There's a Big World Out There!

Six weeks have went by without a blog, which may suggest that nothing of note has taken place. This would be understandable as it has been cold and wet, and there's been loads of work piling up on the desk. However, the reality of it is that within this six weeks I've travelled further than ever before! The trip to California was a resounding success. I went there with an open mind and little in the way of expectation, and returned after a quick week happier than ever. I was followed in my tracks back to Scotland a few days later by Dani, and since then we've done all sorts of stuff. I'm not one for writing a list of dinners had and pints consumed, however we did go to Dublin last week. It was 6.20 Euros for a Bulmers, which comes in at around £6.00, so we didn't bother getting too inebriated. For me, it takes over from Reykjavik in the dearest pint award!

This past month has opened my eyes to all sorts of things. Firstly, the price of beer in Scotland isn't that bad (but it is creeping up). Secondly, if you go places with a smiley face and a willingness to listen and integrate, you'll be welcomed. Lastly, weather isn't everything; it doesn't matter where you are in the world or how good or bad something may be, as long as you have someone with you to share those experiences with!

Ultimate Native Tunes!

This evening I've been hunting through my iTunes finding sounds appropriate for the upcoming night in the Tams. So here are my top three tunes by Scottish indie/rock artists.

Number Three: Franz Ferdinand - The Dark of the Matinee. I was stuck between this and Do You Want To as my favourite Franz tune, but this pips it!





Number Two: K.T. Tunstall - Suddenly I See. Just listen to the bassline, infectious sound and uplifting.





Number One: Travis - Happy. From their debut album this is the Travis of the past, long gone but not forgotten. An absolutely amazing song with clever lyrics, be sure to have a listen!

Subconscious leads to California...

Maybe it is true, maybe you are actually destined to head some places in your life through subconscious decisions and influences. This thought occurred to me this morning in the shower after a discovery yesterday. I take very little notice (from an academic perspective) in environmental history and geoarchaeology outwith Europe for the simple fact, there is too much information and it is best to focus on one arena. However around two years ago, I added a book to my wish list looking at the environmental history of California. Seems strange why this was done, but for some reason it was.

The films which I watched when I was a kid were mainly set in California. My favourites included Back to the Future (fictional Hill Valley, California), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (San Dimas, California), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1940's Los Angeles). The only exception really is The Goonies which was set in Oregon, the state above California! Can you see the recurring historical dimension here, fitting in with a recurring location? Favourite films, an interesting subject area fitting in with my academic interest in industrial development and settlement evolution. An author, based at UCLA, developed one of the main hypotheses that I'm challenging in my PhD, surely an interesting fellow and worthy of a meeting. This place seems fantastic, but surely that doesn't justify a 14-hour 'plane journey...

Then along she came...and it's off to California I go...

It just goes to show that there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be!

Creative Genius!

In this era of low-grade TV, every now and again something comes along which sticks out like a sore thumb on the basis of its creative genius. The latest addition to the awesome list is an advert from Virgin Atlantic to celebrate 25 years of the airline.

It has recreated the 80's in an incredible manner. A newspaper with a headline detailing the 1984 Miners' Strike, Austin Allegro in the background (a shit car if there was ever one!), a Yuppie with braces talking on his big brick phone, 80's airport signage, brown leather suitcases, Wimpy, Our Price (bought over by Virgin in the 90's!), Big Country 12" LP, stupid big untamed hair, Asteroid playing in the arcade, Rubix Cube, those 80's shades, shoulder pads, leopard print and leggings, all portrayed in a gray light which was the 80's, with the air stewardesses resonating through in their bright red uniforms!

To top it off, a definitive 80's tune; Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax!

Another piece of genius from the Branson team, and I'm happy to be giving these people a wad of my hard-earned at the end of the month!

The Best Use of Opera in Films

Movie soundtracks, everyone's always going on about them. I wanted to get on that bandwagon as I love movie soundtracks, but I decided instead to take a different angle. So here's my top 3 operatic compositions which find themselves in movies:

Number 3 - Carmen Suite # 2 by Georges Bizet, as found in Trainspotting. Happens near the start of the film, seems slightly juxtaposed in the context but fits in well.



Number 2 - The Great Escape. Definitive and emotive. You hear this, it cannot be confused for anything else. With its march tempo and snares in the introduction, this is a theme which beats all other commissioned themes!



Number 1 - Clair de Lune by Debussy, as found in Ocean's 11. The sound of success and reflection in the film. If I was to only hear one piece of classical music ever again, it would have to be this song. I know very little about the genre, but I know this is fantastic!

My Favourite Pictures of the Year

Time to pick out my favourite pictures of the year. This isn't just about the quality of the image, but of the significance and what it means to me.

Number 5 - East Mainland, Orkney. This has been my laptop background since June. I absolutely loved going to Orkney, such a quiet place and I met some interesting people!

Number 4 - A Self-Timed photo from Skalavik, Iceland when I was there in August. A picture of me in my natural environment; waterproofs covered in mud, spade in hand, out in the open. Over the horizon is the Denmark Strait and Greenland. Proof that I was carrying an extra pound or two then as well!

Number 3 - Iceland again, this time making sure I wasn't getting caught driving on the wrong side of the road again! Marker pen and masking tape to the inside of the 4x4!

Number 2 - A piece of burnt stone, around 2/5 of a mm in size, from the fishing site on the shores of Kinloch Hourn, Scotland. Proof that the occupants of this site were using it for an industrial purpose. This was a site I worked on in 2007 but done the labwork for early this year. 2008 was the year I finally got my head round micromorphology!
Number 1 - Murrayfield, 8th March 2008. I got a phonecall a few days before saying I got tickets for the Calcutta Cup, so off I went with Lindsey. I was hungover from the night before, but to go from the low of a hangover to the sheer joy of beating your oldest, fiercest rivals has to be one of the best feelings I've ever had. It took days to wipe the smile off my face!

Make a Boring Picture Interesting...

 

This image is a soil profile which has been branded Skalavik 1 (there are four Skalavik trenches in total but this is the deepest!). From the bottom, around 1.4 metres of material has accumulated. Near the bottom you may observe the tiniest of black flecks; these are charcoal which have been dated to around the 11th century AD. This means that around 900 years ago, someone was standing at this very spot burning birchwood for a fire at this very location, an isolated peninsula in northwest Iceland. I'd find it hugely strange if someone was going through my waste in 900 years time to see how I lived my life. The silver tins are Kubiena tins to allow for microscopic analysis of the soils. By looking at these I can tell if he was farming, fishing or doing anything else when he or she happened to be burning charcoal on that particular day. It may still be boring, but it's interesting to me! Welcome to the world of geoarchaeology.