Jon Curnow's Digital Home
It seems that London has been wet while I have been away!
Ah, so I am back and exhausted from my little holiday. You will see some pictures on the Flickr sidebar or on my Flickr pages. Of course, while I have been enjoying some sunshine, I see London hasn’t been that dry. Wet London 20 by[Timo Arnall]
Time now to tackle some of the 200 or so comment spam messages that have arrived in my inbox.
In the meantime, has it really been two years since I saw Taboo?
You dream of something good, and I dream of BBC Television idents. I also remember children’s TV and want to impact the US elections. It’s an odd train of thought today.
According to The Independent [Source: BBC’s digital channels are ‘poor value’], BBC4 makes too many programmes which “virtually no one watches”. I would say that’s a shame, but I have hardly ever watched it. The only reason it is relevant is that last night I dreamt about all the BBC channel identities – those boxes with ‘BBC One’ etc. written in them. I have no idea why, but in my dream they were all yellow, and none of them had that annoying BBC Three character.
In a tenuous link, the BBC will, of course, report the run-up and outcome of the American elections next month. It may seem that we are somewhat powerless to do anything about it, but The Guardian is giving everybody a chance to say something. The idea is that Guardian readers are matched with an American voter, giving them the chance to communicate on a personal basis and tell a real-life voter what the rest of the world thinks. I think it’s quite an interesting idea. What the voters of Clark County, Ohio, may think when they get letters from us Brits is another thing altogether. More at The Guardian.
Looking at my Flickr photo collection, I see that the first picture is of the water cooler in the office. This takes me back to the warm, balmy days of summer when it was so hot we thought we would melt in the office. Today, I am sitting here thinking I may have to buy a T-shirt during my lunch break to wear under my shirt, because I am cold and it’s pouring rain. Last week (and on Tuesday) I wrote about autumn. I am beginning to think we skipped straight to winter.
Speaking of photos (and linked to the BBC – so it makes sense to write it here), memories of children’s television and this date seem to be linked. This day in 2002, I was talking about the show Rainbow, and today Tom has posted a picture of Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub. Sometimes, it would be nice to be eight years old again!
Finally, for now, today’s phone lust: Orange SPV C500. Come on, Palm – get your act together – I want a more compact phone than the Treo by the time I am allowed to upgrade again.
Quick reality TV update – as if you needed one.
I spoke last Sunday about Sky One’s programmeThe Match. Now I haven’t watched any of it apart from that first episode and the actual game tonight. The celebrities were better than I thought they would be, and I thought it was a shame that they lost (2-1). Jonathan Wilkes turned out to be something of a star, really, and scored the goal for the celebs. Poor old Gary Lucy didn’t do very well – apparently, they kept putting him on the bench all week, and he was up for the public vote several times. He did, however, survive to play part of the game. Perhaps it was one of the better reality TV shows.
[Sky Showbiz Report: Celebs Narrowly Beaten In The Match]
It’s still my favourite season even if it was cold this morning.
Every year I talk about how nice autumn is (see, I did it here in 2003) and how much I like the season. If you have any doubts as to why I like the season, then just go look at Flick’s autumn tag– it’s stunningly beautiful. Every autumn is the same, with lots of work and me craving a holiday (see, I did that in 2002). This year is no different. But I have to admit – it was very cold this morning.
The past is coming back – really. It’s the Eighties again: not to be outdone on the list front The Sun lists predictions for top toys this Christmas.
Timewarp one – every year we hear the same things: there’s a lot of serious stuff in the news right now – still, The Guardian has put together a list of Conservative leader Michael Howard’s favourite words in order of the frequency with which he used them in today’s speech: Howard’s buzzwords.
Timewarp two – like it’s the Eighties again: not to be outdone on the list front, The Sun lists predictions for top toys this Christmas, and they report that Cabbage Patch Kids are making a comeback – and are expected to be among the best-selling children’s toys this Christmas. Oh, and they have a list too
And if that’s not bad enough, timwarp three – space hoppers are back: 20 space hopper riders are to hop up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh this weekend,according to The Scotsman.
A reality TV show where the stars are hot!
Really, it’s too good to be true. Tonight Sky One starts a reality TV show calledThe Matchwhere a series of hot young male celebrities become footballers. I think many of those signed up for The Match have a footballing interest/past which means they should be pretty good. Next week they get to take on a team of British footballing legends but in the meantime they are all stuck in a house 24/7 with cameras watching them only to escape for training sessions. Tonight proved it was the real deal as ex-England coach Graham Taylor took the team through their paces. Gary Lucy and Philip Olivier(both pictured) are on the bench tonight and subject to the public vote. Somehow I think they will both survive. And while we are on the subject of Phil Olivier, how did I miss his Doctor Who appearances?
Today was busy, but I really wish I hadn’t had to go into work.
On the upside, last night’s visit to The Borderline was great. On the downside, PY had his mobile phone stolen from his pocket at a Starbucks. And what does that say about us? Instead of standing at the bar waiting for the gig, we went to Starbucks for coffee. Today, I had the morning off work as we’d bought PY’s mum a trip on the Orient Express from Victoria. The carriage was very impressive, and it sounds like they had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work in the afternoon.
And tonight’s Evening Standard headline managed to get Iraq on the front cover for once.
Maybe I should buy the mugs
Time to get organised. Somebody new is starting in our office today, and we don’t have enough mugs for the coffee. Tonight I am off to see a gig at The Borderline. Additionally I have a strange urge to make my computer make sounds on various actions – usually I work with the sound muted to stop all those sounds created by random things online but right now I want it to speak to me. I must be mad. I will get over it tomorrow.
The one thing that David Page probably should not have done when he thought he had uncovered a second world war mine in his yard was to push the button on the end of it.
There was an amusing news story last week about a man who pressed what he thought was a the trigger of a second world war bomb only to discover it was part from the suspension of Citroen car. I read it in a newspaper that was discarded on the underground on my way into work. It stuck in my brain, so I’ve been telling people about it for a good week now, and to share it with even more of you, I’ve found a link to the story in The Guardian.
Wind is the way forward.
Last week, Tony Blair talked a little about climate change and the environment. According to The Guardian, low-carbon fuel sources are “indispensable today if we are to cushion the British economy against volatile oil and gas prices” [source].
Today I learned that 74% of people in the UK think wind farms are necessary to meet current and future energy needs. According to Embrace The Wind (I’m not sure about the name), the voices of those 74% are not being heard, which is why they say it’s time to show your support and Embrace the Revolution.
Vancouver, Flickr’s home town, has a reputation for beauty.
Flickr is my photo site of choice right now. Ideally, I would like to build similar features using Gallery (which I have hosted on my site too), but I don’t have the time to sort it all out yet. So, right now, Flickr will do me very well. I am pleased to learn in their recent blog post that they are Canadian (I have such a soft spot for Canada) and – what’s more – they are based in Vancouver, which is where we’re planning our holiday next year. You weren’t really interested in that, were you?
How did they get into the Commons?
If anyone else is planning a quick attack on parliament like yesterday’s fox-hunting supporters, I suggest you consult the handy maps attached to every BBC News story on the subject!
Unrelated, Amanda was in London last weekend and on this day in 2002. Maybe she likes September in London – I know I do.
Hurricane Ivan has already left a massive trail of damage in the Caribbean, killing at least 27 people elsewhere, mostly in Grenada.
In 1999, I was lucky enough to travel to Jamaica to see my father, who was working there then. If I am honest, I wasn’t very taken with Kingston, but outside the capital, it’s a beautiful country. I will not forget the day on the speedboat cutting across the clear waters, nor will I forget freshly caught lobster, cooked and eaten on the beach. This week I have been wondering what happened to these places after Hurricane Ivan went on its seek-and-destroy mission across the Caribbean.
Promote your book in a strange new way.
You can’t really see this picture too clearly but the author of the book This Diary Will Change Your Life 2005 was eating the book this lunchtime at Waterstones, Piccadilly. I have no idea if he finished it or not and there was nobody buying it when I was in the shop just a photographer taking pictures. I thought it was an off was to promote a book.
I found a fishmonger. I know this isn’t revolutionary but it’s important to me.
For several months, I have been trying to find a fishmonger – a good, decent purveyor of fine foods who will have fresh fish but prepare it for me on site and explain a little more about it. And today I found a great little place by Clapham South Underground station: Moxons.