airport security

I thought I was being so cool when I used a picture of William Burroughs sitting on a porch holding a rifle as the desktop background on my linux machine. I don't use linux for presentations, so I thought I would be safe. However, it didn't seem such a good idea when I was going through security at an airport and security asked me to turn the laptop on. As I watched the screen come up at the airport, I suddenly thought this could all end in tears (or me missing the flight). Anyway the security guard was not watching the screen. I have a picture of a bluegene computer on the windows partition.

Advice to new bloggers.

I have been keeping this BLOG for over 3 years now, so I am entitled to give some advice for new bloggers. One thing that is very IMPORTANT is that you don't write anything that might stop you getting a job. The human resources departments usually have nothing better to do than than surf the web and send people word documents. So I humbly suggest that blogging that smoking a garden of blow is your main hobby is probably not a good idea, if your goal in life is to be corporate. (This shouldn't be a problem if you want to sell fast food and stay up late watching DVDs). Also I would stay clear of talking about controversial subjects. For example I would never consider writing a blog post about necrophilia. This is not really a problem because I don't really know anything about necrophilia. Of course there was that Soutpark program about the kids stealing the corpse of somebody's grandmother for some zany reason. When the police are telling the family about the lost of the corpse, the police make some very tasteless remarks about necrophilia. In the UK, this had people ringing in to complain. This must be one of the reasons that we can't see southpark on terrestrial. I did watch the DVD "visitor Q", directed by Takashi Miike, that had a long segment about necrophilia in a green house. Given the type of films that Miike directs, this was pretty tame, by his standards. I could of course research necrophilia by reading a wikepedia article, but you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. Some things need to be experienced. I did have a dream about having sex with someone who was tied up. I was pretty shocked by this and woke up immediately. The only part of my action film script has two hit men killing a woman. So this is part of the script (I own the copyright) Bang, bang the woman dies, Hitman 1, says "she's dead." Hitman 2, says "oh well waste not, want not", and starts to pull down his trousers. Hitman 1, says "what are doing man." Hitman 2, says "but she is still warm. I don't like it whan I have to talk about Eastenders, and they wriggle around when we are doing it". Hitman 1, says "put your trousers back on or I will kill you". Hitman 2, says "ok, ok, man your so weird". The two hit men exist stage left. I am a bit stuck on the next 87 minutes of the film, but there is clearly enough to hook Tarantino in to direct it. Anyway if you follow my advice you will be able to keep bloggng and hold a job.

blog in search of a theme

I was staring at the vortex of the toilet, trying to get my head in the mood for another day. I am so stressed that I have been unable to think of anything to blog about. The toilet bowl mouthed back "you have got Bloggers block", but your pooh is still runny, frequent and smelly. Ten minutes later I had an idea for a posting. I can still do this, I thought. I am not just a broken shell with all the creative juices lost in a pub toilet somewhere. Then I went to work. I got back home an hour ago. I looked at the keyboard, and I had this vague feeling that I had something to type. I remember reading about some young genius, who wrote poetry, but he didn't have enough life experience to write about the world, so was reduced to writing poems called "poem in search of a theme". Anyway I have remembered what I was going to talk about. In the online guardian there was an article about broadband from the grave. Essentially you get a web site when you are dead, so you can record content and email, and send it tour family and friends when you are dead. It reminded me about a conversation I had with someone over 10 years ago. We were asking what happens to a persons web site when they are dead? There should be a graveyard of web sites. Effectively this already happens with myspace, because many of the people on my friends list are actually dead. They still manage to post video and pictures, and that makes me very proud.

Venray

I started this post sitting in a hotel room in a town called Venray in the Netherlands. Why was I there you may ask? Good question. I took a plane to Dusseldorf airport to go to a conference. I used ryanair, and the Dusseldorf/Weeze airport turns out to be 70 km from Dusseldorf. I stayed in Venray because it was closer to the airport. When I got off the plane last Sunday I noticed that there were many people actually sleeping in the airport. Venray is a nice town. I arrived there in the afternoon and went for a walk in the city center. There were lots of nice cafes with seats outside. Cafe culture, so sweet. Later in the evening I went for a walk. Many of the street cafes were closed, so I walked into the outer edges of the town's centre. There I found a kebab shop where I feasted on another Donner kebab. Although I like to think of myself as an outlaw, I am not so wild. At the edge of the town there were some cafes where you smoke dope. I just stared in at the window and watched the cool young things get mellow. I did go to a bar. No one there spoke English, but I did hear a conversation, that involved the words Stella and Heineken. Yes, isn't it wonderfull how travelling broadens the mind. There was some kind of rave/dance party at the edge of the town center. The drive to the airport was mostly through the country. Even the countryside seems ordered and designed in the Netherlands. The forests in Germany always strike me as very ancient and full of wild fury. The German forests have not been designed, but seem to have been there since the birth of mankind. Of course in the Netherlands, everytime I passed a big greenhouse. I winked to myself and wondered what they could be growing.

shoot em up

I went out to see the film "Shoot em up" on Friday night. I felt a bit guilty, because Mark Kermode gave it a bad review. The film is just a lot of mindless violence, however it was done with style and was actually quite funny. Anyway I felt better for watching it, though it was not the kind of film I would take my mum too. Somehow I feel a lot better after a bit of a laugh. I just watched a south park episode that involved Cartman taking off all his clothes to do a Ninja invisibility trick. He did this in front of an audience. I have to admit I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to die.

the historian

I have finished reading "the historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. I am not sure that reading a book about Dracula at a nuclear physics conference is a good idea. It was a very clever book, involving scholarship, and some good forward-backwards narrative. I am ashamed to say that it was on Richard and Judy's summer read.

slaves of sleep

I have just got back from a conference in Germany. While I was there I read "slaves of sleep" by L. Ron Hubbard. This was a kind of cheesy fantasy novel, with a nerd living a different life when he slept. It was a fun read, but not very deep. I have read some great science fiction books that are based on some philosophical idea. The strange thing is that Hubbard was the writer who founded Scientology. He just writes a standard by the numbers fantasy book.

online viewing

When Apple announced that you could buy TV shows from ITunes, obviously my first thought was to try to get a science documentary. Somehow I ended up downloading a Southpark episode. I like to think of my self as unique in some kind of pompous way. However, I noted that the top download of TV shows from Itunes was Southpark. People in the UK clearly miss Southpark since it was pulled from terrestrial TV. I watched the episode "make love not warcraft". I used my old laptop. Trouble is the scenes slowed down and sometimes stopped. The animation on Southpark can be pretty weak, but it doesn't usually stop for 2 minutes. I was more successful watching "brother" downloaded from Channel4 on demand service. I originally wanted to watch a film, but couldn't be bothered to walk to Blockbusters. Unfortunately it took 2 hours to download, so I ended watched it a week later. Of course the software from Channel4 interfered with the BBC iplayer software. Of course if I was really cool I would download free stuff from peer to peer sites. I just get nervous having to deal with viruses and things. Anyway Blockbusters on Byers Rd have now got a much bigger collection of box sets. So I rented "family guy volume 3". Who needs the internet? One of my friends asked "what are you reading", I replied "that I was much too busy and stressed to do any reading". Umm.

Bourne Ultimatum

I am behind on this blogging thing. I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum maybe two weeks ago. I was really excited to see it. I am not really sure I enjoyed it so much. Part of the reason was that half way through the film, I really needed to go to the toilet. OK. perhaps if I hadn't drunk the traditional pre-film beer, I would have been OK. I bet Jonathan Ross doesn't have this type of problem. Somehow the film was too much of a mismatch of the earler films. The film made me want to really go to Tangiers. Jason Bourne and the Nicky went over to Tangiers via a ferry from Spain. That is the best way to go, after going to Spain via some cheap airline route. Tangiers looks so sunny and beautiful.

The new old thing

I have just finished reading a book called "The old new thing" by Raymond Chen. Chen was on the development team that wrote Windows 95/98/XP. It is interesting to hear his side of the story in the be nasty to Microsoft debate. His view was backwards compatibility at all costs. The programming examples were very ugly though.

The 8:55 to Baghdad

While I detox my system a little bit, I am finishing some books I started a long time ago. This week I got to end of the book "The 8:55 to Baghdad" by Andrew Eames. Agatha Christie took a trip to Baghdad in 1928. Andrew follows her trip, as best he can. Andrew's trip is just before the second Gulf war, so there is some tension when he is in Iraq. Agatha made the trip originally after her first marriage broke up. What is depressing s how friendly the Arabs were to Andrew. I doubt that he would get such a warm reception now. I need to plan more adventurous holidays.

Green man festival -- No music on Sunday

What bands did I see on Sunday? Err, well none. It was muddy and I slunk out of the campsite at 10:00. After checking with more experienced festival goerers, I find that walking through mud is part of the festival experience, so I was a bit of a wimp frankly. If I had stayed then I would have wanted to see on the main stage: Devendra Banhart (not sure why), Gruff Rhys, Malcolm Middleton (ex Arab Strap), and Mistys big adventure. In the folkey dokey tent, I would have seen: artic circle, John Renbourn, Herman Dune, and the aliens. I was particularly looking forwardto seeing Herman Dune. Such is life though. Thus ends my coverage of the Green Man festival 2007.

Green man festival -- music on Saturday

On Saturday it rained. I usually switch between the main stage and the folkey dokey tent. It is nice to new bands. Unfortunately, I have managed to forget most of the people I saw in the Folkey dokey tent. I did see some good music there. I saw part of the set by "north sea radio orchestra". They were some kind of small classical ensemble who make classical music and have people sing William Blake songs. I am over my hatred for classical music, so I enjoyed their set (OK they are freakzone approved). I saw part of James Yorkston's set. On the main stage the first band I enjoyed was "monkey swallows the universe". Next on the main stage was Lisa Knapp. I liked her set, but I can't remember why. Later on clinic played. All the members of clinic wore surgical masks -- they were fairly indie, so made a nice change. At 5:30 a band called "the broken family band" played. They are some kind of alt-country group from Cambridge. I enjoyed their set. The penultimate band on the Saturday was "Vashti Bunyan". Vashti has an interesting history that you can look up else where. Even though she is over 60, she does have a sweet beautiful voice. Unfortunately, she was a bit quiet for a late night festival slot. Still I am glad I was there. The band on Saturday was "Robert Plant and the strange sensation". You can't accuse Robert of being quiet. I have to admit I never really got into Led Zepplin when I was growing up. Robert played a really goo set. He clearly enjoys singing. He played a mix of old and new stuff. The program said that he had gotten interested into middle eastern music. The mud bewitched me, so I didn't hear his full set. Still I had a great time.

Green man festival -- music on Friday

So what about the music at the Green Man festival Craig? On the Friday night the headline act was Joanna Newson. She plays the harp in a beautiful way. Unfortunately, she is fairly quiet, so this means that the drunker members of the audience start talking. A 40 year old woman was loudly trying to pull a collegs student. The guy was saying I have no artistic understanding of music -- very true. In my minds eye I can still Newson pluck those harp strings. Before Joanna, her husband Bill Callahan played a set. Callahan used to record under the name "somg" and was a tad gloomy and slow. Now that he is married, he records under his own name and sounds a lot happier. I enjoyed his set -- although he doesn't move around so much. I also enjoyed Rachael Untank and the winterset who played the main stage about 16:30. I own their first album called "creul sister". There were some really good tracks on "creul sister" (one of which involved a hangover). I was amazed to see some tap dancing as part of their set. They were much more traditional than I remembered. The first band on the main stage was Gwildor. I liked them. The next band was Fanfarlo, who I am sure I have heard on the freakzone radio show. I was disappointed with Fanfarlo's set for some reason. I saw some good bands in the Folkey Dokey stage, but I can't remember their names. Sorry...

festival reading

While I was on the train I overheard a conversation about the Harry Potter books by people who looked as though they were also going to the green man festival. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against the boy wizard, but somehow spending the weekend with 10000 Harry Potter fans filled me with a Lord Voldemort like dread. Ok I was reading a fantasty novel as well. However my fantasy novel was based on a philosophical idea, so there is no way that it could be considered a nerdy book. In fact all 3 fantasy books that I read while travelling to and from the Green Man festival were all based on some deep idea. So here are the 3 books: Simak, "Why call them back from Heaven". The human race is constructing a business to revive the dead. But do we really want immortality? A.E Van Vogt, "the battle for forever". Pacifism mixes with vengeance. Tim Powers "The Anubis Gates". A man goes back in time to be a tourist guide for a talk by Coleridge. Things go wrong and he finds himself living the life of a person he was writing a biography about. Apart from being a good yarn, this touches on issues of free will and destiny. I think you will all agree that my choice of reading material was not at all nerdy or spotty faced.

camping with the green man

So part of this festival trip I took was about getting back into camping again. Some essential camping gear. I got most of my tent up without any help. I couldn't work out how the inner metal things worked, but someone kindly helped me after watching me looking at the instructions for ten minutes with a look that said I would rather be in the bar. When I bought the tent from Tescos for ten pounds it did seem a good deal. However when I looked around the camp site of 10000 people I did feel a bit cheap having such a basic tent. Some people had huge tents with awnings and almost fully equipped kitchens. The tent was some kind of pastoral blue, so it didn't look like a hard core camping tent. Also the forecast was for heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday and it wasn't clear my little tent could take it (although it was OK in the end). I had gone out and got a better sleeping bag from Blacks, rather than use the sleeping bag I got from Home bargains for 5 pounds. The first thing I noticed about the tent was that it wasn't ensuite. So I had to get up and walk through the mud a couple of times during the night to relieve myself. I had a two man tent, but there wasn't too much space. I got used to it in the end. My mum told me to not to touch the tent walls because that lets the water in. I was very paranoid about this and every time I did touch the walls, I did expect that God would punish me, in the same way he gave me bad eyesight. I think I needed a small ground sheet just outside the door, so I could put my boots on. The tents were pretty close together. So I could hear people talking until late at night. The music starts playing at 12:00pm, so most people seemed to stay up late, then get up late. This is what I would have done if I had been with a group of people. I felt refreshed in the morning, so I can't complain. OK, next time I will be better organized. When I was young, my family used to go on camping trips. Somehow the tent would always get blown down or flooded, or we would get attacked by blood sucking insects. Anyway these disasters would at least stop the arguments and fights for a little while, so we could all relax a bit.

Green man festival

I will post more stuff about the music at the green man festival later. This festival has a different feel to others. It really is a weird folk and psychedelic festival. It is clearly not a traditional folk festival, but when Rachel Unthank and the Winterset played the main stage on Friday at 16:30 they had some clog dancing in their set, that people who looked like indie children seemed to like. On reflection the Welsh like their psychedelic folk. There were a lot of ex-members of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci playing. The only reason I had heard of many of the bands is by regularly listening to the freakzone on radio 6. Normally I live happily in my own musical world where no one has heard of the stuff I like. At the festival, I heard people excited to watch Vashti Bunyan and Bill Callahan (these are not so obscure I might add). I am not alone, but perhaps if I move to the next level of obscurity then I will be.

Green man festival - setting the scene

I am back from the Green Man festival. I had a really good time. My tent didn't fall down. I didn't fall into any ditches dead drunk. I didn't fall head first into the mud bath. I got the train to on Thursday to Abergavenny The ticket cost about 120 pounds which was bout 50 pounds more than I thought it was going to be. Somehow it more expensive to go there than to go to London. The journey from Glasgow took 6 hours, but as I was reading my book time went quickly. There was a coach from the railway station to the festival site. There was a little wait for the buses to turn up, but everyone looked excited by the prospect of a weekend of cider and bands. It was less than a 20 minute drive from the station to the festival site. The festival site is in the country. The green man festival is a small festival compared to the big ones such as Glastonbury.I think that there were fewer than 10000 people - but still a good number of people. The camp site seemed big to me. The festival was in Glanusk Park, Brecon Beacons. When you look up you see a huge mountain with its top covered in cloud. If the cloud is at the bottom of the mountain that means it is raining or it is about to start raining. There were a lot of trees around. There were 3 or 4 stages, plus other areas for children, a cinema tent, a green field site. I saw that the Institute of Physics were doing some demos there. Umm, good to see that my annual membership fee is put to good use. If all "outreach" was like that I would be more keen to get involved. There was a lot of space to explore. The main stage was in an amphitheatre. Some of the other venues were up the hill hidden away in an enchanted wood. I believe that children under the age of 12 were free to go in. There were a lot of children about. I am not really a family person, but somehow having children playing makes an occasion more adult. There was a huge choice of food available. There was food from Spain, the middle East, China, plus interesting stuff from the UK. So you could get through the weekend without eating a single burger. OK, so I ate one burger when I was there, but it was gourmet and frankly what did you expect me to do? Cook for myself? I will post about the music and camping later. I have to admit I came home a day earlier than I planned. It rained most of Saturday, so the festival site was essentially covered with 2 inches of mud. I had good boots that I am still scrapping the stuff off. It looked as though it was going to rain on Sunday too. I am the kind of person who will fall flat in a big pool of mud. When I was younger I went on a camping trip with the ATC. I managed to fall in a big pile of mud in a farm yard. When my father, never a person who could restrain exerting his wit on an unfortunate person, picked me up to take me home, he noted that sh*t people attract sh*t. (How I laughed). It was possible to move between the stages at the end of Saturday, but the mud \ slowed me down. It was taking me 20 minutes to get from the main stage (near the bar) to the toilets. I would drink a pint of cider, take 20 minutes to go to the toilets. By the time I came back I was ready to go to the toilet again. I would come back to bar at the main stage, drink a pint of cider, after which I was ready to go to the toilet again. You get the picture. There was an incredible age range of people at this event. Some people were with their children and their parents too.

Napalm Death

I went to see Napalm Death play at the Glasgow barfly last Wednesday. When I was around 20 I used to be into Napalm Death, and I wanted to see them play. I never managed it then. I didn't really start going to gigs until I was studying at Edinburgh University. Napalm Death were a famous grind core / death metal band who formed in the early 80s. They played very fast short songs. John Peel was a fan. I had not followed what they were doing since then. The Glasgow barfly is a small venue that mostly plays indie type bands, rather than a metal bar. It was packed when I went there. Everyone was wearing black, as you might expect, but at some stage I was trying to get to the bar, I seemed surrounded by blackness. When they started playing, I was enjoying the band, but the guy I was with turned to me and said, "this is not real grindcore". I spend the next 15 minutes worrying about this until he went off to the mosh pit and voted with his feet that they were genuine death metal. Napalm death played a good set. Somehow they are getting more political. Perhaps death metal is drifting back to its hard core punk roots.

camping

I am looking forward to my trip to the festival later this week. This does involve some camping. I have not been camping for nearly 15 years. I went into town today to get some gear. Trouble is I didn't realize that TJ Hughs don't sell camping stuff. I did find a "Blacks" shop, but just as it was shutting up. I was really looking for an army surplus place where I could get some proper ex-military gear. I don't want some pouncy "middle class camping gear". The point of camping is to suffer a little, rather than to carry around a hotel room in your car. When I did go camping I did use use some military mess tins with a simple stove. This was easier to use than one of those nasty gas stoves. I didn't see any military surplus shops in Glasgow. I did see a lot of ugly pound saver shops. It is too late to order any army surplus from ebay, maybe next time. I have seen the first Rambo movie "first blood". It doesn't look too hard to live off the land. All I need is a large knife. I guess that killing a deer would not go down well with the average hippy festival goer, but grilling a rabbit over a fire may be OK (perhaps???). When I was maybe 16 or 17, I bought a book called "No need to die" by Eddie McGee. This was all about living off the land. Why did I buy the book? At some point some murderer killed someone and then hid in the country. Eddie tracked him down. This sounds like bollocks now that I think about it, but at the time it was on TV and made some kind of sense. One of the tricks in the book was to use a condom to catch a fish. I don't see that walking into camp with a trout in a condom is a good way to pull a festival hippy chick, even though it would show that I was a good "hunter gather sort.". I can see that I am going to end up eating festival burgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yummy!

more complaining about being tired

I have been feeling really run down and tired this week. I am exhausted. I have a lot of work to do, but I am having problems functioning, both at work and as a human being. I am getting annoyed my people standing in my way as I walk around the fabulous West End of Glasgow. Somehow people move slowly and decide to have a big think in doorways. I cut a sad figure as I walked into a number of off sales places in Glasgow. I was all shaking with tiredness and muttering "sake". (Somehow all the sake in Glasgow has been drunk, so no joy). I am not the only one who is exhausted. The Guardian has an article about the US army in Iraq. They are tired too, but perhaps for better reasons. I could of course try going to bed earlier, or meditating. Perhaps a relaxing stroll through the Botanical gardens would help. Nope, I need time off line and R&R outside Glasgow. Anyway I did try to make some life style changes. I got two cans of Red Bull. I have tried to drink Red Bull in the past. I don't like the taste. Did it wake me up? No not really, I just felt like "sh*t" quicker. Perhaps I will soldier on with this Red Bull thing. This is what the US army use to keep awake and fighting alert. Sure some bullets go astray, but at least the soldiers keep awake.

byebye TV hello laptop

I have been using the iplayer from the BBC. This internet thing is pretty cool. You can download programs from the last week. You then have 28 days to start watching the program. OK, I should worry about DRM and stuff like that. This is for programs created by the BBC, so you can't get "Family Guy". I will obviously use this new program to improve my mind with cultural and historical TV programs. Until, then I have downloaded shows for "Mock the week", "Dr Who", and "Life on Mars". I am easy to please. This is one of the reasons I am not reading many books at the moment.

Simpson's movie

I went to see the Simpson's movie last week. I no longer regularly watch the Simpson's on TV. I have moved on to "Family Guy" and "American Dad". I would watch Southpark if it were available on terrestrial TV. I enjoyed the Simpson's film -- it wasn't a really great film, but it was enjoyable. The same evening, I watched "Unknown" on DVD. This is a film about 5 men waking up in a room with their memory lost. It was intense, but ultimately empty. Still it was a lot better than many films I have seen recently.

a month of bins

I have not been very good at keeping up with my promise to show you my bin every week. I have been taking pictures of the bin, I just have been too tired to post. Below are 4 week's of my bin. Enjoy!

green man

I am going to the green man festival next week I am really excited. I am also very tired and exhausted after the conference, so I need to get away for a couple of days. I am having problems working. I am not as messed up as Amy Whinehouse, but I am not living a pure and healthy life. I feel so tired at the end of the working day. This festival has a mellow hippy feel to it. To counter balance that I hope to go out and see Napalm Death. They are playing Glasgow on Wednesday. I have wanted to see them play for a long time. I should get all the rage and hate out of me.

Nash versus Cope

It was so humiliating but I really needed the latest CDs by Julian Cope and Kate Nash. Now that fopp has closed I am reduced to buying CDs from Virgin megastore. I slipped into the store trying to look as though I was lost, so the cool people wouldn't waggle their wasted fingers at me. I have seen Kate Nash play and I like the song "foundations" a lot. Perhaps I have a thing for angry chicks who hate men. The first track on the Kate Nash, sounded like a pointless filler track. This didn't put me in a good mood. There are some good tracks on the CD, but I don't like it as much as the first record by Candie Payne. The guardian review is a bit harsh as well. I expect that I don't like listening to her London accent too much. On the other hand Julian Cope's latest CD is fantastic. Now that I have been educating myself about bands such as Can and Neu, I appreciate his sound a lot. I remember listening to an interview with him in the 80s, when he said he had some problems recording because he thought that he was a city center. He is clearly an articulate clever guy. I like obscure music, but when I look at his web site he is clearly finding a higher level of weirdness in hidden sound. Umm, I don't seem to have told you the name of Cope's new album. I am not a professional reviewer. You got a problems with me?

The U.S. Vs John Lennon

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the DVD about John Lennons problems with the US government during the late 60s and early 70s. Let me start out by saying that I hate the Beatles. I particularly hate Paul McCartney. And Paul, it is not cool to put out a record with Starbucks. I am addicted to coffee, but putting one of your CDs near the latte machine is not likely to make me want to buy it, or like you. There was some early footage of the Beatles, and even then Paul looked like a total twat. I am being a bit harsh about the Beatles. I do like George Harrison, because he funded a lot of good films (Monty Python and Withnail And I). Also he was a good hippy singer. John always struck me as a phony, but that is no reason to shoot him of course. As part of the documentary they showed some footage with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Reuben. Both Abbie and Jerry were anti-war protestors and were both very good speakers. Abbie Hoffman wrote "steal this book", that I read when I was in Salt Lake City

after the neocons

While in Germany I read "after the neocons" by Francis Fukuyama. I used to try and read a (usually left wing) political book for every 2 others. Fukuyama is not a left wing author. He is famous for writing a book called "the end of history", that claimed that all societies approach liberal western democracies with time. I have not read "the end of history", but I will do one day (being well read and that). The book I did read was about Iraq. It was an "insiders" view on Iraq and the idea of state building. These people have a very philosophical way of thinking about foreign policy, that is alien to those of us who stopped studying history at the age of 14. As I get older I do find that I am reading more political books by right week people. This might be because, I am getting more conservative as I get older (true), or I am getting more cunning (know your enemy).

I'm back!

Umm, I don't seem to have posted anything for a while on my BLOG. Last week I went to the lattice 2007 conference in Regensburg. Somehow this always involves a huge amount of effort and stress. The day before my talk, I am usually too nervous to say anything. I am hoping to go the Green Man festival in two weeks time. There is a really good set of people playing. However, there is a postal strike on, so I am not sure I am going to get my tickets.

Indian summer II

One thing I really regretted was not seeing Michael Gira play at the Indian summer festival. He used to play in a bad called "the Swans". I don't focus on the detail, like remembering people's names in bands. I thought the tent he was in was only for dance music. I don't have anything against dance music I might add, I just didn't bother to walk the 30 yards to the next tent. I did see the swans play in Edinburgh in maybe 1992 or 1991. The swans sort of had two sounds. They were first very loud. Then they got very low, slow and gloomy. You can guess what stage of their musical evolution I was more interested in. The only reason I know that he played was because I read a review in the Scotsman.The festival was closed by the flaming lips. I am sure I saw them play in Liverpool. I think I saw them play in Lexington Kentucky. I enjoyed seeing them play before, but now they are stunning live. The flaming lips set was just amazing. Wayne Coyne went into the crowd in a plastic bubble. There were huge balloons set lose into the audience. Confetti was fired into the audience. The whole set was a positive vibe.

Indian summer I

The Indian Summer festival just started last year. The maximum capacity of the festival is 6000, so it is small. There were three music areas. One big stage, and two tents. The festival area is in enclosed in trees. It only rained for a short while. I had not heard of many of the bands, but I liked the idea of hearing some new sounds. I didn't see a band that I thought sucked. All the guitar sounds were crisp and clean. After last year, I took the running order with me so I had a better idea of who was playing this year. I particularly wanted to see Daniel Johnston play. He was playing the headliner in the radio 6 tent. Before I knew of his history, I used to search out his records. His voice was so full of pain. Now that I have seen the documentary about him, I know that he stopped taking his medication to get those performances. When he was close to getting a record deal, he was in an insane asylum. This was a long time ago, so he was old. Anyway the tent was half full when Daniel played, but the people there were very committed. I have to admit the highlight of his set was "speeding motorcycles". They played a set from Daniel Johnston on the George Lamb radio show. He hadn't heard of Daniel and had been in LA to cover the Beckhams. He didn't get it. As another radio 6 presenter said, Johnston is an an acquired taste.

Indian summer

I went to the Indian summer festival in Glasgow last week. I had a great time. This is a small festival in Victoria Park in Glasgow.

We are the physics

I went out to see "we are the physics" play at the Glasgow Barfly last Friday. When I saw the band name on the barfly listing, I thought that gig looks a bit nerdy for my cool self. This was of course hypocrisy of a high order since I work in a Physics department. I did listen to a live set they did for Marc Riley on his radio 6 show. It sounded as though furniture was being rearranged when they played and young Marc was blown away. So I had to go and see them play. The first minute of their set was not so promising, but after that the set was awesome. The music is fast and there is fast hand clapping. They complained that they had played to 10 people in the Liverpool barfly the night before. None of the people at Liverpool wanted to dance. Well if I had still been living in Liverpool there would have been 11 people who didn't want to dance. They have a song called "action", which I wanted to chant "Lagrangian", but didn't. "We are the physics" deserve to be big, but life is cruel. I didn't stay for the clubbing night, so I got home before 12:00, so the next day wasn't lost.

the Elvis suicide

A week last Friday I went out to see "the Elvis suicide" play at the Glasgow barfly. I had the choice I could have seen "hell is for heroes", but the magic of myspace, helped me chose the local Glasgow band. I enjoyed their set. The first band on, I thought were called "capacitors", but looking at the ticket, they may have been named "Kino Box". The sound was Eastern European and it reminded me of "Beirut". Somehow the Elvis suicide were not the last band to play. (If you want proper gig reviews I suggest you buy the NME). On Friday the bands stop playing at 11:00, so they can have a clubbing night. As I got out of the venue at 2:30, I decided that it is probably not a good idea for me to stay for the club night. I did try and chat someone up, but the person told me that they were born in Florence which frankly was more information than I needed to know at 1:00 in the morning with a brain addled by Carling. There is a reason that the Glasgow underground stops at 11:20.

events in Glasgow

Given the disturbing events happening in Glasgow, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and I have managed it through the day. On Saturday I heard the very sad news that the fopp chain of CD shops has closed. One of the fopp shops on Byers Rd was the main place I bought CDs from. What am I going to do now on a Saturday afternoon? I still like CDs. Ok, I can just go around the corner to the shop called "Lost in Sound" This is actually a much more independent record shop than fopp. I could also go and get CDs from the avalanche shop near Queens railway station. There is also Amazon and Itunes. Ok, so I will survive. Now that my supply of music is secure I can now start to worry about the threat of terrorism.

Wesley Willis

I have already managed to forget how I heard about Wesley Willis. I think his name was mentioned in an online article about some doomed semi-obscure singer. I am listening to his CD "greatest hits volume 2". Needless to say he never had a hit, but was famous enough to have fans. When he met them he used to head butt them in a slow way. His CD, "greatest hits volume 1" is selling for twenty quid on Amazon. He talks and rants in a semi-crazed way on the CD I now own.

pink elephants

I have been trying to cut down on drinking a couple of beers before I goto bed. In principle this should mean that I feel a lot fresher in the morning. However I find that I have very vivid dreams when I sleep sober. I think that the alcohol is suppressing my imagination. For example on Sunday I dreamt that I was wondering around town trying to find a place to mastibate in the street. Then there was a big hole in my penis, where blood gushed out. So I felt like sh*t on Monday, even though I didn't go out and party on the booze the night before. I am sure there could be some kind of Freudian interpretation of this dream, but it is particularly mean to use sexual desire in a nightmare. Normally sexual fantasy in dreams is a good way to hide from the killers in the nightmares. On Tuesday I drank some beer before I went to bed. I had a dream about a puppy and the dog I owned when I was a child. Ummm. Of course if I told this story in the real world, people would start to mutter about "pink elephants" and flying pigs. The Floyd are touring again, so the flying animal may in fact be real this time.

bins and entropy

Another week passes. Another bin full of rubbish. The cycle continues.

I think from the contents of the bin that `i try to live a frugal life.

4

I was planning to go and see some French film on Friday night (Tell No One), but a last minute computer problem forced me to stay slightly late. So instead I went to see the latest "fantastic four film" at the local Grosvner theatre. It was an OK film, but it didn't do too much for me. Frankly I don't go to watch super hero films, to see them have angst about getting married. More explosions! It was all too cute and bright, even though one of the characters get tortured for a short while. In his review of the fantastic 4 film Mark Kermode mentioned that you don't get to learn a lot about the mythology of the "silver surfer" from the film. The history of the silver surfer comic is interesting, if the Wikepedia entry can be believed. The comic got killed because of too much angst.

friendship

I have been living a fairly reclusive life the last few years, so I don't have too many close friends. I do read that people with a happy family and social life live longer. But trying to make friends by grasping people by the collar and shouting "be my friend. I don't want to die," has frankly not improved my circle of friends. The real reason for this post is that I wanted to sign up for Jost (Internet TV), but I need a friend to refer me. I don't know anyone who has Jost. I am not moving in hard core nerd circles. Anyway, let us see if the power of the google blog search will help me find a friend who will refer me to a beta Jost account. I so deserve to be an early adopter. Friends help their friends spend more time online.

Black-Scholes

On the train to my mum's house, I read "Fischer Black and the revolutionary idea of Finance" by Perry Mehrling. Fischer Black was a theorist who invented ways to study the stock market and money. I am starting to understand this derivative (in the finance sense) business a bit better. He was a loner recluse, but still managed to be married 3 times. He had a very clever filing system that allowed him to work very efficiently. I didn't know that they didn't understand the stockmarket in the late 60s, and early 70s.

stag night

I went to a stag do last weekend. While I was out in Edinburgh one time, I saw a lot of people wearing fancy dress. I was a bit worried that a stag night in Glasgow would also mean having to wear a some kind of fancy dress, or perhaps even worse a shirt. Luckily though a stag night in Glasgow is a more classy affair than in Edinburgh. The plan was to drink a couple of beers and then take a trip to a strip joint. I have to admit I bailed on the strip joint part. Obviously, a trip to a strip joint might have livened up the stories I tell, but frankly it all seemed very expensive. So I sat in a pub instead till closing time, choosing booze over naked flesh. The next day it was the West End festival. The West End was full of people. I didn't see any of the parade, but spent all my time dodging people. Somehow there seemed more drinks on the street this year, then last year. Clearly the best place to see the parade is to sit in a pub in Ashton lane, and munch on a burger. I am only happy when I am not happy.

bin day

I think it has been two weeks since I posted a picture of my bin. Somehow I didn't produce enough rubbish. Also I stayed at my mum's house last week. A bit of a harsh week.

Kate Nash

I sent to see Kate Nash play at King Tuts on Sunday. I got there just as the support act were finishing up. The venue was packed, but the support act were not very loud. The audience seemed to like them, so what do I know? Every time I have been to King Tuts, the venue has been packed. This could be because I only go out to see people half way up the escalator of fame and fortune. Kate Nash played a very intense set. She swears a lot -- a good sign.

El Topo

Hippies shouldn't be allowed to make films I went to see the film "El Topo" at the Glasgow film theatre (GFT) on Friday. The GFT is the main art house cinema in Glasgow. El Topo was apparently a famous film in the early 70s. F*ck knows why. It starts with a gun fighter looking for a gang who murdered a village. He finds the gang and some hippie chick. Then he goes in search of four gun men in the desert. Then he dies and wakes up in a cave with a bunch of people who are deformed. The plot goes on, but I guess that you are having problems following. I am glad I saw it, and it was not as pretentious as my crappy plot synopsis makes out. I am probably just bitter, because I cou\ld have gone to see "the battle of Algiers" instead.

another bin day comes around

Another week, another bin full of rubbish. It is the futility of it all that gets me the most. The week starts with the bin pristine and clean. After a week of harsh living the bin is full of decomposing food and polluting packaging. This pattern will repeat for the rest of my life. There must be a way of breaking out of this cycle of existence. Buddha, wot do ya say?

some old sounds

When I was around 16 to 18, I used to listen to Marc Boland's T-Rex a lot. As time passed I didn't play Trex so much -- partly because I am trying to keep up with the new sounds from new bands. Also Marc Boland was viewed by some people (such as John Peel) as a bit of a twat. Also I found out that Boland was one of the first "boy bands". Ok, maybe the monkeys were first... I was pointed in the direction of Boland's first band called "John's children". This is before Boland got into glam, but the sound of "John's children" is really exciting. Boland was writing the songs, but somehow he wasn't totally in charge. Since we are talking about groups who are perhaps not so famous, I also got a copy of the CD "Y" by the pop group. This group recorded during the late 70s. I am not an expert on musicology, but this doesn't sound like they are playing pop music. In fact it is not clear that all band members are playing the same song. This is not to say that they were one of those punk bands who couldn't play- but somehow it is a wonderful mess. Since we are talking "post punk", the fopp store in Glasgow tried to tempt me with a CD by magazine. For some reason, I remember that I need to own a magazine CD. Also, if you see me out in a CD shop you will sometime see me say "fu*k" near the section that starts with "b". I will get a CD by "the blue orchids" one day.

from autumn to ashes

I went out to see the band "from autumn to ashes" play at King Tuts last Sunday. They are a new metal band. Frankly, I just wanted a night out. They were pretty intense though, so I enjoyed their set. I also bought a ticket to see Kate Nash play. The gig is 8 days away. I can't wait.

steel

I have to admit I do spend a lot of time looking at myspace profiles. Some may call this stalking, others may simply suggest that I get a life. Some profiles have a picture of people pointing a gun at at the camera. I don't worry that these people have real guns. They don't look so hard to me. When I was at school I took a course in theatre arts (that I failed). One thing I did learn is that the audience in a theater suspends their belief for the show. They accept that people don't really die on stage. This seems similar to me not being worried by gun carying myspacers. Somehow I can accept that the gun is not real. Does the contract of disbelief transfer to other weapons? I think I would be more worried by pictures of people holding a knife. There is nothing fake about cold steel. Anyway here is a picture of my machete. You can judge whether you are worried or not. I don't view it as a combat blade.

beer from around the world

I was walking by the off licence at the end of Byers Rd in the fabulous West End of Glasgow. An old man with a long white beard beckoned me in. Dostoyevsky, I thought, and I walked into the shop to shake his hand. But poof he disappeared, as I entered the shop. The only thing that remained was a bottle of Bajithka 3. Wow, Russian beer imported to Glasgow. Yes, I can get beer from all round the world in Glasgow. Apart from common places such as Germany and Poland, the picture shows a beer from Argentina. I once had a wicked plan to seduce someone by claiming to be able to take them on a world tour. My cunning scheme was then to take them to bar that sells beers from around the world. Then I could innocently say, "what I actually said was that we were going to drink ourselves around the world". I am not sure it would have worked, somehow I guess that most women would think that that world tour means actually going to the country. My theories that drinking a beer from a country allows you to teleport there, wouldn't go down well on your average date. What have I learnt from drinking beer from many different places around the world? Well, beer makes you ill, fat and stupid, whatever country it is brewed in.

bin day cheat

Ok, so it is bin day again. I have to admit, I drank two cans of Stella after I took this photograph, because I was chilling after a bad day at work. So pleas imagine two additional cans of Stella in the bin.

Shadow Boxer

I was bored on Thursday so I rented the DVD "Shadow Boxer" from Blockbuster. This film is about two assassins, who pick up a woman and her new born child, when a job goes wrong. Yep standard stuff. Helen Mirren of, the Queen, fame was in the film, but somehow this didn't really help. Somehow all the ingredients in the film didn't gell for me. Also, when I was in Blockbuster I noted that have the box sets for the first thee series of "24" in. Somehow, I doubted that work would view needing to take two weeks off to watch them, as a legitimate reason for not coming in

Wednesday

As I walked in today I suddenly woke up and started to look for some remarkable event that I could record and ponder on. The pavements were almost deserted. The term is winding down at the University, so the students have gone home or are getting up later. There were enough people around so that I wasn't alone on the streets As I walked towards to Great Western Rd, I saw a Rastafarian smoothly walking towards me. He was cool and relaxed. He seemed to be carrying two machine gun shells. I don't mean small ones like you would use in a AK-47, but really big meaty big ones that could be used in Gatling gun. He wasn't giving off any negative vibes. This was some kind of non-local sonic vibration from Lee Scratch Perry's DJ set on the radio last Sunday.

Sunday

Since I have been living in Glasgow I have been going out much less. This might be because I live in a nicer place where people don't throw rocks through the window, or it might be one of those age things. Look why would I want to go out when I see scary things from my windows. It is marching season in Glasgow. Marching doesn't seem to attract beautiful people. I did venture out to go shopping down Great Western Rd on Sunday. There are so many "ethnic" shops in Glasgow. I got some chillies from a Mexican shop on Great Western Rd. I had to wait because a bunch of lads from Northern Island, really each needed the Mexican sandwich from the shop. I have to admit there was a choice between getting 9/10 hot chillies and getting 3/10 dried chillies. The packet for 9/10 chillies warned about even touching the chillies. There are certain realities about the way I live. After I prepared my salad and chillis, I went to the toilet. I suddenly thought, perhaps I should wash my hands before I use the toilet after I have prepared chillis. This chilli trip is all going to end in tears.

two days in my life

As I walked to work on Monday I saw a big white truck. I was surprised to see an older woman with whitish hair driving it. On the side of the truck was written "Correctional unit". I wanted to bang on the side of the truck -- for the purposes of solidarity with the comrade who who was clearly on the way to one of her Majesty's long term hotels, but I didn't because I hesitated. I was going to write about some event I had witnessed as I walked to work today, but my mind was total blank. I couldn't remember anything about my journey to work. I then started to recall the speaker on "thought for today", on the Today program on the radio, talk about how he got sacked for stealing a packet of cigarettes when he worked at a pub. I thought it was kind of a strange story for a priest to use, but then perhaps he was lying. When I was putting my rubbish out, I suddenly felt something lick my hand. A white bulldog had been left outside the Tenement building. The area is enclosed, so he couldn't get out. I petted him for a while. He was a very friendly dog. I like dogs, but I don't really live a life style where I can take care of one. There are lots of places to take a dog for a walk around here. The dog looked betrayed when I locked him back outside. I like dogs.

Glasgow melts into Edinburgh

I always thought I lived in Glasgow. However, I found out that a pub close to me called Crosslands on Queen Margret Drive was actually used a location for the film Trainspotting. This is particularly weird, because Trainspotting was actually set in Edinburgh. I assume it was cheaper to film in Glasgow. It has been a while since I have watched the film, but the pub features in the scene where the nutter throws a glass over his shoulder. It is a local pub for local people. I don't go in there too much, (except when I need to spread my message of temperance). What does it mean, when a pub in a film set in Edinburgh is actually in Glasgow? Reality can no longer be trusted. Glasgow and Edinburgh are merging.

rubbish

Like many people I am starting to worry about my "carbon footprint". (Ok, I don't worry about it in the sense that I am not going to not attend two conferences in Germany this year, or go on holiday to Poland, but I will wring my hands a bit). I think the only responsible thing to do is semi-regularly publish picture of my rubbish bin. This will show how much packaging that I am using. So you will find the state of my bin today. There is no recycling in this part of Glasgow. Also, I am trying to cut down on having a couple of beers before I go to bed. After a week, my bin is full of shiny aluminum cans. This is probably not a good habit. I am baring this intimate details of my life. Other people may have hidden in their kitchens, bins full of dead dogs, bloody condoms, drug pipes, and playboy magazines, but I am not afraid to show the full details of my life.

chillis

Tesco have finally consented to sell me strong chillis. How I thought this was going to make me happy I don't know. I used some with my dinner. My stomach felt that it had been liquefied. I am not sure where this urge to eat the maximum strength spices comes from.. Anyway, there are places on the great Western Rd, where I can get chillis. Perhaps, these chillis are stronger that those on sale from Tesco. I have to go and find out. How can I look people in the eye, if I am not operating at maximum chilli eating strength. I can see that one day I will disappear. There will just be a pool of burnt flesh seeping under the door of my flat and into the drains.

Thoughts on Kate Nash

I was watching "later with Jools Holland" last night, I was happy to see that he had Kate Nash play a song. I really like her singing, but she does seem to hate men. OK, a bit unfair, but she is not the kind of chick you would want to have an argument with. She spits out "why don't you have another beer again," in way that makes it sound like a bad thing. In fact a lot of the newer female singer song writers tend to sing about being emotionally cruel to their men folk. It is the latest thing.

28 weeks later

I went to see the film "twenty eight weeks later" on Thursday. This was the sequel to the film "28 days later". This was another zombie movie. I went to see the film at the Grosvner cinema in the fabulous West End of Glasgow. The cinema was fairly full of people. Zombie movies are always popular. I really liked the scenes in the film, where London was shown deserted. I now know that in a fight between a helicopter and a crowd of zombies -- the helicopter will win. After the film, I went for a few beers around Gibbons street. This street is meant to be a big student area, but all the pubs were very high class.

Life on Mars

I watched the final episode of the box set for series 1 of Life on Mars last night. What a great TV series! A policeman gets knocked down in 2006, and then wakes up in 1973. It is pretty clear that he is coma, but he doesn't know how to wake up. There is a lot of cultural problems with his 2006 views clashing with those from the people who really live in "1973". I particularly liked some of his dilemmas where he felt he was the only person who was really real. (Although some people felt that this made him a bit crazy).

The money machine

I just finished reading "the money machine -- how the city works" by Philip Coggan. This book explains, in basic terms, the financial ideas used in the City of London. Since I have also been reading a lot of books on Silicon valley start ups. it was interesting to see that there was nothing on venture capital. At the end of the book I was slightly more convicted that some aspects of "the city" were useful. I don't really see myself as a stockbroker, but perhaps I could hack a bit of code for them.

spiderman III

Ok, I went to see spiderman III on Friday. Ummm. I was thinking of leaving the cinema after the first 1/2 hour, because nothing much had happened. It picked up after a while. I could see what they were trying to do, but I was still bored at the end. I miss seeing the spiderman cartoons on Saturday morning. Even though I watched many of the episodes many times, I was still confused about "mistress web". I find it hard to get up on Saturday morning without my spiderman treat.

What's cool in my musical household

Joanna Newsom. Harp playing is cool again. Joanna gets a lot of name check from radio6 DJs. I own her CD called "Ys". A very different sound. Rumour has she is an item with Bill Callahan (who used to be known as SMOG). My jealousy is more bizzare, because I don't know what she looks like. I still need her first CD, as well as the latest from Bill Callahan . Joan as police woman. I almost went to see Joan as police woman play in the West End, but I was sick and trying to hit some deadline (that seemed important at the time). Joan is another chic with a weird and harsh singing voice. Grinderman. This is Nick Cave with most of the bad seeds. It is noisy aggressive stuff. What's not cool. I am not going to get the new artic monkeys CD. Why bother? I liked the first artic monkeys CD, but I lost interest when Gordon Brown said he had it on his Ipod (yeah right). Also I am not too excited about the new White Stripes CD. Somehow, the sound of the white stripes has become diluted. So now you know.

A walk through the fabulous West End of Glasgow

I managed to pick up another cold on Sunday. How many more am I going to get this year? Whine, whine. Since I couldn't work on bank holiday Monday, I went for a walk around the fabulous West End of Glasgow. I went to Gibson street that is close to the University. There are a number of nice restaurants and bars around there. There is a very big bar (that I have forgotten the name of) near Woodlands Rd, that I remember that I went to with a big party of people maybe about 7 years ago before I started living in Glasgow. It is good to find places that you have been too, during a drunken night, in the clean light of the day. I found a good Indian supermarket there. I need to get an Indian cookbook to take advantage of all the ingredients I can now buy. Glasgow is very cosmopolitan. I know where there is a very good Chinese supermarket in the center of town. I now have a cupboard full of strong sauces.

the smart crowd

File Edit Options Buffers Tools Help I am not a person who is known for their dapper dress sense. I was watching Carl Perkins play "Blue Suede shoes". He looked so smart in his sharp suit. I started to think that perhaps I too could smarten up a little bit. So into Glasgow I went for some shopping. After going around the shops I ended up buying a grey sweatshirt and a pair of trainers. Part of the problem was the washing instructions on the more fancy clothes involved low temperatures. It was clear I would probably destroy them in one wash. I only know one setting for the washing machine in the flat, mostly because there are no instructions. I was never meant to hang out with the beautiful crowd.

Crossing the chasm

Last night I finished reading "Crossing the chasm" by Geoffrey Moore. This is a book about marketing high tech products. The idea is that there is a chasm between selling to different sets of people. For example, some people (early adaptors) like new technology, so will buy (or download) new things. Other people will only buy the software if they are convinced there is need. Also there are people who hate new things, so have to be dragged kicking and screaming to buy new technology. So a product may sell well to early adaptors, but the company needs to open sales to the pragmatic group There is a chasm in sales. There are more pragmatic people than early adaptors. This another book that has show me the importance of vertical markets (specialized product) versus horizontal markets.

London to Brighton

I watched the DVD for the film "London to Brighton" on Monday. This was a recent British film. The one sentence plot is a prostitute and young girl go on the run from a London gangster and pimp. The film is very real and gritty. The actor who plays the prostitute was particularly good. I was sad to read that she is working in a shop, because she couldn't get any new acting roles. I felt I should have gone out to watch "This is England", as the critics says this is another good British film. It is a sad testament to Thatcher and Blair that are not many British films about politics. Most of our films are about gangsters or fluff ("love actually"). On TV there was a program about some film about a person working in the council. I am not sure that type of film would be made now, mostly because a large fraction of us having given up on this voting business. On reflection there is a lot of drama on TV about modern politics, so perhaps I just need to watch more things on the smaller screen.

depression

I had a number of bad dreams one night about people shooting into my house. This is particularly weird because I don't actually live in a house with a garden, where bodies can be buried. (OK, I need to cut down on the number of action movies I watch) The worst dreams are when I feel like I am being smothered by someone. I try and wake up ready for a fight for survival, only to find my arm has cramp. Before I went away I saw a TV program about the depression that Stephen Fry suffers from. As part of the program, Stephen showed the inside of the hospital on Cromwell Rd in London where he stayed, when he had a break down because he was crap in a play. How these celebrities lord it over us! When I used to live in London I used to de-stress by walking along Cromwell Rd. In the darkness, I used to stare at the green windows of the Cromwell hospital. I used to fantasize about the emotional care they were getting in the hospital. I would trudge back through the litter to my solitary bedsit. Yeah, celebrities go to rehab. The rest of us fall low and end up drinking special brew outside the super-market. Yes, rehap for me would be spending a couple of years selling the big issue. There is an interesting story about depression in the online guardian. From the article:

Then, in the early 1600s, a mass epidemic of depression broke out.

It is clear that we need Dr Who to travel back in time to sort this depression thing out.

all change at radio6

I was really enjoying listening to many of the shows on radio 6. Then suddenly a bunch of my favorite shows were cut. For example the following shows were ended , MINT, Phil Jupters, and Andrew Collins, in the last couple of weeks. I particularly miss listening to Phil Jupters in the morning. I am back to listening to the Today program on radio4. They seem to move in a lot of comedians as DJs. This would be OK, but there is usually less emphasis on music and more on the presenters sexual exploits or failings. Having Russell Brand the station was some horrible nightmare. Yes of course, I didn't need to listen to his show, but they used to advertise his show on all the other shows. He has been off the station for a while, but as you can see I am still bitter about having his existence forced on me. Still, I find that I like many of the new shows. I like Guy Garvey (lead singer of elbow), Queens of Noize, Bob Dylan, and Don Letts. The aim of radio6 is to promote new music, so perpetual change is part of the deal. The listen again feature has changed the way I listen to the radio. I am listening to last night's Guy Garvey's show on this bank holiday morning. He just had an interview with the singer "Joan as Policewoman". I can now listen to shows I want, when I want to. So if I don't like Stephen Merchant -- I don't have to listen. I can put on an earlier show instead. The "listen-again" feature means that there is no excuse for missing a show. So I try to listen to every "Marc Riley's Brain Surgery", just in case I miss some new sound. The Grinderman session on Brain Surgery was great last week on the Brain Surgery.

shark

I have just finished reading "The Raw shark texts" by Steven Hall. In some sense this was a confusing book. The main character wakes up in a room not knowing who he is. He then finds that he is being chased by a conceptual shark made from words and ideas. To find out what is going on, he has to find "unspace". (Did I mention it was a bit confusing). I find that normally that this kind of plot is too intellectual and clever for its own good. This book somehow managed to walk the fine line between humanity and cold intellect. The main character dreams of his girl friend who had drowned off a Greek Island. One of the main characters was a cat who ate tuna and slept a lot.

soul

I was shocked when I heard that Billy Bragg liked Motown music. I was young, but somehow it didn't seem fair that an angry young man with a guitar, should like Motown. Looking back at Bragg's work, it is more obvious that he has a wide taste in music. Don't get me wrong I don't dislike Motown music, I do sort of like it. I wouldn't buy any Motown music, but I wouldn't (metaphorically) smash a radio up if I heard it played, as I would do with many tunes from boy bands. I do like Amy Winehouse. I like her singing style, and I even own her first CD. So I am finding soul. (Note that I said singing, rather than talking). She is a bit gobby. Another singer I like is Candie Payne from Liverpool. She has such a sweet rich voice. She is a guest DJ on radio 6, so also has a cute speaking voice. Candie Payne is playing Glasgow on May 16th at King Tuts I was going to end this scribble by saying that Napalm Death are going to be playing in Glasgow in the summer, so I will go to seem them to cleanse this soul madness from my system. Still I like what I like. By the magic of Firefox tabs, I can play Napalm death at the same time as Candie Payne. Interesting.

new voting addiction

I did actually bother to vote in the local elections and elections for Scottish parliament today. I had not voted for a while. It did seem pointless, when "new labour" was just the same as Tory. I assume I didn't screw up my ballot papers. I did follow the written instructions, but given the large number of spoilt ballot papers I could be one of those who screwed up. Anyway the only reason I wanted to vote was to give Blair a bloody nose, before he left. Although Tony Blair has been on TV, saying the election results were not so bad for labour. That's so true Tony, just like your foreign policies in Iraq have been a success. I am now addicted to voting. What can I vote for next? The BBC have an interesting page for the LHC.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will re-create the conditions present just after the big bang. Some scientists argue that during a ten year spell of operation there is a 1 in 50,000,000 chance like the LHC could cause a catastrophe of epic proportions. Either a Black Hole or a new type of matter known as `strangelets' could form destroying the planet. Or possibly the fabric of space could be ripped apart producing a truly cosmic cataclysm. Given these odds do you think the LHC should be switched on?

I voted no. I am willing to admit that I am being slightly disloyal. The web page from the BBC was created because of a science TV program about the LHC. This was a depressing program, because they marketed the LHC as a telescope. The first twenty minutes of the program was about astronomy. Why did they need to show pictures from the Hubble telescope in a program about particle physics? There were a lot of celebrity physicists saying folksy and basic stuff in semi-darkness. Although, I am in favour of popular science journalism, somehow this program was misleading. They stressed black hole production (bollocks), but didn't mention "the grid". Somebody should be punished for making that crappy program, so I used my vote. If you interested the vote was 53% to 47% for turning the LHC on. So as usual my vote didn't matter. I do see visions of Profs from High Energy Physics groups ordering their graduate students to vote "yes" before they were let out for the weekend.

the google story

I feel depressed that I didn't get a lot of things done over the weekend. Apart from go to gigs and watching TV, I did manage to finish "the google story" by David Vise. This is an unofficial history of the google company. It was interesting for a number of reasons. They only started the company to buy more computers to index the web. They didn't have any real ideas on how to make money when they started. The online advertising idea was developed a plan at the beginning. Google did start to make money very quickly, so was not your standard dot com company.

Billy Childish

I went to see Billy Childish and his new band play at the Grand Central. This place is by Central station in Glasgow. I have in fact walked past it many times, but I still managed to get lost, and it took me twenty minutes to find. I only found out about the gig when I noticed a flyer close to the University library. I enjoyed the music. Billy Childish didn't seem to play many new songs from his album: Punk Rock at the British Legion Hall. Billy Childish have punk garage sound. I drank way too much beer at the gig and afterwards in the club. One day I will learn.

Loudon Wainwright III

I did see Loudon Wainwright III play at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Sunday. The show was almost sold out. I used the web system to buy the ticket. I kept clicking various bits of virtual theatre, just for the stupid system to tell me that area was full. Just as I was about to give up I found an empty seat. Well I guess the indie crowd love his children Martha and Rufus Wainwright more than Loudon, but I still think he is the best. Some of his songs were very funny, but some songs were so sad. There were some particularly sad songs about his mum. There was one song were he come back home after a night of parties -- all sad and depressed. His mum gives him bacon and coffee. (This was a song from his younger days I might add). I am not sure I like these sit down gigs. It just seems very wrong to sit down to watch a gig. Also I missed the start by about 5 seconds and the theater was dark. So I did manage to watch the warm up act (yet another Wainwright child) standing up because I couldn't find my seat.

Loudon

I am hoping to see Loudon Wainwright III play in Glasgow at the weekend. The way my home body life is going, I probably will not be organized enough to go to the gig. Perhaps 20 years ago I was waiting to hear a session on radio 1 by Wainwright. I was listening to the first the song by Wainwright. My mum suddenly walks into the room in tears. "Who wrote this song," she asked. Needless to say the song was about the dreaded divorce thing. I didn't have the heart to tell my mum, that I was waiting for Wainwright's song about him going round to a woman's hotel room, as there was a show on TV with him playing. His devious trick, didn't work out because, although the woman liked men, she didn't like the thing between their legs. That is the power of Loudon. Some of his songs are goofy, but others are painfully intense. Now of course, both his children are famous singers too. Perhaps I like Martha Wainwright best. In a recent interview with Martha, she said that when she was young she used to line her barbie dolls up and let them get run over. I can't actually find the article where she says this, but I would like it to be true. Anyway Martha sounds like the kind of chick, I would like to chug a few beers with, but given her pop status, I might have to settle for a bag of cocaine or a kicking from her bodyguards. This is more commitment than I can give to a fantasy relationship.

Beirut

Thanks to the Freakzone on radio6 I heard about a band/person called Beirut who have a CD out called Gulag Orkestar. As usual I can't be bothered to do more than name check, but you can read a better review here. The sound of the CD is Balkan gypsy music. One issue is that the CD is made by someone in the US (from their bedroom), so it is perhaps not really authentic. On the other hand I like the sound. It reminds me of when The Wedding Present put out some kind of Ukrainian music. Anyway, the bottom line is that I like the sound that Beirut make.

business of software

I have just finished reading the book "Eric Sink on the Business of Software". This is not selling software like Microsoft do. The idea is to sell just a small piece of software for a niche or horizontal markets. Then you don't have to compete against the big boys.

flu woes

The Chinese flu in my system was really getting me down. Thanks to global warming, it has been nice and warm in Glasgow this last week. As I walked around the fabulous West End of Glasgow, everyone looked so happy to be bathed in the sun. I felt like sh*t, because of the downer that is Chinese flu. I scowled at the young lovers holding hands. I wanted to say "this won't last. In a week's time it will be raining. In twenty years time your children will hate you, and in 40 years time you will be dead." A shrunken beggar asked to borrow 20p. I almost wept with joy, as I shook his hand. "Thank you", I said, as I vigorously pumped his hand. He edged away, happy to get away from the miserable madman. Its not worth it for 20p. I am now starting to fell better. As I woke this morning, I felt pretty weird. It had been a while since I felt any spark of joy to be alive.

shooter

I went to see the film shooter last week. It was kind of dumb, but I enjoyed it. An expert sniper is asked back to protect the president, but is framed. You know the story. Still it was well done.

Micro-ISV from vision to reality

I have just finished a book called "Micro-ISV" by Bob Walsh. Since there is a 3 letter acronym in the title you can probably guess that the book had something to do with computers. ISV stands for independent software vendor. These are small companies that write specialized software. The idea was to stay small, so that venture capital is not needed. The book was very interesting, but starting an ISV looked like a lot of work.

sunshine

I saw the film "Sunshine" this week. This is a fantastic new film directed by Danny Boyle. A team of astronauts travel to the sun to drop a bomb in it, to try and restart it. It was a very beautiful film. There was a lot of time spent just staring at the sun as they got closer. The sun up close did look fantastic.

snot

This Chinese flu thing is still in my system. It has been two weeks and I am still sniffling and unable to function. I feel bad, when I walk around. I start to sneeze and cough. Then I hear other people start wheezing and coughing too. It is almost as though I am the carrier of some designer Chinese plague. Although, I feel it is unlikely that the Chinese government will want to harm people in the UK, because the Chinese economy depends on foreign consumers. Am I complaining and feeling sorry for myself? Frankly, yes..

The God Delusion

It is Easter Sunday, so it is fitting that I have just finished reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. This book is a sound argument for atheist (not a wimpy book for agnostics). I listened a bit to some religious service on radio4. It just seemed so alien and strange I never had much faith to lose, so I was sympathetic to his general argument. His political points are perhaps more important. There is no clear distinction between the religious extremist and the moderate. The one part I disagreed with Dawkins was that he was happy with anthropic arguments for basic physical theory. Dear Richard, arguments for physics, purely based on anthropic arguments, are for losers. Of course if I am going to win this Templeton prize (for the fusion of science and religion) , I will have to refute his arguments. I expect that this may be difficult using logic. A better idea might to compromise Dawkins with a spiked drink and some whores and then sell the pictures to the News of the World Newspaper. This seems more humane than killing him. Although, I would be the hero of Christianity for doing this (unless I got caught), I don't see anyway of using the shaming of Dawkins to win the Templeton prize.

300

I went to see the film 300 this week. I think I got an introduction to ancient Greek history. And there was a bit of fighting too. I can see why some people felt it was a bit homo-erotic.

The North will rise again

I have just finished reading a book called Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie. (Stuart is also the DJ for the radio 6 show called the freakzone and hence is the person who made me buy a Circlus CD). Stuart was born in Wigan, but is living in the South. He tours many places in the North and North West. Part of the book is a bit of a rant about the South, particularly as the South controls the media. I grew up in Cheshire, so I of course agree that there is more to England, than the leafy lanes of the South. I have been listening to a CD of a famous Bob Dylan concert that he played in 1965. Dylan went electric, and you can hear part of the audience slow hand clap him. For many years this was described as a concert at Royal Albert Hall, however it was actually recorded in Manchester. Typical! The book is a celebration of the North of England. The book is very funny and not to be taken too seriously. It would be good to read a more political book on the North, because as Stuart notes there is actually quite a lot of money hidden in the North. Although technically I was born in Southampton, I don't feel that makes me a southerner. I hope we are clear about that.

Why I don't like 24

Ok, here are some reasons that I don't like the 24 series. The Counter Terrorist Unit CTU, does spend a large amount of time torturing people. In the episode I just watched, somebody from Amnesty global came to stop someone being tortured. The cunning people at CTU managed to torture him anyway. My guess is that if you added up the number of people who are tortured but who are innocent, then that would be virtually everyone. Anyway if you do get tortured and you are innocent, then you just get back to work. If you complain about it, then you get fired (told to leave work), as just happened in series 4 of 24. It is kind of weird, that that the US TV and films is trying to make the public, believe that it is acceptable to torture people and also that the government is corrupt. Still it is fun to watch. The program seems to have been made by Fox and Sky, so I wasn't really expecting objectivity.

some random music stuff

I have been listening to a CD called "in my own time" by Karen Dalton. Karen was in the New York folk scene in the early 60s. She seems to have been shy, so didn't push herself. My crap review of her singing is like a folk version of Billie Holiday. Her voice is amazing. I have also been listening to Bob Dylan 1966. This is a record of a famous gig in Manchester. It is amazing, because you can hear the audience slow hand clap the songs with electric guitars. This was the time when Dylan went electric, much to the disgust of his folk fans. Hadn't they heard of the Blues? I have also been listening to a CD of songs produced by Joe Meek. Joe was an infamous producer in the 60s. The songs are great pop songs, but somehow some of them are about suicide, bubble gum and sunshine.

Conclusion to trip

So my journey to China came to end. I will now try and conclude what I have learnt from this experience. As George Moore says:

"A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it"

The Tao has been the hidden textual message of these entries about Beijing, so I will end with a quote from Confucius.

"diet and lovemaking, all primal needs of every human being".

Food in Beijing

I enjoyed the food in China. Some of the places to eat didn't have menus with pictures as they usually do in Japan. This makes ordering a bit difficult. I got very paranoid with English menus. I got more and more convinced that the English menus were different to the Chinese menus. At meal times I got tortured by the thought that the other diners were tucking into normal Chinese foods in the Sichuan style. The hotel offered a western and Chinese buffet. The western part of breakfast was toast and boiled eggs. The Chinese part of breakfast including all kinds of pickles, rice, noodles, dumplings, and some meat. I enjoyed the breakfasts, but I am not sure my body really likes spicy pickles at the start of the day. I was ready to have my taste buds expanded when I was in China. I might have tried dogs meat. At lunch time, on a couple of days, I ended up have some kind of noodles with hot water from stores/cafes. Yes, I went to China and ate pot noodles! On my last night I did eat eel. This is not pushing the envelope of my taste buds too far, but was new food to me.

Final day in Beijing

On my final day in Beijing, I took a tour of the Hutongs in Beijing. The woman in the hotel who sold me the tour was cute. (I can declare my desire safe behind the Chinese firewall) She spoke the best English in the hotel. She asked me about some English book she was reading. This turned out to be a self-help book for women looking for love. The question I was asked "was whether the author was famous." It wasn't totally clear what the best thing to say was. To my shame I have slunk around the self help sections of bookshops, but I didn't recognize the author The tour around the Hutongs was interesting. The tour was in a bicycle buggy. The Hutons are areas of traditional Beijing housing. Many of these areas are now being destroyed and people are moved into high rise flats (that are incredibly ugly) The tour around the Hutongs was interesting. The tour was in a bicycle buggy. The Hutons are areas of traditional Beijing housing. Many of these areas are now being destroyed and people are moved into high rise flats (that are incredibly ugly) I saw another area of Hutongs when I was trying to avoid the unofficial taxis outside the summer palace. There were a lot of pool tables outside. It does rain in Beijing, so the tables must be covered.

TV in china

There was a TV in my hotel room that showed the national Chinese TV channels. Kung fu transcends language barriers so I was happy to see the odd person getting beaten up. There was one kung fu show that was almost like a soap opera. The kung fu master was clearly in love with some young kung fu chick, who had a younger boy friend. Frankly, I was in love with the kung fu chick, she had the most beautiful smile. There were a lot of quiz show programs. They had young beautiful people on it being sexy. However, I didn't see anyone do more than kissing, so it looks like sex is still forbidden in China. One channel was in English. This seemed to mostly have business stories and a little bit of news. There was certainly no communist propaganda, because everyone is too busy trying to get rich. They only had three adverts on the English channel. These adverts were played about 4 times an hour? One advert was for a pillow filled with tea leaves! What, why? I admit that, if I have run out of tea, I might need to dump my tea-pillow in a bucket of hot water and drink that. How do they wash a tea pillow. I have been brain washed in some strange way. The other advert was for Js travel. Frankly, if I ever go to China again, I will not book my trip via Js travel. If I hear about J's travel, I am likely to start sobbing. After a week of watching these adverts I was ready to kill someone.

Summer palace

On Saturday I went to the summer palace in Beijing. This was another palace for the Emperors. It took a taxi ride to get me to the summer palace. This left me in a bad mood, but it was well worth the trip. There was a huge lake in the center that I walked around There a stone boat that the hated Empress Dowager built instead of building real ships. When there was a war it turned out real ships were better than stone ships and hence China lost various wars. It was very relaxing to walk around the lake. The summer palaces had been torched (after being looted) by the English during the Opium wars. This was to teach the Chinese a lesson. It turned out that the Brit. in charge was none other the famous Lord Elgin. I think this is the same dude who acquired the Elgin marbles. So I guess, if I do any thieving, I should remember to send some spoils to the British Museum.

guns and things in Beijing

On Friday all I did was go to the military museum. The museum just contained a lot of missiles, tanks and things. The upper floor had exhibitions of the communists war against the nationalists. I personally got depressed when you think about the amount of money sent on all the weapons. I did like the displays of knifes and swords, because are more fun and elegant than boring old guns. I also liked some of the smaller mortars, because they looked as though they could fit in a backpack. The guide book claimed that there was an area in the museum where you could fire air guns. Unfortunately, I didn't find the place. Somehow the museum was split into two for some reason. Unfortunately, the half I was in did not have toilets, so that cut short my visit. Expedia were also selling a great wall of china tour that also involved being shown how to fire guns by ex-members of the Red Army. Obviously, I wanted to go on such a classy tour. I could then claim that I was trained in the military arts by the Chinese military forces.