Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the month “September, 2011”

27 Sep 2011

Murder in kingston on thames


Just by chance sitting at the computer ordering Elena’s birthday presents very conveniently from Amazon. Selection of books and Lego. Her request! Elena was off school monday as she came back from Windmill hill the PGL place with cough and cold etc but is fine today. she has her entrance exam for Nonsuch school on thursday! Poor things exams at 10 years old to get into a school. Seems like all the good state schools here have about 1500 applicants for maybe 150 places, so not good odds. I am off to Berlin tomorrow for 3 days to present some data at a congress with my friend, the nurse from Manchester, john, who always gets me to smoke cigars! He is the one who eats 48 oz steaks and is already enquiring about steaks in Berlin. Have a busy time over next few weeks, have 2 days in Paris, 3 days in slovenia, 4 days in toronto and 4 days in indianapolis, and holiday over half term!
one interesting thing happened today. I took /elena to her tutoring after school and we passed a house all covered in police tape like a crime scene on the way into Kingston near the infamous Cambridge estate. Seems that there was a murder there last night. Lovely area this, bit like Mexico!! elena ( the 10 yr old for those who dont know her, think a younger version of hannah montana in terms of attitude and maybe singing ability too) informed me that they are doing forensic science at school. that would make an interesting school trip to a real murder scene. Information all care of Radio Jackie tweets! am off to Berlin in the morning so not much on here till the weekend.
seems an interesting game at wycombe tonight, wycombe 3 Preston 4. Preston will go up as champions of League 1 you heard it first, and Brentford will be in play-offs and we all know what will happen then………….
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26 Sep 2011

Honduras


The movement of Kim around the globe has been associated with a much better geography knowledge. Previously I knew all the northern UK football towns due to the Brentford visits and know I have a decent knowledge of central USA. Looks a dangerous sort of conglommeration of countries all associated with death and destruction. Each day, well maybe week, there are stories of deaths in Mexico. Yesterday a journalist was found decapitated there. Her crime allegedly was to to inform on one of the drug cartels. Anyway, lets hope all is fine. whilst on the cruise last xmas there was the searching for a dead body floating in the sea off Venezuela. admittedly a Russian suicide.

Here we were promised a week of balmy sunshine,  and awoke to grey sky and rain.

Greyhound walking yesterday was less successful than usual. We took a dog called Jeniffer outto Painshill Park. Very happy dog remembered our car and very pleased with idea of car ride. At Painshill refused to get out and had to be dragged almost to the entrance, at which point we decided to go back to car. Cue Greyhound almost running back!!!! What does Jeniffer have against Painshill Park? Elena was off sschool today with viral symptoms but is going back tomorrow so nothing dreadful and I head off To Berlin on wednesday for 3 days.

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24 Sep 2011

Oldham 0 Brentford 2


An interesting week but one sadly that ended with me getting up at 4 am to travel to Heathrow and head for Dublin for a day of work. Why saturday? good question but the Irish often hold meetings then and I agreed to give a lecture on ADHD. Actually it all went well over there, nice audience and nice people. but to be waiting for a taxi booked for 5 am when it did not turn up was not idyllic. the guy rang me and said where was I, to which i replied outside my house. He was somewhere else, anyway then he arrives and the next piece of joy when he tells me in a very foreign language that this is his second day in the job and he has no idea how to get to Heathrow! now at 5 am i am cutting it quite fine timewise, thinking who else would be on the road. Well it all worked out. security at Terminal 1 did their best too to make me late. They stopped a sikh guy as he had what looked like a keyring and instead of just pulling him to one side and getting on with it, they stopped the whole security queue from moving. Anyway got picked up in a nice Mercedes limo and whisked off. Central dublin was so empty.

Return flight  in the middle of the afternoon meant no football for me today and that is painful, so no photos to upload. The tannoy announcer at Heathrow made me laugh as he sounded just like the ” compare the meerkat, compare the market” voice. Flights both ways on BMI who have that look of an airline in freefall. The staff are all generally morose and they seem to stop flying to where I want to go (Glasgow, Leeds, Durham Teeside) and initiate flights to where no-one in their right minds would want to go, places with Kazakstan, BAKU and tripoli, all come to mind. flight was maybe 60% full at best.

Brentford seemed to have played well at Oldham. They were 1-0 up and Llera got sent off for two yellow cards, but then Weston got a second. Season is looking good. If we can win a few home games then things could be interesting.

Kim may have reached Honduras by now. she had a wretched flight series with a 8 hour stop over at Newark, amounting to overnight and then a 2 hour delay on the final flight out of Houston but still seems happy on her blog.  www.seniorbushe.wordpress.com. We will see her in about a month when she has qualified as a trained Scuba instructor.

The last produce from the garden was eaten tonight, before you get excited, they were 5 small strawberries from the eternal strawberry plant. We leave it out each winter where it gets rained on and snowed on and frosted, yet comes back stronger the following year. Our potatoes also seem to be growing somewhat, so homegrown charlotte potatoes for xmas are planned.

During the week had a few nice meals out. Red Peppers in Esher is worth a mention and Reds in Wimbledon and using my lovely Taste card getting 50% the food bill, it is quite cheap to eat out except when wife decides to have copious quantities of vanilla vodka………….

Finally work has been busy this week. I took part in a debate over ADHD at the UKAAN meeting at a venue that was next to the Savoy hotel, called IET Savoy Place. Great venue. Old fashioned lecture theatre with modern frills. Loved it. Am becoming increasingly fascinated with ADHD and things will be interesting next year when more adults start getting diagnosed with ADHD.

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20 Sep 2011
1 Comment

North Wales


Well it has to be said that it is alleged to be an area of beauty but sadly that beauty evaded my vision on sunday and monday. all I saw was an unimpressive coastline, rain and grey skies. Manchester airport was less than idyllic too. I did not get off ot a good start. A Vauxhall insignia car, in the dark, with no instructions. first problem how to open the boot. Second problem, how to get the handbrake off. third problem, how to start the car. Hmmmm…….
anyway a couple of lectures and then home again. The bus from the airport was an interesting as in cabaret experience. The X26 is an airport bus, it runs too and from Heathrow. Rather strangely it has precious little and indeed almost no space for luggage. the bus fills up quickly and the driver had a stand up argument along the lines of ” you dont respect me” and ” i know more than you…”, with a gentleman who would not put his case in the correct place!
Went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier spy tonight in a really little cinema in wimbledon above HMV, called oddly enough HMV Curzon. Great film and great acting, if you like spy films. Not looking forward to my london jaunts for the next three days. commuting is not fun

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17 Sep 2011

Brentford 1 Preston 3


Sadly a really one sided game. Preston were a big strong team with a number of undesireables and frankly way better than us. We all had great hopes of this week but 1 point from 2 home games says it all.

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11 Sep 2011

Wycombe 0 Brentford 1


Bees win again. thats five wins from 7 games and we remain 4th. It was a sort of reserve bees side as they have maybe 6 players who are probably first choice who would have been playing. a brief summary of the game might be this: bees were much the better side, they won with a penalty that was ridiculous for wycombe to give away. Lee made some world class saves in the second half and in the end we were hanging on. Charles and I had the pleasure of some dubious dire conversation behind which included gems like ” he knowingly knew” and ” wycombe is almost in wales”. These were also two of the more interesting comments. In fact change conversation above to monologue.
Sunday was walking the greyhounds day. Elena and I had some type of Scooby doo greyhound called ” ariel”, who leapt as high as she walked in front! Sweet dog though.
Looks like the rubbish weather we are promised this week, the tail of the hurricane from east USA is arriving. Windy and rainy. You will certainly notice the difference from Mexico. Animals all remain well and Shadow is a fairly competent catcher of moths and butterflies in case you need those. Would like advice re Hedgepig’s diet. What else can he eat except mealworms and cat food? Garden slugs maybe?
Hope all well.

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09 Sep 2011

Saturday almost here


Wycombe v Bees tomorrow, so will be off there with Charles. No real news today. UK still grey. There was a horrid smell in the lounge and when I moved the sofa out, a dead mouse/shrew thing was under there. Shadow keeps on catching and bringing in Moths (Shadow is our low IQ black cat), think they are a present for me. There has been an earthquake today off west coast of Canada, Vancouver Island, 6.5. Might be going to Vancouver in October, but will think again.
Did a good deed today. Picked up elena from school and there was a white transit van outside a house 3 doors down (Liz lives there, the older lady who looks after our plants and things when we go away), with a full set of keys, car and house hanging out the rear doors. I had a guess it was someone in her house and it was. Lucky guy who was doing her kitchen. Would have been easy just to drive off!!
Elena got to school today and there was a “crime scene” taped off in her classroom, where they were told someone had stolen a laptop. But it sounded a little contrived and especially as the children were sent out to look for clues! Somehow I think this may a set-up by the teachers especially as their term project is something like “whodunnit”.

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09 Sep 2011

Great news for Painshill Park


Landmark romantic grotto wins Heritage Lottery Fund support

Posted:16/08/2011
The Crystal Grotto – a fascinating romantic landscape feature at the heart of Painshill Park in Cobham, Surrey – has been awarded £747,400 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for restoration works, it was announced today.

The project, to be run by the Painshill Park Trust, will complete the latest phase of restoration works at Painshill, which is regarded as one of the most important 18th century landscapes in the UK. The grant will also be used to improve access to the Grotto and its interior for visitors, create two apprenticeships in gardening and building restoration, and set-up an education post to expand Painshill’s education and community outreach programmes.

Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for the South East, said: “This wonderful heritage site is one of only a handful left of this type of landscape feature and as such we fully support the restoration and this opportunity to save the grotto for future generations.”

Some 158 acres in size, the stunning Grade I listed Georgian landscape at Painshill Park was created between 1738 and 1773 by aristocrat Charles Hamilton. It was born of his passion for plant collecting and the new fashions for naturalistic romantic landscapes of the period. Situated on an island on the lake at the centre of Painshill, the Crystal Grotto is one of the last historic follies to be restored. Originally created by Grotto maker Joseph Lane in 1760 for the sum of £8,000, the spectacular folly was described by German landscape designer Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (1750-1823) as “the finest of its type ever built”.

Restoration works will include the reinstatement of the Woollett Bridge – the appearance of which is preserved in an engraving dated 1760 by William Woollett – but which has since been completely lost. The Grotto itself is to have its main chamber restored, which will include lining it with calcite, gypsum, quartz, fluorite and other minerals and stones. It will also complete the framework of inverted wooden cones plastered with lime mortar and embedded with crystals to create dazzling stalactites.

As well as involving volunteers from the local community, the Trust plans to invite schools and colleges to take part in this exciting heritage project. Visitors will also be able to see and learn about the restoration as well as benefiting from improved access with restored pathways.

Mike Gove, Chief Executive of Painshill Park Trust is delighted that the application has been approved by HLF. He said: “It’s an incredible achievement to receive this grant and we are extremely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The recreation of the Grotto is an important milestone for the Trust, which is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. This is going to make a huge different to this heritage site, which has been painstakingly restored and treasured by many.”

The 24-month restoration programme is due to be completed in 2013.
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07 Sep 2011

Autumn is very much here


a horrid tuesday today. Rain and wind. Elena back to school today, the start of her last year in junior school. seems like yesterday she started. Anyway she is very excited as she has been nominated, or nominated herself, for looking after the  stereo systems and microphones and things in assembly and other such times. I can just imagine what she might plan given half a chance. Otherwise not really much news. We were looking at photos from maybe 3 years ago and Elena said who is that? It looks a bit like you but with hair…………….

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06 Sep 2011

Autumn has arrived in UK


Sudden change in the weather from vaguely warm to positively autumnal, and it has come more or less overnight. Drizzle all day, grey sky and a bit cold. This made me realise that I dont really know what temperature hedgepig is happy being at?
If you have sky in Honduras, Charlton v Bees in the JPT 2nd round is live on Oct 5th.
Just finished watching the most boring football game of all time England 1 Wales 0. Plus Wales missed an open goal near the end. Was like watching a training ground game or friendly pre-season.

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