Old Friends Who Aren't Old

Met up with an old friend today. She went out to Canada some time ago and came back to Hull to wallow in nostalgia and stamp around some of her old stamping grounds. Always nice to see people who haven't changed a bit, even over all these years. And she was nice enough to say that I haven't changed a bit either (although this did make me wonder about her eyesight..) She brought her family with her and we all got along famously, with a good time being had by all.

Film Culture Decoded

Here it is, the "Crazy World" movie description decoder. Just use this handy guide to make sense of any film description.

moving: somebody dies at the end
uplifting: somebody dies half way through
moody: depressing
unforgettable: depressing
intense: hard to understand/depressing
complex: incomprehensible
study: no story
amazing special effects: no story
thought provoking: no proper ending
hilarious: enough jokes to fill the 30 second trailer
action packed: enough explosions to fill the 30 second trailer
must see: my accountant says you must see it

Just replace their words with mine, for an accurate assessment of any film.

Open Day Saturday

After twenty minutes in the shower getting my hair back to its usual colour last night, it was back into the admissions open day routine today. I do the warm up talk and a bunch of other staff members turn up at the end to help me answer questions that people ask about the department and university life.

You'd probably expect me to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I really like working with these people. We had some tough questions today, and the thing that impressed me the most was the way that we all have a similar perspective on the really important aspects of computing. We will discuss the merits of this and that from an academic point of view, but on the fundamentals of what we are doing and why we are doing it we are as one and unshakeable. You know who you are folks, and I'm not sure whether or not you read this blog or not, but kudus and well done if you do (and slightly less kudos and a little bit of shame on you if you don't).

Redheads Have More Fun

Well, it's over now. Lots of hilarity and over five hundred pounds raised. The lecture in rhyme by me is now just about an institution. Which makes sense if you think about it. Everything was going well until my good friend Paul got in on the act with his offer of a large sum of money to have my hair painted red. No problem, I thought, I have no paint. He did. And the money. And so he empted an entire canister or hair dye (or was it car paint) onto my bonce. So, for the rest of the lecture, indeed day, I was sporting a very dodgy red headed paint job. I had another (proper) lecture to give and I also had to nip out and do some shopping. At least I got served faster. But I'm not sure whether it was out of pity or fear.

But is it art?

I am not a great poet (unless it is spelt grate). But I try. Many years ago I got slightly tipsy at a staff party and offered the boss a lecture entirely in rhyme, in aid of a good cause. I spent ages writing the stuff (poetry is hard you know) and then delivered it to a hushed and amazed audience in aid of the Comic Relief charity. That was nearly twenty years ago (shudder) and I'm still doing them.

Tomorrow is another one, and as is usual in these cases, I've not got round to writing the material yet. Actually, for this one I'm reusing some material from the previous one two years ago. My conscience is clear on this one, most of the students who saw the first one will have moved on, and I have changed the colour of the powerpoint slides. And it is in a good cause.

I'm not sure if you have to have an artistic bent (as it were) to write stuff like poetry, but as an engineering type I find it rather tricky. Do great artists find that the deathless prose just pours from them onto the page, or do they have to hammer every line out by hand like me. Would I be more an artist if it came easier to me, or if I had to suffer even more to get the words out. Actually, I'm going to leave profound stuff like this to the real artists, while I look for a rhyme for "Web Services Description Language".