11/29/09 10:43 pmWell, what should have been a 90 minute drive home this evening took... four and a quarter hours. We hit the blackwall tunnel approach road probably within minutes of a car fire in it, and just failed to take the right exit, thinking it was a bad exit, just as it all snarled up. Made it over tower bridge about three hours later... which was fun actually - it's a nice bridge to drive over and probably best at night.At least we found LBC radio and had a running commentary of the X Factor. It seriously helped pass the time. |
Cornelius, AgainMan of.... never mind. |
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11/6/09 09:26 pm - Mixtape.With apologies to jwz, my first LJ mixtape.Marina and the Diamonds / Mowgli's Road Nerina Pallot / Real Late Starter Lisa Mitchell / Coin Laundry A Camp / Love has left the room |
10/31/09 07:37 pm - Happy Halloween |
10/13/09 10:26 am - PoliticsI usually restrain myself from commenting on politics here, but the prospect of a conservative government is getting seriously scary now. It's Cameron's quote that's it in a nutshell: "It is more government that got us into this mess." No, David, it isn't - it's a reckless private financial gambling that got us into this mess - or to turn that around, it's a failure to have enough government that got us into this mess.Among all the Labour disappointment, I really wish Gordon Brown had announced a proper electoral reform referendum to coincide with the next general election. At least then we might be able to get out of this poisonous duopoly that now threatens us with an unchecked right-wing government that hardly anyone really wants, just because they're the only alternative to Labour. I think Britain would be much more social democratic overall if we sorted out the system. The Labour Party just fails us, time and time again. All that investment, all that progress, wasted and reversed, because Gordon Brown's an idiot. Shit. Will Hutton has a good article on it. |
10/1/09 04:44 pm - Kylie's new songSo a little story: we've seen Nerina Pallot live a few times now, she's loads of fun. I think twice now she's done a live song called "Better than Today" that's lots of fun, and she sold it on an only-at-the-gig EP (Buckminster Fuller EP). But it didn't turn up on the album. Odd.Turns out, Kylie's got it. It's good. Quite similar to how Nerina did with the band actually (though she didn't have the dancers...) |
9/25/09 09:43 am - In BrugesWell, I'm on the train to London where I'll hop onto Eurostar to Bruges. Quick weekend stag-do-which-isn't (because he married 18 months ago). Should be fun though the big food & wine expert of the crowd has dropped out, which is a a shame. Shall try to take pretty pictures. BTW, "in bruges" - the film - is recommended. |
9/22/09 09:53 am - DilbertToday's Dilbert features wisdom from the boss character, I like it. Or maybe I'm in a good mood because I enjoyed Elise Harris' latest siliness. |
9/1/09 03:51 pm - Alan Turing PetitionI studied computer science at university. Being a young kind of science, it doesn't have that many geniuses of its own. Arguably there's just the one who everyone recognizes, and his name is Alan Turing. He worked at Bletchley Park with the other code-breakers who were probably critical to letting Britain survive nazi attacks and the eventual defeat of the nazis in the second world war. Before that, though, he came up with the notion of a Turing Machine, which was really the first idea of a general programmable computer - like the one you're using to read this. He also came up with the Turing Test of artificial intelligence.Anyway, the sad part is that he was homosexual, which was a crime back in 1952. He was convicted for it and forced to take drugs for the condition (including female hormones). He ended up killing himself. There has never been any official apology for the terrible treatment of a man who saved countless lives and made key contributions to his country and the world's future. There's currently a petition on the "Number 10" website and I'd encourage Brits to sign it. |
8/10/09 03:08 pm - Paranormal Romance?Phew. The amazon seller I ordered a book from seems OK - they sent me "Dead to the World" instead of "From Dead to Worse" from the True Blood series. It is an easy mistake to make. Looks like they'll send me the right one with a reply-paid envelope, which is ideal.Just reading Caitlin Kittredge's "Street Magic". I'm taking a long time over it because I tend to read in bed but I've been tired enough recently to only get through a handful of pages each night. It's a bit off my usual track because for once it probably does fit under the heading "paranormal romance" which Borders (UK only?) have decided to use for urban fantasy, among other things. I much prefer "The Lady and the Vamp", the label that Waterstone's use. So it's amazing I read it, but I was reading Caitlin on LJ and just decided to order it when the stack of books-to-read got low. Not only does it feature a muscly male on the cover, along with a girl, but not really inviting male reading, but it's also an american author writing british characters in London. It's never going to quite work, but somehow I've ended up reading it as fantasy and I've not been too put off by the odd silliness; it's fun and I can forgive a fun book a lot. It's also pretty creepy - I was a bit restless last night and got up in the middle of night to read for a bit, and was a bit scared. I was sitting in the extension though, with all the unfamiliar noises and windows. It should probably be labelled "paranormal gothic slightly-horrory romance". Anyway, Richelle Mead's "Succubus Heat" is next to read and they're fabulous books. |
7/30/09 03:02 pm - Death's DaughterFinished reading Amber Benson's latest book, Death's Daughter, a few days ago. I enjoyed it - it's very lightweight and comedic, kind of asking to be a comic really, more consciously frothy than the usual Urban Fantasy that it could otherwise be grouped with. Pretty good stuff. |
7/27/09 07:51 pm - Music againAnother victory for the iPhone - arrived safely at Norwich Arts Centre with no printed map, just glances at phone at traffic lights. Even directed me from car park to venue. Of course, having someone else use it would have been that bit safer. And now I've got a toy to play with while I wait. I guess I should google the support... |
7/27/09 04:16 amUp at 4am with lemsip. Cold. Nasty cough, sneezing, general bunged-up-ness of the brain. Suspect I'm not going to work tomorrow. Not bad news, thought on Friday that the cough could be flu. |
7/19/09 10:56 pm - Bat for lashes |
7/19/09 07:30 pm - PollyWell with a nice modern phone now I can stand waiting for polly scattergood to come on stage and blog about it. I think you might get a picture later, you lucky people. |
7/5/09 07:52 pm - HookI think this is so cute that I'm going to post here as well as tweeting it! I've found some nice bits for the house at Ark - bin, mirror - and now this little hook. It has leaves and a bird and a rose. Posted via LiveJournal.app. |
6/18/09 05:01 pm - Another concert... it's tough...Went to see Nerina Pallot last night at the Scala in London. Turned out to be a very annoying venue - overpriced drinks and not allowing water to go in (although you could at least reclaim it afterwards). Next time must remember that they have nice railings and dashing in fast to get a place at them is a good idea.The nice surprise was the support, Lisa Mitchell, who was a lot of fun and did a lovely version of Dire Straits "Romeo & Juliet" to finish her set. Now I don't see myself as a Dire Straits fan, in the same way that I don't see myself as a Paul Simon fan; they're both simply classic acts with some amazing songs. This song happens to be one I love very much. So I was a bit blown away. Lovely stuff. Anyway, Nerina also very good, and got her new EP too (well, Laura did). She posted a photo of the crowd from her iPhone on twitter but we're a bit off to the right. Shame. |
6/9/09 08:50 am - Politics.What an absolutely pathetic spectacle the last few days have been. The labour party got wiped out at the european elections and it wasn't news. What else would you expect? Polly Toynbee has written this brilliant little opinion piece and I agree with it 100%. It's very clear how they should turn things around - the U-turns that are needed, for a start. I mean, for example, selling off part of the post office is just obviously unpopular. And why are they doing it? Do they have a death wish? It's not worth it. A few million is a small price to pay for losing such an unpopular policy, definitely in the big picture of the billions spent on ID cards and stimulus. It's just silly, but Gordon's not for turning. Ever. Let's not even mention Heathrow (so much noise on carbon, so little actually delivered). So how far will his new "listening" to the labour party go? Nowhere, we know that, he doesn't ever change anything, he's had 18 months and hasn't, and with more attacks now he'll listen even less.I had a lot of time for Brown, but I've given up. He's a disaster and he's going to be followed by a tory victory. He should never be forgiven for either. Addendum - so I just read another one: 1400 more jobs to go from HBOS, probably upto 25,000 eventually - another U-turn that should have been made. It was obvious soon after it was announced that having Lloyds buy HBOS was a stupid thing to do, and now we're taking thousands of job losses for the privilege of having a massive, monopolistic bank in the UK. Fabulous. Long term damage. Well done Gordon. Glad you're listening. |
4/14/09 04:18 pm - bat for lashesIt's really odd when the internet is down at home, unbelievable how many random bits it's useful for now."Bat for Lashes" last night at the junction in cambridge - very good - although the crowd is less fun now that she's a bit more popular. Not a bad crowd, just some annoying people in it. And I missed a free mask! Again! Too early this time! Damn. It was a very different performance, though - before she had her small crew who did lots of vocals and odd percussion stuff, whereas now it's a much more conventional band (with just one member in common perhaps). Very well done, though, right through to the second encore version of Daniel which was fantastic, and a nice surprise since she'd already done a quieter and more acoustic one early in the show. First support was Chrisina Weeks, who had a nice voice and did a good performance, but a bit too quiet and folky and whatever for me. Then we had School of Seven Bells, who were very good, and are out there on myspace. |
4/8/09 09:47 am - Ian TomlinsonThis is a video that has to be watched - for brits at least - a police officer attacking a passer-by, who offered no threat to him - this is very similar to other footage that has appeared in recent years, with the exception that this passer-by had a weak heart and died. It contradicts the police version of events, which now appears almost as fictional as it was in the case of the De Menezes killing or the Kingsnorth injuries.I can see some thugs in this video, nasty looking types with hidden faces, with big dogs and weapons they're waving at anyone. They're obvious because they're all in bright yellow jackets. |
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