jon – Page 54 – Hello Curns

Weather Project

I visited one of my favourite areas of London earlier today, the Thames’ South Bank where I went to see Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at The Tate Modern

I visited one of my favourite areas of London earlier today, the Thames’ South Bank where I went to see Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at The Tate Modern. There’s half circle of the Sun made up of mono-frequency lamps – the kind which provide the orange glow to our streets at night. Running along the ceiling of the vast turbine hall is a mirror which gives the whole image the look of a whole circle, the sun. You can watch yourself in the mirror on the ceiling and many people do, indeed, lie on the floor looking up at themselves and the other ant-sized people. The lamps really restrict the amount of colour that you can see and that makes the whole atmosphere and experience quite eerie indeed. In fact, despite the orange glow it’s very grey.

I am not in a great one for museums and galleries but I really do like the Tate Modern and The Turbine Hall in particular. If you don’t know it, it’s a vast gallery space that once housed the turbines of the bankside power station. It’s huge and always seems to house interesting works – which is what attracts me back on a regular basis to see them.

Halloween

Trick or Treat?

Well, I bought some sweets from the local shops and waited for the trick-or-treaters. Despite the abundance of small children running around the neighbourhood in fright-masks and cloaks (and an alarmingly high number of mothers with push-chairs wearing big pointy witch-hats) nobody knocked. I am not sure if I am annoyed or relived. We had a guest tonight and so didn’t really want to be disturbed but not one knock. Perhaps I frighten the locals!

Effect Xmas

I never knew I didn’t know this.

Recently I may have professed that I knew the difference between affect and effect and it is confirmed for me today online at Common Errors in English. I did not think that Xmas was a way of removing the Christ from Christmas but more of a lazy person’s way of avoiding writing letters. Turns out, I was wrong and the X is an abbreviation of the Greek for Christ [Source]. Just goes to show that I know nothing.

Phones and PDAs

I have spent the last few days trying to decide if I should update my ‘phone with Orange and today I have decided against.

I have spent the last few days trying to decide if I should update my ‘phone with Orange and today I have decided against. I have been contemplating upgrading my phone to one of those ‘phones that is both PDA and ‘phone. I am hoping this would stop me carrying multiple devices around with me and, also, ensure that I was in sync across all the things I use to try and orgainse my life. Sadly, I have decided there isn’t a device for me.

The Orange SPV seems to get me a lot of the way but the ‘phone hasn’t had the greatest reviews and, to be honest, if I was going to pay that much money I think I would like either Bluetooth or a camera built it (apparently, the next version will have both of these things). It also features a MP3 player that will, of course, play WMA format. I won’t get started on music formats – I am sure there is a whole post there.

Now the Treo 600 also interests me. It is a combined PDA and phone and will be able to utilise most of the palm-related software that I have already installed and use on my trusty Palm Vx. The Real One Mobile that you could use on the Treo doesn’t play WMA files which means that I would have to re-encode most of my music and, as I am not that much of an audiophile, I’d rather have the disc space.

Now, neither of these devices does all I need or want and I am not going to spend that much money yet. My Nokia 7650 tries to sync contacts and a diary but doesn’t do it very well. I looked at the Sony Ericsson T610 but it doesn’t seem to be much of a leap on from the Nokia I have.

So, what’s my wish list? A Palm-powered device which is also a ‘phone and decent MP3 player. If I had the money it would also be Bluetooth and WiFi enabled. One day, somebody will make it, I’ll have the money and we’ll meet in a shop on Oxford Street.

Oh, and if you have tips on getting the Nokia 7650 to sync well (not just sync, but sync well) with the Outlook I use in the office, then please let me know.

The Quiet American

Michael Caine is excellent in The Quiet American.

Thanks to the joy of dvdsontap, I have just watched Michael Caine in The Quiet American, the adaption of Graham Greene’s novel about an American spy, Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser).

Pyle is a US agent who is backing an anti-communist force in Vietnam and befriends British journalist Thomas Fowler (Caine) before ending up part of a love triangle with a local Vietnamese girl, Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen).

Caine was superb as the Saigon-based reporter – an understated performance that steals the show. The movie is well produced, and the atmosphere of the Far East is brilliantly portrayed. I would never have gone to the movies to see this, but I am so glad that I added it to the DVD list.

CD or not to CD?

Just bought another CD.

I’ve just been out and bought Erasure’s Hits collection. Now, I own all the original albums so I am not entirely sure why I went and bought it. Still, I now own the CD so it can sit on the shelf alongside all the others and I will pride myself that my Erasure album collection is complete.

Phil Gyford posted an interesting question about CDs and what would happen if they were all stolen. I have ripped a good number of my CDs but I would miss the originals if I didn’t have them. There appears more value in holding an original CD case with the lyrics, photographs and the notes. I would have to try and replace a good number of them because I would miss them. A little like software, it’s good to have all the originals just in case something happens.

Writer’s Block?

I just can’t seem to get it together to write the things I want to write. Is it writer’s block?

I really wanted to write something about motivation but I am not able to motivate myself to think about what’s buzzing around in my head. To be honest, I am beginning to think that my ability to compose sentences and string together words is leaving me. It’s not that I have any difficulty thinking about the things I would like to write here but I have difficulty actually writing it. My head is full of random thoughts but I am not managing to get them into anything coherent. Failing in this way is actually proving to be quite depressing to be honest.

I wanted to write about a post over at Strange Little Boy which talks about using a wireless connection in a public place – but I can’t get to the point of that one.

I also wanted to write about the development of online technologies and my personal frustrations seeing a lot of the technologies I am interested in being developed outside of the UK. Again, I am suffering some kind of block.

So, I am off to meet a friend for pizza this evening. This will allow me to clear my mind with friend-pizza-eating-trivia and, also, to avoid the television which, after last night’s Dawson’s marathon, will be no bad thing for my brain. Perhaps I shall welcome tomorrow with a clearer mind.

Today On The Creek

Four episodes of Dawson’s Creek. I may need a doctor.

I just watched four Dawson’s Creek episodes in a row. Have I, somehow, wasted an evening? Well, anyway, it included episode 611 where Jack and David eventually kiss (review). The annual gay kiss was somewhat lacking in any emotion. Still you do get to look at Kerr Smith!

It Was 20 Years Ago

What was number one in October 1983?

It’s twenty years since Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon was the UK’s number one selling single (full list). I really remember the video set in Mississippi (but I don’t imagine it was actually filmed there). I suspect it would be very dated now … all together now, “Every day is like survival, You’re my lover, not my rival …”

Another Year, Another Autumn

It’s my favourite of seasons again. Autumn!

As the British tend to do, we will look back on this past summer with joy. We’ll talk about it like we did that of 1976 – a long, hot, lazy, crazy summer. I was more likely to be playing in a paddling pool than worrying about shortages of the plastic pools back then but I do remember the heat and picking the fruit from my father’s fruit bushes while sitting in the back garden. Sadly, the topless lads playing football on the green behind my house has given way to to the Sunday morning rugby matches. This is a sign of the on-coming winter as the fields turn from their burnt golden grass to a dark-brown mud bath. Still, autumn comes first and it’s my favourite of seasons. I think it’s time I got the camera out to start recording some of it.

12 Years And Counting

Twelve Years …

Today is PY and my twelfth anniversary and tonight we are off for dinner at Lightship X at St Katherine’s Dock. I’m really looking forward to it.

Twelve years sounds like a very long time but it certainly doesn’t feel like it – it’s been a wonderful period of my life and I am very much hoping for another twelve years.

People talk about finding their soulmate and I very lucky to have found mine many years ago.

Thanks for everything PY. I love you.

I originally posted this over at Listen to Musak.

Snap Out Of It

I’m not sure what rot has set in but it’s about time I got out of it. In a bizarre way, a freshly ironed pair of trousers made my morning all the better today. I can’t explain that one and I am not going to try.

Yet again, I have been in Helsinki (see May or August) and yet again I did not get to see very much of it. This time, however, it is all my own fault as I did have a couple of spare hours after the meeting and I filled them by wandering around the shops rather than doing something useful.

In fact, this has been the theme for my life for the past week or so. I haven’t found the enthusiasm to do very much at all and given it was my birthday at the end of last week, this seems very sad.

What have I missed out on while away? I don’t know what has happened this week in the Hutton Inquiry (which is I have been following with some interest). However, on a related note, Lord King was a guest on the BBC’s Hardtalk programme (shown on BBC World) on Tuesday and he provided an interesting insight into the politician/intelligence relationship.

On a lighter note, I have missed the start of The Salon (which is not bad thing) and Jase introduced us to the concept of Washboard Envy!

Silent For A Week

I have been unintentionally silent for a week. It’s funny because I can’t pin down the reasons for the lack of attention this site has had in the last seven days or so.

Anyway, I finally caught up on some episodes of Sex And The City, which has been sitting on my SkyPlus, and it finally dawned on me (seemingly after the rest of the nation) that this is a fake advertisement for Absolut. How come I didn’t catch on to that then?

Am I the only person who thinks that the Absolut Hunk, Jason Lewis, has more than a passing resemblance to Calvin Klein model, Travis Fimmel. Perhaps it’s just me and the fact that long hair has never been much of a turn-on for me before. Anyway, apparently, Travis is playing Tarzan in a new Warner Brothers serial, which means there’s lots of reason to see him with no shirt on, should the show ever make it to the UK (although he is, apparently, not that happy about having to take his shirt off all the time – via Let Me Get This Straight).

Sill with the media, last Wednesday brought the revelation that one of my favourite broadcasters, Eddie Mair, is leaving Broadcasting House (the show and, maybe, the building). Sometimes you just can’t tell when he’s being serious or if it’s just his humour. Anyway, don’t miss his final shows on Radio Four, Sundays.

Media Guardian’s site (source of the above) also brought us an interesting profile of Graham Norton (originally from yesterday’s Observer) talking about his forthcoming attempt to break into America. It seems he has developed quite a cult following in the US (Jase is a big fan), and perhaps, it might not be too bad for the UK to take a little break from Graham. I really miss the fact that the guests on the original So Graham Norton shows didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. Nowadays, they’ve either done it before or been warned in advance. I’m sure he’ll come up with something to move the show along, and I think it’s probably a very wise thing for him not to start on one of the big US networks.

Which brings us, more-or-less, to today and the very good news that London’s Mayor is stopping those advertisements for holiday companies that say things along the line of “romantic, mixed-sex couples only”. Sandals, the resorts in question, advertise under the slogan, “Love is all you need”. Yeah right. [Source: The Independent]

Summer Listening

I invested in a Pure Evoke 1 earlier this year and it has shaped my radio listening this summer.

This has certainly been a long, hot summer. I have thoroughly enjoyed the ability to sit outside in my garden and enjoy pleasant summer evenings and baking weekend afternoons. Despite the fact that I have been unable to keep the garden in check (and it’s looking desperately in need of a makeover), it’s been wonderful.

At the start of the summer, I invested in a Pure Evoke 1 digital radio. The sheer range of stations is fantastic, and I, for one, welcome the introduction of Digital Radio to the UK. The irony of the purchase is that I’ve spent most of the evenings listening to the relaxed sounds of Jazz FM(which is perfectly clear across London on a regular radio set). At least my second favourite (and superb on summer Sunday afternoons) is The Groove, which is only available on DAB in London and on the web.

Helsinki Re-Visited

I am not exactly sure of the time at the moment, for I am in Helsinki, and my clock is yet to adjust.

I am not exactly sure of the time at the moment, for I am in Helsinki, and my clock is yet to adjust. I am back in a city that I had promised to revisit, but I am still here on business with no time to see anything.

It was a pleasant journey indeed. I have never been on a flight with an all-male cabin crew. Despite what the Captain called “a bit of an incident” on a runway at Heathrow (no idea what), we managed to arrive in time.

Hopefully, I have packed everything I need – I tried to be organised last night, but I failed. I did remember to call Barclaycard and tell them I was heading out of the country. They have started requesting that you tell them when you will be away so that they know the charges appearing on your account are not fraudulent. I think I should applaud that move, but it’s a pain to remember to call. If you don’t, you run the risk of the card not working upon arrival. I suspect I should be grateful, but instead, I remain paranoid that the card will not work and leave me stranded in some foreign hotel with no way of paying them.