Critics

It's been a strange day. The Gorse Fox had to attend several meetings and also had the opportunity to reveal parts of the presentation that he has been working on. Needless to say it received a mixed reception, but most thought it was extremely valuable.

The Gorse Fox has paused... he thinks he can hear a foaming glass of beer calling.

A new pepper

The Gorse Fox was waiting for his lunch. It had been ordered and was "in process". His mind was idling. He felt a waft of air... and could not find the source. Maybe the sandwich shop was haunted? No, maybe not. He concluded that the young girl behind the counter who was preparing his BLT with mayo and hot sauce had blinked and her false eyelashes had caused the atmospheric perturbation.

He smiled to himself, then paused. With all the mascara weighing them down... was that really pepper he saw on the salad?

Council

It is the 10th Anniversary of the founding of our Parish Council(*), and the Gorse Fox is suited and booted and preparing to be on his best behaviour for this evening's reception.

(*)Kingston Parish Council is one of the newest and smallest councils in the whole country.

Animation

The Gorse Fox has been spending time on the continued development of some slides regarding the programme. These are proving useful in clarifying a few things - particularly as he is trying to animate them to show the flows of activity and data.

Disconcerted

The Gorse Fox was looking back at some of the more bizarre moments of the last 24 hours... some of which were a little disconcerting:

• As he waited to use the gentlemen's toilet (or Lords, as it was called), an the Amy Winehouse look-alike emerged from the gents as the door opened;
• A trusted source assured him that in the corresponding Ladies, the seat was fitted with under seat warm air flow - a new experience for the source in question;
• A young and earnest gentleman tried hard to communicate, but was so wasted that he was incoherent - GF just had to guess at the questions and reply accordingly;
• The last time he saw so many kilts was at the Edinburgh Castle Tattoo.

Mullions

The Gorse Fox was rather pleased with this photo taken from the reception hall, where he was munching his way through a selection of cheeses, some baked potato, and some fresh bread.

The orange glow came from the external lights that illuminated the building, and hiding behind the radiator was a collection of candles provide up-light.

The Bride

The Bride looked radiant... and whilst the Gorse Fox took lots of pictures (which you can see if you click here), he suspects that the official photographer "lily and frank" took many more - and with much better results.

Twinkle toes

After the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen had met up with the happy couple and been introduced to several friends they retired for a cup of tea and a quick tour of the surroundings. Then everyone was summoned to the hall for the evening festivities... which, of course, started with the Bride and Groom performing the first dance.

Having known both the Mighty Atom and K8y for so long it was fun watching the sheer concentration on their faces as they went through the ritual. They had obviously been practising (or even taking lessons) and you could almost see them counting the steps and the moves as the endeavoured to get it just right.

It paid off - they did just fine.

Many receptions suffer from the problem that people are loathe to get up and fill the dance floor. Not so here. Bodies of all shapes and sizes started to manouevre and gyrate to the sounds of The Stones, Lynard Skynard, The Who, David Bowie, Billy Idol and so forth.

The happy couple started to circulate - they were clearly having a whale of a time. K8y said that "people say it is the happiest day of your life. Well it's been just perfect, and it is."

Garage

As the Silver Vixen pointed out - Sir Larry & Vivien obviously needed somewhere to park their Roller.

It does seem a little small as far as garages go.

Molecular Binding - A Wedding of Note

It had been a glorious day on the South Coast. Urban-cub had come round to sit in the garden and absorb the rays. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox, however, had a wedding reception to attend and therefore preparations to make.

This involved selecting the right outfits and ensuring they were suited to the auspicious company with which we would be mingling. The Silver Vixen was, as usual, in full control. The Gorse Fox, however, learned several things:

1. When hanging up a suit bag, check that everything stays where it should be. In this case the trousers had slipped from the hanger and were crumpled up in the bottom of the bag. This mean that GF had to press his trousers before they could be worn.


2. When trousers are left alone in a suit bag they shrink around the waist-band.

Anyway, eventually everything was sorted and we headed off to the wilds of Buckinghamshire.


The reception was held at Notley Abbey, a 13th Century building near Haddenham. It's history probably starts in 1162 when an order of Augustine monks was founded at Notley on land that was donated by Walter Giffard, 2nd Earl of Buckingham, and his wife Ermengard.

The abbey church and the majority of the original abbey buildings survive only as buried remains, although portions of the cloister range were retained within the house and outbuildings of a post-Dissolution farm - now Notley Abbey House. The house was adapted from the abbot's lodging and guesthouse. (The Medieval Life in Bernwood Forest)

Historical documents record 24 abbots of the Abbey up until 1533. After the Dissolution the Abbey and grounds were given to Christchurch College, Oxford.

Like most ancient buildings there are several legends - one featuring a 2 mile tunnel that is reputed to run from the abbey to nearby Thame.


More recently, it was the home of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh and had an intimate feel about it that would make it a superb residence for people needing some privacy, but easy access to London (*)

According to Vivien Leigh - the Notley Abbey Years:
"Vivien & Larry first saw the Abbey in 1943. It was overgrown and in desperate need of restoration. Larry instantly fell in love with it, especially since he found out that it had been endowed by Henry V. Vivien was skeptical and considered it hopeless. Much of the home could not be viewed from inside because ceilings were caving, floors rotting, and pipes were broken. Nevertheless, the Oliviers purchased it in February 1945 and immediately began work on it. Vivien, too, soon fell in love with the Abbey. They put all their savings into repairing the Abbey. They focused on the large hall, study, 3 reception rooms, and bedrooms. With the help of decorators Sybil Colfax and John Fowler, Vivien put her personal touch in each room of Notley. Regency stripes were used and large pieces of furniture and artwork were chosen."

They sold Notley Abbey in 1960 after their divorce. It then became the registered office of Amalgamated Broadcasting Company and studios were installed for Canadian millionaire Arnold Swanson who used to prepare recordings to be taken by speedboat to the pirate radio stations.


When the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen completed the 100 mile drive from the coast, it was soon after seven and the light was growing watery.

A long tree-lined avenue (72 Lime trees, planted by the Oliviers) linked the house to the nearby road, but the house remained hidden even from the car park, which meant that it was revealed at the last moment. It was easy to see the monastic heritage of the house - but this has been been carefully and tastefully updated inside with 21st Century fittings.
(*) Enough "Estate Agent"-speak

Becoming a Molecule at Notley Abbey

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen will be heading off to join the Mighty Atom and K8y for their wedding evening later today. Whilst checking the location of the venue, GF found this link to the day they took the photographer to visit.

Beam me up, Scotty

Starfleet have changed the supplier for their communicators. With the change of supplier/carrier come a new communicator device which turned up this morning in its jiffy bag. They used the 21st century transporter room - i.e. a delivery van.

Gorse Fox likes gadgets and this is a nice new shiny gadget - but it isn't due to be activated for another two weeks. He'll miss his old communicator, which could also double as brick, and will no doubt feel lop-sided whilst getting used to the new, lighter, model.

Singapore

It was a pleasant evening. Having left "Spur 0" the troop moved on to the next door Chinese restaurant "Singapore". 12 sat down to eat, but 2 more soon arrived. Conversation roamed back and forth - but seemed to get wedged in CO2 for a while... there's always one who is taken in by the hype and refuses to listen to the conflicting evidence.

We had provided a disguise (wig, glasses, & false nose) for the colleague who was leaving - she may need them in her new job at a place that can't be mentioned, for government "department" where her husband works. Towards the end, her husband turned up to collect her - we asked how he found us, he tapped his nose and said "Remember where I work"... and blended into the crowd".

Farewell

One of the girls on the project is leaving. It's a shame as she is very talented, and not just leaving the project, but also Starfleet. Tonight we are meeting up to wish her farewell. GF is not sure of the plans, but it all starts in our usual meeting place!

Move along

Busy day working on some presentation material... nothing much to say at the moment - but glad that the Gorse Fox's Friday meeting can be done by teleconf, so he can go home Thursday after all.

Big Brother

This was interesting. did you know...

THE UK Home Secretary secretively signed a "special certificate" last year that gives foreign security agencies real-time access to traffic camera images and related data monitoring British motorists on highways throughout the UK.

Opposition politicians and civil liberties advocates yesterday accused Gordon Brown's government of attempting to hide from Parliament its covert plans to facilitate international surveillance of UK citizens in violation of privacy laws.

Under the authorisation signed last July 4 by Jacqui Smith, video feeds and still images captured from roadside TV cameras, along with personal data derived from them, can be transmitted out of the UK to countries such as the US, that are outside the European Economic Area.

Home Secretary Smith failed to mention the exception in a statement she made to Parliament less than two weeks later on July 17, 2007 outlining Metropolitan Police exemptions to the 1998 Data Protection Act.

Time to start wearing a balaclava in the car and buy those rotating number plates

Wireless, accountless

Gorse Fox just tried to log in through a hotspot only to find that his BT Broadband wireless account had expired. He was told by the help desk that he had to opt-in to BTFon... which he had already done. The problem is that BTFon has no agreement with T-Mobile, and GF is in a T-Mobile hotspot!

That was when he remembered he had another BT Openzone account, and it was still active.

So here he is reflecting on a very busy day that started (as usual for Tuesdays) with a dawn dash across the country to Worcester. Reflections will continue in the pub!

Slides

The Gorse Fox has spent most of the day working on a slide pack. It would appear that a number of people are (let us say) confused by what our current programme is setting out to do. The Gorse Fox is trying, once more, to illustrate the end game and the steps to get us there in a way that can be easily understood by all levels of audience.

So far the presentation reviews the outcome from 7 separate perspectives. The knack that he is trying to achieve is to keep it simple enough for the uninitiated, but technical enough for the various experts. GF feels a bit like Blondin.

Care and Collections

The Silver Vixen's aunt was 85. So the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen went to collect her from the Care Home (Jimi's Place) and take her to the Silver Vixen's sister's for lunch. We arrived and as we approached the door, the Gorse Fox realised he was wearing all black...

"In these surroundings" he thought "they'll think I'm the Grim Reaper on a collection run", and so he backed off and waited in the car, not wanting to upset the residents.

Sparkle

What a sparkling morning after the grey and drizzle of yesterday. Wall to wall blue sky, and bright sunshine bathes the coast in early morning warmth. Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen are heading for Buckingham today, so it should be a pleasant drive.