Author Archives: Tim Hall

Howard Miller, RIP

Posted on November 11, 2006 by Tim Hall

An old friend, Howard Miller, has passed away from respiratory failure after being admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia.

Howard lived on Long Island, New York, but in a very real sense he actually resided in Cyberspace. He was severely physically disabled from a very young age, being both deaf and blind. But he could use a computer via a braille reader, and literally spent his entire waking life online. He maintained a large number of long-distance friendships with people from all over the world, most of whom he had never met in person. I was privileged to be one of them.

I first ran into Howard online about ten years ago on CompuServe. He was one of the existing players in an ongoing Fantasy PBeM I’d just joined on the RPGAMES forum. Although that game folded shortly after I joined, I was sufficiently impressed by his writing and imagination to recruit him into my own game on the same forum, playing two different characters for several years. He was a founding member of the Dreamlyrics community. Although he later dropped out of that forum, he maintained email correspondences with many past and present members. The last email I received from him was just a few days before he was taken ill for the last time.

Despite his severe disabilities, Howard always had a sharp intellect. He might occasionally have been annoying, but his wit and humour always shone through. His short life was an example of overcoming severe adversity. He’s touched the hearts and minds of many.

There’s a nice tribute to him from Robert J Sawyer, and further tributes on the Deepspace Forum.

‘Heroes never die, they sail forever’

Posted in Games, Science Fiction | 3 Comments

A Darwin Awards Wannabe?

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Tim Hall

It seems there are absolutely no limits to human stupidity. From today’s Guardian:

A man has suffered severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework from his bottom on bonfire night, it emerged today.

I suppose it’s one way to cure constipation.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

Normblog Musical Poll Results

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Tim Hall

Norm has posted the results of the Normblog Musicals Poll.

I notice that none of my nominations made the top 5, and only one (Tommy) managed to get into the ’10 points or more’ section. I was the only person to vote for The Return of Captain Invincible

Perhaps this just proves that I’m not really into traditional musicals.

Posted in Music | Comments Off

YARM

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Tim Hall

I haven’t done any memes for ages. This one comes from The Ministry of Information.

1. Explain what ended your last relationship?
The Gap Was Too Wide (in more ways than one)

2. When was the last time you shaved?
In the 1980s. Had my beard trimmed last Friday.

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 am?
Leaving home for work.

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
Reposting a month-old PBeM post that two players had failed to respond to, and emailing a new PBeM applicant to tell him that I probably do have a vacancy in the game.

5. Are you any good at math?
As NRT said, it’s a plural!

6. Your prom night? what about?
This another one of those quaint American customs we don’t have over here.

7. Do you have any famous ancestors?
Ultimately we’re all descended from Eve (something evolutionary biologists and creationists appear to agree on). Apart from that, no.

8. Have you had to take a loan out for school?
I’m old enough to have had a student grant. And we call it ‘College’ or ‘University’, not ‘School’. ‘School’ ends at 18.

9. Do you know the words to the song on your MySpace profile?
There aren’t any songs on my MySpace profile.

10. Last thing received in the mail?
A savings account statement. The Dapol Cargowaggons I ordered have yet to arrive, and will probably be in the post tomorrow.

11. How many different beverages have you had today?
Two. Coffee, and Beer. Three if you count standard and decaff coffee as two different beverages. Five if you count black and white coffee as different. (Yes, this is really the answer to 5)

12. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?
The last one was “Bidibidibidibidi!”. You probably did not want to know that.

13. Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?
Hawkwind

14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
No.

15. What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had?
Can’t remember a really painful one. Have probably blotted out the memory.

16. What is out your back door?
A lawn that needs mowing.

17. Any plans for Friday night?
I’m actually going to be the same place as NRT, seeing Opeth.

18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?
The ocean doesn’t get to mess with my hair. Neither does the North Sea, the Irish Sea, or the English Channel.

19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?
I know not of these big tins of 3 different popcorns of which you speak.

20. Have you ever been to a planetarium?
There was an open-air one in a field in Switzerland.

21. Do you re-use towels after you shower?
They do get washed eventually.

22. Some things you are excited about?
How about a class 50 tackling the one-in-sixty grade out of Par station from a standing start with 13 coaches behind (alas, no more). Or Mostly Autumn encoring with a sublime version of “Mother Nature”. Of finding a really meaty bug in Chadders’ code.

23. What is your favorite flavor of jelly?
Strawberry. This applies both for what we call ‘Jam’, and what Americans call ‘Jello’.

24. Describe your keychain(s)?
Fob with the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) on it.

25. Where do you keep your change?
In my trouser pocket. And a jamjar. (Do Americans have Jello Jars?)

26. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?
About three years ago, when I read the lesson at a friends wedding.

27. What kind of winter coat do you own?
A long dark grey wollen one that I don’t think I wore at all last winter. Not cold enough to wear it quite yet.

28. What was the weather like on your graduation day?
Typical July weather, although it didn’t rain.

29. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?
Since I currently live on my own, I usually leave it open.

Posted in Memes | 2 Comments

The Mars Volta – Amputecture

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Tim Hall

This album took me a while to get into. On the first couple of spins, I didn’t find the third studio album by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and crew to be quite as immediate as the first two. However, it grows with repeated listens. And eventually, it’s worth it.

It’s got the same mixture bizarre of alternative, prog-rock and traditional Mexican music, and again features the guitar playing of John Frusciante. It starts slowly; the creepily atmospheric opener “Vicarious Atonement” begins with two minutes of fluid but spooky blues guitar before the equally spectral vocals come it. The following lengthy “Tetragrammaton” is much closer to The Mars Volta’s sound on earlier albums with its bursts of staccato guitar riffs and machine gun drumming interspersed with gentler moments and effects-laden instrumental sections. And there are several more where that came from. But there are some new elements; “Vermicide” is probably the nearest The Mars Volta will ever get to a power ballad. And breaking new territory is the sparse “Asilos Magdelena”, sung in Spanish, with just a naked acoustic guitar for most of the song.

Overall, it might lack some of the frenetic energy of their debut, “Deloused in the Comatorium”, but there’s plenty enough to reward the listener once you get beneath the skin of the record.

Posted in Music, Record Reviews | Tagged | Comments Off

Pure Reason Revolution – The Dark Third

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Tim Hall

PRR are one of the so-called “nu-prog” bands who have attracted the attention of some of the fashionable media. Quite why that same media focuses on completely new bands rather than those who have been ploughing an unfashionable furrow for years in an interesting question. Perhaps it’s because they’re signed to a major label and plugged into the Big Media hype machine. HippyDave has likened them to a prog version of The Darkness, and I suppose he’s got a point. Time will tell if they follow the same career trajectory, coming to earth with a crash after a poorly-received ‘difficult second album’.

I realise that so far I’ve said nothing about the actual music. In fact, it’s rather good. A lot of prog tropes are present and correct; 12 minute multi-part epics, soaring vocal harmonies, and song titles like “Apprentice of the Universe” and “The Bright Ambassadors of Morning”. The album opens with some very Meddle like slide guitar on the instrumental “Aeropause”, and the rest of the album continues to show a strong Pink Floyd influence. The vocal arrangements with twin lead vocalists Chloe Alper and John Courtney are particularly impressive throughout, and the whole thing is immaculately played and produced. The only thing missing is that there are no real solos. Sure, it’s a bit derivative in places, but tell me what isn’t nowadays. Whatever they might achieve in the future, I like this album a lot.

Posted in Music, Record Reviews | Tagged | Comments Off

Turn if off, turn it off again

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Tim Hall

Genesis are apparently just about to reform, only without not just Peter Gabriel, but without Steve Hackett either. In other words, it’s the vacuous 80s incarnation of the band.

Scott sums up my feelings exactly:

Why bother? I don’t ever need to hear Illegal Alien again. The rumors in the past couple years of a full reunion teased me, but this? This just isn’t what I wanted. I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of people who will love hearing Invisible Suck again, but I’ll stay home, thank you very much. I know why Gabriel passed, but nothing at all from Hackett’s camp which surprises me, as he’s been one of the ones who really wanted to do this.

According to the official Genesis website, there will be a formal announcement tomorrow.

But I’d mentally written off the reunion as a waste of space once I heard Gabriel wasn’t going to be involved. My opinion of post-Hackett Genesis is much the same as that of rabid Fish fans towards Marillion with Steve Hogarth. For me, the 80s music was bland commercial fluff that hasn’t stood the test of time anything like as well as their earlier music. Watered-down pseudo-Motown played by white people has never really appealed to me.

It wouldn’t even surprise me if it’s a flop; the audience for 1980s Genesis weren’t really music fans, it was the three-CDs a year crowd made up of people called Kevin and Sharon; the demographic who’s present day equivalents listen to Coldplay and James Blunt. I wonder how many of them will know or care about any reunion?

Posted in Music | 7 Comments

How to choose liveries

Posted on November 5, 2006 by Tim Hall

Yet again, the subject of alleged poor sales of Dapol’s class 73 has erupted on the Ngauge Mailing List. While the usual suspects are claiming that the 73 was a silly prototype to have done in the first place, the more likely culprit is Dapol’s strange choice of liveries. They started off with two obscure and short-lived liveries (EWS and Southwest Trains), and appeared to have deliberately held back the most popular liveries until last. Then, after flooding the market with too many liveries in too short a time, they complain that the final livery (BR Blue) is selling poorly.

I think it’s a myth that a model locomotive needs a huge number of possible liveries in order to sell, to the extend that some numerous and long-lived prototypes have been suggested as poor choices as RtR models because they carried ‘too few liveries’.

The trouble is that if a prototype carried 20 liveries, it probably means that 15 of those 20 liveries will only appeal to a limited subset of modellers. Dapol’s EWS and SWT class 73s gather dust on dealer’s shelves, while kettles (which come in just green or black) sell like hot cakes.

I believe manufacturers should think long and hard at what liveries they should be producing models, and should go for those which are likely to sell well as their initial liveries, not hold them back for later. There are exceptions, of course; there have been one or two particularly attractive liveries that have sold regardless of the fact that only one loco ever carried them. The Pullman livery 73 is a case in point.

For a hypothetical example, look at the class 47. Over their 40 year careers, they’ve carried a bewildering variety of liveries. But a significant proportion of those liveries were short-lived, often applied to just a handful of locomotives. Many were one-off depot specials. I don’t believe any sensible manufacturer should focus on these limited appeal liveries at the expense of bread-and-butter colour schemes.

If I was a manufacturer making an all-new Class 47, the first six liveries should be something like BR Blue, Two Tone Green, Virgin, RES, Railfreight Speedlink, InterCity Swallow.

All of them were applied to significant numbers of locos, and (with the exception of Virgin) lasted quite a long time, and covered a wide geographical area. I know there are some significant liveries missing from the list; large logo blue comes to mind. But between them those six liveries cover just about every base – anyone modelling any part of the country from 1962 to 2002 will find a use for at least one of those six. Lesser region-specific or shorter-lived liveries like GW150, NSE, Scotrail, Dutch or EWS can wait. And things like 47803′s “Yellow Peril” or the Police Car livery should be left to the respray artists.

For the humble class 08 shunter, a prototype that’s carried even more colour schemes, it’s even simpler; Banger Blue, BR Green and EWS will probably satisfy the 08 needs for 95% of the market. After all, there are still BR blue 08s running today!

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An excuse for a very bad joke

Posted on November 5, 2006 by Tim Hall

It’s a 1950s jungle movie, probably as politically-incorrect as only a 1950s jungle movie can be.

As our heroic explorers head through the virgin jungle, the sound of tribal drumming can be heard in the distance.

“When the drumming stops, we are doomed”, says one of the native guides.

“What do you mean”, asks the heroic explorer.

“When the drumming stops, we are doomed”, relies the guide.

Then the drumming stops.

“We are doomed”, cries the native guide in panic.

“Why”, cries the explorer.

The guide stares at him and replies, “Bass Solo”.

Posted in Music | Comments Off

Swiss Train Formations

Posted on November 5, 2006 by Tim Hall

Very useful site for anyone modelling Swiss railways. Reisenzüge der Schweiz lists Swiss train formations from the current timetable. It’s all in German, but you don’t really need the German text to be able make use of the site. For instance, this page lists every conceivable type of rolling stock (and you get a pretty graphic of each one, so you don’t need to understand the alphabet soup of coaching stock codes); click on one and you’ll get a listing of every train that includes one in the formation.

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