Grant Hutchison's Blog, page 2

The Sun Sets On The British Empire

A while ago I treated you to a dissertation entitled “Does The Sun Set On The British Empire?”, and concluded that it doesn't. The UK's widely scattered overseas territories, sparse though they are, mean that the sun is still always shining, somewhere in the world, over British territory.

Tidings

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:20, (King James Version) Luke’s is the only gospel that mentions the Annunciation to the Shepherds, by an unnamed angel bringing news of the birth of Jesus. But the shepherds, … Continue reading Tidings →

Opus 500: And Time For A Break

This post is the 500th I’ve made since I fired up this blog back in 2015, during which time there hasn’t been a single week without a post of one kind or another. It’s been great fun, and if anything I have more ideas for posts now than I’ve ever had, but this seems like … Continue reading Opus 500: And Time For A Break →

Pints And Pounds

A pint’s a pound the world around. Traditional American mnemonic A pint of water’s a pound and a quarter. Traditional British mnemonic There’s something odd going on there, isn’t there? I learned that British mnemonic at primary school, and I can still vividly recall my first encounter with the American version—in a Robert Heinlein juvenile … Continue reading Pints And Pounds →

William Hope Hodgson & Algernon Blackwood: Edwardian Occult Detectives

Of rather uneven stylistic quality, but vast occasional power in its suggestion of lurking worlds and beings behind the ordinary surface of life, is the work of William Hope Hodgson, known today far less than it deserves to be. Despite a tendency toward conventionally sentimental conceptions of the universe, and of man’s relation to it … Continue reading William Hope Hodgson & Algernon Blackwood: Edwardian Occult Detectives →

Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3

Last time, I finished working on my Alaska map with political boundaries and shading in place, and the major rivers and lakes depicted. This time, I’m going to use some more Natural Earth data to add more information to the map. The first thing I want is some towns and villages, so I download the … Continue reading Natural Earth Data In QGIS 3: Part 3 →

Rhoticity

rəʊˈtɪsɪtɪ rhoticity: pertaining to a variety or dialect of English in which r is pronounced not only in pre-vocalic position but also before a consonant or word-finally So, there’s an American professor of theology visiting England for the first time. As his train departs from London King’s Cross station, he hears an announcement over the … Continue reading Rhoticity →

Angus Graham: The Golden Grindstone

“It was a most extraordinary thing, Graham, to see how the different men reacted to the gold. It took them all different ways, just like too much liquor. One would be cold and calculating, and as wicked as Hell; another would be delirious with pleasure; some showed themselves up as the lowest type of killer; … Continue reading Angus Graham: The Golden Grindstone →

Transit Of Earth

At the meeting of the Society in November last I mentioned that on the day of the next opposition of the planet Mars, the Earth and Moon, as seen from Mars, would cross the Sun’s disk, a phenomenon which has not happened since the year 1800, and I stated the chief circumstances connected with the … Continue reading Transit Of Earth →

Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 2

Last time, I described how I used free Natural Earth data and the software package QGIS to produce a basic map of Alaska and its surroundings, shown above. This time, I’m going to lay some more vector datasets on top of this map to make it a little more useful. First, I want to add … Continue reading Natural Earth Data in QGIS 3: Part 2 →