Nick Brook

Last post?

Well the trip to Marseille passed un eventful. A hotel overlookinng the Old Port, several nice bars around. Missed out on a Bouillabaisse, though had plenty of fish. A mice meal on the Monday evening (scallops & black pudding for a starter followed by roast pigeon.) Marseille was a lot warmer than Geneva - Tuesday was a glorious day people sat outside eating! The meeting was very productive as well!

The trip to Lyon was interesting. Again a nice meal provided by IN2P3/LCG France. I'm not sure how useful more contribution was - not a right load of question. These are the time I really kick myself for not making a concerted effort to improve my French. I can just about get by to make myself understood (not over the phone though!) but even the simplest sentence I just can't work out. Trouble is it's obvious when someone else has done the translation - it's the running of words into each other that throws me.

Well CERN closed for the Chirstmas period yesterday I'm back in Bristol in the bossom of my family. Been back less than 24 hours & I don't think they are fed up oof me just yet. I'm sure Jen will llet me know - not that I saw her for more than 30 seconds!

Another year over nearly - where has it gone? I find it scarey that time flies by so quickly with the first collisions looming ever nearer at the LHC and so much still to do.

Uriah Heep live & other things

So this is a real trawl through obscure 70's rock bands. Last time Wishbone Ash, this time Uriah Heep. So what's catching Joe public's imagination most - physics or 70's rock. Well neither I think, even my daughter has stopped commenting.

Anyhow what have I been up to since the last post at the end of October. Well there's been a LHCb software week (yes another!) & a LHCb collaboration week. Software week was aimed again at readiness of the software for start of simulation production for the Data Challenge in 2006, so-called DC06. The aims of DC06 are two fold. One is to produce simulated data of LHCb for physics studies in order to produce a "physics book" outlining analyses for the 1st year of LHC data taking. The 2nd is to stress test the computing model that appear in the Techical Design Report, to check everything we want to do we will be able to do when the real data comes along. It's all really scarey with 2006 just around the corner there's not that long left to get ready for data taking when the LHC turns on. The start of the production phhase seems delayed by 6-8 weeks not too bad and on a par with previous data challenges, so had been planned for.

The collaboration meeting was the usual busy time, with many evening meetings. Saying that it was one less than the Barcelona - I got Tuesday off this this time. We are already preparing the manpower estimates to deliver the computing project in 2007. These have to be approved by the collaboration at the March collaboratrion meeting and given for assessment by the CERN Resource Review board in April. Thes things are like the Titanic - slow to stop & start rather than unstable and disastrous. The CERN RRB won't approve the figure until the October meeting in 2006. Just in time to start preparing the figures for 2008.

It's also time to start & prepare the rolling grant application for Bristol. This has to be submitted at the beginning of March to PPARC, the research council. this maps out the research funds needed upto 2011. So it's a pretty big deal. The submission is then perr reviewed over spring and the result towards autumn if all goes well. To complicate things the UK has introduced the concept of full economic costing. In the past you bid for the money for equipment and posts and there was a national flat rate percentage overehead that was meant to cost the infrasturcture & estate needs of the University in hosting the research group. Academic salaries were never paid by the research council but by the university through other funding lines. All change now everything needs an audit trail and academic research time is to be paid for through the research councils. There is still an estates & indirect costs estimated by the university but is no longer a national rate. So it's all change. To give Bristol their due they do seem to have got a pretty good tool in help preparing the financial bid in place via a web page. Anyhow to discuss all these changes & what need to be done (and more can't be done) for this grant round there was a UK group leaders in Birmingham. So off I trogged to represent Bristol - very useful. It was also my excuse to be back in the UK to see Heep in Bristol!

So Anatoly was finally allowed into the UK and has now started at Bristol. So the trip back to the UK also gave me opportunity to discuss things with him. Having negotiated all the paperwork for getting into Britain we now have to start all over again in order to allow the Swiss to let him so he can go to CERN. Letters from CERN to the Swiss embassy in London, the LHCb secretariat have seen it all before and are extremely helpful and efficient.

Christmas is approaching and it doesn't even feel festive, even though a large, illuminate Christmas tree has appeared at the bottom of the road I live on. Last year it was February before it was removed - I naively there was something about twelth night. But what do I know ... The kiosk at CERN seems to have been decked out for a month before but step things up for December. The restaurant is all decked out with a festive feel. I don't get back to the UK until December 21st, leaving the poor suffering wife to cope with all the preparation herself; it's the in-laws visiting this year. We did have a present buying evening though over a video chat - isn't Amazon wonderful. The Bristol group are not having a Christmas bash this year, but have delayed it until the New Year - fair enough. I won't be able to make that either I bet. I'm due to fly back to CERN on the 5th January.

Last week was a brief sortie to London for a PPARC project perr review meeting. The major item was to review a bid to provide the processing software for a large ESA mission. It's always interesting to compare & contrast how the Astronomer do things with how Particle Physicist do things. There's different mindsets - both of the plus & negative points. This review meeting was held at the Royal Institute in central London just off Oxford Street. Oxford Street was all decked out with its Christmas lights, could have done with some of the warmth at the Royal Institute as it was freezing. I guess PPARC hires the rooms at a reduced rate, if they don't they should ask for a refund! The oter two items were regarding Particle Physics: one to look at neutrino mixing at a reactor experiment in the US, near the Argonne National Lab & Fermilab; the other to look at R&D to remove the amount of cable for any future LHC upgrade. It's a major cost in dead material, cooling & power loss using the current power supply schemes for tracking detectors. The volume of cables just won't fit into the space come upgrade time!

So next week is a LHCb internal review meeting in Marseille, followed by a talk to the LCG France in Lyon. According to the agenda my talk will be in English but questions can be in French. Should prove interesting given my lousy lingusitic skills.

Wishbone Ash Live & other things

So what have I been up to since last posting.

Actually seem to have spent a lot of time in the UK! What with the start of term back in Bristol at the start of October and a new grad student and a new research associate due to start, I thought being around maybe be useful. Whether my student thought that is another matter. Everytime he popped his head into the office I seemed to be on the phone for hours on end - which is closer to the truth I would like to admit! Unfortunately the start of the RA was delayed due to time taken to issue a visa at the UK embassy in Moscow. The work permit had been issued weeks & weeks ago. He eventually arrived in Bristol this week.

So 2 weeks after the Barcelona meeting it was software week. This time it was part of the review process we've put in place to ensure things are OK for the start of a major Monte Carlo simulation production starting in early 2006. This is in preparation for a "physics book" for LHCb and provide input to a major data challenge in Spring'06 to check our computing model prior to data taking.

The week after software week I was back in the UK for the start of term, as I said, but a whistle stop trip back to CERN on the Friday in order to attend & give a presentation to the LHCC review meeting on the computing TDR, which was submitted in June. A 2 hour session had been pencilled in the morning.

On Friday evening we were meant to be going to "Center Parcs" in the wilds of Wiltshire; this was a long standing engagement to meet up with a couple of other families. The wives had all done their nurse training together. The more observant amongst you may have spotted the "meant to" in the opening sentence. Yep having been using EasyJet to Bristol without a hitch all year this particular Friday they cancel the flight. Arggghhh. The first flight back to Bristol they can get me on isn't until Sunday !!! - the Saturday flight was full. Judy was overjoyed when I phoned her & let her know the good news, especially seeing this weekend was arranged for my convenience as everyone wanted to go in September but I was too busy (collaboration week, s/w week, ...) Fortunately I got a place on the early Saturday morning flight into London Gatwick & got a train & met up with everyone Saturday lunchtime - so not a complete disaster.

A few comments on "Center Parcs" - "Glorified Butlins"; "Great outdoors for those who don't really want to be outdoors"; "One in a thousand - of people staying there that is" Anyhow the company was good though the bank balance may have taken a hit. For those wishing to avoid the experience feel free to browse the experience on the website - http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/home.jsp. Please remember the photos bear no resemblance to reality. Kick backs for this product placement will be gently refused. Miserable git aren't I - "bah humbug!"

A 2nd week in Bristol followed, including a trip to sunny Swindon for a meeting of the PPARC LHCb Oversight committee. Followed on Friday with keeping my hand in with the ZEUS experiment by being on an editorial board of a draft paper. Each paper produced by the collaboration has to going through this procedure - each paper is thoroughly reviewed by this independent board before being released to the rest of the collaboration. Only after the rest of the collaboration is happy with the paper is it sent off to an academic journal for publication. Of course the journal then appoints a referee to peer review the paper. If all goes well a paper can be through the editorial board in a month or two, if things are a bit screwy things can go on for a year! This was the 2nd meeting the first being before the holiday season at the beginning of August. One is always aware when peer reviewing a paper, from a large collaboration, for a journal the internal review procedure was probably more rigorous than anything you could do. But saying that often a fresh view on the subject can be revealing.

The following weekend had the Thewlis family (see earlier blog entry) visiting the Brook family - 2 good traditional Yorkshire names there. As you remember (or not) I've know Andrew since we were 5 or 6 years old. To break with tradition of a big meal and (usually) too much wine, we went off to a concert in glorious depths of Somerset in Frome (Cheese & Grain - great venue. Free tickets for the Budgie concert 10th December gratefully accepted) Anyhow this weekend it was off to see Wishbone Ash (yes they are still going & for those who are don't know they are a rock band from the 70's) A new guitarist and a new set - not the best gig I've seen them do (Shoot the sound technician, guys) but still a good evening. (I'd be interested to read a Thewlis blog on the evening) Best track of the evening was "Leaf & Stream" from their 1972 Argus album - spot on.

Been back at CERN a week now and back into the swing of things and a lack of social life again. Anyhow I should update you with things in the last week but later perhaps ....

Collaboration week - Barcelona

Last week was the annual LHCb collaboration meeting external to CERN. This year University of Barcelona had offered to host proceedings. As Barcelona is a place my wife, Judy, and I have often talked about visiting but never actually got our act together to do anything about it, this seemed an ideal opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Judy, being of a suspicious nature, didn't expect to see anything of me so had invited her sister (plus my 8 month old neice) along as well.

The LHCb software framework is called "Gaudi" after the Catalan architect who did most of his major work in Barcelona, so there was a "sad" physicist link as well in visiting the city.

So I was on a plane from Geneva on Monday arriving in Barcelona at 11:30 and Judy & her sister arriving half an hour earlier from London. So we met up at the airport - without a hitch!

I had a meeting at 15:00 so time we got to the hotel, settled in and sussed out the public transport it was time for me to get up to the university. Next time Judy saw me it was past 21:00 because of an evening meeting. Tuesday it was midnight before Judy saw me - again an evening meeting (but admittedly I had gone to a restaurant near the university afterwards - with Judy's blessing honest) And Wednesday it was 21:45 due to another evening meeting. Judy's cynicism seemingly well-placed. Collaboration meetings are busy times! Judy's sister leaves tomorrow is she going to see any more of me as a consequence?

But Thursday - there was a organised bit of tourism arranged in the meeting itinerary. Ha-ha. The only thing to negotiate was the UK group leader's meeting organised for the free period in the afternoon. Fortunately the walking tour is scheduled for 16:00. Shock! Horror! I managed to make it and meet up with Judy & it's still daylight. So the tour is meant to last 4 hours, dropping us of at a restaurant booked for the collaboration meeting dinner. Our group managed 2 hours walking before there was an uprising and a refreshment break was organised; a pleasant hour quaffing beer. This was followed by a whistle stop tour of a few other places of interest before a dash to the fish restaurant. The intriguing part of the tour was the visit to the food market. It's not often you see tripe piled high, full sheep's heads, brains, hearts etc hanging up in a British butchers' shop windows. Nor do you get such a fantastic choice of fish at thye fishmonger even by the coast. (I know we only live a few miles away in Bristol.) There was even a stall specialising in just shellfish.

Friday was the last day of the meeting with a scheduled end of lunch time. I met up with Judy for a bit of tourism. The first stop on the tour was the city's main cathedral folllowed by a trip to Gaudi's cathedral, Sagrada Familia. A fantastic building still under construction with many decades of work left to do. The place is like a building site but v. impressive nontheless. Then later in the afternoon it's a trip to the Picasso museum. Give me architecture over paintings anytime. That's the philistine in me I guess, I can appreciate trying to construct a building as a scientist but daubing bits of oil on a canvass to make cubes I have hang ups about. More fish for dinner - can't argue about that.

On Saturday, the weather broke; gone were the glorious blue skies to be replaced by torrential rain. Judy flew home in the morning so I waved her off at the airport before venturing back into town. My flight wasn't until 18:00. Foolishly I had left my brolly in the left luggage along with my case - whoops. (Along with the camera hence no photos - apologies.) Anyhow more Gaudi was on the cards - a visit to the Casa Batllo and La Pedrera (Casa Mila). One word can sum it up - fanatastic; I'm hooked.

Holiday Report 2005

Family arrive at Geneva airport. Flight was early - the airport online arrival information update changed suddenly! Not a good start - time I'd arrived at the airport the plane had landed. Fortunately time passport control had been cleared & baggage had been re-claimed, I was in place in front of the arrivals exit. First night spent in my 3 room "cave" in the Pay de Gex - Jen, Ryan & Jack on v. comfortable airbeds!

Holiday starts properly - a 5½ hours or 4½ hours depending on whether I believe the Michelin route plan or the AA route plan. Is it going to be cross country or motorway all the way? Yes you've guessed it the time difference between the two routes depends on if you believe Michelin or the AA - though both agree it's slightly quicker. Cross country it is - 1 mile away from the house, it's a U-turn. I've forgotten all my important documents: ID card; passport; car insurance; car registration; ... 6 hours later we finally in the Cère valley at a small village of Thiézac in the Cantal department of the Auvergne. The kids had the fun game of accumulating the body count at the accident black spots as we passed the cut out corpses that seem to be popping up at the side of French roads. The gîte is spot on & in a grounds of a château -I guess I wasn't as a stingy this year when booking online. Either that it was on a Saturday night in January after a glass of wine too many.

Day 1 for walks and we're off! I promised that I wouldn't start off with the highest peak in the Cantal on the 1st walk this year. So true to my promise it was off to the rolling countryside south of the valley we were staying in for a gentle stroll. Well that was what they thought! I'll get my own back on them laughing when I had to turn around for those documents. Starting off from the church in Pailherols to return a mere 14½ miles later with a total ascent of 950 metres. That ascent comes from visiting the next valley and the next one in that rolling countryside. Ha Ha! They weren't laughing so loudly now. Mind you my blister on that little toe wasn't laughing either.

The return was two weeks ago now and it seems like an age. In fac it seemed like an age after 1 day. The relaxation of the holiday immediately turns into stress when you get back to 500 email & thats after the SPAM filter!

Monthly post - eventually

So this is a record for me. I am not very efficient keeping the blog up to date. It's 2 months since I posted an entry. Not that an army of fans have been banging on the door for more. Even my daughter hasn't harangued me.

So what has happen in my life since the last post. Zzzzzz - whoops dropped off there casting my mind back over my life during the past 2 months.

May:
- Judy, my long suffering wife, came and stayed sans les enfants for a long weekend at the end of the month. I nearly managed to kill her dragging her up into the Jura. I have to admit to the odd twinge myself. 20km only but it was the steep climb for the first 7km that was the killer. Then a trip to Annecy in the rain. It always rains when Judy visits - least this time it wasn't a deluge. Oh and a trip to a vineyard near Beaune to pick a couple cases of wine :) - partly my birthday present

June:
- the computing T(echnical) D(esgin) R(eport) was submitted and an open presentation to the LHCC review panel. No feedback as yet - though it seems to be planned to have a 3 day review meeting for all 4 of the LHC experiments computing TDRs plus the LHC computing Grid project TDR sometime in September
- flew home to partake in the annual bubble-chamber 5-aside soccer tournament in Birmingham. This is an inter-university tournament that has been ongoing 30 years. Bristol have only entered a team in the last 6 years. We won the tournament a couple of years ago. The year I couldn't make it! I'm the old man of the team by at least 15 years and we had a couple of ex-Bristolians playing as well - it's the winning not the participation that matters! I'll gloss over our performance this year but for those interested Liverpool won it for the first time ever. I won't mention anything about South American ringers - no sour grapes.

As you may have noticed from my bio I was meant to return to the UK at this point but have singularly failed to mention that fact here. For the simple reason I'm staying in Geneva for the time being. As my daughter pointed out - I'll have left home by the time you come back. [Spot the correlation Jen ;) - just kidding love you really]

July:
- an interview panel at RAL to find a person to fill the LHCb eScience post there. A strong field of candidates, so looks good.
- an ALICE Oversight committee meeting for the UK funding council. The trip was notable for the complete cancellation of trains from London to the West country & Wales because some tosspot's preferred suicide method involved splattering themselves on a high speed train. What's wrong with an overdose locked in the bathroom - no inconvenience there except to your closest & nearest. In fact there may be no "closest & dearest" if you're suicidal - that would save that hassle as well. In fact self-burial alive sounds like a method to recommend or how about hiring a crematorium for a day. Tasteful music, a few flowers - you could always travel in style & hire a hearse. Rant over.
- a trip up to London (with Jack, my youngest, & his friend) to watch the rugby. This was the week after the bombings & Jack's friend who came with us was slightly wary. Not much sign of terrorist activity in Brentford though. A poor performance ending in defeat - we didn't deserve to win but London didn't look too good either. Huddersfield's season hasn't looked too rosy since the Wigan victory.

August:
- the annual holiday approaches. For the 4th year running it's 2 weeks in the Auvergne region of France. Plenty of walking, wine & cheese. This is an old volcanic region & this year it's the Cantal department we are heading. The family arrive in Geneva Friday evening and after a cramped night in my cave it's off to Thiezac. I should give a full report, with photos, when I return. Please hassle if I don't.

Another barren spell

Well apologies again. A month since the last post. Not that I've been pestered to update you on my enthralling life. Though I noted I was asked to comment about the political situation in the UK with respect to the UK general election.

It is difficult to believe the UK have re-elected a proven liar and charlatan for another 5 years in office. Not that he's likely to last 5 years in office before he's replaced as Prime Minister by the current chancellor. The same man who took a pension system that was in surplus and turned it into defecit. God help us!

So what's happened since the last post. Well most importantly it was my wife's birthday. And I remebered it. And I sent a card from Geneva. She also got her present early at Easter. Does that earn me Brownie points - probably not seeing I've abandoned her and the kids for nearly a year now. Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say. I think it just dawning on the family how surplus to needs I am - as long as the money appears in the bank account.

The computing Technical Design report progresses. It was presented to the Technical Board of the experiment at the end of April without too many requests for improvements. And a copy was sent out the collaboration for comment this week. The final deadline for submission to the LHCC review committee is June 20th.

A trip back to the UK at the beginning of May for a PPARC project review panel meeting in Birkenhead. In case you don't where that is - it's just the otherside of the River Mersey from Liverpool. A pleasant two days in the North-West of England. It was also a Bank Holiday in the UK. My son suggested I accompanied him on a sponsored walk. A mere 22 miles - starting out from Weston-Super-Mare near thhe coast of the Bristol Channel to the Cathedral city of Wells. I was fine after the walk but my kness the day after were aching.

I was only home a few days and someone managed to drive into the car. It all happened in slow motion. I thought this guy isn't gooing to stop coming out of the cul-de-sac. He's going to drive straight into me. And indeed he did. Luckily he was only going at slow-speed so the damage wasn't too extensive but still a dent in the door and the need for the car to be off the road for 3 days.

Currently LHCb software week - always a busy week for me. The theme of this week is to try and understand the needs and requirements for aligning & calibrating the detector. Essential tasks to ensure the physics performance of the detector is maximised.

Last and not least. Huddersfield rugby league club completed a home & away win over Wigan. The first time since the 1941/42 season they've achieved this. Fantastic. Even my father wouldn't remember the last time it happened.

PPARC New Chief Exec

PPARC annouced earlier this month their new chief exec - Keith Mason a space scientist from Mullard Space Science Laboratory in London. But hang on doesn't he play prop forward for St Helens

New PPARC chief exec

Hard hitting prop forward and sound tackler

(Shurely sum mishtake - editor)

Few days in the UK

I got back to the UK a few days ago - Tuesday evening to be precise. Nice to see all the family. Well most of them as Ryan was away on an outward bound course and only got back yesterday.

Wednesday was taken up by attending the PPARC Oversight committee for LHCb. This is the committee used to monitor the UK side of the project. As we are asking for release of additional funding we were really under the microscope. The committee met in London (110 pounds return on the train from Bristol as opposed to 11 pound return to Swindon & PPARC's HQ.) I hate London - dirty, smelly & grubby and that's just the people - only kidding ;-) But I do loathe London - the place is so impersonal. I'm glad I never got any of those jobs I applied for there I would've hated it. I guess I'm just a Northern oik & not a city sophisticate.

Thursday & Friday was in at work in Bristol. Catching up with status of things with Richard, our engineer, and the students. Though we have weekly telephone meetings - it's always easier & more productive face-to-face.

This weekend is a visit to some long time friends. I've known Andrew since we were at infant school together at the age of 5. He's an accountant so I get to see how the other side live. He has 3 kids (Eleanor, Mark & William) and I'm Eleanor's Godfather. We usually meet two or three times a year and the weekends tend to be fairly raucous. So keep watching for further details ...

Wedding Anniversary

I should also say it's my 10th wedding anniversary today! Thanks Jude for putting up with me for so long!