Killer Whales
Workers on that mighty piece of Victorian engineering, the Forth Rail Bridge, have spotted a pod of Orcas swimming past them in the River Forth, right up past Edinburgh. There are seals on some of the islands in the Forth, which may be attracting them, although it is remarkable to see them swimming so far upriver. That would be a sight to cheer you up on the commute from Fife to Edinburgh, wouldn't it? How cool is it that a couple of miles from my door there are killer whales swimming in the river?? And why couldn't those darned Orcas arrive over the weekend when I could get out there with my camera?!?!? Mind you, I suspect the local seals have a somewhat different view on this.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Viva Manchesteragas
Manchester has confounded the bookies (ironically enough) and won the bid for the first (and at the moment only) supercasino. There were several reasons the least likely location beat the favourites to scoop the rights to this new attraction, but I've heard confidentially the main reason it went to Manchester was because the committee were so impressed with the size and quality of the enormous extension Ariel and his missus (and Hobbes the cat) added to their Mancunian palace.
Manchester has confounded the bookies (ironically enough) and won the bid for the first (and at the moment only) supercasino. There were several reasons the least likely location beat the favourites to scoop the rights to this new attraction, but I've heard confidentially the main reason it went to Manchester was because the committee were so impressed with the size and quality of the enormous extension Ariel and his missus (and Hobbes the cat) added to their Mancunian palace.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Healthier religion
To comply with new government health guidelines on healthier, more informed eating, Communion Wafers will now adhere to the ‘traffic light’ system to alert consumers to salt and fat content. Communion wine will now come with the units of alcohol contained in it clearly marked. Churches will be encouraged to replace normal wafers with wholegrain versions to help fight heart disease. The practise imported from Mexico of offering a range of salsa and gaucamole dips for your Communion Wafers will be discouraged.
To comply with new government health guidelines on healthier, more informed eating, Communion Wafers will now adhere to the ‘traffic light’ system to alert consumers to salt and fat content. Communion wine will now come with the units of alcohol contained in it clearly marked. Churches will be encouraged to replace normal wafers with wholegrain versions to help fight heart disease. The practise imported from Mexico of offering a range of salsa and gaucamole dips for your Communion Wafers will be discouraged.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Sonsie face
Once more Burns Night is upon as, where Scots and a lot of others the world over celebrate the life and work of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns. Rabbie's first stabs at poetry and composing song were an aid to trying to get into the pants of a neighbouring lass - now that is a real poet! In the days leading up to Burns Night the glens of Bonnie Scotland echo to the excited shrieks of the wild Haggis. A true Scotsman is forbidden by ancient tradition reaching back to before the time of Saint Middenface to use weapons on the Haggis hunt.
No rifles, no spears, no bow, not even a knife. Instead the hunter must engage the Haggis in conversation and establish a comfortable rapport with the beastie, before persuading it to join him in a wee dram of malt (it must be a proper single malt as no Haggis will drink a blend). When the Haggis has drunk its fill and becomes sleepy the hunter persuades the Haggis that his sporran is the perfect place for a wee nap and thus is the cunning trap finally sprung. Life is certainly easier when you are a vegetarian. Personally I skip it all and proceed directly to single malt stage and will shortly be pouring myself a generous dram from my single malt collection to drink in honour of Rabbie. Happy Burns night, folks!
Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sov'reign pow'rs:
From marking wildly scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the lingering hours,
I shelter in they honour'd shade.
Here Wealth still swells the golden tide,
As busy Trade his labours plies;
There Architecture's noble pride
Bids elegance and splendour rise:
Here Justice, from her native skies,
High wields her balance and her rod;
There Learning, with his eagle eyes,
Seeks Science in her coy abode.
Thy sons, Edina, social, kind,
With open arms the stranger hail;
Their views enlarg'd, their liberal mind,
Above the narrow, rural vale:
Attentive still to Sorrow's wail,
Or modest Merit's silent claim;
And never may their sources fail!
And never Envy blot their name!
Thy daughters bright thy walks adorn,
Gay as the gilded summer sky,
Sweet as the dewy, milk-white thorn,
Dear as the raptur'd thrill of joy!
Fair Burnet strikes th' adoring eye,
Heaven's beauties on my fancy shine;
I see the Sire of Love on high,
And own His work indeed divine!
There, watching high the least alarms,
Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar;
Like some bold veteran, grey in arms,
And mark'd with many a seamy scar:
The pond'rous wall and massy bar,
Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock,
Have oft withstood assailing war,
And oft repell'd th' invader's shock.
With awe-struck thought, and pitying tears,
I view that noble, stately Dome,
Where Scotia's kings of other years,
Fam'd heroes! had their royal home:
Alas, how chang'd the times to come!
Their royal name low in the dust!
Their hapless race wild-wand'ring roam!
Tho' rigid Law cries out 'twas just!
Wild beats my heart to trace your steps,
Whose ancestors, in days of yore,
Thro' hostile ranks and ruin'd gaps
Old Scotia's bloody lion bore:
Ev'n I who sing in rustic lore,
Haply my sires have left their shed,
And fac'd grim Danger's loudest roar,
Bold-following where your fathers led!
Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs;
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sovereign pow'rs:
From marking wildly-scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours,
I shelter in thy honour'd shade.
"Address to Edinburgh", Robert Burns, 1786
Once more Burns Night is upon as, where Scots and a lot of others the world over celebrate the life and work of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns. Rabbie's first stabs at poetry and composing song were an aid to trying to get into the pants of a neighbouring lass - now that is a real poet! In the days leading up to Burns Night the glens of Bonnie Scotland echo to the excited shrieks of the wild Haggis. A true Scotsman is forbidden by ancient tradition reaching back to before the time of Saint Middenface to use weapons on the Haggis hunt.
No rifles, no spears, no bow, not even a knife. Instead the hunter must engage the Haggis in conversation and establish a comfortable rapport with the beastie, before persuading it to join him in a wee dram of malt (it must be a proper single malt as no Haggis will drink a blend). When the Haggis has drunk its fill and becomes sleepy the hunter persuades the Haggis that his sporran is the perfect place for a wee nap and thus is the cunning trap finally sprung. Life is certainly easier when you are a vegetarian. Personally I skip it all and proceed directly to single malt stage and will shortly be pouring myself a generous dram from my single malt collection to drink in honour of Rabbie. Happy Burns night, folks!
Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sov'reign pow'rs:
From marking wildly scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the lingering hours,
I shelter in they honour'd shade.
Here Wealth still swells the golden tide,
As busy Trade his labours plies;
There Architecture's noble pride
Bids elegance and splendour rise:
Here Justice, from her native skies,
High wields her balance and her rod;
There Learning, with his eagle eyes,
Seeks Science in her coy abode.
Thy sons, Edina, social, kind,
With open arms the stranger hail;
Their views enlarg'd, their liberal mind,
Above the narrow, rural vale:
Attentive still to Sorrow's wail,
Or modest Merit's silent claim;
And never may their sources fail!
And never Envy blot their name!
Thy daughters bright thy walks adorn,
Gay as the gilded summer sky,
Sweet as the dewy, milk-white thorn,
Dear as the raptur'd thrill of joy!
Fair Burnet strikes th' adoring eye,
Heaven's beauties on my fancy shine;
I see the Sire of Love on high,
And own His work indeed divine!
There, watching high the least alarms,
Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar;
Like some bold veteran, grey in arms,
And mark'd with many a seamy scar:
The pond'rous wall and massy bar,
Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock,
Have oft withstood assailing war,
And oft repell'd th' invader's shock.
With awe-struck thought, and pitying tears,
I view that noble, stately Dome,
Where Scotia's kings of other years,
Fam'd heroes! had their royal home:
Alas, how chang'd the times to come!
Their royal name low in the dust!
Their hapless race wild-wand'ring roam!
Tho' rigid Law cries out 'twas just!
Wild beats my heart to trace your steps,
Whose ancestors, in days of yore,
Thro' hostile ranks and ruin'd gaps
Old Scotia's bloody lion bore:
Ev'n I who sing in rustic lore,
Haply my sires have left their shed,
And fac'd grim Danger's loudest roar,
Bold-following where your fathers led!
Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs;
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sovereign pow'rs:
From marking wildly-scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours,
I shelter in thy honour'd shade.
"Address to Edinburgh", Robert Burns, 1786
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Charlie Huston interview
I've just posted up an interview with Charlie Huston on the FPI blog, already an established author in the US for his Henry Thompson crime novels and now moving into a new vampire-noir-crime series featuring a character called Joe Pitt. The second book has just come out in the last few weeks in the States while my friends at Orbit are set to release the first one, Already Dead, in the UK in February - if you like vampire novels and want something a bit different I highly recommend it.
Charlie also made his comics debut in 2006 with the revamped Moon Knight for Marvel, with the first arc recently issued in a hardback collection, winning his quite a few plaudits. And I loved his answer when I asked him how he saw his interpretation of Marc Spector:
"He was always a visceral character to me, and I wanted to try and share that feeling with other readers. Violence, drug abuse, mental illness, moon copters, these are all visceral elements. I wanted Marc Spector to be a shambling mess of a human being who only comes alive, who only understands the world when he puts on a cowl and a cape and jumps out of a helicopter and lands knuckles first in someone’s fucking face."
Ah, superheroes, they are so noble...
I've just posted up an interview with Charlie Huston on the FPI blog, already an established author in the US for his Henry Thompson crime novels and now moving into a new vampire-noir-crime series featuring a character called Joe Pitt. The second book has just come out in the last few weeks in the States while my friends at Orbit are set to release the first one, Already Dead, in the UK in February - if you like vampire novels and want something a bit different I highly recommend it.
Charlie also made his comics debut in 2006 with the revamped Moon Knight for Marvel, with the first arc recently issued in a hardback collection, winning his quite a few plaudits. And I loved his answer when I asked him how he saw his interpretation of Marc Spector:
"He was always a visceral character to me, and I wanted to try and share that feeling with other readers. Violence, drug abuse, mental illness, moon copters, these are all visceral elements. I wanted Marc Spector to be a shambling mess of a human being who only comes alive, who only understands the world when he puts on a cowl and a cape and jumps out of a helicopter and lands knuckles first in someone’s fucking face."
Ah, superheroes, they are so noble...
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Revealing Tricia
Tricia Helfer, who plays the sultry Cylon Number Six in the excellent new Battlestar Galactica is famous for wearing rather sexy and revealing outfits in the show. Now she's gone one better to the delights of legions of male (and probably quite a few female) fans by posing nude for Playboy (she is a good sport, bless her). Of course, being a mature chap I am more interested in the feature articles. And not thinking, YOWZA! Or thinking, great, can they persuade the even more lovely Grace Park who plays Boomer in the show to do the same. Or the Queen of all SF Space Sirens, Jeri Ryan... Oh dear, excuse me, time for a cold shower...
(no, this isn't from her Playboy set, but I heard they've been pretty keen on making any site showing those to take them down)
Tricia Helfer, who plays the sultry Cylon Number Six in the excellent new Battlestar Galactica is famous for wearing rather sexy and revealing outfits in the show. Now she's gone one better to the delights of legions of male (and probably quite a few female) fans by posing nude for Playboy (she is a good sport, bless her). Of course, being a mature chap I am more interested in the feature articles. And not thinking, YOWZA! Or thinking, great, can they persuade the even more lovely Grace Park who plays Boomer in the show to do the same. Or the Queen of all SF Space Sirens, Jeri Ryan... Oh dear, excuse me, time for a cold shower...
(no, this isn't from her Playboy set, but I heard they've been pretty keen on making any site showing those to take them down)
Christian bigots
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (well, he'd be hard pushed to be a Calvinist minister with a name like that, really, wouldn't he?), head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is demanding that legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate against gays is not applied to church organisations, a law which makes it a crime for people like the narrow minded B&B owner who refused to give a double room to a gay couple to do so again, just as it is illegal for businesses, organisations or public services to discriminate against people on grounds of colour, ethnicity or religion. In fact new laws are going alongside this to ensure equality protection for Catholics, ironically, while the head Catholic demands the right for the church organisations to be exempted and practise bigotry. Specifically he is threatening to close down the successful Catholic-run adoption service if the law goes through without an exemption because they will not want to give a child to a gay couple to adopt.
There are two huge things wrong with this request. First of all, the minute we start making exemptions for one law like this for one religious cult (and all organised religions are by definition cults, be they tiny fringe groups or huge ones like the RC church) then we open the floodgates for a slew of religious groups and others to demand they are allowed to pick and choose what they want to follow, which is useless. This is one of the reasons we base law on reason today and not on religious dogma, as most civilised countries do. The second is simple and plain bigotry - I don't care how much the Cardinal and his chums say it isn't, it bloody well is, they are bigoted bastards and that's it. If an ultra protestant or Muslim adoption agency refused to let Catholic couples adopt the Cardinal would (rightly) kick up a stink. And the fact he is prepared to shut down the agencies rather than comply with the law, in other words to put his prejudices ahead of the kids needing new homes shows that his argument that they are principally interested in the welfare of the children is utter hypocrisy. Imagine a man in charge of an organisation run entirely by men who dress in what looks like dresses and have a reputation for interfering with choir boys being worried about placing kids with gay couples, what a nerve...
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (well, he'd be hard pushed to be a Calvinist minister with a name like that, really, wouldn't he?), head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is demanding that legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate against gays is not applied to church organisations, a law which makes it a crime for people like the narrow minded B&B owner who refused to give a double room to a gay couple to do so again, just as it is illegal for businesses, organisations or public services to discriminate against people on grounds of colour, ethnicity or religion. In fact new laws are going alongside this to ensure equality protection for Catholics, ironically, while the head Catholic demands the right for the church organisations to be exempted and practise bigotry. Specifically he is threatening to close down the successful Catholic-run adoption service if the law goes through without an exemption because they will not want to give a child to a gay couple to adopt.
There are two huge things wrong with this request. First of all, the minute we start making exemptions for one law like this for one religious cult (and all organised religions are by definition cults, be they tiny fringe groups or huge ones like the RC church) then we open the floodgates for a slew of religious groups and others to demand they are allowed to pick and choose what they want to follow, which is useless. This is one of the reasons we base law on reason today and not on religious dogma, as most civilised countries do. The second is simple and plain bigotry - I don't care how much the Cardinal and his chums say it isn't, it bloody well is, they are bigoted bastards and that's it. If an ultra protestant or Muslim adoption agency refused to let Catholic couples adopt the Cardinal would (rightly) kick up a stink. And the fact he is prepared to shut down the agencies rather than comply with the law, in other words to put his prejudices ahead of the kids needing new homes shows that his argument that they are principally interested in the welfare of the children is utter hypocrisy. Imagine a man in charge of an organisation run entirely by men who dress in what looks like dresses and have a reputation for interfering with choir boys being worried about placing kids with gay couples, what a nerve...
Not guilty, guv
Ramzi Mohammed pleads not guilty to trying to blow up a London Underground tube train in July 2005, along with five other defendants in the current court case. Of course this is his right and he is innocent until proven guilty. Mind you, since the stupid twat was caught on CCTV attempting to ignite a botched bomb attempt right in front of a mother with her child, then caught in more CCTV cameras as he ran in panic from his failed attempt at mass murder, so since this was all caught on camera I get the impression the jury will find this sick lunatic to be as guilty as the man on the grassy knoll.
Ramzi Mohammed pleads not guilty to trying to blow up a London Underground tube train in July 2005, along with five other defendants in the current court case. Of course this is his right and he is innocent until proven guilty. Mind you, since the stupid twat was caught on CCTV attempting to ignite a botched bomb attempt right in front of a mother with her child, then caught in more CCTV cameras as he ran in panic from his failed attempt at mass murder, so since this was all caught on camera I get the impression the jury will find this sick lunatic to be as guilty as the man on the grassy knoll.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Eagle awards online
The leading British comics awards, the Eagles, are now online - unlike most other awards though readers get to vote for the various categories in the online nominations, including (should you wish to) best comics related website where you could pick out a number of sites and blogs who support UK (and other) comics and artists like Bugpowder, Down the Tubes or perhaps even a certain bandana-clad Forbidden Planet International Blog :-) Not that I am trying to put ideas in anyone's head...
The leading British comics awards, the Eagles, are now online - unlike most other awards though readers get to vote for the various categories in the online nominations, including (should you wish to) best comics related website where you could pick out a number of sites and blogs who support UK (and other) comics and artists like Bugpowder, Down the Tubes or perhaps even a certain bandana-clad Forbidden Planet International Blog :-) Not that I am trying to put ideas in anyone's head...
Fireside kitty
Outside it is freezing; crisp, sharp, cold air, breath misting in front of passers-by as if it was smoke and their mouths the chimney for the furnace of their body, trying to warm itself against the winter night; clear sky above and a large, crescent moon hanging in the darkness. But not inside, oh no; in here it is warm and comfortable. The fire flickers happily while the candles cast amber shadows across the room. Pandora has the sofa to herself and settled down for a semi-snooze, her huge eyes opening from time to time as if to make sure everything is okay and to see what I'm doing. Her sister Cassie has settled herself down on the new rug right in front of the fireplace and is purring away, her plump little furry body settled down in the prime warm spot of the room in that way that cats do so well.
Cassie tries out the 'Andy Capp' position but prefers the new rug in front of the fire to Andy's normal sofa.
Yes, she is indeed a portly puss, being both middle-aged and an indoors kitty, but that fur is even softer than it looks and warmer than usual as she toasts herself by the fire. I can feel the vibrations of her contented purrs right through her little body; that's one happy cat. Which of course makes me very happy and relaxed too; all the problems of life slip away for a brief spell because it is all but impossible to worry or feel down when you're tickling a happy kitty's warm, furry tummy. One of life's simple pleasures, curled up next to my girl.
Ahhhh, pure contentment... I just couldn't take pics in such low light without a flash with the old camera, but this new one seems to handle it quite easily.Funny how on the first night of winter when I lit the fire for the first time since the previous winter the cats somehow knew, even though they were asleep in another room and came trotting through right away and promptly curled up in front of it. Just put down a new rug from Ikea the other day - obviously it has already obtained the Cassandra Seal of Approval. She looks so sweet and innocent here, but tomorrow it will be totally different as she jumps on my head to wake me up in the morning... Wouldn't have it any other way of course.
Outside it is freezing; crisp, sharp, cold air, breath misting in front of passers-by as if it was smoke and their mouths the chimney for the furnace of their body, trying to warm itself against the winter night; clear sky above and a large, crescent moon hanging in the darkness. But not inside, oh no; in here it is warm and comfortable. The fire flickers happily while the candles cast amber shadows across the room. Pandora has the sofa to herself and settled down for a semi-snooze, her huge eyes opening from time to time as if to make sure everything is okay and to see what I'm doing. Her sister Cassie has settled herself down on the new rug right in front of the fireplace and is purring away, her plump little furry body settled down in the prime warm spot of the room in that way that cats do so well.
Cassie tries out the 'Andy Capp' position but prefers the new rug in front of the fire to Andy's normal sofa.
Yes, she is indeed a portly puss, being both middle-aged and an indoors kitty, but that fur is even softer than it looks and warmer than usual as she toasts herself by the fire. I can feel the vibrations of her contented purrs right through her little body; that's one happy cat. Which of course makes me very happy and relaxed too; all the problems of life slip away for a brief spell because it is all but impossible to worry or feel down when you're tickling a happy kitty's warm, furry tummy. One of life's simple pleasures, curled up next to my girl.
Ahhhh, pure contentment... I just couldn't take pics in such low light without a flash with the old camera, but this new one seems to handle it quite easily.Funny how on the first night of winter when I lit the fire for the first time since the previous winter the cats somehow knew, even though they were asleep in another room and came trotting through right away and promptly curled up in front of it. Just put down a new rug from Ikea the other day - obviously it has already obtained the Cassandra Seal of Approval. She looks so sweet and innocent here, but tomorrow it will be totally different as she jumps on my head to wake me up in the morning... Wouldn't have it any other way of course.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Those new Apple products
After the recently announced Iphone revealed by a singing and dancing corporate monkey who used to be Steve Jobs and following on from the incredibly successful Ipod, what other products will Apple be creating that the fashionistas need to have to show how individual they all are?
The Iloo: face it, it's well past time that the smallest room in the house was upgraded. This is the 21st century and yet for most of us the time spent taking care of biological business is time wasted; time we cannot afford out of our busy lives. Yes, with the new Iloo just reading the paper or magazine on the can will be a thing of the past - the Iloo is the intelligent toilet, the savvy lavvy. Wireless broadband connects your smart loo to the web and a suite of communications facilities and analytical software, so your 'deposits' are analysed and the result send direct to Dr Gillian McKeith so she can tell you exactly why your lifestyle is worthless as you also have a video phone conference with your friends in the BogSpace site while listening to your MP3s. Unfortunately the high level of DRM Apple will load into the Iloo means that when you take a crap on it your deposists will be studied and copyrighted.
The Iball: Replace your 20th century jelly-filled bio-eyball with the new Iball, giving your Hi-Def vision across several spectrums, streaming video and audio, all on the move. Unfortunately, since the company that was once all about self empowerment through technology but now suckles at the teat of copyright nazis, your Iball comes preloaded with more DRM and restrictive licensing agreements than a corrupt Canadian politician so everything you see will become the property of Apple; should you look at a copyrighted image without permission your Iball will automatically inform the relevant rich lawyer of the movie or music industry as appropriate to sue you.
The I-Spy: an add on for the Iball, which allows you to compare what you see with an online database and upload information via quantum encryption which no-one can break. Except for the various legal authorities Apple agree to give the encryption keys to.
The Icopy: a special device which allows you to use the name of another company's registered trademark if you feel like it and to laugh off any legal aspects because the other company is just 'being silly' while still sucking the arse of the movie, TV and music industry to cripple your new devices with a ton of DRM that treats your customers as if they are all criminals.
After the recently announced Iphone revealed by a singing and dancing corporate monkey who used to be Steve Jobs and following on from the incredibly successful Ipod, what other products will Apple be creating that the fashionistas need to have to show how individual they all are?
The Iloo: face it, it's well past time that the smallest room in the house was upgraded. This is the 21st century and yet for most of us the time spent taking care of biological business is time wasted; time we cannot afford out of our busy lives. Yes, with the new Iloo just reading the paper or magazine on the can will be a thing of the past - the Iloo is the intelligent toilet, the savvy lavvy. Wireless broadband connects your smart loo to the web and a suite of communications facilities and analytical software, so your 'deposits' are analysed and the result send direct to Dr Gillian McKeith so she can tell you exactly why your lifestyle is worthless as you also have a video phone conference with your friends in the BogSpace site while listening to your MP3s. Unfortunately the high level of DRM Apple will load into the Iloo means that when you take a crap on it your deposists will be studied and copyrighted.
The Iball: Replace your 20th century jelly-filled bio-eyball with the new Iball, giving your Hi-Def vision across several spectrums, streaming video and audio, all on the move. Unfortunately, since the company that was once all about self empowerment through technology but now suckles at the teat of copyright nazis, your Iball comes preloaded with more DRM and restrictive licensing agreements than a corrupt Canadian politician so everything you see will become the property of Apple; should you look at a copyrighted image without permission your Iball will automatically inform the relevant rich lawyer of the movie or music industry as appropriate to sue you.
The I-Spy: an add on for the Iball, which allows you to compare what you see with an online database and upload information via quantum encryption which no-one can break. Except for the various legal authorities Apple agree to give the encryption keys to.
The Icopy: a special device which allows you to use the name of another company's registered trademark if you feel like it and to laugh off any legal aspects because the other company is just 'being silly' while still sucking the arse of the movie, TV and music industry to cripple your new devices with a ton of DRM that treats your customers as if they are all criminals.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Blair aide arrested
It was highly amusing to read not only about one of Tony Blair's top aides, Ruth Turner, being arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the scandal of the cash-for-peerages allegations (imagine that, corrupt politicians!!!). It was even more amusing to read the panicked but arrogant responses from senior government figures who were outraged that Turner was arrested in an early morning swoop by police at her home - amusing because early morning swoops are exactly what the police do to families with children that the Home Office has decided to boot out of the country (actually then there are more officers and it is even earlier in the morning, often breaking down the door, so she got off rather lightly) and this is a tactic the government finds perfectly acceptable, even when applied to young, terrified refugee children. No double standards there then.
The outrage and comments then flowing from government sources after the even also seemed to indicate that they think they and their friends are above the law and should never be treated in this manner, which does rather reinforce the public impression that they are as corrupt as Caligula, with senior police officials commenting that the remarks from ministers seem designed to interfere with and put pressure on the officers investigating the whole corruption scandal. If the Labour party wasn't so deep in debt they'd probably try and do what Tony's good mate, former Italian PM Berlusconi did and just buy all the media to control the story then rewrite the laws to make sure he wasn't done for anything. And if that fails, try fainting in front of the cameras a few days before a trial so everyone thinks you are too ill to stand for it...
It was highly amusing to read not only about one of Tony Blair's top aides, Ruth Turner, being arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the scandal of the cash-for-peerages allegations (imagine that, corrupt politicians!!!). It was even more amusing to read the panicked but arrogant responses from senior government figures who were outraged that Turner was arrested in an early morning swoop by police at her home - amusing because early morning swoops are exactly what the police do to families with children that the Home Office has decided to boot out of the country (actually then there are more officers and it is even earlier in the morning, often breaking down the door, so she got off rather lightly) and this is a tactic the government finds perfectly acceptable, even when applied to young, terrified refugee children. No double standards there then.
The outrage and comments then flowing from government sources after the even also seemed to indicate that they think they and their friends are above the law and should never be treated in this manner, which does rather reinforce the public impression that they are as corrupt as Caligula, with senior police officials commenting that the remarks from ministers seem designed to interfere with and put pressure on the officers investigating the whole corruption scandal. If the Labour party wasn't so deep in debt they'd probably try and do what Tony's good mate, former Italian PM Berlusconi did and just buy all the media to control the story then rewrite the laws to make sure he wasn't done for anything. And if that fails, try fainting in front of the cameras a few days before a trial so everyone thinks you are too ill to stand for it...
Poetry
Yvonne has been composing over on Nemeton; it's quite lovely and she also offers her composition in sonnet form too - I highly recommend going for a read.
Yvonne has been composing over on Nemeton; it's quite lovely and she also offers her composition in sonnet form too - I highly recommend going for a read.
Indiana Jones and the Lost Tenure
Picked up this Indiana Jones gem via my good chum the Silvereel; perhaps this might be the plot of the almost mythical fourth movie we've been promised for the last umpteen years? Oh well, if it doesn't happen perhaps we can see Tony Robinson and the Time Team gang in a big screen adventure instead?
Picked up this Indiana Jones gem via my good chum the Silvereel; perhaps this might be the plot of the almost mythical fourth movie we've been promised for the last umpteen years? Oh well, if it doesn't happen perhaps we can see Tony Robinson and the Time Team gang in a big screen adventure instead?
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Gale force
Some pics not actually by me but by my mate and colleague (and Kevin Smith impersonator) Crowbar (thanks, man) who looked out of his window at the Hanley FPI today to see the emergency services sealing off the road as the high winds were ripping lumps out of the building across from them. Yikes!
Wow, looks at the debris - hard hats for shopping trips methinks.
Some pics not actually by me but by my mate and colleague (and Kevin Smith impersonator) Crowbar (thanks, man) who looked out of his window at the Hanley FPI today to see the emergency services sealing off the road as the high winds were ripping lumps out of the building across from them. Yikes!
Wow, looks at the debris - hard hats for shopping trips methinks.
Edinburgh by night
It tried to snow today but alas it didn't lie in the city. I decided to try out the new camera after work and took the scenic route home. This is Edinburgh Castle from the Esplanade, where they set up for the Military Tattoo in August.
One drawback to trying out the night settings of the new picturebox at the moment is it means taking my gloves off, so my fingers were chilled to the bone after just a few minutes of snapping, but hey, worth it - I mean that's what you call a front door!
The Bank of Scotland Building on the Mound
Saint Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile, complete with bagpiper still playing away for tourists even on a freezing January night. Just think, this is one of the spots I took my Fringe pictures from back in August.
Amazing what you can find down one of the many wynds and closes (that's like an alley to non-Scots) sloping off the Royal Mile. I'd never seen this before - by day I'd probably miss it, but at night it was lit up and drew my attention to this painted wood ceiling in the close.
The Witchery, right at the top of the Royal Mile, a few yards from the Castle. Supposedly the most haunted restaurant in Edinburgh and almost impossible to book on Halloween. Now with eerie green lighting, so it really must be haunted!
The Hub, an old church turned into the centre for the Edinburgh Festival as well as a cafe (with a nice open air bit on the other side which is great in the summer, right round from the Castle) and a performance space upstairs (where you can see the blue ceiling through the window). Caught some nice concerts in there and on one memorably night HarperCollins plied me and some bookselling colleagues with lots of single malt, oatcakes and cheese at the launch for a new book on whisky. Like their lighting arrangement, makes the old church look rather demonic.
It tried to snow today but alas it didn't lie in the city. I decided to try out the new camera after work and took the scenic route home. This is Edinburgh Castle from the Esplanade, where they set up for the Military Tattoo in August.
One drawback to trying out the night settings of the new picturebox at the moment is it means taking my gloves off, so my fingers were chilled to the bone after just a few minutes of snapping, but hey, worth it - I mean that's what you call a front door!
The Bank of Scotland Building on the Mound
Saint Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile, complete with bagpiper still playing away for tourists even on a freezing January night. Just think, this is one of the spots I took my Fringe pictures from back in August.
Amazing what you can find down one of the many wynds and closes (that's like an alley to non-Scots) sloping off the Royal Mile. I'd never seen this before - by day I'd probably miss it, but at night it was lit up and drew my attention to this painted wood ceiling in the close.
The Witchery, right at the top of the Royal Mile, a few yards from the Castle. Supposedly the most haunted restaurant in Edinburgh and almost impossible to book on Halloween. Now with eerie green lighting, so it really must be haunted!
The Hub, an old church turned into the centre for the Edinburgh Festival as well as a cafe (with a nice open air bit on the other side which is great in the summer, right round from the Castle) and a performance space upstairs (where you can see the blue ceiling through the window). Caught some nice concerts in there and on one memorably night HarperCollins plied me and some bookselling colleagues with lots of single malt, oatcakes and cheese at the launch for a new book on whisky. Like their lighting arrangement, makes the old church look rather demonic.
Big Brother
Among the overheated media frenzy over Celebrity Big Brother - was it just nasty girls bullying or was it racism? - the thing that depresses me most about this is that this already odious programme suddenly saw its ever-sinking ratings suddenly turn around and jump up by a million. Furious arguments over alleged racial abuse in a bad 'reality' show and a million British couch potatoes go, oh, I must tune in and watch! I think that says even more about the state of Britain than the supposed racism (which looks more to be a bunch of bitter, talentless and ugly women ganging up to pick on the one who is famous and pretty really and doesn't resembly Miss Piggy after being hit by a frying pan in the face).
Among the overheated media frenzy over Celebrity Big Brother - was it just nasty girls bullying or was it racism? - the thing that depresses me most about this is that this already odious programme suddenly saw its ever-sinking ratings suddenly turn around and jump up by a million. Furious arguments over alleged racial abuse in a bad 'reality' show and a million British couch potatoes go, oh, I must tune in and watch! I think that says even more about the state of Britain than the supposed racism (which looks more to be a bunch of bitter, talentless and ugly women ganging up to pick on the one who is famous and pretty really and doesn't resembly Miss Piggy after being hit by a frying pan in the face).
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
1707: Union
Today marks the 300th anniversary of the Scottish parliament choosing to dissolve itself and merge with the English parliament to make something new in the world, something called Great Britain Plc. Three centuries on and the Act of Union remains contentious in the UK, not least here in Scotland; with an election looming for the devolved Scottish parliament this spring and the Scottish National Party looking like taking a big slice out of Labour's share of the vote it is all being discussed again.
I remain unconvinced either way on calls for complete independence or remaining in the Union - I can understand arguments on both sides, but also recognise a lot of it is not based in reason but in rhetoric and sentiment and not a little bigotry and prejudice (on all sides), which isn't really the best basis for an informed decision, not to mention much of what is discussed being based on a very poor understanding of history. One thing is true, however - the actual people of Scotland have never had a say in this matter. Bribery and chicanery were used to make sure those in power in Edinburgh came to the desired decision, not the best basis for a partnership, while the actual people were not consulted.
What is also true is that if the Union is to stay it needs to be updated and modified, especially in the wake of Welsh and Scottish devolution - for starters the imbalance this created needs to be redressed with the rather obvious introduction of an English parliament to deal with purely English matters rather than pushing it through Westminster. Really this should have been done when the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament were set up, but for some reason it has taken this long for a large number of people in England to come to the conclusion that they need it (perhaps they should thank the Welsh and Scots!).
So I am unsure what route to go down, should a referendum ever come up, but independent with the EU (er, wow, that makes a big difference right enough!) or remaining within a Union with devolved powers to each of the constituent nations Scotland will still be Scotland, still a mixture of history, heritage, science and poetry, fact and myth. And on the subject of possible independence again after three centuries I will just say this: how hard is it to split up your CDs when you break up with a partner? How much harder to divvy up parts of a state?
Today marks the 300th anniversary of the Scottish parliament choosing to dissolve itself and merge with the English parliament to make something new in the world, something called Great Britain Plc. Three centuries on and the Act of Union remains contentious in the UK, not least here in Scotland; with an election looming for the devolved Scottish parliament this spring and the Scottish National Party looking like taking a big slice out of Labour's share of the vote it is all being discussed again.
I remain unconvinced either way on calls for complete independence or remaining in the Union - I can understand arguments on both sides, but also recognise a lot of it is not based in reason but in rhetoric and sentiment and not a little bigotry and prejudice (on all sides), which isn't really the best basis for an informed decision, not to mention much of what is discussed being based on a very poor understanding of history. One thing is true, however - the actual people of Scotland have never had a say in this matter. Bribery and chicanery were used to make sure those in power in Edinburgh came to the desired decision, not the best basis for a partnership, while the actual people were not consulted.
What is also true is that if the Union is to stay it needs to be updated and modified, especially in the wake of Welsh and Scottish devolution - for starters the imbalance this created needs to be redressed with the rather obvious introduction of an English parliament to deal with purely English matters rather than pushing it through Westminster. Really this should have been done when the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament were set up, but for some reason it has taken this long for a large number of people in England to come to the conclusion that they need it (perhaps they should thank the Welsh and Scots!).
So I am unsure what route to go down, should a referendum ever come up, but independent with the EU (er, wow, that makes a big difference right enough!) or remaining within a Union with devolved powers to each of the constituent nations Scotland will still be Scotland, still a mixture of history, heritage, science and poetry, fact and myth. And on the subject of possible independence again after three centuries I will just say this: how hard is it to split up your CDs when you break up with a partner? How much harder to divvy up parts of a state?
Monday, January 15, 2007
William Blake
The British Library is holding an exhibition to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of of my favourite poets and artists, William Blake, including how his work has influenced modern creators, including Philip Pullman who has donated part of his manuscript for the Amber Spyglass. One of the items in the exhibition is a notebook of Blake's, filled with fragments of poetry, observations and sketches of his art (a couple of which could pass as pencil outlines for covers for Mike Carey's Lucifer comics). For those of us not able to visit the exhibition the British Library has also digitised the notebook and added it to their Turning the Pages site (where they have the original Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland I blogged about months ago), where you can use your mouse to 'turn' over each page and have a look.
The British Library is holding an exhibition to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of of my favourite poets and artists, William Blake, including how his work has influenced modern creators, including Philip Pullman who has donated part of his manuscript for the Amber Spyglass. One of the items in the exhibition is a notebook of Blake's, filled with fragments of poetry, observations and sketches of his art (a couple of which could pass as pencil outlines for covers for Mike Carey's Lucifer comics). For those of us not able to visit the exhibition the British Library has also digitised the notebook and added it to their Turning the Pages site (where they have the original Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland I blogged about months ago), where you can use your mouse to 'turn' over each page and have a look.
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
Auguries of Innocence, William Blake
Parcelforce - the sorry saga continues
Finally I get a reply from the useless lot at the Royal Mail's Parcelforce acknowledging the problem, asking for my details (you know, the details they had originally but need again because, well, guessing incompetence same as the delivery driver and the original folks who were supposed to look into it and get back to me) and promising to begin an investigation (no, I'm not holding my breath and anyway, the parcel is almost certainly lost for good thanks to the sheer idiocy and incompetence of their driver abandoning it outside). And hey, this time it only took two further angry emails and two more weeks before they actually replied. At this rate perhaps I will get some information by Easter. This whole sorry mess has been going on now since the 21st of December and so far these eejits haven't even been able to tell me who sent the package so I know who to contact to tell them what happened. Their customer service levels appear to be about as competent as their driver proved to be; at least they are consistent.
Finally I get a reply from the useless lot at the Royal Mail's Parcelforce acknowledging the problem, asking for my details (you know, the details they had originally but need again because, well, guessing incompetence same as the delivery driver and the original folks who were supposed to look into it and get back to me) and promising to begin an investigation (no, I'm not holding my breath and anyway, the parcel is almost certainly lost for good thanks to the sheer idiocy and incompetence of their driver abandoning it outside). And hey, this time it only took two further angry emails and two more weeks before they actually replied. At this rate perhaps I will get some information by Easter. This whole sorry mess has been going on now since the 21st of December and so far these eejits haven't even been able to tell me who sent the package so I know who to contact to tell them what happened. Their customer service levels appear to be about as competent as their driver proved to be; at least they are consistent.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Tape loading error
This little site will seem all too familiar to those of us who had the old Sinclair ZX Spectrum, with its rubber keyboard and mighty 48K of RAM (yes, a whole 48K!!! Wow, what a jump up from my 16K on my TI99-4/A) as you can now relive the fun and games that was waiting ages for a huge 48K programme to load from the tape deck with that awful Sinclair screech only to get the 'tape loading error' message instead of launching into Manic Miner with its demonic lavatory pans with teeth chasing you (seriously).
Funny, I was thinking about changes in home tech recently - somehow over Xmas at home we were talking about old games and my dad said how much he liked the Western shootout game we used to play (on an old Phillips cartridge console, something like the G7000 I think it was called) despite the blocky graphics because it was a fun game for two players. Then someone mentioned the video tennis, Pong-type game we had before that. We went from that to the Phillips system with keyboard and cartridges, then I had my TI (my first proper home computer back in 1981 or thereabouts), Spectrum then much later my Atari ST - wow, this thing had a floppy drive!! No more tape deck for me! Cutting edge!! First PC to use at college in the 90s with a gargantuan 65 meg hard drive. A hard disc??? Wow!!! Of course, now my latest camera has more than a dozen times this memory than that whole computer and the flash drive I carry about, which is the size of a lip salve tube, is also far bigger. Based on this procession, does this mean I can look forward to a semi-intelligent computer able to control a holodeck for me in the next ten years or so? Please?
This little site will seem all too familiar to those of us who had the old Sinclair ZX Spectrum, with its rubber keyboard and mighty 48K of RAM (yes, a whole 48K!!! Wow, what a jump up from my 16K on my TI99-4/A) as you can now relive the fun and games that was waiting ages for a huge 48K programme to load from the tape deck with that awful Sinclair screech only to get the 'tape loading error' message instead of launching into Manic Miner with its demonic lavatory pans with teeth chasing you (seriously).
Funny, I was thinking about changes in home tech recently - somehow over Xmas at home we were talking about old games and my dad said how much he liked the Western shootout game we used to play (on an old Phillips cartridge console, something like the G7000 I think it was called) despite the blocky graphics because it was a fun game for two players. Then someone mentioned the video tennis, Pong-type game we had before that. We went from that to the Phillips system with keyboard and cartridges, then I had my TI (my first proper home computer back in 1981 or thereabouts), Spectrum then much later my Atari ST - wow, this thing had a floppy drive!! No more tape deck for me! Cutting edge!! First PC to use at college in the 90s with a gargantuan 65 meg hard drive. A hard disc??? Wow!!! Of course, now my latest camera has more than a dozen times this memory than that whole computer and the flash drive I carry about, which is the size of a lip salve tube, is also far bigger. Based on this procession, does this mean I can look forward to a semi-intelligent computer able to control a holodeck for me in the next ten years or so? Please?
Lily joins Herman
Sad this week to hear about Yvonne De Carlo passing away; she was an extremely attractive starlet in 40s and 50s Hollywood, perfectly matched to the high glamour of that period with her stunning hourglass figure and sultry looks (do a Google image search on her and see what I mean. This was the era of curvy women, no stick figure actresses here!). She played a number of roles as femme fatales and even appeared in Cecil B DeMille's Ten Commandments epic as Mrs Moses. But it is a Lily Munster, the loving vampiric wife and mother of the Munsters that most of us will know her; Fred Gwynne who played the loveable goof Herman Munster, her screen husband died a number of years back, ironically just as his career was reviving, so in a way I supposed Lily has gone to join Herman.
I love the Munsters; along with the Addams Family they really showed that you could have humour out of traditional horror types without resorting to the frankly cheap and laughable (in the bad, non comedic way) that had been tried by Abbot and Costello, while also satirising bigotry about the way even 'good' people react to those different to them and pastiching the traditional family while also championing it. From the Addams and Munsters I picked up Edward Gorey's Gothic wonders; they prepped me for the comedy horror of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead and the delights of a number of humorous Gothic comics like Richard Moore's Boneyard and the works of Tim Burton.
Would we have these works without the Munsters and Addams? I don't know, but it seems less likely, or at least not the way we did have them. Mostly though I just found them wonderfully funny and indeed I still do; I still watch both shows when they are repeated and never really get tired of them. And Lily Munster and Morticia Addams are still up there with Neil Gaiman's Death as my favourite Gothic ladies.
Sad this week to hear about Yvonne De Carlo passing away; she was an extremely attractive starlet in 40s and 50s Hollywood, perfectly matched to the high glamour of that period with her stunning hourglass figure and sultry looks (do a Google image search on her and see what I mean. This was the era of curvy women, no stick figure actresses here!). She played a number of roles as femme fatales and even appeared in Cecil B DeMille's Ten Commandments epic as Mrs Moses. But it is a Lily Munster, the loving vampiric wife and mother of the Munsters that most of us will know her; Fred Gwynne who played the loveable goof Herman Munster, her screen husband died a number of years back, ironically just as his career was reviving, so in a way I supposed Lily has gone to join Herman.
I love the Munsters; along with the Addams Family they really showed that you could have humour out of traditional horror types without resorting to the frankly cheap and laughable (in the bad, non comedic way) that had been tried by Abbot and Costello, while also satirising bigotry about the way even 'good' people react to those different to them and pastiching the traditional family while also championing it. From the Addams and Munsters I picked up Edward Gorey's Gothic wonders; they prepped me for the comedy horror of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead and the delights of a number of humorous Gothic comics like Richard Moore's Boneyard and the works of Tim Burton.
Would we have these works without the Munsters and Addams? I don't know, but it seems less likely, or at least not the way we did have them. Mostly though I just found them wonderfully funny and indeed I still do; I still watch both shows when they are repeated and never really get tired of them. And Lily Munster and Morticia Addams are still up there with Neil Gaiman's Death as my favourite Gothic ladies.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A little box of light and shadow
For the last year I've really wanted to get a new camera but just couldn't afford to splash out; now with some money I was given at Xmas and for my birthday I thought it was about time to get the one I'd had my eye on for a while. It arrived yesterday, which is pretty quick considering I only ordered it on Sunday night - now I have that 'I have a cool new toy' feeling of contentment, made all the more enjoyable since it was something I've wanted for so long. I love the little Fuji Q1 that was my first digital camera, but it was incredibly basic with limited movie clip facilitiy, no optical zoom, no low light or night settings or, well, anything really. Not that it stopped me taking a lot of pretty good pics with it over the last three years (if that isn't too immodest) - I've put a number of those pics up here and a pile more on my flog over the last few years too. I've certainly got my money's worth out of it and worked it to its limit, now I'll pass it on to my dad who is a keen photographer but who hasn't tried digital; should suit him perfectly as a pocket camera to carry round and try out, certainly worked well for me.
The new camera is another compact because I need something small enough to live in my bag - I like to have it around because I love being able to snap pics of anything as I happen to see it. Sometimes I'm looking especially to take photos of something, but quite often I just see something and take a pic, which is one of the things I love about digital photography, the freedom it allows in this respect. If a pic works then great, if not then it isn't like you are wasting film. The new toy is another Fuji, an E900 Finepix; its quite small but has everything I want in a compact camera, with decent optical zoom, all sorts of modes for different conditions, multi-shots, smart flash modes and a decent movie function that shoots at 30 frames per second so you get good quality (so yes, I'm sure I will be doing some more via YouTube in the future).
It also has a whole parcel of manual functions like my old 'real' SLR camera which it's going to take me ages to explore and you can add different lenses as you can with larger cameras, so it looks like it will be pretty adaptable, meaning I won't have to replace it in a couple of years, I can just save up and by extra lenses to upgrade and expand it, so it looks like a good buy. And as I say, it is something I have been waiting and wanting to buy for ages, so it is terrific to finally get it. Its even jet black to go with my usual colour of clothing :-).
Actually in size and the black with silvery bits trim it reminds me very much of the first proper camera I ever had, a compact 35MM Ricoh my Uncle Jim, my dad's late brother who was a keen photographer, got for me. It was the first one that I could take control of and really work to take the sort of images I wanted to when I was about 11 or so. Previously to that I had a slim Kodak 110 Uncle Jim gave me when I was still at primary school - remember the 110 cameras, with their pocket size and little cartridge films you could just drop in? They were the handy cameras for anyone to use back in the 70s. The Ricoh 35MM was my training ground though, just as Uncle Jim intended and it taught me how to work the bigger SLRs with my dad, along with different lenses and ways of working them, which was very handy when I was doing photographic work at college years later (where I discovered the dark room was one of the best places to be when hungover).
Snapped off a couple of shots with the new camera in the dark on the way home tonight to try it out - alas I decided to blow my bday money too late to snap the Xmas lights which are all gone, except, for some reason, these ones next to Edinburgh Castle, so I tried out the low light option to snap them before they go too. Right now these lights are outlining skeletal winter trees, but in only two or three months those bare branches will be bursting with greenery.
A pair of uplit trees in Princes Street Gardens below the Castle
Quick snap through the window from the top deck of the bus of the stained glass windows of Saint John's - wow, what a difference in the amount of light and detail the new camera picked up doing this at night compared to a similar shot from a few weeks back with the old one. Oh, I think I am going to have fun with this!
For the last year I've really wanted to get a new camera but just couldn't afford to splash out; now with some money I was given at Xmas and for my birthday I thought it was about time to get the one I'd had my eye on for a while. It arrived yesterday, which is pretty quick considering I only ordered it on Sunday night - now I have that 'I have a cool new toy' feeling of contentment, made all the more enjoyable since it was something I've wanted for so long. I love the little Fuji Q1 that was my first digital camera, but it was incredibly basic with limited movie clip facilitiy, no optical zoom, no low light or night settings or, well, anything really. Not that it stopped me taking a lot of pretty good pics with it over the last three years (if that isn't too immodest) - I've put a number of those pics up here and a pile more on my flog over the last few years too. I've certainly got my money's worth out of it and worked it to its limit, now I'll pass it on to my dad who is a keen photographer but who hasn't tried digital; should suit him perfectly as a pocket camera to carry round and try out, certainly worked well for me.
The new camera is another compact because I need something small enough to live in my bag - I like to have it around because I love being able to snap pics of anything as I happen to see it. Sometimes I'm looking especially to take photos of something, but quite often I just see something and take a pic, which is one of the things I love about digital photography, the freedom it allows in this respect. If a pic works then great, if not then it isn't like you are wasting film. The new toy is another Fuji, an E900 Finepix; its quite small but has everything I want in a compact camera, with decent optical zoom, all sorts of modes for different conditions, multi-shots, smart flash modes and a decent movie function that shoots at 30 frames per second so you get good quality (so yes, I'm sure I will be doing some more via YouTube in the future).
It also has a whole parcel of manual functions like my old 'real' SLR camera which it's going to take me ages to explore and you can add different lenses as you can with larger cameras, so it looks like it will be pretty adaptable, meaning I won't have to replace it in a couple of years, I can just save up and by extra lenses to upgrade and expand it, so it looks like a good buy. And as I say, it is something I have been waiting and wanting to buy for ages, so it is terrific to finally get it. Its even jet black to go with my usual colour of clothing :-).
Actually in size and the black with silvery bits trim it reminds me very much of the first proper camera I ever had, a compact 35MM Ricoh my Uncle Jim, my dad's late brother who was a keen photographer, got for me. It was the first one that I could take control of and really work to take the sort of images I wanted to when I was about 11 or so. Previously to that I had a slim Kodak 110 Uncle Jim gave me when I was still at primary school - remember the 110 cameras, with their pocket size and little cartridge films you could just drop in? They were the handy cameras for anyone to use back in the 70s. The Ricoh 35MM was my training ground though, just as Uncle Jim intended and it taught me how to work the bigger SLRs with my dad, along with different lenses and ways of working them, which was very handy when I was doing photographic work at college years later (where I discovered the dark room was one of the best places to be when hungover).
Snapped off a couple of shots with the new camera in the dark on the way home tonight to try it out - alas I decided to blow my bday money too late to snap the Xmas lights which are all gone, except, for some reason, these ones next to Edinburgh Castle, so I tried out the low light option to snap them before they go too. Right now these lights are outlining skeletal winter trees, but in only two or three months those bare branches will be bursting with greenery.
A pair of uplit trees in Princes Street Gardens below the Castle
Quick snap through the window from the top deck of the bus of the stained glass windows of Saint John's - wow, what a difference in the amount of light and detail the new camera picked up doing this at night compared to a similar shot from a few weeks back with the old one. Oh, I think I am going to have fun with this!
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
The new TV season
January is one of the regular times for British broadcasters to start tantalising us with their new wares, but what new shows can we look forward to for the winter quarter? The Gazette's media correspondent has a look:
Who Wants to be Tony Blair? Chris Tarrant hosts a new quiz show where people compete to try and replace our lovely war criminal Prime Minister when he finally succumbs to the inevitable. Questions will be asked and contestants can phone a friend, ask the audience or bribe a businessman with a peerage. Questions will be along the lines of "what will be your policy on Iraq? Is it A) To pull out completely and blame Tony Blair; B) Stay and blame Tony Blair; C) Do whatever the American government tells you and blame Tony Blair or D) Say everything is fine apart from some minor problems which are all the fault of the BBC. Is that your final answer, Gordon?"
Big Bugger. Channel 4 continues to champion the cutting edge of quality reality television as Davina McCall hosts a new live show where a bunch of 'ordinary' people live together in a house and indulge in endless anal sex for the cameras while morons text in at £10 a time to vote for who gets the trick exploding dildo. Still more amusing than Big Brother. Sponsored by the British Council For Butter. (yes, that is a cheap Last Tango reference). The Celebrity version will give some Z-list nonentities the chance to do something with their arses other than talking out of them.
Doctor Flu. A new science fiction adventure show in which a group of travellers in time and space destroy entire alien civilisations by travelling to them and introducing germs they have no defence against.
Jane Air. A major new drama from the BBC where a plucky heroine scientist in a man's world must fight to protect the atmosphere from destruction by pollution from budget airlines while still trying to land the perfect husband but not look to easy in the process.
Easy Money. Jonathan Ross sits and counts the massive fees he gets from the BBC for the cameras while flopping his fringe around in a manner which would be endearingly boyish if he weren't middle-aged.
January is one of the regular times for British broadcasters to start tantalising us with their new wares, but what new shows can we look forward to for the winter quarter? The Gazette's media correspondent has a look:
Who Wants to be Tony Blair? Chris Tarrant hosts a new quiz show where people compete to try and replace our lovely war criminal Prime Minister when he finally succumbs to the inevitable. Questions will be asked and contestants can phone a friend, ask the audience or bribe a businessman with a peerage. Questions will be along the lines of "what will be your policy on Iraq? Is it A) To pull out completely and blame Tony Blair; B) Stay and blame Tony Blair; C) Do whatever the American government tells you and blame Tony Blair or D) Say everything is fine apart from some minor problems which are all the fault of the BBC. Is that your final answer, Gordon?"
Big Bugger. Channel 4 continues to champion the cutting edge of quality reality television as Davina McCall hosts a new live show where a bunch of 'ordinary' people live together in a house and indulge in endless anal sex for the cameras while morons text in at £10 a time to vote for who gets the trick exploding dildo. Still more amusing than Big Brother. Sponsored by the British Council For Butter. (yes, that is a cheap Last Tango reference). The Celebrity version will give some Z-list nonentities the chance to do something with their arses other than talking out of them.
Doctor Flu. A new science fiction adventure show in which a group of travellers in time and space destroy entire alien civilisations by travelling to them and introducing germs they have no defence against.
Jane Air. A major new drama from the BBC where a plucky heroine scientist in a man's world must fight to protect the atmosphere from destruction by pollution from budget airlines while still trying to land the perfect husband but not look to easy in the process.
Easy Money. Jonathan Ross sits and counts the massive fees he gets from the BBC for the cameras while flopping his fringe around in a manner which would be endearingly boyish if he weren't middle-aged.
Monday, January 8, 2007
American politics explained by Dilbert
Not bad as a summary! Although I think my clearest insights into the American political system has come through reading Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury, just as my best British political education came via Yes, Minister and Private Eye.
Not bad as a summary! Although I think my clearest insights into the American political system has come through reading Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury, just as my best British political education came via Yes, Minister and Private Eye.
In the interests of fairness...
... I need to say that tonight on the way home from work the regular bus driver saw me running to catch it at the bus stop and waited for me. So they ain't all bad! I had a reply from LRT after complaining to them and they offered some mealy mouthed "we can only stop at the stops agreed for that route" or the world will end or some such crap; needless to say they ignored my question as to what they do in this situation if the passenger is elderly, or a child or disabled - does their driver not get some leeway to make a decision. Obviously an uncomfortable question so they simply ignored it (must take training from the same folks who coach politicians). They did helpfully suggest I check the timetable and the electronic board then I will know where it stops (so it is my fault, basically) - which is great except there is a pole for an electronic board at that stop but no display board yet installed (the pavement was ripped up to lay cables and the pole put in months ago, but they still haven't bothered to actually install it) and the timetable in the shelter has no information on which few stops this limited stop service makes, which I had pointed out to him in my email, but again he had either chosen to ignore to make life simpler for himself. So glad to see they pay attention to their regular customer's concerns, eh?
Still, at least they replied - the incompetent idiots at Royal Mail's Parcelforce has still not replied to me about the package their incompetent (or just lazy) delivery driver dumped outside my house before Xmas (it was gone when I got home, just a card saying 'left outside'). I called them that day, they promised to check with the driver next day and call back. Of course they didn't. I tried calling again repeatedly but only ever got stuck on hold, so I gave up and emailed them. It took them a week to bother to reply to that and all I got was an apology but absolutely no information - why had this idiot abandoned my package, who was the registered sender so I can let them know, what were the contents listed as, what action will be taken against the driver, how do I seek redress from Parcelforce for this feeble service?
Ten days later and the buggers haven't bothered to reply at all - perhaps they are thinking I will just shrug my shoulders and give up. Got the wrong bloke there. Sent them a furious email and will try calling them again too. How to impress your customers - lose their package then treat them with contempt afterwards when they ask what happened. No wonder the Royal Mail is constantly losing business to private companies, useless service, pathetic customer care. Moral of this is don't use Royal Mail's Parcelforce if you can avoid it folks, they abandon their packages outdoors then don't give a damn about following up the customer's complaints afterwards.
... I need to say that tonight on the way home from work the regular bus driver saw me running to catch it at the bus stop and waited for me. So they ain't all bad! I had a reply from LRT after complaining to them and they offered some mealy mouthed "we can only stop at the stops agreed for that route" or the world will end or some such crap; needless to say they ignored my question as to what they do in this situation if the passenger is elderly, or a child or disabled - does their driver not get some leeway to make a decision. Obviously an uncomfortable question so they simply ignored it (must take training from the same folks who coach politicians). They did helpfully suggest I check the timetable and the electronic board then I will know where it stops (so it is my fault, basically) - which is great except there is a pole for an electronic board at that stop but no display board yet installed (the pavement was ripped up to lay cables and the pole put in months ago, but they still haven't bothered to actually install it) and the timetable in the shelter has no information on which few stops this limited stop service makes, which I had pointed out to him in my email, but again he had either chosen to ignore to make life simpler for himself. So glad to see they pay attention to their regular customer's concerns, eh?
Still, at least they replied - the incompetent idiots at Royal Mail's Parcelforce has still not replied to me about the package their incompetent (or just lazy) delivery driver dumped outside my house before Xmas (it was gone when I got home, just a card saying 'left outside'). I called them that day, they promised to check with the driver next day and call back. Of course they didn't. I tried calling again repeatedly but only ever got stuck on hold, so I gave up and emailed them. It took them a week to bother to reply to that and all I got was an apology but absolutely no information - why had this idiot abandoned my package, who was the registered sender so I can let them know, what were the contents listed as, what action will be taken against the driver, how do I seek redress from Parcelforce for this feeble service?
Ten days later and the buggers haven't bothered to reply at all - perhaps they are thinking I will just shrug my shoulders and give up. Got the wrong bloke there. Sent them a furious email and will try calling them again too. How to impress your customers - lose their package then treat them with contempt afterwards when they ask what happened. No wonder the Royal Mail is constantly losing business to private companies, useless service, pathetic customer care. Moral of this is don't use Royal Mail's Parcelforce if you can avoid it folks, they abandon their packages outdoors then don't give a damn about following up the customer's complaints afterwards.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Sky at Night
Blimey, tonight in the wee small hours a TV landmark will take place as Sir Patrick Moore presents the 650th episode of The Sky At Night, as the show enters its fiftieth year. Okay, as Patrick might say, in astronomical terms fifty years may not be much, but for a quiet, academic show on astronomy it is pretty amazing. I really can't see many stars, living in the city these days, but I still follow astronomy and space exploration, an interest since I was five and despite - or perhaps because of - the often cheap, no-budget visuals used in the Sky At Night I've always quite enjoyed it. And whether you love him or can't stand him, Moore is quite a character and he has done a lot to publicise science (another reasons he and Carl Sagan were always favourites of mine). In a link to a recent posting he is also a friend of Evelyn (now Dame Evelyn) Glennie and has played music with her.And he must be one of the few people who can get away with wearing a monocle.
Blimey, tonight in the wee small hours a TV landmark will take place as Sir Patrick Moore presents the 650th episode of The Sky At Night, as the show enters its fiftieth year. Okay, as Patrick might say, in astronomical terms fifty years may not be much, but for a quiet, academic show on astronomy it is pretty amazing. I really can't see many stars, living in the city these days, but I still follow astronomy and space exploration, an interest since I was five and despite - or perhaps because of - the often cheap, no-budget visuals used in the Sky At Night I've always quite enjoyed it. And whether you love him or can't stand him, Moore is quite a character and he has done a lot to publicise science (another reasons he and Carl Sagan were always favourites of mine). In a link to a recent posting he is also a friend of Evelyn (now Dame Evelyn) Glennie and has played music with her.And he must be one of the few people who can get away with wearing a monocle.
Magnus
Sad to read of the death at 77 of former Mastermind host Magnus Magnusson today. As well as a respected figure in broadcasting he was very active in maintaining Scotland's huge historical legacy and making it available to the public. He wrote a history of Scotland a few years back which is highly accessible and interesting; it also had some lovely personal touches (something history books can often lack) because he would describe a location which he himself had been involved in saving for the nation. In fact, I ended up giving that book as Christmas presents to several folks that year.
I met him several times at my old bookstore where he shopped (actually he opened it originally, back in the Old Days when bookstores were staffed by real booksellers) and I remember once spending ages talking to him and his wife because he was thinking about a new project looking into famous cases of forgery and trickery. He was genuinely interesting in picking a bookseller's brain for some ideas and I also spent a good while thinking up different search strategems to find possible books he could look into. He was always very friendly and very well mannered each time I dealt with him. I guess he started and he did indeed finish.
Sad to read of the death at 77 of former Mastermind host Magnus Magnusson today. As well as a respected figure in broadcasting he was very active in maintaining Scotland's huge historical legacy and making it available to the public. He wrote a history of Scotland a few years back which is highly accessible and interesting; it also had some lovely personal touches (something history books can often lack) because he would describe a location which he himself had been involved in saving for the nation. In fact, I ended up giving that book as Christmas presents to several folks that year.
I met him several times at my old bookstore where he shopped (actually he opened it originally, back in the Old Days when bookstores were staffed by real booksellers) and I remember once spending ages talking to him and his wife because he was thinking about a new project looking into famous cases of forgery and trickery. He was genuinely interesting in picking a bookseller's brain for some ideas and I also spent a good while thinking up different search strategems to find possible books he could look into. He was always very friendly and very well mannered each time I dealt with him. I guess he started and he did indeed finish.
The Lying, spying bishop
Stanislaw Wielgus, the new archbishop of Warsaw, has had to resign already. Why? Well, a while back allegations surfaced that he collaborated with the totalitarian communist authorities during the Cold War (basically a puppet government put in by the then Soviet Union) and informed on fellow Poles to the secret police. He denied them but later confirmed that yes, he did deal with them to spy on his fellow Poles, so basically he was a traitor to his own people. Given that a lot of Polish Catholic priests actually stood up for Solidarity (sometimes to their detriment) and the resistance movement it is even more hurtful to a lot of Poles that his sod betrayed his own people to the puppets of a controlling totalitarian state which had effectively controlled Poland since the end of the war. Or to put it another way he is a lying traitor bastard.
Does make you wonder why the Popenfuhrer thought it was a good idea to appoint him to such a senior position, doesn't it? He re-iterated his full support for this odious man just two days ago, after all. Or perhaps Herr Pope cut him some slack because he himself shares a somewhat unfortunate past closeness with an evil totalitarian regime?? Oh dear, he's not been doing well on the PR front since he took office, is he? Boy, he's just lucky JP II isn't still alive or he's be force fed his own mitre.
If the disgraced archbishop has read his Inferno he must be cacking his cassock, since old Dante makes it clearer that the final, deepest circle (the Ninth Circle) of Hell is reserved for betrayers (a lovely scene with a three-headed Satan - sometimes seen as a dark allegory of the Trinity - frozen in ice except for his head, with Judas Iscariot being munched by the centre head). Betrayal is always a horrible thing, if it is on the personal level of someone you trust stabbing you in the back or on the larger scale where somone like Wielgus betraying his own people. But since the entire cornerstone of organised religion is having faith a betrayal like this seems even more of a betrayal. But then again there are always those happy to say yes, sir to those in uniform, regardless of their morality.
"That soul up there which has the greatest punishment," said the Master, "is Judas Iscariot, who has his head within, and plies his legs outside. Of the other two who have their heads down, he who hangs from the black muzzle is Brutus; see how he writhes and says no word; and the other is Cassius, who seems so large-limbed. But the night is rising again, and now we must depart, for we have seen the whole."
Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXIV
Of course, some recent research has indicated that we shouldn't pick on poor old Judas because actually, far from being the betrayer he was the more devoted of Jesus' disciples, even following instructions to 'betray' him so he would be martyred, despite the fact others would not know he had done if for Jesus, effectively sacrificing himself to become the most reviled person in much of history to do what his lord asked of him. Religion, oughta be a law against it sometimes.... Hmm, looking back at the Dante now and his description of how Judas hangs in Satan's mouth, "his head within, and plies his legs outside" also perfectly describes the classic way in which victims are consumed by dinosaurs in old Doug McClure movies, head in the mouth, legs thrashing outside.Gee, never spotted that one before.
Stanislaw Wielgus, the new archbishop of Warsaw, has had to resign already. Why? Well, a while back allegations surfaced that he collaborated with the totalitarian communist authorities during the Cold War (basically a puppet government put in by the then Soviet Union) and informed on fellow Poles to the secret police. He denied them but later confirmed that yes, he did deal with them to spy on his fellow Poles, so basically he was a traitor to his own people. Given that a lot of Polish Catholic priests actually stood up for Solidarity (sometimes to their detriment) and the resistance movement it is even more hurtful to a lot of Poles that his sod betrayed his own people to the puppets of a controlling totalitarian state which had effectively controlled Poland since the end of the war. Or to put it another way he is a lying traitor bastard.
Does make you wonder why the Popenfuhrer thought it was a good idea to appoint him to such a senior position, doesn't it? He re-iterated his full support for this odious man just two days ago, after all. Or perhaps Herr Pope cut him some slack because he himself shares a somewhat unfortunate past closeness with an evil totalitarian regime?? Oh dear, he's not been doing well on the PR front since he took office, is he? Boy, he's just lucky JP II isn't still alive or he's be force fed his own mitre.
If the disgraced archbishop has read his Inferno he must be cacking his cassock, since old Dante makes it clearer that the final, deepest circle (the Ninth Circle) of Hell is reserved for betrayers (a lovely scene with a three-headed Satan - sometimes seen as a dark allegory of the Trinity - frozen in ice except for his head, with Judas Iscariot being munched by the centre head). Betrayal is always a horrible thing, if it is on the personal level of someone you trust stabbing you in the back or on the larger scale where somone like Wielgus betraying his own people. But since the entire cornerstone of organised religion is having faith a betrayal like this seems even more of a betrayal. But then again there are always those happy to say yes, sir to those in uniform, regardless of their morality.
"That soul up there which has the greatest punishment," said the Master, "is Judas Iscariot, who has his head within, and plies his legs outside. Of the other two who have their heads down, he who hangs from the black muzzle is Brutus; see how he writhes and says no word; and the other is Cassius, who seems so large-limbed. But the night is rising again, and now we must depart, for we have seen the whole."
Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXIV
Of course, some recent research has indicated that we shouldn't pick on poor old Judas because actually, far from being the betrayer he was the more devoted of Jesus' disciples, even following instructions to 'betray' him so he would be martyred, despite the fact others would not know he had done if for Jesus, effectively sacrificing himself to become the most reviled person in much of history to do what his lord asked of him. Religion, oughta be a law against it sometimes.... Hmm, looking back at the Dante now and his description of how Judas hangs in Satan's mouth, "his head within, and plies his legs outside" also perfectly describes the classic way in which victims are consumed by dinosaurs in old Doug McClure movies, head in the mouth, legs thrashing outside.Gee, never spotted that one before.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
The voice of King
Boing Boing has a link to a story about a Jewish temple in Hollywood where Dr Martin Luther King Jr was invited to speak back in 1965. The speech was recorded but it has never really been played outside of the archives at the temple; now to mark Martin Luther King day next week there will be a special interfaith service including some gospel singers with Dr King's voice from the recording; the speech has also been made available here as a two part MP3. I've always liked King - he isn't perfect, he isn't holier than thou, he had flaws and imperfections just like the rest of us; he was human. But he acted and spoke out as he thought he had to, despite knowing that he put himself in danger by doing so, as you can tell from his "I have a dream" speech (still gives me goosebumps) when he says "I may not get there with you". He didn't, in one sense, since he was assassinated; he did in another since many still turn to his words for inspiration. King is one of those people who reaches out beyond his ethnic, religious and national boundaries; you don't have to be black, Christian or American, he is one of those figures who belongs to the world.
Boing Boing has a link to a story about a Jewish temple in Hollywood where Dr Martin Luther King Jr was invited to speak back in 1965. The speech was recorded but it has never really been played outside of the archives at the temple; now to mark Martin Luther King day next week there will be a special interfaith service including some gospel singers with Dr King's voice from the recording; the speech has also been made available here as a two part MP3. I've always liked King - he isn't perfect, he isn't holier than thou, he had flaws and imperfections just like the rest of us; he was human. But he acted and spoke out as he thought he had to, despite knowing that he put himself in danger by doing so, as you can tell from his "I have a dream" speech (still gives me goosebumps) when he says "I may not get there with you". He didn't, in one sense, since he was assassinated; he did in another since many still turn to his words for inspiration. King is one of those people who reaches out beyond his ethnic, religious and national boundaries; you don't have to be black, Christian or American, he is one of those figures who belongs to the world.
Leah and John
I've posted my first author interview of 2007 over on the FPI blog, chatting again with Leah Moore and John Reppion, principally about their upcoming work but the subjects also range across using zombies to do your Christmas shopping and comics writers as guest on reality shows like Strictly Come Dancing (we aim for a diverse approach, you know). John and Leah's recent handiwork (alongside Shane Oakley and Leah's dad, a certain Alan Moore) can be enjoyed in Albion, which just hit the shelves a couple of weeks ago (and ended up being a present to myself). Albion is a very clever reworking of classic British comics characters from yesteryear, such as the Steel Claw and the Spider.
You don't need to be too familiar with the characters - most of them are well before my time and the little of them I have read was in old reprints in the back of modern comics annual as a kid - to get into this; it takes a basic premise that all of these old characters, largely forgotten today (as they are in real life) turn out to have actually existed but have all been kidnapped by a nervous government who has locked them all up (the superheroes and the villains both) in a remote, secret prison in a Scottish castle. As an overbearing American officer visits and criticises the Brit approach for not being like the American one (just as UK comics characters were quite different from American - far odder and weirder) events are coming to a head.
The book is damned clever, one of those works you will need to go back and re-read several times, spotting more characters as you do so. It also creates some interesting analogies to current political events, not least holding people without evidence or trials simply because they are different and you are scared of them. And it has Robot Archie in it! Highly recommended, this is a graphic novel that you will come back to again and again.
I've posted my first author interview of 2007 over on the FPI blog, chatting again with Leah Moore and John Reppion, principally about their upcoming work but the subjects also range across using zombies to do your Christmas shopping and comics writers as guest on reality shows like Strictly Come Dancing (we aim for a diverse approach, you know). John and Leah's recent handiwork (alongside Shane Oakley and Leah's dad, a certain Alan Moore) can be enjoyed in Albion, which just hit the shelves a couple of weeks ago (and ended up being a present to myself). Albion is a very clever reworking of classic British comics characters from yesteryear, such as the Steel Claw and the Spider.
You don't need to be too familiar with the characters - most of them are well before my time and the little of them I have read was in old reprints in the back of modern comics annual as a kid - to get into this; it takes a basic premise that all of these old characters, largely forgotten today (as they are in real life) turn out to have actually existed but have all been kidnapped by a nervous government who has locked them all up (the superheroes and the villains both) in a remote, secret prison in a Scottish castle. As an overbearing American officer visits and criticises the Brit approach for not being like the American one (just as UK comics characters were quite different from American - far odder and weirder) events are coming to a head.
The book is damned clever, one of those works you will need to go back and re-read several times, spotting more characters as you do so. It also creates some interesting analogies to current political events, not least holding people without evidence or trials simply because they are different and you are scared of them. And it has Robot Archie in it! Highly recommended, this is a graphic novel that you will come back to again and again.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Sodding buses
Oh boy am I pissed off tonight. I decided to do my shopping before heading home from work and got on a bus on Princes Street laden with heavy bags. When I ding the bell to get off the driver very curtly tells me that he doesn't stop until Sighthill. If you don't know Edinburgh this is a big post-war council estate on the edge of town, way beyond my stop. Not two or three stops, but way, way beyond. Basically this guy didn't stop between Princes Street and way out in the boondocks, passing stop after stop after stop because it was a 'limited stop' service. Okay, this was a limited stop service, fair enough, but this wasn't really limited, this was not stopping for miles, a big difference. And more to the bloody point the timetable in the bus shelter doesn't actually say, by the way our crap bus only stops at these handful of points, otherwise I would know not to get on the damned thing.
So I had to ride this fecking bus, trapped on it for ages, only to be dumped way beyond my home in the dark in a part of town I don't know. And since the bastard would only stop at one spot on a busy dual carriageway with no pedestrian crossing anywhere nearby I had a swine of a time trying to traverse four lanes to get to the other damned side to get a bus to take me back the way I came. The useless smegger just kept telling me and another guy who needed to get off that he wasn't allowed to stop - come on, aren't they allowed any discretion on that? I mean what if I had been elderly or disabled, would he still have done this? What a bloody stupid way to run a peak period bus service - nice to get my money's worth from the more than 30 quid a month I pay the sods for my travel pass for buses which never come at the time they are supposed to...
So I finally get home more than twice as late as I should have been, pissed off, struggling with heavy bags and really less than impressed with Lothian Regional Transport's bloody attitude - what amazingly crap customer service; it would be like going into a shop and being told you can only buy this book at this time and not ones from that shelf... As the other guy who was trying to get off remarked, when it is one of their fellow LRT colleagues they damned well stop at other places to let them off (even doing so outwith any official stops) but no, sod the paying customer. The driver told the other bloke that if he had gotten on a train he wouldn't expect it to make other stops. Er, a bus is completely different to a train, you sodding eejit - a train actually tells you at the station what places it will stop, unlike this pathetic service (I mean how the hell are you supposed to know???) and unlike a train it is flexible and can stop and start at the driver's discretion. Useless sods.
Oh boy am I pissed off tonight. I decided to do my shopping before heading home from work and got on a bus on Princes Street laden with heavy bags. When I ding the bell to get off the driver very curtly tells me that he doesn't stop until Sighthill. If you don't know Edinburgh this is a big post-war council estate on the edge of town, way beyond my stop. Not two or three stops, but way, way beyond. Basically this guy didn't stop between Princes Street and way out in the boondocks, passing stop after stop after stop because it was a 'limited stop' service. Okay, this was a limited stop service, fair enough, but this wasn't really limited, this was not stopping for miles, a big difference. And more to the bloody point the timetable in the bus shelter doesn't actually say, by the way our crap bus only stops at these handful of points, otherwise I would know not to get on the damned thing.
So I had to ride this fecking bus, trapped on it for ages, only to be dumped way beyond my home in the dark in a part of town I don't know. And since the bastard would only stop at one spot on a busy dual carriageway with no pedestrian crossing anywhere nearby I had a swine of a time trying to traverse four lanes to get to the other damned side to get a bus to take me back the way I came. The useless smegger just kept telling me and another guy who needed to get off that he wasn't allowed to stop - come on, aren't they allowed any discretion on that? I mean what if I had been elderly or disabled, would he still have done this? What a bloody stupid way to run a peak period bus service - nice to get my money's worth from the more than 30 quid a month I pay the sods for my travel pass for buses which never come at the time they are supposed to...
So I finally get home more than twice as late as I should have been, pissed off, struggling with heavy bags and really less than impressed with Lothian Regional Transport's bloody attitude - what amazingly crap customer service; it would be like going into a shop and being told you can only buy this book at this time and not ones from that shelf... As the other guy who was trying to get off remarked, when it is one of their fellow LRT colleagues they damned well stop at other places to let them off (even doing so outwith any official stops) but no, sod the paying customer. The driver told the other bloke that if he had gotten on a train he wouldn't expect it to make other stops. Er, a bus is completely different to a train, you sodding eejit - a train actually tells you at the station what places it will stop, unlike this pathetic service (I mean how the hell are you supposed to know???) and unlike a train it is flexible and can stop and start at the driver's discretion. Useless sods.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Utopia
My friend and former colleague Gregor has a display of some of his luscious artwork in Oddfellows on Forrest Road, Edinburgh (now a very designer place, was a student hangout for younger undergrads when I was at college):
I haven't been in yet but will need to make a point of swinging by to check it out; I've seen some of Gregor's artwork before - he did some very cool designs for a new version of my first review site, the Library of Dreams, but the site never got going because I joined up with my friends on the Alien Online instead (now UK SF Book News) - and he does enjoy mixing in some nice sexual touches, dirty dog that he is! Nah, kidding, his work is always interesting and sexuality and portrayals of gender roles are such a major part of both individual and societal identities it is an endlessly explorable arena for any artist. If you are in town go have a look, if not have a swing by his MySpace site.
My friend and former colleague Gregor has a display of some of his luscious artwork in Oddfellows on Forrest Road, Edinburgh (now a very designer place, was a student hangout for younger undergrads when I was at college):
'"Utopia', like most of my art work, is about fantasy. I like to transport people somewhere other than their immediate reality when they become involved in my work, whether that be dancing at a club night I've thrown, wearing an item of clothing I've designed, or looking at a picture I have put together.
I haven't been in yet but will need to make a point of swinging by to check it out; I've seen some of Gregor's artwork before - he did some very cool designs for a new version of my first review site, the Library of Dreams, but the site never got going because I joined up with my friends on the Alien Online instead (now UK SF Book News) - and he does enjoy mixing in some nice sexual touches, dirty dog that he is! Nah, kidding, his work is always interesting and sexuality and portrayals of gender roles are such a major part of both individual and societal identities it is an endlessly explorable arena for any artist. If you are in town go have a look, if not have a swing by his MySpace site.
New year, same crap
Happy new Year, folks. Second of January (the first being passed in post alcohol-binge haze) and already my phone has rung with the happy sound of marketing eejits. Bank I deal with: hi, it's such and such from MammonBank International, Mr Gordon, can I verify your date of birth and address details, please? Me: er, why? Bank: I need to verify your details before I can talk to you. Me: I don't randomly give out my details over the phone to anyone who calls. Is this an out unsolicited marketing call to offer me some new deal? Bank: I really need to verify your details... Me: because I haven't called you and I don't want any new loan extensions or anything else right now so I have no wish to go through any palaver over names, DOB details etc just to hear some sales pitch I didn't ask for...
Second of January and already the poor souls who work in call centres are phoning the nation offering more stuff we don't want or how to improve you financial situation by taking out an even longer loan with them... I mean, come on, it's the second day of the New Year, even if I was wanting their extra services (I don't, I'd rather clear the existing one frankly) I doubt I'd have put any thought into it at this point. This is one of the reasons I often let the answering machine deal with calls before 8pm, although since the same bank left about 4 messages before Xmas which I didn't reply to they obviously can't take a hint.
Happy new Year, folks. Second of January (the first being passed in post alcohol-binge haze) and already my phone has rung with the happy sound of marketing eejits. Bank I deal with: hi, it's such and such from MammonBank International, Mr Gordon, can I verify your date of birth and address details, please? Me: er, why? Bank: I need to verify your details before I can talk to you. Me: I don't randomly give out my details over the phone to anyone who calls. Is this an out unsolicited marketing call to offer me some new deal? Bank: I really need to verify your details... Me: because I haven't called you and I don't want any new loan extensions or anything else right now so I have no wish to go through any palaver over names, DOB details etc just to hear some sales pitch I didn't ask for...
Second of January and already the poor souls who work in call centres are phoning the nation offering more stuff we don't want or how to improve you financial situation by taking out an even longer loan with them... I mean, come on, it's the second day of the New Year, even if I was wanting their extra services (I don't, I'd rather clear the existing one frankly) I doubt I'd have put any thought into it at this point. This is one of the reasons I often let the answering machine deal with calls before 8pm, although since the same bank left about 4 messages before Xmas which I didn't reply to they obviously can't take a hint.
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