The BFG

Just wanted to add in a photo (professional) of one of the giants from the Paradok production of the BFG-- to give credit where credit is due, this is borrowed from David Monteith-Hodge's website which can be found at:

http://www.photographise.com/blog/?p=483

I think this one was the BoneCrusher, but I can't remember for certain.

Below is a picture of the BFG, who was a very tall human (about 2m I'd guess), but in an interesting interpretation spent nearly the entire production is a sort of crouch, which did add a sort of height effect courtesy of the other production tricks. The most prominent was Sophie being represented both by the actress as well as a Sophie doll that mirrored the events on stage.

Different planets, same species

Live from whatever planet Sarah Palin lives on:

“We're not having a lot of faith that the White House is going to come out with a strong enough policy to sanction what it is that North Korea is going to do,” she said on the Fox News presenter’s nationally syndicated radio show.
“So this speaks to a bigger picture here that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policies.
“But obviously we gotta stand with our North Korean allies.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/sarah-palin/8159130/Sarah-Palin-in-North-Korea-gaffe.html


And, in the world of reality:

Severe weather update: some schools to reopen on Wednesday
Published Tuesday 30 November 2010
Some primary schools in Edinburgh are to re-open on Wednesday and 4th-6th year pupils at all secondary schools should attend (1st - 3rd year should stay at home).
With colder temperatures and more snow expected, the situation remains changeable so parents are urged to continue checking the Council's website and Radio Forth for updates.
Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "I want to thank everyone for their patience. With such a lot of snow falling in such a short space of time, it's inevitably going to take some time to clear residential streets and restore other services to normal. I also want to thank those people who have been good neighbours to vulnerable people and the Council staff who have been working flat out to keep the city moving."

snow, blue skies, and a home day for me

Happy St. Andrew's Day! How funny to see the Tartan and Saltire on the Google main page!

When I got up this morning, the sky was grey. By 8am the snow was coming down in a thick curtain of huge white flakes. At 9am the skies are partly cloudy with sun poking through and the brightest blue I've ever seen beyond, but I've already cancelled my meetings because I don't want to deal with late/delayed/stranded buses.

The kids have no school again, and apparently Lynn and Kenna are going with Belinda and Isla to see their horses which are stabled just outside the city. Since I'll be home Taran can stay here and have a reading day, as I have no illusions that he wants to see a pony, much less a horse.

Snow isn't foreign to Scotland-- there are parts of the country that get it regularly and where it sticks for more than a few days-- as this photo of Balachulish shows. Haven't been there, but am definitely looking forward to seeing the North sometime in the not too distant future.

Schools closed

Well, we did get about 3-4" of snow, and the temperature is steady between 29-33F. School was closed today and will be closed again tomorrow. Most of the city's buses are running, though our recycling wasn't collected :)

Here are some photos-- clearly the best one is the guy in the kilt, clearing the sidewalk in front of a shop on Princes Street.


I spent the day at home working on my manuscript resubmission. Lynn hung out with the kids for the morning and they went to Belinda and Isla's house in the afternoon, trudging through the unshovelled snow.

Scotland thinks its Wisconsin

29 November 2010 06:07 GMT

Drivers stranded and schools closed as snow chaos grips Scotland

A9 reopens but severe snow is continuing to cause chaos across the country with schools closed and treacherous road conditions.

Drivers have been stranded, and schools and roads closed, as the severe winter weather that struck Scotland over the weekend continues to cause disruption.

Much of the country woke up to yet more snow this morning, with further flurries predicted throughout the day and a danger of black ice.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings in Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife, Lothian and Borders and South West Scotland.


The A9 was closed between Perth and Stirling for Sunday evening and Monday morning, but reopened in both directions around 10am. The M90 was shut from Perth to Kinross, the A93 at Spittal of Glenshee was also closed again for a second day. Snow is still causing delays on the A80, M80 and M876.

Chief Inspector Donald McMillan, head of Roads Policing for Central Scotland, said: "The weather conditions overnight have led to significant problems on the roads network. We are still asking motorists to only undertake their journeys if absolutely necessary.

"If you are making a journey by car, please ensure you have the maximum visibility by clearing all snow from your windows. Some drivers are taking to the roads with windscreens obscured by snow."

Midlothian Council said that all its schools would be closed to pupils because of the weather, though staff had been asked to attend. All schools in Dundee were also shut, along with Perth and Kinross, , Fife, Angus and Edinburgh. Elsewhere there were major school disruption in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

ScotRail warned those travelling by train to expect disruption, particularly in the central belt where further heavy snowfalls were forecast.

Forecasters said that more snow is likely across most of the country with the cold snap expected to last until the weekend at least. Coldest overnight in the UK was Altnaharra in northern Scotland, which recorded a low of minus 16.1C (3F).

Victoria Kettley, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "There will not be as much snow as on Sunday but there will be 2-5cm widely and over uplands easily up to 10cm through the day and overnight.

"It will remain cold as there's still the easterly wind so it'll be a maximum of 2-4 degrees centigrade in coastal areas and inland it would be lucky to get above freezing."

Edinburgh weathers...

We begin to understand why weather is always the first topic of conversation, and why that conversation tends towards bemused frustration. The day began with a blizzard (for Edinburgh, anyway)-- about 3" of snow fell in a few hours while cold winds blew pushing the wind chill down to about -5C (frigid for Edinburgh). The wind died before noon, and around 1pm the sun emerged. Now, at 3.15pm, a thick fog has enveloped the city, while temperatures moderate significantly. The only constant about the weather is that it is totally impossible to predict for more than a few hours in advance, and not always that.

Images of Edinburgh

Here is, arguably, my new favorite image of Edinburgh. It is, apparently, William Crozier's painting, Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags). This is exactly the idealistic image of Edinburgh I have in my mind-- the colors, the architecture, the landscape.