Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Karen day - IKEA - Bees wings

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As Karen was with us this morning we nipped over to IKEA for cofee and a mooch round. The extended area at the side, for M&S etc., is enormous and must be providing a lot of jobs. I shall keep you informed as things progress.

Continuing the 'bees wings' attempts I still can't quite manage it. Research tells me that -

Dickinson - Wing beat frequency normally increases as size decreases, but as the bee's wing beat covers such a small arc, it flaps approximately 230 times per second, faster than a fruitfly (200 times per second) which is 80 times smaller.[7]

which surely means that at a shutter speed of 3200th of a second I ought to be able to almost catch a wing in motion. But not so. The camera's 'sports pre-set' was no better.

Picture 1 is my best effort and in the enlargement you will see in the lower wing area, some sort of blur. My meta-data says 1/640th at f5.

WoW guidance, or anonymousrob's, is obviously required !!

Picture 2s, of a 't Helen's, of a 'thing-ie' high up on Papplewick Church's tower. Taken during last week's WoW when Brian lent her a long lens which she loved having a go with.

And an effective 'go' too.

Donning my Art Historian's hat I would say the work looks saxon 0r medieval mock-saxon. Not being an expert on either the period, or church stone art-work, doesn't really equip me. But a powerful image and there is much to be decoded.

Maybe Bungus can help ?

Picture 3, courtesy of Rob, is Leonardo's inscription on the rear of the photograph of him published yesterday. We haven't yet mastered double-sided blogs !

And thanks Rob for putting us right about the picture not being from the 'talent night'. We readers of the Cuba saga like to have things right.

And we accept your cunning bobbing & weaving over the 'black over Bill's mothers sky' even if grudgingly. You are quite right that the rules didn't specify a distant sky and your standing in Bill's mothers Garden is imaginative to say the least. Good sky anyway.

Picture 4 is today's Telegraph Crossword. Completed. It must have been an easy day. The new setter-team have fresh ways of signalling anagrams but we are up to their tricks by now I think.

I've sorted out Virgin media and succeeded in getting our package reduced from £70 month plus to £41.99 with 'talk unlimited and hopefully no surprise bill for 'calls'. People on WUforums have always said that if you ring up Virgin (like NTL before) make a fuss about whatever, they will reduced your bill by a tenner at least.

One just needs a wary eye open, against the bill creeping up agian.

So I've decided to keep my Virgin broadband and also my dongle and be able to access the internet wherever I happen to be.

Comments..... Jill .....Glad you are finally sorted with your bonescan and managed, eventually, to get to the correct hospital. It seems almost an NHS hobby to mislead wherever possible. And fancy no-one being able to advise a public transport method of getting there.

Glad that you too enjoyed Kate's pollution lecture. As ever - "Y and I love a good lecture with pictures" - and that was exactly what it was. I intended to post a link to it but it was yesterday's and hasn't yet been filed in the archive.

And please welcome 'gullible grandad" ..... I really fell for it. See note to Bungus.

Bungus ..... You really succeeded with 'gullible'. No wonder I was never on CID ! The sports desk will no doubt report it as Bungus 1 - Radiogandy 0. We were always taught 'Not to mock the afflicted'. But we will let you off this time.

Sorry to have mislead you about David's bullfinch/air-rifle recollection. It was in an e-mail and not a blog-comment.

Both of your Observer Xword clues defeat me. Maybe Y or Jill will fare better.

It is obvious that we don't know the true facts in the Tanker drivers' dispute. I saw the TUC chap briefly on the telly and he seems a genuine sort of chap.

anonymousrob ..... As you will see above I have decided to indulge myself with my dongle.

The La Tasca meal sounds splendid but it would be too much, quantity-wise, for me nowadays.

Dennis does sound remarkably good for 65. Are you sure he isn't on the Grecian 2000 or whatever the 2008 equivalent is? Not that it matters anway. I hope I haven't missed your joint exhibition?

...................................

I've spoken to Reg and WoW is on for tomrrow. Venue not yet decided. Neither Helen nor Roy is available and we are not sure about Brian.

Quotation time ...... I love P. J. O'Rourke's prose. Almost like Auberon Waugh he can make me laugh in mid-paragraph. This appeals :-

"There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause"

P. J. O'Rourke

Definitely in our - 'good to spend an hour in a pub with' - category.




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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry: I preferred yesterday’s bee picture.

Afraid I cannot help with the high up ‘thingy’ although I like it and it reminds me of something else. The spade handle and large adjustable spanner look very modern.
I recall you puzzling over a date carved in the stonework of a Norfolk church. My view is that, whatever the date said, it could have been carved only a few months or years ago.

Leonardo's English lends an extra welcome dimension.

Dan has always made a point of diputing NTL/Virgin charges and I believe he even got a year free by threatening to cut their cable.
Unlike me, he has also been capable of walking into a posh shop, some 10 years or more ago, and haggling 30% off the price of a sweater.
Apparently current advice is to haggle over everything and expect to get at least 20% off or something added foc. And not to buy if it isn’t forthcoming – just say you will go elsewhere. Although I could do it in Tripoli, I find it difficult here. It seems culturally incorrect.

I was not 'mocking the afflicted'. If I thought you were a simpleton I would not have been so cruel.

I understand the tanker drivers have come to a settlement. Good.

Hardly pithy but I like the P. J. O'Rourke's quote.

Pleased to report that I now have the new telly up and running.
I e-mailed Dan who suggested unplugging and replugging. It worked!
And I was able to switch between France v Italy (BBC 1) and Holland v Romania (BBC 3).

Good Culture Show tonight.
If you Google it there is a good video of a jazz quintet, with Beth Rowley on vocals and harmonica, playing at the grand reopening of the splendid rejuvenated 1930’s Midland Hotel at Morecambe.
There was also Vic Reeves at an impressive arts festival at Folkstone which is also bravely trying to restablish itself as a resort.

Jill:

Pleased you hospital visit was so acceptable after your initial navigational mistake.
Your scan sounds pretty thorough but what about the neck?

Rob:

Your defence is no sounder than France’s. The purpose of ‘black over Bill's mother's’ is to serve as notice of impending bad weather. Nobody needs to be told it is likely to rain when they are already getting soaked.

A pity Alan Brazil was British. No doubt it stopped him realising his full potential.
On tonight’s performance, and their others, I think the French reserve goalie’s name sounds appropriate. And Frances would have been more effective than Anelka.

No one aged 65 should look old but your comment about the portrait makes me wonder if Dennis dies his hair – could it be ‘Gray’

Anonymous said...

According to www.nottshistory.org.uk Helen's image from Papplewick church is of St James:
There are two remarkable stones set in the porch; one is immediately over the doorway, & the other which was set high up on the inner side of the archway has been placed immediately above it. The former is of late Saxon or early Norman date, representing St. James, with his emblem, a pilgrim's staff in one hand. In the other hand appear to be either early forms of keys, or it may represent a fuller's club. If the latter then it refers to St. James the Less, and the church may have been dedicated to the two St. James. Here again can be speculation only, since in some of the wills in the York Registry the church is spoken of as dedicated to St. Helen.

Bungus, if I was 20 years younger and still passionate about winning camera club competitions I would argue with you over the black over Bill's mother's picture. I would base my argument on:
(i) it should be photographers, not judges, who interpret the rules
(ii) the competition organisers should be specific if they want the entries to depict a particular interpretation, and
(iii) we can all learn and grow by challenging conventional wisdom.
However, does my face look bovvered?

I, too, prefer Monday's bee picture to yesterday's. I'm at a loss to explain why the wings are not sharp when the shutter speed is faster than the beat of the wings. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that the wings also move in an arc and not just up and down? My money will be on Reg supplying the answer.

I'm not sure whether you have missed Denis's and my joint exhibition. When and where was it on? I would like to see it as well. Maybe you mean the Slab Square exhibtion which was only on show during March?

Cuba again: the country has only one motorway which runs east-west unless you're going in the other direction in which case it runs west-east. It has very little traffic on it and even fewer sign posts. We went on a bus trip and on the way back the driver made a sudden right turn off the motorway. Our puzzlement for this manoeuvre ceased when we realised we were on the way back to our resort. There was no sign post on the motorway to indicate where we were. At the side of the motorway big metal spike-type things were positioned every kilometre or so. They looked like giant agricultural implements for harrowing fields. However, the guide explained they were there to be dragged on to the motorway in the event of an American invasion. They would prevent to road being used as a runway.

Oops, it's time to go home.

Rob

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I can't think of a reason the wings are not sharp as G says I would have though that 1/3200 of a second would have stopped the wings at 230 beats /sec. I am confused however as G says his metadata gives 1/640 , but even this is faster than 230 cycles/sec. It must have something to do with the arc of movment if this is say 90 degrees the wing goes up and down in that 1/230 sec. therefore a 90 degree arc in one direction takes 1/460th sec.It stops at the top and bottom of its stroke so at the mid point it must be travelling extremley fast. Perhaps you need to use a flash gun, electronic of course the actual flash being much faster than the shutter speed. There wiil be a formula to calculate the speed if all the info. is known but I can't remember it and I am not going to search the loft for my applied mechanics text books
Can I/We be the first on the blog to offer our congratulation to Rob and Eline on the forth coming Wedding. Mo and I wish you all the very best. (I assume that any photographs of the event will be in monocrome, taken with a pinhole camera and processed by the cyanotype method)
This must be the first Camera Club wedding since Andy Wilson sneaked off to the Bahama's. (to avoid paying for a round [I hope he's not reading this])
Mo's arm is still causing her a lot of discomfort. We are now down to four weeks from the proposed removal of the scaffolding. Presumably the discomfort will get less as time passes and the break heals.

Anonymous said...

Rob:
St James , hey? or St Iago if you are in Cuba, I suppose.
And how lucky are they to have a dual purpose motorway, ie, one that runs in both directions.

Interpretation of the rules is one thing; misinterpretation another. That applies even if you were not told the rules to start with.

In case you are wondering I had carelessly transposed a Portuguese goalkeeper to the French squad. Mea culpa; I feel like a (slightly mispronouinced) Russian inside right.
The Russians were quite impressive tonight (unless the Swedes were just off the boil).


Reg:
What a bee problem. I have no wish to get involved.

I once put my thumb in a circular saw (cutting a paint rag) and ended up with a mini version of Mo's scaffold, so I have some idea of the nuisance. I had to learn to write and draw left handed.
I am reminded of the man in the grocery shop and the bacon slicer.

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