The armchair expert

As I have mentioned in previous posts when I'm not learning about rocks, I am feeding my other obsession, sport. Thankfully I've managed to meet some other sporting fans residing on this island and while they have started out largely as football and hockey (ice as opposed to field, I am in Canada after all) I have opened their eyes to some wonderful British sports, including rugby, cricket and darts. 

With all this sport watching I have become even more opinionated than I used to be, but perhaps now with a bit more knowledge to back it up. So instead of regaling these opinions just to the select few who can put up with me and live sports, and the unfortunate people in the pub who overhear my not so quiet voice, I thought I would put them on t'internet for the world to not read. 

A few disclaimers before I get into my opinions. The majority of these opinions are inflated for (intended) comedic effect and if you really asked me seriously whether I thought Gareth Bale was a wanker, I would probably concede that chances are he's a nice bloke. Actually on second thoughts...

Also, a bit of context for you. My regional and national support varies largely with sport and the teams involved. In rugby league for example, I'm a Wigan fan, who hates the "scousers" from St Helens. In football however I am a Liverpool fan born and bred who hates the Mancs and pretty much everyone else. Being a proud Lancastrian native of the north, I have a natural distaste for rugby union. However since having played it and realised that it's not just a game of tennis for posh southerners, the Six Nations has become an integral part of my life each year. In said tournament I am (mainly) and England fan, however fickle allegiances exist with Wales (the country I was born in) and Scotland (where my Mum is from and I spent 4 of the best years of my life). 50% chance of winning then technically.

Furthermore most of these opinions have been discussed at length over a pint (or several) with my wonderful sporting friends. To those people, thanks for putting up with me and sorry for stealing your thoughts. And thanks to the Duke of Duckworth pub for showing the games and supplying us with yummy food and tasty beer.

Finally, British sport fans are notoriously fickle, and there is no way I can get out of that one. I'm in no ways a glory hunter, and I will always stick with the teams that I have come to support. However opinions can and often do change radically between games or even within a game. Just embrace it and don't call me on it, it's easier that way. But I do encourage you to comment on my views. Just don't take them too seriously, that's not what this post is about. And now, to business.

Football

Liverpool

• I love Brendan Rodgers. The way he whistles loud enough that you can hear him on the commentary. The way he makes you think he's writing down notes for his half time talk, but you know he's really filling in his betting slip because "it's all about the in-play". The way he gives beautifully eloquent press conferences. Oh and the way he manages LFC. He's pretty good at that too.
• Players that have converted me during the course of the season: Jose Enrique (believe me Stef!), Lucas (used to hate him, now he's brilliant), Henderson (to some extent, God loves a trier, and purely for the look on his face after he scored that volley)
• Players that need to work to earn my love: Joe Allen. I don't know what he does. And it's not helped by every time i hear his name in commentary I think of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzypOnklG60). 

The rest of the league

• Man U have played awful this season, but are somehow on course to get their biggest points haul. I don't get it. And I'm genuinely not just saying this as a Liverpool fan. Of course that factors in, but it's not the main point.
• Back in the day I had a soft spot for Tottenham. In the Harry Redknapp days. When they weren't a threat to Liverpool. I am a fan of AVB. I am NOT a fan of Gareth Bale (and there I shall leave that one). 
• The Belgians are taking over. Hazard. Fellaini. Vermalen. Benteke. Kompany. Lukaku. Vertonghen. Mignolet. Dembele. They're going to win Euro 2016.
• Chelsea fans are fickle spoilt little brats. Leave Benitez alone. Leave Torres alone and then let him go back to Spain so we can see him smile again. YNWA.
• I keep forgetting Reading are in this league. Piss off QPR (sorry Harry).

England

• We do not have a god given right to be good at football (or anything else that we do for that matter; Imperialist mindset still?) England are a mediocre football team with good but by no means world-class players. Rooney has never turned into what he should've been. In my heart of hearts I can't say that Stevie G is one of the best midfielders in the world. Who else do we have?
• With the Montenegro game still in my mind, my gosh how we cocked that one up. Roy should've made changes in the second half. Welbeck did nothing, because he's a goal poacher and there was nothing for him to slot into an open net. Apart from Rooney's goal of course, they handed that one to us on a plate. Gerrard is not the player to drive us forward, he sprays the ball around to other playing running. But no one was running or trying to beat a defender. We never looked like scoring, but always looked like conceding. Who were we training up when we had Terry and Ferdinand as the central two?
• And while we're on it, San Marino should not be allowed to play in the qualifiers. It's no good for them being beaten 8-0 every game, the accountants aren't going to get better than way (and that's not me being disresepectful, there are just several accountants that play for them.)
  Let them focus on the GSSE, where they have every chance of winning stuff:
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_of_the_Small_States_of_Europe)

Rugby Union

• The Six Nations ended disastrously the other week. Well done Wales, you absolutely wooped us as the Millennium Stadium. And you ground out all your other results so deserved winners in the end.
• England, I hope you know what you've done. After two games everyone thought you were on for the Grand Slam. Yes we all got ahead of ourselves. But it was a relatively inexperienced side and they'll carry this chip on their shoulder from now on. Oh, and thanks to you I now owe someone dinner.
• Ireland were unfortunate in that everyone they needed in order to play well got injured. Unfortunately it was a bad ending for BO'D. Let's hope he gets a Lions spot to help ease the pain.
• Scotland keep on improving (sorry for the broken record). They scored 4 tries in one match! It was incredible. Watch out for Stuart Hogg. Boy is going to be something.
• France were a joke. The whole selection situation is a joke. Why you no play Trinh-Duc?!
• Go Italy! Although I'm sure they'll be gutted that they don't get a prize, having got so used to receiving the wooden spoon.

Other sports

• F1 - We're only two races in but last week threw up a controversy that will rage on for the season now. Sebastian Vettel vs Mark Webber. Yes Seb disobeyed team orders and it was a bit of a dick move. BUT they're race drivers ffs, let them bloody race against each other! If they go all childish about it and end up crashing out then they've only got themselves to blame.
  On a funnier note, Hamilton driving into the pit lane of his former team, HILARIOUS:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21915618

• Cricket - England walopped India, then got screwed over by the Kiwis. Yes we should've done better against them, but it is always difficult away on tour, and to try and keep up such high quality cricket.  I didn't see any of it so can't really comment. The last test was a magnificent demonstration to my friends however of how you can have an exciting draw despite having played 5 days of sport. And it means I love Matt Prior even more now. Clearly not as much as Stuart broad though. Still, best batting wicket keeper in the world right now.

• Rowing - It's the Boat race this weekend! And I know I'm the only one on this island excited about that. But when else do you get to see posh buggers race down the Thames in tiny boats?! Watching the students getting pissed on Pimm's on the riverside is also quite fun. Maybe this year we won't have anyone trying to decapitate themselves trying to protest about elitism (his name is Trenton Oldfield...) Go Oxford!

• Rugby league - I haven't had chance to watch any of my beloved Wigan Warriors this year and that is deeply upsetting. Hopefully this will change on Friday when my day off school can allow me to watch the age old tradition of the Good Friday match vs Saints. Start to the season has been up and down, but we've had a couple injuries in key positions and we lost a load of experienced players last season. I'm not panicking and neither should anybody else. Wane knows what he's doing.

• Horse racing - Like most Brits I only care about horse racing when the Grand National is on, which happens to be next weekend. I'm excited as always, mainly to bet on the horses with the best names and or best shirt designs. Drink along for every time they allude to the horse meat scandal. Also it's a good excuse to get Claire Balding back on the telly. I've missed her post-Olympics. Thinking about it, I also miss the Olympic dressage (or horsey prancing as I liked to call it). Now that was the event where everyone became an armchair expert this summer.

There's plenty more I could talk about but I think I've sufficiently bored everyone now. I understand that sport isn't a big thing for other people and I'm fine with that. Just so long as they realise it's a pretty big thing for me. I shall leave you with something that I can always watch when feeling down. It's the gif that just keeps giving.

 

Til next time folks!

The 6 month review

I'm currently writing this blog from the pub. Unorthodox and risky, yes. But it demonstrates nicely how comfortable I am here. I swanned into the pub this evening on my own, calmly took my usual seat and switched on the TV to watch the Champions League football, before going to the bar, ordering a drink, with the barmaid already knowing my name for this evening's tab. That's how you know that you're welcome. Or that you go to the pub too often.

I am now ~6 months into my stay across the pond. 192 days ago I embarked on the most exciting thing I have done in my life. Last week this milestone was brought to my attention at our regular Thursday night Pub Quiz fixture. As my friends sat on the opposite side of a long table facing me, I questioned if this was an interview. "Yes Stacy, this is your 6 month friend review" they replied. Cue massive sentimentality and deep reflective thinking, and hence the reason for this blog edition.

When I asked my friends for their evaluation of me, I was very happy to hear positive responses. "Excellent drinking buddy" and "Good person to bake bad cookies with" were some of the comments. This raises some important points. Firstly I have been fortunate enough to make some fabulous friends over here. Way back in September I ended up being brave enough to join the other Geologists for lunch, and then brave enough to turn up for the Pub Quiz at the Grad Student pub. Two excellent leaps of faith. For some reason I made a good enough impression that they kept me around. Or maybe they couldn't really get rid of me. Either way, I'd like to think people round here quite like the loud English lass.

Now I have mentioned the pub a few times already, and as with any good geologist, it is an integral part of my life. Not necessarily important for getting hammered as was the case back in 1st year of undergrad, but more as a vehicle for hanging out with great people. On Trivia Thursdays or football Saturdays /Sunday /(Tuesdays /Wednesdays /Thursdays when European footy is on) I will likely at Bitters or the Duke of Duckworth. Defining quotes from my time in the pub that come to mind are: 
1) my friend saying "She's not shouting, that's just how she is" when I was asking the Trivia hosts a question, and 
2) myself saying very loudly in a very English accent "Don't be silly!" when Wayne Rooney attempted to gain a penalty in and undifferentiated United game.

One of my favourite events of my time here though has to be last week, when I officially became a Newfoundlander. I was "Screeched In", an age old tradition and ceremony to welcome honorary Newfoundlanders. I had somewhat bided my time doing this; everyone else who turned up in September had already done it. But that just meant that all attention was on me this time! A geology night out turned into an impromptu Screech In. And boy am I glad that's what happened. As the photos demonstrate...

I had to eat some form of reconstituted meat...

I had to kiss a frozen cod...

I had to do a shot of Screech (Newfoundland Rum)...

I had to recite the phrase "Deed I is me old cock, and long may your big jib draw!" 
and then I was officially called a Newfoundlander!

Just some of the fabulous people that have helped me along the way.

Away from the drink related things, I want to say that I am very happy that all this is happening in Newfoundland. Culturally its so similar to the UK thanks to its Irish connection, so not much of an adjustment has had to be made. There are things I miss about home indeed (other than the family and friends of course). The way they pronounce the word aluminium. The fact that tomato paste comes in a tube. The rugby being shown on TV. But I have enjoyed adjusting to my new life. St John's is a great place to do it. Downtown is colourful and awesome even in the miserable fog and rain. The snow has overgrown its novelty factor by the slushiness it leaves behind, but it still makes me excited when there's been a fresh fall overnight. The sight of Signal Hill across the harbour will never fail to make me smile. The rocky landscape reminds me very much of the Scottish Highlands. When the weather gets nicer I will get out and explore this wonderful island some more.

One of my favourite spots Downtown; The War Memorial, Jelly-bean coloured houses behind, opposite the Harbourside Park.

 Very much like East Sands in St Andrews, I will never tire of this view.

On top of that my Master's work is pretty awesome too. I'm going to be using a new cool analytical technique to look at rocks that no one has looked at for years, trying to solve some very important questions. I have a world leader as my supervisor. The guy who invented the LA-ICP-MS is two offices down from me. I've had the chance to travel to California. Twice. All for the sake of Geology.

All in all, as cheesy as it sounds, my life is pretty awesome right now. I've had my share of setbacks in the past so its about time something went right. I find myself truly lucky for everything I have experienced in the last 6 months, and long may it continue. Apologies for this being a somewhat self-appraising post, but I should be happy about what I have. Believe me I don't take it for granted. I hope you'll forgive this long, reflective and slushy post. The next time something really cool happens, I will do an awesome write up I promise!

Holidays at home

After returning from the desert I only had a couple of days left before I flew back to the UK. I was immediately thrown back into Newfoundland culture when I went to see the Mummer's Parade. Despite my constant questioning it was never exactly explained to me what it was about. It just seemed to involve various people (Mummers) wearing weird clothes, covering their faces, often wearing bras on the outside of their clothing walking through town carrying sticks with bottle tops attached to them...Having just read the Wiki page, it makes a little more sense: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummers_Play#Newfoundland_Mummers

This was then followed by drinking copious amounts of wine with friends and learning about the wonderful board game "The Settlers of Catan."

We caught it in Bannerman Park outside The Colonial Building. It was very strange...

But a whole lot of fun to watch!

I subsequently departed Newfoundland, leaving a couple centimetres of snow behind. Flying a little over 1000m east to come the same distance and then an ocean's worth back to Heathrow I finally arrived in good ol' dreary England. Greeted by my father and driven back up North we chatted about the finer points of living in Canada, evidenced by stopping at the motorway services and getting a coffee at Starbuck's, me explaining that it's normally Tim Horton's if you want a latte in St John's.

No sooner than I was back in Skelmersdale I had organised my week to catch up with as many people as possible. I never thought I would say it, but boy have I missed travelling by train! Travelling to Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan before Xmas I barely had chance to "relax", not that seeing some of my best friends was a chore though!

Before I knew it it was Xmas and the traditional do at the Phillips household. 3 different roasted meats in 3 days is something we should never stop doing. My niece had recently turned 1 and therefore could participate in Xmas more than last year. Suffice to say she got spoilt rotten, and who was I to miss out, getting her a fantastic moose teddy bear all the way from across the ocean.

I thought it was about time I used a few birthday and Xmas presents. Excellent breakfast.

The best we could manage of a Xmas family photo.

Next stop on the list was New Year's in Edinburgh. For the last couple years we've done house party Hogmanay in Edinburgh, but our usual host was on the other side of the world. Someone stepped up and another fantastic tradition continued. I had a fabulous turn of the year (from what I can remember...) and I realised again how much I want to live in Edinburgh at some point in my life.

Me and my girls after getting very excited about Jackie Bird.

Princes Street gardens looking fabulous and festive as usual.

Utilising the train network again there was one more person that I couldn't bear not seeing if we were on the same landmass again. Off to Birmingham for the first time (well since getting caught in a football riot outside West Brom's stadium) I met up with Em and Ross, enjoying lunch at the Handmade Burger Co. on the canal. A lovely day wandering round the surprisingly scenic Birmingham city centre.

After a few more days at home with the family I was then off to my first Geology conference in Bristol. Armed with my research-proposal-come-poster I lugged my huge suitcase down to the south-west. With little time to explore Bristol I enjoyed a quick sarnie outside Bristol Cathedral, then headed to the first session, wandering past the Bristol Earth Science department that also looks like a cathedral.

The second day poster session happened to coincide with my birthday, leading to one of the more nerve-wracking yet subdued birthdays of recent times. My poster went down well with the few that cared for mineral isotope geochemistry, leaving me to enjoy the evening at my leisure. Ending up going for Thai food I had a lovely day overall, culminating in 3 very brainy geologists singing "Happy Birthday" to me in the rain.

I would love to go back to Bristol at some point and have a proper touristy look round.

Immediately after the conference I headed to Heathrow to fly back to Canada. I think my journey back home deserves a post of itself, so watch this space for a typical Stacy travel story. All in all, I had a fabulous time at home, sharing the holidays with family and friends, as well as getting my geek on. Not knowing when I'll be back in the UK next is an unsettling feeling, as I now have a bit more perspective on how amazing my people and my home country really is.

Desert Adventures II - The Mojave Desert

This post fills in the gaps in the middle from the previous one, that is what I actually got up to on the field work bit of my trip. Myself, John & Johnnie met up with the 4th member of our intrepid team, Calvin. Calvin was John's Master's advisor back in the day and he has been working on the rocks of the Mojave desert for the last 40 years or so. He was to act as our guide to all things desert related. 

We set off from Vegas on our way towards Needles, California where we were staying. I was in the rugged little 4-wheel-drive Jeep with Calvin. Driving south I got a geological travelogue of every single mountain range and valley we passed. And don't mistake my tone here, it was fabulous to be told the information and stories of the landscape from the  guy with a photographic memory. 

We made good time on the road and we stopped for an early lunch before actually getting our nose to any rocks. We stopped at the Hi Sahara Oasis, a fabulous truck stop along the original Route 66. The first culinary delight of the trip was a falafel pita that, despite not containing any tahini much to Calvin's dismay, was scrumptious.

The Hi Sahara Oasis. A true oasis in the desert this is the only place within 100 miles on the interstate. 

The wind whips up a wee sand storm as a lonely truck stops to refuel.

Next we headed for the rocks. The main focus of my study is to look at the Sweetwater Wash pluton, which is part of the Old Woman-Piute range Mountains. I'll be digging out extremely small minerals of monazite from the granites, shooting some lasers at them and measuring their chemical components. From that I can tell lots about how the formed and when these big lumps of molten rock cooled. 

Anyways we came off the main highways and continued along bumpy desert roads. The roads were actually in pretty good condition despite just being linear trails through the cacti. Doesn't mean my back didn't hurt at the end of it though. We drove for about an hour up Carbonate Gulch, much more preferable a dry stream than Rattlesnake Canyon, despite there not actually being any Carbonate rocks anywhere nearby. Work then consisted of getting out of the cars, having a gander at the rocks and Calvin providing us with wisdom as to where is best to sample. Then John would hit the bejesus out of the granite with his sledgehammer and I would collect. Bag and tag, move onto the next outcrop.

The Old Woman Mountains in the midday sun.

"That is a nice boulder." And actually it is. It's granite with bits of Fenner Gneiss trapped in it.

Part of the Sweetwater Wash Pluton. Johnnie went off for a wander to the
left and found an old mine shaft.

Sunset over the Ship Mountains to the south.
Our wee Jeep in the late afternoon glow.

We made it to Needles and settled into our hotel. Dinner was at Juicy's River Cafe next door, where we would also enjoy our breakfasts the following days. I had a Baja Burger, somehow named so due to the addition of an avocado. Yummy but greasy southern fare. How different my weight would be now had we camped on this trip.

Following day we headed to the beautifully named Painted Rock pluton, a Pride Rock-esque monolith sticking out of the desert. Despite almost getting stuck by persevering down the desert track we made it safely in and we all got a bit snap happy. I especially was enjoying learning about the ecology of the desert from Calvin, and thus documented most of the plants we came across. I did also see some Teddy Bear Cholla and some Joshua Trees but for some reason didn't take any photos...

Cottontop Cactus

Cholla (they hurt)

Why Chollas hurt

(Drunken) Yucca

Ray Flower

Juniper tree that made me crave gin.

There's a stupid amount of cholla photos because they were the most abundant cacti.

Forging on we went to the other side of the Sweetwater Wash pluton and hiked in about an hour to sample on this side. It was pretty cool having Calvin there because he did his Master's mapping these rocks so he knew exactly where everything was and where we were going. We made our way to the "famous" SW-1 site that provided the samples for some of the breakthroughs in accessory mineral geochemistry during the 80's. Having read about it so much in class it was cool to go there. We hiked back to the cars walking down the dry Sweetwater Wash itself and were treated to a lovely sunset that photos don't do justice to. 

Dinner this evening was a "chicken fried steak" at the Wagon Wheel restaurant. I ordered it as I was intrigued as to what it actually was. There was no chicken involved. Just a thin bread crumbed steak with some lovely sauce and some chips. More typical southern fare.

Painted Rock pluton. The massiveness of the desert
was particularly evident from here

Piute mountain sediments, the same ones that are in the Grand Canyon, but here older Cambrian rocks are thrust on top of them.

We kept finding little presents all over the road. We then found the culprit, likely a member of the Lazy Daisy Ranch nearby.

The sunset over the Old Woman Mountains.

Our last day involved one more sample collection, this time from the North Piute pluton. A quick drive towards the Great White contact and a quick whack at the rocks. After that John was keen to drive north into the Mojave National Preserve for some extraordinary scenery and a wide variety of geological features. The Granite Mountains were spectacular in their 100% outcrop. The Kelso Sand dunes formed as the winds blow down from the mountains. And then the Kelso depot, now a ghost town but it used to be an important stop on the railroad and telegraph station.

The Great White contact. North PIute granite below in contact with the
Fenner Gneiss at the roof of the pluton.

Me halfway up the Kelso Dunes, 45 sq. miles of migrating aeolian sand deposits, the highest point being 650 ft. We were aiming for the top but walking it at 12 noon wasn't the best way to achieve this goal.

Kelso Depot. Very different to the Scottish town of Kelso.

Lunch at the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker was a huge yummy lamb souvlaki. I did have my reservations though when I saw a load of birds angrily flapping around outside, reminding me of the Greek legend of Prometheus who got his eyes pecked out by birds...Anyways we continued to drive north and it started to look more like a proper arid desert. Vegetation became sparse and dried up lakes became the norm. Huge alluvial fans coming off the mountains made it look more like the photos of Death Valley that I had studied during my undergrad. We weren't actually that far away from Death Valley.

We arrived at our destination, the China Ranch Date Farm. Located on the Old Spanish Trail it has produced dates since around the 1920's, importing date trees from Iraq and growing them using the sparse water that is found deep beneath the 100's of metres of lake sediments. We had date milkshakes, which to be honest had no taste of dates but lovely nonetheless, and I purchased some Date Bread for the Pot Luck Xmas dinner I was attending 9 hours after I landed back in St John's.

The Kingston Peak formation that we studied for a
mapping project as 4th years in St Andrews.

42 Flag in a proper looking desert.

The China Ranch Date Farm with lots of lovely little bits of memorabilia.

Dates growing on the trees covered in some very colourful cloth.

We saw a coyote atop the sediments. We think he was waiting for the farm to knock off for the night to treat himself to some dates.

One more stop on our whirlwind tour of the Mojave. Just past the wee town of Shoshone John took me to a wonderful road outcrop where the MUN field school goes in the Spring. Reminiscent of the Multicoloured Rock Stop in the Scottish Highlands, it's another beautiful set of rocks to sketch in the notebook.

The sun set and now we had an epic drive back to Needles. Driving through some dense Joshua tree forests we discovered that they look rather alien and creepy at night. We stopped briefly to look up and admire the stars. I've never been anywhere where you appreciate the fact that the stars are arranged in the belt of the Milky Way. Having been listening to talk of the Mayan Apocalypse on the radio, I suddenly felt very very small.

The fabulous desert experience was topped by a trip to Valenzuela's. This tiny Mexican restaurant is a favourite of Calvin and John's and Calvin was very disappointed that he had left before we went there. Set in a residential area this small building still had an external outhouse-style toilet for the customers. The food was incredible and the hospitality fantastic. I was particularly impressed by the home-made taco shells, something I hadn't come across before. I fought to finish my food, as I didn't want to waste such a beautiful meal.

A volcaniclastic wonderland, beautiful in the late afternoon light.

Another gorgeous sunset.

And there I ended my second Californian adventure. Beautiful sights that I may never see again. Lots of photographs that attempted to capture the incredible views although few of them depict what I'll have in my memories. A wonderful week full of scenery, food and geology. What more could you want?