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Thursday Thirteen (V2.0)

13 instant things (V2.0) about rashbre

1. I'm just starting to read Neal Stephenson's System of the World
2. I have not worn shoes for two days
3. I am enjoying watching the David Blunkett scandal on Channel 4
4. I cannot drink more than half a tumbler of Cointreau without sliding under the table
5. Christina Nott is asking me to start her web site for her music
6. I am idly changing the colours in this blog (in small steps)
7. My Vista server has permanently locked me out with a Windows security error
8. I am thinking of replacing my Vista server with a small Mac
9. Since I posted about a light bulb breaking, around another 5 have expired.
10. The empty boot (trunk) of my car has required serious air freshening but I don't know why
11. is still my favourite number
12. I still can't play B very well on the guitar (which I am learning)
13. I have bought the Sin City DVD but not yet had time to watch it

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Leanne's Thirteen!
2. Utenzi’s Thirteen!
3. Crusty’s Thirteen!
4. Keb’s Thirteen!
5. MommaK’s Thirteen!
6. Sleeping Mommy’s Thirteen!
7. E’s Thirteen!
8. Interstellar Adventure's Thirteen
9. aetheria's gin soaked Thirteen
10. Allie's Thirteen
11. (leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!)

Get Leanne's Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Why not do this too? Then leave me a link as a comment or trackback and I will update my entry a link to yours, and you can continue the chain! Done it already? then send me your updated version!

Tag: Thursday Thirteen

Window reflections

With the imminent 20th Anniversary of Microsoft Windows, I thought it would be good to go back to the beginnings, to that first typewriter powered version known as Windows 59. Bill Gates was kinda young in those days, but it didn't stop him and his friend Paul Allen from deciding there was a vision for the future.

The next stop was Windows 1.0. This created a colourful version of the same typewriter, but with the added benefit that you could draw squiggly lines using $2500 of computer equipment instead of a pencil and paper. The original paintbrush application was supported by the equally formidible 'calculator' application, which did addition, subtraction, multiplication and even long division.

Bill knew there was still a way to go in those days, and in addition to his office using the PC, he kept an Apple Mac in the corner for other aspects of his work and play.

Later, as Bill became rich, he moved to a rather nice home on the shores of the lakes around Seattle, and some say the views from his own windows started to influence his further thoughts about his operating system.

And this (minus a few release levels and security patches) brings us right up to date. The spotlight is moving to forthcoming Vista which Microsoft is building with quartz precision. The core image of the new product may still be on safari in the long grass at the moment, but we look forward to wishing it 'Bonjour' during 2006.

Tag: windows, microsoft, vista

sunshine of your love

It's getting near dawn
When lights close their tired eyes
I'll soon be with you my love
give you my dawn's surprise
I'll be with you darlin', soon
I'll be with you when the stars start falling
I've been waiting so long
To be where I'm goin'
In the sunshine of your love

Cream vs the Hoxtons
Click the picture above for the dance remix video at full speed
or click or here to choose lower bandwidth.

DCD DCD DCD DCD GFG GFG DCD ACGA ACGADCD
Tag: music, guitar, Cream

failure?

Thanks, Tara, for this one...Type 'failure' into Google search and click "I'm feeling lucky" ...

Googlebombing, by any chance?

aperture of opportunity?

I mainly use Photoshop for picture editing, you know - cropping the corners, changing the lighting, changing the colour balance, stripping out the backgrounds. Now Apple have announced Aperture, which seems to fill the same role. Hmm. Dilemma. I mainly use a Mac for editing and suchlike, so the idea of software that behaves the same as Final Cut Pro and the other things I use is quite appealing. But. Everyone uses Photoshop. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

congestion revolutionaries

Every vehicle driving into Central London during weekdays pays an £8 (circa $15) congestion charge. Except, it seems, US and German embassy staff who are claiming immunity under the 1961 Vienna Convention, which gives protection against paying taxes.

Mayor Ken Livingstone says it is not a tax, but a charge for a service.

Tag: london, transport, diplomats

non bicycle girls go around the outside

Today I spotted qwghlm's account of this so I knew I hadn't imagined it yesterday - but couldn't find any references in the internet.

Tanned, blonde, designer clad Sally Cameron joined the ranks of Britain’s most unlikely terrorist suspects after being held for hours for walking on a Scottish cycle path in the harbour area of Dundee.

Passing cyclists and nearby dock workers had been amused at what looked initially like a spoof arrest. However the Scottish authorities have taken a dim view of this trespass and potential terrorism threat and will take rapid response action if it is repeated. Apparently cyclists can pass unimpeded, but pedestrians will be stopped. Sally has decided to drive to work in future.

Tag: terrorism, scotland, bicycle

la femme Nikita

Home late tonight, had a TV moment watching the 1990 Luc Besson Nikita film on Sky. Basic plot is ex punk drug addict sociopath is recruited after staging her death by French government to act as assassin. Relentless stylish noir-thriller has implausible plotting and some confusing moments, but worth the subtitles.

Divertissement et plein de la pyrotechnie visuelle.

Tag: movie, france, style

Happy Birthday, Melanie!

Shocking Project

A while ago, I joined the last.fm site which allows social interaction amongst people interested in music. Not an mp3 swap site, this one lists the tracks played, through the likes of iTunes, Winamp, Media Player and similar. By collecting statistics for a while it is possible to see the tracks one plays the most and also compare one's taste in music with others. It is also possible to create personalised internet radio stations.


So what is my number one artist from around 2000 tracks played at the moment?

Somewhat to my surprise, its Michelle Shocked! Not the most conventional choice, but I reckon that as she released 3 CDs around 2 months ago and I topped up my collection of her remastered CDs early this year - then there is some explanation for the positioning.

So I thought I'd join the Michelle Shocked 'Group' in last.fm. BUT there isn't one!

Cue my Project.

Why not CREATE the Michelle Shocked group to see what happens? So I've set up a Michelle Shocked group with just lonely me as a member and then emailed her contact address, her agency, her publicity contact and the online store through which she sells her Mighty Sound label CDs.


Michelle's website includes samples of her music and there's a brief biography describing this singer/songwriter's rather unique path which eschews traditional record labels and produces music ranging through folk, bluegrass, rock, swing delivered with a unique personality.

Her origins in Texas and then well travelled lifestyle (including spells living in Germany, England, Netherlands amongst others) create a breadth of songs and exploration of issues and styles.

I'm going to watch this 'group' for a week or two, to see whether we manage to create some critical mass in last.fm!

Tag: music, guitar, Michelle Shocked

Navigating to statutory leaves

London is still sunny and I find myself in Belgravia. I wanted the statutory 'leaves of autumn' picture and thought 'why not make it literally statutory?'

So here's Prince Henry the Navigator, whose statue nestles in Belgrave Square. Henry was a visionary and an early believer in the world being round when most people believed the world was flat. He knew that Africa was more than endless land, and that if his sailors could circumnavigate the continent; he would find a water route to India. A ship could carry more goods to and from India than the largest overland caravans, but Europeans could only guess that sailors could go around the tip of Africa.

Prince Henry paid for many sailing expeditions out of the Portuguese treasury and also employed cartographers who created the most sophisticated maps of their time. It was twenty-eight years after his death that Bartholomeu Dias proved that Africa could be circumnavigated when he reached the southern tip of the continent via what is now known as the "Cape of Good Hope." Then later in 1499, Vasco da Gama was the first sailor to travel from Portugal to India.

And back to the plot...Here's the leaves of London Autumn - this one enlarges nicely if you click it! Feel free to ping, email, trackback, comment your 'leaves of autumn' links and I will "Navigate" to them as a link in this entry!

01 Mark, 02 Carmi, 03 Hanna, 04 Chuck, 05 Adam, 06 Cassie
07 Joel, 08 Christian, 09 Brian, 10 Steven, 11 Daz, 12 Bronxelf, 13 Suzanne, 14 Bill, 15 Heidi, 16 Cindy, 17 Tina, 18 Leanne

Tag: london, autumn, fall