Wulf's Web-Den

We enjoyed Prince Caspian, which we went to see last night. In itself, it worked well as a story although Peter and Shelley, who have read the book more recently did note that there had been some substantial changes. Dave's tree was superb although we didn't manage to catch his name in the credits - there were hundreds of people involved in the computer effects and their names all went by too quickly.

I also discovered that Shelley, who blogs about her creative hobbies like scrapbooking, has met someone online who knows me via the Lewisham Bloggers group. She is called Kate (I think) but I don't remember either of the Kates I met being a scrapbooker. Of course, not being a scrapbooker myself it is not surprising I didn't find out but perhaps the mystery will become clear in the future.

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Jane and I are looking forward to a trip to the cinema tonight to see Prince Caspian with Peter and Shelley. In particular, we are looking out for the tree that acts as a doorway for the children to return to England because we had the pleasure of meeting Dave, the animator who created it, and his family when they came to England for him to work on the film.

Kelly and Dave got to see the film as soon as it came out in the States and we are now a few weeks behind the UK release, which started much later anyway, so we have built up plenty of anticipation for that moment, although I am sure the rest of the film will be worth watching too!

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Steely Dan sang "and I'm never going back to my old school"; perhaps I will stick that on the stereo tonight as I head off to an unofficial reunion for some of my fellow pupils from my school days. It struck me that it has been almost 25 years since we first donned our red jumpers and started our time at "The Comp"!

I wonder if it would have been possible without sites like Facebook and Friends Reunited to act as an organising hub? Reunions are a well-established tradition but unofficial ones that expect to draw back a disparate bunch rather than a cluster who have kept up their friendship would have been much harder if not impossible.

I am looking forward to. I have been to a reunion before and it is much easier to talk to people when you are a mature adult with a shared experience and years of intervening life than a spotty teenager for whom those peers make up a good proportion of your world.

If I have one worry, it is that I am going to end up next to someone who I have entirely forgotten. Glancing through the photos some people have been sharing, I have seen plenty of names and faces that haven't triggered floods of recollection. We will have to see how it goes but I am looking forward to it all the same.

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I was surprised that yesterday's post did not count as one for Saturday, since I wrote it after midnight. Don't expect any more today though - Jane and I are doing maintenance at church this morning, off to the Blythe Hill Festival this afternoon (hoping to see Richard doing his morris dancing) and then entertaining this evening. Time to get on with it!

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I had to get two new rear tyres for our little red Daihatsu Cuore this morning. While on holiday last week I noticed that the tyre I had needed to inflate a little before we set off had gone down to the same level again. Closer inspection revealed a small nail embedded in the tread!

I had also noticed that one of the rear tyres had been a little down the previous time I had checked them so decided that this was not something that desperately needed fixing instead of spending a day out walking on Shropshire's Long Mynd. We are committed to gentle driving anyway. However, it was only wise to attend to it on our return. The local tyre place didn't have any in stock on Saturday but they came in yesterday and I went down for the start of play this morning.

What did surprise me was to discover that both of the rear tyres actually had small nails in. It could well have been the other one that was a little down on my earlier check. All fixed now though and the car should be safer for it.

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I'm back to work this morning after a week off - I wonder what I'll find waiting for me? Only one way to find out...

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As I drove to my rehearsal last night (The Elusive Teeth are back in the studio tomorrow so we were preparing for that) I was thinking about an article I read earlier this week on "hypermilers". These are people who have responded to rising fuel costs by treating good mileage like a challenge and investigating just how far they can travel on a tank of fuel.

Strategies include gentle acceleration and braking, switching off the engine when stationary and even switching off the engine and coasting along once up to speed. That last one is arguably risky and illegal in some places (I don't know about the UK but it would certainly cause you to fail your driving test) and I am not sure about the wear and tear on the starter from using it too often. However, driving less aggressively (including not pushing to 70mph when the limits allow and certainly not pushing over that) is an easy strategy.

Actually, it makes driving a more restful experience. It also made me more aware of road users who seem to be in a rush. Driving more aggressively does get you to your destination more quickly (discounting traffic lights, where the tortoise often catches up with the hare). However, if the destination is global environmental disaster and the draining of oil reserves, why are so many people in such a rush?

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