In honour of my niece turning three today, I have made a movie from a poem I wrote for her. It’s about dreaming of frogs.

You can view it yourself if you like. The fastest option is to view the flash version, but you can also download the quicktime file here.

To see the flash version, you’ll need flash player. You’ll need quicktime for the other one.

I should note that all pictures apart from those of me are someone else’s. 

There once was a boy who loved math
But thought baking was really his path
He tried making pies
But too great were his Chi-s
So instead he went for a bath.

 * in honour of yesterday being international pi day.

It was a rusty morning on Castle Street
as I sat at a table to appease my feet.
The air was soft as clouds the morning stilled
the shops and streets sat patient, unfilled.

In this place of beauty past
I reconvene the months of last.
Thoughts so many, I dare not say
I'll note them all here, lest they walk away.

These castle walls see those days are lost
Once lively tales turned to mental moss.
Memories once so rich, but now can't tell
captive in my mind like a prisoner in a cell.

But the door is unlocked, feel free to come in
ask what you like, I'll give you the spin.

Sam Evans
Oxford Castle
18 Oct 2006

Originally written to start a Journal entry, I never got around to finishing the entry. I thought I'd post it, though, because it's still true.

It’s been a busy week. Today, I got to have lunch with Prince Michael of Kent when he came to the Business School at Oxford. A charming fellow, he sponsors a Russian student each year on the MSc in Management Research course.

Yesterday I kicked off the Work in Progress Series at the Martin Institute. This is a weekly meeting (much like a lab meeting in the physical sciences) where students and faculty alike present their current projects in whatever for they have them for comments from the rest of the Institute. I think this is a great way to develop the Institute’s already strong sense of community and to help each other from getting stuck for too long. To encourage attendance, I decided to write a little poem, which I post just for the hell of it. What will tomorrow bring? We can only guess.

There once was an Institute named Martin
Whose research was up and startin’
But when researchers got stuck
they were out o’ luck
’til a colleague the fog began partin’

Then from above came a thought
That might help the researchers a lot
“Let’s meet once a week
And discuss the latest feat
To keep those ideas thick ‘n hot!”

Expectation
The warm home bustles as lives move in and out
Breath like the puff of a pipe escapes the bundled as they chat on a street corner
And then they’re off!

The cold day makes their cheeks rosy, the sun makes their eyes sparkle
They dance from one event to the next
laughter and smiles mix with business and more cold air.

Fresh pies, a job complete, they settle in for conversation
Wits are matched, parried, and sharpened
The day complete, they snuggle in
Tired, but dreaming of tomorrow.

a watchtower
in the middle of the trees
cannot see very far

its purpose is taken
from inside the mind
of its creator

it makes sense
to have a watchtower here
when the purpose is to watch
not what is to be watched

the watchtower