h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Once again it’s been about two weeks since I wrote anything so I have a bit of catching up to do, but not all that much has been happening really so I’ll try and keep things short.

I’ve been spending most of my spare time trying to get myself ready to move out of my house by the end of December. Our landlady wants her house back and I’m running out of money so I have to move back in with my parents while I get on with writing my thesis. I hadn’t realised until I started trying to pack things away just how much crap I actually own and how much has to be moved, sold or simply just thrown away. It’s all a little depressing really because it’s finally dawning on me that I’m leaving Bath very soon. I love this place and I’m really going to miss it. I remember how I felt going to Stevenage last summer and at least then I knew I would only have to be away for a finite amount of time and would eventually come back.

Last week we had the Chemistry Department Christmas Meal, which was quite lovely. Bizarrely I managed to start being hung over at about midnight and felt extremely rough on the walk home, but fortunately I think I slept through the worst of it and woke up feeling fresh and well the next morning.

Yesterday the Organic Section went to a conference in Cardiff. As usual the talks were pretty dull, though I managed to stay awake this year which isn’t always the case. I shouldn’t complain overly though because my girlfriend and I and a couple of the post-doctoral researchers skived off the final talk (we’d already seen the guy speak a few weeks ago) and went ice skating instead. I haven’t been ice skating in more than ten years (and I wasn’t especially good at it back then) but I really enjoyed slipping and skidding around the ice for an hour, no chemistry lecture could possibly have been so much fun.

We made it back in time for a few drinks at the wine (and beer) reception after the conference and most of us swiped a bottle or two for the journey back to Bath. We were just getting warmed up when we got back to Bath so we had a swift pint in a pub in town, then my girlfriend and I went and had dinner at Nando’s (one of a chain of South African/Portuguese peri-peri chicken restaurants).

After dinner we wandered into the cinema (which is just next door to Nando’s) and saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the film. After the depth and majesty of Lord of the Rings over the last few years I found it somewhat lacking in substance, though this isn’t entirely down to the filmmakers; having re-read Narnia again as an adult it struck me as actually being pretty thin on plot and background. I suppose you could argue that the simple plot means that the film moves at a reasonable pace and you are unlikely to get bored, but aside from the plot I found the main characters (the four children that is) extremely annoying. Lucy seemed to have an awestruck look of childish wonder permanently painted on her face and Peter managed to achieve previously unassailed heights of sanctimoniousness. The Witch, on the other hand, was actually pretty cool and I wanted her to win.

I wonder if we’ve come to expect more substance and “realism” from children’s literature these days (since J.K. Rowling gave us Harry Potter that is)? Not that there’s anything wrong with C.S. Lewis’s books, it just they look a bit lightweight next to more recent children’s books. But then again is that such a bad thing? Do kids really need all the detail and depth that seems to be in their books these days? Or is that just there for the benefit of the adults who read them as well?

Anyway, I’m going to be really busy over the next few days so I don’t suppose I’ll get chance to write again before I head back to Birmingham. Hopefully I’ll have time to make an entry or two over Christmas and I’ll be back in the New-Year with my annual summary. But just in case I’d better say Merry Christmas and a Happy New-Year to everyone. Hope you all have a good one and Santa brings you what you want.