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Showing posts from July, 2009

The Leith Police Dismisseth Us

I reckon this is as valid for a typing test as it is for a speaking one, of intoxication. Dismisseth is as big a bugger to type as it is to say when you've had a few. I would suggest. God is good. NEECU does a CEF related assessment and evaluation. 1st ever to do this. It's a wee peach of a thing for a subject-hungry language tester and critical pedagogue. It's also a thing to be left until the drinks's gone. In despite of which, one might like to consider... The origin of IELTS dominance with UK universities. When? At NEECU, what materials were used before? [Hobby fucking horse?] Go down to the micro-level, subtextual even, with every fucking phoneme of their descriptors. That might be the point of a CDA - where the ALTE > DIALANG CAN DO s are the fuck taking us. (And the history thereof). It's a fucking cracker. One promises to be more circumspect when one returns without "drink taken".

The crazy pavement was quickly fixed by a jolly old gardener!

I went a bit wrong around -olly old g- , as it happens.

Bicycle Size

This buy-a-bike-and-ride-it-to-get-some-exercise idea is very slow burning, I'll admit, but it is burning. I will have a bike before next Easter. I need to think about essentials, and I'm looking at frame size to begin with. It's very complicated, according to Sheldon .

NEECU

That's North East England Collegiate University, which is such a poor disguise, I don't in know why I bother, except that I've got into the habit of not blabbing my employers' names all over the Avenue. Anyhow, here I am on their pre-sessional. End of the first day, and it's looking hopeful so far. We get two days induction, which is quite an interesting investment on NEECU's part, and means one goes into the actual teaching next week with a fair idea of what's what, as opposed to the usual vague emails and first morning classroom debacles. The other teachers all seem ok, except for the usual middle-aged TEFL lady who pretended, over a coffee first thing, that she couldn't understand the name of my accommodation block, "Pine", because of my accent. I bit-off a reply about hoping her students speak more clearly than me, and said (somewhat peevishly, looking back), that I hadn't lived in the north east for most of my life so my accent co

If You Plan to Get Married in New York City...

...then you must get my mate Daniel to do the photos. That's quite a good advert for what's likely to be a small demographic, New York based Avenue readers, planning their Big Day. But every little helps. And he's very good.

5th Roll 12

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5th Roll 12 , originally uploaded by Pig Sty Avenue . 5th roll with the good agfa isolette, that is. Not bad, eh? Getting to the sort of look I'm after. This is HP5+. Next, in the camera now on frame 10, is ADOX 50.

Hardening Fix...

...is what I'll need for the ADOX films. Here's a recipe .

Maria Tanase

Heard her on Late Junction. Will come back when have time .

Soda Crystals

I got the final ingredient to dev ADOX , Sodium Chloride Carbonate ("washing soda", or as this was called, "soda crystals"), in Fullertons for 83p a kilo this afternoon. Not bad, eh?

Are commercial texts dull, and does this impact on their effectiveness as materials for communicative teaching?

Two and a half weeks at St Andrews as a Course Director, and now I've got to get back in the saddle with this dissertation. The research project I'd begun, comparing pen-and-paper with keyboard writing test responses has run into the sand through a shortage of respondents. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise, maybe I was on the wrong track with language testing, and should get back to Critical Pedagogy and Discourse Analysis. I purely practical real-life terms, I think I must. So, the title of this post is the working title - I need to sharpen it somewhat. I'll do this at Durham, where I've got time, a library and access to EAP students to interview. I'll hammer out the details this weekend and seek my tutor's approval on Monday. I can always pick up the reins of Language Testing again if a promising research scholarship rears its head.

only an idiot uses Flickr - so can you!

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only an idiot uses Flickr - so can you! , originally uploaded by only an idiot . There's a bit of a story going on, and I'm blogging this to help it into Explwhore.

ADOX/Efke Beutler High Acutane Film Developer

Here's a link to the formula for Beutler Developer . I need to get some sodium carbonate. This is said to be the best developer for ADOX single emulsion films. Some similar recipes here. I need to do some research on the film and the chemistry of this - but it seems that ADOX is more like the sort of film used in the 50s, and more able to give the kind of look I'm trying to get. I've got a couple of rolls to try out, (a 25iso, and a 50). I seem to have stumbled into my own genre. This is the Flickr set . Both the content and the title are provisional, but the idea is engendered.

ADOX/Efke Dev Times

Developing times in standard developers: ISO 100 35mm, roll, or sheet film: If exposed at film's regular speed of ISO 100, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 8 Min If ISO 100 film is exposed at ISO 200 for increased speed and optimum differentiation of highlights, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 11-12 Min. ISO 50 35mm, roll, or sheet film: If exposed to films regular speed of ISO 50, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 7 Min If ISO 50 film is exposed at ISO 100 for increased speed and optimum differentiation of highlights, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 9-10 Min. ISO 25 35mm, roll, or sheet film: If exposed to film's regular speed of ISO 25, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 6 Min If ISO 25 film is exposed to ISO 50 for increased speed and optimum differentiation of highlights, the following developing times apply: Kodak D76/ID-11: 8-9 Min. Copied f