We’ve been doing rotating pub quizzes and now we’re thinking of rating them.
Tonight- the Four in Hand, Lapwing Lane.
Food- 4 out of 5
Beer- 2.5
Atmosphere- 3.5
Quiz master- 1.5 – 3 (opinions vary)
Quiz- 3
Overall- 14.5 – 16 out of 25
Update I think we also need to add a score for prizes. I can’t remember what last night’s was, probably the generic 8 pints of beer. 3 out of 5 if it was.
Ec and Mid treaded softly, testing the forest floor at every footfall. The flanking squad of soldiers they sought were nowhere near as careful, and could be heard before they were seen. The pair found a clearing of storm felled trees. They skirted the edge and planted themselves behind larger trunks. Between them they could cover the open area with crossing arcs of fire and cut down anyone in the clearing.
The squad grew closer. Ec held up a hand, splaying the fingers. He closed the hand and opened it again, thumb and one finger folded into his palm. Mid nodded. He nestled back against the tree trunk, checked the magazine on his autogun and waited.
They came through two abreast. Ec and Mid allowed the squad most of the way across the clearing, to check their initial estimate of eight was right, then stood and opened fire.
Four soldiers dropped immediately. Two dived for cover, Ec aimed for them. Mid turned toward the remaining two, standing to fire from the shoulder. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He braced the autogun against his thigh and pulled the cocking handle to eject the misfiring round. It was too late, the nearest of his two targets had his gun up and was firing from the hip.
Mid was hit three times. He slumped back against the tree trunk. Ec turned and empted the last of his magazine at the two soldiers. He ducked back down, changing magazines and cocking the autogun in quick fluid movements. When he stood again the clearing was silent. There was movement, one of the squad trying to pull himself under cover. Ec fired a three shot burst and the movement stopped. He checked back in the direction the squad had come from. There was no movement or sound.
Mid was dead. Ec made the sign of the cross over him, collected up his ammunition and headed back across the clearing, moving from body to body. One of the squad had a satchel of trip grenades. Ec jammed the spikes of a couple between the tree roots by the most obvious exits and stretched the wires across the gaps. He glanced across the clearing once more, then headed for the ravine.
Heavensent 9.15
Heavensent 9.13
Heavensent 1.1
Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent
The real targets of terrorism are the rest of us: the billions of us who are not killed but are terrorized because of the killing. The real point of terrorism is not the act itself, but our reaction to the act.
And we’re doing exactly what the terrorists want.
It needs saying loudly and often. In fact, I said something similar in 2003-
It’s not a normal commute if no-one tries to kill me
I’ve got a proposal. Let’s not buy bottled water, unless it’s French. Let’s not stock up on tinned food, but go out and buy fresh fruit and meat- organic if possible- from a local shop. Let’s get back to using
ductGaffer tape as it was intended, for the urban equivalent of a baler twine bodge. Simply, let’s ignore all these calls for us to be afraid.I live with terror as it is. I’m scared of the actions of my fellow coutrymen, and occasionally women, because of the way they drive. It’s not a normal commute if no-one tries to kill me. But at least my fears have some grounding. Compared to the threats of everyday life, the statistical chance of you, me or anyone we know being harmed by terrorist action is infinitesimal. It was tiny before this war began and- even though this action to make us safer has had the opposite effect- it’s still tiny now.
Technorati tag: Terror, Propaganda
I’m always in town without a car, so September 22nd won’t be much different from any other day. I recommend it to everyone else, though.
I was only doing badly until the Rolling Stones came on the radio with “You can’t always get what you want”. Now I’m a mess. It’s almost as if the Revolution wanted to make me cry.
Nanosolar has developed technology to create solar panels by printing films 1/100th the thickness of absorber in a silicon-wafer cell. With the drastic cut in unit price that will come from this they hope to have a solar panel on every building.
There are issues with the lifespan of these thin film photovoltaics, and worries about toxicity of the chemicals used. If they can be answered, then this could be a huge step toward a solar future.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Solar Power, Thin Film Photovoltaic
Nanosolar has developed technology to create solar panels by printing films 1/100th the thickness of absorber in a silicon-wafer cell. With the drastic cut in unit price that will come from this they hope to have a solar panel on every building.
There are issues with the lifespan of these thin film photovoltaics, and worries about toxicity of the chemicals used. If they can be answered, then this could be a huge step toward a solar future.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Solar Power, Thin Film Photovoltaic
Congratulations to Ickle on being one of the first three Manchester related blogs blogrolled by the BBC’s new Manchester blog. (Could I have said blog more in that sentence?)
But where’s Spinneyhead, eh? I tried to post a comment and tell them, but hit the publish button twice by accident and now they think I’m some sort of comment spammer.
Technorati tag: Manchester, Blog
Stan Fraser, of Inverness, has built a 1:8th scale model of the Titanic in the garden of his canal side home. It is meant to be the first in a series of models for a planned maritime museum. However, the project has come tyo the attention of the local council and now they’re demanding he applies for planning permission for it.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Titanic
A group of historians are arguing that it wasn’t the efforts of Fighter Command in teh Battle of Britain that kept Hitler from invading Britain, but the threat of the Navy to his invasion fleet. RAF types are, obviously, offended by this theory.
I don’t see why both sides can’t be right, to an extent. Without the destruction of the RAF the invasion couldn’t happen because there would still be air cover for the Navy, which would deal the killing blow to barges full of German soldiers crossing the Channel.
Technorati tag: World War Two, Battle of Britain
The Guardian on solar power’s increasing prominence.
There’s also a practical, very British reason for our interest in solar: money. With the average household’s electricity bill above £900 (and set to rise again with British Gas’s latest price rises), solar panels start to make sense at £4,000, after you’ve received a government grant available for installation. They can add value, too. When two new homes in Norfolk sold recently, the one with solar PV roof tiles by Solarcentury sold for 8.6% more than its neighbour. Energy efficiency ratings in next year’s home information packs, grants of up to £3,000 and imminent improved planning laws should help further.
Technorati tag: Solar Power
The Guardian on solar power’s increasing prominence.
There’s also a practical, very British reason for our interest in solar: money. With the average household’s electricity bill above £900 (and set to rise again with British Gas’s latest price rises), solar panels start to make sense at £4,000, after you’ve received a government grant available for installation. They can add value, too. When two new homes in Norfolk sold recently, the one with solar PV roof tiles by Solarcentury sold for 8.6% more than its neighbour. Energy efficiency ratings in next year’s home information packs, grants of up to £3,000 and imminent improved planning laws should help further.
Technorati tag: Solar Power
The Guardian discovers that the Long Tail does exist, but you’ve got to get beyond Amazon and iTunes to find it.
Technorati tag: Long Tail
Based upon suggestions from 650 experts, academics a list of 100 key environmental questions has been drawn up to steer research over the next decade.
The list includes current controversies in environmental science, and introduces some new ones. It asks whether there is evidence that organic farms are better for the environment, as supporters claim. It revisits the problem of whether badgers spread bovine TB to cattle. And it raises the thorny issue of the damage that domestic cats might be doing to bird and animal populations, a long-standing question that ecologists rarely voice in case they anger the UK’s millions of pet owners.
Technorati tag: Environment, Research