finally it is done

Alright, I've done it. The transcription of my hand-written travel journal from Cuba is complete. I know it seems a bit late and a bit pointless by now, but I know there are some people out there who are interested and were given a link to this blog from SEDA.

If you are keen on looking at them, just do a search on here for Cuba, as all of entries are back dated and will appear in 2008, which is when I was there.

In other Cuba-related news, I just found out that Radio Enciclopeia has a website:

http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/

I'd suggest listening for it just to hear the woman say: Raaaadio Enciiilopeeedi-ahh, Habanaa, Coooba. Just imagine that over some 1970s sounding tropical-ish jingle. Then straight back in to what I'd call Cuban communist elevator music.

It might not be the same not coming out of a 1950s vintage wood floor-model radio/phonograph.

book tokens and croatia

So, last year I was asked to give a lecture to the first year design students. I quite enjoyed this experience overall and nearly forgot that I had been paid for it.

Initially I was to be paid cash-money, but later due to financial constraints at DoJ I was told I'd be receiving book tokens. Not a problem.

So, after nearly year of forgetting to drop by Christine's office, I finally picked them up - sixty pounds!! Now add on the £20 in book tokens I have left over from Christmas, that's £80. Time to get myself some free books.

In other news, I'm working on a paper for a design conference in Croatia. It will be on food orbits. I think I'm going to write something on here about my thoughts on visual thinking - to be a bit of teaser for the paper.

Because papers need teasers.

Goodness, papers need a free toy or sweet inside them.

I often wonder if there is an in-built catharsis with academic papers - I am going to sit in my academic dungeon of torture for days concocting this rancid elixir of poison so that those few people determined enough to read it will then feel the pain I had in its preparation. The conference being the ultimate showcase of tragedies - the cathartic event. We all walk away cleansed.

...but I'll get to go to Croatia. So it'll be fun. Plus Seaton will be coming and possibly on the Orient Express. I'll be arriving on RyanAir or EasyJet, so my sins will be atoned for before the conference.

Right, must get on to work. The submission date is in December, full papers only.

hi, is english your first language?

Then I don't want to eat your bread.

Well, okay there are a few exceptions, but as a general rule our bread is awful. Bread in the UK is awful, bread in Canada is awful, bread in the USA is awful. I don't really think it's a big stretch to say Aussie and Kiwi bread is terrible either.

Coming from the world's greatest wheat growing nation, you'd think I'd be a bit of a bread buff. Sadly, it's just not the case. There are small exceptions, I'm thinking specifically of Winnipeg -where the standard bread is rye. Canadians haven't exactly led the charge when it comes to baking, although we do control a massive bit of the industry - not just on the supply side. I'm talking to you members of the Weston family (who I'm sure are['t] frequent readers of this blog). I will not be too harsh because I do love the almost all the PC products, especially the Memories Of sauces, and Wagon Wheels (but only really because I had to trade my home made lunch things for them, which in retrospect seems idiotic).

This little tirade has been brought to you because of my trip to the local Russian shop. Dundee has a Russian Shop, yes - who knew? They have all sorts of odd things and a lot of vodka, but they also have Russian bread. Lovely Russian bread that is probably a month old and smuggled via mafia connections in sea containers full of feau-lex watches and trafficked persons. Each bite has so much flavour. I ate it today for lunch with some herring - fantastic.

Now a little dip back in to history tells me that us Britons were once making such bread, simply because we didn't have the climate to grow wheat. All we could grow was oats, barley and rye. It took many years of selective breeding to develop a wheat variety suitable for our cool and damp climate.

I should have really written this a while back after I went to Andrew Whitley's seminar. I shall now plug Mr Whitley and his website which is far more interesting than my rant:

http://www.breadmatters.com/

Also, does anyone know what is up with the large eared bear cub that seems to proliferate Russian stuff? I just drank some juice with him on it. The shop lady tells me he's the bear who likes kindness and drinking milk.