Month: May 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a quick trip round (half of) my blogroll (ermmm that sounds kinda icky actually…)

Graybo is still painting and drinking (not at the same time I hasten to add)
Pat believes in coincidence and has an affection for ZZ Top (?)
Michelle has a new feature and it’s good to see the little dead girl back… I think..
Julie is hot, and is looking forward to her new bed
Alex doesn’t blame Broadcast, and doesn’t like warm overpriced Carling (who does?)
Nigel has a go at a company (which I can’t say anything about as they are customers of ours! Eek!
Moi is back already (see previous post)
Scotblog is spot on at the moment – 1-1 with New Zealand! Sheesh!
Becca has a sore head but at least she knows where her pens are now
Owen is still busy (and may be relegated to non blogroll soon – you have been warned! 😉
Richard is dreaming of Peter and Caitlin, and watching politics
Simon makes me glad I’ve already had dinner – although he might be right
Pinky teaches us to write porn, always a useful skill if you ask me
Lyle has stopped yakking about trains but is worried about his knees
Is Etceterate on holiday this week?
Eliza is still taking tests and her group blog is doing well
Caitlin is worried about the inspect of her flat and has just finished His Dark Materials
Green Fairy and I have something in common – tattoos

Sorry that’s it for now. I’m pooped and I’ve got a night out tomorrow and I don’t want to end up being the ‘old man’ going home at 11 p.m after a few beers.

According to today’s regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s probably shouldn’t have survived, because……

Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent ‘clackers’ on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle – tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends – we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue – we learned to get over it.
We walked to friend’s homes. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

This posting comes to you via Sally.

Interesting article: Is technology making us dumber?.

“When you can always dash off another follow-up e-mail at no cost, you don’t need to be careful to get your thought clearly and fully expressed in a letter,”

Again it’s one of these discussions that I can always, in my head at least, rationalise by stating that whilst, yes, I use and rely on technology (I can’t remember my best friends phone number either), I am not governed by it, as I choose not to remember the numbers. That is my choice, to allow my phone to play that part in my life, but at what point does it stop being a choice?

Hmmmm, this all sounds vaguely familiar… and that reminds me, off to see The Matrix Reloaded again tonight, armed with a lot more knowledge.

Having posted about it yesterday I thought I’d better try this brushing the tongue malarky (malarky? That’s that bloody Jamie Oliver!). Ick. I don’t like the sensation, nor did I enjoy the gagging sensation it brought on, definitely not the most pleasant thing to do first thing in the morning.

I managed to see the Matrix Reloaded last night. I’ve read a couple of reviews in the papers this morning and have to say that I think some of the critics should maybe go back and watch the first movie. Yes Keanu is ‘wooden’ and yes there are holes in the plot. That doesn’t stop it being one kick ass movie (in every sense and nuances that phrase brings). The action scenes are easily the best I’ve seen on film, the car chase in particularly. Leave your belief suspended at the door, and don’t think too hard about this and you will enjoy this.

There is also a scene towards the end of the film featuring Neo in a room full of screens showing himself. I won’t spoil anything but I did think it was spoon feeding us a bit… mind you that is presuming I understood it properly… maybe having a couple of beers first wasn’t the best idea…

ukbloggers-discuss mailing list is currently hosting an ‘interesting’ discussion concerning the possible, maybe, start of a discussion about discussing the possibility of arranging a UK conference for something remotely blog related, or in that general sphere of the internetwebthingy.

OK, I’m taking the piss slightly, but there are several (at least 3) bright people making some excellent points, and one of the mad fools has grabbed the bull by the horn (always unpleasant) and has started the ball rolling, down the hill where it will gather no moss…. ehh… losing track here…

My view of conferences, whether work related or not, is to meet people (sorry, to network..ick). The topics and speakers are a part of it, but usually only act as a catalyst to provoking discussions over lunch, and comparisons, and so it begins. It’s all about the people.

(Although the geek in me really, really wants to go to Gnomedex to see and hear all the latest ‘cool’ ideas and gadgets!)

Karen at Rise is looking for your top five books.

Here’s mine:

1. American Tabloid – James Ellroy
Mainly for the writing style, and in part for my fascination with this particular time period in American history (around the Kennedy assasination), a wonderful twist on the topic.

2. White Trash – John King
Straightforward enough to read, yet deals with some big issues and makes you think more about them than you realise at first. Sympathetic use of the ‘villain’ is slightly scary.

3. Adolf Hitler: My Part in His downfall – Spike Milligan
Hilarious and with a wonderful turn of language, you should read it for that alone.

4. Animal Farm – George Orwell
My first Orwell and still the one that made the biggest impact (reading 1984 in the year 1984 kinda nullified it slightly)

5. Miss Smillia’s Feeling for Snow – Peter Hoeg
Not sure why I picked this up (I suspect Catrina had an influence). Wonderful characterisation, and set in a place foreign to me, what more do you want?