Earthquake in England
Oh MY GOD. Just survived my first earthquake. Here in Hartlepool.
Trying to track down reports of it on the news. Apparently it was felt all over the country.
UPDATE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm
Worrying.
Archive for February, 2008
It’s not Valentines day!!
Hurrah! I’m so happy!
I’m also happy that this Valentine’s day, I am practically guaranteed some crumpet. In fact, I have a packet of them in the fridge which have to be eaten by tomorrow. Bonus!
Right, that’s the last I shall mention of *that* day. Tomorrow, I will even refuse to post.
Anyway, you may remember a couple of days ago, I talked about my walk to Hart Village and back. Yesterday, I decided to continue the tradition of actually “going out” and taking photos, and decided to take a walk up to Crimdon. The last time I was up there was back in May 2003 when I started the very short running regime, along with Chris R and Owen. The weather was very different yesterday, however.
The day started early. I was up and about before 10AM. The weather looked just as good as it did before. The sun was blasting in through the window. It was hard to believe this was February. Again, this wasn’t a day I fancied wasting. I donned the usual equipment, and headed off out. Originally, my first port of call was the cashpoint, but I looked up to coast road, and found that they were removing more of the streetlights.
My camera was still in my pocket from the previous day, so I took a walk up with the hope of getting some good photos of their removal. I switched the camera on, and then realised that I’d totally forgotten to put the memory card back in. Bollocks.
So, off I trudged back to Mercuryvapour Towers, in order to get my card. While I was there, I emailed Andrew D to let him know they were being removed.
A little later, I decided that it was indeed too nice of a day to waste. I donned my coat, camera, phone, headset, and headed off out the door. Needless to say I took m… oh, wait. I’ve already said I took it. Ahem.
The first stop was a return visit to the chip shop up King Oswy. I once again purchaed a bag of chips. The guy even knew what I wanted, despite it being only my 2nd visit there in as many decades.
I munched my fried potatoes and continued walking. It’s not a very long walk to Crimdon, but it’s one filled with steep inclines and declines. Before I knew it, I was heading out of Hartlepool…
Next was the steep bank which leads down from the road to the dene…
The photo doesn’t really show how steep it is. It’s difficult to walk down without looking like a penguin. Through the trees, you can see the viaduct which carries the main train track out of Hartlepool, towards Sunderland and beyond.
I followed the path into the Dene itself. I’ve never been there in the winter before…. I’ve never been to such a desolate place in all of my life. I must admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable there. I was on my own. Nobody knew where I was.
The only sound was the distant sound of a motorbike. It was all very eerie.
I continued to walk around, taking many, many photos. I was particularly happy with how this one turned out…
At this point, I started heading back. I had seen everything Crimdon had to offer in the winter, and so followed the path which leads to the Hart Station bridge. This path would have dated from when there was a train platform there (hence the name), but this was removed many years ago. Now, it forms the beginning portion of the afore-mentioned Hart to Haswell walkway, and “cylcle” way. Well, at least that’s what someone at the council thinks its spelt…
Ironically, I didn’t even notice the glaring error when I was taking the photos. I didn’t notice it when I got home, and looked the photos. I didn’t even notice it when I uploaded them to flickr. I only noticed it when I was adding the titles and descriptions. I wonder how many other poeple noticed it.
I continued my journey along the pathway. In front of me was some guy and his dog. Despite the blistering temperatures (for February, anyway), there was still ice on the ground, and the small pond to the side of it was frozen over.
I kept waking up until the road bridge. I took a few photies of the bridge. For some reason, the guy with the dog turned round, and shouted something in my direction. I didn’t know whether it was addressed to me, or his labrador, as I had my tunes blasting in my ear. Either way, I decided to play it safe, and headed up the steps which led to the main road. I walked down Hartville road, back to the starting point, and who do I see the other side of the fence? The labrador guy. Turns out I was just being paranoid, as usual, as he didn’t give me a second glance.
I was thirsty at this point, so I headed back to the King Oswy shops, and got some cherry coke. I must admit, I think I’m getting some sort of addiction to it. Well, OK that’s a bit of a fib. It was on special offer in Gillen’s.
I headed back along Easington Road to see if any work had been done on the streetlights. Just as I got there, the “truck with the remote controlled arm” pulled up. This could only mean one thing. They were about to cut down another post. This was an opportunity I wasn’t going to miss. I just *had* to watch how they did this.
I caught the whole thing, from the “grabbing” of the column, through the circular saw, until the eventual conclusion of the post being lowered carefully to the ground. I was happy, my 15 minutes standing in the middle of the footpath looking like a prick, taking photos as traffic whizzed by, were justified. I headed off home, happy in the knowledge that I’d documented the streetlight removal.
Suddenly, things got a lot more interesting. Andrew D, who you may remember I emailed several paragraphs ago, came sprinting along the path, camera in hand. He crossed over to the central reservation, and began taking photos. The workmen didn’t seem to mind at all. I thought, “Well, if he’s doing it… *I’M* doing it”. I crossed over, and also began taking photos. I won’t post them on here, as I think I’ve added enough photos today, but I did come home with a 4-foot long, 135-watt souvenir of the day.
Back to Basics
Well, so there we have it. Another way of blogging - via voice. My feelings on it are mixed. It’s nice to be able to share my immediate feelings on the move, but as I mentioned in one of the recordings, is it something I’m going to use regularly? I don’t know, but more on that another time
Well, to start off, I must point out that I have the biggest case of writers’ block since time began. I wasn’t actually planning to write a blog tonight, as Coatesy was meant to be coming over, but it’s now 21:10 at the time of typing, this appears to be very unlikely. Oh well, I guess this means I’ll have to drink the beer I bought for him…
*clink-clunk*
Can 1 is now open for business.
Anyway. The weather has been pretty kind the last couple of days. Seeing as I spent the whole of yesterday in bed, I thought today would be a good opportunity to stretch my legs. Of course, the question was going to be… where was I going to go? This question was answered very quickly, thanks to a posting on flickr by Whistling In The Dark showing that the Sainsbury’s store, which has been built nearby, has now completed, and is due to open in just over a weeks’ time.
I couldn’t resist going and having a look at it, so I donned my shoes, phone, coat, and needless to say, I took my camera.
It is located directly behind the Tall Ships pub, on the Clavering Roundabout. Unfortunately, getting to it is an absolute bitch, as you have to cross one of the busiest roads in and out of Hartlepool three times in order to get to it…
Technically, you only have to cross it once, but there is only a footpath on the “wrong” side of the road. You COULD attempt to walk there and back, but you’d be confronted with these….
Hundreds of molehills all the way across. Not fun, as you will hear in the voice recording. I ended up with my shoes and the bottom of my jeans caked in mud.
And, as I also mentioned in the voice recording, the council, after a year, have finally replaced the streetlights on the Coast road.
The old one is clearly the one switched on, and the new ones (which are white Urbis ZX3’s - the first installation of them in Hartlepool) are the ones on the right. At least I think they’re the first. I don’t know whether Andrew Dorrian (the Iridium Fan) actually reads the front page of this, but I’m sure he’ll be able to confirm that. (Update: He did. There are indeed the only ones)
Er, anyway. While I was there, I thought I’d take pictures of The Tall Ships, the newest “family” (quotes added, as Mamma Jamma states in the comments, it’s only a family pub if all of the members of your family are over the age of 14. At the time of typing, they do not cater for children. This may change in the future, and I’ll delete this should this ever change) pub in the town, designed to accomodate the middle classes. I got some funny looks by some guys in suits. Looks a nice place overall, though I didn’t go in, as I only had £20… I have a feeling I’d be lucky if that bought me half a coke and a bag of crisps.
So, with my photographs successfully taken, I had to decide what to do with the rest of my time. It was a day too good to waste. Seeing I was half way there, I thought I’d extend the walk to Hart Village. This turned out to be a very good walk. There was little of photographic value, so I just kept walking until the path ran out. I stopped in the post office, got some pop and crisps and headed back to Hartlepool.
I headed off to King Oswy and got some chips from the chippy there. It used to be owned by the family of someone I went to school with. Nowadays, it isn’t, and it has a different name. And the chips are more expensive. I walked back along the coast road, obviously so I could get some pictures of the lights being replaced. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn out so well. It’s hard taking pictures while grabbing half a bag of chips.
I’ll try to keep this short
The last few days have been a cavalcade of fun and frolics, and no, that’s not rhyming slang. As I mentied in the previous post, Gary S has now left Employment Palace, and will now be taking most of his time moving cameras about in Middlesbrough City Town Centre. Sounds like… er, fun.
Anyway, on Monday, we had a little farewell get-together for him, involving beer and, of course an indian. We decided to meet up at 7PM in King John’s. Of course, this meant a mind-numbing wait for the bus… needless to say, I took my camera
The bus eventually turns up, and it whisks me down towards our proposed meeting point. I get there, and I think I’m the only one there. After a quick scan of the location, nobody could be seen. However, while I was being served , Gary emerged out of the inky darkness behind the two fruit machines, clutching half a pint.
He pointed towards where he was sitting, in the inky dark void, where clearly not many people ever sat.
Chris S was the next to turn up. He did the same as me, and completely walked past the location where we were sat. I thought I’d have a bit of fun, and call him on his phone, asking where he was, despite the fact I could see him, stood at the bar, looking frantically around, until I eventually guided him towards the fruit machines.
JT was next to show up, however, I was unable to have the same fun with him, due to the fact that he currently doesn’t have a phone, and saw us in the dark corner anyway.
We waited around for a bit to see if anyone else would show up. Glen W (not he of Obscureinternet fame) didn’t, so that left us - the fabulous foursome, for want of a better expression. We drank up, and made our way down to Church Street, and walked into the indian, for what was going to be the start of one hell of a feast. Gary could hardly contain his excitement.
I started off with the Onion Bhaji, something which I’d only had once before, and thought they were truly gorgeous. These didn’t disappoint.
For the main meal, I went with the vindaloo. I normally go for the madras, but I thought I’d try my luck with something a little hotter. My word, it was nice. I didn’t find it that hot, although there was definitely a kick to it. In fact, this is how much I enjoyed it…
Awesome. The rest of them went for a sweet, but I decided against such extravgance.
After that, we left and went our separate ways, luckily, the bus was just pulling in, so I wished all the best to Gary, and I disappeared off into the night. All of the images can be viewed here. Some of them are a bit… well, shall we say… odd?
Tuesday, however, was a complete and utter write-off. I spent all day on the sofa. The curry left its calling card at around 4AM, and from then on, I was awake. I did do a bit of behind-the-scenes work on the site, including partially updating Wordpress to the latest sub-build, and doing a a bit of work on the database, and the gallery too. I then spent the rest of the day drifting off on the sofa, eventually livening myself up around 7PM. Thankfully the Flag-of-Japan symptoms of the curry were no more, but I still thought it was best that didn’t go out that night.
Wednesday was a good day, for more than one reason. Firstly, I got my hair cut. Now, this is a challenge in itself. It’s hard to find enough hair on my head to cut, and secondly, I hate going to the barbers with a passion. I was devastated to find, however that there is a new version of “Something Good” by Utah Saints about to be released. Radio 1 played it, and I could have cried. I have made my feelings very clear on the subject of remakes and remixes. OK, the original track, despite heavily using a sample from a Kate Bush song, did it well. This version, in my humble opinion, doesn’t.
Digging back into the vast, cavernous reaches of my memory, I remember Chad, who you may have noticed has been very vocal in the comments section recently, had “Something Good” on the very first incarnation of “The Best Dance Album In The World Ever!”. In fact, I remeber purchasing a cassette tape from him for 50p with this song on.
Home taping is killing music? No. Crap remixes and remakes are.
Moving on swiftly, after getting my hair cut, I went down the marina to take some photographs. I’d not been down there for a long time (well, except to Coatesy’s, and that was at night), so I thought I’d grab some while I didn’t have anything else to do, and while the weather was OK.
You can view the whole set here
I am planning to go back at some point in the coming months when the weather gets that little bit milder, and I’ll spend a bit more time here.
Yesterday, however, had one crowning moment. Marko, from #speccy announced he had something to show me. Tentatively, I clicked the link, and was happy to find these…
Yes! Asda had started getting cherry coke in again! Or at least they had where he lived. AND, as an added bonus they were 3 for £3. Cherry Coke is the drink of champions. Within the hour, I was down said supermarket, with three bottles of the stuff in my trolley, and a big grin on my face.
Amusingly, it was only a couple of weeks ago that we were discussing its demise, the fact that it became rarer to find than rocking horse shite. So much so, I actually contacted Coca Cola directly to ask if they had indeed discontinued it. A few days before these bottles were purchased, I received an automated response back saying that it was still in production. I can’t help but feel that my email alone made them speed up production, and force Asda to stock it again.
That image is of course, copyright Marko, and used with his permission, though I’m not sure who’d want to steal an image of three bottles of coke, however. Except me.
So, that’s us almost up to date. Today, I’ve spent half the day in bed. I caught many images of a truly awesome sunset, which will soon be making their way onto flickr. They’re still on the camera at the minute, but I’ve not seen a sunset like it for many, many years.
Wordpress 2.3.3
Oh joy! Another release of Wordpress! Time for me to go updatin’ !! Usual drill applies, but at 6AM in the morning, I guess this won’t be much of an issue.
EDIT: Ah, not a full release, just one file to change (done), and a few minor bugfixes which I’m not likely to encounter
