Jez Higgins

Freelance software grandad
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The Forest Road Reader, No 132 : A Bit Shit

Logistically poor holiday planning meant this year we spent a weekend in Edinburgh and Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games before returning to Birmingham and almost immediately leaving for Pembrokeshire. Holiday was great. In a development I had never expected I spent an hour waxing my surfboard.

Usain was right about the Commonwealth Games. Compared to the Olympics they weren't as good. That's not a reflection on the quality of the sport, which was great fun and which I enjoyed thoroughly, or of the atmosphere in any of the stadiums, which was warm and appreciative even during Scotland vs England in the Rugby 7s, or on the logistics of getting in and out, which were efficient and friendly. It simply wasn't as good because everything was spread about the place. I realise this is how it has to be, but the fact that the bulk of the Olympics took place in one big park added hugely to fun and the feel.

Take our Sunday trip - netball at the SECC in the morning, Rugby 7s at Ibrox in the evening. We took the train from Edinburgh in Glasgow Queen Street then walked to the SECC. It's a couple of miles. The route is relatively straightforward, but it wasn't well signposted. At the start you got pointed off in the general direction of the SECC, and then once you got closer there signs but the bit in the middle was vague. It's further hampered by the fact you have to cross over an urban motorway. The route we chose took us over a footbridge so long and so steep it's like some kind of public health intervention. For later onward walk to Ibrox, another mile and half, we navigated by walking against the flow of the crowd coming out. Ibrox itself is fair stadium, but it sits in the middle of bit of Glasgow you probably wouldn't include on your sight seeing itinerary. Again, the sport was great and we had a really good time, but the bits in between venues? Bit of slog.

» Bicycle, a 90 minute document about, well, bicycles is showing for two nights in September at the MAC. While I've not yet seen the film, it's had good notices and these showing include a Q+A with the director and producer. The production team are based down in Digbeth and in one of those horrible our kids went to the same school chains of acquaintence we ended up in it - the kids and I fleetingly, Natalie a bit less fleetingly. Being filmed was good fun actually - Pip even shouted ACTION! To head off any Frozen Planet style scandal, I want to be clear that what we did was slightly staged but reflects the truth, and I should stress that we were filmed in our natural habitat and released back into the wild afterwards.

» File under "approach with caution" - A Lisp implementation in sed.

» From the "why the hell not" desk - Hullcoin: The World's First Local Government Cryptocurrency. I'm not convinced by the logic, but why not, eh?


Tagged sport, and cycling


Jez Higgins

Freelance software grandad
software created
extended or repaired

Follow me on Mastodon
Applications, Libraries, Code
Talks & Presentations

Hire me
Contact

Older posts are available in the archive or through tags.

Feed