a few days in a straw hat

We had hardly arrived when we were invited to a bit of a party by the pool. Actually the party was in full swing and we had to change gear from just off plane to sociable in a few moments.

Ice cold beer and food accompanied the hospitality, even if this early evening felt like some time after one o' clock in the morning.

By next day, things had readjusted, although at breakfast there were already sounds from a bicycle race passing the balcony, followed shortly afterwards by a half marathon. And did we know there was an all day festival in the town?

We decided to have a look. After all, it was celebrating the official start of Summer in this part of the world.

Only one thing for it.

Beach.

hey there, jet airliner

Bags packed. Ready to go. Standing here outside the door.

Heading for the other London Airport.

And just enough time to hit the lounge.

no cycling for a week

The sign says it. No cycling.

Not for me this week anyway, and only a few miles last week. Instead I was running around and being in meetings.

I'm not complaining, though, because I'll be going somewhere nice.

what colour ties can political presenters wear?

Now I'm puzzling about the television presenters' ties as fallout from the recent election coverage. There's been a general trend towards male presenters having purple ties during election coverage, so that it is neither red (Labour) nor blue (Conservative). Green is its own statement and orange and yellow (Liberal Democrat) are quite difficult to pull off. Only the quirky and high-end presenters seem to get to wear Jackson Pollock splattery-styled ties.

So purple became de rigueur during election coverage, until that extra party appeared and has taken the colour for its own logo and backgrounds.

Yesterday I saw one of the pundits wearing a kind of pink and black and white striped number.

This could all go a bit weird.

Other Desert Cities

We popped along to the Old Vic to see 'Other Desert Cities', which is just nearing the end of its run.

The Old Vic has been converted back to an 'in the round' seating again and looks good for it. Kevin Spacey has been the Artistic Director at the Old Vic for many years and as he bows out from the role, he will also be performing there again, as Clarence Darrow, the grisly crimes lawyer.

So what to make of Other Desert Cities?

It is set in Palm Springs, where novelist Brooke Wyeth is back home to spend Christmas with her wealthy parents. After a breakdown and writer's block she intends to publish a memoir about the family. There are inevitable repercussions.

The play has received good reviews everywhere, with a strong cast comprising Sinéad Cusack, Peter Egan, Clare Higgins, Daniel Lapaine and Martha Plimpton.

The writer Jon Robin Baitz, has mainly written for television and I sometimes wondered if this was written as one imagines a piece of 'proper' drama should be written, losing something as a result.

It was a kind of vehicle for debates about American politics and wealthy viewpoints flagged up to be challenged. A British version of something similar would probably have more of a study of manners than was apparent in this production. Admittedly there were some twists, but I found the 'big reveal' to be a tad predictable.

It was interesting to view, but somehow difficult to really feel for the situation in the way it was portrayed.

It's still good to be at the Old Vic and to see a production that isn't simply amongst the west end musicals.

clocking the view

Back in the smoke this week and with an interesting view from my evening accommodation. The large clock, at night from my bed, is like a distant alarm clock face.

It doesn't quite work as an alarm, however, because my room seems to have triple glazing, so the noise from the big clock's bell chiming is rather subdued. It means I'm still using my phone not just as a camera to take the photo, but also as my alarm clock.

punctures at the not quite paperless office

I've somehow managed to do all the things on my list for today, including packing a wheely-bag ready for another week on the road.

Last week's lightweight bag had a puncture on Friday. By that, I mean the little wheel's rubber tyre gave up. First it somehow split into two parts, creating a very efficient brake on just one side of the bag. I hauled it around like this for some time before I realised what had happened. Then I removed the tyre remnants, gaining black hands in the process and also noticing that the tyre from the other wheel was already missing. I'm suspecting a design fault. It doesn't look replaceable, unlike my other less lightweight luggage.

I've also filled two supermarket jute bags with paper that is to be shredded. Even my 50 page at a time shredder would have a problem with what amounts to two complete boxes of A4. That's around 5,000 sheets, I think.

Virtually cycling through 8 days in California

All 8 stages of good fun with TrainerRoad, now completed.

Stage 4 had a sensor problem, but luckily the ride uploaded to count before it deleted itself.

Job done.

Just saying'

first balloon of the approaching season

Like the early year snowdrops heralding spring, an equivalent sign ahead of Summer around here is the first sighting of a balloon flying over the house.

This is the first one that I've noticed this year, on what is also one of the warmest days so far. I think I'm as pleased to see the balloon as the people in it are to look down on the view. Tomorrow, I'll need to be locked away working, but maybe I'll see if I can spend some part of my thinking time outdoors.

Maybe gazing at the sky.

St. Vincent plays guitar

Curries most evenings this week, varying from quite modest to the full monte. It wasn't in a grand plan, but more a result of erratic changes to schedule. Then a curious co-incidence on Friday was meeting an Austrian colleague at the exact bakers that made the cake featured in the the Eurovision transmission last weekend. Curly Whirly Cake, or what?

By Friday evening, I managed to get back home, although not until late evening.

Flick on the telly to see Annie Clark being the sonic goddess St. Vincent. I'm sure the Jools session will eventually turn up on t'internet, but until then, here's some Strange Mercy, featuring another version of the otherworldly guitar wielding songstress.

Don't have time to watch it all? try Surgeon around the 3:15 mark.

Or learn a few harmonics and moves from Annie...

in which I try the Trainerroad 2014 8DC Stage 1

Last year, I tried the Trainerroad '8 Days' challenge (8DC), which is a sort of virtual cycle ride in California. And yes, I finished it and have the little trophy cup.

I'm trying it again this year, although the middle days might get tricky because of work commitments. It started today, and runs until next Sunday. It would be fun to keep up with the segments, which are released on a daily basis, but I'm not sure about Wednesday to Friday, when I may be travelling.

This time I tried the first stage ahead of the official start as well. My practice session was fine for the first 2/3 but then went a bit haywire at the end, which requires a bursty increased turn of speed. Today I managed a more successful completion.

I've also had my number turn up for the L2B London to Brighton bike ride, which is in about a month's time. I've some time away ahead of that too, although I'd certainly prefer to do one similar length session ahead of the main event.

Limited time, as usual.

apple beat but no wrist waving yet

I see that Apple are buying a hop-hop headphones brand. It's those big round ones with thick red cords, seen on tube trains and buses everywhere. I can't believe that Apple really want the headphones or brand, so it must be to do with something else.

The Bill Gates playbook used to say something along the lines of "buy the second in a market in order to dominate."

I suspect that's the real Apple move. Defend a market? Maybe use the Beats streaming services contracts to outgun Spotify? Spotify has around 6 million paying subscribers (averaging £10 per month?) so Apple would need to bridge the gap from MOG's/Beats half million subscribers.

I suppose it can happen, what with the music taste predictors already in iTunes? This will presumably see the next version of iTunes better integrate streaming, in a way that Spotify have already achieved.

Meanwhile, the amount of hi-fi gear in most households is steadily reducing, no record decks, CD players built into gaming units, Airplay used for background music, downloads dominating.

The Dr Dre 'down with the kids' street branding is interesting given 49 year old Dr Dre is one half, with 61 year old Jimmy Iovine as the other half. Iovine has good form as a record producer (Springsteen, Patti Smith, Lady Gaga amongst others). He's also spoken out on the increasingly pervasive use of compression and loudness management to flatten sound in pop music.

It will be interesting to see the revised Apple proposition when the next generation devices arrive. Probably we'll get wearable lifestyle fitness first (increased use of motion and telemetry), but will there be further new approaches around music consumption or merely copycat catchup?