Friday 26 December 2008

Linkables 26/12/8

2008 in photographs, from The Big Picture, part 1, part 2 and part 3.

DeathKiller, a love story.

If programming languages were religions.

Unbelievable civil rights violation for family who made unconventional child-naming decisions.

Funky WWI-themed strategic flash game. Send thousands of men to their deaths without ever leaving the comfort of your chair.

A very cool video connecting six-years worth of self-taken photos:


And finally a great talk from the TED series about why we are(n't) happy.

Thursday 25 December 2008

Seasons greeting from teh interweb

Google wishes you

  • a very merry christmas (1,260,000)
  • a very scary christmas (5,280)
  • a very mary christmas (2,550)
  • a very berry christmas (2,480)
  • a very cherry christmas (1,650)
  • a very hairy christmas (954)
  • a very jerry christmas (277)
and
  • a happy new year (4,640,000)
  • a crappy new year (4,000)
  • a sappy new year (418)
  • a gappy new year (100)
Also, priority-wise:
  • christmas AND party = 149,000,000 results
  • christmas AND gift = 135,000,000 results
  • christmas AND sex = 63,300,000 results
  • christmas AND turkey = 55,800,000 results
  • christmas AND jesus = 37,000,000 results
Also, Christmas - not as good as you think.

Hope everyone's spreading the peace and goodwill. Merry Christmas :D

Thursday 18 December 2008

Conversationally

So picture the scene. Big London theatre. Glitzy night out. A group of us on our way to see a certain comedian. Delightful. As we traipsed through the wood-panelled and richly carpeted interior, we came accross an employee of the theatre, standing in front of the door apparently leading to our seats. Dressed smartly, and with a polite smile on his face, this gentleman was clearly epitomised the stylish, classy experience we had come to the theatre for. However, he still stood between us and our seats. Hoping for directions to our place in row P, one of my companions held out her ticket towards him and asked "P?", hoping to be ushered through. His response? "The toilets are just through there, madam". And to our laughter and my companion's faux-shocked "what kind of woman do you take me for", he offered only a shrug and the cryptic "Welcome to Shaftesbury avenue, mate" in response.


Now we're on a bus in beautiful suburban Putney. Towards the back of the bus are two kids on their way to school. I guess about 9 or 10. They're behind me, so I can't really see. Unfettered by any adult supervision. Apparently playing some sort of game.

Boy: "Look, there's a silver car"
Boy: "Made you look" *punch*
Girl: "Ow."
Boy: "Look, there's a house"
Boy: "Made you look" *punch*
Girl: "Ow."
Boy: "Look, there's a lamp-post"
Boy: "Oh my gosh, look... look!"
Boy: "Oh my days. I made you look" *punch*
Girl: "Ow."

at this point, the girl was apparently becoming wise to his subterfuge, and so he had to change the game they were playing in order to continue with the fun.

Boy: "Double E" *punch*
Girl: "I thought we weren't playing that any more"
Boy: "We're always playing it. Double A" *punch*
Boy: "Double P" *punch*

it became apparent that they were looking at repeated letters on anything outside the bus, particularly number plates.

Boy: "Double N" *punch*
Girl: "Double V" *punch*
Boy: (spotting a sign with a telephone number on it) "Double O. Triple O." *punch* *punch* *punch*
Girl:"What do you call it when there's four O's?"
Boy: "Qu-triple O" *punch* *punch* *punch*
Girl: "Ow."
Boy: "Double upside-down M" *punch*
Boy: "Double Z. Double G. Double 4" *punch* *punch* *punch*
Girl: "Where? You're making them up!"
Boy: *laughs*


And finally some shorter ones, such as the guy on the train who broke off his conversation with his mates about the amount they'd be drinking that evening to watch a woman walk past them and leave the train and then remark to his companions: "Ooh, big legs... big legs". It wasn't clear whether this was a compliment or not.

Or the girl behind the bar, who felt the heat coming out of a freshly opened dishwasher and stated "Ooh, I'm right cold. I wish I was a glass, so I could just sit in there all night".

Or the guys on the tube who went from discussing business, to giggling like schoolchildren when someone farted nearby. "That's good!" one of them pronounced. "That's fucking Camembert!"


Who needs an ipod when the people around you can be so entertaining.

Monday 15 December 2008

Snowdrops on Moses and noses on mittens

Seven things that make me happy.

1. Summer thunderstorms
I love the release of the tension in the air when a really big storm hits during a hot, humid day. I remember once running outside to stand in a downpour wearing a vest top and skirt. My boyfriend at the time just couldn't understand it, but the feeling of cold rain on hot skin was simply blissful.

2. Books
When I started at school, I was pretty much the only child in the class who couldn't read. Within a term, I'd learnt and there was no stopping me. Books are amazing, absorbing, transporting and once I start reading a good one, not much will stop me, short of being hit round the head with blunt instrument or forcibly prizing the book out of my locked fingers. I get so caught up in books that they regularly reduce me to tears (of sadness or laughter), but there's nothing quite like the quiet solitude of the printed word. They're infinitely portable, require no batteries and good books can yield new insights on every re-reading. They can provide an easily accessible form of escapism or, whether in fact or fiction, provide earth-shattering insights into all sorts of things. You can say the same of TV, film or radio, but there's something about reading it in a book that helps you have the realisation by yourself.

3. Playing my clarinet
I've played the clarinet since I was 10. Playing on my own is fun, but there's nothing quite like the buzz you get of playing in an ensemble. I don't know the science of it, but certain chord progressions, tunes, key signatures etc. are known for generating feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Over the years, there have been times when all the hairs on the back of my neck have risen up, and I've felt simply electrified to be playing in a group. The feeling of being part of live performance can be amazingly uplifting, like a gentle, prolonged orgasm. It's not the same as a sexual experience, but some of the physical sensations are remarkably similar. The feeling of everyone playing together, getting it right and producing something moving and beautiful and unique is just wonderful.

4. Writing
When I produce something that feels original, skilled, interesting and well-crafted, it really is immensely satisfying. It's good to put something of yourself out into the world.

5. Skin
Skin is amazing. It is so sensitive and soft. There is nothing like the feeling of skin on skin. This ranges from sex to the touch of finger tips on the back of the neck. From shaking hands when you first meet someone, to embracing them before you leave. All the sensations are exquisite in their own way. Harking back to the first point slightly, skinny dipping is one the best things I have ever done. Feeling the whole of your body being caressed by water all at once without a swimsuit is a fantastic sensory experience. It makes you feel really whole in a way you don't most of the rest of the time. You are aware of every inch of the surface of your body and it gives a wonderful feeling of inter-connectedness. I've only done it twice and I really hope the opportunity presents itself again.

6. Dancing
I love dancing. I love moving to a rhythm or beat. There doesn't have to be tune, even, a set of complex rhythms will do. I love things like African or Japanese drumming. I don't care what I look like, I just love feeling a pulse and expressing that through movement. I don't like learning a set of steps, I just like moving in a way that feels natural to me. I would say I'm a good dancer, but the secret of that is just to be confident in what you're doing. Inhabit your body, don't be ashamed to do what you're doing and you'll be fine. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you, as long as you move to the beat, it doesn't matter.

7. Leather jackets
I have five (one brown, one blue and three black). At one point I had seven. I don't own any other leather clothes, like trousers or shirts and I'm not into heavy bondage. I just love leather jackets. I've bought brand new ones, I've been given old ones, I've bought second hand ones in charity shops. They're practical, durable, always stylish, comfortable and versatile. They're probably my favourite pieces of clothing out of everything I own.

Following the trend, some little things I like:

1) Things which fit together really neatly, particularly when packing / tidying and when the items involved have no particular reason to fit at all. Also true in numbers, for example shopping when it all adds up to a nice number.

2) Films with a childish imagination; 'Finding Neverland' and 'Tideland' are fine examples (though no-one I've shown it too has liked 'Tideland' yet).

3) Waking up feeling refreshed. Hard to make happen, but lovely when it does.

4) Playing a game / sport where you know you and your opponent have both played really well (and know it), and the game / match was extremely close. This is especially nice when you win : - )

5) The smell in the air after rain, which I'm told is ozone.

6) Really good cryptic crossword clues (which you get)

7) Computer games which can be 'perfected', i.e. you can spend as much time as you want going everywhere, collecting everything, etc

Sunday 14 December 2008

Warm n' Fuzzy

Memes are sometimes met with groans in the blogosphere on the internets round these parts, but I do generally enjoy reading them. Sure, they can be lazy post-generators, but with a little effort, they can be something much more interesting. It's often easy to lose the personal aspect of a blog in the more ranty or abstract posts, and I often really enjoy reading a blogger's answers to a list of meme questions, or completion of a meme task. In that spirit, then, I shall keep an eye out for interesting memetic content (since, you know, it's not like we're overflowing with posts here, discounting the absurd spike this last week). And indeed, I shall start now, by following in Bambi's footsteps and completing Martin's suggested meme.

So, in no particular order, some things I like...

Lie Ins. In particular the moment when you wake up, realise it's a holiday and allow yourself to settle back into the warm pink embrace of sleep, drawing up the covers around you.

Watching rain from somewhere dry. Especially inside a conservatory, tent or somewhere with a thin roof, where you can really hear the rain lashing down. Bonus points if I'm curled up in an armchair, have a mug of something hot and if I can see people outside in the rain and the cold.

Having nothing to do for a day. I know people who are so busy they barely eat or sleep, and though they certainly get lots done, I feel like they miss out on the joy of a truly free day. One for which you haven't even pencilled in any tasks or activities. One in which anything can be accomplished, and everything is possible. The knowledge that I don't need to get out of my pyjamas or leave my house until I return to bed really clears my mind and makes everything I end up doing seem more enjoyable.

Organising my computer. In case you weren't aware, I really like my computer. And though I shy away from tidiness is almost every other aspect of my life, I thoroughly enjoy getting the innards of my computer working well. Especially with the large amounts of downloaded media I have, getting it all into a state where I can easily find any particular item is somehow extremely cathartic.

The internet (and being a geek therein). Watching a brand new information communication structure emerge within my lifetime has been massively exciting. I don't know how anyone can look at the internet as a technological, social, philosophical or cultural achievement and not just be blown away by its scope, its success and its possibility.

Being good at what I do. Yeah, it sounds horribly self centred, but that's what this kind of post is all about, and I do get great pleasure at the moment from doing my job well. It's a big change to go from spending school and university doing endless exercises and exams that ultimately mean nothing to a job where suddenly the work I'm doing is both helping people to better do their jobs as well as helping a small company to grow.

Being this age. Being just old enough to finally have almost reached total independence, with all the repercussions thereof, while being young enough to be healthy and unhindered by real responsibility. Secure job, no dependants, plenty of free time and living in a big city with a huge number of my friends. Having the rest of my life to worry about pensions and savings and mortgages. Being old enough to have learnt from some mistakes, and young enough to make many many more.

It was tough to narrow it down to just seven, there. Coming soon, seven things I hate...

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

So Martin tagged all the contributors to this blog (not including himself) on his own blog to complete a meme where you name seven things you like. I appear to be the first to do so, but I hope I'm not the last.

Seven things I like:

  1. Being in a relationship. I guess that's a pretty wide-ranging thing to like, but I couldn't pick out just one thing. Relationships are things that I have relatively little experience with, so to be in one (and such a positive one) is both a feeling of exhiliaration, fulfilment and treading on new ground. Having been with my girlfriend for almost seven months, I can't imagine being with anyone else, nor can I imagine not being in a relationship. I feel more grown up than I ever have, and I really really like that.
  2. Drum and bass music. Whilst I don't listen to drum and bass exclusively, of all the types of music I listen to it's probably the genre that I could do that with most easily. There's enough artists out there (Chase & Status, High Contrast and Sub Focus to name but three) creating fresh and exciting drum and bass tracks to keep the music interesting, innovative and definitely worth keeping up to date with. Also, still the most fun music to dance to by far.
  3. Pupils who make teaching worthwhile. The ones who go out of their way to achieve their very best, and show their appreciation of you striving to help them. Whilst I genuinely want to give all the support I can to every pupil I teach, it's the ones who show their elation at succeeding after you've helped them that remind me just why I chose to become a teacher in the first place. There are lots of other things about teaching that I like, but this one is much more in the forefront of my mind than any other at the moment.
  4. Watching films I haven't seen before and really liking them. Watching a film and enjoying it is one thing, but few things beat the feeling of when you walk into a cinema or stick on a DVD and a couple of hours later feel like you've experienced a film that will stay with you for a long long time because of how much you enjoyed it. This has happened to me recently with the Lethal Weapon films; the feeling is at its best, however, when the film is little-known or non-mainstream, as it gives you the added bonus of feeling like you've discovered a hidden gem in the vast seas of forgettable cinema. Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers do this most regularly for me.
  5. Dr. Pepper. Best fizzy drink ever.
  6. Not waking up to an alarm. The fact that waking up to an alarm always, without fail, feels like such an unnatural thing to do, coupled with the fact that I have to wake up to an alarm five days out of seven on a regular basis, makes waking up when my body wants to wake up on the remaining two days all the more sweet.
  7. Michael McIntyre. The more I see of him, the more I like him. Hilarious, personable, and never appears to pretend to be someone he's not. A comedian who has quickly joined the ranks of Ricky Gervais and Bill Bailey as one of my favourite stand up comedians.
I hope that's given you some insight into my mind at the moment. I look forward to reading any other lists that go up here. And as pretty much everyone I know who blogs writes here, I'll leave it to someone else to pass this on via tagging.

Thursday 11 December 2008

Linkables 11/12/8

Just a few links today. And one hilarious video:


It's official, Obama is not, in fact, British. (BBC, as usual providing us with plenty of title quotation marks for me to fume about).

Apologies if it resurrects nasty memories for some, but you too can experience the joys of the eleven plus from the comfort of your own home.

Andy may have beaten me to it, but I'm still going to link to Time's Top Ten Everything Of 2008.

Explore the popularity of search terms across the United States...

And finally, from the blogs, Bete de Jour and babies, Belgian Waffle and birthdays.

Wednesday 10 December 2008

Hannah beleefs in teh Ceiling Cat

Ceiling Cat Creed
We blieves in one big kitteh, Ceiling Cat,
who maded teh urfs an teh skiez
an all teh cheezburgers an teh invizibul bicycles an stuff.
We blieves in one happycat, Jeebus,
onliest son ov Ceiling Cat,
bornded beefor all teh cheezburgers an stuffs,
He gots some Ceiling Cat in him, srsly, k?
He helpded Ceiling Cat makes all teh cheezburgers an stuffs.
"Fer all teh kittehs he comez down frum teh ceiling
an beez a kitteh thru da Force an teh virjn Hello Kitty! wit no hankie pankies,
an was reely a kitteh, srsly.
He got teh crucify fer us kittehs by Pilate;
An gots todally pwned and faceplanted.
An caem bak to lief on teh thrd dai liek it wuz fortolded in teh Bible
An went bak up to teh Ceiling, an tuk a nappy in teh sunbeam nex to Ceiling Cat.
He will come bak daon frum teh Ceiling, to be teh judge ov teh live kittehs an teh dead kittehs.
An hiz kitteh kingdum bees furevr.
We blieves in Hovercat, teh giber ov life,
who comes frum Ceiling Cat an Happycat,
who we lurves jus like Ceiling Cat an Happycat,
an who tellz teh profits whut to sai.
We blieves in teh itteh bitteh kitteh committeh.
We DO NOT WANT baffs, but will hav wun fur furgivness.
We spektin to caem bak to life after we faceplant,
an lives furever in teh Ceiling.

More like this can be found at The Lolcat Bible. Some people indeed have waaaaaay too much free time. If you can stand reading back to front words, it's pretty funny.

Miscelleny

I've got another links post in the works (assuming Andy doesn't steal all my links...), so this is just going to be a bit of a general round up of randomness.

I like it when facebook throws up random coincidences in the news feed, showing people who have never met, in the same mindset:

or even the same place:
I can't be the only one annoyed when sites go out of their way to make my account less secure...
And sometimes even scrabble will fuck you right in the face:

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Review: Eddie Izzard - Stripped.

The Ten Commandments. The development of language. Jesus (and his brothers). British giraffes. Tigers using iPhones. Giant squid diaries. Hannibal's Alpine journey. Squirrels, badgers and crème brulee. Appendices.

An Eddie Izzard show always promises varied rambling monologues, packed with entertaining diversions and tangents, and in this aspect, his latest show, Stripped, doesn't disappoint. Everything you'd expect to get from having seen his previous shows is there (though I'm not familiar enough with them to be able to compare overall quality), and he is a very entertaining performer to see live. There were very few lines that fell flat, and a good number of times (particularly in the second half), I found myself unable to breathe from laughing.

There were some down points. As Martin mentions, he does kind of seem to be playing a part, rather than being himself, and seemed a little guarded and reserved, possibly lacking some energy and enthusiasm. He also sometimes seemed to leave side threads before he had fully explored them, perhaps being too eager to return to his underlying plan, rather than having faith in his tangents.

The brevity of this review shouldn't overemphasise the negatives above, as they were relatively minor in an otherwise excellent evening. However, a night out in London like this is a pretty expensive proposition, and so any minor points become much more prominent in ones mind when thinking back, simply because of the expense incurred. I feel like £60 a ticket is a lot to pay to see anyone, and while the experience was certainly worth it as a one-off, I can think of very few people who would be able to make themselves seem worth every penny of that.

The night was a great success, and the performance excellent by any standards. If you get a chance to see it for less than an extortionate fee, I'd definitely recommend it, and if you're forking out for a one off night out in London, you could do worse than going to see the king of the extended tangent, still as inventive and funny as ever.

Monday 8 December 2008

Dogs that go woof, cats that go woof...

Izzard. Wonderful. Death Star canteen. Classic.

Tonight we saw him at the Lyric in Soho. He was good, very good, and definitely worth seeing. Hannah thought perhaps there were too many noises and not enough laughter making - especially (my guess) in the first half. I thought he'd slightly become a caricature of himself. He certainly leans fairly heavily on the old stalwarts ("Never... do that bit... again...", "What the fuck was I talking about?", etc).

Still, some future classics from this evening (with apologies to the easily offended):

Student: Sir! I suffer from pong [dyslexia - renamed for simplicity of spelling]!
Teacher: Ok then, go and sit at the side and chew something.
And a few others (jog my memory in the comments, guys!). Strangely, no women's clothes this time. Also gone are the fake boobs. Quite a tailcoat though.

Overall, recommended. Very enjoyable, if bloody expensive. Better than Sexie, and with an awesome lighting design to boot.

Apologies to anyone who suffered cardiac arrest upon noticing that I'd actually contributed something. Don't bet on it setting a trend!

Laugh Out Loud

Stand up comedians I have discovered/got into recently:

Michael McIntyre -- Very, very funny. Very likeable with an accent that helps his act no end. His routines are generally about stuff that has no doubt been covered on the stand up circuit before, but putting his own spin on it makes the vast majority of his material seem incredibly fresh and regularly hilarious. Occasionally plays it a little too safe for my liking, but equally as often comes out with something pleasingly dark.
Favourite routine seen so far: using Bank Of Scotland notes in England.

Rhod Gilbert -- I saw him on Live At The Apollo (coincidentally, the episode compered by Michael McIntyre) and initially found myself underwhelmed. Once he got into his stride the man was a riot. A strong Welsh accent that gets stronger when he's wound up only makes matters more absurdly hilarious. I have since googled/youtubed him (is "to youtube" a verb yet?) and discovered that he's been around for a few years, with some fab material.
Favourite routine seen so far: attempting to buy a duvet.

Steve Hughes -- A guy my sister introduced me to. Australian, dry, very funny from what I've seen so far. Someone I'll be looking out for more in the future.
Favourite routine seen so far: straight is the new gay.

So, yeah. Check 'em out.

"Kate..."

"... WE HAZ TO GO BACK!"

(Explanatory YouTube link for non-Lostophiles).

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Transparently ludicrous

Politics and media are something which I talk about a fair amount on here (often, admittedly at far too great a length and backed up by little or no knowledge or research), but politics affects us all, and media is a vital important tool in modern politics, so excuse me for a moment if I ramble on about it for a while.

The power of the news media in modern western countries is a double edged sword. On the one hand they inform us on every aspect of day to day political life, which, as well as being useful in its own right, also ensures that any shady dealings are more likely to be brought to light, which, in an ideal world, perhaps, keeps the politicians honest. On the other hand, of course, no section of the media is without its biases, and since as a whole they have what almost amounts to a monopoly on the information the public receive about politics, they can (if not explicitly, then inadvertently) lend their own weighting to issues. This leads to small stories being blown out of proportion, while potentially more important ones are ignored. And since most of us get our opinion of what is important in politics from the media (even if we try to stay objective, none of us has time to do our own research), this colours our views of politician and the political scene.

This post isn't about my opinion of the news media and its pros and cons, though. It's about how I believe politicians can do more to help the media be the best it can. And it's about Barack Obama (I know, I have like three set topics I talk about on here, huh).

Over the last few weeks, Obama has been releasing video clips addressing the public, describing his (and his soon-to-be-administration's) views on the issues of the moment (usually the economy, so far, unsurprisingly). These have been received well in general, and allow Obama to try to keep a human face on his presidency, as he descends into the maelstrom of bureaucracy and spin that is the White House.

The clips are being released on YouTube, as well as various other places, and are in keeping with the Obama campaigns ability to use the web effectively as a tool for organisation and communication. Looking at the Obama/Biden transition website confirms this too, as it outlines a huge number of policy objectives across the political spectrum, as well as invitations for the public to submit their own pressing issues to ensure that nothing has been forgotten.

In these senses, then, Obama is certainly using the internet, but I would love to see him using it more effectively and more fully. The video clips are a great gimmick, and an excellent way of connecting the administration directly to the public in a personal way, but are also too short to be of any real significance. With only three minutes per video, there's no time to really discuss the issues he raises. The video acts like a bullet point, when what I would like to see, and what I think would be more useful is a paragraph, or even an essay.

I'm not saying that the videos should be hours long and discuss each policy objective in interminable detail, indeed I think aside from the occasional longer one on a particular occasion, the videos are doing as much as they can do. Instead, what I would like to see is a real flow of information out of the White House and into the public eye. Not necessarily through the single outlet of the press room and the news media, but through the internet. The problem with a three minute video clip is that it forces a politician to sound the way they sound on the election trail, vague, well meaning, optimistic, and idealistic. Full of soundbites and slogans to catch the viewers interest. But sometime we want more than that, especially once the election is over, and the real work of governing begins. We want to know why decisions were made, why one policy is preferred to another, why this tax is going up and this one is going down, why this law is being repealed, and that one is being tightened. Exactly why, too. Not a soundbite, but an argument, backed up with statistics. And a public argument, facing up to the concerns and fears of the voters and of the political opposition. Not spin, unless you describe any government release as spin, but an honest account of what the government is doing, day to day, meeting to meeting, law to law.

Imagine a database of public-directed, government-released information, accessible online (and I'm not talking just about America and Obama here, he was merely the trigger for this - it can be imagined for any country). Kind of a combination of a rolling manifesto and the responses to petitions on the Downing street website. Every policy decision outlined in as much detail as possible. Opposition questions and complaints predicted and addressed (and with the database updated with new responses as new queries arise). An account of every vote and every meeting. Every government study and independent body would have their results released here, and every law discussed would be spelled out and broken down.

If a government is confident in their stance on a particular issue, then there should be no problem with this sort of public log of their intentions, their progress and their successes. And if a government is not confident of allowing public scrutiny of their intentions and decisions, then I would suggest that those intentions and decisions may need to be re-thought.

This kind of undertaking would be the best possible way to inform the public on government intentions and reasoning. The public, the media and the opposition would all be able to look at the argument put up by the government (and backed up by statistics and testimony) before responding. The government would be able to clearly and easily respond to specific concerns raised by any of these bodies, and it would be much harder for the party in power to be accused of dodging questions, or avoiding giving straight answers.

By building up a database of the governmental thought process, as it were, an administration also protects themselves to some extent against future queries about previous decisions. Why did the government decide to spend rather than save at this point? Well let's check the records and find the exact reasoning. Why was this policy supported, rather than something more strict, or more relaxed? Here's an article describing the pros and cons of each option, and the decisions that were taken in getting to a final choice. Links are provided, of course, to transcriptions or minutes of appropriate meetings and to any statistical reports or data used in the process.

Logistically, clearly, it is not something that could just be created overnight, and it would need to be built up over time (maybe it's even so impractical that it would be impossible to find the money or the manpower to support it), but I can't see any real reason why it would not work as a concept, and it seems to me that this kind of transparency would be a great antidote to the constant accusations of spin levelled at politicians.

Have the database run by an independent body if necessary, to avoid claims of government interference, ensure all data changes are logged, and all changes and additions read and approved by someone in some kind of authority.

Of course, all of this is based on my possibly ludicrously idealistic notion that it is possible to have a spin-free government, that takes responsibility for all of its actions, works constantly for the good of the country rather than the good of the party, and is confident enough about itself to be open, honest and accountable at all times. If that sort of government is something that can never happen, then the idea of any kind of transparent record of activity is clearly a pipe dream, and the best we can hope for is the twice-filtered reports from the news media. Though the idea that honest government is impossible would, I think, be a rather depressing outlook.

Tuesday 2 December 2008

How to make Coldplay more interesting

I don't have anything against Coldplay as such. Their music isn't for me at all, but that's not to say that I don't respect them as a successful band. Chris Martin seems like a nice bloke. I saw them performing from a festival on TV once, and thought they put on a decent show. But I will never buy a Coldplay album, and to date I none of their songs that I've heard have ever done anything for me. "Not my cup of tea" I think is the correct idiom to sum up what I'm trying to say.

So, for someone like me, who isn't a Coldplay fan, how does one make Coldplay more appealing? Well, like this, actually.

Add a Prodigy track to a Coldplay track creating a more energetic mash-up. Maybe have another artist cover one of their tracks, such as Pendulum or Mark Ronson, or maybe Richard Cheese or Moped if you fancy something a little more humorous. But probably not Avril Lavigne, at least not for me.

Just a few suggestions. I'll share some of my other favourite cover versions (and maybe some more awful ones too) in the future. But for now, enjoy Coldplay as they never intended.

Monday 1 December 2008

Linkables 1/12/8

Yarr, me hearties. Some more links for ye, plundered from the briny deep of the internet. There be no law out there, ye know. Pirates are very in, right now, you know.

And while I'm linking musical youtube videos, this is a very famous one, and one which I've never got. Perhaps it's a testament to my total lack of a musical ear, but I genuinely can't connect the songs he's referencing and the base tune he's claiming they have - they just don't sound the same to me at all. Weird.

How not to reference.

For any Top Gear watchers wondering what The Stig's morse code has been saying this series.

Is it going to rain?

A little app with no purpose other than to frighten you with statistics.

And the rather sweet idea of the human clock and human calender.

For the browser-based gamers: live, multiplayer caption competitions, board games and tank battles.

Or, maybe you prefer your gaming to be more console-based. Perhaps even open-source-console based.

And finally a couple of blog posts: on getting older, and on getting pregnant.