Why Blog?

Although I know this now I didnt when I started blogging. I knew people kept diaries and some famous people actually got them published. I started the blog as a way of recording places I'd been to then started adding music and technology related stuff , until i just started recording anything that interested me or caught my eye.

My memory is not all that great , I'm not great at memorising facts but I am good at remembering where to find those facts. Someone once was shocked that Einstein didn't know the speed of light. "Why do I need to know that? I can look it up in a book" was his replay. Now we have the internet and loads of ways of accessing what has now become the greatest reference work ever. In our smart phones and tabllets we hold in our hands our very own Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy and proposed by the sadly missed Douglas Adams.

Anyway back to my point , this blog gives me a searchable reference to things that have happened to me and caught my eye. If other people are interested then that's great , but it's still here for me. I also would love to write a book and hoped that this blog would spark off something that would result in a book. With Amazon's self publishing package anyone can publish a book now.

Yesterday Graham Norton was interviewing Maureen Lipman and she said that she could trace her life through her newspaper columns , so I'm not the only person doing this.

So basically blogging enables you to jot down things you don't want to forget, and online blogs also enable you to search back through your life both digital and real.

Here's my first post and dip into blogging on Sunday 18th February 2007 almost six years back. This is 401 posts on , here's to the next 401 posts.

Fleeing From The Lava

This is my 400th post on this blog. Surprised but not surprised , anyway here you go.

Yesterday was the first time I have driven a car with SatNav. On the advice of the guy from the excellent Enterprise Car Rental I'd upgraded to a 1.6 litre Vauxhall Astra because the weather was a little wintry to say the least. Anyway it was nice to know where I was when stuck in a totally unneccessary traffic jam near Catterick  caused by 8 miles of coned off road to cater for 50 yards of actual work.

The problem with Satnav for is that too many people take it as Bible rather that an informational guide. It is only as good as it's base data and the satellite signal it receives. It may help if you are ;ost. I found it really useful as it confirmed my bearings in the fog , rain and descending dark.

You may wonder about the title , it's from the Half Man Half Biscuit song "Evening Of Swing Has Been Cancelled" from the album CSI Ambleside, Here's the passage stolen from Chris Rands HMHB Lyric Project:

And the christening party arsehole
Who hitherto had blurred
My conception of man as nature’s final word
Was fleeing from the lava
His SatNav pleading thus:
“I’m not from round here mate, you should have got the bus”

And the christening party arsehole
Who hitherto had blurred
My conception of man as nature’s final word
Was fleeing from the lava
His SatNav pleading thus:
“I’m not from round here mate, you should have got the bus”

From: Half Man Half Biscuit: Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled) - lyrics http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/csi-ambleside/evening-of-swing-has-been-cancelled/#ixzz2DElZgCQg

My conception of man as nature’s final word
Was fleeing from the lava
His SatNav pleading thus:
“I’m not from round here mate, you should have got the bus”

From: Half Man Half Biscuit: Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled) - lyrics http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/csi-ambleside/evening-of-swing-has-been-cancelled/#ixzz2DEivROIc

Psychic Hotel Service

Staying at the London Hilton Metropole, I availed myself of their complimentary biscuits only to start coughing as a crumb hit my throat. At that moment there was an insistent knock on the door. A nice Asian guy in hotel livery with two bottles of Strathmore water. Synchronicity or what?

Connectivity, Eclipse and a First Time For Everything

Last night I watched via the internet , facebook , and Panasonic solar technology , on the recomendation of a very good friend a solar eclipse in Queensland Australia. Apart for the images and the event being spectacular it was amazing to see how connected we can all be in this digital age . Instant video feeds from 9000 miles and 10 hours away while being exactly in the same moment. How many thousands of us shared that . An event that even ten years ago could not have happened. People watch on their TVs , computers and phones , took and shared pictures . Absolutely amazing.


It reminded of seeing Bill Bryson a couple of years ago relating a story of a guy who organised a scientific expedition to India to watch a similar event a few hundred years back. The guy spent years preparing and was thwarted by thick cloud cover. Last night was good because of the twin feeds from Port Douglas and Fitzroy Island , making sure we had at least one clear view.

This brings me on to the excellent new advert for EE featuring Kevin Bacon selling the concept of total connectivity in todays digital world . Kevin Bacon is still a top guy and is excellent in the advert, telling us about the connectivity which the Eclipse event was made for. By the way Tremors is one of my favourite all time films:


And then this morning I relented in my Starbucks boycott to pay for my first coffee with my phone using their rather efficient app. That was fine only slightly marred by me being confronted by three beardy beggars demanding 40p as a walked out of the shop . I was bigger and scarier than they were so I made my way to the train to enjoy my coffee frappacino!

Are We Just Renting ? Applespeak Strikes Again

A couple of issues with digital content here . Apple reckon that when you "buy" a download from them you are just renting it from them. Now 1 , unless they have bought the  said item from it's maker , composer , they are only licensees of the said item , taking their cut as a middleman . To illustrate a point you can either rent or download fims, so in Applespeak "buying" actually means just renting for a long time (see previous post here) . You can see the Bruce Willis situation here.

Amazon have done a similar thing , wiping a woman's Kindle for Kafkaesque unspecified account infringements (see Guardian article here) , and then mysterious restoring the said content , saying firsat that they are only renting the ebook out to you , despite saying you are actually buying the said item.

So for for all of thos infected buy Applespeak , here is what it means:

Buy  (b)
v. bought (bôt), buy·ing, buys
v.tr.
1. To acquire in exchange for money or its equivalent; purchase. See Regional Note at boughten.
2. To be capable of purchasing: "Certainly there are lots of things in life that money won't buy" (Ogden Nash).
3. To acquire by sacrifice, exchange, or trade: wanted to buy love with gifts.
4. To bribe: tried to buy a judge.
5. Informal To accept the truth or feasibility of: The officer didn't buy my lame excuse for speeding.
v.intr.
To purchase something; act as a purchaser.
n.
1. Something bought or for sale; a purchase.
2. An act of purchasing: a drug buy.
3. Something that is underpriced; a bargain.
Phrasal Verbs:
buy into
1. To acquire a stake or interest in: bought into a risky real estate venture.
2. Informal To believe in, especially wholeheartedly or uncritically: couldn't buy into that brand of conservatism.
buy off
To bribe (an official, for example) in order to secure improper cooperation or gain exemption from a regulation or legal consequence.
buy out
To purchase the entire stock, business rights, or interests of.
buy up
To purchase all that is available of.

Right rant over , here's a song dedicated to Amazon and Apple:

Accentuate The Positive

My third post today , just to make sure that the last post wasnt the first thing that people see when they get to the blog. Yes it'll get buried in the other pile of posts but really I wanted to say something happy and positive and end (or start depending on which way you look at it) the week on a high note and feeling good.

Last week was full of lots of things happening and next week , workwise will be even fuller with people off looking after kids for half term. The thing is , as well as your own work you have to cover for other people , which makes you aware of what they do , and appreciate them knowing they will do the same for you . The other thing is that when you are so busy time just flies by at work , and that makes you appreciate being , home , being able to go out and spend time with friends.

We are at the advent of 4G communication with EE (get your 4G phone here) which can bring people closer together as well puting a wealth of knowledge within your grasp. I know this internet thing has a lot of frivolous stuff , but it is  a wonderful reference library and also a source of entertainent. You hold a phone in your havnd and it can act as a link to friends and love ones , a reference library and a source of entertainment. Star Trek or Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy here we come.

Well I  am looking forward to this week , lots of great opportunities , a big party on Saturday , a few train journeys , maybe get to see Skyfall and lots of other things.

Most people can find something good in their life and if you concentrate on those things life definitely improves. Fighting and war does no one any good and is just destructive. Build something , enjoy something , have fun , Life is good.

The Repulican Christian Way

Was worried to see today that Mitt Romney was seeing no reason why the 350,000 Christian Churches in the USA could not be mobilised to bet the black man out of the the Whitehouse and put the rich white man back in the driving seat. Some details here .

The thing about this is that Christianity is getting hijacked for private gain , to make the rich richer and anyone else an ignorant slave underclass .

Let's assume that God exists , and the Bible is reasonably believable. Now the Jesuits were the first people to point out to me that Jesus was not a long haired white man , but middle eastern and at least very sun tanned. Also he taught love for your fellow man and to help people who were worse off than you .






There's a lot of good moral lessons in The Bible that hold true whatever your religion or non religion. I bet Richard Dawkins find big chunks of it that contains common sense.

People like Romney , just like the Taliban with the Koran cherry pick bits to suit their purposes , and amazingly people then believe it's true when they sauy "The Bible says ...."  , whether it's stone a woman to death or nuke Iran.

One of Romney's kids says he want to punch Obama . Well Obama is black and has a name that sounds like Osama Bin Laden. Remeber just after the twin towers attack George made sure the Bin Laden family were flown out of the USA before the FBI could question them.

Romney doesnt believe that the rich should be taxed. Quotes like "The problem with $40 million dollars is that it becomes $20 million after tax" are not funny , when a lot of the American underclas have the problem that "$400 after tax and living expenses becomes - $200 ".


I have no problem with economies being run efficiently but the benefits should be for all , not just a select few.