Little Storping-in-the-Swuff

Bondmaker [dah-dah] he’s the man/the man with the golden pen….

Tomorrow night on One. BBC One.

Although it stayed dry last night after we went up, it was touch and go during the day with almost constant rain. Others without outdoor theatre to put on were even luckier: news (and a photo) reaches me from my correspondent in Axmouth of a fine evening with boat racing on the river:

Here it looks fine enough now, and it’s stayed dry all day, but I’m keeping an eye on it. Tonight’s our last night in Lewes. The show will go on to the Minack in September (without me, alas – I shall have to watch on the webcams).

Ooh look, my photos again!

…With New ‘Intelligent Falling’ Theory. Read more at The Onion

First night of Two Gentlemen of Verona at Lewes Castle tonight, and it went well, and to an packed and appreciative house of around 200.

I’ve taken some more pics the best of which are here.

Meanwhile all eyes on the weather widget which worryingly seems to be showing showers for Friday…

Why are there no trams in Brighton?

Well of course there once were. And again, not so long ago as you may have thought…

The Parry People Mover system is a light rail system which uses flywheels to store energy so that no electrification of the line is needed. They draw sufficient energy from a low voltage rail hidden under the low platform for the wheel to power them to the next stop. Cars can run on standard or narrow gauge track. Not only does this mean no electrification is needed, but the narrow gauge track can be laid on top of the road as part of a “carpet” (made from recycled tyres) allowing an almost instant tramway to be constructed.

This was what was set up in New Road in July 2004, as a trial with the council considering a more permenant system. Unfortunately I was away, and by the time I came back it had been removed. Even more unfortunately the council decided against a network, spending the money (if I remember this correctly) on… a tax cut, instead.

Here’s one podcast I won’t be subscribing to. But I’ve got to admit, CatholicInsider.com does look pretty slick. It looks like trendy vicars will have to chuck the guitars and get iPods instead…

Wow. iPod and tram in one photo.

All Simpsons fans now need to equip themselves with an Apple Mac with OS X.4 “Tiger”. They can then install a Dashboard widget called SimpsonBot. Through a miracle of modern science and philosophy, it brings you an endless stream of quotes, such as this one from Lisa: “Relax? I can’t relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or . . . Only two synonyms? Oh my God, I’m losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!”

Er… yes.

This one may take a little explaining…

First of all, it’s been raining quite a lot here today. The wet weather brings the frogs out. While I was washing up I noticed a movement in the corner of the kitchen – it was a frog – it must have come in when I went out (and left the door open – it’s a warm evening). As the frog hops off into my living room, I open the door ready to shoo it out. Another frog hops straight in… I need another plan. I close the door – did that frog hop out again or is it hiding? Not sure.

Meanwhile the frog in the living room has hopped behind the sofa. I’ve got a glass to catch it in, but where’s it gone? It seems to be clinging to the subwoofer!

Now I’ve returned it to the garden. But where’s the other frog? How many others came in undetected? Now not only can I not tread in the garden for fear of squashing a frog, I can’t tread in the flat. And if they’re in here, can they get out? Or will they crawl into some hidey-hole and die, to be found months later when the smell gets bad? Now I can’t open my back door for fear of letting them in again – which is a bit of a problem, since my bathroom’s been removed and so I’m using the outside toilet. Who’d have thought having frogs would be so stressful…

iTunes 4.9 has been out a while with its support for podcasting its big new feature. So what podcasts are you listening to?

I found I’ve been listening to movie reviews (strange use for a non-visual medium…). I started out with the excellent Mark Kermode’s film reviews, but then I discovered

and who could resist the Swedish chef giving Daisy Duke fashion tips? Or Statler and Waldorf rating movies by the strength of the sedatives they’d need to take…? But this somewhat undermines Steve Job’s no video iPod argument as I’ve ended up cutting out iTunes and watching it on the computer… At least, Apple & movies.com, can you please make this a video podcast in iTunes?

The Muppets appear to be having a bit of a resurgence following their Wizard of OZ TV movie. The relaunched website features Miss Piggy’s Sow in the City, they’ve finally begun releasing the series on DVD complete (in the US – bring on the PAL edition) and there’s a film and a new TV series in the works… and possible even a reality TV show (!)