Memories of Bracknell

This is where I grew up. I even go back there from time to time. I thought this video was a spoof at first but think it might be a genuine advert for Bracknell from 1979 with some stuff added on later. I was 12 years old then and this video definitely brings back memories of the place. I lived in Easthampstead, which is featured briefly, and Point Royal, a bizarre block of flats in the middle of a field where I first learned to play cricket is there as well. It was Sean Connery's home in the movie "The Offence".

New year's vog

Winds have been light and variable here and the vog is bad. It's made for some surreal sunsets as viewed from home. They're not stunningly beautiful or anything like that, the current El Nino conditions have meant clear skies for many days, but as the sun gets low the volcanic particles in the atmosphere dim the light so much you can look at the sun directly without being blinded.

Today, when I took these pictures, it wasn't so bad, we experienced some onshore winds that dissipated the vog to some extent, but driving into town on Saturday afternoon reminded me of an autumn drive in the UK - although it was daylight nearly everyone had their car headlights on. Opening the the side window reminded me that this wasn't the UK - the fog smelled of sulphur!

Well, they don't care

If only they knew. The treat lady can't make it this time. Eddie, above, seems oblivious but Bubbles can't stand the news. I have to admit I'm siding with Bubbles but she really needs to stop shedding so much fur.

The last two weeks have been incredibly difficult and I doubt things will get easier for a while. What I have noticed is that there are a bunch of people who read my blog even if I haven't posted anything new. There's only one thing I would like to say to those people, and anyone else who reads my blog:

I wish you a very happy new year and hope you, your families and friends have a wonderful 2010.

Tom

Let's hope for a brighter year ahead

The queen in the UK used the Latin phrase "annus horribilis" to mean a "horrible year". I was never taught Latin so please correct me if I get this wrong, but this has been a "septimana horribilis" (horrible week, or seven days). Hey, I'm an ex-state school kid, you should be surprised I know there's such a thing as Latin and not robbing old ladies of their handbags.

Please give all your thoughts and prayers (if you're religious) to Pam. She and I both have pretty crappy Christmases to look forward to and I know Pam will feel better if she has the thoughts and encouragement from all of you. It will mean a lot to me as well if you could drop her a line or a comment wishing her well. She was going to be here just after Christmas but now cannot visit as she has some serious and urgent medical issues to deal with. I know she will be in my thoughts.

In the meantime, thank you all for reading my blog and for all your comments and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Tom

Two videos of the storm

Thankfully it seems the storm of the last couple of days has passed. One victim is my camera which is broken due to some nearby lightning strikes and wish I had it for my drive between Puna and Hilo yesterday evening (Saturday 19th Dec) because the rain and lightning is something I won't forget.

This morning Kona experienced the storms and a particularly powerful-looking water spout. I've seen a few of these on the east side of the island over the years but nothing as big as this one.

Big Island Video News - water spout.

The same site published another video which is pretty much what I saw on my drive except I saw a lot more lightning and plenty of ground strikes. At one point I was at a junction waiting to turn onto the highway and I must have seen three or four bolts of lightning hit the ground within a few hundred yards. It was actually quite scary. A couple of houses were set on fire by the lightning and I'm surprised there weren't more. It's not always paradise in paradise...

Big Island Video News - Puna storm.

PS. Guess I should make it three videos. The following is from Hawaii 24/7. Watch the top video, especially just after 1-minute as it shows a lightning strike. That was the sort of thing I saw several times on my drive and some very close to me.

Hawaii 24/7 - Puna gets pounded[...]

What is it with my place?

The thunder and lightning started yesterday evening and went on until just a few hours ago. Some of the locals are reporting up to 15 inches of rain in the last 24-hours which wouldn't surprise me as my yard flooded again. This never used to happen until two or three years ago.

The power has been off and on all day but finally went off at around 4:45pm. I needed to go into town so this seemed the best time despite not being able to take a shower - my water supply depends upon a pump which only works if there's electricity. I'm sorry if I offended anyone in the couple of stores I had to visit.

As is normal in what to most people would appear to be a third-world island, there was no way to get through to Helco, the local power company. Their emergency number was busy. Obviously their crews did go out and eventually fix things otherwise I wouldn't be able to post this, but their telephone system needs some fixing.

In the end the only causality was my camera. It's had it. I tried to take some pictures of last night's storm but the lightning started to strike trees within yards of my house so felt very uneasy and went inside. Can you blame me? This morning I checked the camera and it's fried. It sort of works as in it will take a picture but it's just noise and the LCD screen shows nothing but white. I think the lightning got it and I'm so glad it happened when I was inside.

The scale of things

Just popping by because Brad posted an amazing video on his blog and I hope to share it with people who might not go to his blog too often. It's called The Known Universe and it was made by the American Museum of Natural History. The video is stunning, I hope you enjoy it.

Is this just a bad dream?

In a 24-hour period I learn about the proposed closure of UKIRT and the potential loss of my job and then my closest and dearest friend, who I love dearly and wish she was here right now, has been diagnosed with cancer. As you can imagine my emotions are a touch messed up right now and think it's likely I'll be taking a break from blogging for a bit while I sort myself out.

Thank you all for reading and commenting and your thoughts mean so much to me. Hopefully I'll be back here very soon and if it isn't before Christmas then I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Tom

And a very merry Christmas to you too

We've received this year's Christmas present from the UK's Science & Technology Facilities Council. Brad at canspice.org has all the details in "The Death of UKIRT".

A dark night tonight

I don't feel like writing much this evening. I cannot say why as the news I have is confidential and so all I'll say is that I'll be making sure my CV is up to date.

These are a collection of blogs and articles all written before the STFC announcement on Wednesday 16th December at 2pm GMT. They give a flavour of the pre-announcement feelings of the UK astronomical community. I don't think the mood will improve much once the announcement is made.

STFC Funding Crisis: Astronomy
The e-Astronomer
In the Dark
To the left of centre
Orbiting Frog
SarahAskew

Update since I can't sleep:

In the Dark - Day of Reckoning
Save Astronomy