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16th July 2009
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Name: Gnomon [Gone to Wexford u... [Researcher: 151503]

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ABOUT THIS RESEARCHER

Created: 1st September 2000 
Gnomon's Research Lab
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Earth Edition)
A beaver working as a sub-editor
Calling...
Recycle Old Entry
Entries Under Construction
What I've Done
Miscellaneous
h2g2as: Charting the Uncharted Backwaters of the Universe
The Deep, Hull
Sign Out

Hello! I am Eoin McAuley, also known as Gnomon. I live in Dublin, Ireland.

I'm interested in lots of things: orchestral music; Irish traditional music; some Progressive Rock; playing instruments: saxophone, clarinet, guitar, mandolin, recorder and tin whistle; singing in a choir; mathematics, especially number theory, knot theory; cats; computers; encyclopaedias; puzzles including jigsaws; fixing things; ancient civilisations; linguistics; guinea pigs; pottering around beside the sea; Greece; wine; fantasy books.

Here on h2g2, my main concern is building the Edited Guide, which is what this site is supposed to be about. I have written lots of Edited Entries.

Something to consider before writing an Entry for the Guide:

In Popular Culture
July/Iúil 2009
Dé LuainDé MáirtDé CéadaoinDéardaoinDé hAoineDé SathairnDé Domhnaigh
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6789101112
13 Hols14 Hols15 Hols16 Hols17 Hols18 Hols19 Hols
202122232425 Hull Meet26 Hull Meet
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VOLUNTEER BADGES

Field Researcher
photographer
Post Reporter
Sub Editor
150 Edited Entries

RESEARCHER DATA
Name:

Gnomon [Gone to Wexford until 19th July]
Last posted: 4 Days Ago
Researcher Number:

151503

Referenced Entries:

H2G2 Astronomy Society Home Page
Gnomon's Guide to Sub-editing
Gnomon's Unfinished Entries
Gnomon
Gnomon's Edited Guide Entries
The h2g2 Edited Guide
Gnomon Calling ...
Miscellaneous Links and Stuff
Gnomon: What I've Done
Hull meet 25/6 July 2009

Related BBC Pages:

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Referenced Sites:

In Popular Culture

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites listed.
CONVERSATIONS
CONVERSATIONCOMMUNITYLATEST POSTLATEST REPLY
Archaeology, History and Fairy Talesh2g25 Days Ago1 Hour Ago
But, would they have understood h2g2No Posting1 Hour Ago
SEx: Earthquakesh2g2No Posting2 Hours Ago
Things we can't pass on to our childrenh2g22 Weeks Ago5 Hours Ago
Noctilucent cloudsh2g2No Posting5 Hours Ago
A54392826 - The Most Important Building in Shropshire and Arguably the Worldh2g2No Posting6 Hours Ago
Peer Review : A53729427 - Crazy Joe Galloh2g2No Posting6 Hours Ago
Peer Review : A53172119 - Commonly Misheard Phrasesh2g22 Weeks Ago6 Hours Ago
A54051914 - The Ironic Death of Arthur Flegenheimerh2g2No Posting9 Hours Ago
Peer Review: A52826484 - Velvet Wormsh2g2No Posting11 Hours Ago
Show More Conversations 
MESSAGES
Leave a MessageLATEST POST
Not derailing the ARchimedes PR threadLast Week
Hi Gnomon, Opti here2 Weeks Ago
Am I asking for trouble?5 Weeks Ago
come back to QI5 Weeks Ago
hi GnomonMay 28, 2009
TBI FridayMay 24, 2009
Dates and commasMay 18, 2009
Bel dropping byMay 15, 2009
Happy Birthday!Apr 28, 2009
I' m looking for experts.Apr 15, 2009

Show More Messages
JOURNAL
Whew!
Last Week

Lots happening at the moment, which I haven't filled you all in on.

Daughter Iz is gone to college - she's learning Japanese on a three-week residential course with a lot of other like-minded teenagers.

Daughter El is gone to France with a few friends to learn French. Her friends are entering their final year in school so they need the French to do well in their exams. El is finished school, so she's going along for the fun of it. I've been told it's very hot in the south of France at the moment - 32 degrees at 10pm.

So Mrs G and I are at home in an empty house. Just the two of us and three guinea pigs. Last night we went to see Chanticleer, the phenomenal American a capella singing group. Although they are all men, they had three sopranos! I'd never seen a male soprano before - like a counter-tenor but much higher. They did a program of religious music with some Orlando di Lasso and Victoria from the really old era, a Tavener number from more recently and finished off with some Negro Spirituals. The acoustic was big and echoey, which suited the old, slow music, but not the Spirituals. Nevertheless, I have never heard such singing in my life. Absolutely perfect, and without a conductor too.

I've just almost completed a mammoth sub-editing job: Kitrapsjani's 7,000 word tribute to Bollywood, Part 1. Most edits take me about 20 minutes. I've been working on this one since the 8th of June - that'll be a month by the time I finish it tomorrow.

I won't be sub-editing anything else for a while, as at the end of the week, I'm off on my first of three holidays this summer. This one is with Mrs G and Iz to Wexford. Then I'll be off with Azara for a weekend in Hull, meeting up with some of my h2g2 friends - GB in particular, but others such as lil and Moonhogg as well. At the beginning of August, the whole family is off to the UK for our Stratford / Cardiff / Dyffryn Ardudwy holiday. Finally at the end of August we'll have another week in Wexford, although Mrs G will only be able to make it for the weekends, as she's run out of annual leave.

I haven't written anything for the Guide recently, as I've been too busy between reading "The Lord of the Rings" again, and sub-editing the Bollywood entry. You never know, now that that's nearing completion, I might embark on something. There are a few topics I'd like to tackle: Newton, Mendelssohn and the First Crusade spring to mind, but I'd have to be in the mood for each of those. The "Red" entry I'd started was stopped in its tracks when a Red Entry appeared on the front page last week, written by a load of other researchers. But my Archimedes entry is still in Peer Review and since nobody has commented on it in weeks, I assume it is ok and it's only a matter of time before it gets picked.

Last week I took delivery of a new toy: a camera for taking pictures of the stars through the telescope. I'm somewhat surprised by it. You connect it into the telescope instead of an eyepiece lens which means that it is a fixed magnification. You can't zoom in or out at all. But you can take 100 or 1,000 photos at a rate of about 15 per second, and combine all the results to make a much more detailed picture, which you can then zoom in on digitally. At least that's the principle. I haven't done it yet, as this is the worst time of the year for seeing the stars, since it doesn't really get dark. Also, I need to connect the camera to a computer for it to work, so I've had to dig out an old laptop which I can carry out to the garden, and the battery on it was dead. I've been charging it up over the last few days, and if the sky clears I might venture out tomorrow and try it out.



Discuss this entry - 24 replies - Latest reply: 6 Days Ago

Smashing concrete
3 Weeks Ago

I've just smashed up a huge lump of concrete for my neighbour. It was a cylinder of concrete about 60cm across and about 50cm deep, set into her lawn as the base for a rotary clothes line. Why whoever put it in needed such a big base is anybody's guess. I tried hitting it with a sledgehammer, but it produced very little effect. So I hired one of those gizmos for digging the roads - a big hammer-action spike. I'm told this is known as a "breaker" but that may be a local name.

It took about an hour to smash up the concrete, which was set into the base of an old oil drum. Once the concrete had all been lifted out, I could remove the drum. Now she has a big hole in her lawn.

Discuss this entry - 12 replies - Latest reply: 2 Weeks Ago

Summer 2009
3 Weeks Ago

This has really been the best summer we've had in years, but after the long weeks of dry, hot weather, the trees don't know what's hit them. Some of them are starting to drop their leaves already, and I've seen seeds and pine cones on the ground - it's beginning to feel like late summer already and it's not even midsummer until tomorrow!

Discuss this entry - 6 replies - Latest reply: 2 Weeks Ago

Singing Tonight!
5 Weeks Ago

My small choir, the Gaudete Singers, (who also feature Recumbentman), are doing a concert tonight - Shakespeare songs set to music, Italian madrigals, and a few modern pieces. It's in Airfield House, with a glass of wine afterwards.

It's usually lovely to stand on the terrace of the house in the June evening sunshine and drink wine, but it's teeming rain today, so we'll have to stay indoors.

I've been sick with a bad flu for the last week, so although I will stand up in front of the audience, I don't know how much singing I'll be able to do.

smiley

Discuss this entry - 27 replies - Latest reply: 5 Weeks Ago

Birdlife
5 Weeks Ago

Between the long weekend and being off work sick, combined with the best summer weather we've had in a long time, I've spent a lot of time sitting in the garden, taking photos of the birds. The results are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoinmcauley/sets/72157619191021937/

Hope the birdwatchers among you like them.

Discuss this entry - 11 replies - Latest reply: 3 Weeks Ago

Show more of My Journal Entries


FRIENDS
Here is the friends list of Gnomon [Gone to Wexford until 19th July]:
9 <star> Frenchbean - building a bridge to the future
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

AlsoRan80
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Azara
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

B'Elana [©] ACE- Minister of Abbr.
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

Edward the Bonobo - Doesn't he look like himself?
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

Galaxy Babe counting down to the Hull meet
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Icy North
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lil ... ACE/Scout -- {Auntie Giggles} ~~ lilitis follows me everywhere!
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Moonhogg - Captain Coffee Break! Delivering silliness, smiles, the occasional hot drink.
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

Post Team
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Skankyrich [?]
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Trillian's Child (still looking forward to being able to see the new smilies in Goo. How come we can see the Drumroll but not the others? June's gone and still no improvement)
Personal Space | Journal Entries | Delete

Websailor
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Wilma
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Click here to delete more than one name


SUBSCRIBED ARTICLES
GUIDE ENTRIES
IDTITLECOMMUNITY STATUSCREATED
A52491323Bollywood Cinema up to 1949h2g2 EditedYesterday
A54125958Archimedesh2g2 EditedLast Week
A53987674Notes from Around the Sundial h2g2 -Last Week
A52006934Chalkida, Evia, Greeceh2g2 Edited2 Weeks Ago
A49887832The Last Act of Cannibalism in Fijih2g2 Edited3 Weeks Ago
A51606777'Strange Fruit' - The Billie Holiday Songh2g2 Edited3 Weeks Ago
A53520950Notes From Around The Sundial h2g2 -3 Weeks Ago
A53450228The Opti Interview: Gnomonh2g2 -3 Weeks Ago
A52491125The Bank of Mum and Dadh2g2 Edited4 Weeks Ago
A52751739Notes From Around the Sundialh2g2 -5 Weeks Ago
A50669850Choosing the Best Mobility Scooter for Youh2g2 Edited5 Weeks Ago
A52007104Amoebash2g2 Edited5 Weeks Ago
A52007041London Cabbies' Sheltersh2g2 EditedJun 3, 2009
A52006565'Wlonk' - the Wordh2g2 EditedMay 29, 2009
A51932793Notes from Around the Sundial h2g2 -May 25, 2009
A51213449Notes from around the Sundialh2g2 -May 11, 2009
A50589499Notes From Around the Sundial h2g2 -Apr 28, 2009
A49855873Notes from Around the Sundialh2g2 -Apr 13, 2009
A49248930Notes From Around the Sundialh2g2 -Mar 30, 2009
A48664380Notes from Around the Sundialh2g2 -Mar 16, 2009
Show more of My Guide Entries | Show more of My Edited Guide Entries
Disclaimer

Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please start a Conversation above.




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