Foragers' Harvest
We've been foraging for fruit in the trees that grow adjacent to the flat in Lewisham:
Elderberries for jam…
Das Potato
An image shot for a student magazine project, back in the early 90s. That's me on the left, oppressing the heroic potato revolutionary, and against the bleak East European vistas of… Hyde Park.
Student journalism was a lot of fun.
Work from home? The office? The coffee shop?
Although working from home is convenient, sometimes it pays to go to the office.
That's what Sheryl Crow discovered when she jettisoned her Nashville home studio for a Los Angeles one to record her latest album, "100 Miles From Memphis." The L.A. location led a few famous friends to stop by, including Justin Timberlake.
"I dragged him into the studio and said, 'I want you to hear something,'" she recalled. She played him her cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Sign Your Name," redone with a Memphis sound.
"He looked at me and said, 'You know I'm from Memphis ... I've got the backgrounds on this.' And he came in and he sang on this," she said. "That sort of thing doesn't happen when you're working from home."
I'm a huge fan of working from home, but only as part of a mix of locations. And the quote above illustrates exactly why an "office" in the widest sense can be hugely useful. I work from two different offices, home and coffee shops. Each give me a different working experience, and each are suited to different tasks.
Reporting the Obvious: Women in Skimpy Summer Outfits Cause Male Drivers to Crash
According to a new survey from UK insurance company Sheilas' Wheels, male drivers are more likely to cause crashes than women in the summer because they are distracted by women in skimpy clothing, the Daily Express reports.
So what -- our bikinis and Daisy Dukes could be considered reckless endangerment?
The poll found that 29 percent of men admit to rubber-necking at scantily clad females while driving in the summer, according to the paper.
C'mon, guys. It's not even August yet. Do you have to start the silly season so early?
(Sheila's Wheels? Daily Express? I despair over the state of my profession...)
Update: And suddenly, I realise how damn offensive the original headline from the post I reblogged is. No, women's clothing doesn't make men crash - men staring at women like lecherous morons causes crashes. It's scary how easily blame slips the wrong direction in issues like this.
Caprica Season 1.5 Preview
via www.youtube.com
I'm really looking forward to this. Dr T and I really enjoyed Battlestar Galactica, but Caprica is more interesting. It's less showily interesting, but the ideas of identity, existence and technology being explored are riveting. Next year is just too long to wait...
Doctor Who Theme (with didgeridoo)
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch
Somehow melancholy - and somewhat Sherlock Holmsian…
Tractor Love Starts Young…
Just been clearing through my e-mail in-box, aiming for in-box zero sometime before the end of the summer, and I came across this.
It's a photo from an old university mate, of the bedroom of his eldest son, my godson, and a poster I managed to bag for him. You see, this wee chap has a healthy obsession with tractors, as do the staff and readers of Farmers Weekly.
They kindly provided the poster, where it takes pride of place in the nursery room…
When Lunch Goes Bad
Anyone who knows anything about Twitter knows that it's all about what people had for their lunch. I eschew such conventional wisdom. I blog about my lunch instead, as I am defiantly old skool in social media. And this was my lunch yesterday:
Can you spot my schoolboy error?
Yes, in the absence of anyone to share lunch with in the fine QH canteen, I opted for lunch al desko, and the poor plastic fork just wasn't up to the job of holding the pork fillet in place. Note to self: just eat in the canteen anyway, and save the environment the cost of the stupid plastic containers and cutlery.
A New Traffic Light Feature?
Interesting new road safety feature at the crossing near Holborn station:
It counts down the number fo seconds until the traffic starts flowing again.
I must admit, my first reaction to these, as I headed in search of a sandwich, was disbelief - do we actually need these countdowns? And then, I remembered the number of rather horrible accidents I've seen from the EG office, including watching the police setting up a tent over, presumably, a mangled body, while I was in a meeting in the publisher's office.
Maybe we do need them.
This Is Where I Live
CAMPAIGNERS protesting over cuts to their jobs and services were branded “f**king idiots” and told to “get real” by a mayor last night.
Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock’s foul-mouthed outburst came after he was heckled by protestors at a Mayor and Cabinet meeting in Lewisham Town Hall.
*sniff* I'm so proud of my neighbourhood...
Dancing to the Productivity Tune
Research from University of Windsor in Canada showed the effect of music on the work performance of software developers. According to the study, without background music the designers’ quality of work was lowest and it took them more time to complete tasks. With background music, participants reported positive mood change and enhanced perception while working. Plus, the researchers noted that this positive change in mood correlated with increased curiosity — an excellent thing to have when doing creative work.
Fire up your iTunes or Spotify - and get busy. :)
Feeding Your Doctor Who Addiction
For the first time in 13 weeks, no Doctor Who, and there won’t be new episodes on television until Christmas. But if you’re not sure whether you’re going to cope, ask yourself if you need to see the Doctor, because you can listen to him courtesy of Big Finish.
Handy guide to enjoyable Doctor Who audio plays to keep you entertained until Christmas…
Quitting apps in iOS 4
There's actually a much simpler approach for quitting apps, and that's to use your recent app list. Double-click the home button to display the recently accessed applications. Press and hold any of the icons shown, then navigate to the application you want to quit and tap the red circled minus button.
via www.tuaw.com
Useful to know - this had been bothering me since I struggled to get the TomTom app to go away once I arrived at my destination…
The Secret Powers of Time
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch
This is a really fascinating look into the psychology of time and the rough grouping people fall into.
There's a whole load of cultural and communication issues bound up in this stuff...
Superhero Sexy-Time
Given that superhero comics tend to be about beautiful people in skin-tight outfits engaging in rigorous physical activity, it's only natural that there's often a strong sexual undercurrent to their adventures, and every now and then, it bubbles up to the surface.
I'm guessing that the majority of people who read this blog aren't comics readers. The link above will confirm your every prejudice.
Enjoy!
Scenes from Southwold
Had a single day off yesterday, and spent it in Suffolk, for various reasons. Here are a few captures from an afternoon by the sea:
