Another glorious spring bank holiday here today, no so game progress post until next week. Hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend!
Month: May 2021
Race Review: Virtual Edinburgh Half Marathon 2021
I don’t remember the last time I managed to post a race review on the same day as the race! I was getting a bit behind with them pre-pandemic…
This morning, Geth and I were up early for the Virtual Edinburgh Half Marathon. We could have done it at any time during the day, but we wanted to get the bulk of the run out of the way before the midday heat came in. For us, this was not a good weekend for the weather to decide it’s now summer!
Geth had requested a lapped course with as few road crossings as possible, so I mapped out a loop that had come to mind and found that six loops (plus some extra bits at the start and end) provided a pretty accurate half marathon distance. The loops felt fairly short in themselves, but having not done the distance for a while I did struggle towards the end! Part of it was the heat and not being fully recovered from my vaccine yet, but part of it was simply that I just hadn’t done long distances for a while. I’ll be building up again over the summer, so half distance will hopefully feel more comfortable again in a couple of months.
Today was just about getting round though, and we both did, so that was a win. Looking forward to the medal arriving in the post!
Saturday ’80s Photo: Ice Creaaaam
Pretty much every photo of me from spring and summer 1987 involves an ice cream. It was clearly a warm year. Mum also seems to have partaken in a lot of the ice cream, which is surprising as she doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth! Maybe she was just holding Dad’s ice cream while he took the photo. My brother Malcolm, in this photo at least, seems to have been more interested in his own shoes. Life is simple when you’re seven months old.
This year has not been a warm year… until now. The warm weather has shown up just in time for me and Geth to swelter round our virtual half marathon tomorrow. We will be eating ice cream tonight. For fuelling purposes, you understand.
Getting the ball rolling
Geth and I went away last weekend to visit family for the first time in months. We met our sixteen-month-old niece for the first time, which was really special, and generally returned to a world that we’d left behind a long time ago. In some ways, being with people and eating a pub lunch felt strange, but in other ways, it felt completely normal, like we’d never been away from it. It was really nice.
Since we got back, it’s been a thankfully quiet week, and so I’ve been happily ensconced in my coding most of the time. The exception was Wednesday, as I had my appointment for my first jab of COVID vaccine. Other than the standard sore arm I’ve not had too many side effects – I’m a bit tired and achy, but I’m hoping I’ll be fully recovered by Sunday as I’m running a virtual half marathon that day!
Fingers crossed for a similar experience next week (minus the vaccine stuff)…
This week’s earworm playlists (which this week have been CONSTANT DURAN DURAN with very occasional lapses. I’m not complaining):
Saturday
Arcadia – ‘Say The Word’
Sunday
Harry Belafonte – ‘Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora)’
Monday
Duran Duran – ‘A Matter Of Feeling’
Duran Duran – ‘Invisible’
Tuesday
Duran Duran – ‘A Matter Of Feeling’
Duran Duran – ‘I Take The Dice’
Wednesday
Duran Duran – ‘American Science’
The Beatles – ‘Drive My Car’
Duran Duran – ‘Violence Of Summer (Love’s Taking Over) [The Story Mix]’
Duran Duran – ‘Invisible’
Mr Mister – ‘Broken Wings’
Thursday
Duran Duran – ‘Violence Of Summer (Love’s Taking Over)’
Duran Duran – ‘Union Of The Snake’
Destiny’s Child – ‘Survivor’
Duran Duran – ‘Meet El Presidente’
Duran Duran – ‘Too Late Marlene’
Friday
Duran Duran – ‘Union Of The Snake’
Duran Duran – ‘All She Wants Is’
Playlist Pick: The Beatles, ‘Drive My Car’
I had my first vaccine dose today and was trying to find a suitable song. Google has a lot of suggestions but none of them seem quite right. Earworm playlist is constant Duran Duran this week anyway as I’ve been listening to them so much!
Instead I’m going to go with a car-themed one for today.
I’ve always liked ‘Drive My Car’. It was a childhood favourite at a time when driving a car seemed like a fun, cartoony thing to do, rather than a stressful adult world of traffic jams and poorly signposted roundabouts. The 1960s can also seem fairly cartoony to those of us who weren’t there, and this song is a good example of that for me.
2020 Pestos #6: Sainsbury’s Red Pesto
This is another supermarket own brand red pesto, which all tend to have a similar taste.
I didn’t remember to take the photo until I’d emptied the jar. That’s a sign of a good pesto! Or possibly just a sign of me being hungry.
This pesto is lighter and less rich than the Sacla equivalent (to be logged) and so it goes better in healthier pasta dishes when I can’t be bothered making sauce from scratch. Which has been often, recently!
Adventures in Coding: Remembering Other Parts Of The World
I’m reluctant to share too many details about the plot of my upcoming game, Marie, as I want it to be a surprise when people play it. However, I can say that it largely takes place in and around London. I used to visit London probably once or twice a year, but I’ve not been there during the pandemic and so my last visit would have been in 2019 (I was there in April 2019 for the London Marathon and November 2019 for the Andy Taylor gig). As such, I’ve been racking my brain a bit when describing what locations look like!
I’m planning to release a short teaser / extra scene from the game at some point in the next couple of weeks. The teaser is a result of my first fumbling experiments using PunyInform, which has been a bit of a learning curve as I’m so used to Adventuron. It’s been really fun to start learning that though.
Graphic work for the main game will be starting soon, so maybe I’ll have some early pictures to share with you before long…
Flying Sunday post
Geth and I have been away for our first ‘coming out of the pandemic’ weekend with family the last couple of days, so I’m skipping my regularly scheduled blog post for today. Very tired after a long drive!
Just a quick note that we were thrilled to meet our niece for the first time. She is adorable.
Saturday ’80s Photo: The Ferry Bar
Pictures like this – with the beermats and the scratchy fabric chairs – take me right back to my childhood. There’s a particular smell in ferry bars (a combination of bar smell and sea smell?) that still exists today, but the chairs are more comfortable these days.
Tables with lips to stop your drink sliding about in rough seas are still a thing too!