Gangnam Skyrim style
I couldn’t resist posting this – it just made me laugh and I meant to post it a while ago to hopefully share a giggle with others. I’m sure you’ve all seen the Gangnam video on YouTube – it’s managed to rack up around 815 million hits which must be some kind of record. Below is the video from YouTube.
So, this might not be your thing, but, on the back of this there’s obviously lots of fun versions. The first one made me laugh simply because of the lyrics: This third one however is brilliant – Gangnam Skyrim style. Of course, if you don’t know Skyrim then you might not enjoy this but I thought it was really funny. Check out the two guards dancing in the background. Makes me laugh everytime. Hope you enjoy!My library
24 November 2012
Filed under General Comments
Tags: Manchester Central Library, Manchester Town Hall, Stockport Library
Okay, we’re all having a bit of a show and tell about our local library. This is a picture of mine…
Stockport Library
I love this place. It’s only a small library but the staff are great and I always feel excited going in – you never know what you’re going to find after all. Plus I usually have about 3 books waiting at any given time. On top of that they sell off books and they’re so cheap it would be an insult not to buy them. I recently bought Interview with a Vampire for less than £1.
The next picture is of Central Library in Manchester. This is a really beautiful building on the inside and the out. I spent a lot of time in this library as I used to work at the Town Hall which is practically next door (second image). This is a brilliant building – it looks like it’s straight out of a fairy story and the inside is equally as impressive (although I should probably mention it’s currently closed for renovation and refurbishment).
Central Library
Okay, so look at the picture of the Town Hall – the entrance way (this is not the main entrance but overlooks St Peter’s Square at the rear of the building) – and first level up with two windows, one on either side of the arch – that used to be the office I worked in! Call over to Dark Cargo and Little Red Reviewer to see their stories.
Manchester Town Hall – from Wikipedia
Book Covers…
Today I have been invited to write a guest piece over at Dark Cargo. The theme is book covers and looks at a few random thoughts and ideas. I must admit that I’m a sucker for a good book cover, check out the book cover below which I spotted on a review over at the Little Red Reviewer – this is a gorgeous cover! Call over to Dark Cargo and join the discussion about what makes a good cover – or simply to share your favourite!
Asimov
Mount Teidi, Tenerife
We just had a short break away in Tenerife for a week. It was a good week. The sun was shining and the temperature was much better than that which we’d left behind in foggy, wet and cold Britain. In fact the weekend we departed it was actually snowing!
During the week we went for a number of trips but the highlights of the week were an afternoon out at sea watching the dolphins and a drive up through the mountains to the volcano Teidi. Apparently Teidi is still active – (wasn’t aware of that before the trip!), it’s the third highest volcano in the world and rises about 3,500 meters above sea level and the crater which it sits within has a 12/13 mile diameter.
I must admit that I really surprised myself with this because I’m a bit scared of heights so I didn’t think I would enjoy the outing. So, you may well ask why I was going up in the first place. Simply because I don’t want to be dictated to by my fears.
Anyway, we had a long drive up some rather hair raising bends through the mountains eventually passing through pine forests and then actually driving through the clouds.
Looking back at the clouds we’d just driven through
The landscape then changes dramatically and becomes very barren and almost lunar. We were driving along a road that was actually laid through a massive crater – you could see the rim all around – so strange! The road continues to rise until you eventually reach a visitor centre, again really bizarre having this building just out there in the middle of the wilderness. A lot of people stop at this point and get out to take various walks. We continued in the car until you come to a further building where you can pay to go up the rest of the mountain via cable car. I really expected to be nervous about this but I wasn’t and in fact really enjoyed it. Go figure.
The cable car takes you almost to the top and, providing you have the necessary permit and are fit enough you can climb the last few metres to the top.
Another cable car
We didn’t continue to the very top because we didn’t have the permits, also it was absolutely freezing up there and although we had prepared I don’t think we we wrapped up enough.
It was a cloudy day but I loved the view we had looking down to see the crater below and the clouds which we had passed through. It was the brilliant blue that you experience when flying.
What I discovered on this outing is that my fear of heights depends on the context. After all, I’m not afraid to fly and planes tend to be pretty high up after all! I’m not afraid to be in a high building even on the top floor – because I’m inside the building. However, I wouldn’t like to be on a balcony very high up – it would just make me feel ‘wrong’! So I didn’t mind being so high up because it wasn’t like the experience of standing on a sharp cliff edge.
Anyway, a great trip and well worth it.
Books and travelling with Lynn 
Books I’m bursting at the seams to read in 2013…
Filed under General Comments
Tags: Books due in 2013, New releases, Reading events
Well, it’s not like I really need to add any more books to my ever mounting stacks (not to mention growing list on the Kindle – and btw how did that happen!) but here goes. Anyway, need schmeed – books are good, books are our friend, we likes em. As with my ‘best of‘ post these are in no particular order (other than the random workings of my brain) and the expected dates or none dates are not intended as criticisms or prompts (yes, of course, I would like all my favourite authors to write a book a month if they could possibly manage it but I’m a little bit more realistic than that at the end of the day – and anyway, I’d sooner have the work finished to the author’s intended standard and not rushed out and ruined because of my eager impatience!):
much overrated)Okay, sort of looking back it does look like I’m focusing mainly on fantasy there. That was quite unintentional but what can I say – there’s some good books coming out in 2013. Just to counterbalance that I will be reading lots of Sci fi and Vintage sci fi as part of two events at the start of the year – sci fi reading event hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings and Vintage Sci Fi hosted by Andrea at the Little Red Reviewer (check them both out if you enjoy reading good books and discussion with loads of top blogging people). I’m also reading Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight as part of a readalong on Carl’s sci fi event and will be looking forward to lots of other new releases that are too numerous to go into! Oh, and I’ll be doing some fun reading ‘things’ (not yet fully drawn up) with Dark Cargo during the year!
Let the good times commence and happy reading to everyone in 2013 😀