A brief post about last nights autism friendly performance of Cinderella at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this post about last night’s autism friendly production of Cinderella at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn last night. I was there because NAS West Norfolk, of which I am branch secretary, had lavished some of its money on tickets for the evening – in total some 120 people who are either autistic themselves or were accompanying autistic family members took advantage of the opportunity. No photographs today, because the Corn Exchange forbids photography in the auditorium.
GETTING THERE
Yesterday was a working day for me, and heavy traffic on the way into King’s Lynn in the evening left me with less turnaround time than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I got to the venue, which is very close to my flat, in time to take my seat, although entering the building at 6:25 for a show starting at 6:30 is not the sort of timing I generally aim for!
WHAT IS AN AUTISM FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE?
An autism friendly performance means that the lights in the auditorium go down rather than right off for the show, that there are no sudden loud bangs or other noises etc. For more about autism friendly performances and how they can lead people to enjoy regular performances please visit this post.
THE SHOW ITSELF
The autism friendly aspect of the show was not the only adaptation the cast had made – they infused this fairy tale with some local colour which was extremely well received. The ugly sisters had us all laughing with their moaning about the inadequacy of King’s Lynn shops. Another good locally themed joke was in a journey scene when mention was made of “making up time once we hit the A47” – anyone who has travelled along said road, which was most of the audience, realised that this was the single most fictional line of the night!
Some of the special effects were superb, the acting was excellent, and it was an excellent evening.
On Sunday Anna put up a post showing some winter pictures from Sweden. Now I am putting up a couple of winter pictures from here in Norfolk.
PICTURES
Here are the pictures…
A spider web highlighted by droplets of water.Moss growing on the wall the bounds my outside area.Detail from King’s Lynn library.Not bad for £4 plus commission! These last two pictures are of my most recent railway themed acquisition.
My first post created using my new computer. It covers my work for James and Sons this week and includes solutions to the puzzle contained in my previous blog post.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this post, the first to be composed using my brand new Acer Chromebook 15, of which more later. As well as covering the events of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a few pictures, and of course explaining the computer situation I will be providing an answer the puzzle that I included in my last post.
THE COMPUTER SITUATION
My old computer (and by computer standards it was a veritable Methusalah) had been struggling for some while when it finally decided to give up the ghost completely. My mother by way of an early Christmas present transferred the funds necessary to buy a replacement to my account, and I made the purchase today. All I am now waiting for is the arrival of the hard drive caddy that I ordered online which will enable me to connect the hard drive that I extracted from my old computer to this one and all will again be as it should be.
A HEAVY WORKLOAD AND HEAVY LIFTING
James and Sons had its last auction of this year on Wednesday (our next auction is taking place on January 18, 19 and 20 at our shop in Fakenham), and on either side of that I was getting as many images ready for January as I could. The auction we have just had took place in Norwich, and a shortage of people available to help combined with the fact that one of my colleagues was experiencing knee trouble meant that most of the heavy lifting had to be done by yours truly.
DAY 1: TUESDAY
Most of the work of loading the van had been accomplished on the Friday, but some still remained to be done. Additionally there were last minute queries to be resolved, work to be done for our next auction and a few other things. I made enough of a fuss about the extra expense of catching the very early bus to Norwich (a First Eastern Counties X1, which leaves at 5:30AM and on which a return costs £11 as opposed to the £5.50 it would have cost me if I could have caught the Stagecoach X29 which leaves at 6:28AM) that I was authorised to extract the bus fare from the till.
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY
I managed to catch the 5:30AM bus, and was the first James and Sons employee at the venue. Once the van arrived it was time to unload everything and get the place set up for the auction. After a few hitches, including requiring an emergency replacement for the computer which we had been using to run the auctioneer’s view screen we got underway on time at 10AM, and the sale proceeded fairly smoothly. The coins fared especially well, and much to my relief some of the larger boxes of stamps sold in the room, meaning that they did not have to go back on the van. The militaria also did well.
Once the van was loaded I was able to take my leave, and being in Norwichtook the opportunity to visit Norwich Millennium Library before getting the bus home. In the end I arrived back at my flat a little under 14 hours after I had left it in the morning.
These old coins fared especially well, two of them (213 and 215 fro memory) going for £170 each after protracted online bidding battles.
DAY 3: THURSDAY
After unloading the sold goods from the van it was back to work on the January auction. The catalogue cover was ready by the end of the day, and the images were about 70% done, a near miracle in the circumstances. Here are some of the new images from yesterday…
These postcards were needed for the catalogue cover, so with time pressing I scanned them at 150 DPI – and they looked superb on the printed page.
THE PUZZLE EXPLAINED
I asked you to take any three digit number, multiply by 7, then multiply the new answer by 11 and finally multiply that answer by 13. I then asked how your final answer compared to your original number. That final answer consists of two copies of your original number. The reason for this is that 7 x 11 x 13 = 1,001 – and that post beinbg my 1,001st on aspiblog was why I set that puzzle in it. As a bonus I asked what multipliers you would need to produce a similar effect with four digit numbers, and the answer to that is 73 and 137, because 73 x 137 = 10,001.
A link to an excellent and important petition, and also a mathematical teaser.
INTRODUCTION
There will be no photographs in this post, but I wanted to put something up today because I several new people are following this blog – my thanks to you all.
THE PUZZLE
This puzzle comes from one my books at home (cannot remember which) and has a particular relevance which I will reveal in my next post: take any three digit number, and multiply by 7, then multiply the new number 11 and finally multiply that number by 13. What do you notice about this latest answer as compared to your original number? For a bonus what two numbers would you need to use as multipliers to achieve an equivalent effect with a four digit starting number?
A REALLY EXCELLENT PETITION
My latest twitter follower, Laura Warwick by name, has created a petition on the British government’s official petitions site (which means it is open only to UK citizens to sign) calling on the government to not allow train companies to increase their fares until they have improved their services. Click the screenshot below to sign and share the perition:
My 1,000th post on aspiblog, a typically eclectic mix of stuff – read, enjoy and please share!
INTRODUCTION
As the title suggests this post contains a variety of different elements. There is another reason for choosing this title which will be revealed later.
MUMBAI MASSACRE
With two scheduled days to go the 4th India vs England Test Match in Mumbai seemed to be headed for a high-scoring draw, but two things happened thereafter – India got right away, pushing their first innings total up to 631, and then England fell in a heap in their second innings – all out 195, beaten by an innings and 36.
THE NAS WEST NORFOLK COMMITTEE CHRISTMAS MEAL
This took place on Thursday at Frankie and Benny’s on the Hardwick Industrial Estate. Here are some pictures…
My chosen mealRachelf (sic!) showing true Christmas spirit.Karan (branch chair) hold aloft her Poldark colouring book.Santa reveals a little secret.A chicken puppet – she owns some real chickens, currently confined to their run because of an avian flu alert.
THE DUKE’S HEAD HOTEL
Those familiar with my 2017 wall mounted calendars will recall that the Duke’s Head Hotel frontage featured as the April picture. Well, since then it has been done up – here are a couple of pictures…
The calendar pictureThe Duke’s Head frontage as it looks today after being redone.
THE PUZZLE IN THE INTRODUCTION
My title for this post “Monday Mixture” is apt given its nature, but I also chose this particular title because both parts thereof begin with the letter M, the Roman numeral for 1,000, and this is my 1,000th post on aspiblog.
LINKS AND CLOSING PICS
My first link is to a petition on avaaz protesting against an Australian plan to put a toxic coal complex next to the Great Barrier Reef. Please click on the image below to sign and share the petition.
My next link, also contained within a picture is to a piece on whyevolutionistrue titled A Photobook of Biological Marvels and My Own Take on Them.
Rachael Swindon’s new blog continues to impress and amuse. Her target in this post, struck in the bullseye as usual for her, is hard right Tory MP for Witham, Priti Patel.
I started this links section with an environment related piece and I end it with another, courtesy of the Guardian, which provides this report of a study detailing how wind power is key to curbing greenhouse emissions – click the image below to read more…
I end this post with some more of my own pictures…
My 999th post on aspiblog – an appropriately quirky melange – share if you agree!
INTRODUCTION
The title of this post comes from a cricket related quirk, explained by the image below, which is an extract from Mike Brearley and Dudley Doust’s book about the 1978-9 ashes series (six matches, Australia 1 England 5):
The ‘nonuple’ part of the title comes from the fact that this is my 999th post on aspiblog, and like the old Gloucestershire spinner Bomber Wells who deliberately retired on 999 first class wickets I have decided the commemorate 999 rather than the more conventional 1,000. By the way, although 999 is indubitably part of the ‘Nelson’ sequence I suspect that never mind me as someone immune to woo in all its forms even the late legendary David Shepherd might have considered that at 999 there was little to worry about (in point of fact it is 0% success rate as a score at which wickets fall – twice in first class cricket a team has scored that many – Victoria both times, against Tasmania in 1922 and New South Wales in 1926 and both times they reached the 1,000 safely and won the matches by monster margins – an innings and 666 and an innings and 656 runs respectively).
SOME RECENT FINDS
First a story which I reblogged from Why Evolution Is True yesterday, but which is so spectacular and so well presented that I am sharing a link to it today as well – click the picture below to visit:
Second, a suggestion that London should take its cue from Paris and make public transport free of charge (what are you waiting for, Sadiq?). I have already shared this on my London transport themed website, and now take the opportunity to promote it here – via two pictures, the first of which contains a link to the original article on www.independent.co.uk:
The image in the http://www.independent.co.uk article.The image in the twitter link that put me on to the story.
My next link concerns libraries, and the fact that they are being hit by huge funding cuts. At the bottom of the article mention is made of the library from which the most items have been borrowed this year – Norwich Millennium Library (and although that is the library I use least frequently of my three regulars my visits there are not entirely unconnected to the large number of items borrowed there!). Click here to see the original piece.
My final link in this section is appropriately cricket themed. Before getting on to it I note by way of observation that as the third day draws to a close the current test match between India and England seems to be capsizing under an overload of runs (Eng 400, Ind currently 445-7). A new cricket blog has appeared on my radar, and I introduce it to my readers by way of a link to a review of Steve James’ book The Art of Centuries.
PICTURES
To end this post here are some coin images from yesterday at work (on this occasion high-res scans rather than photographs as these were small lots):
This is lot 122 (all lots featured here have three images – a composite and close-ups of each face). These lots will be going under the hammer in mid January.
Lot 132
Lot 134
Lot 136
Lot 137
Lot 138
Lot 140
Lot 141
Lot 143
Lot 145
Lot 157 – note the alteration to the obverse face of this coin.
A post built around Dan Green’s “The Periodic Table in Minutes” and an article that brought things even further up to date.
INTRODUCTION
This is a post that has grown from two distinct roots as you will see. At the end I will be sharing some photographs and other links that have caught my eye.
A BOOK AND AN ARTICLE
I spotted a small format book about the periodic table in the library a few days ago, and duly borrowed it (I have also read and enjoyed Hugh Aldersey-Williams’ Periodic Tales). It proved to be an enjoyable and informative read.
While I was still working out how I might work this book and some ideas the occurred to me from my reading of it into a post I came across this article about the approval of names for the four elements which had previously had placeholder names based on the Latin for their number (113, 115, 117 and 118). This leads to my next section…
NAMES FOR ELEMENTS
The four new names are in ascending atomic number order Nihonium (based on the Japanese name for Japan), Moscovium, Tennessine (for the state of Tennessee) and Oganesson (in honour of physicist Yuri Oganessian), this latter further tilting the list of elements named after people in favour of men. Although a few female mythological characters were honoured in earlier times the number of real life females to feature in the periodic table stands at two – Marie Curie with Curium and Lise Meitner with Meitnerium. There was nearly a third – element 102 was subject to vigorous dispute over its discovery between research teams from Sweden and Russia – the Russians were ultimately given credit for discovering it first, but by way of compensation it was given the name Nobelium chosen by the Swedes as opposed to the Russians preferred name of Joliotium (for Irene Joliot-Curie.
This paucity of females having elements named after them got me thinking about ideas for names for future use if more elements (if you have sensible suggestions in this regard please post them in the comments section) and I came with a few ideas:
Hypatium, in honour of the possessor of the last great brain to be nurtured in the Great Library of Alexandria.
Noetherium, for Emmy Noether, mathematical genius.
Angieron for science writer Natalie Angier.
Reichsine for forensic anthropologist and hugely successful novelist Kathy Reichs.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I given you a lot of text, so now here are some pictures…
Three pictures from the lumiere shown on Greyfriars tower.
Christmas lights in Fakenham (three pictures).
LINKS
My first link is to a post by Rob Gorski, who calls himself the Autism Dad. This particular post is about sorting out an issue of one of his sons being bullied.
The text that appears below comes courtesy of Google translate, which I put to work on a piece from Spanish language website www.circuitodeprueba.com – if you can read Spanish, or would just like to see the piece in its original setting click the image that ends this post.
We are in a boom of artificial intelligence for vehicles and electricity as the main fuel, this is when IBM, a legendary computer manufacturer, wants to board the ship and for that he presented OLLI, the means of transport of the future.
Olli is a bus created solely with 3D printers that has automatic driving and is totally electric. In his brain we find the artificial intelligence system IBM Watson IA and its skeleton bears the mark of Local Motors.
The Olli Smart Bus has a capacity of 12 passengers (seated and stopped) and is currently being tested in the city of Washington DC, soon to reach other cities nearby (Miami, Las Vegas) later, specifically later this year, Begin the tests in Denmark.
Some environmental news and some pictures – enjoy.
INTRODUCTION
Having recently shared the latest of Anna’s posts about her campaign to prevent a big new road from being built through an area of outstanding natural beauty I thought a couple of stories showing a more sensible approach were appropriate (and I have some new pictures to share and was looking for something else to put in the post).
HYDROGEN BUSES AND A CLEAN AIR PLAN FOR LONDON
Hydrogen buses are already a feature of the streets of the city of Aberdeen, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan intends them to be in service in the capital by 2020. Buses are less damagaing than cars anyway because they carry more people, but hydrogen buses have an extra plus point – zeroemissions. To read an excellent article on this theme click the picture below:
A hydrogen powered bus.
Councillor and London Assembly member Caroline Russell has produced a very detailed plan for making London’s streets healthier, backed up with evidence of a successful scheme in Walthanstow. To read the whole document click on the infographic giving details of the Walthamstow success that appears below:
PICTURES
A Brunel £2 received in changeNext to uncirculated coin.The next four pictures show ice on the surface of the lower Purfleet (yes folks, here in the north of the world it is winter)
Some pictures from King’s Lynn – featuring Christmas lights and the Great Ouse.
INTRODUCTION
Here are some of my most recent pictures from in and aroun King’s Lynn.
PICTURES 1: MORE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
When the Christmas lights were first turned on in King’s Lynn I put up this post. Now I have some more Christmas light picturesfor you…
PICTURES 2: THE RIVERBANK
Regular visitors to this blog will know that walking alongside the Great Ouse is something I do a lot of, and I have some good pictures from earlier today when I did just that…
aspiblog 