A productive weekend

I've been procrastinating for months, 12 of them. I have had two papers all but ready for submission which, due to my antipathy to science, have lain dormant. I've spoken about 'finishing the papers' but really wasn't in the right headspace, and anyway didn't have any interest.
I think it's fair to say, I still don't have any interest, but I've finished them both over Easter. I did have to bribe myself; if I finished them, I could have a bottle of 14yo Edradour (as both my Edradour's passed on many months ago). As is common with my writing/editing style, the house is clean, all my papers reorganised, and many other things found to occupy my time.
One is now submitted, and the other is awaiting GenBank submission numbers, at which point it can be submitted too.

I'm thinking I might explore writing for myself, see where that takes me. Having said that, there is at least one more paper from the PhD that I could work on. A just-so story of evolution within the Reptilia. The way I approach it, it is more creative writing than hard science, a story rather than a law.

Van Gogh exhibition
The psychochicken mentioned he'd be in London over Easter, and perhaps we could have a beer. Normally I'd have said no, I'll be renewing my faith - however the bugger got me during a mindnumbingly tedious 2.5hr meeting. And I'd already decided I'd be writing/editing, and so was already looking for procrastination. Damn him. So we met up and toddled along to the Van Gogh (QI link on how to say Van Gogh) exhibition at the Royal Academy. Interesting. It's a combo of his letters (vg was a prolific letter writer apparently), his sketches and paintings. What struck me was his dedication and intelligence, the sketches were to improve his skills, often following criticism of his paintings. The sketches also demonstrated far more detail than ever made it to his paintings, which even in his still life studies appeared to be looking for the essence of the object, not the specifics.
I doubt I'm alone, but I preferred the latter era paintings. But honestly, the sketches did more for me. There was a lot of work on trees and orchards, whcih I liked. Atmospheric and dark, which I felt got lost when put on canvas.
Oddly, it appears PC, Fran and I all wander around exhibitions at roughly the same pace.

A few beers followed.

British Canal Museum
I had been intending to wander back to the Tate Britain for the Henry Moore exhibition, but decided I couldn't be bothered going that far - what with tube travel in the weekends being a whole new level of 'fun'. A quick google for museums and Kings Cross station found a few within quick walking distance, and I settled for the Canal Museum. This was far more interesting than I thought it would be. It's set in an old ice storage building, so there's a bit on that - and the ice trade interactions with canal boats.
There were only three of us there, so nice and quiet, which is something to treasure in London museums. What I found really interesting was the reliance during the second world war on the canal system, and how the Germans never bombed it - apparently railways were their major target. Even the bombing of St Pancras station managed to miss the canal alongside (with that sort of targetting, the Americans might want to chat to the Germans...).
Surprisingly recommended. It's quirky, it's obviously done by enthusiasts, and it's quiet.

Mmm might even review some CDs, or more Bgrade movies.

B

london on reflection

The V and A. Wandered around the new Renaissance stuff, which was superb. Definitely worth a trip. The forgery exhibition was a disappointment, 'twas ok, but just showed the forgery. I would have preferred a bit more detail on how they established the forgery, and possibly the original next to the copy - to compare how good they were. Highlight was, undoubtedly, the renaissance religious iconography. Spent a lot of time there. Mmm pretty. Also of interest was the contemporary design stuff.

The St Peter's Brewery pub is a very very small place, with excellent food and superb beer. I had quite a few beers. Many of them were high alcohol. This was a good thing.

Went to the Courtauld Gallery as they had an exhibition on Michelangelo's Dream, this turned out to be the highlight of the trip. Brilliant little gallery, lots of Impressionists, post-impressionists, Ruben's - excellent. Spent a lovely few hours wandering around this quiet, relaxing gallery. Not too many tourists, a few school groups, but they were just sitting down copying pictures, so also quiet. So just me, my headphones, Radiohead and Elbow.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society rooms are a bloody nightmare to find, small glass door down a side street. but Craig and I managed it - and then tasted some excellent whisky. Not a huge surprise there. Not as much atmosphere as the Edinburgh rooms, but still quiet, relaxing, and not all pretentious. I have a review of a whisky, actually we made two reviews, but Wes forgot what
 the second one was. Silly boy.

Natural History Museum. Been awhile since I went there, and to be honest I was disappointed. Didn't help that it was packed with screaming school brats, but the exhibitions are dated, and the information is also 10-20 years old. It's a shame as the potential, with what they've got there, is immense, but it's not shown to it's best advantage. Possibly avoid unless it's very quiet. The human evolution section was poor, and the human biology section was dire - all looked liked late 70s, early 80s style of presentation. Urgh.

coffee: went to flat white, as one does, and found, in general, a much higher standard of coffee than previous visits. About bloody time. Small cafe off Leicester Square was quite a revelation. Even went back there a couple of times.

Overall, had a great relaxing time down there, my cold included :) I do like London for all it's grimy grotty chew-you-up attitude. Actually it's probably because of those. And it puts the Midlands into sharp relief. Nope, I'm not sold on this area of the world, but we shall see what happens.

Also saw The Lovely Bones. I think the critics have been unduly harsh on the movie. It's ok and flows well. I do agree the casting seems a bit 'must get a name actor here', which disrupts the flow slightly. Although having said that, the perspective is from the teenage girl, and so a 'everyone is pretty' view maybe accurate. If that is what Jackson et al were going for, they've nailed it, but it's not clear in the telling.
Dream sequences were average (if repetitive), but owed too much to Gilliam or LotR. Although why every dream sequence has to have a field of corn is beyond me. What is it with bloody corn?
One criticism has been that Jackson avoided the rape scene (I haven't read the book btw), but I don't think it woudl have added much to the story. It's certainly not central to the plot. My biggest criticism is that Jackson can't write an ending (LotR, Kong), there's about three false endings before the real one happens. Prompting a FFS from me. I'd give it a 6/10.

Me

Holiday !!!

Some aspects of the British working life are good (if silly). I've been here all of 5 minutes and my boss says I have to use up my holidays - all 20 days of them - before the end of April. WTF. Oh well, if you insist sir. This coincided nicely with the lovely A-team gallivanting in safa land, so we're down in London for a week.

In true holiday style : flu, missed train, rain. I even had a day off last week thanks to the cold. Awesome. For those of you suspecting this is simply a case of man-flu, I've had no booze since Tuesday night. Admittedly I'm wondering cause/effect here too... Train was fine, lied a little, turned on my charm and got through it. See I have charm :) The ticket counter wench was unhelpful but charm won over the train chickybabe.

But I've discovered I'm about 20-25 minutes from the St Peter's Brewery pub and the SMWS London rooms. Huzzah for well placed A-team residences.
The V and A today methinks, current exhibitions here (the gothic one, digital art, and met forgeries look good).

With love and stuffy headedness, me xxx