Wulf's Web-den

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Thursday 17 May 2012
by wulf
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Victory is Mine!

Since my last post on this subject at the end of April, I have played a couple more online games. This time Magnus and I have been joined by Phil, giving a chance to try out the three person game together.  While the game works quite well with two players, adding a third definitely lifts it up a level by multiplying the number of threats and opportunities.

I lost the first game, which was very close fought but won the second with about a 40 point lead over both my opponents. I got a good start with Bivouacking Pixies (lots of pieces, a strong defensive bonus to make up for the Pixies normal weakness and plenty of them left unmolested on the board in their declining years) and then followed up with Forest Barbarians, who survived as a strong force until the end of the game.

I am not sure I will get away with another win of such convincing proportions. Such a victory immediately paints a target sign on you and I suspect Phil and Magnus will also pay closer attention to anyone who seems to be getting ten or more points at the end of each go! Still, I will enjoy the feeling for now.

Wednesday 16 May 2012
by wulf
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Back to the Future

With expert help from one of my colleagues, last week’s time travel problem seems to have been reversed. The virtualisation safety net proved good although we spent far too long in free fall for my liking. Two items at the top of my agenda are to get my head round what he did and also to ensure that I have other strategies in place rather than relying on a single approach for important data. Still, at least it is a better outlook than it was this time last week; I’m loving this future-now.

Tuesday 15 May 2012
by wulf
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Blooming Today

Putting up with plenty of short, sharp showers between the sun, our Choisya ternata is my entry for this months Folia Bloom Day.

A Choisya bush in bloom

Choisya ternata

We almost got rid of it as I am not particularly keen on the colour of the foliage but it flowered in time to persuade me to keep it and I have become a little more fond of it over the past couple of years. It will get a trim once the flowers have gone though, back to fresh, darker green leaves.

Monday 14 May 2012
by wulf
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By Popular Demand

I was leading worship for the evening service at St Clement’s last night and, since I had managed to assemble a small team (guitar and an additional vocalist — thanks guys!), I decided to take the double bass down. It worked very well in the setting and with the combination of songs chosen and, at the end of the service, one of the congregation said she would be happy for me to bring it again.

There does seem to be a certain cachet to the instrument. Whether it is the rich tone of an acoustic bass, the fact that it doesn’t seem quite so rocky or just that people feel a level of sympathy for someone who has to cart such a monstrously oversized fiddle about, it does seem to elicit a good response. All the more reason to keep on practising so that I can use it when suitable without worrying about details such as timing and intonation letting me down!

Sunday 13 May 2012
by wulf
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Dodgeball

I was down wid da youth last night playing dodgeball down at the St Clement’s Mish. It’s a shame the game wasn’t “blunder into balls flying in your direction” as I might have done a little better on the scoring side but it was fun nonetheless and I am delighted to find I can still walk this morning! I definitely got my cardiovascular workout for the day.

Saturday 12 May 2012
by wulf
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Still a Drought Zone

We have enjoyed a couple of fairly sunny days without rain which, given recent weather patterns, is unusual enough to comment on. However, despite the wettest April on record, Oxford is one of the areas of the UK which remains in a drought zone. Still, the supplies in the water butts are good for the time being as we keep the plants in the polytunnel (which haven’t been enjoying regular natural soakings) hydrated and, with this pleasant warmth, plant growth is coming on apace across the garden.

Thursday 10 May 2012
by wulf
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Time Travel, Unplanned

One of my virtual servers had a little hiccup yesterday and although I have been able to get it working again, I am not getting the latest version but one from February. Time travel would be neat if I could manage to skip back before making the fateful button presses (I’m using VirtualBox as my host and I think the problem stemmed from trying to start two virtual machines in quick succession) but, as it is, I’ll be using some time next week to dig out and restore the rest from other backups.