Half Year Review

At the end of last year I wrote a list herein of things I'd like to accomplish this year. As we are now half way through, thought it time to have an interim review.

1 Great Photograph
Well, still waiting for this one. Taken a few decent ones but even the arrival of the new lens hasn't produced anything great yet. Maybe during the Sucata Run.

100 Sales
Things have been unsurprisingly slow on the sales front. Many kind friends have bought a copy but the lack of availability on Amazon has stopped me pushing it too hard. Facebook ads aren't doing a lot either. Rethink required. 100 sales not impossible.

1 Draft
This is now looking REALLY unlikely. Mainly because of the the next point.

1 New Job
Well, I think I've kinda done this one. Although I'm still in my old job, there is a new job on the horizon. It's not entirely straightforward. Can't tell you. It's a secret.

No Alarms
Not entirely successful here. We lost Uncle Tony this year. A very funny and much loved man. Sadly missed.

Lethal Mizzle

Friday night, wrote Mr Kipling, I stood in a field in the rain watching small figures the size of Hornby railway figures play some loud music I had heard before.

It would be very easy, at this point, to descend into a straight-forward review of Radiohead on Glasgow Green on Friday night, but I wouldn't be saying anything new. The highs were high, the lows were all those tracks that you generally skip over when the randomiser chooses them (so they're not going to be all that welcome while standing in the rain).

So, my third time seeing Radiohead live was much like all the others. Half of the best gig ever. Nuff said.*

I would prefer, at this juncture, to discuss my descent into middle age.**

Now, I was lucky enough to have got the tickets as a present (Thanks sis) so I didn't pay the £40 to get 'in'. But I imagine most of other attendees did pay the money and, instead of standing, watching and listening they:

• walked back and forward endlessly to get drinks
• just walked about a lot, usually past me
• took or smoked drugs (some to extreme excess)

I'm not taking any moral stance on any of this. Walking, drinking, drugging are all things that people can do if they want. But why pay £40 to do it on a wet grass field in the rain?

It's just plain stupid. My name is Victor Meldrew. Goodnight. (no encore).

* although I did really like the sing-a-long during the slow bit of Paranoid Android ("rain down" etc), the crowd singing along was quite apt, sad and laconic, it felt like the tribute song the Zulu's sang after the battle of Rorke's Drift, well, it did to me, maybe I'm just... yes, ok...
** there is a strong possibility that I've always been like this

The Amazon Desert Island Challenge

I was wandering the aisles of a record store on Saturday looking at how cheap all the great albums I already own are. It occurred to me that you could get pretty much everything you really needed by way of entertainment for not very much these days.

So, I dreamt up this challenge. The rules are very simple, viz:

You are about to go to a desert island forever. You have £50 to spend on Amazon. You can only buy books, CD's or DVD's (assume that you can play such on this mystical isle). This will be all the entertainment you will have on the island for the rest of your life.

What would you spend it on? You can make use of any available offers at the time of purchase and assume free postage. You must provide links to the items and their prices.

So, Dear Reader, I look forward to your answer...

*** Edit *** Here are my choices ( 24/06/2008 ). It's not as easy as I thought, I would change this daily I think:

DVD's

The Big Lebowski 3.97
Aliens 3.97
Apollo 13 3.97
Goodfellas 4.97

CD's

Suede - Dog Man Star 5.97
Radiohead - OK Computer 4.97
Smiths - The World Won't Listen 4.98 ( a compromise based on the prices available )
Debussy - Best Of 4.97

Books

HG Wells - Time Machine/Invisible Man 2.50
Zola - Germinal 3.59
Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose 5.59

Total: £49.45

Independence Day

After many months of cogitation and musing, the launch date and time for the next incarnation of the online puzzle quest Bimbogami has been announced. Bimbogami Season 2 is almost upon us. So, get your puzzling head ready for Friday 4th July 2008 at 9:00pm BST and another rollercoaster ride through 40 devilish free online puzzles. Well, 39, the first one is really easy.

Don't forget that you don't need to have completed season 1 to play season 2, you can play both at once. So, if you've not tried season 1, register now and get some practice in.

Look forward to seeing the previous players back and. hopefully, a lot more noobs...

Until such time...

And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on!We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

Meanwhile, down at the zoo...

Edinburgh Zoo was looking fine in the sunshine. The new Budongo Chimp enclosure was very good (although not that great for getting photos). Still, did manage to catch some of the critters. As usual, click on the image to download a hi-res version.



Pygmy Marmoset


Great Grey Owl


Souslik


Stellar's Sea Eagle