Jon Curnow's Digital Home
Another day looking around London
Despite some of my rants, I have great affection for this city. Amongst the many things that continues to delight me is the architecture. Today I wandered on the south bank to the Mayor’s new home which is, to put it mildly, stunning. Unfortunately, the inside was not open.
Today was a good day to get reacquainted with people who I haven’t seen for a while.
Bristol is only a two-hour ride from my house. I have an old friend who lives there and I haven’t seen him for ages. Today was the day we met up again (after something like 18 months without seeing each other) and it’s great when everything just slips back to the way it was. You know how, with some people, it’s hard to talk to them sometimes. You get on really well but there’s just nothing to say. Well, it usually gets worse with the passing of time and, if you haven’t seen somebody for a while, then it can be very awkward (how many strained meetings must have happened thanks to Friends Reunited?). Anyway, today wasn’t like that. We slipped into our old conversations and habits. It’s nice to be reacquainted with people. Today was a good day.
When did you learn about the birds and the bees? I have to be honest and say that I really don’t recall any parental talk and I am not sure how I would have felt about it – especially since I knew I was gay.
Well, according to The Christian Science Monitor (obviously not something I read everyday)
while it may seem that youths are more attuned to peers, media, and pop culture, experts and teens alike say parents are needed as role models and cultivators of values in today’s confusing, image-saturated culture
Source: The Christian Science Monitor | Story Via Metafilter
I am sure I should say some more here but I’m not sure what.
How did I end up with a book from a seafood festival?
I went to a small thames-side seafood festival on Saturday. I had no other reason to go execpt that I adore seafood in all forms. I could happily give up many other foods but not seafood (and probably no bacon, but I know I am not alone in that).
That, however, is not the point.
There was a bookshop and I bought a book. I carried the book home and added it to the pile of books. I now have a large stack of unread books that are “to be read”. When am I going to find the time? The thing is, why do I do it? Why can’t I simply add them to my Amazon wish list and stop buying? It’s turning into an addiction!!
September is great because it signals Autumn and that’s my favorite season.
Without stating the obvious, and as a direct follow on to yesterday’s insightful comment, today is September. September is great because it signals Autumn and that’s my favorite season. I am not good in heat and sun and tend to dislike the dampness of winter. Autumn is cool and crisp without being damp and soggy.
Autumn has the wonderful rustic, golden colours that work so well with a cloudless blue sky. The light will be perfect for the next two months. September, however, was always the month back to school after the long summer holiday. September is also my birthday which makes me the centre of attention for at least one day – and I hate that. I liked my birthday being in September when I was a child because it got overlooked at the start of a new term. If your birthday was in May, people started planning for it. In September, people conveniently missed it because they were talking about their holidays in the sunshine. So, I guess, September must be my favorite month – which means I was born in the right month. Twisted logic but, somehow, just right.
This is the last day of August. Why is it that time seems to go by much more quickly as you get older? Is this just an age thing? Clearly, time passes at the same rate – although I probably spend more time asleep at this point in my life (and, to the best of my knoweldge, I haven’t slept for six months).
So DoubleClick are going to be more open about Cookies and all that they are tracking. According to DoubleClick’s press release:
“DoubleClick is to be commended for its cooperation in setting an industry standard for promoting consumer privacy in the data collection and tracking taking place across networked websites,” said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
[release]
The issue of cookies – especially in relation to online advertising – is something that seems to get some people all worried that they are being spied on (like those big satellites can’t see what you’re doing anyway). It seems in the US, people go to court over them. Given that I been working in the online advertising business for nearly seven years (has there been an online ad business that long?) I think I am supposed to have an opinion on this hot potato. Except, I don’t think I do (at least as long as we can use cookies I don’t have an opinion, which I guess means I do have an opinion).
Cookies are not evil and, as companies like DoubleClick must have millions of cookies in their databases I am sure my online activity is not of sufficient interest for anybody to try to find out where I have been. Most people are pretty good and don’t store personally identifiable information and, even if they do, I could just wipe my cookie files and start again and stop being tracked. So, all I really want to say is there is nothing wrong with cookies. Cookies are useful. People who hold data on me should abide by the Data Protection Act which seems sufficient for every other piece of information that is being held about me, so why does everybody so worked up about these little bits of data? Agghh!!
<This unstructured, meaningless rant is now over>
I am a PC kinda-guy. Well, I was a Unix admin at one point (very briefly) but after spending a whole night loading Linux from 80 discs at work I opted for the relative ease of an out-of-the-box PC at home. But I am tempted by an Apple. Mybe it’s the underlying Unix-ness of it all that is appealing. Maybe it’s that my Windows XP box doesn’t really live up to my expectations. A friend of mine says, “I believe the tide of reason is finally beginning to lather the unwashed masses” – can you tell he’s a Mac guy? But it’s true. I’ve heard of several people who have gone Mac.
So, I came across a link to Ken. Now Ken is is an Apple product manager and he has a weblog which is worth the read. Even for PC-heads like me. [link thanks]
I have been fascinated by the weather since childhood. This is not your typical British interest in the weather – which is a necessity if you live in England’s green and pleasant lands. No, I really want to understand forecasting, cloud patterns and the like. The basics can’t be that hard. Yet, I have never, ever done anything about this.
There are other things I would like to do, too. Phonography, a course in British History or a wine appreciation course. Yet I never do any of them. So, first thing tomorrow I am off to buy one of those books that list evening courses and do something!
What started me off on this analysis of the things I should do? Well, news that a new weather satellite is to be launched. Meteorologists say the new technology will lead to better forecasts, especially for severe weather such as storms and fog. [BBC]
I haven’t spoken of London’s traffic problems for a while now. This is because it’s a bad story and I am trying to be positive. I have not been overly delayed for sometime (although every taxi I take tries to navigate Trafalgar Square which is a automobile no-go zone at the moment).
I also realise that London is a big city which is home to many millions of people who all travel. It stands to reason then that, if the system should fail one day, movement will be difficult. I know that an integrated public transport system run (efficiently, effectively) for the people is a (very) long way off.
Still, it did amuse me to read that,
London’s road traffic is travelling at its slowest ever pace, averaging less than walking pace, according to a new report. [Yahoo]
Ah, ITV (Britain’s original commercial televison network). From their website:
This channel which has done more than most to build the cult of celebrity has taken its first step toward atonement by placing a group of celebs (the type who take a bow each time the fridge light goes on) and place them in the Antipodean wilderness.
The programme is I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, which should be worth watching for the title alone. It’s made my day.
Now, when celebrity Lance Bass shouts, “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”, it takes on a whole new meaning.
Lance, a member of boyband N’Sync may actually go into space. I thought this was a wind up when I first heard about it, but apparently not:
He is being sponsored by a consortium of major companies and Hollywood producer David Krieff, and has signed a preliminary contract for the mission – but recent reports have suggested that he has missed deadlines to pay the $20m flight fee. [BBC]
You know when you don’t go to the cinema for, what seems like, an age and then you suddenly go quite a lot? No, well, I do this on-off thing with cinema quite a lot. Yesterday, following on from my Men In Black II experience, I went to see The Guru at The Clapham Picture House (which, if you live in this part of the world, probably ranks as one of the better cinemas and it’s not part of an overly large chain – although there are more of them then you would imagine).
The people I was with, loved it. They laughed (a lot). Many people in the cinema was laughing too. I smiled occasionally and there was the odd laugh but on the whole I was pretty quiet. So, to validate my lack of enthusiasm for the film (which seems to be generally well received) I got as far as The Guardian’s film site (which, I am sure was Film Unlimited at one point). Peter Bradshaw reassures me with,
There’s no bite or edge to this movie, though; it’s goofy, soft-centred romcom slush, with some very half-hearted Bollywood pastiche
and
… these moments don’t really justify the admission price [Full Review].
Now, I am using the web to reinforce my own opinions. This can’t be a good thing.
Strange, zany, generally amusing and very likeable without actually being all that hilarious or surprising, Men In Black II relies heavily on familiarity with and affection for the original. Fans of that film, who are simply content with more of the same, shouldn’t be dismayed or too seriously disappointed by a pleasantly insane bit of nonsense. [Empire Online]
This review tells almost all about my night last night. I went to UCI Sutton to see Men In Black II. I had enjoyed the first in a wash-over-me kind of way. Interest wanes at twenty minutes.
A colleague of mine left work yesterday to go travelling and I was sad to see him go. He’s joining an ever growing list of people I know who are purchasing a back-pack and buying a ticket for six months. Three of my friends/acquaintances are in Australia travelling. One of my clients is off travelling.
What am I doing wrong?
Is it a coincidence that they all work in new media environments? And this morning I find that over at Jase’s homepage he links to this great travelling blog. The world is trying to tell me something!
I don’t talk about my blog. It’s a private thing I do, but I am not sure why (I would suggest points 2 and 3 here as a starting point to try and answer that question).
Yesterday I went for a very nice meal at Orso when the conversation turned to weblogs. I was somewhat shocked that my dining companions could not grasp the “why” of the blog concept. Why read them? Why write them? But I still didn’t speak about my blogging. It’s very odd but I do not feel compelled to actually talk about this.
I realised I do not talk about me to anybody very much. I discuss events that involved me. I talk about other people and tell people about my work. I express options with the best of them. But I don’t really discuss myself too often – at least by this I mean, I guess, emotions and my private life. It’s odd because I think people who know me would say I do talk a great deal, but I know I hold things back. Why is that?
So why to I carry on writing this? I have said before that it started out as a challenge to myself. Can I blog for a whole month with no interruptions? I did that. And still I find myself here!
Strange, zany, generally amusing and very likeable without actually being all that hilarious or surprising, Men In Black II relies heavily on familiarity with and affection for the original. Fans of that film, who are simply content with more of the same, shouldn’t be dismayed or too seriously disappointed by a pleasantly insane bit of nonsense. [