January, 2013 | Mallemaroking

Mark Brandon • January 17, 2013 RRS Discovery en-route to disposal after a 50 year career in marince science,
Photo taken by Andrew Yool. NOC.

Life at sea is hard to compare with the home quotidian because colleagues, work, dinner, pub, TV, laundry, bed, labs, computers are continually present within the same hundred feet and few decks of space.  It can be quite intense, especially when the vagaries of the environment are included:  wind and sea, icebergs, aurorae, gulls, whales, seals.  Often the port calls lend an exoticism verging on glamour to the unlikeliest places, such as Wallsend, Cardiff or Fairlie, although Reykjavik, Tromsø, Cape Town and Rothera (for example) are more dramatic.  A six- or seven-week expedition can seem like it will never end.

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Posted in At sea, Personal on January 17, 2013 by Mark Brandon. Mark Brandon • January 8, 2013

This post starts with that carboncounter_ fellow. He tweeted last night:

https://twitter.com/CarbonCounter_/status/288423035533414400

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Posted in twitter. Tags: computer, personal, trivial on January 8, 2013 by Mark Brandon. Mark Brandon • January 2, 2013 Professor Seymour Laxon in Hobart Tasmania

I heard today that the UCL Prof Seymour Laxon has died in an accident over the new year. I don’t know the details and to be honest, to me, the “how” is not really that important (*).

Only the loss.

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Posted in Personal. Tags: Friends on January 2, 2013 by Mark Brandon.