Bum-bum changing your bum-bum
02 September 2012
Heard a man last week changing his baby's nappy whilst singing "Bum-bum changing your bum-bum" to the Star Wars theme. Made me chuckle.
will.ia.m and coders
14 August 2012
So will.i.am is going to learn to code.
Here's what he's got to say on the matter:
Next year I am going to school to take a computer science course. When I am 57 I still want to be relevant in popular culture and the way to be relevant within popular culture in the future is writing code.
Code writers, they are my idols. Songwriters are cool – I can write songs, too – and bloggers are cool but code writers? Those are the coolest in the world.
When I was 17 I had a dream and all the dreams I have had since 17 I have done them beyond what I thought I was ever going to do. So now I want to go back to school and learn how to write code so I can participate in this whole new era that we are in.
Writing songs is dope but writing code is better.
will.i.am: 14 August 2012
Maths and Magic
16 February 2012
Maths and Magic: whatever could be a better combination than that?
Stand-up mathematician Matt Parker has published a free pdf full of magic tricks with a mathematical angle (if you excuse the pun). Good resource for teachers too.
Jekyll
14 January 2012
I've been having a bit of trouble with this blog.
Firstly I was finding wordpress a sledge hammer with which to crack this little nut. Then I had a problem when upgrading to the latest version that resulted in downtime. All things considered I felt that with the New Year should come a new change, and here it is.
So what's the difference I hear you cry (yes both of you)? Well from your point of view, hopefully not a lot. From my viewpoint I've ditched wordpress, and converted to using jekyll. In just a couple of nights hacking I've converted all my old posts to markdown and come up with a much simpler css for the site. Yes there are a few more pieces to sort out (wot no twitter), but the process of blogging is much simpler. Roysworld should far easier for me to maintain, and all the posts are now under source control.
Oh and Happy New Year.
Richard Dawkins: Who Was the First Human?
29 October 2011
We attended a lecture given by Richard Dawkins yesterday. I was lucky to meet him briefly afterwards in the theatre bar and we talked about dinosaurs and the Royal Institution Christmas lecture he gave in 1991. In the lecture he was reading extracts from his new book "The Magic of Reality" an accessible book aimed at children and he described a great thought experiment from the chapter titled: "Who Was the First Human?".
Here's a re-presentation of the same ideas recorded at a reading in New York:
In a Q&A session after the reading on audience member suggested that all schools should have this book on their bookshelves. What a great idea. Maybe I should buy them a copy?
Bullseye Contestants
09 October 2011
Hilariously excellent website cataloguing contestants from Bullseye.
Nothing in this game for two in a bed.
The Windy Day
10 September 2011
It's a windy day, windy day, windy day.
The washing on the washing line blowing all around,
Trees are swaying as birds are saying "Our nests keep falling to the ground!"
It's a windy day, windy day, windy day.
The clouds cause a traffic jam as they whizz by,
Leaves blow madly as people say sadly "Our umbrellas are trying to fly!"
It's a windy day, windy day, windy day.
Hair gets tangled as the wind goes whooooooosh!
Litter swirls and then it twirls on its way down the road in a rush.
It's a windy day, windy day, windy day
But I'm all right, snuggled up tight,
I've put up my feet, watched tv,
Now I'll put the kettle on and have a cup of tea!
( A poem by Annie aged 8 )
Mmmm... Bacon Cups
04 September 2011
Make it yourself site notmartha has a tutorial for making cups out of bacon. Yes, you heard correctly CUPS OUT OF BACON.Imagine: edible cups made out of bacon full with other stuff. Mmm.....
The Oldest Question in the Universe
29 August 2011
In Doctor Who on Saturday ("Let's Kill Hitler") we sat down as a family to watch. The Doctor got into a chat with the robotic Amy thingy and the following dialog took place:Amy Robot Thingy: "The Silence is not a species; it is a religious order or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."Doctor: "What question?"Amy Robot Thingy: "The first question; the oldest question in the universe. Hidden in plain sight".Doctor: "Yes, but what is the question?"At which point we looked at each other all a little bemused. All of us that is except Billy. He said: "Well it's obvious isn't it...? The question is 'Who?'".Brilliant. He's a smart little bugger isn't he?
Port Isaac Timelapse
27 August 2011
We have just returned from a brilliant fortnight in Port Isaac.
I was playing around with an Android timelapse app and took images of our walk from the holiday cottage to the Platt.
I unfortunately did it on a particularly busy day so there are more people about than normal.
I used pummelvision to put it all together, and I think it's quite cool. Anyway, here we go...
Puss Moth
24 July 2011
We just stumbled upon this puss moth caterpillar on a walk around Neptune Wood. It was bloomin' enormous, and looked like something out of Dune.
Alex Lewis: The Boy Who Lived
23 July 2011
Last night Paula and I watched the documentary on Alex Lewis broadcast this week: "Alex: A Life Fast Forward".
To be brutally honest, I was uncertain as to whether I should watch it, as I get upset by these kind of shows and sometimes think they can be a bit exploitative. I knew about Alex and his story, as he and his family live in our small village, and village news is spread very easily. We don't know the Lewis' personally, but everyone knows everyone in Brightwell at some level, and with Andy being such a prominent member of our community the family are familiar to us.
I don't normally write about serious topics on my humble blog, but having watched the documentary and being so moved and inspired by it I just needed to say a few things.
Watching the programme was a strange experience. It intertwined the story of Alex's life with aspects of my own. As we passed through 2010 we realised we too had been at many of the events shown: the fireworks on bonfire night, the snowman by the village Christmas tree. This brought home the reality of the situation.
I can say so many things, but the one thing that will stay with me for ever was Alex's attitude to life. Despite knowing his condition was incurable, he lived his life so positively, never complaining about his situation. He crammed in as many of life's experiences into what time he had. His wonderful wife Ali is also an inspiration: so strong for one so young.
Please, please watch this documentary. It's available on iplayer here, and if you feel moved by it consider visiting the Bone Cancer Research Trust site or posting a comment on the Alex Lewis Memorial Site.
I never met you Alex, but the next time I'm in the Red Lion I will be drinking a pint in tribute to your life.
[courtesy of Sonic vs. Pacman
02 May 2011
Hello. My name is Roy. I live in rural Oxfordshire.
This is my blog. I write about things that interest me, make me laugh or that I want to remember.