The most recent 50 posts to the Brighton Bloggers aggregated RSS feed
[Nobody's Friend] Poetry Corner
Were I (who to my cost already am
One of those strange, prodigious creatures, man)
A spirit free to choose, for my own share,
What case of flesh and blood I pleased to wear,
I'd be a dog, a monkey, or a bear,
Or anything but that vain animal
Who is so proud of being rational.
The senses are too gross, and he'll contrive
A sixth, to contradict the other five,
And before certain instinct, will prefer
Reason, which fifty times for one does err;
Reason, an ignis fatuus in the mind,
Which, leaving light of nature, sense, behind,
Pathless and dangerous wandering ways it takes
Through error's fenny bogs and thorny brakes;
Whilst the misguided follower climbs with pain
Mountains of whimseys, heaped in his own brain;
Stumbling from thought to thought, falls headlong down
Into doubt's boundless sea, where, like to drown,
Books bear him up a while, and make him try
To swim with bladders of philosophy;
In hopes still to o'ertake th' escaping light,-
The vapor dances in his dazzling sight
Till, spent, it leaves him to eternal night.
Then old age and experience, hand in hand,
Lead him to death, and make him understand,
After a search so painful and so long,
That all his life he has been in the wrong.
Huddled in dirt the reasoning engine lies,
Who was so proud, so witty, and so wise.
Pride drew him in, as cheats their bubbles catch,
And made him venture to be made a wretch.
His wisdom did his happiness destroy,
Aiming to know that world he should enjoy.
And wit was his vain, frivolous pretence
Of pleasing others at his own expense,
For wits are treated just like common whores:
First they're enjoyed, and then kicked out of doors.
The pleasure past, a threatening doubt remains
That frights th' enjoyer with succeeding pains.
Women and men of wit are dangerous tools,
And ever fatal to admiring fools:
Pleasure allures, and when the fops escape,
'Tis not that they're belov'd, but fortunate,
And therefore what they fear at heart, they hate.
But now, methinks, some formal band and beard
Takes me to task. Come on, sir; I'm prepared.
'Then, by your favour, anything that's writ
Against this gibing, jingling knack called wit
Likes me abundantly; but you take care
Upon this point, not to be too severe.
Perhaps my muse were fitter for this part,
For I profess I can be very smart
On wit, which I abhor with all my heart.
I long to lash it in some sharp essay,
But your grand indiscretion bids me stay
And turns my tide of ink another way.
"What rage ferments in your degenerate mind
To make you rail at reason and mankind?
Blest, glorious man! to whom alone kind heaven
An everlasting soul has freely given,
Whom his great Maker took such care to make
That from himself he did the image take
And this fair frame in shining reason dressed
To dignify his nature above beast;
Reason, by whose aspiring influence
We take a flight beyond material sense,
Dive into mysteries, then soaring pierce
The flaming limits of the universe,
Search heaven and hell, find out what's acted there,
And give the world true grounds of hope and fear."
Hold, mighty man, I cry, all this we know
From the pathetic pen of Ingelo,
From Patrick's Pilgrim, Sibbes's soliloquies,
And 'tis this very reason I despise:
This supernatural gift, that makes a mite
Think he's the image of the infinite,
Comparing his short life, void of all rest,
To the eternal and the ever blest;
This busy, puzzling stirrer-up of doubt
That frames deep mysteries, then finds them out,
Filling with frantic crowds of thinking fools
Those reverend bedlams, colleges and schools;
Borne on whose wings, each heavy sot can pierce
The limits of the boundless universe;
So charming ointments make an old witch fly
And bear a crippled carcass through the sky.
'Tis this exalted power, whose business lies
In nonsense and impossibilities,
This made a whimsical Philosopher
Before the spacious world, his tub prefer,
And we have modern cloistered coxcombs who
Retire to think, 'cause they have nought to do.
But thoughts are given for action's government;
Where action ceases, thought's impertinent.
Our sphere of action is life's happiness,
And he who thinks beyond, thinks like an ass.
Thus, whilst against false reasoning I inveigh,
I own right reason, which I would obey:
That reason which distinguishes by sense
And gives us rules of good and ill from thence,
That bounds desires with a reforming will
To keep them more in vigour, not to kill.
Your reason hinders, mine helps to enjoy,
Renewing appetites yours would destroy.
My reason is my friend, yours is a cheat;
Hunger calls out, my reason bids me eat;
Perversely, yours your appetite does mock:
This asks for food, that answers, "What's o'clock?"
This plain distinction, sir, your doubt secures:
'Tis not true reason I despise, but yours.
Thus I think reason righted, but for man,
I'll ne'er recant; defend him if you can.
For all his pride and his-philosophy,
'Tis evident beasts are, in their degree,
As wise at least, and better far than he.
Those creatures are the wisest who attain,
By surest means, the ends at which they aim.
If therefore Jowler finds and kills his hares
Better than Meres supplies committee chairs,
Though one's a statesman, th' other but a hound,
Jowler, in justice, would be wiser found.
You see how far man's wisdom here extends;
Look next if human nature makes amends:
Whose principles most generous are, and just,
And to whose morals you would sooner trust.
Be judge yourself, I'll bring it to the test:
Which is the basest creature, man or beast?
Birds feed on birds, beasts on each other prey,
But savage man alone does man betray.
Pressed by necessity, they kill for food;
Man undoes man to do himself no good.
With teeth and claws by nature armed, they hunt
Nature's allowance, to supply their want
But man, with smiles, embraces, friendship, praise,
Inhumanly his fellow's life betrays;
With voluntary pains works his distress,
Not through necessity, but wantonness.
For hunger or for love they fight and tear,
Whilst wretched man is still in arms for fear.
For fear he arms, and is of arms afraid,
By fear to fear successively betrayed;
Base fear, the source whence his best passions came:
His boasted honour, and his dear-bought fame;
That lust of power, to which he's such a slave,
And for the which alone he dares be brave;
To which his various projects are designed;
Which makes him generous, affable, and kind;
For which he takes such pains to be thought wise,
And screws his actions in a forced disguise,
Leading a tedious life in misery
Under laborious, mean hypocrisy.
Look to the bottom of his vast design,
Wherein man's wisdom, power, and glory join:
The good he acts, the ill he does endure,
'Tis all from fear, to make himself secure.
Merely for safety, after fame we thirst,
For all men would be cowards if they durst.
And honesty's against all common sense:
Men must be knaves, 'tis in their own defense.
Mankind's dishonest; if you think it fair
Amongst known cheats to play upon the square,
You'll be undone.
Nor can weak truth your reputation save:
The knaves will all agree to call you knave.
Wronged shall he live, insulted o'er, oppressed,
Who dares be less a villain than the rest.
Thus, sir, you see what human nature craves:
Most men are cowards, all men should be knaves.
The difference lies, as far as I can see,
Not in the thing itself, but the degree,
And all the subject matter of debate
Is only: Who's a knave of the first rate?
All this with indignation have I hurled
At the pretending part of the proud world,
Who, swollen with selfish vanity, devise
False freedoms, holy cheats, and formal lies
Over their fellow slaves to tyrannize.
But if in Court so just a man there be
(In Court a just man, yet unknown to me)
Who does his needful flattery direct,
Not to oppress and ruin, but protect
(Since flattery, which way soever laid,
Is still a tax on that unhappy trade);
If so upright a statesman you can find,
Whose passions bend to his unbiased mind,
Who does his arts and policies apply
To raise his country, not his family,
Nor, while his pride owned avarice withstands,
Receives close bribes through friends' corrupted hands
Is there a churchman who on God relies;
Whose life, his faith and doctrine justifies?
Not one blown up with vain prelatic pride,
Who, for reproof of sins, does man deride;
Whose envious heart makes preaching a pretence,
With his obstreperous, saucy eloquence,
To chide at kings, and rail at men of sense;
None of that sensual tribe whose talents lie
In avarice, pride, sloth, and gluttony;
Who hunt good livings, but abhor good lives;
Whose lust exalted to that height arrives
They act adultery with their own wives,
And ere a score of years completed be,
Can from the lofty pulpit proudly see
Half a large parish their own progeny;
Nor doting bishop who would be adored
For domineering at the council board,
A greater fop in business at fourscore,
Fonder of serious toys, affected more,
Than the gay, glittering fool at twenty proves
With all his noise, his tawdry clothes, and loves;
But a meek, humble man of honest sense,
Who, preaching peace, does practice continence;
Whose pious life's a proof he does believe
Mysterious truths, which no man can conceive.
If upon earth there dwell such God-like men,
I'll here recant my paradox to them,
Adore those shrines of virtue, homage pay,
And, with the rabble world, their laws obey.
If such there are, yet grant me this at least:
Man differs more from man, than man from beast.
Guess who and what date. I don't care anymore. Clue: naval hero.
Totally stolen from here
[Brighton Bits] Finished at last . . .
[Tom Roper's Weblog] Library day in the life 5: Thursday
(Sorry if you came here earlier this evening to read this post. Internet gremlins stole my post)
The main event of the day, which somewhat overshadows everything else, is that I've been made redundant. I hope this is the only time someone has to pass on this news during library day in the life.
Contrast my departure, with the statutory minimum redundancy payment for two years service, to that of the CEO of the Learning and Skills Council, who left with a bonus of £36,000 and a pay-off of £120,000, according to the TES.
[It's Nice That] Chris Woebken: Nanofutures
What happens if nanotechnology starts to replace existing materials? How do we interact with this world? Using seeds as a simulation for smart dust, this video visualizes new interactions such as breaking, sharing, throwing away and mining data. These new interactions not only generate new behaviors but might also redefine our relationship with products.
[Up] A look at Nassim's response to 'Bobathon'
[Simon Willison's Weblog] Hookbox
[Simon Willison's Weblog] canto.js: An Improved HTML5 Canvas API
[It's Nice That] Neville Brody: The Anti-Design Festival
There’s little doubt that the vast majority of you have heard of design legend Neville Brody, but you may not have heard of The Anti-Design Festival, Neville’s latest cultural comment. In short and to quote their site, “As a response to 25 years of cultural deep freeze, the Anti Design Festival will attempt to unlock creative fires and ideas, exploring spaces hitherto deemed out-of-bounds by a purely commercial criteria.” A truly fascinating idea, and one that’s objective is to engage thought and discussion, so, to kick things off, we spoke to Neville himself about the ideas behind the festival, and how you can get involved yourself… (Read more)
[The Brunswick Blog] How will the council meet the requirement to publish spending over £500?
At the last full council meeting, I asked how the council will implement the Coalition Government's new requirement to publish all items of spending over £500. The response is below. The council really does just need to get on with this requirement, it seems from their response they can do this immediately, so come on council get on with it.Written Question
Councillor Elgood
“What progress is being made to implement the requirement by the coalition Government to publish all items of spending over £500 and to publish all tender documents in full?"
“The Administration has two options available to it with regards to publishing allcouncil spend over £500. The first would be to generate a report from our
creditor system which would consist of raw spend data extracted from invoices
paid. We are in a position to do this now subject to ensuring that the
appropriate data protection issues are addressed (for example – the publication
of individual carer details that currently appear on the system). However, raw
data is sometimes difficult to interpret into meaningful information and the
Administration want to ensure that the public have information that is easy to
understand and means something to them. Therefore we are currently in
discussions with an existing supplier who can provide an innovative web-based
solution which has been designed to improve the accessibility and relevance of
data. This solution will present the information in a user friendly way and data
will also be categorised, therefore providing the public with information that will
be useful to them such as spend per full time employee, spend with small and
medium sized enterprises, spend relative to the number of households, working
population, persons of pensionable age and number of children that make up
the resident population. There is also the facility to make comparison between
authorities of differing sizes. This solution would be accessed via the Council’s
website and will be free to the public. It is being offered to the Council at no
cost. I am discussing the options with officers and hope to start publication
shortly.
The publishing of tenders and contracts over £500 is much more complex
however. We have a number of contract registers across the council and
therefore it is a large resource intensive task to bring these together and identify
the full list of documentation over this low level of spend. The need to have a
comprehensive central repository of tender and contracts documentation has
already been identified and the sourcing of this forms part of the Procurement
work stream under the VFM project.”
[It's Nice That] Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky
There are people you identify as ‘creatives’ because a) it’s impossible to label them as being just one thing or b) because, in all honesty, their work is a sucker-punch of ridiculously wonderful stuff you less than understand and don’t know how to describe. Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, then, is a ‘creative’ whose work mixes installation, conceptual art and photography so seamlessly that you’ve no idea when one thing ends and the next begins.
[Tom Roper's Weblog] On note taking
The techniques of study are endlessly fascinating, though a good way to divert one's attention away from actually doing any work towards the way in which one might do some work if only one had the right pen/notebook/computer/time management system.
Two things caught my eye recently:
Keith Thomas in the London Review of Books, discussing a historian's note-taking techniques
Tara Brabazon, in Times Higher Education, with very practical advice on editing essays and not-taking
[Simon Willison's Weblog] nodejitsu's node-http-proxy
[Mulled Whines]
Her bedroom carpet's gone down today and Amelie's moving in...
I've got three days off work, two hundred boxes to fill, and one birthday cake to eat. By this time on Monday we'll still be living in chaos, but hopefully with a different view.
[Tom Roper's Weblog] Library Day in the Life 5
Now recalled by popular demand for a fifth session, Library Day in the Life is this week. The aim of the project is to give those outside the profession some idea of how we spend our days by blogging or tweeting. Predictably, the Twitter feed is more used than blogs, at least so far. Let me squeeze the first three days of the week all into one post.
.
I'm Head of Learning Resources at a London further education college. It's an interesting week. A departmental restructuring shudders to a halt on Thursday with interviews for 'my' job; I and a colleague are competing. It's unclear what happens to the loser. And it's the last week we're known as Learning Resources. Next week we absorb print services and reprographics and become known, as we should be, as Libraries and Learning Resources; we already manage audio-visual services for the college.
Most of the staff are term-time only, but there's quite a lot of us still around. Apart from regular summer jobs such as stock-moves and end of financial year stuff, we stay open to serve an English language summer school, and have recruited two dedicated, in every sense of the word, temporary staff, Ros and Michelle. And this summer we change library management systems, going from Olib to Heritage, and move our VLE from Moodle to Blackboard. Apart from that, not much is happening.
Monday: the day should start, as always in the vacation, with morning prayers, a quick meeting where everyone who's in gets together and we go round the table, bringing each other up to date with whatever we're up to. We have to delay the meeting because of transport difficulties; this is after all London in 2010, so one of the world's biggest capital cities can't be expected to get its workforce to work without fuss or delay. I spend a lot of the day throwing away bits of paper, a regular summer job, and some of it buying more e-resources for the 800 HE business students who descend on us in September in an arrangement with the University of Cumbria (not our nearest neighbours, I know, but it make a sort of sense). I also have a tricky HR issue to deal with which I can't describe, only to say that I don't think it has been resolved.
Tuesday: morning prayers again, and today we have Julia from the Merton campus with us. More paper-shuffling and a last line management meeting with my manager, who's leaving. I've been here just over two years and he's the fifth manager I've had. Do I break them?
Wednesday is enlivened by a a fire alarm and evacuation. Our assembly point, appropriately enough, is the cemetery at the side of the college. Then I have a meeting with the new Head of IT to discuss how our computer access control system will or won't work with our new catalogue. Another issue surfaces; will Shibboleth work for all our sites, with the fragmented staff and student directories? Then I have a line management meeting with one of my direct reports, Ewa, the E-Resources Co-ordinator. We try to sort out her access to the JISC Collections website and the day ends with me trying, and failing, to log into our new e-procurement system.
[Brighton Bloggers] Meetup
Brighton Bloggers and the Argus Bloggers have joined forces to organise a bloggers socialThe venue is still TBD (feel free to add your suggestions here) but it'll be on Wednesday 11th August, from around 8pm, and it'll be in a pub.
The details will be updated on the upcoming page as and when we work it out
Hope to see you there!
[Brighton Bits] The Old Music Library
[Brighton Bits] David Miliband in Brighton
The Public Meeting at the Brighthelm Centre this evening could have been described as a "sell-out" if they had been charging for entrance. Should be interesting; and encouraging that people are still willing to turn out in numbers for political meetings. Perhaps it is indicative of a new spirit abroad amongst the grass roots of the Labour Party.
[Brighton Bits] Urban plunder at Marlborough House?
[bethgranter.com] Search term wordle
I love looking at site analytics, and one of the most interesting and useful things to look at are search terms people use to find your site. So you can really look at what topics people are interested in. I had a look at how people come to my site via Google, grabbed the top 20 phrases and put them into Wordle. I didn’t weight the most commonly used ones against the 20th most commonly used one, but this still gives a good representation of the key themes people search for, that I write about.
[Beesnthings Blog] Excell Communications - AVOID at all costs!
Please beware of cold calls from a company called Excell Communications (Telford).I have finally got out of a two year contract with Excell Communications (this should get this page higher up the search engine list) and it's been without doubt the worst mobile contract I've EVER had. I've been paying £30-50 a month for a mobile phone I barely use.
Excell Communications (sometimes spelled Excel Communications in search engines) conned me into a contract by saying they would release me from my existing contract, which was a complete lie, and failed to mention the VAT I would be paying when they were selling me the phone.
Okay, that was my Idiot Tax for not listening properly and not checking them out as a company first. A quick search on Google will show how many complaints there are about Excell Communications' underhand dealings, aggressive sales techniques and downright lies.
Now I'm making a formal complaint about Excell Communications to the Information Commissioner’s Office because they are harassing me with phonecalls after I have politely asked them to stop AND after signing up to the Telephone Preference Service whose guidelines they are clearly in breach of.
If you have been affected by poor conduct by Excell Communications I urge you to complain to as many people and in as many places as possible and hopefully this shameless company will be put out of business.
I have paid my Idiot Tax for the last time.
[Mock Duck] Commuter border
I cleaned up my commuter pics and put them on a plain background last night.
What do you think? Sellable? A bit niche though, isn't it? I do like it, but even I am not sure I'd actually buy the stuff. I did have a vision of it really big (almost lifesize), upholstering a sofa so it looked like the people were sitting on it.
Oh, also, I'm not that keen on the way one woman is smaller than all the rest.
[InformationMatters] What every business needs to know about Web 2.0 and social media
I’ve been working on developing a training programme for companies that want to know more about the relevance of Web 2.0 and social media to their businesses. Their’s a lot of confusion out there about whether these new services really offer anything that can help with marketing, communication and collaboration or if it is just hype. A recent article in Fast Company backs this up:
“I have a number of friends who own or operate small to medium-sized businesses. The number one question I get from them is how to make online marketing work for their businesses. There seems to be quite a bit of pent up need for online marketing help by SMBs….. The problem is there is also a lot of noise. Part of the problem is there is no barrier to entry in the online marketing consulting industry. All one has to do is put up a Web site. So what’s an SMB to do?”
Hopefully, my series of 5 half day sessions at the University of Brighton will go some way to cutting through this confusion. The programme for the course is:
Session 1 – Tuesday 16 November
Why Web 2.0 / Social Media is relevant to your business
What is Web 2.0 and social media?
How are other businesses using them and with what success?
What are some of the issues you should be thinking about in this space?
Session 2 – Tuesday 23 November
Marketing your business on the web
How can you improve your Google search rankings?
How can you use Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube to market your company?
How do you advertise on Google?
Session 3 – Tuesday 30 November
Web tools for collaborative working
How are other companies moving beyond email to communicate and share information?
What is cloud computing and I should I be using it?
What is a wiki and do I need one?
Session 4 – Tuesday 7 December
Dealing with web designers and search engine consultants
What can I do myself and when do I need an expert?
How much will these experts cost?
What questions should I be asking them?
Session 5 – Tuesday 14 December
Monitoring the effectiveness of your web strategy
I’ve got a website but who is visiting it?
What are people saying about my company on the web?
How can I improve my web strategy?
If you want to know more or make a booking, click HERE or email me on mrd@brighton.ac.uk
Filed under: CPD, Social Media, Web 2.0 Tagged: CPD, social media, training, Web 2.0
[It's Nice That] Bernhard Hopfengärtner: Hello World (a visual code for Google Earth)
Hello, world! is a real installation for the virtual globe of the software Google
Earth. A Semacode measuring 160160 metres was mown into a wheat field near
the town of Ilmenau in the Land Thuringia. The code consists of 1818 bright and
dark squares producing decoded the phrase “Hello, world!”. The ambition was to
have an areal view of the code integrated in Google Earths’ regular database. The
project was realised in May 2006 and photographs were taken of it during a picture
flight in the following month.
[It's Nice That] DIS Summer Trends
According to DIS magazine, this year’s summer trends include multi-level denim shorts, flash drive belly chains and velcro. I’m pretty sure that, having seen this, you’ll never look at fashion the same way again.
www.dismagazine.com/summertrends
[Jabbering Giraffe] jslint4java 1.3.3
I’ve updated jslint4java again. This time, I’ve added:
- Support for the predef option, so you can specify a list of predefined global variables. I first said I’d do this over a year ago.
- Updated to JSLint 2009-11-24, which brings a new devel option. Now you can decide if
alert(),console.log(), etc are available.
Unfortunately, just after I’d committed the release, I noticed that I’ve managed to (somehow) pick up a junit dependency. I’ll set about removing that for the next release (issue 35).
[Jabbering Giraffe] jslint4java 1.4
I’ve just released a new version of jslint4java, 1.4. Most useful is probably support for JUnit output, which should make jslint easy to integrate with a continuous build system like hudson or pulse. Here’s the full set of changes:
- issue 35: Removed embedded JUnit.
- issue 30: Add a "report" formatter to the ant task.
- Also available on the command line with --report
- issue 37: add a --encoding flag for specifying the encoding files on the command line.
- issue 36: add a JUnit XML formatter.
- issue 26: add support for .data() call in JSLINT.
- This is only available in the Java API right now.
- issue 39: add failureproperty to the ant task.
- Use JCommander for flag processing.
- (INCOMPATIBILITY) This means that command line option parsing has changed slightly. You now have to say --indent 2 instead of --indent=2.
- (INCOMPATIBILITY) The minimum version of Java is now 6.
- Update to JSLint 2010-07-14.
- Adds options: es5, windows.
- Removes options: sidebar.
I’m really grateful to Cédric Beust for JCommander. It’s a really nice little library.
[Mulled Whines]
They do say that you can't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Well, the good news is that I'm now fully qualified to dish out justice in the high courts of Kenya, because I've just bought a pair of MBT trainers...
They're posture-improving, buttock-toning anti-shoes from Masai Barefoot Technology, and they retail for about two hundred quid. Although I bought mine for £19.99 from a charity shop. And what's more, the Barefoots have barely been worn. So the previous owner obviously thought they were rubbish.
I didn't let that put me off though. After all, the chances of a well-heeled chap simply choosing to give away his £200 shoes within a week of buying them, seems slim. I prefer to think that they were donated to charity by his widow after he fell under a bus the first time he tried to walk in them.
Either way, the discovery of a pristine pair of MBTs in my size for under twenty quid was too good an opportunity to miss, so I put my best foot forward and snapped them up immediately. And the best thing is that it was all for charity. It's like I'm doing a sponsored walk every time I wear them.
[Brighton Bloggers] New blogs for July
Just creeping in with a batch of new blogs before July creeps out:- The Usual Shop
- Hove Fabulous Fashionista
- i-Clic
- Elizabeth Danon | Interior Designer & Artist
- The Wilky Way
- Vicky {says hello}
- Brighton Your Day - Brighton Blog
- thebrightoner
- Jane on the move
- Madgex Labs blog
Why don't you head on over and check them out?
[It's Nice That] Dunne & Raby: The Statistical Clock
The description of this project on Dunne & Raby’s website reads: “The Statistical Clock checks the BBC website for technologically mediated fatalities: car, train, plane, etc, and pulls them into a database. Each technology has its own channel. The clock checks it every minute or so, and each time it finds a new one it speaks it out loud… 1, 2, 3, etc.” The Statiscal Clock is part of the series “Do you want to replace the existing normal?”
[It's Nice That] Margaret Durow
Margaret Durow is twenty years old, which perhaps is important and perhaps isn’t. Either way, her portfolio is a ridiculously accomplished selection of photographs both dreamy and personal. Wanting to discover a little more, we asked Margaret a few questions… (Read more)
www.margaretdurow.com
Margaret’s flickr page
[It's Nice That] Thomas Thwaites: The Toaster Project
The Toaster Project chronicles Thomas Thwaites’ attempt to make an electric
toaster from scratch – literally from the ground up. Starting with digging up the raw
materials from abandoned mines around the UK, then attempting to process them
himself at home, and finally forming them into a product that can be bought for just
£3.94. Thomas’ toaster cost £1187.54 and took him nine months to make. Photography by Nick Ballon.
[It's Nice That] Miles Donovan
For one reason of another, the superb portfolio of Miles Donovan has never appeared on the blog (embarassed look). But, never fear I’ve made amends this morning, and what better timing than to tell you about a bit of an update to his personal site? Packed with tons of well selected and composed layers, Miles’ experience makes him nothing short of an editorial master.
[Brighton Bits] Tunnel Cottages
Unfortunately these improvements also serve to emphasize the sorry state of the Reading Room below. A few years ago this was advertised as being "under offer", possibly for conversion to a cafe.
[It's Nice That] Dave Tree: Bombay Bicycle Club
Now a few of you may be familiar with Dave Tree and Ben Axtell’s fantastic Watch Listen Tell that we covered back in September, and this project, conceived in the same vein and directed by Dave Tree is a blinder. For the launch of Bombay Bicycle Club’s new album, Flaws, there has been a video shot (with the audio recorded live) live for every track on the record. The results are stunning and the quality remarkable. Here’s the title track to get you started, and you can buy a special edition CD/DVD combo with all the videos on now.
www.youtube.com/bombaybicycleclubtv
www.youtube.com/watchlistentell
[It's Nice That] Nika Kupyrova
Do you remember those beautifully made, scientific illustrations you found in textbooks that showed intimate close-ups of the hair on your scalp or arm? Perhaps not, but either way this installation by artist Nika Kupyrova reminded me of them, and it’s organic, free-form dismantled plastic flowers and computer cables are nothing less than enchanting. Whether you knew of her work before or not, now’s your chance to go and explore the rest.
[Mulled Whines]
I must admit, I rarely publish photos of my parents here. And if you knew what they looked like, you'd understand why. But just occasionally I come across a pictorial likeness so uncanny that it simply has to be shared. So for the benefit of anyone who's ever stared at my face and tried to form a mental image of what might have created me, here are my Mum and Dad...
You can see the family resemblance. That's my Mum on the left, obviously. My Dad's the darker character on the right. Which, if you've ever heard his views on the last Labour government, will come as no surprise whatsoever.
Anyhoo, those pictures were drawn yesterday by Amelie. Possibly after sniffing the calamine lotion. She was sitting on my knee when she suddenly announced that she wanted to "draw a picture of Da". I should explain that she always calls my parents 'Ma & Da', presumably because she doesn't think the 'Grand' bit is appropriate.
I handed her a piece of paper, and she immediately drew the portrait on the right. At which point she said "Draw picture of Ma!", and produced the one on the left. At the time I thought they were just random scribblings, but half an hour later, by which time I'd scanned them for posterity, Amelie came up to the computer where I was cropping the drawing on the right. She immediately pointed at it and cried "Da!!". Clearly those features are unmistakable.
[Writing Neuroses ... mine are rare, yours may be legion]
A quickieMy copy of Fractured West arrived today – it is gorgeous, truly so! This fact pleases me immensely as I have an ultra-short story in it, called Billie on Sunday. Kudos to the team that put this first edition together, long may their work continue.
Mini reviews
Broken by Karen Fossum, published by Vintage – what an excellent novel this was. I’ve had issues in the past with translation of Scandinavian works, but no complaints about this one – a powerful but subtle story, balancing the disintegration of the life of an ordinary man with the surreal relationship between that man as a fictional character and the writer of the novel ‘Broken’. Sounds a bit fey, doesn’t it? Trust me, it’s not, it’s a sinewy novel, strong in the details of power relationships and uncompromising about the nature of exploitation. Recommended to anybody who likes well-written conflict, psychological insight and spare but intelligent prose.
A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre published by Little, Brown – a little Brookmyre goes a long way, if you ask me, but the long way that it goes is extremely good. Reading one of his novels is like drinking shots with a lounge lizard; you know bad things are likely to happen to you but you are enjoying yourself too much to stop. A Snowball in Hell is like Tequila Slammers – raw and incandescent at the same time. Some of the soliloquies are utterly sublime: funny, self-justifying, brutal and stylish. Recommended for those who have strong stomachs (the details of the murders are gruesome) and an interest in genre fiction, especially of the ‘caper’ variety.
[Kate's Copywriting Blog] Updating your WordPress blog
The WordPress team releases regular updates and it’s wise to upgrade your blog every time a new version is launched.
Why? Because if you don’t you leave your blog at the mercy of hackers, infections and other malicious mischief. I know two people who’ve been infected via weaknesses in old versions of WordPress.
As well as security fixes, updated versions include fresh functionality. And it’s easy – as well as free – to upgrade your blog in one click via your WordPress Dashboard.
If you haven’t done it before, check the instructions on the WordPress website first.
[It's Nice That] TheGreenEyl
I first came across the work of TheGreenEyl at the 2009 Designs of the Year exhibition, where their brilliantly intuitive and inclusive Appeel piece was displayed. Since then I’ve been intruiged and have kept tabs of their brand of interactive, audience-centric design practice. Their picks for their five posts this week are fantastic, and worth tuning in at noon every day to check out. For now, have a closer look at their work, and see what they have to say for themselves…
[It's Nice That] Things – Bumper Edition
I’ve been away for the last two weeks, baking, and have returned to what could easily be described as a mountain of printed material. To celebrate, this week’s Things is a little larger than usual, filled with all sorts of stuff I’m convinced you’d do anything to get your hands on. (Read more)
[Mulled Whines]
Day 4 in the plague house, and that face isn't getting any easier to love...
Even her clothes are coming out in spots. The choice of that top was what you might call a rash decision. We thought it might distract the eye from her skin. In reality she just looks like she's naked.
Anyhoo, the sores, like her parents, are weeping most of the time, but Amelie's still remarkably cheerful. Unless, of course, you take her to a curtain shop. With Lisa continuing to feel rough, I decided to risk taking Amelie's disease into the community this morning, by walking her into town to buy some bedroom curtains. Obviously I didn't want to draw attention to her hideous face, so when she refused to wear a bag over her head, I decided instead to take the backstreets to Western Road, in the hope that no one would notice her.
It worked. Right up until the moment she threw a major tantrum in Linens Direct because I wouldn't let her run down the aisle wearing a curtain sample. She ended up screaming at the top of her voice in the middle of the shop, while the store manager stood three feet away, shaking her head and tutting. For a professional blind woman, she did an awful lot of staring. As did the other customers. Frankly it's a miracle no one called social services. Or offered us some Clearasil.
But amongst the tears and anguish (and that's just me), there has been the occasional touching moment. And I don't just mean when she scratches her sores. Amelie caught sight of herself in the bedroom mirror this morning, and having taken in her appearance, she immediately said "Face dirty!" and tried to wipe off her spots. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'd have wept buckets, but Lisa was throwing up into it at the time.
[Brighton Bits] Black Rock Swimming Pool
On a fine summer day the pool, built in 1936 on a raised terrace above the sea, was an idyllic spot with the white cliffs in view to the east, Brighton to the west, seagulls overhead. . . . . and it was filled with sea-water which was ozonised, not chlorinated, and so did not sting the eyes. The late art deco building itself, with cafe, sun terrace, ochre-coloured walls, formed an elegant architectural landmark,at the start of the Undercliff walk, in the long progression of the seafront. There seemed to be a wonderful logic to it all . . How could there not be a pool at Black Rock?By the 1970s the answer came in the combined effects of a series of bad summers and cheap air-travel and it was demolished in 1978. All that remains are two sets of steps (and a still derelict site). A passageway led from Madeira Drive which passed behind the poolto the Undercliff walk. From this passageway these round-nosed glazedsteps gave access to the back of the pool building towards the eastern end:-
[Mulled Whines]
Blog post 2001: A Face Oddity...
I felt a bit better this morning until I saw Amelie's poxy little face. Three months later and she'd have the perfect look for Halloween.
[Natalie Downe's Weblog] A quote from Rachel Andrew
the Small Person has just come in to tell me that Someone On The Internet is WRONG.
[Up] What's so misleading about Nassim Haramein?
[West Pier Words] The Immutiable Mixture of Sex & the Writer
I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat while doing this. — Cormac McCarth.I started my career as a writer at the age of twenty. My first assignment in my new career as an advertising copywriter was to write a leaflet for an ergodynamically designed hospital bed. The first thing I had to do was look up the word ergodynamic. Between brief and final setting, the leaflet took eighteen months, exactly the length of time of my stay at that particular agency. (It was not a wasted period; I met my wife to be while there, Sue.)
I had no confidence in my writing ability in those days. Nor in the following years. But such was the chorus of comments on my ability I came to believe I could write. A belief reinforced by the comments made on my essays while at university as a mature student.
So I can write. What does that mean?
First and foremost it means having the ability to read. Not just being able to read, but to absorb. I always read well beyond my age. At prep school I read all the Greek classics, maybe in dumbed down versions but I don't think so. I remember finding books aimed at my age group patronising and irrelevant, which is not to say I ignored Capt. W. E. Johns or Enid Blyton, but...
By my late teens, I had read all the classics and most contemporary Catholic authors thanks to my Mum's library; writers like Waugh, Greene, Orwell [frustrated Catholic], Forster [wannabe frustrated Catholic], Hemingway [closet gay and thus frustrated Catholic], Lawerence [ditto], as well as the new wave authors, Lynne Reid Banks, Sillitoe, and other heretics who suffered from a lack of a Catholic upbringing. Coincidentally, I was raised by Jesuits from the age of seven.
So to write you must read. But critically, and one's critical faculties should develop with age; it is not enough to say 'I thought this or that book was jolly good' when thirty. Less so when forty. And unforgivable when older. And to read critically is not an excuse to join the panel of Whose Line Is It Anyway and be scathingly witty in your eyes, if not in anyone else's, but to understand current trends in literature. To understand how and why the process of storey-telling has changed over the decades and so be in a position to make constructive comment. Otherwise when it comes to writing, you will only churn out a mess of words as nutrious as overboiled cabbage. It might sell and, given the nervousness of the day, will sell. But you have to ask yourself, do you feel like being remembered as one who overboiled the cabbage. Well, do you punk?
So to write, you must read and you must read critically. You must also write. Always the obvious statement, nonetheless true. Now I have known individuals who have met all the conditions as laid down and not been able to write. I don't mean they were incapable of stringing a sentence together, and in most cases their ability, in terms of spelling and grammar, was far superior to mine, but they could not for the life of them write.
I have pondered long and sleeplessly on this dilemma and have come to the conclusion they have never had to write on behalf of others. When forced to do so, you lose a sense of self; your concentration is on the words and the sense they convey on behalf of your sponsor. So, when it comes to writing for self, the discipline remains; in a sense you become your own sponsor and therefore are in a better position to write objectively.
Does this mean you have to write commercially to write successfully? Please, do I sound that dogmatically stupid? [Rebecca, Emily - shut it!]
The issue is the degree to which you write self-consciously. The golden rule is you cannot carry any sense of self when writing. Your job is to place words on the page in the most appropriate order. It is, or should be, as impersonal an exercise as stacking bricks. You and the words on the page should be on speaking terms, obviously, but not sharing a bed. Sex is so messy in ths case.
[Mulled Whines]
After seven years of nonsense, I've finally stumbled my way to my 2,000th blog post. The "quite staggering inanity" (Western Mail, 30/10/06) of Mulled Whines now runs to more than 700,000 words. You wouldn't believe how long that takes to open in Microsoft Word. I thought my computer had crashed. Anyhoo, I've essentially written seven novels, but without being paid. Which is the only thing that separates me from JK Rowling.Obviously I'd love to have something earth-shattering to write about on such a momentous occasion, but as luck would have it, both Lisa and I have gone down with a mystery illness today. In fact, I'm typing this to the sound of Lisa throwing up in a bucket. If I didn't feel so rough myself, I'd be filming it and posting it on YouTube.
As it happens, we were both fine first thing this morning, but as Lisa began to bring up her breakfast to the Jeremy Kyle theme tune, I was seeing my first patient on the other side of town, and starting to feel ill myself. By mid-morning I had a splitting headache, and by lunchtime I was too nauseous to eat. I know, I couldn't believe it either. Frankly the only thing that got me through the day was the fact that the clinic where I was working has its own pharmacy. I've spent most of today's wages on industrial strength painkillers and anti-queasiness pills.
Needless to say, neither of us are in a fit state to look after Amelie, so if things don't improve soon, she'll be applying her own calamine lotion. Of course, it's possible she's given us both shingles, but as this blog hits the two thousand mark, there's probably a more likely explanation...
I think it's the millennium bug.
[Brighton Bits] Caroline Lucas & collective worship in schools
The Early Day Motion 395 proposed by the MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert has now been signed by 11 MP's including Brighton Pavilion's Caroline Lucas. In the interest of encouraging inclusiveness & integration within our schools the Bill calls on the Government to repeal the requirement for compulsory worship in schools and to encourage schools to hold educational assemblies that will include all children.Caroline says:-
Thank you for your email and for telling me about EDM 395. I support scrapping the requirement for a compulsory daily act of worship and also want those schools which continue to hold acts of worship to provide an alternative activity for learners who choose not to take part. Whilst I think it is important to uphold children and young people's right to practise their faith in schools, I think this is best met by for example providing prayer space rather than the current enforcement of daily worship. I also think religious education should be distinct from religious instruction and, like you, I would like assemblies to be inclusive and encourage a sense of community and cohesion. I will, therefore, be adding my name to this Early Day Motion and please do not hesitate to contact me again in future if I can help with anything else.
[It's Nice That] Crumpler
Crumpler is a tool that allows one to fold over Adobe Illustrator vector drawings as if they were paper. It is Jürg Lehni’s latest addition to Scriptographer, a plugin for Illustrator that enables users to create new drawing tools and functionality through the use of JavaScript.
[Kate's Copywriting Blog] FREE charity copywriting – special offer
Great special offers are strong medicine. They draw publicity and attention as well as driving sales.
Here’s my latest, a Karma-driven offer that’s completely genuine, provides a valuable service and makes me feel good into the bargain.
I’m devoting one day a month to free charity copywriting.
If you’re a charity in need of direct marketing and direct response focused expertise, a keen eye for SEO and masses of experience just email me at info@helpinthecity.com with the details of your copywriting project and we’ll take it from there.
First come, first served.
I usually charge £60 an hour so you’ll get £420 worth of copywriting / editing expertise for free. That’s enough to:
-
write or edit a twelve page website av. 350 words per page, or create twelve 350 word web pages
-
create ten press releases of around 500 words each
-
write eight articles about 750 words each
-
create twelve 350 word blog posts
-
edit a twenty page corporate brochure
All written beautifully, delivered by 5pm the same day.
My first slot is August 12th 2010 so I’ll need your brief by the end of play on 10th August to give me time to digest things.
You’re very welcome!
Want to read these in an rss reader? Download the opml file or subscribe to the RSS feed.
