Posted on May 22nd, 2008 by Andy
Royal Albert Hall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia…
Depictions in popular culture
One version of the lewd song “Hitler Has Only Got One Ball” places the dictator’s missing testicle “in the Albert Hall”.
Your search - “hitler has only got one ball” site:britannica.com - did not match any documents.
Posted in Wikipeida > Britannica because..., idle nonsense | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 7th, 2008 by Andy
I’ve resisted Twitter for so long…I joined up a few months ago after succumbing to the barrage of online pressure but never got beyond the registration phase. There are so many problems I have with it…the prime one being “who really gives a chuff what I’m up to?” - maybe Hazel (but I see her every day) but that really is probably about it. That does throw into doubt why I should have this blog but there is a whole difference between speaking your mind (and no one caring) and making 140 character posts about being on the bus or listening to the radio…my life is just not interesting enough.
But anyway - here I am - making those 140 character yawns that no one will care about and wondering if I’ll have a Damascus moment…and it’ll all make sense…
(It aditionally doesn’t help that I almost always forget to have my phone with me)
Posted in blogs and the internet, idle nonsense | No Comments »
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by Andy
By default WordPress installs a silly little plug-in called “Hello Dolly” that…
…symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation summed up in two words sung most famously by Louis Armstrong: Hello, Dolly. When activated you will randomly see a lyric from Hello, Dolly in the upper right of your admin screen on every page
I dived in and changed the code a little…
How sad am I? The answer is “very”.
Posted in How sad am I?, a head full of wishes, idle nonsense | 4 Comments »
Posted on December 17th, 2007 by Andy
I’ve just “deactivated” my Facebook account - after months of tinkering around the edges of it I just can’t see what the point of it is and I think I need my social networks to have a point - Facebook seems to exist purely for it’s own existence, which just isn’t enough (or maybe too much) for me…
The social networks (with “points”) where you can still find me are…
Is there a decent film “network” around? Well…obviously Flixster - as it was one of the few things I discovered on Facebook as being interesting enough to follow up…you can (now) find me on Flixster…
Posted in blogs and the internet, idle nonsense | No Comments »
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by Andy
There was a Far Side cartoon from way back when showing parents reading a newspaper where all the ads for jobs were along the lines of “Expert Super Mario player required, 23k plus benefits”.
As a parent now I do genuinely dream that the many hours Adam spends playing World of Warcraft will prepare him well for the future and news stories such as this one are a reassurance…
The formidable organisational skills needed to run a game team or guild, organise raids involving perhaps 40 people and co-ordinate their different abilities to defeat a game’s strongest foes are all relevant to work.
I’m not convinced that the many many hours of text adventures prepared me for anything…
I wish I could find that Larson cartoon online but he threatens (albeit so sweetly) anyone who posts his cartoons on websites - silly man.
Posted in idle nonsense, my family | No Comments »
Posted on October 23rd, 2007 by Andy
So Everything’s Swirling gets a long overdue overhaul - and a new URL (feel free to update your bookmarks, blogrolls and RSS feeds - although the old ones will probably keep working)
Hazel’s blog Let’s Fold Scarves has also had a refit and is whipping my sorry arse in the who’s-blog-is-more-popular competition…if, of course, we cared about anything as trite as popularity. Just like with music - the more obscure the better!
Posted in blogs and the internet, idle nonsense, my family | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 27th, 2007 by Andy
The music lessons when I was at school involved sitting in a portakabin “playing” tiny cardboard keyboards. We’d only get the opportunity of playing one of the five real home-made two octave keyboards if we showed a proficiency on the cardboard ones…I also remember getting told off for improvising a little during one piece…improvising on cardboard keyboards should surely have been praised and encouraged…
Hazel, Adam and I took our first tour around one of the local secondary schools (they call them high schools now) that Adam may go to and I found the experience by turns moving and depressing. The school looked great, the staff were so enthusiastic (and young), the classrooms seemed comfortable and appropriate, they had a drama studio, two music rooms, rehearsal rooms, computers and “interactive whiteboards” in (as far as I could tell) every room. The students who showed us around and spoke seemed to genuinely enjoy being a part of the school…and they did appear to be a part of the school - not just there to be taught at.
I HATED school, it was something I just couldn’t wait to get through, the teachers, for the most part, also seemed to hate school. School failed me or I failed school, either way looking around Elthorne Park High School yesterday only made me sad that I couldn’t have loved school. I’m sure that given the facilities and enthusiasm and a bit of encouragement, given teachers who seemed to be enthused by their subject matter and with the ability to make what you learn seem real and useful, I might not feel like I wasted those years…and I certainly did waste them.
Posted in idle nonsense, my family | No Comments »
Posted on June 5th, 2007 by Andy
Less than a week ago I whined about the very lovely last.fm becoming a media corporations trendy new lapdog rather than trying to go it alone and expressed just how unlikely it was that I’d be prepared to shell out money to them. This morning my blue icon had gone grey and my last.fm page was sprinkled with ads and I was unable to snoop on who’d been viewing my profile. As of today I’m no longer a “subscriber”, I’m just a “user”. I was looking forward to coming to terms with last.fm’s decision - having time to ponder what they had done before I had to make the “do I stump up the cash” decision.
When I first paid money to last.fm/audioscrobbler I was unaware of the perks (maybe there weren’t any) and the site was unreliable and the charts were infrequently updated, but I LOVED the concept and was happy to give up my money because when it worked it was beautiful, clever, useful and (for the stats obsessed) a hours of fun.
Last week they got $280 million - I think they can live without my 18 quid.
Posted in corporate rock sucks, idle nonsense, last.fm | 3 Comments »
Posted on May 30th, 2007 by Andy
Once again it’s sad to be reminded that the Internet is nothing but a bunch of sharks cirlcing every promising start-up with a desire to “buying credibility” rather than establishing it. Last.fm have now succumbed to the desire to be a part of something bigger rather than carrying on being something special and unique in their own right. Like the lovely Flickr before them (and countless other websites I don’t love as much) they have snapped up that lovely big cheque that was waved in front of them and suddenly, rather than having the feel of a community owned (spiritually if not financially) website it is now nothing more than a marketing arm of a corporation.
I was happy to regularly donate to last.fm but I suspect I won’t be stumping up cash to CBS and you know what, I’m not sure they’d care because they don’t care about the user - they care about the money they can make and 20 quid a year (or whatever) from me is not where the money in last.fm is to be made. That money will be made by selling chart data, and demographic data, and listening behaviour, and the myriad of other ways of exploiting what the last.fm community has built.
Shame on you last.fm, or maybe just shame on me becaues I believed (just like I believed with Flickr before you) that you were maybe different.
I have to admit that I do still stump up cash to Yahoo for Flickr and maybe, like Flickr, they may be able to cling onto the part of them that does make them unique - but I shan’t love them the way I used to…just like I don’t love Flickr any more…
It seems a shame that I seem to write one of these posts every few months.
Posted in Music, corporate rock sucks, idle nonsense, last.fm | No Comments »
Posted on May 17th, 2007 by Andy
I reached 43 today. When I hit 40 I rattled off some words that convinced me that I’m not too old really…pointing out the rock stars that are older than me and (surprise, surprise) they’re all still older than me - and if Kim Gordon can behave like this on stage at her age then I guess there’s a bit of life left in me yet.
This year I have probably noticed my age more than before - stupid things that pop into my head remind me that I’m getting on a bit things like…
I am scared of death, but then I think I probably should be because life is so bloody good at the moment I don’t want that to end! OK work’s a pain in the arse but everything else probably couldn’t be better.
Posted in Music, idle nonsense, my family | No Comments »
