Getting Back Into It

Getting back into the music thing a bit more. Mike came over last night and we had a dabble. Slowly getting more into Ableton Live. In amongst the improvising and twiddling there were a few moments that I take with me this morning. The trick is to capture these moments and wrestle them into pieces.

Pebbles was 'done' by the vet yesterday and the poor thing is not herself right now. She is very subdued, not our normal bouncy puppy. Hopefully she'll be back to strength soon.

Working at home today and much more into it. As well as the work stuff there are a few chores to be done as well. Jacq has a flat tyre that I have to get sorted and I want to pop down to the Citroen dealer to have a look at the Picassos they've got. So better get back to a bit of work.

Outer Space Is A Good Thing

On the way to pick up the kids I spotted this little cutie parked just a short way from school. I just had to stop and take a snap with my phone. You don't see many of those around these parts. A passer-by looked at me oddly and commented that the car looked like 'something from outer space' like that was a bad thing. Surely outer space is a good thing, isn't it?

Worked at home again today as Jacq was out with Mary sorting out more business. Got a bit more done than I did on Friday. Nice soundtrack provided by my main MP3 archive connected to my laptop via iTunes. You can checkout what I've been listening to here.

Quiet Weekend

Autumn Leaves. Cannock Chase. 19th November 2006.

Quiet weekend. Harriet on a sleepover Friday night, she finally fell asleep at six Saturday morning. Cute. I remember the mysterious allure of staying up all night. Took a prezzie over to Lynette as it was her 40th on Friday. Today was mostly just hanging. Tonight we sat down with the kids, a big bowl of popcorn and the new Cars DVD which just arrived yesterday.

A Very Autumn Day

We got a call at five this morning, Jacqs dad had passed away. She is over with her sisters right now. I'm working at home. Well, trying. Took Pebbles for her morning walk in the woods. Autumn dampness. No sun today. I feel kinda muted too. Chatted with dad on Skype for a good while. Still struggling to get work stuff done. I'll go and pick the kids up from school in a minute.

Skype Me

Having tried and failed to get video chat working from iChat to a PC app, I relented and downloaded Skype tonight. And guess what, it just worked. Quite impressed really. Of course the mac version looks cooler. If you want to chat sometime, I'm mark.mcquitty on there.

Another mac app I had a play with recently is the splendid Delicious Library media manager. Scanning barcodes with the iSight webcam to add items to the library just made me giggle every time I did it. I think I might upgrade to the full version when they update to version 2.

Back in PC-land, I picked up Quake 4 for a few quid at Game recently and I'm gonna install that now and shoot the shit out of some monsters! Good times :)

Some Random Stuff

• This looks like a very interesting piece about Eno on Apple.com promoting his new dvd 77 Million Paintings and giving Macs props. One for my christmas list I think.
  

• Nice post about the latest Spiderman 3 trailer that captures well a number of questions that came to mind when I first watched it. Despite little niggles, I'm stoked for this movie. Roll on next May.

• (Snigger) seems like Zune is getting soundly trashed by everyone who comes in contact with it. From what I heard on TWiT the other day, it really does appear to be completely doomed. I'll be sticking with iPods thanks very much. Here is how The Guardian reported the coverage.

• And finally as a treat for you all, some lovely footage of X-Ray Spex in 1978. The first band I ever saw live. This was the start of it all for me. Enjoy.
  

www.flickrmeets.co.uk

Aeiou from the Birmingham Flickr group has setup a website called Birmingham Photographers to showcase the work of those in the group. And what a nice website it is. The clean and simple design shows off my composite photo beautifully (see screenshot). Now my problem is choosing which photographs of mine I wish to submit. Looking over my photostream it seems that most of my photos are family or gigs. I think I need more 'art' photos in there.

This Week In Tech

No wonder 'This Week In Tech' always tops the podcast charts, it's always interesting and entertaining. Here's an episode from back in August featuring my favourites John C. Dvorak and Cory Doctorow. If you got some time, take a listen...


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Trusted System

One of the hurdles for me in implementing a GTD-type system in my life is deciding on the Trusted System. I've thought for a long time that this system is a single entity and I was stuck deciding between something real or something electronic. The something real would be some type of organiser thing containing lots of lists and actions and when I lost this object I'd be screwed. The electronic thing would be computer based which would be rendered useless if I didn't have a pc or internet connection to hand. I've only just begun to think that I've been completely wrong. Neither of the two approaches is the Trusted System. The Trusted System is the whole thing! Duh. The real object and the electronic approach are just Capture Devices. I can run both if I like as long as I process them as inputs into my system. I think get it now. What a dufus!

See? When I'm online more I can blog about any stupid thought that pops up and then I can stop rambling about it in my own head. Therefore it's a bit quieter in there. Hence better mindfulness and hopefully a bit of GTD!

That's What Happens

Agreed, my blog posts of late have been poor and infrequent. But it's not that I'm fed up with the blog, more that I'm simply not inspired to write much at the end of the working day. An internet connection is a rare thing for me of late so I'm not in a position to blog when an idea hits me. And blog posts being what they are, it's rare for any idea for a post to be strong enough to hang around in my brain until I'm next online.

So now I've bothered to open up a new post and ramble a bit, what else do I have to post about? Well, not much really, the mind's gone blank again. That's what happens. Now do you understand?

Working At Home What A Joy

After working up in Manchester for four days, I'm working at home today and what a joy it is having no M6 to deal with. And what a treat having a proper lunch of pasta with pesto and olives. The sun is shining though it's cold out there. Jacq has gone off to the cinema. John The Builder is fitting new guttering out the front. Pebbles is padding around the garden freshly shorn from yesterday at the groomers. Dad popped in for a cuppa this morning as Mom is away for the weekend with friends. All's well.

A Distant Memory Now

Why did I buy that huge coffee when I stopped for petrol this morning on my way up the M6 to Manchester? It took me ages to get onto site this morning due to awkward security staff. By the end I was bursting.

Interesting talking to a new colleague today who is into meditation and Chi Kung. Although I've tried recently to increase my sitting practise, I've really let the Chi Kung slip.

Only back at work two days and I'm knackered already! I really got to a very relaxed place during last weeks holiday. It's a distant memory now.

Good To Be Home

The last full day of the holiday was thankfully dry and sunny and spent at Crealy adventure park. The kids had a great time on everything. Harriet discovered a love of the Pirate Ship ride much to my discomfort as I had to go on with her again and again. Finished off the holiday with fish and chips at Rick Steins chip shop in Padstow. Absolutely yummy. Best ever.

Early start on the homeward journey this morning. Dreadful traffic and roadworks. Took about eight hours to get home. Knackered. Mom and Dad brought the pets over. Great to see Pebbles again. Took her out for a walk tonight straight back into the normal routine. Good to be home.

Blue Bar

Down at the Blue Bar in Porthtowan, just a mile from our holiday cottage. Jacq brought her MacBook down to take advantage of the free wi-fi. Better weather today. Having fun.

Goonhilly

Blogging from the internet cafe at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall. The holiday cottage is great and the weather a bit grim but we're having a great time.

See You In A Week

Work has been a bit of a grind with the ammount of travelling so working at home today certainly eased the load. A luxury to pop down to TGI's for lunch with t'wife. Tonight we went to parents evening at the school and both kids got great reports. So proud of them. I want them to do well of course, but mostly I just want them to have as nice a time as possible as they go through the system.

Tomorrow we're off down to Cornwall for a week in this cottage. We're all really looking forward to it. Don't suppose the weather will be that great but the change of scene will do us all good. Packing my laptop and hoping for a creative boost from being in an inspirational area.

See you in a week.

Steve Albini Owns Me Right Now

Weekend just wizzed-by, party-style. Dylan and Harriet were both out at parties on Saturday afternoon. I took Dylan to the local sports stadium for a 'multi-sport' party at which he had a great time. Meanwhile Harriet was up town with her friends taking in a movie and a pizza, very grown up. Sunday Jacqs family came over for the usual get together.

Working in Stafford today as the M6 is closed and it's not worth trying to get up to Manchester. A shorter day but at least I've got an internet connection so I can catch up with some personal productivity as well as the day job. Hence this post.

Music-wise my iPod is churning out a lot of Big Black at the moment. Not sure what triggered this decent into noise as I'd recently been listening to lots of quiet stuff like Eno and Budd. But anyway, Steve Albini owns me right now. Tiny King Of The Jews is the best track ever right now and has overtaken my previous fave, Kerosene.

Parties Coming Up

Enjoyed a lovely bottle of German wine tonight given to me yesterday by one of the guys I'm workng with up in Manchester. This guy has a hotel in Hambug which he invited us to. What a nice chap. It must be said that all of the German guys I've been working with over the last 12 months have been incredibly friendly. I'm sure us English don't come across as such.

My blogging of late has been wanting but that's mainly down to lack of internet during the working day. Still driving up and down to Manchester which is a drag but pays well. The excessive driving time is being filled with podcasts by the splendid Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann.

Harriets birthday next week. Eleven. Gosh.

Lots of parties coming up.

Why Wasn't This Band Massive?

The Wolfgang Press. Awesome. Fact.

Fisheye

Saturday morning I dropped Dylan off at the Sea Life Centre for his friends birthday then I had a couple of hours to myself around town. In the Ikon Gallery I saw an exhibition by Marijke van Warmerdam with some real nice film loops. 'Dream Machine' was a mesmerising slow motion loop of milk droplets in a glass of clear water eventually resulting in a whiteout screen. I watched it for ages. In the Ikon shop I picked up a 35mm fisheye camera made by Lomography. Looking forward to taking some fisheye shots.