Well, submitted. Late for work, but the site is submitted to 9rules. Just got to wait and see now. (And no, I don’t think I will get in either, but if you don’t try you’ll never know). The CC thinks I’m made to worry this much about the blog, by the way, and I think he might be right 😀
Monthly Archives: May 2006
Bright Cast: take four
Seeing as how my bluetooth keyboard has gone on the fritz, time for more of Colin’s story to save on the RSI.
Episode Three of “Salt and Pepper Chess: the Story of Colin”
To listen, just press the pretty pink button below (and be patient whilst it loads). For other instructions, or for the previous instalments of Colin’s Story, go to the the BrightCast page.
(And sorry for the dodgy sound quality. Something went a bit Pete Tong, but this was take twenty or something, and I just couldn’t face recording it again).
If you enjoyed that, let me know what you want to happen next in the story. I can’t write this if you don’t give me ideas people!
(The germ of the idea for this part belongs primarily to Moose. And a TV advert. Blame them!)
Garlic bread
The one good thing about having a partner who currently resides over 3000 miles away – you can make really stinky garlic bread for dinner and not have to worry 😀
Friends I had of old
We are in the process of cleaning out the Homestead at the moment prior to downsizing to a house/bungalow that Curly Durly will find more manageable than a large four bedroom family house, and it is a harrowing experience I can tell you.
The house has been the family home since before my brother was born, so we’re talking nearly three decades here and, whilst I have lived elsewhere for the past five or so years, all those domiciles have been rented accommodation. Consequently, there’s a lot of my accumulated stuff back at the Homestead, all of which needs to be sorted through so we know what to chuck and what to put into storage.
What really brought tears to my eyes this weekend though was going through all the old photo albums and shoeboxes filled to over flowing with pictures of people, many of whom I’ve lost contact with over the years. We’ ve never been a family to take pictures of each other, or to document each and every occasion on film, but over the years we’ve still accumulated a fair number of pictures. Even today, when I’m on holiday, I prefer to look at things rather than constantly peer through the blinkers of the viewfinder, but I will not deny the power of even an out-of-focus shot to bring back a whole host of half-forgotten memories.
As I was going through the pictures I realised how many people had fallen by the wayside – people I loved dearly, still love, but who I no longer talk to for whatever reason. I came across person after person who I missed so much, and started to think on all the happy times we had shared, and the sad times, and found myself wondering how I could get in touch with these people again. Indeed, what I would say to them if I did meet them again? Half of them wouldn’t even recognize me. Would they want to see me again? Do they sometimes think of me with a regretful happiness?
I found myself thinking of a poem I once read, which ended thus:
Some people make our souls to dance.
…
They stay in our lives for awhile,
Leave footprints on our hearts,
And we are never, ever the same.
This is a small selection of the people who made my soul dance and not a week goes by that I don’t miss each and every one of them.
With a tear in my eye and a smile on my face, I just want to say a huge “thank you” to all these wonderful people for letting me share their life for a time. I quite simply would not be here today without you, and I just wish you were all still around to share in the laughter once more.
Sunday Roast: I’ve read the constitution and it does not protect ugly people
I lied when I said I had set this to post itself before I left on Friday. I didn’t get it finished in time, so the Mac had a little trip back to Somerset with me, all so you won’t miss out. Is it worrying you as much as it is worrying me, how much time I spend thinking about Bright Meadow?
Whilst I go and sit in a dark corner and ponder my severe lack of life, have a gander at what’s tickled my brain cells this week.
I love wikis, I think that that is a matter of public record by now. After near a year writing a thesis on them, it was always going to be a case of love or hate. Anyway, whilst I think they are great tools, I do think that Wikipedia has a lot to answer for. Yes, it’s brought wikis to the attention of people who might otherwise not have known about them (my supervisor and hence me for two) and it is a great idea, but it has got to be synonymous with wikis when in fact it is just one implementation of the software. And a very narrow one at that. It also has it’s problems, as Liz discovered to her cost recently.
I just think this fold-up DVD player can not be built fast enough. Such a groovy idea!
I made a discovery the other day at the gym – audio-books are great when you’re peddling away for 20 minutes on an alpine pass that doesn’t actually exist. I’m sure if I was cycling through the real Alps, I would be paying attention to the road, but seeing as how I’m stuck in a gym staring myopically at the wall, I need something to listen to. Long have I relied on upbeat music – American Idiot by Greenday is a great workout album I have discovered – but the other day it just wasn’t working for me. So I switched over to a spoken-word copy of “A Christmas Carol” I’d downloaded at Christmas, and next thing I knew I had finished the program on the cycle! I used to listen to a lot of spoken-word when I was driving regularly, but I hadn’t thought to do the same in the gym. Wish I had thought of it sooner! It takes me two sessions to get through an episode, and I have three episodes left, so I’ve started casting around for other sources of spoken-word books that I can (legally) download onto the iPod. Current favourite is EscapePod, which has some great Sci Fi.
The UK Attorney General calls for the closure of Guantanamo Bay. About bloody time too.
I can’t remember how I found this mind-bending street art but I have an embarrassingly sinking feeling that it was the NYT. Regardless of how I found it though, this British artist does some amazing 3D street art. Has to been seen to be believed.
MP calls for birth control to be added to methadone. You what?!?!
Since I integrated coComment fully into the Blog, I have come to rely on it as a way of keeping track of comments when I am at work. Especially now several different posts are the focus of conversations at once. I’m not the only one it seems with a desire to track conversations – for example Easton uses coco, del.icio.us, and co.mments.
And who said tree-houses were for kids?
The ever knowledgeable Paul has a great how-to to make gravatars link to comment authors URL as opposed to the gravatar site.
I’ve lost track of the times I’ve automatically clicked on a gravatar (the little picture that appears next to some peoples names) thinking it will take me to the commenters site, only to be greeted by the gravatar site instead. So I can see the plus side in this – it spreads the word about gravatars and is certainly the way I worked out how to get one – but at the same time it is very counter-intuitive for the user. Which would explain why I implemented this little change within five minutes of reading the article 😀
And to finish, Jeff is spot on with his piece about how there is no blogosphere. I’m fighting the urge to make a “there is no spoon” joke right now (damn Keanu’s dark glasses) because he actually has a serious point.
We’re just people talking. You’ll agree with some, disagree with some; like some, hate others. It’s just like life. It’s just people
Toodle-Pip
Ok, I’m off to the Homestead for the weekend.
Don’t worry, I’ve queued up a Sunday Roast so you aren’t bereft of things to read over your morning coffee (the Brain Snail gets very grumpy when there is no ‘Roast it turns out, and I’m all for trying to keep my Minions happy).
Just don’t look for me in the comments till Monday evening 🙂 (That doesn’t mean that you aren’t more than welcome to talk amongst yourselves – the beauty of a medium that is only semi-time dependent).
I hope you don’t get all lonely without me. If you are feeling bereft, comfort yourself with the knowledge that this will give me a chance to work a bit more on Colin.
Wanted, one friendly human
Continuing a (very) occasional series, I bring you the latest that Akismet has caught for me in it’s shiny net.
The highlight for me was the suit worn by the first dog in space which was inside the cabinet. It looked very comical but was in fact genuine and not just a corset with a plastic snout stuck on top.
My highbrow argument goes something like “Because of Joy King and Steve Orenstein, silly!”
Frivolous bastardisation of our punctuation is one of the key witness to the current decline of our wonderful nation.
It was really nice to see Robbie and cycle round the pubs of Oxford with him. He needs to find some mates, though, and some artistic inspiration. Any friendly humans in Oxford?
The mind does boggle about how the decision is made as to which phrases to program into the spam-bots.
That, and I hope Robbie finds a friend soon.