mashoo
2008-07-09 - 2008-08-04
contents

female stag beetle on my bed; i didn't know what it was at first; expecting it to fly away, i dropped it out of the window; it didn't fly; it landed with a crack on a plastic box in the back yard; i should have hoyed it onto the grass instead

0000752b.jpg | 2008-07-09T05:23:00Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
last evening, we watched `the ghost and mrs muir' (1947); it was cool!

00007547 | 2008-07-12T06:52:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
dead magpie on upper green this morning; and a cool breeze; but i took care of my temperature by wearing a jumper and running about after an odd-shaped ball

00007548 | 2008-07-12T09:04:40Z | -no-label- | -mt4-

fig shooting as the clouds drift in front of the sun

0000754e.jpg | 2008-07-12T10:50:10Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

fig in the sun; blue sky

00007550.jpg | 2008-07-12T10:51:04Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
and i saw a tiny frog today, hopping away from the pond under the side gate; i hadn't seen one in years; it's nice to know that the pond can still produce them

00007552 | 2008-07-12T13:43:51Z | -no-label- | -mt4-

blue sky through the window (from my pillow)

0000757b.jpg | 2008-07-19T05:53:12Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

wall plants in the sun; trees (and apples) in the background

0000758a.jpg | 2008-07-20T06:34:34Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

wall plants against the sun

0000758c.jpg | 2008-07-20T06:35:58Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

apples on the apple tree against a blue sky

0000758e.jpg | 2008-07-20T06:37:20Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

apples on the apple tree against a blue sky

00007590.jpg | 2008-07-20T06:38:00Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
on

00007597 | 2008-07-20T21:25:30Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
off

000075d7 | 2008-07-20T21:25:31Z | radio > rx > pre-amp | -mt4-
5.4035 (5.403453)

00007598 | 2008-07-20T21:25:32Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de g8fdr] qth near hull

0000759a | 2008-07-20T21:25:35Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+10

0000759e | 2008-07-20T21:25:35Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
[de m0haz/qrp] name ant, anthony; qth skegness

0000759c | 2008-07-20T21:25:56Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 55

0000759f | 2008-07-20T21:25:56Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
you're just over the noise; we're about 60 miles apart; pwr 150w; ant 80m carolina windom, elev 30ft; just had excellent contact with denmark station

000075a0 | 2008-07-20T21:26:49Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[de m0haz/qrp] like a telephone conversation; negative noise; 100% clear copy; rst 59+40; pwr 10w; rig military manpack, racal 4031; ant dipole, length 66ft, centre-fed, elev 10ft; no counterpoise; quite surprised to be getting that far away, to be honest

000075a2 | 2008-07-20T21:28:09Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[de m0haz/qrp]

00008922 | 2008-07-20T21:29:56Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
off

000075a4 | 2008-07-20T22:08:58Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-

foobillard; snooker; break 103; missed a long brown off its spot

000075b6.png | 2008-07-23T06:22:00Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

little yellow wall flower

000075ba.jpg | 2008-07-23T11:46:00Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jeans that were just too tight; loved the colour though

000075d3.jpg | 2008-07-24T13:05:30Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
on

000075d5 | 2008-07-25T11:16:00Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
lsb

000075d8 | 2008-07-25T11:16:08Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
7.0735 (7.073439)

000075d6 | 2008-07-25T11:16:10Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de gb5fi]

00008923 | 2008-07-25T11:16:12Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+20

000075db | 2008-07-25T11:16:14Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
name philip

000075da | 2008-07-25T11:16:52Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[g0vbc de gb5fi]

00008924 | 2008-07-25T11:20:25Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+10; qth flatholm island, eu-124; name philip

000075dd | 2008-07-25T11:21:06Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
members of the barry amateur radio society, 10 miles west of cardiff; come to the island annually, to activate the island for the iota contest (this weekend); give us a shout on the weekend (gw8k); 73

000075de | 2008-07-25T11:21:51Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[? de gb5fi]

00008925 | 2008-07-25T11:22:16Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
off

000075e0 | 2008-07-25T11:22:43Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-

fig, bay, skywire loop and collinear antennas, tall trees and blue sky; the fig had just been watered (hose out of shot left, stuck in one of mum's many pots)

000075e8.jpg | 2008-07-26T14:29:02Z | skywire loop antenna | -mt1-
on

000075ea | 2008-07-26T15:46:00Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
usb

000075ec | 2008-07-26T16:03:34Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
24.94425 (24.944034)

000075eb | 2008-07-26T16:03:36Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de yu3aa]

00008926 | 2008-07-26T16:03:37Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
on

000075ed | 2008-07-26T16:03:38Z | radio > rx > pre-amp | -mt4-
name stevan; qth novi sad

000075ef | 2008-07-26T16:04:10Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[g0vbc de yu3aa] rst 59

000075f1 | 2008-07-26T16:05:07Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 55

000075f2 | 2008-07-26T16:05:10Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
24.94425 (24.944034)

000075f3 | 2008-07-26T16:06:00Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
24.91225 (24.912034)

000075f4 | 2008-07-26T16:06:25Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
cw

000075f5 | 2008-07-26T16:06:26Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
[de cs8dfg]

00008927 | 2008-07-26T16:06:27Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[g0vbc de cs8dfg]

00008928 | 2008-07-26T16:09:46Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
g0vbc de cs8dfg = ga dr om = ur rst 559 559 = name is raf raf raf = qth is lisbon lisbon = hw? = g0vbc de cs8dfg

000075f8 | 2008-07-26T16:10:12Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 559; qsb

000075f9 | 2008-07-26T16:10:14Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
g0vbc de cs8dfg = ok ok dr matthew = ok tks fer qso = qsl is ok best 73 73 = g0vbc de cs8dfg = 73

000075fa | 2008-07-26T16:13:45Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[? de cs8dfg]

00008929 | 2008-07-26T16:15:31Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
usb

000075fc | 2008-07-26T16:15:59Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
24.91225 (24.912034)

000075fd | 2008-07-26T16:15:59Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
18.135 (18.134843)

000075fe | 2008-07-26T16:17:35Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de f8boj]

0000892a | 2008-07-26T16:17:37Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+

00007600 | 2008-07-26T16:17:39Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
off

00007602 | 2008-07-26T16:17:41Z | radio > rx > pre-amp | -mt4-
qth near roanne, middle-east france

00007606 | 2008-07-26T16:18:38Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
off

00007601 | 2008-07-26T16:22:34Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
a rich set of coincidences before bed;

i just watched `the bothersome man' (2006), which features a disappearing vehicle (tracks that stop in the middle of nowhere); meanwhile, `back to the future, part 3' was running on itv 2; when the film had finished, i caught the end of thursday night's `mock the week' on bbc 2, in which frankie boyle mentioned the disappearing `back to the future' car;

also, i've set the machine to record `spider' on bbc 2 tonight; it will record over none other than `spiderman';

spooky and cool...

00007603 | 2008-07-26T21:02:38Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
having noticed a nasty new hot pixel last night (on my most recent pic), i took a new dark frame and tested it on that pic and the one of my bedroom window;

this morning, i flicked back through less recent pics, to see whether it would be worth writing a reprocessing script; but there was only a handful of flawed images back to 2008-04, where the hot pixel appeared to become cool; i ended up manually reprocessing the following;

00006caa 00006cae 00007060 00007089 0000758c

00007607 | 2008-07-27T08:56:16Z | -no-label- | -mt4-

sunrise

0000760d.jpg | 2008-07-28T06:09:24Z | photography | -mt1-
3

00007833 | 2008-07-28T06:16:00Z | radio > rx > antenna | -mt4-

2 metre collinear antenna, tied and taped (somewhat) to the dead creeper by the shower room window; skywire loop antenna feeder below; blue sky

0000760f.jpg | 2008-07-28T06:16:44Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
i just flushed the shower room toilet with my foot; i think that's a first for me

00007608 | 2008-07-28T06:23:00Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
1

00008312 | 2008-07-28T06:23:02Z | radio > rx > antenna | -mt4-
we watched a great film tonight; `25th hour' (2002); meanwhile, the sky flickered and flashed, and the rain came down

00007629 | 2008-07-28T21:40:28Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
the dark clouds, heavy rain and lightning arrived suddenly at around 18:15Z yesterday and remained until bedtime at least; for the second night in succession, i went to sleep listening to the storms on the radio; the new bird bath, perched atop the chimenea, had accumulated about an inch and a half of water;

this morning, the fig looked like it had taken quite a beating; one of the larger new shoots had snapped; everything else sagged

0000762a | 2008-07-29T10:34:24Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
on

0000764b | 2008-07-30T07:20:30Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
4.024 (4.023965)

0000764c | 2008-07-30T07:20:32Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de ?]

0000892b | 2008-07-30T07:20:33Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
two brixham (?) fishermen discuss sole; one of them says he appeared to have started a fight in a pub in dartmouth, which ensued while he was outside having a fag; one chap needed stitches

0000764d | 2008-07-30T07:20:34Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
[de ?]

0000892c | 2008-07-30T07:36:02Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
4.024 (4.023965)

00007650 | 2008-07-30T07:36:16Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
off

00007651 | 2008-07-30T07:37:05Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
on

0000762f | 2008-07-30T13:30:20Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
18.154 (18.153843)

00007630 | 2008-07-30T13:30:22Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de iw2clm]

0000892d | 2008-07-30T13:30:24Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+10

00007632 | 2008-07-30T13:30:26Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
[g0vbc de iw2clm]

0000892e | 2008-07-30T13:43:48Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59 peak; qsb; you are off-frequency; or maybe i am; but no problem

00007634 | 2008-07-30T13:44:30Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
ant optibeam 9 el multiband yagi, elev 35m

00007637 | 2008-07-30T13:46:12Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
qsb

00007635 | 2008-07-30T13:46:26Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
on

00007636 | 2008-07-30T13:46:39Z | radio > rx > pre-amp | -mt4-
off

00007639 | 2008-07-30T13:46:45Z | radio > rx > pre-amp | -mt4-
[? de iw2clm]

0000892f | 2008-07-30T13:48:16Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
18.154 (18.153843)

0000763a | 2008-07-30T13:48:26Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
off

0000763b | 2008-07-30T13:48:44Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
on

0000763c | 2008-07-30T16:08:00Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
lsb

0000763d | 2008-07-30T16:08:30Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
7.087 (7.086939)

0000763e | 2008-07-30T16:08:32Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de ha3my]

00008930 | 2008-07-30T16:08:34Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[g0vbc de ha3my]

00008931 | 2008-07-30T16:12:32Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
rst 59+20

00007641 | 2008-07-30T16:12:46Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
rst 55; name pet

00007642 | 2008-07-30T16:13:27Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
[? de ha3my]

00008932 | 2008-07-30T16:14:16Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
40m

00007644 | 2008-07-30T16:15:33Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
off

00007645 | 2008-07-30T16:16:32Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-

sleepy nuthatch on the bird feeder; holly leaves and fence behind;

i had gone to take the bin in; seeing a bird on the feeder, i was surprised that it was neither feeding nor flying away; perhaps it was not a bird; it was blue and still; i approached slowly, and was soon sure that i was looking at a nuthatch; it was soothing to be so close to a bird that normally seems so twitchy; it seemed stoned, responding sluggishly to my tentative movements and noises of clearing plates from the other side of the fence; its only sign of alertness was its frequent blinking; i had come as close as 4 feet, even rearranging the furniture to make progress; and then i thought to fetch my camera;

i took this image from 6 or so feet; i attempted to resume my 4 feet position, but the bird stirred and flew to the top of the fence and away; at any range, it would have been difficult to ground myself well enough to avoid camera shake without alarming the bird; however, i think i could have done better with this image, despite the high zoom factor; i think i rushed it, in anticipation of a subsequent attempt at closer range

00007649.jpg | 2008-07-31T09:04:52Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
fat, noisy web pages, especially those that are weighed down with javascript, so that you can't even scroll or switch between windows without the computer groaning under the strain

seems this might be more of a pango (firefox backend) thing than a website issue; certain older firefox versions process justified text slowly, for example; perhaps this doesn't belong in my shitlist

00007652 | 2008-07-31T15:58:17Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
emphasising the padding in words (such as the `o' in `kilometre' and `speedometer') or prepositions when the emphasis has no value; for example, a newsreader might say `_in_ april', presumably out of embarrassment at being forced to repeat `april'; the repetition would be less bad, but it's fashionable to avoid it;

that fashion itself is rubbish; well, not the fashion itself, but the rigid adherence to it; because alternative references often lead to a loss of clarity; and surely the goodness of a message is more important than its style; when listening to a report about a sports match, for example south africa against new zealand, i would rather hear `south africa' three times than have the reporter refer to `the world champions' or ``john smit's team'', which sometimes leaves me trying to work out which team is being referred to

00007653 | 2008-07-31T15:58:50Z | shitlist | -mt4-
on

000076a7 | 2008-08-01T20:56:50Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
having heard something muffled on my tranny, i thought i'd switch on for a scan

000076b1 | 2008-08-01T20:56:51Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
usb

000076a8 | 2008-08-01T20:56:52Z | radio > rx > mode | -mt4-
2.624 (2.623977)

000076a9 | 2008-08-01T20:56:54Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de ?]

00008933 | 2008-08-01T20:56:56Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
italian? numbers? lots of static; there also appears to be distortion on the signal, like there's a loose connection or corruption on a digital recording

000076ab | 2008-08-01T20:56:58Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
2.345 (2.34498)

000076ac | 2008-08-01T20:59:10Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de ?]

00008934 | 2008-08-01T20:59:12Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
fisherman talking about beets (other station lost in the static); he likes them unpickled; `fucking'; `bloody'; the rain made his awning burst

000076ae | 2008-08-01T20:59:14Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
2.624 (2.623977)

000076af | 2008-08-01T21:04:08Z | radio > rx > frequency (mhz) | -mt4-
[de ?]

00008935 | 2008-08-01T21:04:10Z | radio > rx > message | -mt4-
she's a little stronger now; still broken up by static and that other thing

000076b2 | 2008-08-01T21:05:24Z | radio > comment | -mt4-

italian voice through static noise

000076b5.ogg | 2008-08-01T21:05:24Z | -no-label- | -mt3-
i suppose the signal on my tranny was the fisherman

000076b6 | 2008-08-01T21:05:44Z | radio > comment | -mt4-
off

000076b3 | 2008-08-01T21:05:45Z | radio > on/off | -mt4-
wolverhampton station

0000769c | 2008-08-02T08:02:00Z | location | -mt4-
oxford station

0000769d | 2008-08-02T09:42:00Z | location | -mt4-
didcot parkway station

0000769e | 2008-08-02T10:08:00Z | location | -mt4-
swindon station

0000769f | 2008-08-02T10:33:00Z | location | -mt4-
the bell inn, west overton

00007699 | 2008-08-02T11:40:00Z | location | -mt4-

me

00007689.jpg | 2008-08-02T11:41:08Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jean (with camera in hand, looking at paul)

0000768b.jpg | 2008-08-02T11:42:34Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
avebury

0000769a | 2008-08-02T13:25:00Z | location | -mt4-

paul, mervyn, jessica and jean pass some stones; field; blue sky

0000768d.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:25:04Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

sheep and thistles on the bank

0000768f.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:34:14Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
the magic tree, avebury

0000769b | 2008-08-02T13:36:00Z | location | -mt4-

jean and paul under the magic tree

00007691.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:38:22Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

me beneath the magic tree

00007693.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:38:52Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
throne stone, avebury

000076a5 | 2008-08-02T13:49:30Z | location | -mt4-

jessica, jean, mervyn and paul by the throne stone; roadsign; sheep in the field across the road

00007695.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:50:16Z | -no-label- | -mt1-

jean on the throne stone

00007697.jpg | 2008-08-02T13:50:32Z | -no-label- | -mt1-
swindon station

000076a0 | 2008-08-02T14:50:00Z | location | -mt4-
cheltenham spa station

000076a1 | 2008-08-02T16:25:00Z | location | -mt4-
birmingham new street station

000076a2 | 2008-08-02T17:30:00Z | location | -mt4-
wolverhampton station

000076a3 | 2008-08-02T18:10:00Z | location | -mt4-
my bedroom, wolverhampton

000076a4 | 2008-08-02T18:30:00Z | location | -mt4-
the alarm on my mobile phone woke me yesterday morning; the foreign station i had fallen asleep to had been unable to wake me, due to the daily cycle of the ionosphere (there was just noise); as often when woken artificially, i was still quite aware of what i had been dreaming;

i had been standing in a wide city street at night (perhaps london); the buildings were tall and well-spaced; someone was with me; on the otherwise empty road before me, an open-topped bus passed from left to right; perhaps the road then crossed a river; the top deck of the bus was full of junior schoolboys, very uniform, in dark (navy?) blazers; they were uniformly cheering, well-behaved and seated; and then, not far behind, was another bus just like it (or was it the same bus?) (or am i recalling my recall?); anyway, i liked being there;

my journey to swindon was good, though the scenery was cloudy and damp; the totty improved as i progressed; after birmingham, a woman and 2 3-foot-tall kids looked for seats; ``we'll have to go in the quiet coach then; fuck it''; i enjoyed the wild fields; and then 6 buzzards soaring over a large house amidst tall trees; there was steam at didcot (as informed by dad, by sms), where i was instructed to stand behind the yellow line; beyond the station, an intercity hurtled west, before another shot east on the platform opposite; the steam chuffed in from reading; and then an odd, silent, blue-eyed brunette (possibly french, probably foreign) allowed me to sit in my final reserved seat, by (rather slowly) collecting her many newspaper supplements; she smiled nicely, and had good fingernails;

at swindon, ma and pa were surprised to discover that we had been on the same train; i had worked it out (rather late) during a previous leg of my journey; we found our ride in the car park, wished jessica a happy birthday, and proceeded;

we passed through avebury on the way to the bell inn, which was quiet when we arrived but crowded and understaffed when we left; ma took a good photograph of me, which is remarkable on two counts; i had chicken curry; the yellow rice tasted odd, and the naan was like rubber, but the curry was rich and coconutty, and the meat was pert without toughness; after a cloudy pint, pa requested a `significant' glass of red wine from ma, which caused some laughter;

we passed the avenue of stones again on the way back to avebury; we found a parking space, and then walked; there were plenty of tourists around, and a lot of sheep shit; pa's trousers suffered noticeably; the sun shone, stones were touched and trees hugged; we visited a shop or two; pa bought and nibbled some chocolate-coated kendal mint cake; and then we returned to swindon; it had been a nice time;

the totty did not decline on the train journey home as one might expect; and the sun and cotton-wool clouds remained; on the other hand, i do not enjoy the trees at this time of year (too dark and monochromatic); the kemble stretch was pretty though;

and then home, to process photographs, while ma packed and pa enjoyed ``dad's army'' night on the bbc

000076a6 | 2008-08-03T10:01:03Z | -no-label- | -mt4-
contents
matthew munro, g0vbc, my bedroom, wolverhampton, still photograph, audio clip