Passing thought

I haven't watched the Eurovision Song Contest in more years than I care to think about. But what I do find as odd, is that the UK which has by far and away the best music scene in the world, keeps failing to win.

Now there are those who say the whole thing is a stitch up, with various country grouping voting for each other and ensuring that the UK never gets a look in.

I think that there is a much much simpler answer.

No one equates the country "Roy Um Uni" with the UK?

Anyone else with me on that?

Amusing number plates

Did a lot of driving, Friday and Saturday. Friday taking Esmerelda to Heathrow to catch a flight out of the country and into some warmer drier weather (Florida and then the Cayman Islands). Saturday drove over to Bristol to see my two sons. Whilst doing all this driving spotted a couple of crackin' number plates.

Firstly, A 801 LER - on a Pimlico Plumber van (A BOILER for those who fail to spot it - ed)

Also, on a van with Pest Control adverts on it, RAT 80 Y (RAT BOY - ed) which managed to elicit a laugh from me (easily pleased - ed)

Now, there are a couple of other memorable number plates that I have spotted over the last few years, that still stick in my mindL

C 20 DIX - on a pink stretch limo (sorry don't get that one - ed) 

LE55 TAX - on a gorgeous Bentley

Now you may think that I am making these up, but they are all definitely real.

Esmerelda Blenkinsop, the January Muse.

"Oh no!", they gasp, "Not another painting! Haven't you got a job to go to?". Well not yet, interview today, so we shall see how that pans out.

Our Australian friend, Esmerelda Blenkinsop, who has been visiting since just after Xmas, sat down with me last week and we went through a few thousand of my photos, to try pick a half dozen or so that would make an interesting painting.

The result of the first of these paintings and the steps towards its completion, "Mahogany Avenue", and the photo that it is based on is here if you are interested to see.

The rest of the photos that I am going to try and emulate with oil and perspiration are here. If anyone, (Yes, anyone of the few people that follow these musings, naturally excluding Esmerelda - ed) would like to comment on which one they would like to see me attempt next, I would be most grateful, as it would save me having to decide.

Anyhow, have a train to catch to London to a late afternoon interview, so all suited and booted, you can wish me luck is you want to (why? - ed). 

Potten End Steam Fair 2013

We went away for a weekend in Potten End near Berkhamsted, in what is fast becoming a calendar fixture, to see our friends G&T (or T&G) and visit what we call The Potten End Steam Rally but which has a different official name.

If you like steam engines, then you will get your fill here. Fabulous weather, fabulous environment and stunningly well looked after steam engines and what's more a beer tent to boot. What's not to like.

Took a number of photos for your delectation and delight.

New Year - Older Watercolours

Well in my perusing of photographs, looking for something that leaps out at me and says, "Paint me". I came across a bunch (in this case a bunch is 28! - ed) of watercolours that I painted in late Spring early Summer 2013; and being a sharing kinda person thought I would shove a link to the watercolours into a post. Just back there, the linke at the end of the last sentence where it says "link to the watercolours".

Well, having looked at them again, not happy with the trees at all. Not quite got the knack of trees in watercolour, as quite different to painting with oils. Quite (moderately - ed) happy with the trees in the Eastern Barbados oil painting, as I reckon the bark is better than for most trees that I have done.

Reasonably happy with the sunsets, skies, seas, "make it up as I go along",  paintings, as was attempting to get the essence of sunsets etc, rather than any specific sunset etc so the way they turn out are the way they turn out (lost me there - ed).

Hadn't planned on a particularly long post, just a quickie to point you all in the direction of the watercolours. As ever, comment is welcome, and if anyone really likes the look of any of the paintings that I have done, I am sure I can arrange framing and posting for a small fee to cover costs.

New Year - New Paintings

Happy New Year (bit belated that - ed) to one and all!

Well the painting muse caught me unawares this week and I ended up doing three paintings in as many days (not yet back to work after the holidays i.e. still on extended holiday, though new contract is pending)

Here is the link to all my paintings in case you have missed my previous hints as to their whereabouts. Feedback would be appreciated, but the, "Stop. Please Stop!", ones will be politely ignored.

For those who have, "Seen them all before, yawn. Where are the new ones?",

Atlantic Ocean (looking from Eastern coast of Barbados, from a photo I took a four years ago).

Eastern Barbados (at Bathsheba if I remember correctly, again from a photo from four years ago).

Grey Skies (there are occasional days in Barbados when it is not sunny. They are the days where it rains warm rain, or as the Bajan's call it 'liquid sunshine'; this one is more of an abstract from memory).

Will drop the offending photos into the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Barbados folders so that you can compare and contrast. Yes, yes, I have applied for and been given artistic license for both paintings, that is why they are not, "exactly the same", as the photos (mutter mutter, cost of licenses, gripe, moan - ed)

Interesting Books a second thought

You might gather from my Interesting Books list, that I only read serious stuff. Not at all! I read a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy as well. Really, really I am not that dull (methinks you doth protest to much - ed). 

However, I have to say that I am being slightly disengenous here as I do read quite a few books, reference and otherwise related to the business that I am in ( you're in business, really? - ed), that is Software Development (amongst many other things - ed).

Now, books on Software Development are interesting (its that word gain. Surely that is only in your opinion - ed), no honestly - I am not talking about reference books that detail the nuances and syntax of various languages, frameworks or tools, I agree that they can be as dull as dishwater - but they still are catalysts for me, in that I can still end up shouting at the book,

"Give me a decent example!",

or

"You're missing all the difficult bits, the error handling, the logging, the configuration, the maintenance, the deployment",

You may note that I can get a little involved with what I am reading (is that due to the common sense that you carp on about having loads of? - ed) and sitting near me on a train when I am reading an interesting book can be a little disconcerting.

There may be an occasional expostulation (well done for getting that word in - literary ed) as from time to time I do talk to the author (well actually David you are talking to the book, as the author is not usually (ever), sitting beside you) to argue with something that has been written.

Anyhow, the more interesting software development books are the ones about the process of developing code (aka building software - ed), or building good teams or ensuring teams are in the right kind of environment to be productive.

Here is a short list of the ones that I love and have read and re-read (really? - ed):

• Peopleware - Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
• Clean Code by Robert C Martin aka Uncle Bob
• The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
• Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler et al
• Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck
• Practices for Scaling Lean and Agile Develpment by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde
• AntiPatterns by William J Brown, Raphael C. Malveau, Hays W. "Skip" McCormick III and Thomas J. Mowbray

I might be forced to explain why these are so, so good, but not today, 'bout time I posted this.