Tag Archives: Life

The Fall of King Herod

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The Thinker injured in the Festive Wars!

Its been a big and accident prone day for the Syme family for you see…today was my middle son’s Christmas play at school and he had been cast in a leading speaking role as Herod…but…he had a fall.

Girvan Primary is a great school and my feelings in this were reinforced again today by this accident.  It was totally my son’s fault, in putting on his golden costume he tripped and banged his head.  He is fine but a scalp injury was the result and those as you will know bleed profusely.   Myself and my good lady were already in the school and about to take our places in the audience when we were called to him.  The staff had made him comfortable and were fussing over him and as the picture shows he had a bandage on his head.   I was rapidly told of the incident and what had taken place with a high level of professionalism.  I drove the lad to the Girvan Hospital where he got the best of attention (local hospitals with A&E departments are a wonderful idea!) and was checked over without any delay.  He wanted to return to the school to tell his class and teacher he was fine so we did.  All of his friends were frankly ecstatic to see him and not less than six different members of staff stopped us and checked on him by name and how he felt.  Girvan Primary is indeed a super school.

So my son missed the play and his chance to shine on the stage at least.  But shine he did.  I was so proud of him stoically sitting while he was examined without a peep and polite to a fault to all the teaching and medical staff he encountered despite the visible pain he was in.  It also made me realise more (as I do not spent any time normally in the school) than ever just how central to his class he actually is.  “There is a lot of potential in his noggin and it would be a shame to dent it further.” I head this a dozen times in an hour.  He even insisted on us cleaning and returning the golden costume to the school!

Tomorrow is my youngest son’s play….perhaps I will get to see this one 🙂

GBS

End of Movember and beginning of December

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Tashe and Tree

This day of the year sees the end of my month of aiding in the Movember charity movement to find a cure for Prostrate and Testicular Cancer both here in the UK and around the world.  As you can see from the photo above I grew a nice hairy and thick moustache over four weeks.  As it was my first time doing Movember (I recommend going to the link and reading up on it) I did not attempt to raise money but instead I donated one hundred pounds to Prostrate Cancer UK on the first day so that if I failed I would not fail those counting on my efforts.

So did I enjoy it?  The short answer is yes.  There are a few fellows in Girvan also doing the charity thing and we exchanged glances and even on two occasions hand shakes of mutual self congratulation.   It is fair to say that facial hair of this kind is now not fashionable in Scotland and that most ladies have a strong feeling on it one way or the other (being called names in the street by strangers or having phone numbers pressed into the palm…nothing in between!).  After the initial week of growth it was quite comfortable but I did need to shave every day to keep it in shape.

Movember is a great idea and my thanks to Jim Brittain and Pete McLean for introducing it to me.  It will do a lot of good for many men.

Will I do it again…yes!  Perhaps next year a full ruddy beard!

GBS

p.s.  It was my idea to tie in the Christmas Tree saying to my Good Lady that it was for ‘continuity’ from one season to the next.  But really I wanted to show this nine foot monster to you all. It took my wife several hours to put it up and I am very proud of her for it.  Not easy…I will not even try!

“When you send back a package from America…”

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Eraser used for maximum security!

Again with the bad pun…this time courtesy of The Proclaimers (click on this and listen while reading this post).  A package for the Syme clan all the way from the dear old USA!

This package contains gifts for all five of us courtesy of my good friend Bob McAlister and his kin in Illinois.  Bob has been a fan and player of Flintloque and Slaughterloo (not to mention trying almost all the ranges and games that I am involved with…what a guy!) for many years but there is a tale to be told.  Bob and his family were due to come to Scotland and stay with me for a few days while here on holiday at the start of this month but sadly due to the massive storm that hit the east coast their plans were scrapped.  So the package was dispatched instead.  I have a package to send back but it awaits the tender mercies of Eve Hallow first.

Pressure is already building to open the package but I shall not cave in until the weekend, build up some excitement first.  Plus it is the Girvan Street Party on Friday evening so the terrific three will be tired and ready for indoor fun by Saturday.  Anything in there that involves me will of course be blogged about…Bob promised me something wargaming related…ohhhhh.

Thank you McAlisters from all here in the Syme household!

GBS

Rain Stops Play – November 2012

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Well no work at the office for me today.  Having started off on my normal journey the weather during the night, high wind and heavy rain,  became more apparent with fallen branches and debris and puddles on the road.  But I was not prepared for what came next.  Up in the hills outside Girvan the puddles got deeper and larger and then…well it stopped being funny.  The river that runs near the road had burst its banks and I was forced to turn back!

As you can see in the images (sorry no picture of the blocked bridge that actually stopped me as I had to turn about for the big truck and other cars to turn about too) the sheer volume of water was huge.  I hope to return to work upon the morrow.  Bad weather is nothing new for Ayrshire and we do get way more than our share of rain but this was rather more than normal even for the winter.  Especially since it only began at 8pm last night.

Anyhow.  I shall work on at home but it does mean that the two dozen or so of you who are waiting for emails and calls from the ‘official email and phone’ will have to wait…since I cannot get to them!  Sorry!

Rain Stops Play

GBS

Girvan Festival of Light and Fireworks 2012

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The Fantastic Four!

On Saturday evening the annual Festival of Light was held in Girvan.  I had been building up to this as a big part of the festival is the procession of hundreds of children from one end of Girvan to the beach front and the sea; each child has a self made lantern.  In special after lessons classes in school or at workshops held in the town these wood and thick paper lanterns, each with a candle within to light it up, are assembled and then sent home for the big night.  My eldest ‘The Thinker’ had made a lantern, as he has done since he began school, while my middle and youngest had not.  So after dinner we set out wrapped up to the nines against the cold for a couple of hours of unique fun and community spirit.

The Procession of Light moves out!

Girvan is not a big town but it still amazes me how many children it contains.  As the crowd began to build I lost count at maybe four hundred youngsters plus the same again or more of adults.  There must have been easily a couple of hundred lit lanterns which on top of the ones created by the kids had a dozen or so much larger lanterns in the shape of birds, windmills and other structures.  The weather was kind, dry, no wind and not really even that cold (I remember 2009 when the ice formed on my coat as I stood watching!).  It took about half an hour to assemble the ‘battalion’ to marching orders and to get us under way to the sound of a drum based band.  The procession made good time through the town and to the beach front where a large crowd was waiting for the next part of the evening…the fireworks!

Fire and Light!

It was not easy to get images at the time of the fireworks as not only was it pitch black but the whizz pops and bangs are hard to capture.  The picture above  is fairly good taken by my darling wife.  It shows the fireworks exploding over the water plus the display on the beach.  Each year a series of wooden structures are built on the sand and then to music and video display are set alight.  It is a great show and lasts for about fifteen minutes.  My children loved it and cheered and wooped as the fires raged and drums hammered all to the staccato cracks and booms of coloured lights in the sky.

All in all it was a fine way to spend a couple of hours and in an age of austerity it was excellent to see the town put on a show that is all paid for by the people themselves by donation.  Here is to next year…if you are near, then come on by!

GBS

Ammo-Pak Gift from Canada!

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I can’t shoot ’em, I ate all ma ammo!

A few weeks ago (yes, that is how far behind I am running on posts!) my very good friend of long standing, Edward Jackson, artist for Flintloque sent me a gift which he had picked up for me in Canada while he was there.  Now Edward is a very smart and fine fellow and not for him the typical t-shirt or baseball cap…oh no.  This was going to be something different and themed to what he knows I love…cartridge and shotte!

A pack of Sutler Cyrus’ Original War of 1812 Bicentennial Ammo-Pak Cartridge Candy.  As you can see from the above image it has several items in it.  Hard Candy Musket Balls which look like gobstoppers, Black Powder Candy which might well be crackly or such and lastly the cartridge itself which is a fruit flavoured cylinder of powder.  Yum!  As I have a head cold just now I will not be eating it for a while, as what would be the point if I could not taste it.  Lastly a little nodding head Moose which is not part of the pack but is great fun and will join my shelf of holiday gift permanence which already has American, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Indian and a few other nation’s trinkets in its ranks.

Thank you for the gift Edward!

GBS

Now on Gravatar

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Since I began using WordPress it has occurred to me on occasion that some peoples comments on my posts have a little picture next to their name while the majority, including my own, do not.  As it was not a priority I just left it alone but a couple of days ago while speaking to my best buddy Jim Brittain I mentioned it and he, being a master of all things tech, explained to me about Gravatar.  Gravatar is free and very easy to use.  Just create an account with your email address, choose an image you like, give it five minutes and the job is done.

So I now have an image next to my comments on the blog and wherever else I post too.  My chosen picture is one that Sam Croes did for me for use in the Ion Age setting or for my own use…a Nox Trooper of the Shia Khan Empire.

GBS

 

GBS is not AWOL

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I am still here people!  Yes, I have not posted or blogged or replied to most of my email for a week until now but really it’s not my fault!  Well…mainly not my fault.  Normal service will resume later today with more on Rob Alderman’s Undead Todoroni and then a few more choice and interesting posts.  The reasons…well long and boring really but I have been working on a few things for the far future along with family matters that have kept me from the keyboard and under the grinding stone.

A couple of the messages have asked me how I manage to do all that I do and stay reasonably normal….answer…not sure…perhaps I ain’t that normal!

GBS

Odeon Cinema – Epic Fail!

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Can't see this properly...you ain't the only one!

Can’t see this properly. Annoying ain’t it.

I had planned on seeing Resident Evil 5 at the Odeon Cinema in Kilmarnock on Saturday late afternoon.  But it was not to be.  After an enjoyable morning in Wigton at the book festival (more on this in a later posting) I drove the sizeable distance from Girvan and bought to tickets.  You might remember from my two previous film reviews at the cinema that it was this venue I travelled to for Total Recall (1st September 2012) and Dredd 3D (9th  September 2012) that there were problems with the showing of each film.  While I mentioned it (and blamed it on Eve Hallow!) for Total Recall where the screen went blank and the sound cut out I did not mention that the first five minutes of Dredd were out of focus leading me to miss the overfly of the city and its environs.  Well this time is was far worse.

My good lady and I sat waiting for the Undead carnage to begin and sure enough the sound started and then..no picture.  Ruddy Nora says me to the lady, three times in a row that is something.  Anyway twenty minutes later the six people trying to fix it gave up and the film was cancelled.  Being the only screen showing the film it was completely cancelled with no further showings.  After then standing in a que I was given a refund and two free tickets to any showing for the next four weeks.  I will not be taking this up personally as work commitments mean no cinny trips for me in October but it does mean that my eldest ‘The Thinker’ can go with his mother to see Paranorman next week.  So some good from it does come.

My point being that I accept technical failure in this day and age but I do have trouble with staff members having no clue as to how their projectors actually work and being unable to do anything about it except stand about slack jawed.  Three failures of varying degree for my personally across a month must mean that Odeon Kilmarnock has a big issue with its staff and or screens.  I hope they work it out before it really comes back to kick them in the ass.

Besides who needs cinema when you have wargaming!

GBS

Happy Birthday my Dearest!

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Edward Jackson’s birthday card to my good lady

Should I compare ye to a rather soggy and windy autumn day?  No I should not.  I should compare you my darling to the greatest of things and the best of me.  Happy Birthday and I hope you had a super time even if you had to put up with me for a whole weekend (see previous posting).  The day showed how adored my kind and loving wife is with so many messages online she took hours to reply to them all and dozens of cards and small gifts as well as those presents from myself and immediate family and close friends.

Eve Hallow’s birthday card to my good lady

While her birthday was only one day (Her Majesty is the only person allowed two birthdays of course) I had purposefully extended the experience to nearly a week with little treats and adventures all the while.  I did what I could and I think it was appreciated.  When the kiddies returned from their weekend away I got the picture below and that sums up the mood better than any words.

A fly kiss for the Poet and the Warrior

Happy Birthday my Dearest!

GBS