Fireworks (by alaric)

Last night, we went up to Barrow Wake Viewpoint, which looks out over Gloucester from a hill, to see all the fireworks displays (public and private!) going on over the city. Jean loved it, and called them "pretties". There were a lot of families up there - somebody even had a barbecue going...

Then the next morning, the air outside at home smelt crisply of nitrate combustion products 🙂

Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking (by sarah)

We really enjoyed this talk though in hind sight we wished we had perhapse taken the cubs and scouts as it was about the childrens book they've writen together - although it was for children even Alaric learnt something new (or rather understands something more now - namely how stuff Can escape blackwholes). Lucy is a very good and engaging talker too which was cool.

I have to say I didn't enjoy this as much as the Pratchett talk but I think this was due to two things - firstly the theatre was freezing and due to verious happenings I had upset my pelvis again so it was aching fourciously. I was actually shivering! Secondly when Stephen Hawking was talking I had a bit of a problem understanding - now I think most people would not have had this problem as it is due to the fact that as a small child around the point where you really start to get the hang of spoken language, I was almost completely deaf and had to have several operations to sort it out. (ok look it was server glue ear and I had several lots of gromets put in but I had other stuff done at the same time so was put under full anaesthetic). This means that I really struggly understanding people if I can't see their lips move, if I can't see that then all I get is a jumble of noise with just the odd word coming out distinctly.

Of course Stephen Hawking talks with a synthacizer so I had no lips to read (I used Als monical whilst Lucy was talking). Would would have been good for me would have been the transcript up on the great big display screen they had in there. I know that public talks can be hard to write down in a corherrent form normally but that restriction does not apply here. Obviously I do not expet things to be altered for just the small fraction of the population that has these kinds of problems but it did ruin the talk for me a bit.

Terry Pratchett (by sarah)

Finially after living in Chelt for over two years we got to go to the Litrature festivial - first year we had no way of getting there and no one to look after jean and I was still shaky on the crutches, last year we just didnt have any spare cash to spend on the ticketsbut this year we got to go!

And yesturday we say Terry Pratchett being interviewed by some woman from a litrature programme on the radio. He was quiet frankly brilliant - I didnt expect that, I thought he would just be an oldish man being interviewed but he was sooooooo funny and he feely does have my dads scense of humour 🙂 He is also quick witted and sounds like Mr Hedgehog when he was telling me bed time stories! (ok well dads good at accents and there used to be a hedgehog and badger and pigeon and fruit bat etc.... who would tell me stories and stuff).

Anyway I was glad to here that he is writing something other than a discworld noval and said himself the same things me and Alaric had said about the novals becoming a bit samey but people wanting the familiarity etc... I think that it must be a great reflief to go and do something different that isnt tied in to all the previous stuff, reduce the pressure of whats expected etc...

What I was sad to hear though is that he had suffered a little stroke - he hadn't even known he said and the only difference he detected was that he can no longer tie a tie and that he has certian adverts stuck in his head - he then proceeded to lighten the mood again by singing some of the jingles! Again he can actually sing which was cool.

Today we are off to see Stephen Hawking and his duaghter which should be fun though Al has already been to various things with Hawking I havent so I'm really excited! Unfortunatly I hadn't noticed that Tom Reynolds was going to be doing a slot and therefore didnt factor him in which is a shame as we'd have quiet liked to have seen him - oh well :/

However me and Al have had everyone we tell about who we are seeing at the festivial laugh at us! I think that there is a certian expectation when you say you are going to the Cheltenham Litrature Festivial that it will be all arty and high brow. This angers me slightly as surely writing is about communication and if artistic - expression - the same people who would not dare be seen listerning to Pratchett as its not proper litrature will praise Shakespeare and the like, forgetting or ignoring the origins and history of the very subject they are being so 'knowledgable' about.

People leave cool things on the kerbside in London (by alaric)

Like this rather large power supply, spotted on Tottenham Court Road:

I'm glad I didn't have the van, or I'd have felt compelled to take it home and try to fix it!

In London! (by alaric)

We're in London. After the last run of bad luck, a lovely client said "Come and work in my offices, so if any more bad luck happens, I can fix it, so you can keep working and get my project finished on time" 🙂

We'll be here for a couple of weeks.