The Western and Orthodox Christian traditions usually celebrate the same festivals on different dates. But in 2025, their Easter dates align. Here’s why.
Natural Earth Data In QGIS: Part 4
By way of tidying up a thread that was left dangling when I took my little blog sabbatical last year, this is the concluding instalment of my development of a map of Alaska in QGIS. By the end of my last post on this topic, I’d added roads, railways and settlements to my map. To … Continue reading Natural Earth Data In QGIS: Part 4
Ardgour: Coire Dubh circuit
Here’s one I prepared earlier. I walked this route last summer, during my little blogging hiatus, but it’s one of several hill visits that are worth sharing here.
In a well-ordered world, Sgurr na h-Eanchainne would be the highest point on this circuit. It’s the lovely shapely cone that’s visible from the Fort William waterfront, as you look down Loch Linnhe.
The Sun Sets On The British Empire
A while ago I treated you to a dissertation entitled “Does The Sun Set On The British Empire?”, and concluded that it doesn’t. The UK’s widely scattered overseas territories, sparse though they are, mean that the sun is still always shining, somewhere in the world, over British territory.
Tidings
ˈtaɪdɪŋz tidings: reports, news, information “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:20, (King James Version) Luke’s is the only gospel that mentions the Annunciation to the Shepherds, by an unnamed angel bringing news of the birth … Continue reading Tidings
Opus 500: And Time For A Break
This post is the 500th I’ve made since I fired up this blog back in 2015, during which time there hasn’t been a single week without a post of one kind or another. It’s been great fun, and if anything I have more ideas for posts now than I’ve ever had, but this seems like … Continue reading Opus 500: And Time For A Break
Pints And Pounds
A pint’s a pound the world around. Traditional American mnemonic A pint of water’s a pound and a quarter. Traditional British mnemonic There’s something odd going on there, isn’t there? I learned that British mnemonic at primary school, and I can still vividly recall my first encounter with the American version—in a Robert Heinlein juvenile … Continue reading Pints And Pounds
William Hope Hodgson & Algernon Blackwood: Edwardian Occult Detectives
Of rather uneven stylistic quality, but vast occasional power in its suggestion of lurking worlds and beings behind the ordinary surface of life, is the work of William Hope Hodgson, known today far less than it deserves to be. Despite a tendency toward conventionally sentimental conceptions of the universe, and of man’s relation to it … Continue reading William Hope Hodgson & Algernon Blackwood: Edwardian Occult Detectives
Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3
Last time, I finished working on my Alaska map with political boundaries and shading in place, and the major rivers and lakes depicted. This time, I’m going to use some more Natural Earth data to add more information to the map. The first thing I want is some towns and villages, so I download the … Continue reading Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3
Rhoticity
rəʊˈtɪsɪtɪ rhoticity: pertaining to a variety or dialect of English in which r is pronounced not only in pre-vocalic position but also before a consonant or word-finally So, there’s an American professor of theology visiting England for the first time. As his train departs from London King’s Cross station, he hears an announcement over the … Continue reading Rhoticity