Back to the 50s
Here's an even earlier pic: my Dad (far right) with his National Service buddies serving in Suez…
QotD: Totally Obsessed
What is your current obsession(s)?
Submitted by eijsr.
Currently, getting some sleep. I seem to be in a semi-perpetual state of sleep deprivation right now.
Enter Mechanical March
So, March. That's one sixth of the year gone. How the hell did that happen…?
Still, moving on, I'm very proud of myself right now. As Lorna will happily tell you, at length, I'm not the world's most mechanically talented people. It's just not my strong suit. I'm better at it than my Dad, for whom the simplest of flat-packs was a nasty challenge, was or my brother, who just pays people to do it for him, is, but I'm only good by comparison.
Last night, one of my headlight bulbs went. This made me nervous. For one, it's illegal to drive around with a headlight out, and I'm the sort of clean-living guy who gets done as soon as I step out of line. For another, last time I tried to change a headlight bulb, I remember it being a bit of a nightmare. In the end, I had to get Lorna to do it for me.
I stopped off at Halfords in Sutton. I spent a while working through the guides to find the right bulb for my Megane. And I installed it. Just like that. I stood with oily hands in the Halfords, slightly amazed at my own marginal competence, and gaped at the working light.
Of such material are life's small victories cut.
Book Tech Support
Another bit of e-mailed video humour, this time from Karl:
QotD: The Best Blend
What's your favorite blend or brand of coffee or tea?
Tea-wise, it's jasmine all the way. I find it a wonderful mid-afternoon de-stresser. I drank loads of it in a Chinese restaurant in Bristol last year, and something went "click" in my taste buds. It's been a major part of my beverage intake ever since.
Coffee? I'm on a bit of an Union Coffee Roasters kick right now. I find their coffee to have a flavour a notch above that of most ground coffees, and it's really perking up my work days right now.
Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager
Michael Targett of Black Sheep e-mailed this around, but it's good enough to share here:
Vox Hunt: Time To Make The Donuts
Show us how your work week begins.
Inspiring, isn't it?
QotD: First Celebrity Crush
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Submitted by Glory.
Ah, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars, no doubt about it. This is long before the metal bikini incident in Return of the Jedi, as well, so no smuttiness from the peanut gallery.
I have destinct memories of being obsessed with a card I had of her from a bubble gum collection, and having no idea why I was obsessed with it. All I knew was that looking at it made me happy and gave me an odd feeling of longing.
Puberty (and the metal bikini) were many years away.
I have destinct memories of being obsessed with a card I had of her from a bubble gum collection, and having no idea why I was obsessed with it. All I knew was that looking at it made me happy and gave me an odd feeling of longing.
Puberty (and the metal bikini) were many years away.
QotD: Best Day
What is your favorite day of the week?
I'm really struggling with this one. Friday would be an obvious choice, but I spend so many Friday nights on the A12 or M4 that I rarely look forward to them. Nobody with any sanity looks forward to midweek days. Monday can be cool, when I'm enjoying my job as much as I am, but that just sounds, well, disturbed.
The Lords of The North (Bernard Cornwell)
Bernard Cornwell's best-known series, the Sharpe books, have never grabbed me. My brother loves 'em, and my Dad was fond of them, but Napoleonic-era derring-do has never been my thing. The Uthred series, of which The Lords of the North is the third, are right up my street.
The 9th century is a time of intense struggle, with the idea of England being born in the south, and nearly being destroyed by the Vikings before it takes root. King Alfred ("the Great") not only defeats the Norsemen, but steadily brings the whole country under the banner of Wessex. The first two books take us through Alfred's near total defeat and fightback, through the lens of Uthred, a young Saxon from the north who was raised by Vikings.
The 9th century is a time of intense struggle, with the idea of England being born in the south, and nearly being destroyed by the Vikings before it takes root. King Alfred ("the Great") not only defeats the Norsemen, but steadily brings the whole country under the banner of Wessex. The first two books take us through Alfred's near total defeat and fightback, through the lens of Uthred, a young Saxon from the north who was raised by Vikings.
This books sees Alfred put on the back-burner while Uthred heads north to deal with personal quarrels, and gets caught up in the machinations of a would be king of the North. It's a page turner, as one would expect from Cornwell, with a huge twist in the middle that caught me completely by surprise. But it's not a book I can recommed to those who aren't already reading the series. It's a book of tranistion, tying up plot threads from previous books, and clearling the decks for the next major steps in the major arc of the books: the rise of King Alfred. We pay occasional visits to that story, and get ideas of how it's going, but this feels like an attempt to reconnect Uthred with his roots before returning to a struggle that is only just becoming his own.
An enjoyable read, sure enough, but only as part of a series. It's too clearly a chunk of filler between the key events in Alfred's reign to stand alone as a novel. Pick up The Last Kingdom and start from the beginning.
Brief Lives: Newton (Peter Ackroyd)
I'm not sure why I enjoy Peter Ackroyd's writing as much as I do. It's clearly not polished prose; in fact, his literary style tends towards the brutal at times. Part of it, I suspect, is the fact that he can give even non-fiction a narrative drive and a clarity of idea that makes reading it a compelling experience. And just as important is his strong streak of the contrarian, a desire to challenge the pre-conceived and ill-thought.
Take this brief, but enjoyable, biography of Newton, the founding father of modern scientific thought. Ackroyd plunges the depths of his genius and his obsession, and sheds new light on familiar stories, as one would expect. But he doesn't shy away from the areas of his life that cleave less to the modern idea of what a scientist should be: his deep, abiding and ever-so-slightly heretical Christian faith and his life-long flirtations with alchemy.
He also doesn't play down the difficult, arrogant and insecure nature of the man, and delves into the conflicts with others and periods of seclusion that defined his life. What makes this book, like earlier efforts in the series, so compelling is that they take the greatness of the subject's work for granted, and delve as best as one can, into the reality of the man behind the work. And that can't help but be fascinating.
Take this brief, but enjoyable, biography of Newton, the founding father of modern scientific thought. Ackroyd plunges the depths of his genius and his obsession, and sheds new light on familiar stories, as one would expect. But he doesn't shy away from the areas of his life that cleave less to the modern idea of what a scientist should be: his deep, abiding and ever-so-slightly heretical Christian faith and his life-long flirtations with alchemy.
He also doesn't play down the difficult, arrogant and insecure nature of the man, and delves into the conflicts with others and periods of seclusion that defined his life. What makes this book, like earlier efforts in the series, so compelling is that they take the greatness of the subject's work for granted, and delve as best as one can, into the reality of the man behind the work. And that can't help but be fascinating.
In The Beginning...there were Barenaked Ladies
The Barenaked Ladies/YouTube video I blogged a couple of days ago, combined with general video-related noodling here in the office this afternoon have reminded me of this:
This video was shipped as an example of Quicktime on an Apple installation CD - probably OS9 - and it was the first time I'd ever watched a music video on a computer. I remember, back in the 90s, watching this tiny wee TV showing this slightly surreal video, and thinking that this was the start of something.
Little did I know…
Little did I know…
Vox Hunt: Yeah, About This Thing...
Show us something weird that's on your desk.
Submitted by Alex.
In the most incredibly tardy Vox Hunt entry ever:
Lunch abstract
Good Morning, Vox
Good morning! For the first time in a fortnight, I feel like I've had a good night's sleep and I'm actually facing the world with a positive attitude.
Well, a positive attitude and a big pot of coffee.
I do wander whether my good night's sleep has anything to do with the two glasses of wine I had at the Mashup event Piers and I attended last night. (There's coverage over on One Man & His Blog) Maybe it relaxed me enough that I actually slept properly.
I've become dangerously close to a teetotaller in recent years, so maybe a little gentle boozing is the way forward…
Barenaked YouTube
Canadian band the Barenaked Ladies, boosters of Google traffic for bloggers everywhere, have pulled together a video for one of their tracks by working with YouTube celebrities:
Report from Adders Central
Tired. Very tired. Too many late nights and long drives over the last week.
Productive day at work.
Bed beckons.
More tomorrow.
That is all.
Mobile Self-portrait
Vox Hunt: Set Your DVR
Video: Show us a clip from your current favorite TV show.
Whoever guessed that Daleks and Cybermen were so bitchy?
"You are inelegant"
"Daleks have no concept of ele-e-gance"
"This is obvious"
Put the handbags down, guys.
"You are inelegant"
"Daleks have no concept of ele-e-gance"
"This is obvious"
Put the handbags down, guys.
QotD: The Best Brew
What method do you use to prepare your coffee or tea?
Submitted by AgentBouche
I'm a cafetière man, personally.
While I'd like one of those several-hundred-quid flash coffee making machines, I (a) can't afford it and (b) don't have the space for one in the current flat. Maybe when we've moved…
My family has all fallen for the charms of the Tassimo, since Mark & Jo bought one for La Taupanne, but I'm less convinced myself. While it makes nice enough coffee, I miss the ritual involved with the French press, and am worried about the environmental impact of all those plastic pods.
QotD: Apple For The Teacher
Who was your best (or worst) primary school teacher?
Submitted by Minnow.
(Question edited for the British market)
My best was Mrs Simm, who taught me in primary 3. She was a lovely woman, with over 40 years of teaching little Scottish brats under her belt. She knew every teaching trick in the books, but still clearly loved her job.
My worst was her immediate predecessor Mrs Pritchard, who was rubbish and confused "bored, bright kid" with "stupid kid". Strangely enough, I can remember Mrs Simm clearly, and have no memory at all of what Mrs Pritchard looked like.
Well, it's nearly Friday Night in Sutton...
further to Andrew's post about the Fashion Police arriving in Sutton:
I can now report that it's the dog section in attendance.
Insert your own joke here.
Hitting The Headlines (on p29)
Just over a week ago, Katie Allen of The Guardian came to visit us here at RBI Towers:
And today, the results see print:
You can also see the results online. All in all, I'm pretty pleased. Hanging the story on the current Avian Flu kerfuffle is no big surprise, and will probably get more readership as a result. There's a couple of small factual errors, and my job title's wrong, but, on the whole. it's great publicity for what we're doing here.
Inevitably, the charismatic Mr BigLorryBlog gets his photo and case study in there. And, thanks to "shovelware" processes sticking the print story on the web, the online version reads like I'm the 50-something journalist, not Brian...
I'll be very interested to see what this does for our traffic over the next few days.
I'll be very interested to see what this does for our traffic over the next few days.
Vox Hunt: It's Like This...
Audio: Share a song that reminds you of a current or past relationship.
QotD: Pass Me The Style Section
Do you read the Sunday paper? Which one(s)?
I alternate between The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer, thereby confusing any watching ninjas attempting to discern my political affiliation.
Ninjas are fascinated by political affiliations..