Mad Professor Hair!

Saved by the Barbie!!!!

Yesterday afternoon the electricity cut out.

No warning, no apparent reason. The weather was still and fairly warm, so it is not like the wind had brought down the lines or anything!

Half of the town was out.

Time ticked on, and still no power.

I finished painting my Madhists (see below) in fading sunlight.

The kids played on their Nintendo DS's and the laptop until the batteries faded.

We started to get hungry...

So, what to do?

Drag out the barbeque! I had stocked up on charcoal at the beginning of the month as stocks in the shops ran out - I even managed to get it half price! Yes, I found a bargain!

We had the meat for a good grill-up, so I mixed up some bread dough, fired up the coals and got making bread rolls, just like I did when we were camping. When they were done, it was on to the gammon slices, sausages (including some great looking apple and plum ones that vanished before I got to try one) and burgers. It was great! Had a real survivalist feel to it - yes, we will be OK when civilization comes crashing down around us!

Fortunately the power came back on just as we finished eating, so we were OK for lighting, TV, etc, for the evening.

Unfortunately, it seemed to do something to our water heating system so we are hoping that someone will get out today to sort it out - otherwise I will be in for a cold bath tonight :-(

The Fruits of my Labours...

Below are some photos of my latest set of soldiers.

They are Mahdists from late 19th Century Sudan. They fought the Egyptians and British while trying to spread an Islamic Jihad through Africa, the Middle East and India.

I did these using a high speed painting technique - very simple block colours in clothes, flesh and weapons, then slap on a coat of mahogany coloured varnish from the DIY store, then quickly wipe off the excess, leaving thicker varmish in the creases to create shading. I think it works rather well for this bunch!

Friday ramblings...

Friday!

Yay!

That was a LONG WEEK!

In fact I think it might actually have been 2 or 3 weeks! Monday was a long time ago.

This weekend is going to be one of those "nothing planned, lets just see what happens" weekends. The weather has cleared up nicely today from the rain we have had most days this week, so hopefully I can drag out the barbeque at some point!

The next couple of weeks are going to be insane at work - the freshers arrive next week, and we have loads of them. Add to that we have a load of building work at the Uni that is just finishing up - new book shop and coffee shop right down stairs from me, new science labs, new library, new lecture theatres - I am going to be just as lost as the freshers at first!

Then the rest of the students arrive too and I also start studying again! One of mymodules this year is all about the USA and Canada, so it will be fun to see what I can find out about where my American and Canadian friends live! Essays? Not so excited about them...

Oh, one thing that I DO plan to do this weekend is to finish off my latest set of toy soldiers - Sudanese Mahdists from the 1880s-1890s. They are looking pretty good so far, so I will see about posting photos when they are totally done.

Finally, another bass guitar lesson for my daughter...

Have a great weekend!

Bed-Banging

No, I am not being rude!

Some of you talk about car-dancing.

I tried bike-dancing but fell off.

Now I had found Bed-Banging - head-banging in bed, with a bit of air guitar thrown in.

The local radio station has started playing this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY

("Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon) at the time I am supposed to get up. Getting up is now delayed while I Bed-Bang to this great little song.

A great way to start the day.

What is your favourite way to start the day?

I was right!

All summer we kept seeing amazingly bright Hawaian shirts in the shops.

I wanted one.

I would grab one off the rack and hold it in front of myself, saying "I want this!"

The reactions were varied:

• No, bladdy!
• Please don't!
• Don't you dare!
• Who is that person?

Varied but united in their rejection of my desires - I am a simple guy (aren't we all?), I don't expect much from life, but they all conspired to stop me getting the one thing that I wanted - a really embarassing shirt.

But what has happened now? Number One Son has been invited to a party - a Hawaian party. Can we find him a suitable shirt now that the summer has gone? No, of course not!

Now, if only they had allowed me to get one in the summer....

I WAS RIGHT!

Birthdays

My youngest will soon be 11 years old.

OK, his name is Ira, reflecting my distant Jewish ancestry - still visible in the shape of my nose ;-)

He is a great little guy - well, not really that little any more, he is almost as tall as Mrs RC!

Anyway, he is a great little guy, intelligent, works hard at school, and has a wicked sense of humour. He will often see something and then take the idea and ramble on, taking the idea to ridiculous extremes which have us all in stitches.

He only has a few friends his own age, mixing much better with older kids. He finds most kids his own age "too baby-ish" - he can't connect with them, whereas he is more than able to hold his own in the company of 15 year olds.

Which brings me to his birthday. We are having real trouble deciding what to buy him! I have already ordered a copy of the latest Halo game for the XBox (which he is probably technically too young to play, but what the heck! I don't have a problem with Halo - Grand Theft Auto is another matter...) but a lot of other stuff that is designed for his age group just looks, um, "too baby-ish"!

We sometimes wonder if he has somehow skipped part of his childhood, going straight from little kid to teenager. Perhaps he has just caught up with his older brother - I remember trying to do this when I was a kid, but I failed to catch him!

Anyhoo...

Any ideas for birthday presents for a 15 year old 11 year old?