Wood in the UK and Campfires

Posted in Geekiness, Scouting on 18:00, 27th Dec 08

Since Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and given it to man we have used it for both work and pleasure. A wood burning campfire is one of my favourite ways to enjoy this privilege and since being taught in (Cub) Scouts I’ve made quite a few. There are a variety of different ways to set one up and each has it uses, for instance a Jamaican-log-fire or Cross-fire (2 logs parallel with tinder between them and kindling ontop) maximizes heat retention and is best for cooking whereas a log cabin or pyramid/tipi is best for emanating heat for warmth. Whilst I know several ways to set up and light the wood I find that I know very little about the wood itself so I started gathering lists of wood/trees in Britain. It became obvious that I wouldn’t want to just stop at names so I’ve put some other bits aside for future posts …read more »

Why try something dangerous?

Posted in Geekiness on 20:21, 19th Sep 08

Around 20th September the (Large) Hadron Collider started its first circles, there was speculation in the media, particularly Radio One with Scott Mills (Chris Moyles is off) were they would say that the first signs would be television and radio signals stopping and then cutting all sound! Why? The hype was that a black hole would be formed, suck in the …read more »