The Man with No Time

Last night I went to my first live gig of the year, at the Institute in Birmingham. I went to see Pentatonix , who are an a capella vocal group that I discovered on Youtube towards the end of last year. About a month ago I saw on Facebook that one of my friends from St Andrews was attending their gig in Glasgow, and wondered if they were playing near me. They were, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket (which wasn't too expensive either). I'm so glad I did, because it was amazing. Getting artsy with my camera. The stage was simple, and didn't detract from the music (Credit: David Brown)

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one age, called the Third Age by some, and Age yet to come, and Age long past, a wind rose on the great plain called the Caralain Grass. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a  beginning. The Wheel of Time continues to turn, and it's starting to get serious. Book 4, ' The Shadow Rising ', is an extra 50% longer than longest of the volumes that precede it.  Not only that, but Robert Jordan once again ups the stakes with some astonishing revelations, whole new areas of the world explored, and some events that could (and probably will) have massive implications. 

In something of a departure from previous years, I've actually managed to get to a race meeting before  I go to Le Mans this year! I suppose that's one of the benefits of living in the West Midlands rather than Fife - lots of tracks in easy range (there are four within an hour's drive of Coventry). Easter weekend is traditionally a busy time for motorsport, with the four day weekend allowing tracks and series to run events over various combinations of Friday to Monday, meaning that if you plan well you can get to see more than one race meeting. This year you had British GT at Oulton Park and BTCC at Donington on the Sunday (both of which I considered going to), and British Superbikes at Brands Hatch on the Monday. But with my love of sports car racing I was always going to go to the endurance double header at Silverstone - European Le Mans Series on the Saturday for four hours, and World Endurance Championship on the Sunday for six hours.  The new pit complex, kn...

Last Sunday I travelled down to Northampton for my second Warmachine tournament of the year. It was being held at Wargames Workshop Northampton, and being run by the ' Guardians of Tyr ' gaming club. Despite a poor showing on my part in terms of results, I have to say that I had a really enjoyable day at what was a very well run tournament.

Tomorrow I'm travelling down to Northampton for my second Warmachine tournament of the year. It should be about double the size of the last one, with 16 players signed up for four rounds, and I'm looking forward to it. I've had my Cryx on the back burner for while so that I can learn how to use some of my Circle Orboros models at weekly gaming, which has been a lot of fun. But it will be nice to get the undead back on the table.  After my disastrous results at the last tournament I attended, I'm setting my sights low. I would like to win one game, and if I manage that I'll be happy. 

It's been a good year for me up to this point as far as TV watching goes, at least in terms of quantity compared to the last couple of years. The latest series of Sherlock was decent, the second season of Arrow is entertaining and possibly stronger than the first, and I've been able to catch up with some old shows that I enjoyed when I was younger. Then there was Orphan Black. I'm a bit late to the party with this one, and despite being only ten episodes long it's taken me some time to get through the first season. That's definitely not a comment on the quality of the show, more on my own viewing habits, but I am so pleased that I took the plunge as it's an excellent sci-fi show. Orphan Black doesn't exactly make a secret of the fact that it's about clones. (Credit: geekwire.com)

Last weekend saw the third race of the 2014 Formula 1 season, and I thought it was about time I put finger to keyboard and articulated some of my thoughts on the direction that the series is going. 2014 is a year of massive changes, many of which will take some getting used to, and most of which have caused a lot of controversy. I don't have much new to add to the discussion, but want to get my thoughts out there. It's becoming a familiar sight at the front of the field - the silver arrows way out in front. They've only been this close to each other in Bahrain though, and it was spectacular. (Credit: telegraph.co.uk)

Shock, horror - I've actually managed to finish painting some models! I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of free time the last couple of weekends, and have used it putting paintbrush to metal. I've had a fair number of figures for my Cryx army partially complete for some time now, and with some tournaments coming up that I'm attending/planning to go to I thought I should get some of them actually finished. What a novel concept. Look ma, zombie pirates! (Credit: David Brown) First up on the block were most of my unit of Revenant Crew. I say most because there are two still to do, including a second copy of the most awesome model in the unit (the diving helmet guy), but they need stripped before I tackle them. Even so, eight models down isn't too shabby; it's been a long time since I got any kind of unit done, so I'm counting this as a victory. Sadly I don't have any plans to use them in a list at the moment, although I'm mulling over...

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, and Age yet to come, and Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning. It seems that my read-through of ' The Wheel of Time ' is accelerating as I get into it! This third volume in the series proper took me only a couple of weeks to finish, and marks a bit of a change for the series. The 'epicness' of the series seems to have ramped up, and the scope and scale, not to mention the stakes, and becoming bigger and bigger.