bell, book and osprey
May. 21st, 2009 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ewein2412bird talk
those of you who have been paying attention (which means you probably live in Scotland, as there has been quite a bit of media coverage on these ospreys) will know by now that the second chick died on Tuesday--they reckon because it was raining so much over the weekend that the male osprey couldn't see to catch enough fish to feed everybody. The good news is that the third egg hatched on Wednesday morning. I don't know what the fish situation is at the moment but the weather has been better and both chicks look ok.
here they are again
I, you may know, have been watching so obsessively that I *knew* the chick was dying before it actually died, and got a glimpse of the newly hatched one when it was only three hours old. I think I might have to go and volunteer at the osprey center next year. They keep a twenty-four hour watch while the eggs are incubating (because people try to steal them) and they said they had about 70 volunteers.
book talk
Some of you may recall that about a million years ago here I promised a copy of Firebirds Soaring or the paperback edition of The Mark of Solomon (assuming it is issued according to plan) to the person who came up with a new title for it. Nobody really did, and anyway the ultimate decision STILL hasn't been made, but it generated a lot of discussion, continued here, and I have been feeling guilty about not awarding any handouts! So I'm going to arbitrarily name![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
estara and firiel44 as the book winners (which is not to say there won't be another at end of play), because they both contributed a ton of useful suggestions. E-mail me at ewein2412 [AT] yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk to arrange delivery of the goods.
So, The Sword Dance. Too long. Having chopped out all the non-essential scenes I am now making a second pass and chopping out all the non-essential fluff (in the immortal advice of Strunk and White, "Omit Needless Words!"). Oh Mr. Pound.
Here's the latest crop of typos:
"The blook seeped black"
"I give you the kingdom at low coast"
"The fainly murmuring crowd"
And my two personal favourites:
"…wrapped in one of her shapeless British shawls of chequered wood"
and the very mysterious
"…field of smouldering peal furrowshad."
And speaking of peals…
bell talk
(oh, what a segué!) I am ringing a peal tomorrow at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling (no lie, that's what it's called). For the uninitiated, a peal is a three-hour non-stop bell ringers' performance. The last peal I rang was nearly eleven years ago, on mini-bells; the last tower bell peal I rang was over eleven years ago. This one is seven methods, so seven patterns to learn, one of which I'm pretty sure I've never even struck blows in. I am SO OUT OF PRACTICE learning bell ringers' methods. They are SO going to regret inviting me.
But tonight we are going to Edinburgh to see part 1 of His Dark Materials. Part 2 is on Sunday. The reviews are a bit mixed. I hope Mark and Tim don't expire.
those of you who have been paying attention (which means you probably live in Scotland, as there has been quite a bit of media coverage on these ospreys) will know by now that the second chick died on Tuesday--they reckon because it was raining so much over the weekend that the male osprey couldn't see to catch enough fish to feed everybody. The good news is that the third egg hatched on Wednesday morning. I don't know what the fish situation is at the moment but the weather has been better and both chicks look ok.
here they are again
I, you may know, have been watching so obsessively that I *knew* the chick was dying before it actually died, and got a glimpse of the newly hatched one when it was only three hours old. I think I might have to go and volunteer at the osprey center next year. They keep a twenty-four hour watch while the eggs are incubating (because people try to steal them) and they said they had about 70 volunteers.
book talk
Some of you may recall that about a million years ago here I promised a copy of Firebirds Soaring or the paperback edition of The Mark of Solomon (assuming it is issued according to plan) to the person who came up with a new title for it. Nobody really did, and anyway the ultimate decision STILL hasn't been made, but it generated a lot of discussion, continued here, and I have been feeling guilty about not awarding any handouts! So I'm going to arbitrarily name
estara and firiel44 as the book winners (which is not to say there won't be another at end of play), because they both contributed a ton of useful suggestions. E-mail me at ewein2412 [AT] yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk to arrange delivery of the goods.So, The Sword Dance. Too long. Having chopped out all the non-essential scenes I am now making a second pass and chopping out all the non-essential fluff (in the immortal advice of Strunk and White, "Omit Needless Words!"). Oh Mr. Pound.
Here's the latest crop of typos:
"The blook seeped black"
"I give you the kingdom at low coast"
"The fainly murmuring crowd"
And my two personal favourites:
"…wrapped in one of her shapeless British shawls of chequered wood"
and the very mysterious
"…field of smouldering peal furrowshad."
And speaking of peals…
bell talk
(oh, what a segué!) I am ringing a peal tomorrow at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling (no lie, that's what it's called). For the uninitiated, a peal is a three-hour non-stop bell ringers' performance. The last peal I rang was nearly eleven years ago, on mini-bells; the last tower bell peal I rang was over eleven years ago. This one is seven methods, so seven patterns to learn, one of which I'm pretty sure I've never even struck blows in. I am SO OUT OF PRACTICE learning bell ringers' methods. They are SO going to regret inviting me.
But tonight we are going to Edinburgh to see part 1 of His Dark Materials. Part 2 is on Sunday. The reviews are a bit mixed. I hope Mark and Tim don't expire.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 10:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 12:38 pm (UTC)Good luck, have fun. Is it commemorating anything special?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 12:51 pm (UTC)They are all methods with pesky bobs--Kent, Oxford, Norwich--and also London, which I've never liked much (and haven't rung for FAR more than ten years) and St. Clement's, which I don't know well. And they strike me as methods that are all easily confused. It's just one extent of each (along with Plain Bob and Cambridge), so hopefully if I make any great big method mistakes they will be at the beginning of the extents...
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 03:31 pm (UTC)"…wrapped in one of her shapeless British shawls of chequered wood"
I am tempted to make a Sim of that.
Also, bells! ♥ You are such an interesting person.
(BTW, have you ever read Quest for a Maid? If not, you should. In your copious leisure time, of course.)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 03:30 pm (UTC)my copy is in *slightly* better condition than my original copy of TWP, for what it's worth.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 11:34 pm (UTC)Tanita Says :)
Date: 2009-05-21 04:11 pm (UTC)My next book comes out June 9, and I am celebrating by not being anywhere useful to my editors at all. Cheers!
Re: Tanita Says :)
Date: 2009-05-23 12:28 pm (UTC)Holy Rude is open 11-4 from May to September ONLY. Which is probably why it's always closed when you've turned up before!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 12:37 am (UTC)*giggle*
no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 12:52 am (UTC)I sat there and tried to figure out how you would make a shawl out of wood for a minute before I realized it was the typos.
Also, yay book!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-11 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-11 06:51 pm (UTC)(some might say you are enabling me... my daughter commented, "You are an obsessed person.")
check out the chicks at Loch of the Lowes, they're getting big!
HELP!!!!!
Date: 2009-09-19 09:04 pm (UTC)p.s.: i LOVE your books SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have to admit that i found some parts of th winter prince a bit creepy but... I LUV TELEMAKOS!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: HELP!!!!!
Date: 2009-09-22 06:04 pm (UTC)I did a lot (a LOT) of library research, but the most helpful resource I know is this book, available on line:
http://www.dskmariam.org/artsandlitreature/litreature/pdf/aksum.pdf
This is an account of ancient Aksum by a contemporary writer:
http://wysinger.homestead.com/diodorus.html
Here is the wikipedia entry on Aksum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Axum
And another website that tells about the history of Ethiopian royalty:
http://www.imperialethiopia.org/index.htm
As to costuming Sofya, modern Ethiopian traditional dress won't be far off. Take a look at these images:
http://www.africanmarket.com/front/product.asp?product=541
http://silverinternational.mbhs.edu/v123/ethiopiadress.html
A long, modest white dress with or without colourful edging and a white shawl and/or headscarf, or something glittery, is probably the simplest outfit you could put together. Here are some hairstyles:
http://ethiopedia.blogspot.com/2008/07/ethiopian-hair-styles.html
I'd go for the Empress Taitu's look!