Ride On! part III

For the past few weeks we've had a fair bit of rain and storms (ocasional snow/hail). Not to be deterred by a little moisture, I managed to hit the hills once again during a three-hour break from this dour weather.

This particular ride that I went on (we'll just call it the Water Tower Ride) is about thirteen miles round trip with a vertical gain that tops 1000ft and my fastest time being just over an hour. I started out not really knowing whether I would go the complete distance or not - spring conditioning is a real drag. I ask you to remember the bit about days and days of continuously rainy/snowy weather.

So I get to the top of the climb (about six miles in) and it looks something like a swamp. However, I take a little look around (elevation = 5600 ft, so you can see the entire valley from up there on a clear day) and notice that the tiny break in the clouds seems to be following me up the canyon. This bit of reassurance, fueled by Massive Attack's 'Radiation Ruling the Nation' pumping through my earphones, meant that there was no turning back. (Massive Attack fan note: Had it been 'Backward Sucking', well, my day would have been a lot less muddy)

So I plunged into the mud-madness like a good sport. I made it about another mile in and my chain derailed from all the mud that was packed in my hubs, bottom-bracket, and tires. I managed to 'wash' the vital parts of my bike off in one of the larger puddles on the trail so I could carry on. This is one of the few times that having SPD pedals works to your extreme disadvantage since the old shoes are caked full of mud and won't snap back in without some real work. When I finally made the hair-raising decent (back down the 1000ft, only this time on a bit of single track that is about six inches wide in places and covered with loose rocks and skirts a nice cliff) and came out on the Jordan River Parkway Trail, I looked like a real mud-baby. The total trip time ended up being about three hours of mud-heaven including repairs, picture taking, climatic observation, and general marvelling.

Fortunately, there weren't any wrecks, and it was so thick that I couldn't really get going fast enough to flip it all over my back. Unfortunately, it took me two days to clean my bike and I had to rebuild my front hub and will need to rebuild my bottom-bracket - which I didn't realize until it seized up on me in the middle of another ride a few days later. The things we do for fun...

Hooray! (for something off-screen)

Whatever is behind me is way more interesting. Possibly mommy.















In this side-by-side shot you can tell them apart (Ian: left, Marcus: right). At other times though... not so much.

Smiley Guy in the Chair

Marcus

Ride On! Part II

With the weather warming up, it’s that time of year when Mike heads to the hills to crash his bike. Unfortunately, out of the three rides taken so far this season, he's only managed to crash once [sighs of regret]. We apologize for posting a picture of a hairy leg, but until Heidi starts to log some crashes, you’ll just have to deal. Note the line and symmetry of the perforations that the front sprocket made on his leg. Due to the intervention of a chain-link fence, there was no heavy bleeding and will most likely be no long-term scarring (to the disappointment of the Soul Riders of our youth).

In the clearing stands a boxer...

Here's Ian, ready for any sucka' who is willing to Bring It. [That probably would've been more threatening if he wasn't wearing his 'got milk?' outfit]

It appears that we are raising a couple of aspiring thugs.

Travelling Space and Time

So, the boys are now starting to sleep with their eyes open (a source of much laughter and rejoicing). However, this is not to be confused with just plain 'spacing out', which they do plenty of as well.

Here is a pic of Marcus working on his time travelling abilities. I especially like how he has fashioned his burp cloth to resemble a nun's habit. It might make a good musical, The Time Travelling Man-Nun of Orem.

We all have dreams, even if they happen while our eyes are open.

Another stinking blog

Hey all,
I have recently begun another blog with a friend from my Film program at UEA that is devoted to film, culture, and the arts. That way I can indulge my sickness and you don't necessarily have to wade through it just to see pictures of Heidi and the boys. Of course we'd love to have you visit both sites (and comment), but now there are Options.

The name is Boast. Right now it's still getting sorted, but there you have it.

[Note that the address is iboast, not iboats... for obvious reasons]

Smiley Attentive Guy

Things are going well for us here as the little guys are now sleeping between 5 and 7 hours at night. They also now seem to understand that we are for real and therefore sometimes pay attention to us while we hover above them making all sorts of unnatural noises and faces. This is a shot of Ian.

Ride On!

 

Hands, touching hands - reaching out...

 

Let them have punch

Mommy spiked the punch... mmm, spiked punch.

**Edit- sorry about the rubbish mobile picture

More, a short film by Mark Osborne

Watching Alive in Joburg reminded me of a short stop-motion animation that Josh and I fell in love with a few years ago when we lived at The Place. More is about as brilliant and thought provoking as short films get, so I want all of you to take a moment, snuggle in with some popcorn and your favorite squeeze, and watch this film. It lasts about 6 minutes.
(it might take a minute to load if you have a slow connection, but stick with it anyway)

A related rant (optional):
Unfortunately, More is only available in an Apple Quicktime format. Because I haven't sold my soul for Quicktime Pro, I cannot post the actual video here - a prime example of the type of corporate slickery that Apple seems bent on promoting. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Alive in Joburg, a short film

Here is a pretty sweet short film by Neill Blomkamp that depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa. Brilliant use of subject and narrative elements, CGI, hand-held photography, editing, and what appears to be some very convincing stock footage with matted overlays.

Brutha's Gonna Work it Out

Marcus is already bustin' tha gang signs.
Dag yo!

Spa Time at Chez Smith

What's better than soaking in a warm bath while women sponge you down...? Keep your answers to yourself because we don't want Ian to find out; this is his fantasy moment.

Going Home

This week we were able to bring the little guys home from the NICU. *thunderous sounds of applause* This helps to explain Ian's party attire and accompanying bewilderment. And yes, Mike picked out their 'going home outfits' because chicks dig the hat (thanks Kelsie). Other than the chronic sleep deprivation, things have been going well.

Because the babies are still quite small (6 lbs!) and sickness is so big and bad, the doctor in the NICU advised us to not have any visitors (especially children) for a couple of months and, since Mike has already gone 180 rounds with the season's cold/flu champion, we feel pretty strongly about this. Since they have already had respiratory problems, even a minor cold could make life miserable, and the last thing we want is to have to spend more time back in the NICU. We appreciate all of the concern and support that our family and friends have given us and we'll let you know when the Visiting Hours are open.

Cheers!

'In the Mood for Love' plays Provo

This coming week (Jan 17th - 21st) at the BYU International Cinema (in my opinion, the best thing that Utah Valley has to offer in regards to the arts), Wong Kar-Wai's film, In the Mood for Love (2000), is showing. Despite the fact that you probably already own the brilliant Criterion version, this is an excellent chance to see it on the big screen (and count the number of uncultured BYU students who shake their heads and walk out). If you haven't even seen this film then you need to have your partner give you 50 lashings with a sturdy leather belt, and then go see it.
All shows are free!
-m

Mommy Time!

 
Ian enjoys some Mommy Time after drinking himself into a euphoric state. 

You know you're in Utah when...

Maple syrup. Vermont, maple syrup.
I'm familiar with niche marketing but this seems more like exploitation.

Gettin' a handle on things

Together again at last!

 
Things continue to progress as the little guys are now able to share the same tray. This new arrangement seemed to go over better with Marcus (who was crying at the time) than with Ian (who was sleeping at the time). Nothing like moving in next to a noisy neighbor.
 

Twins' Week in Review

Marcus and Ian are progressing well.  Marcus came out screaming like a champ, followed shortly by Ian who was trying to scream like his brother but was having some trouble.  They were sent to the newborn ICU to help them maintain their blood pressure and recover from a bit of infection that the pros say may have encouraged some of the rough breathing they were having.  They are both now off of all the tubes and wires except the ‘food tube’ which, unfortunately, goes up their little noses and down into their tummies.  The other day Marcus was having some problems digesting the food, so they had to pump the stuff out of his stomach and wait a bit for his system to get going.  All of this is normally expected for babies born around the 36th week.  They are both doing very well now and are gaining weight and learning how to eat.  

Heidi is doing well and each day seems to move just a little bit better.  Mike is also doing well and can’t wait to get the little guys home to indoctrinate them with some Italian Neo-realism and French New Wave cinema.  For now we just read them excerpts from Guns, Germs, and Steel.  What a life.

Ian Bradley

This nose tube is the hip new thing.

Marcus Lee

Bright light, bright light

Mike's medicine

It's definitely worth the $14.99 too!

At the hospital

I love this place!

Names and a Date

We are now officially the proud parents of twin boys! Marcus Lee Smith (formerly known as Twin A) weighing in at 5lbs 8oz and Ian Bradley Smith (formerly known as Twin B) at 4lbs 15oz, born on December 29th. Pictures soon!

--

Mobile Email

holiday cheer

I am stuck in my own personal Hell: standing in a non-moving line at Media Play, listening to Jewel sing Christmas carols. Aaaahh!
-m

--

Mobile Email

'Up' & 'Out'

We lingered a bit on our way to the doctor the other day... Being up and out is more fun than being down. Sshh, don't tell.

Grey Tuesday

Cory Doctorow explains what Grey Tuesday is at Boing Boing.
To make life much easier (for us), I just changed the Blogger Navigation bar at the head of this blog to grey rather than the entire template and background.
You understand.

... No more Heidi jumping on the bed

Apologies for the belated personal events log.  Life here has been, well, life.  Here we go-

So, Heidi is now on ‘bedrest.’  We went to the doctor the other day for a few tests, and it turns out that she was having more contractions than the girl in the next room, who was in Active Labor.  The thing was, she could hardly feel them so this news came as quite a surprise.  Had she continued without medication to slow the contractions down, she would have undoubtedly gone into labor.  This was especially intense, since she isn’t due until January 25th.  Although, the doctor said that anytime after 36 weeks is pretty much ok to deliver (which puts it right about Christmas! We are trying to find a way to be happy about that).  Other than having to stay down, Heidi and the babies are doing well.

Over the past few weeks we’ve decided that death and pregnancy (both of which we have recently been privileged to experience first-hand) are never convenient, so you just have to deal and ride it out.  Although, in my rule book, it’s ok to cuss a little along the way.  Mix in the season’s cold and flu greetings and it’s not only ok, but imperative that you cuss in order to overcome.  It says that somewhere in the Old Testament.  The Good News is that we no longer have to be Mary and Joseph for the Ward Christmas Experience (Party).  Mysterious ways… mysterious ways…

Enjoy a bit of pop art while you're here!

New York Doll

We went and saw New York Doll last week. What a great movie! It filled all of the purposes of a good documentary by being incredibly interesting, moving and entertaining. It focuses on the bass player for the edgy punk band, the New York Dolls, and what happened to him after the band split after being together for only a few years.

For music and music history lovers, this show will be thoroughly enjoyable. For people who have ever dreamed and prayed for reconciliation with lost friends, you have to see this. If you are, or might be, interested in learning about how an unruly rock star finds God in a touching, yet profound, way then you had better go rent this flick. I am pretty sure that it isn’t showing in many theaters (maybe still at discount cinemas) so you will have to get it on DVD. If you (like many people in this valley) think that documentaries can’t be entertaining or hip and cool, then let me tell you that when we saw it, the theater was filled with groups of young college hipsters, middle-aged boring types, as well as a throng of retired temple-workers. You could say that it’s hip for all ages.

You have to watch ALL of the end credits for the final payoff. I would have paid full admission price just to see the end credits bit. It is that cool.

Peace.

Top Ten Films and Directors

I just posted a list of my ten favorite films and directors on The Cinematheque web site and thought I would torture everyone else by posting them here as well. Mind you this is a very reductive and painful exercise, but I am a list-loving geek. I won’t detail the exact criteria that were used to compile this list, other than to say that both quality and entertainment value were considered (understandably, some might argue that they are one in the same). I’ve also limited the films so that each director is only represented once.

Films
1. L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
2. Close-up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
3. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
4. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
5. Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda, 1961)
6. The Bicycle Thief (Vitoro De Sica, 1948)
7. To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
8. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
9. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
10. Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)

Might have made the list on another day of the week:
**Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
**2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
**Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
(I am also conscious of the fact that these are all ‘Talkies’… sue me, there are only ten slots and I used one of them with a musical!)

Directors

1. Akira Kurosawa (Japan)
   
2. Jacques Tati (France)
   
3. Alfred Hitchcock (UK)
   
4. Krzysztof Kieslowski (Poland)
   
5. Orson Welles (USA)
   
6. Zhang Yimou (China)
   
7. Abbas Kiarostami (Iran)
   
8. Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)
   
9. Woody Allen (USA)
   
10. Federico Fellini (Italy)
    

Might have made the list on another day of the week:
**Stanley Kubrick
**Robert Bresson
**Yasujiro Ozu

I am now open for complaints.
-m

Autumn on the Loop

We went for a drive around the Alpine Loop shortly after we moved back to Utah. The colors were really amazing this year because of the cooler summer and above-average rainfall, which has us a bit worried about the upcoming winter. After enjoying the milder English weather this past year, we're not feeling ready for six feet of snow on our front step. Sheesh!

The Unbearable Lightness of Not Buying Records

An old photo of Heidi and me at Randy’s

The other week we made a trip to Randy’s Records in SLC with Angie and Aaron. Despite our excitement and an almost unbearable desire to buy LOADS of records… we left empty-handed. We made a trip to Randy’s and had nothing new to spin when we got home (and nothing to spin on because all of our equipment is still in storage!). As hopeless as this all sounds, we still had a great time (and a good laugh at ourselves for defying the odds); just being in a record shop with a soul gave me great cause to rejoice.
On the other hand…I came across this article the other day and it gave me a feeling of hope; a hope that is threatening to blink out when I read things like Ashlee Simpson held a #1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 last week. The article focuses on the legendary John Peel who is a brilliant reminder that there are people in the world who love music… well, he’s not currently a reminder, because he died last year… hmmm… now I’m depressed.
*blink*

-m

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

I wrote the last post in an attempt to encourage people to support a first-time feature length filmmaker (Joss Whedon), and am now plugging the debut of author, Susanna Clarke. While these works have been critically accepted as being high in quality, it must be remembered that these two mediums are, first and foremost, industries. That is to say, these artists (and possibly the future of quality art/entertainment) rely on people paying money to see the film or read the book. While I don’t imagine that their careers are even remotely in danger of dwindling (Whedon is currently directing the upcoming big screen revision of Wonder Woman and Clarke is helping to produce the film adaptation of her novel), I feel it important to support that which is ‘virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy’.

I managed to pick Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell up at W.H. Smith while waiting for the train in the Norwich station. To put it simply: I loved it. Mind you, I started reading it at the beginning of our trip to Edinburgh, Shropshire and Wales, so it was both rather startling and enjoyable to be reading along about a group of magicians gathering at the York Minster only to look up and see none other than said Minster out of the train window. Although this experience made reading the book that much more enjoyable for me, it obviously isn’t necessary (that would make it a really expensive read if it were). If you love books, history, moral struggles, intrigue, mystery, England, magic, Faeries, humour, tragedy, creepiness, ravens, Scotland, or faux-19th century English literature, then Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is for you. If you don’t like any of these things then I hope you enjoy your boring miserable existence (but you should still buy the book).

Here’s a review (skip the tiresome first five paragraphs of plot synopsis)

Here’s another one (this is NOT meant to be an endorsement for Orson Scott Card; I just happened to like what he said about Serenity and Jonathan Strange). This review is a bit more detailed than I generally like before I read something for the first time, but I think his overall analysis helps to illustrate the relevance and depth of the story. Keep that in mind.

-m

A Call to Arms: Go See 'Serenity'

This is going to be a rather shameless plug for a movie. If any of you people ever thought that Star Wars was even a decent film, I say to you now, Go Watch Serenity. Then I ask you to repent for having wasted money on anything George Lucas has touched in the last 20 years, and then go watch Serenity again. You will NOT be disappointed.

Rather than blowing time and money on current Box Office rubbish like Flightplan, Waiting, and Two for the money, go and see a film that actually has a great story, characters worth caring about and the integrity to withstand compromise between the two.

Click here to read what Orson Scott Card has to say about this film.

Here is another review from Manohla Dargis of The New York Times.

This isn't just Sci-fi geekery; it's just plain good filmmaking.

Catching up...

Here is another ‘pictastic’ post since the last one was kind of more on the wordy and less on the visual side of things. We still seem to be playing catch-up with the picture posting.

While still in Norwich we made some more trips to the castle to climb the battlements and go down in the dungeon. This particular tour costs somewhere around £2.50 and is well worth it. The view from the battlements is incredible! Unfortunately, the sky was kind of grey and so the pictures we took are rather ‘Ho-hum.’ However, if you have an hour to spare (and are in Norwich), check it out – especially if the day is clear.

If you happen to be visiting Blickling Hall it is worth a stop in at St. Andrews Parish Church right next to the front entrance. If you are into it, there are some pretty cool sculptures and carvings, but mind the bat mess – it’s everywhere.

The Big Move

Our move from Norwich to Utah went remarkably well. In fact, I think this was one of the smoothest moves that we have done – not necessarily the least stressful, but with the least number of crises.

There were a few scary moments however; the first being that the coach we were taking from Norwich to London Heathrow never came. By this time of the year Norwich is getting pretty dang chilly at 7:30am and there was a North Sea breeze bearing down on us as we stalwartly waited for a bus that was never going to arrive. Around an hour later (and after being given various excuses as to why we were all still waiting in the cold), the bus station people told us that the bus was broke down and that National Express was sending taxis to carry everyone to the airports (lest anyone mistakenly assume that National Express did this out of good-natured customer service it should be noted that they had to be violently persuaded with around 20 angry phone calls). At this point they also told us that we could no longer wait in the bus terminal and had to go stand down on Surrey Street to wait for the mini bus, which failed to arrive anywhere near the promised 'ten minutes' time.

Fortunately, the minibus was significantly faster than the coach so we made it to Heathrow only 20 minutes later than we would have if traveling by bus. Everything else went fairly well... although we got into Chicago with just over an hour to make our connecting flight to Salt Lake (bit of a mad rush there, claiming our bags, customs, queues, security, recheck bags, queues, catching the train to the other terminal, security, have I mentioned queues? Then run to the gate).

When we were going through one of the security checks there was a slight hitch and Heidi about threw down on this thick black woman, but my Jedi powers made a peaceful resolution to an otherwise violent situation.

Security Woman: You have too many bags
M: No we don’t
SW: You’re only allowed two carry-ons
M: (referring to the eight carry-ons that we had) We only have two
SW: (looking at us, then our bags, then at us again) OK

I felt like Obi-Wan Kenobi, ‘You don’t need to see our identification… These aren’t the droids you’re looking for… Move along.’
After that, the rest of the trip was fine. The airline didn’t even lose our bags!
Now we are tired.
Peace.

**Slightly unrelated, but entirely justified, rant**
The airline didn’t lose our bags because we flew with American Airlines. Had we flown Delta (like our family has 3 times in the past year), at least one of our bags would have undoubtedly been lost. So far this year, my family has flown with Delta Airlines 3 different times and every time at least one bag was lost. Those odds aren’t bad if you’re going to Vegas, but flying? My advice is, if you fly, don’t go with Delta. Or, if you decide to go with Delta, pack all of your valuables in your carry-on luggage (Jedi powers might be handy here) and check two empty bags for Delta to lose. That way you can complain later and get your allotted $75 per-day-per-person refund. Just a thought.

Aberystwyth mon amour

While in Wales we spent a day cruising the lovely sites of the coastal town of Aberystwyth. This basically consisted of wandering through the ruins of Aberystwyth castle and looking for sweet fridge magnets. The weather, despite being kind of windy, was spectacular and hopefully you can get a general sense of this from Mike’s hack-job photography. The stones sticking out of the ground in the header image are similar to those found at Stonehenge and Avesbury. Everyone should have large stones randomly sticking out of the ground. For the kids, of course.

Bore da Cymru!

We left Shrewsbury and travelled to Aberystwyth by train and then on to Lampeter by bus. Tiff’s friends at the University reception desk had us each hooked up in our own little en suites on campus. Lampeter is a lovely little town about an hour away from Aberystwyth and the coast (unless you take the scenic 585 service which pretty much travels the Lampeter/Aber route via Inverness and Moscow). For the next few days we pretty much just took it easy – not that it was really an option in the little village – hiking around the hills, strolling through the sprawling city landscape, etc. It was nice to relax a bit after spending so much time worrying about catching the next train or bus to wherever.

One of the highlights was watching mom while we were riding the bus through the country. In (many) places the road narrows down to nothing more than the exact width of a vehicle, with large hedgerows and trees scraping the sides of the bus. One would wonder (not for the first time) what might happen if we are blazing along at the standard UK bus speed of 88.8 mph and meet an oncoming vehicle (most likely a tractor pulling a large trailer of sheep… there’s a pun in there somewhere). Well, we can tell you that this situation would then provoke a polite little standoff, where the driver of each vehicle is positive that the other is nearer the last turnout. The most exciting bit is when the road widens just enough (six and a half feet rather than the standard six) that both the driver of the bus and the driver of the oncoming 2005 Audi S8 think that there is room for both of them to pass side by side. This is the part when it’s best to see what kind of face mom is making (probably the same expression that people were giving the CADMAN). It gets really disconcerting when you see the bus driver shake his head and actually check his wing mirror to see if the Audi made it. Let the good times roll!
Wales was beautiful. The word is: Green.

Shrewsbury for a day, a night, and a day

From Edinburgh we stopped over in Shrewsbury for a night. If you make it to Shrewsbury, I recommend the Shalimar for a wonderful Indian meal; the food is excellent, the staff is wonderful and, if you get there early, you can sit next to the window with a pretty sweet view of the Abbey just across the street. We also wandered through a church that had the monument for the soldiers of the 85th King’s Light Infantry who died in Afghanistan between 1879-80. This is somewhat interesting because it was the 85th infantry from Shrewsbury that burned the White House down during the War of 1812. On the outside of the church was also a little monument to the CADMAN. I’m not sure which stream he’s ‘flying’ to or what kind of shape he was in, but either way, no one on this planet was going to make that jump.

Chocolate

We interrupt the regularly scheduled travel log for a brief but self-indulging advert about the virtues of chocolate. Feel free to stand up and stretch your legs, go to the loo, fetch a snack, etc.

-m

Our hasty conquering of Edinburgh

The short time we spent in Scotland (Edinburgh, two nights) was just enough to confirm all of the heinous weather reports we hear (minus the ‘blizzard-like conditions’) on the radio and, at the same time, give us an excuse to do a more thorough tour later. Upon the reference of the lively Scottish fella in the castle queue, this later tour will most definitely include a visit to Sterling.
The wind was blowing like mad pretty much the whole time, which made for some really interesting pictures, and drove us from the castle after only a couple of hours. It made me wonder (not for the first time) why anyone would want to sack that place (not just the first time) if the weather is always so rubbish. But, then I would turn around and look out over the city and think, ‘That. Is. Beautiful.’ Then, with all political/historical contexts and reasons aside, I would wish to sack the place myself.
Wonderful place. Thumbs up.

Edinburgh

We made it to Edinburgh without too much hassle (only one train cancelled on us). We toured the Castle and walked the Royal Mile, diligently buying fudge and fridge magnets along the way. What to say about the castle? 'It's big', 'It's on a cliff'. Really, it was extremely cool. We'll post some pictures when we get back to Norwich. In the process we toured through St. Giles Cathedral, which unfortunately was all decked out with scaffolding as they refurbish the front of the building and part of the nave. It was still sweet.

** Obligatory BBC-esque Weather Report**
When we got here the weather was not so Scottish (it was sunny and quite warm with little wind). The next day, it was blowy, cloudy and damp, with a bit of sun to freak us out (now there's the Scottish weather that I always here about on Radio 2!). Basically, the weather up here is like English weather on crack.
Bye.

...To be brief...

Since the arrival of the Smith Clan on the 1st, we have been pretty busy.  We managed to see a few National Trust/English Heritage sites, as well as stroll through the cool stuff here in Norwich (Castle, Cathedral, 15th century churches, etc.).  On Friday, we went to London to see Jen off and the rest of us made the condensed, Reader’s Digest day tour to see the art galleries, Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, etc.  We will post pictures of this when we get a chance.  
This coming Monday, we are off to Edinburgh for a few days, then to Shrewsbury and Wales.  On the way back, we hope to make a stop off in Ely and check out the cathedral there too.  We will post if we get a chance along the way.

Another Scan

Heidi had another scan today and everything seems to be going along fine. This marks her 20^th week which also means that there are certain bits to be seen… and seen they were (this is the part that means they are boys). Needless to say, they weren’t very shy during the scan – punching and jabbing each other, little bits swinging and swaying in the ebbs and flows of fluid… this is getting weird.

More later.

Sadly, just a technical notice about comments

Our eyes roll at the thought of boring technical posts, but as we have been perusing various blogs around, we noticed that there are a number of comments posted by random ghost people.  They often take the form of a friendly web-surfer and look something like this:

ActionDavid says:
Great blog!  I was just nowhere in your neighborhood and thought I’d drop by.  If you have time, check out my blog, skivingspammybloggers.bloghostwhatever.com.  

These are just automated adverts that set out to frustrate and make afraid.  Fortunately, the M&H blog hasn’t been hit yet (mainly, I think, because I’m not advertising it).  Unfortunately, as we don’t want it to get hit with loads of rubbishy comments, we are enabling a setting that will prevent this from happening.  From now on, when you post a comment, there will be a little verification step that you will have to make before your comment is completed and posted.  It will have some squiggly looking words and will ask you to type what you see in a little box.  

We apologise for this, but not for the mingin’ sacks who violate blogs with automated comment posts.  They should be thrust into a deep pit of teenaged boys’ post summer camp underpants and mocked heavily.

Keep posting comments!
Also, if you have any questions about all of this, feel free to post ‘em or email us.