Cuddly Alien gifts from America

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Huggable Face Hugger and Comforting Chest Burster

A while back my good lady wife got a package in the mail from America from our good friends the McAlisters who came to stay earlier this year. Yes, I know, its been a while coming but while my good lady opened the box and took this picture on the day I have only just gotten to this posting now. Honestly you would think I sat about doing nothing eh!

I have always loved the Aliens franchise and particularly the second movie Aliens which to me is the best one. As a movie it has entered the popular conciousness and been borrowed from countless times and its also had a massive effect on wargaming too being sourced for LOADS of science fiction systems.

Thanks McAlisters! These might not have acid for blood but they do have the stuffing for hugs a plenty. 🙂

GBS

One and One make Eleven!

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Mascots and Mayhem with the Birthday boy on the right

Happy Birthday my Son! The grand old age of Eleven is now yours!

A day off work for me and a trip to the Chocolate Factory near Dumfries with The Thinker and two of his friends along with his Uncle Jim and Aunty Cat too. In blazing heat I watched him mix and pour chocolate in a chilled room (grrr!) and then have a riot of a time looking for fools gold in a panning stream and play for the afternoon at the large outdoor activity area (pirate ship, slides and other fun). I chose this destination as his younger brother had gone there for his own birthday back in March and really enjoyed it. A grand time was had!

Minecraft was the custom cake theme this year

The birthday boy is into Minecraft just now so we decided to theme his birthday cake upon that very subject. My good lady wife goes all out for the birthday parties and cakes and so forth which I think is lovely and the children really do appreciate it. A new bike and other gifts were his. A little more than normal as a reward for doing very well at school and also being chosen to represent Girvan Primary at the opening of the new harbour pontoons last month. I have pictures of him there but I forgot to post about it…doh.

Enjoy your day my now not so little non white metal soldier!

Winter 2002….The Thinker a decade ago!

Perhaps I do post a little too much on the children and the family. But hey life is more than only work and I do adore them all so.

GBS

A Little Gift from a Good Friend!

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Gavin Syme

I got a little gift from a good friend. As you can see it is from foreign fields afar and rather strong in the spirits department at 50% volume. It is in a wax sealed stone earthenware bottle. I am a fine fan of Gin and other spirits so I look forward to trying this fine bottle out. Though I do think I will hold off until cooler weather (its about 27c here just now). You can learn more about Filliers here and below is some information about the eight year old Jenevers:

OLD JENEVERS: 8 YEAR OLD

Filliers old jenevers are split up according to the amount of time (5, 8 or even 12 years) that the carefully selected juniper berry distillates are left to age in oak barrels.

Stone pitchers containing 5- and 8-year old jenever:

Our malt wine made with maize, rye and malt ages for five or eight years in American oak barrels dating back to 200 l. We blend them constantly in separate barrels with carefully selected juniper berry distillates that have been aged for five or eight years. This guarantees its unique and unadulterated quality and flavour.

Look and taste the 50° Jenever:

Colour: copper, golden brown
Aroma: very sweet and particularly pleasant, complex
Flavour: bitter and sweet, with hints of vanilla, pepper and cinnamon.
Finish: long, bitter with sweetish hints of vanilla.

Lovely!

GBS

Totally Choosing a Baby Name…badly.

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Recently in a conversation with a friend the subject of baby names came up. Now I know that is not something you would expect a fellow like me to think about but I have done it three times in the past for myself and also chipped in a couple of suggestions for others. So why this posting?

Aside from a fun little read I decided to do a quick browse for ‘choosing baby names’ and came across this video. To me this is an example of a poor way of choosing names for your children. Have a watch. The first mother chooses something that will cause endless confusion for her daughter (but not to worry it makes her sound edgy and trendy..well for at least a year as nothing changes like trends!), the second something traditional (after suffering a bit of brain death beforehand) and the third…well she is the best of all. The third will not tell you the name of the child for ‘internet security reasons’ thereby making her whole appearance on the video pointless (incidentally I found her and the name in less than two minutes online so bang up security job there self promoter!).

My idle muse on this is actually quite simple. When you have the joy and honour to choose a name for a child do it with kindness and care. It is the biggest choice you will ever make for that baby, toddler, child, teen, adult, parent before you. Ignore trends, ignore your friends, choose wisely and choose fittingly too. That name will benefit or hinder them for their entire life.

I followed my own grandmother’s rules, you might find them amusing or useful:

1. Choose something you are not afraid to shout out loud in the street.

2. Never choose anything beginning with the same letter as your surname (alliteration is not cool!). Simon Syme anyone?

3. Avoid the names of children of your friends or the friends themselves. Also give each child a different starting letter in their names, avoids you accidentally calling the child their siblings name!

4. Find out the most common regional names where you live and do not use them (in South Ayrshire it is James and Claire for my generation).

5. Trends change and celebrities are vapid. Have integrity and give the chosen name time to solidify in your mind before committing to it.

GBS

Well done Andy!

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon 2013

Well done to Andy Murray who has just won the Wimbledon 2013 mens final!

It has been seventy seven years since a British win at that most English of tennis events and in tense match the better man won. I am sure that endless inches will be written about this but I just wanted to post up my own congratulations on the day. But how will be BBC report this great victory…we shall see.

GBS

Girvan Civic Week 2013 – My little experience of it…

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Gavin Syme

The parade begins with classic cars!

All week it has been the annual ‘Civic Week’ here in Girvan and normally I make an effort to go along to events and take my three little ones with me. Support the community and all that, rattle the tin and spend some money. But this year due to a combination of work and weather I actually missed all but two of the events that went on. You can learn more about the whole week online but the two main events for me are the Parade and Gig on the Green.

Grim but sounding good!

I am currently fiddling with a new USEME series title so that took up my attention as did the incessant rain that has doused South Ayrshire for the past while (yes I despair, I live in the wettest place there is!) but I got a snap of the start of the Parade which you can see above. Attendance was down but then it was a rainy, windy and dark day more suited to February than June but people soldiered on. I then went along to Stair Park where a live performance stage was set up among a few fairground rides and stalls. I felt sorry for all concerned as the wind pulled at them and distorted the live music being played. I stood a while and listened and even went back later but it was a sad occasion compared to previous years where sunshine and picnics for hours were the normal faire.

Better luck next summer Girvan!

GBS

Iain (M) Banks dies aged 59

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Gavin Syme

A Great picture of Banks…nicked from Neil Gaiman’s blog!

I only learned of this sad news this morning after a rather dramatic Sunday which saw me having to rush my darling wife to Ayr Hospital’s emergency room after she fell and hit her head. A mild concussion was the result and she is fine now but it did give me rather a bad fright. Headlining newspapers here in Scotland today the news that renowned science fiction and other genre author Iain (M) Banks has died at only 59 from cancer of the gall bladder.

This is sad news indeed as it was partially this author and his book Use of Weapons which encouraged a teenage me to aspire to writing fiction in the first place. Also fifty nine is just too young in this day and age to die I lament all of the lost stories his great mind will now never produce. I also took great pride in my shared Scottish identity with this author as there are not many writers of Iain Bank’s standing in Scotland these days and I had and do hope to emulate him through my own titles. I do not have his flair for gothic humour but I we share other traits.

If you have not heard of this author’s work then I do suggest you have a look around (the given link will show you all his work) and try him out. His novels about ‘the Culture’ especially.

Rest in Peace Iain.

GBS

Long time no Blog, Long time no Break

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Gavin Syme

The Thinker ran the fastest that day!

Its been two weeks since I last made a post on this site. Have I been away, been abroad, been missing in action? No. Not really. I was here all the while but I was trying out a ‘working break’ that is an effort to cut my workload down while still being at work. How to do this you ask…well its not complex.

Essentially I wanted time to spend with my children and my wife as the weather here in Scotland finally and I do mean finally began to heat up and it meant time down the beach in Girvan and trips out and about. I work long hours and answer many hundreds of emails a week along with organising several projects and a dozen other tasks a day. On top of the wargaming company workload I have this website and a blog and the Notables Yahoo Group too along with other online profiles to update and interact with. To have a ‘working break’ I organised two weeks where I continued to do the office work but not the additional tasks such as this website. Call it working to rule instead of working on rules if you like.

In the last two weeks I have attended two large outdoor events, the Mauchline Holy Fair and the Girvan Lowland Gathering. I have had guests to stay, helped a long term and dear friend and her friend move house, written about ten thousand words of fiction, read four novels, watched half a dozen anime movies and listened to several new and older albums. I have spent quality time with the greatest lady in the world (my wife!) where she reminded me why she is still my number one after sixteen years together and I had the pleasure of learning that my middle son came third in his sports day at school and my eldest son came first at his (hence the image above).

What has been most interesting though is the concern from several wargamers and others for me. Why have I been so quiet, am I all right and so on. Let me say I am fine and what I have been working on will be happening later this summer. Thank you for your concern one and all!

Lastly I have decided that I can no longer keep up efforts to maintain my tabletop wargamer blog. So instead of putting it on hiatus I am going to end it totally. This will be in another post shortly.

GBS

Girvan Folk Festival 2013

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Gavin Syme

It was the annual Girvan Folk Festival at the weekend and by all accounts a good time was had all around. While I did not attend any of the two dozen or so events I do live in the very heart of the town of Girvan and this meant I was within earshot of most of the pubs and hotels which hosted the groups and bands playing their music and teaching others the skills of folk. This was the thirty ninth festival, tinged with a hint of sadness as the instigator of the festivals Bobby Robb died last year.

While it is no secret that Girvan has suffered in the current recession I was proud of the way that the town managed to bring in a couple of thousand visitors over a weekend and take good care of them. This despite the diminishing in facilities in the town (don’t get me started on politics!) and weather that was thankfully mild but dull and rainy. Listening to the music gave me free entertainment and some joy too. It is always good to hear people having fun (my neighbours got married at the weekend too) and while I got little sleep on Saturday night I lay awake with a smile on my face while the guitars played away the wee hours.

I have heard a rumour that some people complained about the charge for a weekend in secure parking and camping in the town. This charge being to turn away those not interested in the festival and for security, including a police presence, to keep families and others safe. I personally think that about 35.00GBP for a family of four for a weekend pitch during an event is perfectly fine but some did not. The security was needed after the activities of some ‘people’ (and I use the term loosely…cretins would be more accurate) last year and some property damage. There was no trouble this year that I am aware of.

If you have an interest in Folk Music check out the website for the festival and even if you don’t do it anyway as it is worth five minutes to see all the pictures.

Perhaps my schedule will allow me to attend some of the gigs next year for the big fortieth festival in 2014.

Well done Girvan!

GBS

Citizen Keen

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Gavin Syme

My eldest son got another ‘senior student’ badge today from his school. Those who follow this blog might remember he also got this badge back in September last year. Getting it twice in a year seems to be something of an achievement. The badge has no meaning in terms of school work in class its a citizenship type award instead; being given instead for aiding others in school life. I will not go into details but the lad often assists other pupils who have medical or social needs beyond the norm and it goes with his caring and responsible nature. As normal he will accept no praise so a five pound note left in his pocket this evening will do the work for me.

Tonight is also the bi-annual parents evening at the school, so perhaps he will score big twice this week. Or even three times since the ‘star awards’ are middle of this week and he may make the grade there too.

Well done son!

GBS

Gavin Syme

The online residence of wargame creator and writer Gavin Syme

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