Monday 31 March 2008

Botanist Sues Physics

Or rather botanist sues to stop CERN hurling Earth into parallel universe...

I have my own problems with CERN, in that lots of people I know understand what goes on there and I don't. This is not an acceptable state of affairs as far as I am concerned but I think it's safe to say that this guy's approach at clarification is a little mismanaged.

Friday 28 March 2008

Morgan Wins US Celebrity Apprentice

Proof, if proof be need be*, that Donald Trump is just a mad old man with money.

*On a side note, I am aware of at least two occasions in the last year when the phrase "proof, if proof be need be" has been used by journalists in serious factual programming. I don't know whether it has actually entered the nation's consciousness as acceptable grammar or whether the journalists are paying a subtle homage to Chris Morris but it makes me smile.

Thursday 27 March 2008

Decals

I am increasingly obsessed with wall decals. Here are some sites:

Actedco
Adzif also sell photo decals which are a bit naif for my taste but a nice idea, nonetheless.
Bilk who, brilliantly, create decals from Threadless, the online-community-based t-shirt company, as well as inviting guest artists to create designs
DVider
Ferm Living
Ugly Home who also sell fucking sexy wallpaper and tiles


Oh, and I think I found my wallpaper - Scandnavian Design Centre

Justice - DVNO

I didn't think I could love this song any more. Then I saw the video.


Fantasy Holidays I Will Probably Never Go On Part 2

I am gratified that no tour company seems to offer the exact itinerary I would like for this one. I suspect that this may because the two constituent parts are dependent on (different) seasons but I'm allowing it to make me feel special.

Anyway, if I could somehow combine Black Tomato's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and the Icelandtotal.com trip Aurora Adventure I could die a happy girl.

I've been obsessed with the Northern Lights since well before I read the Philip Pullman trilogy of books, which only served to deepen my interest. Maybe it's coming from the flat lands of East Anglia where the skies are endless - I'm a gazer and could happily spend hours watching a storm approach or the sun fall.

I've also heard amazing reports about the diving in Iceland's interior. The water is all mountain run-off and, evidently, is so clear that divers frequently abort descents because of vertigo. The upside of this is visibility of over 30m (probably the best in the world) and the opportunity to see amazing underwater geological landscapes that are largely uncharted.

I will wear metallic black eyeliner in dark, dank clubs then fly in the water and wonder at the dancing sky.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Things I Resent

Websites that present things I disagree with in a really smart way.

Festivals 2008 Cont.

Before I got on my big rant I was supposed to say that I will be going to The Big Chill this year and one other, as yet undetermined, festival.

Suggestions on the back of a postcard.

Festivals 2008

Gulp.

I'm not going to Glastonbury this year.

Actually I didn't go to Glastonbury last year but that was mostly because of work and I was looking upon it very much as a break to renew my energies for this year. Now, when it comes down to it I (and most of my friends - Glastonbury veterans of 10 or more years all) haven't even registered.

It's hard to pin down all the reasons but it sounds to me like the things that were starting to irritate me about Glastonbury in previous year got even worse. As one friend said "it feels like you're in a giant Radio 1 advert".

Having recently gone to a few of the smaller festivals (including the amazing TIPI of which more soon) the sheer scale of Glastonbury has become completely exhausting and unnecessarily hard work. This is, I suppose, a posh way of admitting that I'm too lazy to trek for half an hour to see the acts I only mildly care about, meaning I don't see as many bands as I'd like to.

The line-up is also an issue. I rarely pay much attention to the headliners, since I rarely want to see them but I've always found them a very good indicator of the ethos of the festival as a whole and this year's reads like a bad joke.

My final issue is a thorny one. Last time I was at Glastonbury the levels of public engagement with environmental issues was yet to explode as it has in the prevailing two years and even then I found the conflict between the "green" credentials of the festival and the ignored impact of its happening irritating in the extreme. I can only imagine that now it will be worse. There is something infuriating about wandering through fields of information on green technology in a valley surrounded by mile upon mile of car parks, thousands of petrol generators and stupidly large lighting rigs.

Obviously, it would be difficult to to run the festival without any of these things and of course it is important that we educate people about the issues surrounding sustainable living but the danger is that the audience is somehow conned into believing that they are somehow helping the environment by being there alone and really the opposite is true.

Furthermore, the public transport links and the provisions they make for transport at the festival are pathetic. Just get rid of the car parks, everyone would be forced to take the coaches and, because fewer people would take the mega-tents that have started to become the norm in recent years, there would be more capacity.

I don't begrudge Glastonbury their environmental impact, I should imagine it's less than most comparable festivals, but I do begrudge the smug attitude that they allow to prevail that they do no harm whatsoever. "Leave no trace" is completely unobtainable and to imply that it is is irresponsible.

Thom Yorke (kinda) agrees.

Fox n'Wolf

Youth Alcoholic

I'm actually incapable of not listening to this tune for more than about 2 minutes at the moment.

Fox n wolf are my new favourite stupidly-young electro outfit and are destined to be the next Hot Chip (with more neon).

Fantasy Holidays I Will Probably Never Go On Part 1

Desert Trekking and Diving in Ras Abu Galoum

I am completely fascinated by the desert landscape of the Middle East and the Sinai Peninsula bests them all. I've been trekking in the proper Sahara (with sand dunes and everything) and it was breathtaking but there's something about the rugged, angry terrain of red soil and scrub that makes me go a bit primal.

This coupled with the prospect of 10 dives in pristine, empty sites with only a buddy for company and sleeping under the stars does something funny to my tummy.

I will drink ice cold beer as the sky turns vermillion and smoke cigarettes with the men.

Tuesday 25 March 2008

Traffik

I am reliably informed that I have traffic, which is news to me since I thought the only one who read this was the boy (since I'm the only one who reads his).

Big up yourselves - I hereby resolve to keep this going for at least one more month in your honour.

Obviously this should be somewhat encumbered by work and home duties but given that I started decorating my bedroom last month and have so far managed to strip only one wall, yet I have spent at least three hours of my working day today online looking for a very specific type of green, retro-future wallpaper I'd say we don't have to worry too much on that front.

If I had a lot of money and the ability to make decisions this is where I would buy my wallpaper.

Monday 24 March 2008

Norwich

There are several reasons why I am at Norwich Airport, none of which reflect particularly well on me so we'll not dwell overly on them. Anyway, since it now appears I am going to be stuck in the departures "lounge" of Norwich Airport for at least another two hours it seems I have been dealt my karmic hand in a fairly direct way.

To kill the time I have set myself a mission to see how much time I can kill by utilising all of the facilities laid on for me in the departures "lounge" of Norwich Airport. In order for you get a feeling for what we're dealing with here,it might be worth noting that the departures board currently lists my flight and four other flights, all to "Oil Platforms".
So far I have:
  • Charged my mobile phone using some sort of clunky locker system which also appears to charge iPods and Blackberries (as if anyone with a Blackberry has ever been to Norwich Airport).
  • Bought some perfume and promptly taken it back when I realised I have to pay duty on this flight and it's probably cheaper in Debenhams.
  • Sneaked into the Executive Lounge. This was not hard, it was guarded by a nice lady who asked me if I had a pass. I said yes. She let me in.
  • Had a coffee and read the Daily Star in the Executive Lounge. Realised that was the extent of the executive lounge's pleasures, got up to leave. Nice lady asked me to show her my pass.
  • Got chucked out of the Executive Lounge (although I maintain a quit).
  • Had a coffee in the coffee place.
  • Had a beer in the bar.
  • Played with a small Dutch child.
  • Paid £6 for an hour's internet access.
That's it. That's all there is to do.

I have also read this very funny bit of funny, courtesy of my friend from school, Thom.

Thursday 20 March 2008

Merry Easter One and All

A Whole New World

Of sarcastic reviews. Why won't people leave poor Peter and Katie alone? They're simple, money-grabbing, publicity-hungry vultures, just like you and me.

This is where I drop my facade of superiority and admit that I LOVE Katie and Peter. Every fibre of my being screams a protest but I really want to be their friend.

I daydream frequently of a life where the boy and I go to their Surrey home and have dinner (probably fajitas from a kit or pasta and sauce, washed down with Tesco Finest wine) then Kate and I sit and talk about the state of the American modern novel and Almodóvar, while Peter and the boy probe the finer details of visualisation and kernel development.

Download Music From Your Friends' iTunes Libraries Over The Internet

Woot, basically.

"Share any song in your iTunes library and download any song from your friends' iTunes libraries over the internet with Mojo. Essentially, Mojo makes sharing music with your friends through iTunes wildly simple, from its simple interface to its brilliant implementation. If you've ever used apps like previously mentioned ourTunes to download music from shared libraries, you have an idea of what Mojo does, bu you should still prepare to be amazed."

Made even more pleasant for me because I get to lord the usable technology banner over my Linux friends once again. Get some usability, geeks.

Steve Jobs Is a Murderer!

Well, he parks in disabled spaces, which is tantamount to the same thing in my book.

T-Shirts I Would Buy if I Were a Boy Part #1

I love t-shirts in a big way, but, unfortunately for me and anyone attempting to get past me in a narrow corridor on a cold day, I am rather over-endowed in the chesticular department.

Red Bubble T-Shirts

Wednesday 19 March 2008

I'm So White

I doubt there is anyone whiter than me.

This weekend I'm going to an Easter "party" that will consist of two developers, a psychologist, a chemist, a geneticist, a marketing manager, a maths PhD and an economist, we will almost certainly play a lot of wii bowling and I'm bringing the wherewithals to make kedgeree.

Tuesday 18 March 2008

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

I really wanted to add something about the straw, since I was lucky enough to have a photo with one but that amount of text didn't quite look right. :(

Aren't the Internets Brilliant

Today I have discovered a new invention called Web 2.0. It's like the old Internet only made by designers, not developers. Likey.

I have discovered this mostly via the medium of iGoogle which means that I will literally never have to open a new browser again in my entire life, and if that's not revolutionary what on earth is, eh?

As always I am exceptionally proud to have been the first to discover this new technology, imagine if I'd only cottoned on say, three years after the phrase had been coined. How embarrassing that would be.

Monday 17 March 2008

Nobody Does it Better

Apart, of course, from everyone else, hence my lack of posts for ooh, a year. There's really no excuse is there.

I loved everything about There Will Be Blood but I still think this is an improvement.