Chores

A list of garden jobs done/to do this weekend:

1. Moved some 'rosebud' primulas from the nursery bed to the raised bed in the back garden. Rest next week, a few are for mum - they are sooo small and pretty.
2. I put the largest Dicentra Spectablis into the front border and have another 3 on the way. 1 is for mum, 2 going spare - hadnt expected any of them to germinate after forgetting about them since last year, but they all did !
3. Removed loads of Herb Robert (aka 'Stinky Bob' !) which I hate, from the front beds. It looks pretty enough, but yerch the smell is disgusterous !
4. First sowing of parsnips are still hardening off, they will go in next weekend and then I will sow some more.
5. Last of the potatoes ready to be 'sacked up', so thats about 6 weeks between first and last, should give us a few meals worth. I might have done lots more, but blight was so bad last year I was relucatant to risk it this year. First sets are already showing good foliage so will be earthed up in their bags, at the weekend.
6. Steve is going to prepare the next 2 raised beds this week, so then I will be ready to sow lots of carrot varieties when I get back.
7. Havent done onion sets, but should have as we eat lots. If its not too late, will get some brown and red in for the weekend...
8. Must check regional sowing/frost dates again - its so much later here than London and most planting guidance doesnt allow for that. Not time here yet for the brassicas, so their beds are waiting.
9. Autumn rasps doing well, might have lost 1 of the 10, not bad. Summer rasps are still dead sticks in the ground - hoping to see some growth this month or I will worry that I have lost all of them !
10. Asparagus - green varieties are doing well, Purple Stewart not so happy - thin, small, some a bit brown at the tip. Must investigate incase soil isnt right.
11. Top/back garden has been rather neglected while we try to get control of the veg garden, so did a bit of emergency weeding. Attacked the thistles and a mustard thing that frankly grows like a weed !

Charlie in his England Kit

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Charlie for England!"][/caption]

Charlie chose to buy the new England Football kit with some of the money he received for his 7th Birthday.

Click on the photo or follow this link to see more photos.

Misc. Planting

We have received the 20 rosebud primulas  and 10 Ariane asparagus crowns, both will go in today, as will the sweet peas from Auntie Sue which have been neglected in their pot until now.

A couple more raised bed frames need making up, so Steve can dig/build/fill them this week, for next weekend when I  will start planting seeds.

First 3 potato sacks are done - with 4 tubers in each of Charlotte, Juliette and Anya. Next round of those in another weeks time.

Putting a small wooden border around the raspsberries, to protect them from the wind and to retain a bark mulch I plan to put down.

Thats going to take more time than I have so Id best get started.

Strawberries and woodlice

Last year we planted a few varieties of strawberry in a large planter, as we didnt have space anywhere to plant them out. This year, we have plenty of room, so I have transplanted them all into a 2x1m bed.

Biggest challenge now is woodlice - how to keep the little blighters out of the fruit. I dont normally bother about them, they are fairly benign, but they do like strawberries so they have to go ! I would normally use straw to mulch, but as that is a perfect home for woodlice Id rather not, but I dont know what else would work instead. Need to find something in the next few weeks, maybe something artificial that is less welcoming to wildlife ?

Asparagus

Our order was for 10 crowns each of Backlim and Ariane , plus 12 of Stewarts Purple.

So far the Backlim and Purple have arrived and are in two beds. 7 Backlim and 4 Purple in one, 4 Purple in the other waiting for 7 of the Ariane. The rest will go to Loulou and Booya for their lottie.

Beds are fab - Stevie dug them out, we put compost and cardboard in the bottom, premium topsoil above, with a few handfuls of FBB mixed in.

As much as one can do really to give them a good start. They were a little bit dry - left in the bag in the box for a couple of days while I was away, but not too bad.

Now though, we have an unanticipated problem. One of our blackbirds likes asparagus ! Maybe he thinks they are worms/caterpillars, but he is having a real go at them and has damaged 2 so far. I will have  to net the rest asap until they are strong enough to withstand his attention.

I got a name check on El Reg!

I tipped off The Register (Top IT News site) about some preposterous "strategy boutique" tosh for the naming of the new Palm device (Palm  Prē) and they ran a story and credited me for the tip. Shucks..!

Naming the Palm Prē: Strategy Boutique OD's on joss-sticks • The Register.

Scarborough - Charlie visits with Pam & Arthur

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="167" caption="The Windmill"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Tardis!"][/caption]

Pam and Arthur took Charlie to Scarborough and stayed overnight at the fantastic Windmill Hotel.  Beyond the fantastic Windmill itself it also houses a vast collection of Toys from the 1960's and on. I recognised some of my faves (Thunderbirds, Batman) along with tons of other cult classics (Super heroes, Star Wars).

I joined them for the first day and then brought Tinker home.

Click on the TARDIS photo or this  link to see the photo set.

Kudos to Liam and a great post on music, coolness and parents.

I bumped into Liam's nice music blog and really enjoyed this post: Fuzz Box: Help! My Parents are Cooler than Me!

It helps that I know the people involved - but it's great (and a bit strange feeling) when someone you've known since they were (what?) about 8 yrs old turns into a grown-up - and not only that but a wise and thoughtful one.

Nice post - great writing.

David Byrne @ The Sage - 1st April 2009

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="David Byrne - not my own photo - click to see a nice set at Flickr by user pebblesfromheaven"][/caption]

Alison and I saw David Byrne's concert at the Sage (Newcastle) last night (Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour tour).

It was absolutely amazing - brilliant, funny, heartwarming, touching.... and funky... great musicians, 3 dancers, that amazing voice, that back-catalog of songs in collaboration with Eno (Talking Heads & Solo) mixed with the new (Everything That Happens Will Happen Today) album.

It's hard to pick a highlight - there were so many...:

• The long funky grooves of the Remain In Light era


• The simple beauty of "Heaven" ("is a place... a place where nothing... nothing ever happens")


• The art-pop classic "Once in a lifetime" - one of Byrne's/TH's best known - still fresh and intriguing ("...and you may ask yourself.. how did I get here... where does that highway go to")


• The dancers (simultaneously all NY artsy pretentious and yet funny/quirky) - added to the spectacle and showed DB's love for presenting a "show" whilst avoiding "rock clichés".  Praise to him to take 3 dancers on a world tour... I'm sure it would be more profitable to tour without dancers.. but he chose to bring them along.


• The country gospel tinged new stuff... and the amazing "Take me to the River"...


• DB "being the sampler" and vocalising the sampled sermon from "Help Me Somebody"...
  
  
  
  • "There`s no escape from Him. He`s so high you can`t get over Him. He`s so low you can`t get under Him. He`s so wide you can`t get around Him. If you make your bed in Heaven He`s there. If you make your bed in Hell He`s there. He`s everywhere."
  
  
  
  


• All those great lyrics:
  
  
  
  • this aint no party.. this aint no disco....
  
  
  • I'M AN OR-DI-NARY GUY!
  
  
  • I'm changing my shape-I feel like an accident
  
  
  • Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
  
  
  
  

Wonderful evening - a priviledge to be there.

UPDATE: These 2 reviews (of other concerts on the tour) are fair and good:

• The Times


• The Guardian

David Byrne @ The Sage - 1st April 2009

Alison and I saw David Byrne's concert at the Sage (Newcastle) last night (Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour tour).

It was absolutely amazing - brilliant, funny, heartwarming, touching.... and funky... great musicians, that amazing voice, that back-catalog of songs in collaboration with Eno (Talking Heads & Solo) mixed with the new (Everything That Happens Will Happen Today) album.

I have loved this music since I first listened to Talking Heads back around 1980/81 - I was lead there via Bowie/Eno collaborations and the Talking heads albums were a continuation and extension of the Eno produced experimental art pop/rock... leading then to the wonderful My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and The Catherine Wheel. Up until recently most this stuff had become "orphaned vinyl" - lost in the loft and un-played. Fortunately Alison bought me the complete set of Talking Heads CDs (remastered, re-released with extras etc.) for my birthday a few years ago and I went through phase of listening to them all again... like old soul-mates reunited.

Last night's concert featured a fine mix of the older stuff and the new...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Photo on Flickr (not my own)"][/caption]

Treee !

Ages ago, we said we would plant an apple tree in our garden, for Granny Pam.  Pending the new veg garden, we weren't sure where it would go but now that is all sorted, it was time to get it done.

So, here is the evidence - Granny Pam, ably assisted by Charlie, planting her tree. But not any old tree, it is a 3-apple tree. There are Gala and Sunset dessert apples AND Bountiful cooking apples all grafted onto one dwarf tree. Not sure how long before any of it will bear fruit, but we shall offer the first harvest to GP to make pie !

At the same time, we planted a dwarf dessert cherry nearby.

Germinating Parnsips

First parsnip seeds have been set to germinate, using the widely recommended kitchen-roll method. Basically, the seeds are put on damp kitchen roll, kept warm until they germinate and then moved out into a prepared drill by which time the soil has warmed up a bit more. The bed isn’t even dug yet so we need to get cracking on that asap.

If this works, I will start another batch off in a couple of weeks time for succession planting.

The wireworm risk is high for parsnips (and all roots), given that we are planting on land that last year had sheep and cows grazing on it, so I am a little nervous about how well they will perform, but we have to give it a go.

The parsnips (Picador) will share a 3m x 1m bed with a few different types of carrot – round ones - cant recall the name, came free on a magazine, as well as Purple Haze, a rainbow mix and Samurai (red). Some of the local kids want to grow the coloured and round carrots too, so in return for their help moving stones, I have set aside a 1m square bed for them to share and they can choose any of my seeds that they like. So far, all have gone for the ‘funny carrots’, with one considering a side order of yellow cherry tomatoes. I think a few pumpkins will be fun too, if only for making lanterns.

Asparagus beds - almost done

Having read in various gardening forums that 2009 asparagus deliveries are already underway, it was time to get the beds to their next stage of readiness.

Steve has moved a whole load of the topsoil from front garden to back – an ingenious ramp system on the wooden steps made it possible to get the whole way with the barrow without having to unload/reload it or use buckets, phew.

We now have both beds filled to ground level. We are allowing them a day or two to settle during which my job is to get the edges weeded and straightened up, line up the raised bed surrounds nice and straight, then fix them into position for Steve to top them up with more soil. We will fill them almost full, as they will sink down as the compost composts and we can top up as required from there. I will also add some fertilizer to the topsoil layer – probably bonemeal.

Planting will be in blocks, 11 plants to each 2m x 1m bed which is perhaps too many but I am hoping it will be okay:

X X X X

X X X

X X X X

I will use 7 of each green variety and an extra purple one. The rest of the order will go to BooLou for their lottie:

Stewarts Purple x 12 early, sweet, purple

Ariane x 10 (organic) early season

Backlim x 10 (organic) mid to late, can be grown as white asparagus after a few years

Bah Bah Bah... Ba-ba-ba Bah Bah....

Just watched West Ham 5 vs 0 Newcastle (Div 2 - 1979) with Charlie....

Yes we should have been doing spelling or reading I suppose... but.. it's Friday.. and... er...

Brooking, Devonshire, Bonds, Lampard.... Pop Robson.... standing on the terraces... jumpers for goal posts... Brian Moore... marvelous.

Even the Cardif City fans singing "We'll see you all outside" during their game with Stoke City had a bit of a nostalgic ring to it. A young Garth Crooks poaches a goal.

Interactive/User-generated content in 1979...?

Brian Moore holding the original letters sent in by viewers asking "just what was Alan Ball doing at the end of last week's League Cup final" (Answer - nicking a piece of turf as a souvenir)

The Big Match Revisited (The Big Match - Wikipedia)

Great Nostalgic 80's football video

The Guardian's online sports pages have a weekly selection of sports video clips (plenty of football) with a mix of nostalgia and current weirdness/sensational stuff - usually decent picks and worth a look.

This week's:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/mar/26/youtube-bbc-liverpool-lewis-hamilton

is a corker...:
"Featuring a Brian Clough left hook, Manny Ramirez swapping baseball for cricket and a belting simultaneous double KO"
And the very nostalgic: "...1987-88, the BBC did a Goal of the Season competition just for Liverpool."

Test Entry

This is a test to see if it propogates via FriendFeed... to Twitter.... then on to Facebook...

Garden Diary #8

We received our topsoil order today.

I also continued work on our raised beds - adding compost then covering over with old newspaper and cardboard (as per instructions from wifey).



The topsoil was delivered by a local company (Farnaby) who deliver via a huge artic. lorry (er... wagon in Yorkshire) with a 3-wheeled fork lift on the back to lift the large bags of soil off the wagon and deliver to the customer site.

Made me think... I wonder how much energy (joules, KW, calories - whatever) will have been used in "producing" then delivering the soil we received... and how much food will we need to produce to generate the equivelent amount of energy. Also... can you imagine the idea of shipping topsoil around the country - even relatively locally - without the aid of fossil fuel based transport and "mechanical muscles"? I guess I'll find out what it's like to shift 2 tons of soil about 30 meters at least... by wheelbarrow!

Garden Diary #7

The topsoil arrives Tuesday pm. I imagine Steves biceps are protesting already at the prospect of barrowing that lot down the garden path !
I am doing remote support by reading the latest 'Garden Answers' mag - free asparagus ! I wish Id known about that a month ago.

Garden Diary #6

Mothers Day :-)
Ordered 2 tons of topsoil from Farnabys, just down the road near Scotch.

This will come next week sometime, mainly to start building up the asaparagus beds once Steve has put in layers of compost, cardboard and any other organic stuff we can get hold off. I am now officially talking horsesh*t !

Recent Photos

Some recent photos sets [see ALL OUR PHOTOS AT FLICKR]

CVJFC Matches

Charlie as Four Arms

Christmas at the Mee’s

In the Snow - Dec 2008

London - October 2008

Garden Diary #5

TO DO #1 – dismantle the old raised beds, rebuild as 2 x 2m instead of 3 x 1m squares. Use the old site near the lawn to prepare for the two trees. New beds will be for root veg and/or salad, not sure which to do first, must check planting plan.
TO DO #2 – order topsoil for next weekend.
TO DO #3 – make a list of what to sow/plant and when, by month.
Ordered a starter pack of Gripples, mainly for the raspberries.

Garden Diary #4

Ordered some fruit from Blackmoor Nurseries: A ‘Family’ apple tree, this is a dwarf tree with 3 varieties of apple grafted onto it, courtesy of Dr Frankenstein. It grows to 8-9’. Bountiful is a cooker as we don’t have space for a Bramley. Raspberries: 10 canes of Prosen & 10 canes of Polka for extended season and finally a Cherry Maynard - 2 Year old tree on a dwarf rootstock, about 6’ max. That’s the 'orchard' sorted.
Picked up a bunch of free pallets from the local garden centre, to stand the potato sacks on – keeps them a bit further away from the slugs ! Also, will help keep weed fabric in place over the wild patch at the southern end of the lawn.

Garden Diary #3

I planted the gooseberry bush and blueberry bush which were previously in pots, at the south end of the plot, next to the shed and next to one of the rhubarb crowns, all in an east-west row. They will get lots of sun there, from mid-late morning for the rest of the day. These are all straight into the soil, not in beds but with good soil and compost added to the stoney mess of the original ground.
Blueberry is not looking very happy – it needs ericaceous fertilizer asap.
Rhubarb already has shoots appearing ! Must resist urge for rhubarb crumble – they need to be left alone this year to help the new crown establish.

Garden Diary #2

Steve and I made up the 2 new linkabord raised beds, 2m x 1m each.
Steve dug pits 6-8” deep, so we can put sharp sand and compost into the bottom, before adding the raised bed sides and filling with topsoil. End result will be about 12” deep beds of which 6” will be raised. These run north-south along the western edge of the plot. Lots of sun but also lots of wind so we plan to put a windbreak screen up along the wire fence.
These beds are for the 3 varieties of asparagus crowns which arrive end March/April. Asparagus fern gets to about 5’ tall !

Garden Diary #1

Received a large rhubarb crown from Uncle Tommy, variety unknown. Divided it into 3 parts, rather unscientifically with a spade, but making sure each segment had some shoots. Planted one in each southern corner of plot, 3rd one is for mum. Put lots of home-made compost into the hole first and backfilled with growbag soil from last years tomatoes.
They need a FYM mulch when the leaves die back later in the year and poss some nitrogen before then.

Garden Diary

I am going to document our work to transform a patch of former agricultural land into a working fruit and vegetable garden, providing the majority of our produce, hopefully within about 12 months.

When we took ownership, the good thing was that it had been grazed by both cows and sheep so was well manured and not too out of control. The bad bit was the soil level varied by about 6 feet with a big 'basin' in the centre of it, and the only thing slowing down the couch grass was the rocks.

The basin has now been levelled but with fairly low grade filler - lots more rocks, just a bit of soil, not good enough to grow anything except more couch grass.

The fence is up, so we are now taking control and starting to lay out the raised bed areas. A little bit later than I would have liked for this season, but we should have time to get a good range of crops in, even if its not everything - like we probably wont have a greenhouse until next year.

Happy 5th Birthday Charlie

Our boy Charlie was 5 years old yesterday. It's his party today in the village hall with lots of friends.
What a smasher... here's a recent picture.

Red Nose Day

I'm a bit (ok, a lot) of a grumpy-old-man when it comes to charridy events like Red Nose Day. A mixture of political views (charity replacing social duty etc. - I won't rehearse the well worn arguments here) coupled with manufactured (and joyless?) organised-compulsory-mass-participation-fun!!! and all that it entails (TV, Radio etc.).
However, Charlie has been counting down the days as they are allowed to wear red noses and red T-shirts at school. Bless.

Bowie on working in a record shop in the 60's

These could be heroes . . . one day-Arts & Entertainment-Music-TimesOnline:
This is to promote DBs involvement as a "Nokia Music Recommender".
Some nice recollections about a time I don't really remember, yet can associate with.

"A record shop was just about the coolest place one could hang out in back then — perhaps not quite as cool as a coffee bar or the burger-selling innovation known as the Wimpy Bar, but it ran a very close second. People who were “aware” were attracted to record shops."

does it suck or rock?

does it suck?
Just in case you can't decide if something in your life is good/bad (rocks/sucks) these nice people have provided a simple tool to help you :-)
High scores are good.
Here's a few things that are clearly important to me - it seems the Gruffalo rocks all our worlds and I am entirely average.
The West Ham result clearly shows this system doesn't work!!!

the gruffalo 10.0
bowie 9.8
sylvian 9.5
west ham united 9.4
northstar 9.4
marmite 6.9
linux 6.3
steve adams 5.0

ARTO LINDSAY Photos

Stumbled upon these great recent Arto Lindsay photos... (dig the beard!)
DARIO VILLA - ARTO LINDSAY
whilst I was attempting to see what he is up to since his last solo CD.
Not much it seems - though he did produce this interesting sounding CD on Matthew Herbert's label: MICAH - Everything.
The photography site has some other nice jazz musician sets too.

Ask tries U.K. guerrilla marketing campaign

This News.com article reports on an attempt at an edgy, guerrilla marketing campaign by Ask.
It seems fairly lame to me, both in the approach (trying toooooo hard to be cool and edgy) and in the arguments it makes about "information freedom". Yes, we need to be careful about handing any company a monopoly.... but what makes Ask such a great alternative?
Their site seems laden with more obtrusive advertising per results-page (than google), and less relevant results (than google or yahoo)

Ask tries U.K. guerrilla marketing campaign | News.blog | CNET News.com
More here: http://valleywag.com/tech/advertising/a-botched-revolt-against-google-244111.php

Blue Peter fakes phoneline winner

Blue Peter fakes phoneline winner | The Register:
This has been covered everywhere, of course... but I had to laff at the wonderful subheading from the Register on this:

"Here's one we made up earlier"

No rules, no boundaries for Frisell

No rules, no boundaries for Frisell:
Nice interview with humble-guitar-genius Bill Frisell.
"Music has always been the place for me where anything is possible,'' he says. 'You can just do whatever you want, and it doesn't hurt anybody. You can try anything -- you can jump off a cliff, or a tall building. You can be aggressive or not. It doesn't do anything but good."

One for my Dad - twirl a squirrel...

YouTube Video - twirl a squirrel

Arrgggh!!! - my Palm T3 just died

"My Palm T3 just died.
Symtoms:
Working fine in the morning, pulled it of my pocket in the afternoon - no life whatsoever."
I posted a message to this forum... let's see if anyone can help...

Petition to stop the BBC crippling it's new digital services.

I don't sign many petitions, but I signed this one.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the BBC from making its iPlayer on-demand television service available to Windows users only, and instruct the corporation to provide its service for other operating systems also.

Go here and sign up.

Don't let Granny Pam see this !

The Daily Puppy (Warning: Overly Cute).
Also goes with this: DogsBlog.com

Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes (Youtube Video)

The term Web 2.0 (Two dot oh) has been widely used over the past year or two to describe the "next generation" of web services and technologies which "emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users" (Wikipedia Web 2.0).
The video (link) is a very nice summary for techies and non-techies alike - it's worth the 5 minutes.

MS Vista

There was lots of press coverage of the new MS Vista OS recently.
Some of my friends and family ask me for advice about technology and I usually make it clear that I generally dislike MS and their products and think they do not provide good value for money.
Increasingly both of the main options (Windows or Mac) utilise restrictive technology (e.g. DRM) to stop your computer doing what you want and doing what it is told by the content companies (i.e. music and film).
I think that Linux (see: www.getgnulinux.org) is now ready for most "civilian" users these days - although if you have some specialist needs or devices you may well be tied to a MAC or Windows.

Here are a couple of links to mainstream (i.e. not the geeky ones) reviews:

Dim Vista - Forbes.com: "Windows Vista: more than five years in the making, more than 50 million lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump. The new slogan is: 'The 'Wow' Starts Now,' and Microsoft touts new features, many filched shamelessly from Apple's Macintosh. But as with every previous version, there's no wow here, not even in ironic quotes. Vista is at best mildly annoying and at worst makes you want to rush to Redmond, Wash. and rip somebody's liver out."

NYT's David Pogue on Windows Vista : The New York Times' Tech Editor with an amusing video review (Youtube) comparing the "new features" in Windows Vista with Apple OSX.

Schneier on Security: DRM in Windows Vista: This is a bit more techy but worth reading about the restrictive technology in Vista.

Bottom line from me: Don't "upgrade" to Vista unless you really are sure you know why you want it.

Roddy Frame

It's my birthday tomorrow, and Alison very kindly treated me to a concert by Roddy Frame (myspace) on Sunday evening in Buxton (Opera House). It was a really great gig with a mix of old Aztec Camera classics and songs from his highly recommended recent CDs (The North Star, Surf and Western Skies).
There was an unusual interval when Roddy left the stage for "a cup of tea and to chillout" after some apparent problems with the sound, an inability to see the audience and perhaps some nerves due to the gig being filmed for a DVD.
On his return to the stage after some 10 minutes or so he received a very warm response from the audience and went on to give a really fine performance... Roddy suggested this might be due to a shared 'trauma bond'.
This thread over at the excellent fan site (www.killermontstreet.com) has some good reviews, comments and set list etc.
Thanks to Alison for getting the tickets... a big night out on a Sunday... blimey!

Cat on a piano

While watching this funny "cat on the piano" video (YouTube - Nora, The Piano-Playing Cat) I realised it was not so dissimilar from parts of a CD I had been listening to earlier...
Reconstructive Surgery - John Medeski & Matthew Shipp
hmmmm

Resurrecting distractions...

IMPS - The Relentless
An impressive Star Wars Fan Flick

Polaroid-o-nizer™
Lovely retro-polaroidonizing website... have a play...
As prompted you just need to add some text and give the URL of a photo (must be online somewhere already)
here's some examples...

Louise makes a 'Pam says thanks' Page

The Crimson Room
Minos passed this on.. kind of a cross between japanese-anime style graphics and Myst... can you escape ? Some lovely Engrish subtitles.
Warnings:
- This is the kind of thing which rapidly becomes very adictive !
- There is one piece of info you absolutely need, which is not contained within the game directly, I only got it by finding a cheat page.
Clue (slight spoiler but not really): "1994" - this is not a teaser - it will be obvious when you need it.
**Apparently there are different versions of the game out there where this number is different - be aware.

The game is a freebie shockwave app - and seems to have been copied all over the web, here the link Minos sent to me: The Crimson Room.
Here is a solution - for if you give up: Crimson Room Solution.

BBC SPORT - When does it all kick off again?
just when you're enjoying a break from it all - the new footy season's start dates...

Redferns Music Picture Gallery: DAVID BOWIE PIN UP

This exhibition is a celebration of an artist with a real understanding for rock’s visual appeal.
Featuring rare and unseen images by an impressive list of legendary photographers: Terry O’Neil, Andrew Kent, Mick Rock, Ian Dickson, Denis O’Regan, David Bebbington, Brian Aris, Ray Stevenson, Michael Putland, Barry Plummer and Kate Simon all contribute to this amazing photographic narrative.

PledgeBank - Tell the world "I'll do it, but only if you'll help"
This is another interesting idea from www.mysociety.org/.

"The way it works is simple. You create a pledge which has the basic format 'I'll do something, but only if other people will pledge to do the same thing'."

On Toothache, music and musical heroes...
I have been suffering from a persistent toothache from a wisdom tooth... it's "impacted" see here for an explanation and here's a picture (aaaaarrrrrggghhhh !)


So, whilst waiting to see a dental surgeon at the hospital last Saturday, I was catching up on some reading, including the most recent entries on the ever-readable David Byrne "Online Journal" (don't call it a blog!).

Just imagine my ironic chuckling as I sat in the waiting room reading the following, with toothache, waiting to see a DENTAL SURGEON whilst in the background an eazy-listening-musak cd played chunes from the popular songbook in ver-so-luvverly synth, drum-machine and panpipes arrangements...

NOTE: This is from the entry from June 5
"One can not only hear the music one chooses all the time if one wants, which seems like a good thing, but one can also seek out music from far-flung places, scenes and from times very different than one's own. At least in recorded form it’s more or less all out there.
I find this overwhelming. Probably as a musician I find music either one or the other — completely invisible, inaudible — even sometimes when it’s playing loud — or completely intrusive — impossible to ignore. As a musician there are times when even quiet background music in a bar or restaurant is completely distracting and impossible to ignore. It’s like the effect of having a TV on in room is for most people — it tends to demand attention. All conversation either stops or has to deal with the TV program. Music is like that for musicians.
In this way the easy access to and ubiquity of music is oppressive. It often feels like a passive aggressive assault. I’d pay extra for silence."

Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It...
I spotted this a while back - thought it would be good for Louise :-)

Brian Eno on Song-Writing:
I came across these comments on song writing by Eno..:

'Song-writing is now actually the most difficult challenge in music. It's very easy to make music now but lyrics are really the last very hard problem in music. What I think lyrics have to do is engage a certain part of your brain in a sort of search activity so your brain wants to say 'here are some provocative clues as to what this song might be about'. They don't have to be explicit... in fact for me they certainly shouldn't be explicit'.

Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion
Some nice organic food advocacy in a star wars stylee [Flash Movie] - Righteous !
Thanks to Giles for the tip.

eNormicom: Welcome to eNormicom!: "Is your company having an e-dentity crisis? Then you need the eNormicom Image Bucket Program™..."

The Adventures of ACTION ITEM!
Wonderfull send up of consultancy-speak in the form of a DC/marvel comic strip.

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs
Exactly as it says on the tin. I think this is one for Alison and Louise!

Antique Radio Classified--With The Collectors
Isn't it great that these consumer devices are already considered antiques !
I still have a Rio 500 - which I actually picked up from Michael ... back in 2000.

Today is April 1st
in case you hadn't noticed... here's some nice date-appropriate articles I noticed today:

Could Tom Parker Bowles become second in line to the throne after the royal wedding next week?
BBC Radio4's Today program: RealAudio Clip

Bowie to launch new Perfume: Mesmer
Mesmer by David Bowie is a spellbinding and erotic blend of sensuality and warm awakening aromas of bergamot, lemon, and patchouli singapour balanced perfectly with musk, red marechal rose and African wengue wood.

Bloglines Helps Bridge The Vastness Of Space
News Feed and Blog Reading In The Warrior Tongue
Oakland, CA, Earth -- Stardate: 2005.4.1 -- Bloglines, the world's most popular free online service for searching, subscribing, publishing and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content, today opened the doors of its service to audiences beyond our solar system with a new translation in Klingon, the galaxy's fastest-spreading invented language.

*Apple founder Jobs joins IKEA | The Register
KEA's flatpack days may soon be a distant memory, as Apple and Pixar founder Steve Jobs turns to his latest challenge. Inter IKEA Systems BV will employ Jobs as "acting CEO", from next month. The technology icon will maintain his twin CEO roles at Apple Computer Inc. and Pixar Inc. but will also take command with a wide-ranging brief at the retail giant. For the technology guru, it's just another job, but for the Swedish furnishing franchise, it's a massive gamble. IKEA had a turnover of €13 billion last year, and has over 200 stores worldwide.

Boring Boring Parody of Boing Boing

Ingenious Google-like front-end to BBC's Ceefax: ceefax.tv

As reported by The Register:

BBC throws strop at 'Ceefax Google'A Dutch consultant has provoked the anger of the BBC by creating a website which lets users browse Ceefax, the broadcaster’s popular teletext service. The BBC has demanded the closure of the site, claiming copyright infringement.

The FactCheck website
The Guardian reports a soon to be launched website...

MediaGuardian: C4 site subjects politicians to truth test
Channel 4 today launches a website that will enable voters to check the factual basis of politicians' claims in the run-up to the general election.
The FactCheck website, which has been inspired by a similar online venture launched in the US in 2003, has been set up to inform voters about the factual accuracy of claims politicians make in speeches, press conferences and press releases.
"We believe FactCheck will be an important service to the public during the election period. With so many statements flying around, it is often difficult for the voter to know where the truth lies," said Dorothy Byrne, the head of news and current affairs at Channel 4.

Channel 4 FactCheck

Ciaran, Ray & Damian from That Petrol Emotion on the Radio - Thursday 31st March
This just in from Ciaran...

Ciaran, Ray & Damian from That Petrol Emotion will be
live on Resonance FM (104.4) on Thursday 31st March
from 7-8.30 p.m talking about their favourite records
and playing some new songs!!
You can listen online too:
www.resonancefm.com/audio
Check it out - and pass this on - its the next big
thing don't you know :)

Julian Beever's pavement drawings
I seem to remember blogging about this guy a year or so ago.. this site has lots of great photos.

Sponsor Alison In the Race For Life for Cancer Research
Alison and her mum (Granny Pam) have signed up take part in this year's Race for Life event.
You can sponsor her online here: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/alisonadams

"In 2000 my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Three terrible operations later and I don't know who was in worse shape - her or my dad - mums illness took it's toll on him too. Now, they are both happy and healthy and my son Charlie really loves his Granny Pam and Grumps.
I will be proud to wear number 479, and even more proud to be taking part with my mum.
Please sponsor me now and tell a friend too !"

Myst island birthday cake
One for Alison.

The secret of bananas - caught on tape
how did we live so long without knowing this ?

You'd think after eating a fruit at least a thousand times, you'd know all it's capable of. Maybe not. I recently learned something about bananas that, quite frankly, blew my mind.
I'm sure it won't be news to everyone, but for me this revelation was up there with seeing the secret arrow in the Fedex logo for the first time...
BANANAS NATURALLY DIVIDE INTO 3 PERFECT WEDGES.

Snap Galleries
"Rare and exclusive rock and roll photography from Snap Galleries"
bumped into this today.. lotsa photos of all your favourite rock gods/godesses.

Heavy Chamber Music
Ever wondered how choice rock cuts such as Radiohead's Creep and the Tap's classic "Big Bottom" (not to mention the "Wild Boys" cover) would sound as arranged for and recorded on bass clarinet ?
Of course you have !
Well, you can find out here.. download the mp3s here: Edmund Welles: Audio
.
.
.
Talk about bun-cakes my girls got 'em....

CIA - The World Factbook
Does what it says on the tin. Pick a country... any country...

Jazz Recording Artists Go Into Business for Themselves
A WSJ article about the emergence of new music labels run for and by jaz musicians.
I think this is the answer for the less popular (i.e. real !) music genres, let the artists (those who have the "content") and their public (that would be the "consumers") communicate and buy/sell directly - who needs the parasites of the big labels in the middle ? If the established artists can promote and endorse (and help) their up and coming less established colleagues - then we the fans/audiance will find and promote new music and artists... in the way we already do: by referal.

Here's an artist based label (there are many springing up now) which features some new music from Roger Eno (that was my link to them):
Burning Shed: Specialist online music label and shop

Scott Rope: Jack in the box Voicemail

Very Very Funny Voicemail ! [apparently genuine]
This is probably all-over-everywhere by now.. but this made me laugh out loud. Follow this link Jack in the box Voicemail
for an introduction and a link to an mp3 [4MB, 3.5 minutes] of an apparently genuine voicemail message...

"...when an operations manager was late for a meeting and called his boss to tell him he was running late. As he was leaving the voice mail message, he witnessed an accident and went on to provide "play by play" of the incident."

The Urban Legends Reference Pages considers this "Status: Undetermined" - and their investigation hasn't proved it to be a hoax (yet), see:
http://www.snopes.com/autos/mishaps/beating.asp

Montage-a-google

Montage-a-google
Searches google images based on keywords you enter, then builds a photo-montage before your very eyes... simple genius, highly compelling... highly distracting.
I found music/bands to give nice results, e.g. "david bowie 1976" and "that petrol emotion". Alsion tried some for Charlie.. like "brake down truck" and "diggers".
Nice, instant personalised art !

Angler's Quest Deluxe Fishing Simulator
Can there be any future for a civilization which allows anyone to design, manufacture and sell these.. and then allows other people to buy them ?

"Reel them in with this deluxe virtual reality fishing simulator.
The Angler's Quest Deluxe Virtual Fishing Simulator is the most luxurious way to go fishing without getting your feet wet. The cabinet is made from a beautiful hardwood finish which makes this game look right at home in your private entertainment room. The game includes all the features of the arcade version plus some high quality extras that make this game extra fun."

Rinus Michels RIP
The death of the Dutch "father of Total Football" has spawned some great comment on his life and achievments in football, and the revolution that was and is "total football".
These articles in the Guardian are all worth reading:

Fearless father of Total Football - Kevin McCarra
'The greatest coach I played for - everybody looked up to him' - Hans van Breukelen
Obituary by Brian Glanville - Rinus Michels Renowned Dutch soccer coach whose 'total football' concept took his team to victory

My dad took me to see England vs Holland in a 1975 friendly at Wembley. I was 10 at the time, and didn't really apreciate the fact that I was watching Cryuff, Neskens, Resenbrink, Krol, Rep etc. I'm not sure if Michels was the manager then... but it was still his team and and his style... Holland won 2-0 with goals from a guy called Jan Peters... who i think was not in the squad by the time of the 1978 World Cup.
I do remember I loved their Orange shirts !
I was also present for the Euro 96 (Alison bought the tickets) match at Wembley... when England out total-football'd the Dutch... marvellous !

Tony Visconti on the 30TH ANNIVERSARY Young Americans Release
bowie news
Visconti recently remixed for 5.1 the 2 70's live albums (Live & Stage) - as well as the more recent Bowie albums. This news article has some nice quotes from Visconti and an extract from a contemporary music press piece. Nice.

All the tracks have been mixed from the master tapes to 96khz high definition digital audio. That translates to 'freakin' scary' quality. Mr. Bowie is front and center, but the backing is now spread 360º with Mr. Vandross hovering over your left shoulder for most of the album. John Lennon's six string acoustic is almost entirely in the right rear speaker on "Across The Universe" and you just might hear a comment from him when the song is over. What really brought it home to me was how great David's vocals were, and a lot of them were live takes with him standing in the same room as the band at Sigma Studios in Philadelphia.

Now all i need to do is invest in some 5.1 suround sound gear... oh, and a bigger house with a suitably sized room !

More on the Snow..Man...


See the Snow Gallery

Snow.
it's been seriously snowing up here in North Yorkshire, which prompted me to blog this lovely gallery of snowflakes...:

Snowflake and Snow Crystal Photos:
Snow Crystal Photographs
... Capturing the fleeting beauty of snowflakes ...
Snowflakes are temporary works of art. After just a few short minutes on the ground, a fallen snowflake will lose its ornate structure, its unique pattern that will never again be repeated. Photography allows us to preserve a few of these minute masterpieces and to examine their form up close. Below are some examples of snow crystal photographs from around the world."

And here's a photo of Charlie in the snow...
more over at our website photo gallery

My MP (former Tory leader) William Hague earns £820K on top of his salary.
The BBC reports this news, which is to me quite staggering... not so much a shock or a scandal... more, just... how can that guy be worth so much.. someone somewhere must value him.

BBC NEWS - Hague's six-figure earnings shown
"The register shows former Tory leader William Hague earning up to £820,000 on top of his MPs' salary, much of it from speaking fees."
"Mr Hague's work outside Parliament included two one-man shows, which with other speaking fees netted him up to £480,000."

True art or a fake?
Take the quiz

"Some of the images displayed below are True Masterpieces of Abstract Art, created by Immortal Artists. Each of them carries a profound meaning, which is, however, beyond the apprehensions of the vulgar. The rest were produced by the author of the quiz. They mean nothing."

now i am 40...
Today's the day I reached 40 years of age...
feels about the same as yesterday...

are you coming to my party ?

Online Bowie Quiz...
it's just a bit of fun to promote the EMI reissues of the newly-improved versions of David Live and Stage this coming Monday, February 21st.(altho if your daft enough to give your contact details to EMI's marketing department you can be entered into a prize draw!)

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
Just bumped into this site today... worth knowing about if you are getting bothered by nuisance calls...

"helps you to make sure your telephone number is no longer available to organisations who may telephone you with offers and information you do not wish to receive"
TPS Registration

"Someone keeps stealing my letters..."
Lovely virtual fridge-magnet multi-player game (Flash) - you compete/cooperate with others to assemble words, or a random mess... time wasting silly game.. or interesting sociological experiment... you decide:
Just Letters

`What would she get if the firm had done well? A country?':

'Star' CEOs like HP's Fiorina don't come cheap - Her severance package is worth at least $21.1 million. Those who agitate for CEO pay to be linked to performance said they are disgusted by her severance package.
``What would she get if the firm had done well? A country?'' asked Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale School of Management."

People collect the strangest things online...
The Wonderful World of Airline Napkins
Project C-90
Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Nice Topical Knock Knock Joke...
This seems to be doing the rounds, I heard it on yesterday's Broadcasting House (on Radio4)

Knock knock
Who's there?
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson who?
Right, you're on the jury!

One for Ciaran...
MOJO's Top 100 Soundtracks of All Time List

Bing..! Its Groundhog Day, er.. again... Apparently

Groundhog .org - the Official Site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
"Groundhog Day 2005 is on the way! Groundhog Day is Wednesday, February 2, 2005.
According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

Phil: Ned Ryerson?
Ned: BING.
Phil: Bing
http://imdb.com/title/tt0107048/quotes

The new 60?
Katharine Whitehorn on what it means to be 80

"Not so long ago, you were doing well if you reached three score years and 10. But many of us now live full and active lives well beyond that. So what does it mean today to be 80? Katharine Whitehorn, who's not there yet, considers our changing understanding of old age."I read this yesterday (maybe I'm reflecting on aging as my 40th birthday approaches) - the piece is insightful and makes some good points and theres some nice humerous touches.

As people of my generation contemplate the ageing of our parents' generation, and mainstream celebrity obsessed media deals so foolishly with ageing (or attempting to postpone or deny it). Talk of "pension crises" and stories about "the support burden" for younger people caring for the older generation seem to me to be very negative and lack the imagination necessary to see what a blessing it is to have grandparents for our children.

BBC Radio3 featuring "The Minimalists" as their composer of the week (program runs Mon-Fri @ 12 noon).
BBC - Radio 3 - Composer of the Week - 1. Beginnings
I just heard the first one.. reminded me how much I (still) like a lot of this stuff.. despite rarely playing any of it myself.... time to dust off my old Phillip Glass & Steve Reich LPs ?

Resuming Blogging...
After a long hiatus, since April last year, I have decided to take up blogging again.
I'm not entirely sure why I stopped, or why I am starting again - however I think there was a period when I seemed mostly to be collecting wiered and funny, yet daft stuff which meant little to anyone, and arguably was already well served (e.g. boingboing.net).
I also got rather caught up with the Peak Oil Theory [deserves a proper post/discussion], the mind-boggling seriousness of which makes blogging trivialities seem futile.
Whatever...
I shall resume as of now, and attempt to record somethig, and see where we end up :-)

New Archers Theme Tune by Eno
Lovely item on this April 1st morning on the BBC R4 Today programme, The Archers & Brian Eno combined... marvellous ! I wonder how many letters/emails/calls they will get... a beautiful choice for an April fools item. They played the "Eno Remix", which had this awful D&B rythm underneath, and some very poor electronic effects - then a number of commentators explaining how it was important to bring the archers into the 21st century etc...

"BBC Executives have commissioned composer and musician, Brian Eno, to remix the existing tune."

THE "BRIEF SAFE"
Eeeeeeeeeeeewwww !

The "Brief Safe" is an innovative new diversion safe that can secure your cash, documents, and other small valuables from inquisitive eyes and thieving hands

iPodrace
A fairly large Quicktime movie... demonstrating the intersection of the worlds of iPods and Star-Wars Pod-Racing based on a union of the word... pod !
Daft, funny & clever.

Creative Commons Music License
one for my talented musical friends :-)
Without a traditional "deal", I would (If I had the least bit of talent!) be following this method to get my recordings out-there. The creative commons "movement" is worth researching and understanding, and may very well be the simplest and best method of bypassing the traditional power brokers and taking control of your music/career.

About the Creative Commons Music Sharing License
The Creative Commons music license helps you:

1. Mark It Legal: Mark your music with the CC logo so fans know that you own your copyright, but give permission to download, file-share, copy, and webcast — but not to sell, alter, or make any other commercial uses. Here's an example of how it would look on a band's web page and here's a short comic describing how fans might legally use your music.
2. Promote It: Register your music at Common Content so people can contact you to purchase commercial rights to the composition or sound recording. Or, have it hosted for free at the Internet Archive.
3. Make It Searchable: Make your music searchable within the Creative Commons audio search engine."

Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age
Just to re-inforce any feelings of a lack of accomplishment you may be feeling.

Google Publishes Print Edition Funny.

Hamlet - The Text Adventure
Very nice...:

"I am in an east-west corridor in the palace. My bedroom door is in the south wall. An opening in the north wall leads on to the balcony.
Horatio is here.
Exits are north, east, south and west."

Plumber, electrician... digitician? - nice piece on the emergence of localised "deep support" and/or the comodification of skills...?
"As homes get more wired, a new trade emerges"

**more funny shit brought to you by updater**
Warning: contains profanity - not for those easily offended (swearing is not, big or clever.. but as this remix/respin on the recent Channel4 promotional talking head-ads suggests, it can be funny ... maybe ?)
Thanks to jamesh for the tip.