Waste of bandwidth

Scarborough

2009-11-18T19:04:41Z

I've been pining for the fjords recently, so although I have a trip planned to my sister's place in Cornwall at the start of December, I felt a trip to the coast was in order.

First thing I saw in Scarborough was this shop

Huge surprise that it was closed. Seriously, Geeks unisex hairdresser? Hell, I'm a geek myself but even I'm assuming they just give you a bowl cut and send you home.

So there it is, the sea... yay!

I know it's supposed to be all grim up north, what with it's dark, satanic mills and all but the beaches too?

So, the main entertainment in Scarborough is shown at the "Futurist" theatre... Featuring Smokie and The Chuckle Brothers. There's also a chance to see the One Night With Queen show there too. It's like being in a science fiction film, eh?

As usual, I took a tonne (not metric) of pictures of waves. Was particularly taken with this spot where waves rebounded from the sea walls and then hit the incoming ones with a big sploosh.

Mother Nature's been using oil paint for the clouds again...

Was near the trawlers at sunset, the seagulls were swarming for scraps of fish and the sky glowed like an ember.

There are a tonne more of piccies at Picassa should you be bored enough to want to trawl through them.

Whoa

2009-11-06T18:40:10Z

I mentioned I love the NASA images of the day before but this is just pure sci-fi :)

"In this unprocessed image, sunlight brightens a crescent curve along the edge of Saturn's moon Enceladus and highlights its misty plume. The image was captured by Cassini's narrow-angle camera as the spacecraft passed about 190,000 kilometers (120,000 miles) over the moon. This image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the NASA Planetary Data System in 2010. "

So it's the Sun setting behind a moon of frickin' Saturn then. How awesome is that?

Kids and procrastinating

2009-11-04T22:12:42Z

I was accosted by a small gang of teenagers on the way back from the gig last night. After finding out I had no cigarettes to give them, they asked me what I was listening to on my iPod.
"Siouxsie and the Banshees," I replied (Peepshow for the record).
They all burst out laughing and then one asked the others, "Have you even heard of them?"
"No!" they all replied indignantly.
I replaced my headphones and made a swift exit.

Kids, eh? Bless 'em.

In other news, I've spent the day avoiding starting NaNo by various means including, but not limited to, reading last year's pep talks, meeting a friend for coffee and trying to find as many Smiths and Depeche Mode covers as possible on Blip. Another productive day then...

Dog walking and excuses

2009-11-03T19:18:06Z

I finally had my first dog-walking session at the Dogs Trust (the local re-homing centre).

The first dog I was given to walk was Molly, just about the cutest Jack Russell I've ever seen (in fact, I can't ever recall finding one cute before). There was a slight problem though, Molly is a one of the few dogs they have that they consider safe for new walkers... you have to prove yourself before they let you loose with bigger/more energetic beasties. The thing is, they run a monthly induction session for walkers which was on Sunday and poor Molly has been walked off her paws by the newbies. By the time I got to her, well, I got her to the bench outside the front door but then she refused to go any further and just stared back at the centre. After a minute or two of me trying to encourage her, she started whining (my spellbinding charisma strikes again) and I took her back in.

Attempt number two was with Ambrose, an ex-stray greyhound. This is Ambrose, the muzzle is compulsory more to reduce problems with potential dog fight injuries than anything else they tell me.

And this is Ambrose after she smelled a rabbit...

I don't think anyone gets to the stage you normally imagine with dog-walkers (five dogs all trying to go in a different direction), but hopefully they'll trust me with some of the friskier dogs soon. I can imagine walking round and round a field will start to get a little dull unless I'm having to work to control the dog a bit... although hopefully not so much that I begin to fear for my life. Life on the dog-walking edge, that's what I crave.

I see I've also missed the start of NaNoWriMo for about the 4th year in a row. Only by a couple of days this time, although I'm sure they'll turn out to be crucial. That said I have no plot, no characters and no ideas - well other than that strange dream about a couple of hexapedal centaur brothers but I suspect that may be something of a non-starter. I'll have a think on it tonight and maybe start tomorrow.

Track of the day

2009-11-01T23:21:06Z

Emilie Simon - Flowers

OK, I know I stopped doing tracks of the day as I now vent my musical urges on blip.fm but I couldn't resist this. I'm also aware it's a day late, sort of. Still... it's my new favourite thing.

flashheart @ 2009-10-30T18:19:00

2009-10-30T18:19:55Z

flashheart @ 2009-10-26T16:50:00

2009-10-26T16:52:25Z

I love the NASA pictures of the day...

Dust devil trails on Mars

Goth PJs

2009-10-20T20:01:57Z

Don't ask why I was investigating Goth clothing, but I stumbled across a shop that sells "Gothic Pyjamas". That just can't be right...

Although they do have some nice cuff-links (not that I ever wear proper shirts anymore).

flashheart @ 2009-10-16T20:42:00

2009-10-16T19:45:08Z

As usual, the alt-text wins... "I mean, seriously, NOWHERE? For starters, there are like a thousand species of dinosaur."

flashheart @ 2009-10-14T19:03:00

2009-10-14T18:03:42Z

I think it's the hair that sells it :)

OKCupid

2009-08-10T10:22:54Z

I joined OKCupid many moons ago mostly thanks to my stats nerd tendancies (though I also blame shinier for actually providing me with the introduction to it). I mention this now because I've recently come back from my first OKC meetup (I can't really call it a date) which involved me spending 5 days in Norway. I'll post something about that soon, probably in serial form to avoid an attempt at the longest LJ post in history.

No, the reason I post today is thanks to a set of charts that I received this morning. The OKC management have been getting increasingly statistics crazy (a good thing in my books obviously). Here are a set of graphs breaking down my matches by geographical location. It appears I was looking in the right place afterall :). Oh, and a Philipino mail order bride is really not a good idea...

Your Worst Countries
Indonesia — 51.0
Philippines — 53.5
Egypt — 54.1
Jamaica — 54.7
Trinidad and Tobago — 55.8

Your Best Countries
Finland — 76.7
Denmark — 76.4
Norway — 76.3
Sweden — 76.3
Switzerland — 75.6

Track of the Day

2009-04-30T01:14:45Z

Gail Swanson - Sympathy for the devil

This is just great! Upbeat acoustic guitar, throaty vocal and a flute solo to boot, who could ask for anything more?

Track of the Day

2009-04-14T08:54:44Z

Amy Correia - Angels Collide

Ahh, it's been too long since I posted an Amy track. The exciting news is that the new album is due this year. Yay!

Track of the Day

2009-04-05T15:53:05Z

The Veils - Jesus For The Jugular

Wow, I'm really liking this one...

Legend of the Seeker

2009-04-03T20:13:09Z

So I finally caught up with "Legend of the Seeker", which is currently at episode 17. It's strange which programmes can pull you in despite your better judgement. As I sat down to watch the first episode, I was kind of expecting something akin to Hercules or Xena given Sam Raimi's involvement. Given it's filmed in New Zealand as well, that's definitely the case. The first minute or so was really good (I'm not swayed at all by the abundant cleavage on display being joggled about on horseback, honest) but things swiftly descended into dramatic license territory and never really recovered. And yet I've watched 17 episodes now.

Part of the appeal is the sense of an ongoing narrative. It's not as definite as it should be, but there is a sense of the plot evolving as time goes by. The wizard character is perhaps my favourite depiction of the gruff and grumpy mentor archetype in TV/film to date, despite the occasional scripting hurdles he has to deal with. It's fair to say that Bridget Reagan, who plays the female main character is also a big attraction. If you're not familiar with her, imagine if Anna Friel had grown up to become all-woman rather than a delicate slyph-like figure. She's also reasonably impressive in the fight scenes in which she uses two daggers (I found myself wondering why she wasn't using a mace given she's a priestess - I know, there's no hope for me). The male lead is fine, I'm sure the ladies love his washboard stomach - although I find myself thinking he still looks like a kid (it's true, I actually caught myself thinking that policemen seem to be getting younger and younger the other day - I am officially old now).

I have to mention one highlight. A few episodes in, we are introduced to a special baddy. It starts with a slow reveal of a very shapely woman clad neck to foot in tightly fitted red leather (see pic below). Said woman is clutching what is probably meant to be a small truncheon. Which of course, looks like nothing more than a red dildo. But this is no ordinary girls-best-friend, oh no. This is a deadly demon dildo of doom which our evil dominatrix uses to torture victims (it causes pain where ever it touches). I haven't read the source books written by Terry Goodkind, so I can't say whether this particular baddie is his creation or that of the script writers but someone really has "issues" with women. Of all the women with power we've met, one was an evil sorceress and the rest are either confessors (who enslave people by causing them to love the confessor to the point of losing their free will) or evil dildo ladies (who enslave people with pain). It doesn't reflect well...

But somehow, I'm still enjoying it. There you go, taste is a funny old thing, isn't it?

Don't ask where she plans to stick that...

Trekking

2009-03-27T18:34:27Z

Got sent this earlier:

Bet the guys in the new film won't be as light on their feet...

Track of the Day

2009-03-26T17:44:54Z

Dolly Parton - Shine

Ive been kind of engrossed with Blip, which is a sort of social network collaborative DJ thing, and so been venting my music based urges there. Had to share this one with you though. I posted Collective Soul's "Shine" a while back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKROlUWkbsQ if you need reminding), but Dolly's version is ace :)

Track of the day

2009-03-24T13:25:09Z

Soko - I'll kill her

Not only a cool song, but I'll be singing "I'll keel her" all day too

Track of the day

2009-03-23T10:42:13Z

Eels - Mr. E´s Beautiful Blues

Just about the finest way to start the week...

Track of the day

2009-03-22T14:43:24Z

Queen Adreena - Pretty Like Drugs

If you're going to rock out, you may as well go mental. I'm betting Katie could barely speak after most of their gigs. Check out their cover of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSx5IWSjL_0>Jolene</a> as well, it's pretty awesome.

Track of the day

2009-03-10T18:30:35Z

Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina

Mainly because I heard the guitar riff at the end of a programme recently and it's been bugging me as to what the song was. Fortunately referal to friend solved the problem (eventually).

Track of the day

2009-03-09T11:55:02Z

Jet - Get Me Outta Here

Coolness

2009-03-03T19:32:12Z

This is mesmerising... a whole new way of wasting time thanks to Twitter (and Dave Gorman for posting the link)

http://twistori.com/#i_think

Cycling trip

2009-02-27T14:04:56Z

What with the weather seemingly becoming more Spring-like, my group therapy sessions being on a two week break and having not yet started my voluntary work, I decided that now is the time to get on the bike and head off into the sunset. So I have my panniers ready, bivvy bag all set and as the plan is to leave tomorrow lunchtime, I've just checked the weather forcast. It's looking like hitting zero celsius on Sunday night, with 2 or 3 degrees on Tuesday along with some sleet. Nice...

Still, I'm determined to at least make it as far as the coast and if it's unbearable then, I'll come home. Otherwise I'll head north along the coast for a bit. Should be fun :) I'll see what I can do about updating twitter by text as I go but as I wont have charging facilities at hand that may not last long.

Covers

2009-02-14T15:15:49Z

Today appears to be cover version day.

I bought a couple of the previous War Child albums (I do a lot of work for charity) and they've been pretty good. The latest version is available to listen to on MySpace (www.myspace.com/warchildheroes) for the next week or so. They describe it thus: "We asked 15 ultimate icons to select a favourite song from their classic back catalogue and to nominate the new act they most trust to create a unique interpretation of that hand-picked track". I'm somewhat cynical that all of the legends could be arsed to choose an act and (if they did) would have chosen the bands here, but there's some interesting stuff there. I will also say that perhaps it was a mistake to open with Beck (Bob Dylan - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat") as none of the others can really hope to compete.

Other than that, how about a competition to see who can cover Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love" best between Ingrid Michaelson and Pearl Jam?
http://www.spinner.com/2009/02/13/clash-of-the-cover-songs-ingrid-michaelson-vs-pearl-jam/