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I used to take photos of all sorts of things. Since coming to Aber, I mostly photograph sunsets and starlings. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing though.

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Approaching sunset, the starlings come home to roost in Aberystwyth Pier. Here’s 10 minutes of it – starting from the beginning, where there aren’t really enough birds to see, and finishing when there are too many birds to count. I find them hypnotic. And bizarre. edit: it is worth skipping forward to 5 mins in if you’re not up for the slow and dramatic build. There were quite a lot of people strolling along the prom when I took the video, and at the beginning, some of them seemed a little confused by my setting up the tripod and then standing back.

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I could, like everyone else in the “blogosphere”, do a post about my new year’s resolutions. But instead I’m going to talk about Aberystwyth Town FC, who I went to see this afternoon almost by accident (saw some people with scarves on, followed them to the ground, bought a ticket). The match was Aber Town vs. Haverfordwest County, kick off 2.30. Whilst Aber are in the Welsh Premiership, it did feel a little like non-league football to me. The ground reminded me most of Throstle Nest (home of Farsley Celtic), with portakabins, old fashioned stands, and grassy knolls. I’ve never been to a match whereRead More →

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I was booked on the 3.30 out of Aber yesterday, which was (not entirely coincidentally) the last day of term. Aber gets a train every two hours, and it’s two carriages long (158 seats, a guy at the station was saying). So when I got to the station and found about 500 people waiting, I realised it was going to be a little problematic. A group of earnest young things were singing carols, but most of us were warily eyeing up the competition for the invevitable train-door scrum. Apparently about 20 people had been turned away from the 1.30 train because it was full, andRead More →

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Last weekend I went to Gregynog Hall (the University of Wales conference centre) to help out with a weekend of activities to support 2nd year students getting ready to take a year in industry. I’ve not had much experience of this kind of event before – they didn’t do anything like it in Leeds – and it seemed to me to be an excellent idea. CV workshops, teamworking, Belbin workshops, mock interviews, talks about working in industry (from actual people from actual industry)… a dose of “real-world-corporate-IT” for those who may have only experienced academic life. It certainly wasn’t easy on the students. But thenRead More →

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“Tell me, I hear they have cappuccino in Aberystwyth now. Is it true?” “Yes,” I said. “It’s true.” The man smiled and gave a slight shake of his head. “My, my. And an escalator? I hear there is an escalator there now?” “No, I don’t think so. I think the nearest one is still in Shrewsbury.” Malcolm Pryce, “Don’t cry for me Aberystwyth” Whilst the Malcom Pryce books are not 100% true (for example, the town is not run by a gang of mobster druids, and there’s not a strip joint at the end of the pier) they do contain a grain of truth, andRead More →

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I’m moving again, maybe for the last time. I’ve got a new job, starting at the beginning of November, and it’s a proper job (no finish date! my first ever proper job!). I’m going to be a lecturer in computing at the University of Aberystwyth. I’m really looking forward to it, as I love the teaching side, and I’ve wanted to take control of my own research for a few years now. I’ll even get a PhD student – probably sharing supervision with someone else in the first instance – but a PhD student nonetheless. As a lecturer I’ll be able to write my ownRead More →