The Blog - The Archive

Annoyed Cat is Annoyed...

The only thing worse than being woken in the middle of the night in England by a spam phone call when you're on the do not call list is realising you just paid overseas roaming charges to be woken in the middle of the night in England by a spam phone call when you're on on the do not call list.

(I normally sleep with the phone off. I must have forgotten last night.)

Labels: cambridge, losing sleep, phones, trip09

Looking for an excuse...

If this paper mentions "star seeds" one more time I'm going to quit and just go watch Sailorstars on youtube.

Labels: cambridge, sailor moon, thesis ftl, trip09

*sobs*...

I have a cold and it's making me miserable. I walked home (via the chemist for some paracetamol and cough lollies) feeling that I would never be warm again (and very sorry for myself) and as I walk in the door Jane hands me a package:

and now I miss my mummy very much.

Labels: cambridge, I want to go home now, knitting, sickly-Cat, trip09

Back in Cambridge...

Little bit exhausted from too much vacation. *grins* Jessie, John and Daniel send their love.

Labels: cambridge, england, london, tired, trip09

What a day...

It was fantastic and awesome and magic, but for some reason I decided to keep what I was doing secret a while ago, so you'll have to wait until I get home for me to squee about it.

(And yet to anyone who was there, I've given the game away already... Fortunately none of you were there.)

Labels: accent issues, london, secretive-Cat, trip09

Having a blast in London...

Haven't really had the energy to blog, so have a chunk out of my diary (I forgot to bring a book so I'm typing into a file). Note that it's not been edited, so may contain typos, sentence fragments and other awkwardness

Somehow my "awesome trip out to see the rest of the Thames festival" turned into "Catherine is entranced by Korean culture, to the point where she buys the soundtrack to the hybrid traditional/modern dance performance and freezes to death watching a kimchee western". And that was okay by me, as the music was great (and the dance too) and the movie was awesome.

No Korean food though, which was sad-making. I had a craving for a bibimbap, and all I could get was an apple and pork traditional english sausage (so good) and an apple and cinnamon crepe (rather average really). Ooh, and a Belgian hot chocolate, made from a chocolate fountain and something else that was nice and creamy and staved off the freezing to death for at least an hour.

Oh, and I finally bought some things at the markets: a terrorist scarf, because I had a feeling I wasn't dressed warmly enough.

Then to the movie, "The Good, The Bad, The Weird". It was awesome, a little gruesome, but I've come to expect that from the few Korean films that are exported to the rest of the world, and aside from a serious lack of female characters (which I expected from a western, but was vaguely hoping they'd subvert) I thought it was definitely worth the time in the cold.

Basically, it's the tale of a treasure map, and the people who will fight to get a hold of it and the treasure it points to. I'm not really sure I got the historical context for the film (they were in Manchuria, which was occupied by Japan, but all the named characters were Korean expats (and clearly feeling 'han' (okay, what is the correct way to use a foreign word for a feeling of sad quiet nostalgia in a sentence? (and where did all these parentheses come from and have I closed them all?)))

The best bit was when about three quarters of the way through I gave in to temptation and thought, "this feels so very Quentin Tarantino, I bet the director's a fan." At that moment, the Kill Bill remix of "Don't let me be misunderstood" kicked in and I couldn't help but laugh, despite it being a very serious moment in the film (an awesome shootout was about to begin).

And in the end, many hundreds of people (and horses!) had been shot, the treasure located (and unappreciated by its finders) and those that made it through went on with their lives. I was very satisfied and wouldn't mind seeing it again with anyone reading this who wants to watch a western with me sometime.

Labels: korea, london, lonely-Cat, movies, the good the bad the weird, trip09

Hey you lot...

I'm exhausted after several days conferencing, but I'm going down to London tomorrow and I'll not be back for a week or more. I don't know what my connectivity will be like, so don't panic if you don't hear from me again until the 21st of September.

I've got my phone if anyone needs me.

And any suggestions for fun things to do will be appreciated.

Labels: conferences, england, london, losing sleep, trip09

When I grow up...

I want to be the Master of Trinity College.

Oh blog, not only did we have drinks in the Master's garden, but then we were allowed to explore the Lodge proper and gaze upon the bookshelves (full of books bequeathed by Masters past) and the portraits, and lounge in his sitting room and dream of playing the piano in his music room and then, best of all, he let us into his office. So many books and desks that have been worked upon by some of the greatest minds in their fields...

I think my favourite thing was the portrait of Elizabeth I in the music room, actually. She's beautiful, and I could have gazed upon her all night long. But he threw us out eventually, as he had to go and wish the Choir luck upon their upcoming tour.

Labels: cambridge, trip09

Hmm...

Realised this evening that I've been in Cambridge three weeks and only visited two of the 31 colleges so far (well, three I suppose, but I wasn't staying on the main campus of Girton). Now I'm feeling slack.

(And to be fair, I've cut across St John's a few times on my way into town when feeling brave enough to face the porters, but again, I haven't really explored.)

Fortunately, tomorrow night the conference I'm skipping my vacation for is hosting a welcome reception in the Master's Lodge at Trinity. Not that I'm excited and gloating or anything.

Labels: cambridge, exploring, holiday, trip09, uni

Party Time!

Today I emailled the boss a more or less "complete" draft of a thesis chapter. For all that it's chapter two, this is the first time I've actually sent him something for this project (honours was 5.5 years ago now, it hardly counts), so I'm a little terrified, but he replied back with a promise that "[he's] looking forward to making comments ranging from the bleeding obvious to the sublime", so I'm going to hope for the best and celebrate the achievement that saw me working all long weekend and not regretting a second of it.

Said celebration has taken the form of a visit to my favourite restaurant here in Cambridge, where I had a delicious Latvian potato bake, a beer, and dessert has just been delivered. I think I may have earned it.

I take it back. I don't even know what one could to earn this - it's simply indulgent and not even the long walk back to my b&b in the rain will see me deserve this kind of deliciousness.

Chocolate Wake-Up Cake, from the Rainbow Cafe.

Labels: cake, death by chocolate, england, phd, science, thesis ftw, trip09