch him become a shadow of the happy little chap he has been. Every that day we put it off would have meant that we would have lost him piece by piece. Now my precious boy is at rest and free from the pain of his dodgy ticker and he is running around green fields and splashing through babbling brooks without a care. I don’t doubt that little Molly Popples was waiting on the other side of the bridge for him and they were soon swapping tales about their lives with us and how they made us laugh and cry.

Trudes, in her wisdom, sent me a poem that she found; I guess she knew how this would make me feel. If only there was a glue to mend a broken heart, I have put the poem here so that others can read it; it may help you to understand why the older and not typical cute dogs need a loving and caring home.

Richie had a hard life until he was taken in by TLDR. We suspect he had been beaten and he had had his front left leg broken, either through a kick or being hit with something. He’d lost his right eye, either to an illness or an injury. Add that to a heart that was wearing out and you had a pup in need of a lot of love. I’m not saying that another family would have loved him less, but nobody would have chosen to take him on if they were presented with him or a more appealing dog. But he was ours heart and soul, and we loved him the way a dog deserves to be loved, with gentleness and a warm bed.

I don’t doubt that there are those who think me foolish for being so emotional over what is, after all, just a dog, but they’re not just dogs. We take these animals into our homes to be our companions and our friends. They rely on us for food, warmth, shelter and care. After being involved, albeit on the sidelines, with an animal rescues I am shocked and saddened at the way some people treat their pets, and I wonder if they would treat a person in such a way? They clearly have no respect for life or the joy that a pet brings into our lives. Trudy says that when we lose a pet we don’t grieve for them but for ourselves, that may be true but it doesn’t dull the pain I feel right now.

The Legacy
When humans die they make a will
to leave their homes and all they have
to those they love.
I too would make a will if I could write.
To some poor wistful, lonely stray
I leave my happy home.
My dish, my cosy bed, my cushioned chair, my toy.
The well loved lap, the gentle stroking hand,
the loving voice.
The place I made in someone's heart.
The love that at last could help me to
a peaceful, painless end,
Held in loving arms.
If I should die, Oh do not say,
"No more a pet I'll have,
to grieve me by its loss"
Seek out some lonely, unloved dog
And give my place to him.
This is the legacy I leave behind -
'tis all I have to give.

You may think me daft or over sensitive for being so emotional, those who know me well will also know that I love animals, I always will, I can’t walk past a cat without saying hello, and I get great joy from having dogs in my life, something I thought I would never say.

If you have a dog or a cat that shares it’s life with you, grab it, hold it tight and tell him or her that you love them, and show them that you do every single day, you never know how much longer you will have with them so you need to treasure every moment.

That’s me done for now.

Goodbye little friend!

 

A sad silence has fallen upon the house, in yesterdays post I mentioned that Richie’s health had seriously deteriorated over the last couple of weeks and that we would soon have to make a very difficult decision.

Today we said goodbye to our brave little man as he crossed the rainbow bridge to run free and chase squibbles with his sister.

It was not a choice we made lightly, but it was made for him. It is better to remember the way he was rather than watch him become a shadow of the happy little chap he has been. Every that day we put it off would have meant that we would have lost him piece by piece. Now my precious boy is at rest and free from the pain of his dodgy ticker and he is running around green fields and splashing through babbling brooks without a care. I don’t doubt that little Molly Popples was waiting on the other side of the bridge for him and they were soon swapping tales about their lives with us and how they made us laugh and cry.

Trudes, in her wisdom, sent me a poem that she found; I guess she knew how this would make me feel. If only there was a glue to mend a broken heart, I have put the poem here so that others can read it; it may help you to understand why the older and not typical cute dogs need a loving and caring home.

Richie had a hard life until he was taken in by TLDR. We suspect he had been beaten and he had had his front left leg broken, either through a kick or being hit with something. He’d lost his right eye, either to an illness or an injury. Add that to a heart that was wearing out and you had a pup in need of a lot of love. I’m not saying that another family would have loved him less, but nobody would have chosen to take him on if they were presented with him or a more appealing dog. But he was ours heart and soul, and we loved him the way a dog deserves to be loved, with gentleness and a warm bed.

I don’t doubt that there are those who think me foolish for being so emotional over what is, after all, just a dog, but they’re not just dogs. We take these animals into our homes to be our companions and our friends. They rely on us for food, warmth, shelter and care. After being involved, albeit on the sidelines, with an animal rescues I am shocked and saddened at the way some people treat their pets, and I wonder if they would treat a person in such a way? They clearly have no respect for life or the joy that a pet brings into our lives. Trudy says that when we lose a pet we don’t grieve for them but for ourselves, that may be true but it doesn’t dull the pain I feel right now.

The Legacy
When humans die they make a will
to leave their homes and all they have
to those they love.
I too would make a will if I could write.
To some poor wistful, lonely stray
I leave my happy home.
My dish, my cosy bed, my cushioned chair, my toy.
The well loved lap, the gentle stroking hand,
the loving voice.
The place I made in someone's heart.
The love that at last could help me to
a peaceful, painless end,
Held in loving arms.
If I should die, Oh do not say,
"No more a pet I'll have,
to grieve me by its loss"
Seek out some lonely, unloved dog
And give my place to him.
This is the legacy I leave behind -
'tis all I have to give.

You may think me daft or over sensitive for being so emotional, those who know me well will also know that I love animals, I always will, I can’t walk past a cat without saying hello, and I get great joy from having dogs in my life, something I thought I would never say.

If you have a dog or a cat that shares it’s life with you, grab it, hold it tight and tell him or her that you love them, and show them that you do every single day, you never know how much longer you will have with them so you need to treasure every moment.

That’s me done for now.

What to do?

it’s been a quiet couple of weeks, I had Monday and Tuesday off last week. Monday was herselfs birthday so I took the day off so that I could ensure that she had a nice relaxing day. Her plan of a lay in was scuppered when I took her tea, toast and pressies at 09:30. You can find out what her pressies were on her blog. I nipped into town to grab a bit of shopping, where I picked up two cakes. one being a simple chocolate sponge with cream filling, the other being a rather special chocolate cake. When I returned from the town I offered the birthday girl a cup of tea and stuck a couple of candles in the first cake. I sang her the standard birthday song and as I put the cake in front of her I mentioned that it was a bargain as it only cost a quid. that evening two close friends came to wish Tea a happy birthday, I offered tea and cake, as you do! This time I bought out the posh cake, although herself claimed that she was wise to my ruse I think she was rather surprised. Ronnii, our Yorkshire Terrier, was due do have a “routine” operation at the vets Tuesday morning. This time herself got her lay in as I left for the vets at ten past eight and didn’t return home until just after 10:00. I made myself a cuppa and put some coffee on for the missus. no sooner was the tea on the table when my phone rang. It was the vet asking if Ronnii had been sick in the morning, I told her that she hadn’t and that she was in good health when we set off to Hythe. I was told that the little madam had been sick three times since I left her and as a result she may not be having her op, the nice lady from the vet said that she would have a word with the chap who would be doing her surgery and see what he suggested. a few minutes later nice lady rang back saying that the dogtor was not happy to operate on Ronnii in case there was something wrong and he didn’t want to put her at risk. So I set off to collect her. This was done and I thought that I’d wander her along to the shop to assess how she was. would you believe the little minx was absolutely fine and walked along the high street with no problems, one elderly gent did mention how amusing it is to see a big chap like me being controlled by a small pup like her, I chatted with him for a minute or two about how special Ronnii is and how I have no problems walking a small floofy dog. Since little Molly Popples I have certainly become a small dog man.

The weekend was relatively quiet, Friday we heard some excellent news about a situation that my closest friend has been dealing with, it has now been resolved and, hopefully, the whole debacle can be put away and the parties involved can move on. I certainly hope so.

I was at the shop for Saturday and Sunday, but the events there can be read about on the Hythe Tyrant blog.

I got home on Sunday to discover that Richie had been very difficult throughout the day, we suspect that he may have the doggie equvivalent of dementia, this does actually tie in with the heart problem. Since his heart is not working too well he may not be getting enough oxygen to his brain which would cause the symptoms Trudes has described to me. He’s getting very forgetful and when he goes out to the garden he stands still as though he’s trying to remember where he is, she has also said that he wakes up in the night and looks at her with a sort of “who are you?” expression on his face. She says that he also comes downstairs in a way that seems he’s checking the place to remind himself of where he is.

I have noticed it more over the last week or so and each day it seems that a little bit more of our little man has gone. We knew when we fostered him that we would have a limited time, but that doesn’t make it any easier. When Richie first came to us we had not long said goodbye to Molly and I tried very hard to keep a distance between me and him. It didn’t work, by the end of the first week he was well and truly ensconced in our lives.

Ronnii and I are off to Hythe to have another go at getting her whowhoectomy done. This time I’m going to stay with her until she has had the pre-med and then once she has dozed off they can take her off and do what needs to be done. We suspect that she may have been ill at the vets because she had become distressed at being left at the vets, on her first night with us she was very sick and we took her down to meet Anthony and introduce her to the people that would be providing her vet care, she had a tummy bug and other than that she was a very healthy dog. We’ve had a few scares with her, the most worrying was the semi-necrotic polyp, but she sorted that herself the grim little monster. I have to be honest and say that I’m worried about the operation, when we took adopted Ronnii we were told that she was about five or six, our vet has since examined her more thoroughly and has determined that she is closer to ten maybe eleven, this means that there is a higher risk involved in what would be a routine procedure. The problem with keeping pets is that we get attached and grieve when we lose them, but I don’t think that our house would be a home without at least one dog scampering around.

So I’m off work for Monday and Tuesday again so that I can take Ronnii down to Hythe and  and keep a watchful eye on her whilst Trudes goes into town should she need to. If I get chance I may paint but I may just sit quietly and read a book.

We may also use the time that I’m home on Tuesday to prepare the house for Saturday as we will be having a few friends over throughout the day as we’ve planned to celebrate the pups birthdays, plus a certain temporal travelling medic returns to our screens on the same day, but that my have to wait until later in the day or even the next. Since there’s also a possibility that herself is off to Northshire on Sunday we may not get to watch it until the following Monday, but that’s a bank holiday so if I avoid the net and contact with humans I can avoid spoilers.

I’ll keep you posted on the situation with Richie

keep smiling

Stonking

I finished work tonight and headed down to Hythe to waste a bit of time in the shop, more on that in the other blog! By the way I left for work this morning armed with my scope in the vain hope that the sky would be clear

With that fact clear, on with the rest of my twaddle. The problem with dropping into the shop on astro-Friday is that the shop closes at five and the bus to Ashford leaves at five forty, what to do for half an hour except stand at the bus stop looking bored? And nip into Waitrose for something to scoff on the journey, Cheese sandwich always goes down well, especially when I haven’t had to make it!

I was tempted to nip into the camera shop and see if he still had the Meade 2x Barlow but I thought better of it, what with a rather important birthday looming on the event horizon, I’m gonna get a slap for that one!

The bus journey was uneventful apart from Mr & Mrs Chav having a "who can hit the hardest competition, it ended in a row as these things usually do. fortunately a substantial amount of extremely geeky reading material distracted me and made the journey pass rather quickly. After loitering around with the Ashford contingent we set off to Woodchurch for what was probably the most anticipated talk of the year. We weren’t let down, Drew’s talk was nothing short of brilliant. it was informative and entertaining and I really enjoyed it. I had hoped that there would be an opportunity for a little observing but the weather was against us and a mist had set in allowing only the brightest stars to be seen, not so great for telescoping. There’s hope that we’ll get an evening in over the next couple of weeks, I hope so.

My plans for the weekend have been somewhat scuppered by a foolish Facebook post early this morning. although I wrote “a weekend of (insert expletive meaning clump of earth) all, what I meant was A weekend of gaming on Saturday and painting on Sunday, there are mumblings of wanting the kitchen table cleared off, Herself wasn’t overly impressed with the way I phrased my plans for the weekend and has insisted suggested that we sort out the garden. my idea of concreting it went down equally well. I suspect I may need medical attention after she’s read this post.

However I have realised that “sorting out the garden” actually means “setting fire to stuff” so I’m in and I may purchase a bag of marshmallows for Sunday night, I wonder how easy it to cook sausages over a dustbin shaped incinerator?

Keep an eye on the blog, there may be pictures of Sunday nights conflagrations, I do love a bonfire!

Of course the problem with having a raging inferno in the garden is that the smoke will have the same effect as cloud and obscure most of the sky so a bit of astronomy is probably a no go.

So I plan to enjoy a weekend of arson and and the hope that there may be cake as a reward for making the garden a bit neater

I hope you enjoy your weekend, even if you’re not lucky enough to be setting fire to stuff

Aren’t telescopes brilliant

Yesterday I was lurking around t’interweb catching up and gaming news and general faffing when I received a text from Manky asking if I’d be up for a spot of telescoping on Monday night, I enjoy astronomy, but it is definitely a hobby that is shared with friends, and if the friends that you share it with are also interested in it that’s even better. So not wanting to turn down the chance of getting together with some brilliant mates and stand in the middle of a field on a rather cold night I readily accepted. I put together a list of targets and spent the day looking forward to seeing friends and some fantastic sights. When I got home I walked the pups, they were very pleased to see me, and set about gathering my chattels that would be needed for the session. I also managed to fit the flexible focuser that I bought for the Meade a few weeks ago. Just after six i made my way to the field we had arranged to meet in and made use of the last of the daylight to set the scope up. By the time the Manky and the rear admiral arrived I had set up the scope and had managed to pour a cup of coffee. Manky and I set about getting his scope set up and all that was left to do was wait for it to get suitably dark so that those of us with GoTo facilities on our scopes would have something we could use to align our scopes. This was actually quite cool as we watched various stars blink into existence as the sky darkened.

Once there were a sufficient amount of bright stars available we aligned our scopes and turned our eyes to the wonder of the night sky. The Great Nebula in Orion was first light for me, but I had a problem. My swanky new flexible focusing rod is weighted at one end and this made it difficult to maintain the scopes focus, just as I’d focused an object into a crisp clear image as soon as I let go of the rod the thing would slip down and cause the image to go a bit fuzzy. Not having any tools or the original focussing knob I couldn’t swap them round, although I think it may have been a bit of a fools errand in the dark, I settled for having to physically hold the rod to keep any objects from blurring. I must admit it was a bit of a pain but I wasn’t going to let it ruin the evening for me. Steve and Andy arrived a bit later, last time he came down Andy mentioned that he had found something that he thought might be a Mammoth tooth but he wasn’t sure so I offered to take a look at it. He bought it along with him tonight, sure enough it is a Mammoth tooth, and a beautiful specimen at that. Although I was examining it in torch light I could clearly see the tell tale grooves that are typical of the tooth and there was even root visible. The tooth also had remains of enamel and was considerably worn. It is remarkable that I was holding something that was part of an animal that disappeared about ten thousand years ago.

There was a total of nine chaps on the field, including a friend that I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. But for me the highlight of the evenings observing had to be the Moon, Just off full and as it rose across the channel it was orange and as it passed behind cloud there was a very thin band that gave the impression that the Moon had a ring system. the colour and the cloud also gave it an other worldly appearance, making it look more like a gas giant rather than our familiar Moon. As it rose higher it started to lose the orange tinge and was soon becoming the familiar silvery white colour that is so easily recognised.

All too soon the evening came to an end the cold and  fatigue getting the better of us, plus we all have to get up for work in the morning. so we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed home.

the first thing I did when I got home was fuss my adorable pups, Trudes would be cross with me if I didn’t say hello to them first, I don’t think Ronnii was to happy at the thought of me going out and not taking her. then once I’d said hello to Trudes i changed the focusing knob on the Meade back to the original one, it may be fiddly and in an awkward position but at least the image will stay sharp. I’m not sure what to do with the flexi-rod, I could try shortening  it so that there’s not as much weight on the end or I could pass it on to someone who may be able to make use of it. If it’s new owner finds it causes the same problem I may shorten it and give it another go.

All in all I had a fantastic evening, it wasn’t as cold as last time we went to the East Cliff and the Moon was well worth the wait. Pictures from tonight are available to view on Picasa and Farce-book go take a look. Maybe next time I’ll take the webcam and laptop and get some decent pictures with that. I hope that we get another evening out soon, all we need is to find a place with a little less light pollution and we’ll be sorted.

Thank you to everyone that came along tonight, it was a brilliant evening and I look forward to doing it all again.

Aren’t telescopes brilliant

Yesterday I was lurking around t’interweb catching up and gaming news and general faffing when I received a text from Manky asking if I’d be up for a spot of telescoping on Monday night, I enjoy astronomy, but it is definitely a hobby that is shared with friends, and if the friends that you share it with are also interested in it that’s even better. So not wanting to turn down the chance of getting together with some brilliant mates and stand in the middle of a field on a rather cold night I readily accepted. I put together a list of targets and spent the day looking forward to seeing friends and some fantastic sights. When I got home after a rather good day at work I walked the pups, they were very pleased to see me, and set about gathering my chattels that would be needed for the session. I also managed to fit the flexible focuser that I bought for the Meade a few weeks ago. Just after six i made my way to the field we had arranged to meet in and made use of the last of the daylight to set the scope up. By the time the Manky and the rear admiral arrived I had set up the scope and had managed to pour a cup of coffee. Manky and I set about getting his scope set up and all that was left to do was wait for it to get suitably dark so that those of us with GoTo facilities on our scopes would have something we could use to align our scopes. This was actually quite cool as we watched various stars blink into existence as the sky darkened.

Once there were a sufficient amount of bright stars available we aligned our scopes and turned our eyes to the wonder of the night sky. The Great Nebula in Orion was first light for me, but I had a problem. My swanky new flexible focusing rod is weighted at one end and this made it difficult to maintain the scopes focus, just as I’d focused an object into a crisp clear image as soon as I let go of the rod the thing would slip down and cause the image to go a bit fuzzy. Not having any tools or the original focussing knob I couldn’t swap them round, although I think it may have been a bit of a fools errand in the dark, I settled for having to physically hold the rod to keep any objects from blurring. I must admit it was a bit of a pain but I wasn’t going to let it ruin the evening for me. Steve and Andy arrived a bit later, last time he came down Andy mentioned that he had found something that he thought might be a Mammoth tooth but he wasn’t sure so I offered to take a look at it. He bought it along with him tonight, sure enough it is a Mammoth tooth, and a beautiful specimen at that. Although I was examining it in torch light I could clearly see the tell tale grooves that are typical of the tooth and there was even root visible. The tooth also had remains of enamel and was considerably worn. It is remarkable that I was holding something that was part of an animal that disappeared about ten thousand years ago.

There was a total of nine chaps on the field, including a friend that I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. But for me the highlight of the evenings observing had to be the Moon, Just off full and as it rose across the channel it was orange and as it passed behind cloud there was a very thin band that gave the impression that the Moon had a ring system. the colour and the cloud also gave it an other worldly appearance, making it look more like a gas giant rather than our familiar Moon. As it rose higher it started to lose the orange tinge and was soon becoming the familiar silvery white colour that is so easily recognised.

All too soon the evening came to an end the cold and  fatigue getting the better of us, plus we all have to get up for work in the morning. so we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed home.

the first thing I did when I got home was fuss my adorable pups, Trudes would be cross with me if I didn’t say hello to them first, I don’t think Ronnii was to happy at the thought of me going out and not taking her. then once I’d said hello to Trudes i changed the focusing knob on the Meade back to the original one, it may be fiddly and in an awkward position but at least the image will stay sharp. I’m not sure what to do with the flexi-rod, I could try shortening  it so that there’s not as much weight on the end or I could pass it on to someone who may be able to make use of it. If it’s new owner finds it causes the same problem I may shorten it and give it another go.

All in all I had a fantastic evening, it wasn’t as cold as last time we went to the East Cliff and the Moon was well worth the wait. Pictures from tonight are available to view on Picasa and Farce-book o take a look. Maybe next time I’ll take the webcam and laptop and get some decent pictures with that. I hope that we get another evening out soon, all we need is to find a place with a little less light pollution and we’ll be sorted.

Thank you to everyone that came along tonight, it was a brilliant evening and I look forward to doing it all again.

how things have changed

I’ve been chatting on Facebook with an old school mate, as a result I’ve been reminiscing about my school days. When I was at school all the brilliant stuff had been done, man had been to the moon, we’d sent probes to Mars and Venus and the Voyager and Pioneer probes were on their way to the far reaches of the solar system. Whilst I was there we were not allowed to use calculators and digital watches were a new invention and cost a million pounds. Computers were things that made spaceships work or tried to murder you, and we were told that they’d never be useful in the home. One thing that has surprised me is how much of what i was taught at school was wrong, Just a few examples are that all Vikings were rampaging barbarians, the Romans were thieves who stole whole countries from the native inhabitants. having taken the time to properly learn about these things is how I have found out that my history teacher was one of the many of the teachers who were wrong, the Vikings were civilised farmers for the most part and the Roman occupation was all done rather peacefully, the real problems started when the Iceni decided that they weren’t too keen on the thought of being disarmed and felt it necessary to tell the Romans to get stuffed. there ya go a bit of history for you. when I left school it all started again, space shuttles huge great leaps in computer technology and digital watches were now cheaper than a house. One thing I was never really interested in at school was sport, I always had issues with sport, the teachers would prattle on about team building and camaraderie, blech! Most of the sporty lads at my school were gits, the chap i referred to earlier is an exception to this, I don’t recall him being particularly sporty either and cross country runs were just an excuse to bunk off for a smoke, note that I didn’t use the word fag so as not to confuse our colonial cousins.

would I do it all again? probably, it depends on whether or not I can know everything I know, although I do see a few paradoxes forming there, my super spiffing digital watch that cost me less than twenty quid would be hard to explain, although I could just let everyone think that I’m a millionaire.

I have to be honest and say that tonights post is somewhat rambling, I have no idea what i wanted to write about and still don’t, so I hope you’ve enjoyed this odd little entry, I do something a little more interesting next time. Who am I kidding it’ll be more of the same old twaddle, I think the reason for the randomness of the post is the fact that very little has happened this week, I hope something rivetting happens over the course of the next few days otherwise I won’t have anything to write about until late next Monday, I’m meeting Piers Sellers don’t you know, well I say I’m meeting him, I’m going along with a few friends to hear him talk, whether I get to speak to him remains to be seen, either way I’m looking forward to it.

Right I really am babbling so i shall stop before I cause a diplomatic incident or end up upsetting the digital watch collectors society.

ta ta

Is it the end of the month yet?

The reason for the title is down to the fact that I have two brilliant events to look forward to, the first is this month’s astronomy club, our chairman will giving a talk on Earth impact, woo hoo! A subject that is a favourite of mine as it ties in with two of my past times, Astronomy and palaeontology. I’m really looking forward to hearing what Drew has to say, he’s a great speaker and I’ve enjoyed all the talks he’s given. The astronomy club is blessed because we have a wide range of members, from the absolute beginner through to consulate professionals; Sir Patrick’s a member you know. As a result we also have some great speakers, other than Drew I won’t express any favourites on here, but I’m sure that a certain chap will know that I also look forward to hearing him prattle on speak. I’m having trouble putting my next talk together, if I haven’t got a decent foundation laid down for it by the end of June I think I may change the topic, after all November is a long way off so it’s not like I don’t have time, he says half way through March!

I’m also hoping for good weather for the 25^th, firstly so that I can get some observing done, through Dave’s scope with my Meade and also because a sterling chap called Jason has bought a bit of a beast and I want a clear sky for him so that he can show off his new toy to the other members.

Then on the 28^th we go off to Cranbrook astronomy group to meet a chap called Piers Sellers, I’m very excited about this because the man in question is a bona fide NASA astronaut. I’ve never met someone who’s been in space before so this one’s special.

Now for a bit of a moan, here we are in a bit of a financial crisis. We’re all having to tighten our belts and give up a few cakes luxuries. So does the BBC really need to spend a god awful amount of money sending Dr Brian Cox to a desert in the middle nowhere to blow bubbles in order to explain how all the stuff in the universe gets made? The sequence would have worked just as well if he’d filmed it on the beach at Camber Sands and he wouldn’t have needed to hire a Mustang to drive to the desert, he could have gone on the train.

I can understand with wildlife programs, we don’t get Outer-Mongolian tree Frogs in England, but do we really need the creation of everything explained by a bloke blowing bubbles in the middle of the Navajama Desert? I bet if Dr Brian Cox had to fund the working holiday from his own pocket he would have suggested filming in Bognor. Don’t get me wrong, I like his program, I like anything to do with the exploration of space and time, I even enjoy the mudslinging rows that Horizon usually descends into, but does it need to be done at the expense of the license payer? If they can film The Sky at Night in Selsy surely they can film a bubble blowing boffin in Brighton!

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sympathies to the thousands of victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Blogville

This short entry is dedicated to all the wonderful people and pups that have earned a place in the hearts of my sweet girlie, As many of you know Trudes has been, and still is, very poorly over the past year and a bit. She doesn’t get out much as the treatment she has been receiving has made her extremely tired. However, she does get great joy from reading all the blogs posted by a gang of “pups” and they in turn have shown Trudes great warmth and affection and they have also made her laugh, something she doesn’t do much due to the way her treatment makes her feel. So to all the pups and peeps of Blogville I thank you for making my girl smile, you are all such wonderful folk.

Big hugs

Me!

Oh happy day, well night!

When I left for work this morning I was greeted by the most fantastic clear blue sky, the first for a few weeks now. A few weeks ago it had been suggested that some mates and me got together and did a bit of observing from the cliff tops in the east of town. After waiting almost two weeks, stupid clouds, I sent a message to a couple of mates suggesting we go tonight. Manky bought himself a sexy new scope a month ago and hasn’t really had a chance to use it, so tonight would be a perfect opportunity. I also messaged a the members of AAS so that they would at least be aware that plans were afoot. A couple said that they would be along so the more the merrier.

The manky one arrived just after 6 and we collected our third and headed over to the East Cliff and set up scopes.

After aligning my scope I set it to The Great Nebula in Orion, it’s in his sword, I got a stunning view and through the 3x Barlow it was even better, Manky said that he’d found the same object and asked if we’d like to see, WOW! the field of view was narrow but the resolution was simply astounding, I could clearly see the nebulous cloud and some of the stars that my (Trudys) trusty Meade can’t quite get. It was definitely a sight to behold. I faffed about with a list that I’d compiled earlier today and have to admit that it was a 50/50 split between what I could see and what I couldn’t but worth it anyway. It is at this point I must sing the praises of GOTO scopes, with my Tasco, which has to be manually pointed at an object you really have to know exactly where the object you want to see is, with a GOTO, once it’s aligned you only have to press a few buttons and the on-board computer does all the hard work for you. So much of the things you wouldn’t be able to find or involve calculating angles are easily available to view.

Dave and I both agreed that both our scopes have strong points, whilst his, amazingly sexy, piece of kit pulled in nebulas in brilliant detail, it seems too powerful for some clusters like the Pleiades, it’s almost as though you’re seeing through the cluster. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way anti Daves scope, quite the opposite, it is a superb set up and I now know what I want by way of a new scope, I would be more than happy with one exactly the same as Daves. But my (Trudes) 70mm Meade gives a brilliant view of the whole cluster plus a bit more.

Anyway, back to this evenings observing, Dave was using his scope manually and after a bit of head scratching and fiddling we managed to get it aligned and the GOTO functioning, at this point he pointed his scope at the same object mine was aimed at, the remnant of a super nova known as the Crab Nebula. This has been something I’ve wanted to see through a scope since I got my Tasco almost ten years ago, the Meade just doesn’t have the power, through the Celestron it could be seen as a faint fuzzy blur. I must be honest and say that I found it hard to hide my excitement at this and I almost danced around the field with delight, thanks to a very good mate I have achieved an astronomical goal. As the evening went on and the stars traced their arc across the sky our number three suggested we have a go for Saturn. Once again we had stunning views and through the different scopes we had a good variety of magnification. I’ve seen Saturn a few times now and it never ceases to amaze me. To think that when you look at Saturn through a telescope you’re seeing another planet, but it’s huge, in comparison Earth is a tiny speck. Another object we saw tonight was M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, it’s over two and a half million light years away and contains more stars than our own galaxy. Just about this for a moment, our galaxy contains somewhere around 200 to 400 billion stars, the Andromeda Galaxy has around one trillion, that’s a lot. it’s possible that out of the 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy there’s about 500 million planets within the parent stars habitable zone, if M31 has one trillion stars, how many life bearing worlds are there?

So after a fantastic, if somewhat chilly, evenings astronomy with some brilliant mates I’m home and preparing to give the pups their last stroll for the evening I leave you to ponder the deepness of a question that when it gets answered will change the foundations of the human race.

For the astronomers out there here’s a list of the object we tried to observe, those marked * were also seen through Daves 5 inch F1.5 Cassegrain.

M66, M65, M67, M48, M50, M93*, NGC2362, M41*, M3*, M13*, M42* (the great nebula in Orion), M33*, M1* (Crab Nebula) M31* (Andromeda Galaxy) M44*, NGC2903* and last but by no means least, Saturn. We also had a beautiful waxing crescent moon with earth shine.

I can’t wait for another clear night, but in a few weeks when it’s a touch warmer, as I write this I’m shivering and I’ve been in for about an hour. Next time we’re going to head to Woodchurch, it’s a bit more central for AAS members who may want to join us.

One last thing I need to mention is poor Jason, who joined us at about 8ish and spent the entire time trying to align the scope he had bought down, so the only observing he managed to do was through everyone else's scopes, bless him!

Oh happy day, well night!

When I left for work this morning I was greeted by the most fantastic clear blue sky, the first for a few weeks now. A few weeks ago it had been suggested that some mates and me got together and did a bit of observing from the cliff tops in the east of town. After waiting almost two weeks, stupid clouds, I sent a message to a couple of mates suggesting we go tonight. Manky bought himself a sexy new scope a month ago and hasn’t really had a chance to use it, so tonight would be a perfect opportunity. I also messaged a the members of AAS so that they would at least be aware that plans were afoot. A couple said that they would be along so the more the merrier.

The manky one arrived just after 6 and we collected our third and headed over to the East Cliff and set up scopes.

After aligning my scope I set it to The Great Nebula in Orion, it’s in his sword, I got a stunning view and through the 3x Barlow it was even better, Manky said that he’d found the same object and asked if we’d like to see, WOW! the field of view was narrow but the resolution was simply astounding, I could clearly see the nebulous cloud and some of the stars that my (Trudys) trusty Meade can’t quite get. It was definitely a sight to behold. I faffed about with a list that I’d compiled earlier today and have to admit that it was a 50/50 split between what I could see and what I couldn’t but worth it anyway. It is at this point I must sing the praises of GOTO scopes, with my Tasco, which has to be manually pointed at an object you really have to know exactly where the object you want to see is, with a GOTO, once it’s aligned you only have to press a few buttons and the on-board computer does all the hard work for you. So much of the things you wouldn’t be able to find or involve calculating angles are easily available to view.

Dave and I both agreed that both our scopes have strong points, whilst his, amazingly sexy, piece of kit pulled in nebulas in brilliant detail, it seems too powerful for some clusters like the Pleiades, it’s almost as though you’re seeing through the cluster. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way anti Daves scope, quite the opposite, it is a superb set up and I now know what I want by way of a new scope, I would be more than happy with one exactly the same as Daves. But my (Trudes) 70mm Meade gives a brilliant view of the whole cluster plus a bit more.

Anyway, back to this evenings observing, Dave was using his scope manually and after a bit of head scratching and fiddling we managed to get it aligned and the GOTO functioning, at this point he pointed his scope at the same object mine was aimed at, the remnant of a super nova known as the Crab Nebula. This has been something I’ve wanted to see through a scope since I got my Tasco almost ten years ago, the Meade just doesn’t have the power, through the Celestron it could be seen as a faint fuzzy blur. I must be honest and say that I found it hard to hide my excitement at this and I almost danced around the field with delight, thanks to a very good mate I have achieved an astronomical goal. As the evening went on and the stars traced their arc across the sky our number three suggested we have a go for Saturn. Once again we had stunning views and through the different scopes we had a good variety of magnification. I’ve seen Saturn a few times now and it never ceases to amaze me. To think that when you look at Saturn through a telescope you’re seeing another planet, but it’s huge, in comparison Earth is a tiny speck. Another object we saw tonight was M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, it’s over two and a half million light years away and contains more stars than our own galaxy. Just about this for a moment, our galaxy contains somewhere around 200 to 400 billion stars, the Andromeda Galaxy has around one trillion, that’s a lot. it’s possible that out of the 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy there’s about 500 million planets within the parent stars habitable zone, if M31 has one trillion stars, how many life bearing worlds are there?

So after a fantastic, if somewhat chilly, evenings astronomy with some brilliant mates I’m home and preparing to give the pups their last stroll for the evening I leave you to ponder the deepness of a question that when it gets answered will change the foundations of the human race.

For the astronomers out there here’s a list of the object we tried to observe, those marked * were also seen through Daves 5 inch F1.5 Cassegrain.

M66, M65, M67, M48, M50, M93*, NGC2362, M41*, M3*, M13*, M42* (the great nebula in Orion, M33*, M1* (Crab Nebula) M31* (Andromeda Galaxy) M44*, NGC2903* and last but by no means least, Saturn. We also had a beautiful waxing crescent moon with earth shine.

I can’t wait for another clear night, but in a few weeks when it’s a touch warmer, as I write this I’m shivering and I’ve been in for about an hour. Next time we’re going to head to Woodchurch, it’s a bit more central for AAS members who may want to join us.

One last thing I need to mention is poor Jason, who joined us at about 8ish and spent the entire time trying to align the scope he had bought down, so the only observing he managed to do was through everyone else's scopes, bless him!

Oh happy day, well night!

When I left for work this morning I was greeted by the most fantastic clear blue sky, the first for a few weeks now. A few weeks ago it had been suggested that some mates and me got together and did a bit of observing from the cliff tops in the east of town. After waiting almost two weeks, stupid clouds, I sent a message to a couple of mates suggesting we go tonight. Manky bought himself a sexy new scope a month ago and hasn’t really had a chance to use it, so tonight would be a perfect opportunity. I also messaged a the members of AAS so that they would at least be aware that plans were afoot. A couple said that they would be along so the more the merrier.

The manky one arrived just after 6 and we collected our third and headed over to the East Cliff and set up scopes.

After aligning my scope I set it to The Great Nebula in Orion, it’s in his sword, I got a stunning view and through the 3x Barlow it was even better, Manky said that he’d found the same object and asked if we’d like to see, WOW! the field of view was narrow but the resolution was simply astounding, I could clearly see the nebulous cloud and some of the stars that my (Trudys) trusty Meade can’t quite get. It was definitely a sight to behold. I faffed about with a list that I’d compiled earlier today and have to admit that it was a 50/50 split between what I could see and what I couldn’t but worth it anyway. It is at this point I must sing the praises of GOTO scopes, with my Tasco, which has to be manually pointed at an object you really have to know exactly where the object you want to see is, with a GOTO, once it’s aligned you only have to press a few buttons and the on-board computer does all the hard work for you. So much of the things you wouldn’t be able to find or involve calculating angles are easily available to view.

Dave and I both agreed that both our scopes have strong points, whilst his, amazingly sexy, piece of kit pulled in nebulas in brilliant detail, it seems too powerful for some clusters like the Pleiades, it’s almost as though you’re seeing through the cluster. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way anti Daves scope, quite the opposite, it is a superb set up and I now know what I want by way of a new scope, I would be more than happy with one exactly the same as Daves. But my (Trudes) 70mm Meade gives a brilliant view of the whole cluster plus a bit more.

Anyway, back to this evenings observing, Dave was using his scope manually and after a bit of head scratching and fiddling we managed to get it aligned and the GOTO functioning, at this point he pointed his scope at the same object mine was aimed at, the remnant of a super nova known as the Crab Nebula. This has been something I’ve wanted to see through a scope since I got my Tasco almost ten years ago, the Meade just doesn’t have the power, through the Celestron it could be seen as a faint fuzzy blur. I must be honest and say that I found it hard to hide my excitement at this and I almost danced around the field with delight, thanks to a very good mate I have achieved an astronomical goal. As the evening went on and the stars traced their arc across the sky our number three suggested we have a go for Saturn. Once again we had stunning views and through the different scopes we had a good variety of magnification. I’ve seen Saturn a few times now and it never ceases to amaze me. To think that when you look at Saturn through a telescope you’re seeing another planet, but it’s huge, in comparison Earth is a tiny speck. Another object we saw tonight was M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, it’s over two and a half million light years away and contains more stars than our own galaxy. Just about this for a moment, our galaxy contains somewhere around 200 to 400 billion stars, the Andromeda Galaxy has around one trillion, that’s a lot. it’s possible that out of the 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy there’s about 500 million planets within the parent stars habitable zone, if M31 has one trillion stars, how many life bearing worlds are there?

So after a fantastic, if somewhat chilly, evenings astronomy with some brilliant mates I’m home and preparing to give the pups their last stroll for the evening I leave you to ponder the deepness of a question that when it gets answered will change the foundations of the human race.

For the astronomers out there here’s a list of the object we tried to observe, those marked * were also seen through Daves 5 inch F1.5 Cassegrain.

M66, M65, M67, M48, M50, M93*, NGC2362, M41*, M3*, M13*, M33*, M1* (Crab Nebula) M31* (Andromeda Galaxy) M44*, NGC2903* and last but by no means least, Saturn. We also had a beautiful waxing crescent moon with earth shine.

I can’t wait for another clear night, but in a few weeks when it’s a touch warmer, as I write this I’m shivering and I’ve been in for about an hour. Next time we’re going to head to Woodchurch, it’s a bit more central for AAS members who may want to join us.

Since my last post

Hello, you’re back! sorry it’s been a while since my last post but I have been very busy. Miniatures have been painted, over the last week or so I’ve almost completed a Tau battle force, which amounts to a grand total of 35 models, one of which is a troop transport, out of the 35 I have 12 left, so quite an achievement. I still have about 51 models to build and paint but I can get about half done in around 10 days so I should have all the models finished by the middle of April, if all goes well.

On Friday 25th February I went along to the astronomy club. I enjoyed the evening and the talk was very different to the usual style, there were moments when I expected the speaker to reveal himself to be Brian Blessed. The subject matter was Pluto, the content did seem to meander quite a bit and it wasn’t until the last fifteen or twenty minutes that the title subject entered into the talk. despite the presentation, which I enjoyed although it was somewhat theatrical, the only points that were actually raised about Pluto were that it is very cold, very small, a very long way out and no longer classed as a planet. The final part of the talk on Pluto was a show of hands as to whether or not it should be reinstated as a planet. i am in favour of it being a planet, I grew up knowing that were/are nine planets in our solar system and I liked it that way, but the powers that be have decided otherwise, shame really.

On a similar note, there are plans afoot for the Manky one to bring his swanky new telescope down so that three of us can go over to a reasonably dark area of the town for a spot of astronomy. We’re just waiting for a good clear night, so I’m keeping an eye on the forecast so that I can give a bit of an advanced warning so we can all get together. I think it will be best to use the last bit of daylight to set up and then have a couple of hours astronomy, a flask of tea would also be a good idea as it’s still a bit chilly at night.

I also discovered that you cant download ring tunes for your microwave oven .

It’s Friday again and the weekend has arrived, I’m not at the shop this weekend, herself has been having radiotherapy this week and is feeling a bit worse for it, we were hoping that radiotherapy wouldn’t be as bad as chemotherapy, looks like we were a bit wrong there as it appears that this current course of treatment is having a more detrimental effect on her royal gorgeousness. Fortunately(?) she only has three more treatments to go, over the first week of April and with luck that should be the end of it, although mice, men and plans springs rapidly to mind. Whatever the outcome we shall weather the storm and get through this.

Other than the above the last couple of weeks have been quiet, hopefully things will pick up soon, there’s a couple of days out planned that I’m looking forward to so as soon as the weather turns warmer I shall make the plans a bit more solid.

Oh yeah, PS; I am extremely proud of my sweet little friend who has been working so very hard and as a result is being considered for a placement on a course at the University of Kent, well done you clever peanut.

XXX

Since my last post

Hello, you’re back! sorry it’s been a while since my last post but I have been very busy. Miniatures have been painted, over the last week or so I’ve almost completed a Tau battle force, which amounts to a grand total of 35 models, one of which is a troop transport, out of the 35 I have 12 left, so quite an achievement. I still have about 51 models to build and paint but I can get about half done in around 10 days so I should have all the models finished by the middle of April, if all goes well.

On Friday 25th February I went along to the astronomy club. I enjoyed the evening and the talk was very different to the usual style, there were moments when I expected the speaker to reveal himself to be Brian Blessed. The subject matter was Pluto, the content did seem to meander quite a bit and it wasn’t until the last fifteen or twenty minutes that the title subject entered into the talk. despite the presentation, which I enjoyed although it was somewhat theatrical, the only points that were actually raised about Pluto were that it is very cold, very small, a very long way out and no longer classed as a planet. The final part of the talk on Pluto was a show of hands as to whether or not it should be reinstated as a planet. i am in favour of it being a planet, I grew up knowing that were/are nine planets in our solar system and I liked it that way, but the powers that be have decided otherwise, shame really.

On a similar note, there are plans afoot for the Manky one to bring his swanky new telescope down so that three of us can go over to a reasonably dark area of the town for a spot of astronomy. We’re just waiting for a good clear night, so I’m keeping an eye on the forecast so that I can give a bit of an advanced warning so we can all get together. I think it will be best to use the last bit of daylight to set up and then have a couple of hours astronomy, a flask of tea would also be a good idea as it’s still a bit chilly at night.

I also discovered that you cant download ring tunes for your microwave oven .

It’s Friday again and the weekend has arrived, I’m not at the shop this weekend, herself has been having radiotherapy this week and is feeling a bit worse for it, we were hoping that radiotherapy wouldn’t be as bad as chemotherapy, looks like we were a bit wrong there as it appears that this current course of treatment is having a more detrimental effect on her royal gorgeousness. Fortunately(?) she only has three more treatments to go, over the first week of April and with luck that should be the end of it, although mice, men and plans springs rapidly to mind. Whatever the outcome we shall weather the storm and get through this.

Other than the above the last couple of weeks have been quiet, hopefully things will pick up soon, there’s a couple of days out planned that I’m looking forward to so as soon as the weather turns warmer I shall make the plans a bit more solid.

Sometimes humans are good!

I’ve heard of some ridiculous ideas before, a chap wanted to put an expedition together to find a hole at the north pole because he thought the earth was hollow and there could be new lands to (conquer) er, I mean cultivate. Then there was the plan to make battle ships out of icebergs. Just two of the ridiculous ideas that the human mind has formed. but the other day I read something that is completely beyond ridiculous, that plan is an idiotic proposal called “Double Summertime” this means that during the summer months it will be lighter later, at the height of the summer sunset won’t be until as late as 23:00 in some parts of the British Isles. Now I do hear whoops of joy from some of the residents of this nation all chanting great more summer, yup, this means that the chavs will hang around the streets longer before they have to go home to be tucked in by mummy after a hard days mugging and boozing on cheap alcohol. Yes the summer days will be longer with around sixteen hours of daylight. This also means that the winter days will be shorter, with about seven hours of day light. This means that in the winter in the UK we would have to travel to and from work in the dark, as sunrise would not happen until after 09:00. On a personal level this would mean that my passion for astronomy would be difficult, sunset at around 22:15 would mean that in won’t get really dark for about another hour and it doesn’t get truly dark during the summer as it is. I know that astronomers would benefit from the longer winter nights, not that they would be that much longer.  I think it would mean that sunset would be a half hour earlier where I am. Personally I feel we should stick to GMT, none of this +1 rubbish, There’s more daylight in the summer anyway it’s a natural occurrence, so stop messing about with it. if the public have any say in this moronic decision, and let’s face it the way things are at the moment it’s very unlikely, I for one will vote against it, and I would urge any of my readers who are UK based to do likewise.

On to something else, some of you are aware that Tea and me foster our dog Richie and that his vet care is, supposed to be, funded by The Little Dog Rescue, sadly for a reason that is either political or financial, the rescue have allowed Richie’s vet bill to get to such a high amount that our vet has, quite rightly, said that he will no longer see or treat Richie unless payment is made at the time of treatment. I don’t dispute that and think it very fair. Our vet did not make this decision lightly. When I spoke to him regarding this he was very apologetic and stated that he realised that this may result in health problems for Richie. This also meant that he would not release medication that Richie needs and must have unless they are paid for there and then. I realise that there are many people who hold to the thought that he’s just a dog and what does it matter if he gets his tablets? Fair comment! The thing is, it matters to us! Richie is a warm affectionate little chap who has been very badly treated in the past; to be honest I’m surprised he is able to trust any humans. Ok so he has a dodgy ticker and he has limited time with us, so it’s down to me and Trudes to ensure that he gets the love and care he really deserves. He may have a few months or he could carry on for a couple of years, we won’t know until the time finally runs out. The short of it is that Richie has been officially adopted by us and we are now fully responsible for his care, it won’t be easy and we will have to make a few small sacrifices now and then. But he’s totally worth it. Better that than have him taken away from us and constantly shunted from one foster home to another where he may not be as loved as he is with us. I’m not saying that we’re the greatest dog carers in the world, we spoil the dogs rotten and we’re probably a bit to soppy with them but that’s us and I know that we’re not alone in the world of soppy dog lovers. I truly hope that the rescue manage to sort out the problems they are having and that none of the dogs under their care suffer as a result of what appears to be nothing more than a power struggle. A good friend of mine has been involved in reputable organisations where similar situation have happened and it usually ends badly. Sometimes people want all the credit and recognition but don’t want to do any of the effort that earns them the credit.

On the opposite of that there are those who put in the effort that would rather remain anonymous. Such a situation has arisen and I would like to say that thank you doesn’t do a certain person justice, this person is beyond thoughtful, and if karma is an actual thing then our unknown friend has shed loads of positive karma heading for them. Trudes and I will probably never meet the lady concerned, but if ever we do we will show her how special she has become to our little family, to be honest it has a new member as of 18:00 today.

So I leave you to ponder the concept of karma, go look it up, once you have figured out what it means, take a deep look at how balanced your karma really is.

I’m also going off to finish watching Bones, possibly have an hour’s painting, I’ve made a start on the Tau models, huzzah! I’ll also squeeze some grub in there somewhere.

Have fun doing something that you enjoy, I know I will as long as the government don’t try and put the kibosh on it.

Mission (and Mumak) accomplished!

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