Bits’n'bobs
Another birthday gone by last week, but that’s ok, because Cindy and I decided to start going backwards after 45, so now I’m down to 42! Cindy hid a card in my bike bag to discover at work, and put up streamers and “Happy Birthday” sign to surprise me when I got home, then Cindy and Max took me out to dinner, and gave me a couple fun gifts - perfect!
I’ve started putting photos on my Flickr site - just a few now, but more coming soon.
I got a chance to go out on the company boat to do some testing last week - photos here. It was neat to see boats stacked up at Orams Marine. And we also got to see the awesome Earthrace boat as well.
Sarah writes about an upcoming game called Spore from the people who came up with the Sim games - the video demo here shows how cool it is, basically “Sim Everything”, allowing you to build creatures, towns, worlds, even travel to other worlds. I guess I know what will be on hers and Maxs Christmas lists next year!
Our favorite cute New Zealand commercial can be seen here. Let me know if you like it!
We are of course fans of Lord of the Rings. I’ve had a poster since high school with a favorite poem, which isn’t part of the books. I recently thought to look it up, and thought I’d share it with you:
Bilbo’s Last Song (At the Grey Havens)
Day is ended, dim my eyes,
But journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship’s beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the sea.
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that i shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.
Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I’ll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the star above my mast!