Nerd crush
30 September 2011 · Comments (1)
Are you reading his columns on the Guardian? You should.
Nerd crush
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Dictator or democracy: Politics is politics — on a new book that claims “There is no difference between tyrants and democrats; leaders do whatever keeps them in power…” Neil would say, read The Prince.
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Julian Assange: Statement on the Unauthorised, Secret Publishing of the Julian Assange “autobiography” by Canongate. It’s quite strange to read verbatim transcripts of conversations naming people you actually know and have worked with — on the WikiLeaks website. Although it’s all very grubby. Via the Guardian and The First Post.
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I’m beginning to warm to the idea of an ebook reader (eInk, not a tablet). Not quite warm enough to buy one just yet, though. The library serves my purposes very well at the moment.
Indian Summer
28 September 2011 · Comments Off
While the UK tends to boast the sub-continent type of Indian, I — for one — am grateful for the respite from the rainy, windy weather we’ve been experiencing. I even managed to go out today in a miniskirt, no tights or leggings required.
It’s hot! Lookit just how fair my legs are. And that’s a cotton jumper I’ve got on (that’s seen better days).
The mission out-of-doors today was to get food and shoot some stealthy street photography with my Trip. I hope the shots I took from the hip turn out all right, there were some scenes I really wanted to capture — without being caught.
Hopefully this weather will last till the end of the week. The sky is clear, the air is warm.
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I love chicken skin, but even I find some of the dishes listed in the article pretty fucking weird.
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The image quality of video games is so good that a clip from one was mistakenly included in a documentary as evidence of a real-life terrorist attack.
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My aunt and uncle train village volunteers in projects like these.
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Inmates complain over lack of TV sports channels: you’re not at a holiday camp, are you?!
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I make it a point to watch documentaries and visit museums that are all about people’s stories, i.e. social history. Check out this online exhibition of weddings in Eastern Europe.
Nasi goreng
27 September 2011 · Comments Off
This is the Neil-is-out-of-town-and-I’m-not-too-lazy-for-a-takeaway-yet meal. Garlic, onion, rice, fish sauce, ikan bilis, and sesame oil stir-fried together, topped with a fried egg. It isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever made.
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I would accept it quietly if the BBC changed its style guide to use BCE and CE because it considers it more accurate, not because it’s less ‘offensive’ than BC and AD. But because it’s the latter, I shall laugh.
Unintended humour in car sales
26 September 2011 · Comments Off
It says: Free Metalic [sic] Paint with Vava Voom Woucher.
Next they’re going to offer me free rain removal using e-Wap-oration.
(Yes, Mr Lui, I remember your science lessons.)
Interiors → Park Slope apartment
25 September 2011 · Comments Off
Delightfully quirky
This came to my attention on a roundup from Apartment Therapy. I’d love to be a collector; finding and keeping things that are a bit different, a bit weird, but speak volumes to me. It seems to be in my DNA to constantly cull and throw things out — and our living situation doesn’t lend itself to any sort of hoarding habit anyway.
While I don’t exactly adore everything they’ve done with the place (especially the lavender walls and a pink-tiled bathroom), it feels like a home that hasn’t been dressed up and styled for a photo shoot. I’ve been poring over interior design images for months in my newly-acquired home-decorating obsession, and what strikes me about most of them is their utter impracticality. Sure, they’re nice photos, but does anyone actually live like that?
That’s why I like this apartment. It really reflects the residents’ personalities and taste, as well as how they live. Neil and I inspected a local charity shop recently and I’m hoping a certain sideboard will still be available when we finally have the space for it.
(Side note: when we first started renovating Neil’s gran’s house, we discovered an old photo portrait like the one in this house tour, but much bigger. It is not something I would ever want in a room with me, let alone near my bed. It reminds me too much of The Others — I call it the Scary Picture. No one has any idea who the subjects of the portrait might be.)
Canongate and Assange
23 September 2011 · Comments Off
There is a delicious irony in Julian Assange not wanting his ghostwritten memoir published.
Assange’s version of events. Canongate’s version (PDF, brief). A good overview in the Guardian.
I was there when the deal was announced, and I knew then that it was going to be a whole heap of trouble, I think everyone did. Assange hasn’t disappointed in that department. He is surely being completely disingenuous by claiming that Canongate is profiteering. They are a for-profit company. They paid him an advance, which he has not paid back. The WikiLeaks revelations are so 2010. What the hell else were they going to do?
It will take time to see if Canongate does earn back the advance with book sales. Will WikiLeaks and Assange groupies buy it? If it’s only a draft and contains out-of-date ravings by an angry computer geek who isn’t a celebrity, will the general public buy it?
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You could cry over the new Facebook, or you could behave like a rational person and not really care — it’s just a website. You don’t have to visit if you don’t like it any more.