Geek Alert! Geek Alert!
After playing "hunt the book" in several London bookshops, I gave in an ordered 'Boswell's London Journal' from the Amazon Marketplace - should arrive at the end of the week. Jeez, you'd have thought that at least one London bookshop would have a copy but noooooo... Anyway, whilst buying that I gave in an ordered a copy of L.T.C Rolt's 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' (Brunel is just after Nelson in my "Top Five Favourite Historical People" list...) and Roy Porter's 'Madmen'. Considering how big my pile of 'READ! NOW' is, it's probably a stupid thing but... I have a boring job!
I am in such a geeky mood...
Yesterday me and spacefall to the National Portrait Gallery (first time for me, considering I've in London for three years and walk past it every day to work it's quite a shocking confession *grin*) and there is a nice pic of Brunel up there (and of Boyle but don't worry I'm not going to start random experiments based on Boyle's Law... for those who are curious he's the dude who said that if the pressure on a gas increases, volume of gas decreases... [ P x V = K] - very useful for divers)... anyway, I was thinking back to the "100 Greatest Britons" thing that was on few years back. Churchill came top, but I think Brunel should have done (he came second) and no, this is not the transport geek speaking... *grin*.
I don't know why but for the last few days the subject of the development of the roads, railways and canals in the UK has been sitting at the front of my mind. There should be more love for Telford, McAdam, Metcalfe, Wade (road engineers)! Without Telford & McAdam's road techniques we wouldn't have Tarmac! (Actually if it hadn't been for McAdam, Telford wouldn't have had anything to improve...) Good ol' blind John Metcalfe using heather to support his roads over marshland... well you get the idea *grin*. Wade is slightly less interesting, he was a general who had to march his army up through Scotland and he realised that it would take too long to go over the hills so he had his men build roads and tunnels as they went...
I wonder if there is more McAdam & Telford love in Scotland (they were both Scots).
For those who are bored interested (in order of development from first to last...)
General Wade (trivia, for those who know the National Anthem [UK] he's mentioned in verse 6 *grin*)
John Metcalfe (aka Blind Jack of Knaresborough)
John Loudon McAdam
Thomas Telford
Boy it must have been an interesting lesson *grin*
In happy news... Hunting on eMule I found episodes from series 3 of OZ! YAY! Now I can find out how Augustus' escape attempt went...
Tried to take a photograph of the strange thing I found on the floor of the pub yesterday. It's sort of a seal thing, and looks a little masonic. It doesn't photograph well, but I'll keep trying.
Oh! Yesterday spacefall asked me what type of woman would marry Mycroft - well, I quite the idea of him being obsessed with steam trains (it somehow fits) and Florence Brunel was born in 1847 (same year as Mycroft), so he could have married her just for the geeky-transport reason and she was probably more taken with his just-as-geeky little brother but married Mycroft all the same... Saying that I don't think I have any grounds for linking them, apart from in my odd imagination *grin*
(All this I was thinking whilst trying to do lemon!Mycroft & onion!Lestrade love...)
I think my Russian Holmes icon (made by radak) is perfect for this post... Russian!Holmes is such a geek.
- Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- Susan Travers (okay she's note quite historical but she played a small but interesting role in WWII) / Jack the Ripper (don't look at me like that!)
- Queen Victoria
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (not just for his writing!)
I am in such a geeky mood...
Yesterday me and spacefall to the National Portrait Gallery (first time for me, considering I've in London for three years and walk past it every day to work it's quite a shocking confession *grin*) and there is a nice pic of Brunel up there (and of Boyle but don't worry I'm not going to start random experiments based on Boyle's Law... for those who are curious he's the dude who said that if the pressure on a gas increases, volume of gas decreases... [ P x V = K] - very useful for divers)... anyway, I was thinking back to the "100 Greatest Britons" thing that was on few years back. Churchill came top, but I think Brunel should have done (he came second) and no, this is not the transport geek speaking... *grin*.
I don't know why but for the last few days the subject of the development of the roads, railways and canals in the UK has been sitting at the front of my mind. There should be more love for Telford, McAdam, Metcalfe, Wade (road engineers)! Without Telford & McAdam's road techniques we wouldn't have Tarmac! (Actually if it hadn't been for McAdam, Telford wouldn't have had anything to improve...) Good ol' blind John Metcalfe using heather to support his roads over marshland... well you get the idea *grin*. Wade is slightly less interesting, he was a general who had to march his army up through Scotland and he realised that it would take too long to go over the hills so he had his men build roads and tunnels as they went...
I wonder if there is more McAdam & Telford love in Scotland (they were both Scots).
For those who are bored interested (in order of development from first to last...)
General Wade (trivia, for those who know the National Anthem [UK] he's mentioned in verse 6 *grin*)
John Metcalfe (aka Blind Jack of Knaresborough)
John Loudon McAdam
Thomas Telford
Boy it must have been an interesting lesson *grin*
In happy news... Hunting on eMule I found episodes from series 3 of OZ! YAY! Now I can find out how Augustus' escape attempt went...
Tried to take a photograph of the strange thing I found on the floor of the pub yesterday. It's sort of a seal thing, and looks a little masonic. It doesn't photograph well, but I'll keep trying.
Oh! Yesterday spacefall asked me what type of woman would marry Mycroft - well, I quite the idea of him being obsessed with steam trains (it somehow fits) and Florence Brunel was born in 1847 (same year as Mycroft), so he could have married her just for the geeky-transport reason and she was probably more taken with his just-as-geeky little brother but married Mycroft all the same... Saying that I don't think I have any grounds for linking them, apart from in my odd imagination *grin*
(All this I was thinking whilst trying to do lemon!Mycroft & onion!Lestrade love...)
I think my Russian Holmes icon (made by radak) is perfect for this post... Russian!Holmes is such a geek.