Jon Curnow's Digital Home
Blue’s Lee Ryan has been charged with drink-driving. I should file this under silly popstars, shouldn’t I?
Who’s a silly boy then? With all that fame and money you think Blue’s Lee Ryan would be more careful and pay for a driver, wouldn’t you? If you didn’t know, he’s been charged with drink driving. Let’s hope the adulation is not going to his head and he thinks he’s better than everyone and above the law. Still, another shameless excuse to post a picture (I took this one at Pride In The Park last month).
I should file this under silly popstars, shouldn’t I?
There’s a market of over 70 million pounds for ringtones – a figure I find astonishing.
Sometimes, I live in a world of hope and today is no exception.
BBC News reports that sales of mobile ‘phone ringtones are set to overtake sales of CD singles. Ringtones are worth an astonishing £70million, if the article is to be believed, and are highly profitable for the record industry. I wonder if they will now start to realise that there is money in the digital delivery of music and it’s about time that they embraced it fully? I do hope so. Sadly, I can’t contribute their new revenue source as I find those high-pitched beeps trying to sound like a song all too irritating. I accept that’s an age thing. I wonder when – for I’m sure it will happen – we’ll see the first ringtone only hit?
Four Minute Warning is in the shops today. But what was the first single you bought?
And lo it came to pass that after years and years of waiting, Mark Owen’s new single Four Minute Warning was released this morning. And, I like it. In fact, I like it so much I went and bought the single – which at £1.99 seems to me to be the right price for a single. While I was stood in Tower Records handing over my two pound coins, it struck me that it has been a very, very long time since I bought a single at all and I can’t even remember what it was.
I can, however, remember the first single I bought. I was around eight years old (back in 1978 which just shows what an old duffer I am) and I desperately wanted a copy of the theme tune to Southern Television’s Famous Five TV series. I had saved all my money (I don’t remember how much it was) and raced around the shops of Wigan for it. Eventually, I found it and must have played it 1000 times that night. I can still remember the magic and joy of that moment.
I wonder if an mp3 of that exists? I still have the vinyl but nothing to play it on!
Another year has passed and it’s my Dad’s birthday again. Last year he was somewhere in Russia – actually he’s in Astana which I know isn’t Russia – and I was asking if anybody knew Happy Birthday in Russian.
Well, this, apparently, is it (although clearly it could say anything):
So, for next year I just need the sound file. How do you actually say that?
For the first time in many, many year, the Pride festival took place in Hyde Park and I was there.
Well despite the weather and the somewhat officious woman searching my bag on entry, this year’s Pride in the Park in Hyde Park was fabulous – the best I have been to (probably ever – although my first Pride on Clapham Common was pretty cool too).
After breakfast at a friend’s house, PY and I headed down to Embankment for the parade. This is the first time I’ve ever marched with the crowd and it was brilliant – the only downside of actually taking part is that you do not get to see it all. In a bid to overcome this, we ran ahead and watched part of the parade (including the fabulous OutEverywhere bus) and then joined in at some point (for a great deal of the time we marched near a float that Josh from a previous Big Brother was prancing about on). The atmosphere was superb and the crowds watching were huge. Coming up to Piccadilly Circus was just a mass of people – it was quite exciting really.
Then we made the park. We made our way to the main stage and seeing Liberty X (who were surprisingly good), Ulta Nate (who sang a whole stack of songs that I was familiar with) and Blue (who were also very good). Later in the day we caught Tom Robinson and Jimmy Sommerville (this after standing on the sidelines singing along to Bananarama – but as nobody has a picture of that I will deny it at a later date).
At some point in the afternoon – just after it started to rain – we had a wander around the market stalls (which seemed more varied than other times) and had a poke in some of the dance tents (although it’s not really my thing). By late afternoon, the rain was pouring but spirits were not dampened (and. luckily, for most of the afternoon the ground in Hyde Park held up).
It was an exhausting day but it was worth it and it was great to be with a bunch of other homos just having a good time. There will be some pictures in the gallery, eventually.
UPDATE: Other sites:
This is curnow.org, Jon Curnow’s personal website. I’ve decided to have a bit of a revamp and move some of the content around. Thus, most of the blog content is no longer here.
Eventually, I will add some more content to curnow.org.
There’s always an About Me page. This is one version of mine. I think it’s the original, but some of my writings have been lost over the years. I know there is a more recent version, but this is a mini-biography which is quite nice, really.
It’s probably about time that I introduced myself. I am Jon Curnow, and this is the latest incarnation of my home page – which has been in existence in various guises since about 1993. I used to have a blog here, but I’ve moved much of that content elsewhere, and when it’s all finished, I’ll post a link here.
I was born on September 12th 1970 in a place just outside Wigan in Lancashire, and I lived there until moving to Shrewsbury, Shropshire a little before my fourteenth birthday. I went to Meole Brace School and on to Shrewsbury VI Form College. In my spare time, I answered the ‘phones, played with tape and made coffee for BBC Radio Shropshire.
I studied in Scotland at Stirling University and, following graduation with a degree in Film and Media Studies, I moved south to London. I have lived in Earlsfield ever since.
I have spent time working in satellite audio distribution for the radio industry, online publishing for offline magazines, and for software companies that worked in the online space. Right now I work for an American software company that produce software for the online advertising industry.
Listening to Jazz in the centre of Helsinki
Yet again I am travelling. I have never been to Finland before, and today I am in Helsinki. This afternoon I was listening to a jazz band in the sunshine. Honestly, this is work. I’m going to try and put some more pictures online later, but for now I want to go to bed. The light kept me awake last night. Look at the figures for today – May 28, 2003: Sunrise: 4:16 AM and Sunset: 10:21 PM.
A surprising take on identity cards over at The Telegraph
Latest Link: Telegraph An identity crisis
The issue of national identity cards is being raised again. What I am surprised about is this piece in The Telegraph – I thought they would be in favour of ID cards.
See also BBC NEWS: ID cards will ‘infringe civil liberties’. In all the hysteria about terrorism and ID cards, it is worth reminding ourselves that, “The terrorists who committed the atrocities in America on September 11 had legal papers”.
Still, I am unsure what to think about the whole ID card issue. What is telling is that, according to Charter 88, “Countries that already have identity cards have a written constitution and have those rights protected – we don’t”.
(Related: Entitlement Cards)
I have just submitted my reviews of Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men and Downsize This to Amazon. While reading the reviews, I visited michaelmoore.com and was intrigued to read this.
Well, take a look at my Oscar “backlash”:
On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy Awards, attendance at “Bowling for Columbine” in theaters around the country went up 110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following weekend, the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now the longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a row and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the Oscars has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record for a documentary by nearly 300%.[Source]
Inspired by Stupid White Men to read another of Michael Moore‘s books, I came away thinking that Downsize This was actually a better work. Sure, some of the scenarios are silly (‘What America Needs Is A Makeover’) and many of the examples a little dated (some have been overtaken by world events). It’s also true that some of humour doesn’t seem to sit well with the subjects but it is, nonetheless, a very welcome voice in the sea of opinions.
Moore does attempt to be humorous with his staple subjects: corporate greed and accountability, right to freedom/life and social and environmental responsibility. Like Stupid White Men the book makes subjects accessible that are often not covered by mainstream media.
If Stupid White Men has made you think about reading more then this is a good start if you’re happy to have many more American examples as the main topic. If you’re looking for something a little more British then this is not the book for you.
Read other people’s opinions at Amazon UK.
I never really had a fear of flying – at least not in the sense it stopped me doing anything. I just get nervous at take-off and then, generally, I am fine. I like a decent sized jet with seats that have sufficient padding on the arms so that, when I grip them, my knuckles can go white without serious injury to my hands
Why do I put myself through this on a regular basis? Occasionally I have to travel for work. Travel, they say, broadens the mind and I am sure that it does. But sometimes I wonder why I have to put myself through the ordeal.
I am not the greatest person to get on an aeroplane but for the best part of four years my working life has meant dealing with (and visiting) customers across Europe. I really enjoy these trips and it’s great to meet people face-to-face that you would only normally deal with on the telephone or via email. And, although I shouldn’t moan, the downside is that I never get to see any of the fantastic places that I go to. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have been to Milan and never seen anything other than airports, offices and taxis. It’s such a shame.
I never really had a fear of flying – at least not in the sense it stopped me doing anything. I just get nervous at take-off and then, generally, I am fine. Â I like a decent sized jet with seats that have sufficient padding on the arms so that, when I grip them, my knuckles can go white without serious injury to my hands. Once in the air, I am OK. Nothing to bother me until the return journey. So it’s not really too bad travelling to most of Europe for business. I appreciate the fact that I can travel and count myself lucky that it’s only a few minutes of unease.
So, here I am today in Dundee. Â I have customers to see here who are very pleasant people to work with. I’ve been planning this trip for a couple of weeks and I had planned to take the train until I realised that, at best, it was going to be a six hour journey. Â I had to take a flight to give me any chance of doing some other work today.
Now these flights are the worst. I can’t stand the small 30-seater planes (that seem to be a cross between propeller and jet driven) that bring you here. My nerves are shot and my palms sweaty. At take-off it’s easy to mistake the arm of the person in the next seat with that of the plane. Again, I am fine once high enough not to be shaken around by a passing air current that, I suspect, has desires to knock us 500 miles off course. That moment, however, as we’re picking up speed and racing down a runway, sends a panic through me that I hate. Â Unlike those other journeys, these small planes seem to make me sweat and grip for longer than normal. The planes don’t go as high and so I can see the land – which I don’t think is good for me.
The fear is, of course, irrational – at least these flights are no different from the others. The more nervous I get about taking this short flight the worse I feel. I know that it is silly and I become annoyed by my own fear – I’ve taken so many flights it should be like taking a bus (which I think I do less than flying). I can’t stop the sick feeling. Every lurch of the plane, every shake and noise is analysed in a way I do not do with larger aircraft. Every expression on the stewardesses face analysed for a sign – should that clunk have happened? Should that beep be sounding? Should this window rattle so much?
And the very worst bit of it all? I know I have to do it backwards tomorrow evening.
Next time, I’ll take the train (maybe).
Probably the most famous of America Liberal thinkers at the moment, Michael Moore is a US treasure and they should treat him as such. Instead, the land of free speech tried to prevent this book being published following the attacks on the World Trade Centre.
Thankfully, this book made it out. It’s certainly very US centric (it was, after all written for that market) but many of the points apply too much of the western world. While suggesting that “we live in a society that rewards and honours corporate gangsters”, Moore does it with a humour that’s accessible and easily read.
Much political writing is hard to read whereas this written in small chunks and is easily digested. For those familiar with liberal writings much of Moore’s work may appear superficial but that’s to do with the style rather than the content. It is Moore’s style that has made this book number one on so many book lists but it’s the content that people will remember. For the British reader the challenge is to see where our democracy is following the US lead.
Why should you read this book? Because it puts the greed of the consumption society into perspective and genuinely makes you think about the society in which we live.
You can read other people’s opinions of the book at Amazon UK
I grabbed a few shots of Oslo when visiting
Sometimes I appreciate that I am very lucky. At the moment I am running a training course in Oslo, Norway. A few mobile-grabbed pictures I’ve captured:
Why we shouldn’t talk about click through rates. Really, is that the only value your expensive advertising has. Think about your brand.
Well, some good news for the online marketing industry at last:
Internet advertising is one of only two disciplines in the marketing services industry to report an increase in budgets over the first quarter of the year [Brand Republic]
and if we all stop talking about these online ad topics, what will we say to each other?
The biggest percentage of responders (13.1%) thought that click-through rate discussions are a waste of time. The second anti-productivity prize went to Branding vs. Direct Response debates (7.9%) [Media Post]
Other links of note I have been pointed to today:
