Another photo for tonight, then I’ll hit the sack.

I saw months ago this building on the Forest Road in Nottingham had neon lettering all around the side of it, spelling out the phrase “I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set it free.”  Google tells me it’s a quote from Michaelangelo.  It’s taken me months to go back to the Forest Road after dark and get a good picture of the neon lit up.  I must find time to go back at dusk when ambient light will help get a picture that shows the building as well as the lights. It took some time to get the picture technically right – I kept confusing over-exposure of the lights with camera shake, so kept taking measures to keep the camera steady.  Eventually, I twigged what was going on, and used the compensation setting to sort out the over-exposure.

The Michaelangelo quote is on two buildings in the Arboretum / Hyson Green area. It’s also painted along the top of the fencing around the building work that is the Wart Exchange, in one of those fab Mat Hand murals.

I’ve started a new obsession – hot air ballooning.

I think it started at New Year.  I bought some thai hot air lanterns, called Kong Ming which we let off at midnight as an alternative to fireworks.  I thought they were pretty cool.  Tracing paper envelopes, about half my height, with a light wire circle at the bottom, and a fuel slab that looked a little like a tealight.

You light the fuel with a match or lighter until it holds.  You hold the envelope up at arms length, and clear of the flame until the fuel cell has created enough hot air to fill the balloon and then eventually the balloon holds up by itself, and then finally tugs away at your hands.  Then you let go, and the whole thing rises gracefully up above the roof line and gently floats away.

I let off the first balloon myself with everyone else watching from inside the conservatory, and it evidently looked so much fun that everyone else put on a coat and came out to let off the remaining ones.

And since then, hot air balloons have been floating around my consciousness, including some dreams and day dreams.  At some point, one day, it would be good to go up in a balloon – and there’s even a company that sets off from Wollaton Park when the weather is right.

Till then, I’m reading the magazine of the BBAC and seeing if I can get to any hot air balloon festivals.

When someone sent me a link to an article titled “Teacher makes hot pitch on Youtube” I assumed it was like one of the lessons I used to have with a slightly insane chemistry teacher who enjoyed playing with dangerous chemicals in a vain attempt at turning his pupils on to science. Actually, I think the pedagogy was secondary to the sheer joy of blowing things up (“Let’s add a fuse made out of magnesium ribbon”).

It came hot on the heels of “5 dangerous things you should let your kids do” which is full of photos of children under 10 really enjoying life doing things like playing with knives, setting fire to things, and driving (all safely supervised, and – probably – safer for experimenting within a framework than over-protectively cocooned until the day they escape.)

Turns out in fact it’s a video about climate change. Not a bad one, in fact. But nothing to do with molten tar being poured down from castles onto unsuspecting siege soldiers. In wikipedia jargon, I suppose they must have meant “Pitch (film making)” rather than “Pitch (resin)”

I was somewhat surprised to see just how many pitches there were, at Pitch (disambiguation).

Apparently EU BSE rules are leading to a cervelat shortage in Switzerland.

Which is a real shame, because I thought she was really good in that vampy 70s Sci Fi with the sneery guy in leather.

Note to those who’d want us out of the EU – Switzerland’s not in the EU and they still find it easier to abide by the rules. And join Schengen. Much better to be in the tent p***ing out.