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North Greenwich Riverside
Blog Dictations
Crows
Daffodils
North Greenwich Riverside
(7 March 2014)
Wind blowing from the east
A week ago I took a trip to
Greenwich, where I used to live, lured by the sunny day, blue skies and
mild weather. We visited the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich Peninsula,
also called North Greenwich. This was built to house the exhibitions of
the Millennium Experience that took place during the whole of the year
2000. The Dome and its surroundings are now known as "The O2" a venue
for music and entertainment events. Entertainment Avenue is a semicircle
of a variety of restaurants and eateries under the edge of the Dome,
laid out to resemble a long curved street. As we approached the Dome, we
were surprised to see people walking about on top of the roof. It turned
out on closer inspection to be another attraction on offer, although not
for the casual non-agile visitor, as those taking part had been issued
with one-piece bodysuits and tethers to keep them attached to the
handrail as they toiled upward towards the summit. This photo of the
view from the top is not of course my own experience, but a snap of the
large illustration on the wall opposite the entrance.
Millennium dome beneath and above
The attractions of The O2 complex were somewhat limited for our
interests, as it is chiefly for those attending the events, so we did
not* stay very long. We took a short walk to view the cable car service
that crosses the Thames, which we had often seen from a distance, and
which is, as always, much bigger and faster when you are standing almost
underneath it. Of greater interest to us was the River Thames itself and
all the various buildings and activities along its banks. Rather than
take the bus back to the town of Greenwich, we decided to walk along the
Thames footpath back to the Cutty Sark area, a distance of about two
miles. Away from the Dome area, it is all rather bleak and empty. There
are great swathes of vacant ground, cleared of old buildings, piled high
with spoil and rubble, or scraped clean and with huge new developments*
in progress, most of which seemed to be blocks of riverside apartments.
As river views are so highly prized nowadays, they clearly wish to get
in as many dwellings as possible facing the waterfront.*
* The "we" and "did not" are not joined, see
www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/phrasing7-misc.htm#contractedapostrophe
* "developments" Optional contraction
* "waterfront" Note that "front" on its own has a reversed Fr stroke, but here it is written
with the left form so that it can join
I am still wondering what the attraction is, as the Thames is a cold
muddy grey-looking river, with the only scenery being the surrounding
industrial landscape and the treeless countryside on the opposite bank.
However, compared with a crowded cityscape the wide view is secure as it
cannot be built on, and open to the expansive sky, a more reliable
source of the desired blue than the turbid silt-laden water of the
river. On a sunny day when the water is sparkling one sees less of the
swirling silt. There will always be something happening outside one's
windows, and I am sure riverboats* and ships are much better and more
interesting to see going to and fro, than noisy and polluting city
traffic. However, I am definitely keeping to my green and pleasant part
of the suburban countryside, and my own clear little stream running
through my local parks.
* "riverboats" Note that "boats" on its own has full stroke T
Cormorants
The route along the Thames Path on the Greenwich Peninsula is not a
pretty walk, as there is so much demolition and construction going on.
The huge building sites are strewn with debris and the remains of the
previous buildings, small mountains of stored soil and rubble, building
materials, tractors and cranes, and, after all the storms, great sheets
of water and mud. It can be hard to imagine how this controlled chaos
can result in smart apartments surrounded by crisp clean streets,
walkways and riverside gardens. Obviously this is why building
contractors like to adorn the boundary fences with giant
computer-generated images of the planned finished accommodation, to
entice those interested to put their names down now for the best places,
before they are sold out.
Turfed jetty
The disorder at the water's edge is less controllable, where everything
in and on the water is slowly rusting and falling apart - ancient
jetties and piers, decaying waterfront walls, abandoned ships and other
derelict structures, in every colour of green from the algae and moss,
to the bright orange, red and brown of rust. The debris and flotsam
collecting in every corner is even more colourful, especially the
plastic goods. I try to imagine the story behind each piece and wonder
how it ended up in the river instead of the normal route of municipal
waste disposal. However, this year's widespread* flooding in the upper
reaches will unfortunately* have added to the quantity and variety. There
was a large amount of twigs, branches and even whole tree trunks, due to
the many damaging gales and storms that we have had this winter.
* "widespread" Note that "spread" on its own has full stroke D
* "unfortunately" Optional
contraction
Resting and rusting
There
was plenty of wildlife to be seen, mainly gulls, pigeons, ducks and a
wagtail. Some of the old disused wooden jetties and piers have been
given a covering of contained beds of stones and soil, with a shallow
planting of hardy low-growing wild plants and grasses, to provide safe
nesting and roosting areas for the birds. On one such structure, well
out in the river, we saw quite a gaggle of cormorants, usually only seen
singly. A scheme is underway to improve the river banks with stepped
layers at different heights, to mimic a natural foreshore*, with the actual flood defence walls built further back at
the height required for each particular location. The layers are
constructed of gabions, which are square steel mesh baskets filled with
rocks, so that the silt can collect in them, and some planted up as reed
beds. These new artificial foreshores are being installed wherever the
old frontage and flood defences need replacing, to provide habitat areas
for animals and plants. This replaces the older method of just building
one steep cliff-like wall to hold back the river, and is a much gentler
and more sustainable solution to river bank maintenance and prevention
of erosion, as well as enhancing* the environment for all river users.
* "foreshore" Note that "shore" on its own has stroke downward R
* "enhancing" The clockwise circle lets you know that the upstroke
is Hay, compare with "encircle" or "answer" which have a
anticlockwise
circle, following the curve of the N.
Gabions with reed bed
Although the river walk was informative and interesting, I was glad to
get back to Greenwich town, which was actually "civilisation" compared
with the muddy wastelands* we had been walking past. It was beginning to
rain, so we were glad to get into the train station and make for home,
where I am happy to say that there is much less mud and murk, decaying
woodwork, green slimy rocks, rust and peeling paint, and much more in
the way of greenery, shelter and quietude. But we will definitely return
another day, when the sun is shining, maybe along a different stretch of
the river, to see how well the taming is progressing. I think probably
the River Thames is going to agree quite amicably to all the
improvements that its neglected and ragged edges are receiving, as long
as they are tasteful cosmetic embellishments that do not interfere with
the route that it wishes to take. (1169 words)
* "wastelands" Not in dictionary. Using full stroke T rather than
omitting it, so it does not look like "wetlands"
Piles of piles
Meridian line marked on footpath, the four versions of the Meridian Line are marked in
steel strips on the footpath, this one extends over
the edge and so I assume it is the current one
http://www.visitgreenwich.org.uk
Top of page
Blog Dictations (16 March
2014)
I am delighted to report that I now have all the blog articles recorded
as sound files for you to download from this website. This has been a
lengthy job, as the backlog went back to April 2012*, but at last they
are all finished. The speeds are presented as they naturally turned out.
I started editing a few to get them all to the same speed, but this was
entirely a lost cause, as the result was very erratic and difficult to
listen to. I have been using the free Audacity program and if you open
one of the files in that program, you will see* that the spaces occur
mostly between phrases, and that groups of words just run on in solid
chunks of sound. I soon realised that spoken words are not as separate
as we like to think, and that the "spaces" between words are potential
ones, where we can stop and change if we wish, but in actual speech it
is all run on together.
* "2012" Long slash to represent current century, arbitrary sign with no
phonetic value
* "see" and "say" in phrases often need a vowel for clarity, but here
only "see" makes sense
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download
Fill up
As I was going through all the sound files, the waveform was almost
becoming another shorthand. I found that it was possible to recognise
certain sounds of speech just by their shapes. I am sure Sir Isaac
Pitman would have loved to have such a tool to play with, when he was
studying phonetics and investigating the exact sounds of English. His
interest in phonography was part of his preoccupation with spelling
reform, and his shorthand was offered as a way to enable people to read
and write without suffering the difficulties and embarrassments caused* by the wayward spelling rules of the English language.
* "caused" Special outline, to distinguish it from "cost"
From waveform to short form
When I first got a camera that could take movies as well as stills, I
took some supposedly peaceful scenes of my goldfish swimming lazily
around the pond on a sunny spring day, with the gurgling water filter
outlet, a blackbird singing beautifully and other birds twittering in
the trees. When I viewed it on the computer later on, there seemed to be
endless cars zooming past, planes overhead, shouts from children playing
nearby and various noises from other gardens. Obviously, whilst outside,
these sounds are tolerated and mostly ignored, and one can concentrate
on a sound coming from a particular direction, but in a recording that
information is lost as everything is lumped* together. Fortunately, with
the dictations, it was easy to remove the intrusions - mostly passing
cars and some concrete drilling nearby - as long as they occurred on
their own in the spaces, and not mixed up with the spoken parts. My
method was to keep half a second of background on the clipboard, and
replace the offending sections as I came across them. However, I was not
averse to a bit of sound file surgery when the unwanted noises could not
be isolated.
* "lumped" The P sound is omitted
Our dictations in shorthand class were always preceded by a certain
amount of tension. Although there was a battle on to recall and write
the correct outlines at a fast rate, what really piled on the pressure
was the paralysis that can occur when no outline at all comes to mind
for a particular word. There is a hesitation for a fraction of a second
and then it can all unravel, as the next outline is affected, and then
the next one. The only thing to do is to write a stroke for the first
sound or syllable of the word, and then move on. It is amazing*, though,
how a good efficient phrase can give you back the time lost, and even
allow you to get something in the margin for the missing outline.
High-pressured* speed-pushing dictations help to strengthen the
determination to overcome any wavering, but I do think that prepared
ones need to be the staple, so that you actually learn and use more new
outlines, and also gain a sense of achievement and encouragement from
the successes.
* "high-pressured" Keep the halved Ish short, as "high-pressure" would
also make sense here
* "amazing" "amusing" Always insert
the second vowel, to differentiate
Stock up
After making the recordings, I took all of them down in shorthand as a
final check on their quality, and I found that the ease or difficulty
depended on the subject matter rather than the speed. I also noticed
that my lazy little brain and hand worked no faster than they had to,
and so all the speeds felt very similar to each other. This natural
tendency to only put in the minimum effort to get by is definitely
something that needs addressing and taking a short but very fast piece
at the beginning of a study session, as a wake-up "bucket of cold
water", will do the job admirably. My shorthand teacher was adept at
this, and in the exams also there was always a faster warm-up piece,
which illustrates how necessary it is for good shorthand performance.
It is a worthwhile* exercise to persevere through the longer* pieces. It
would make sense to start with a slow one, as after a few minutes all
the mental distractions, naggings and wishes for it to be over
eventually give up pestering you, and you can settle into purposeful but
calm and serene writing. This is the only way to write at length, as the
mad high-speed dashes cannot be sustained for very long without the
shorthand disintegrating into nonsense. A successful long passage is a
great encourager, as it proves quite dramatically that writing
performance is held down by these interrupting thoughts, and not always
by a lack of shorthand knowledge.
* "wor(th)while" Optional contraction
* "longer" Keep the Ing clearly doubled, as "long" would also fit the sense here
Time's up
Future recordings will probably remain within the speed range of 60 to
120 words a minute, as faster examples of speaking can be found
elsewhere in normal speech, and it is the slower ones that are hard to
come by. It is also very easy to speed up the slower ones in Audacity by
changing the Tempo setting. I hope these recordings will help you to
pursue* your speed ambitions and hopefully reach and surpass the hundred
words a minute mark sooner rather than later. I also hope that the final
bell at the end will come to mean not "Glad that's* over" but "Another
successful dictation done and my speed goal nearer than ever!" (1019
words)
* "pursue" Note that "pursued" is written with circle S and stroke D
* See more at
www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/phrasing7-misc.htm#contractedapostrophe
Audacity Change Tempo screen
Audacity comes from the Latin "audax" = bold, daring, brave, fearless
Top of page
Crows (18 March 2014)
The other day I went to Danson Park in Bexleyheath to
check out the progress of the spring weather on the ornamental gardens.
Unfortunately* there were no flowers to photograph, but everything was
neat and tidy, with the roses pruned and the beds covered in a grass
mulch. I looked instead for other interesting features, such as the
twisted wisteria stems on the brick and beam pergola, and checked up on
the lily* pond, which was now clear of the
clogging duckweed. However, the woodland daffodil area further along was
in full bloom and the sun shining through the trees and illuminating all
the yellow trumpets made for some cheerful photos* at last.*
* "unfortunately" Optional
contraction
* "lily" Insert last vowel so it does not look similar to "little"
* "photos" Helpful to insert the
last vowel, and the diphone in "videos" as these are similar outline and
meaning
* "at last" "at least" Always insert the vowel
I wandered down to the rock and bog garden area at the
far end of the park*, where there are more trees and a secluded duck
pond that flows into the lake. On the approach path, I noticed some
crows digging in a muddy patch, looking for an easy meal. I threw them
some bread, to entice* them closer to get some good photos. The pieces
had hardly hit the ground before more crows started wheeling in, landing
with a bounce and their loud caws advertising the situation to all and
sundry. I moved over to a grassy area between the trees, a few yards
from the path, where they would not be disturbed by people walking by
and where they might feel safer and more inclined to come nearer. A few
more morsels sailing through the air attracted the attention of even
more crows, and within a minute or two there were at least* thirty of
them spread around me in an arc, and increasing all the time. Although
taking photos and movies was the aim, I found it more interesting to
watch them "live" than peer at them on the camera screen.
* "park" This abbreviation is only used in phrases
* "entice" Advisable to insert the vowels, as this outline shape would
more often be "notice"
* "at least" "at last" Always insert the vowel
They are big, bold and brash, with a swaggering walk and impudent
raucous calls, but there did seem to be an invisible line that they
would not cross, at a certain distance between them and me. It was
amusing* to see them approaching this boundary, sometimes stopping
within inches of the bread, and vacillating between lunging forward
towards the bread and pulling back without having got it. They were too
attracted by the food to retreat and not brave enough to get those few
inches nearer. The boldest one would eventually make a daring dash for
the piece and jump back as quickly as possible, as if on a piece of
elastic - but only just back over the line, so as not to miss the next
opportunity. I thought they might come closer if I sat down on the
bench, but then I could not fling it as far. I tried the ruse of
standing, in my dark-coloured clothes, with my back to a tree trunk or
some greenery so as not to present such a tall threatening appearance
and I think that if I had done this from the outset, it might have
worked better.
* "amusing" "amazing" Always insert the vowel
Whenever the bread disappeared in the grass, then they
seemed to consider* that the effort of finding it was not worth the risk
of missing the next piece. If it was bigger and more visible, that
seemed to bring out more bravery and determination. However, it was
certainly not* "out of sight, out of mind", as when I stepped back, the
whole crowd moved in to investigate and clear up, as they would normally
do when visitors leave the park benches after eating their snacks. I
wondered whether it was the crows' different personalities that
influenced the risks they were willing to take, or perhaps it was just
the hungriest ones who made the most efforts. Bigger pieces drew greater
courage from them, as the large size of the prize began to outweigh the
danger, although the successful claimant of the big chunk had the
additional problem of keeping it to himself. The safest place to deal
with the meal was up in a tree, with the lump firmly underfoot and
devoured crumb by crumb. Quite a few of the crows had stationed
themselves on the lower branches, to get a better view of proceedings,
and when I threw some pieces upwards in their* direction, they paid much
more* attention and could often be lured into following the piece to the
ground.
* Omission phrases "to (con)sider" "much mo(re)"
* "certainly not" N Hook and halving, to represent "not"
* "in their" Doubling for "their"
There are always one or two* crows about where I live, although they
never come into the garden, and a fair* number in the nearby parks. Some
days people's generosity with the bread exceeds the hunger of the ducks
and geese, and I am sure the crows do a good job of clearing away the
remains, after everyone has gone home. I did once see one struggling
with a hard dry crust and really wanted to see him drop it in the water
nearby so that he could eat it, but that did not happen, unfortunately*.
But if he had, I am sure he would have been smart enough to remember
what to do another time, and I think it likely that the others would
have learned from him as well. Knowing what clever quick learners and
opportunists crows are, next time I go to the park I will be looking
into those little black eyes and wondering just how much* intelligence
is behind them.
* Omission phrase "one (or) two"
* "fair" Insert the vowel so that it does not look like "fewer
number"
* "unfortunately" Optional
contraction
* "how much" Full outline for "much" instead of the short form, to
enable joining
Crow makes off with
his piece of banana
When I got home I checked up on the differences between crow, rook,
raven and the similar chough* and jackdaw. The British Trust for
Ornithology website has an excellent short video which explains all the
differences used for identification*, in their appearance, cries and
calls, manner of flying and walking, and general behaviour. The narrator
has a very clear voice and if you wanted to try your hand at some
ornithological dictation, I give below some of the vocabulary to use in
preparation. It is mostly natural talking speed, but you could try doing
several words or phrases at a time*, or perhaps every other sentence.
The crows are all behind you and are delighted to help you improve your
shorthand, as well as enable you to identify them correctly next time
you see them. In any event, you will certainly be able to see the
outline for "caw" whenever you hear them. (1044 words)
* Pronounced "chuff"
* "identifi(ca)tion" Contraction
* Omission phrase "at (a) time"
Am I handsome or what
www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-corvids
accomplished, aerobatic, aerobatically, buzzard, carrion, Celtic*,
Cornwall, corvid, cronk*, deliberate,
deportment, distinctive, down-curved, eponymous, feathered, fingered,
fledged, folklore, forage, frayed, garrulous, graduated, gravelly,
habitat, hackles, handsome, ID, Ireland, Irish, ki-ow*
or chow*, mistaken, noteworthy, oily*,
passerine, plumage, proportioned,
proportions, raptor, rarest, recognisable, repertoire, ruffle, Scotland,
Scottish, scruffy, Shetland*, social,
species, splendid, stout, strikingly, trousers, tumble, two-tone,
unique, unmistakable, winged, wingspan
* "Celtic" can also be pronounced (but not written
in longhand) with an initial S sound
* "cronk, ki-ow, chow" Not in dictionary, birders have many made-up
words to describe calls
* "oily" The diphthong is rotated slightly in order to join the stroke
* "Shetland" The Ish is not halved here, as it would be illegible with
the L following
Top of page
Daffodils (25 March 2014)
I would
like to share with you some photos of a daffodil meadow that I came
across recently in the historic garden at Hall Place in Bexley. I had
visited here at other times of the year and had not* really noticed this
corner of the parkland, seeing it from afar as just an area of woodland,
long grass and pleasant shade. But last week* I headed in that
direction, led on by the sight – and photo opportunity – of a few small
clumps of daffodils, set in the open grass area in the middle distance.
As I approached the clumps, further on I caught sight of the meadow, a
sea of yellow and white dots, waving about in the sun. I instantly made
my way towards it.
* "had not" needs the dot Hay and dot vowel, to distinguish it from "do
not", alternatively write the two outlines separately
* Omission phrase "las(t w)eek"
The morning was sunny but somewhat blustery and fresh, which meant that
there were not many people about, just right for my purposes, as I knew
I could get lots of clear pictures without having to skirt around the
other visitors. This was truly daffodil heaven and I wanted to capture
it all whilst the sun was still out and before the clouds increased and
rain started, as had been forecast. A few of the blossom trees were out,
but the majority were still bare. The ground was completely covered in
daffodils, all lit up in the sunlight with little shade from the trees,
and looking their best, as they were freshly* opened. The intermittent
breezes were an advantage when taking the movie clips, as they provided
movement and interest in the close-ups without any effort on my part.
* The F stroke is not reversed, this allows joining with the next
stroke, compare "fresh" in the top line
Daffodils and indeed all spring flowers seem to fade
away too quickly, and maybe this is because one tends to wait for a warm
day, or some free time, to go and see them, which means delays in making
the effort, and so opportunity is lost to see them at their best, or
even to see them at all. I walked round and round the meadow, up and
down the wide mown paths. There was no need to find the perfect
composition, as attractive pictures and views were everywhere. Every few
steps or change of direction started another flurry of clicks, and more
visual treasures added to my stash to take home with me. In the past, I
would just have to admire them as much as possible, and wish they would
last longer. Without a camera, I would be wanting to stay there all day,
preferably with warmer weather and maybe even the painting gear. There
are always other people's pictures to enjoy, but viewing your own has
the advantage of taking you back to the experience, the actual time and
place, with the satisfaction of knowing that the display will be
repeated next year.
I used to have lots of daffodils in my garden, after
a particularly active autumn of bulb planting in every available space.
After several glorious spring displays, they began to thin out and then
disappeared altogether. The clay is soggy in winter and rock hard and
dry in summer, and I had to admit that it was not worth replanting.
Nowadays, I have them in very large tubs, which can be moved away when
they die down, or planted with summer flowers, which does at least
ensure that the bulbs stay moist during the year. The ideal garden is
one in which there is a succession of flowers and colours, so that as
one display fades, another takes over to fill the gap. In my own garden
I have not been able to do this to a great extent, I must concentrate on
growing what can survive in the difficult soil.
I do make efforts to look for the very small flowers as well as the big
shows, and there is definitely something of interest happening all year.
In spring, the first tiny arrivals just need a close-up picture taken,
to isolate them from the barer scenery all around and convince me that
the garden really is blooming. Even in the depths of winter, there are
enough evergreens and berrying bushes to prevent the garden looking
entirely dead and empty. I like to leave seed heads on wherever they
will provide some interest. At the moment, there are bunches of large
brilliant red rose hips that I am hesitating to prune back, although I
know I will have to do it quite soon, in order to* get the best from the
roses this year. The colourful prunings will be tucked in somewhere and
will eventually feed the birds.
* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"
I have always enjoyed William Wordsworth's poem "Daffodils" the first
line of which reads "I wandered lonely as a cloud." I can truly say that
in this park meadow I really did see "ten thousand at a glance*, tossing
their* heads in sprightly* dance." It was an irresistible feast for the
eyes and camera lens, and having captured as much as possible, I felt
able to banish thoughts of their imminent fading away, or their being
flattened by heavy rain. At last I was able to enjoy the spectacle much
more. I learned this poem at school, as it was an easy one to memorise.
I could always visualise the scene of the carpet of flowers, blowing
about in the chilly lakeside breezes, although I did, in my ignorance,
imagine them as the big bold ones that we cultivate in our gardens and
parks. The wild ones are smaller and more delicate.
* "at
(a) glance" would normally be an omission phrase, but in poetry it is
preferable to write a fully as possible
*
"tossing their" Doubling to represent "their"
*
"sprightly" Insert the diphthong, as this outline written on the line
would be "spiritual"
I think he used the word
lonely as meaning alone in the purely physical sense, rather than its
less agreeable emotional meaning, and I always imagined that there were
wisps of cloud floating along above the lake, wandering over the
landscape apparently at random. The location of his walk with his sister
Dorothy (whose diary entry helped to inspire the poem) was Glencoyne Bay
next to Ullswater in the Lake District of North West England. I had to
look up "pensive" before I could appreciate the last verse, but I
whole-heartedly agreed with the fact* that "they flash upon that inward
eye". Without a vivid memory of them, they are lost when one leaves the
place, and the time spent with them is gone, without any chance to
relive it in thought. I am grateful that nowadays I can also get the
views to "flash upon that indoor screen", in much more detail and
quantity than memory alone can bring up. (1075 words)
* Omission phrase "agreed with the (f)act that"
www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/daffodil_wild/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wandered_Lonely_as_a_Cloud
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