July 2010
8 posts
1 tag
My favourite moments of SDCC
Disclaimer: These are my personal favourite moments. There were almost certainly more interesting and exciting things going on at SDCC, and I certainly saw more and did more than is in this post, but I wanted to boil it down to the moments that meant the most to me.
Milo Manara
Mirto introduced me to Milo Manara shortly after we moved in together. He is an Italian artist and author who creates...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-25) →
Amy Winehouse (1)
Foo Fighters (1)
Harry Nilsson (1)
The Kinks (1)
Jimi Hendrix Experience (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
1 tag
SDCC part 1
I arrived in San Diego!
The last couple of days at work have been agony as my twitter feed kept reminding me about all the awesome things I was missing. Finally today I got out of work and jumped on a plane. Two hours of listening to the two chaps next to me (an IT consultant and a hard-drive salesman) incessantly natter on about, well, hard-drives was irritating, but the flight could have been...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-18) →
AC/DC (3)
Smashing Pumpkins (3)
Pink Floyd (3)
Led Zeppelin (2)
Spin Doctors (2)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Please excuse this funk up
For a while now, I’ve been running on autopilot: Get up, see Mirto off to work, walk and feed the dogs, go to work, come home, sit with Mirto while she animates, go to bed. Rinse and repeat. Today, I’m taking back some control. “But how?” I hear you both cry. Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you.
But first, the “why”. I read this post at Hyperbole and a Half today. It rang true for me...
Old Jersey →
This is where I was born and grew up. It’s also why there’s a New Jersey. Thank you to @mental_floss for ensuring I have somewhere to point to when asked to explain.
1 tag
Pulsate →
This little toy speaks to all the things I love - vision, dynamics and sound working together in a simple way. I can think of a few ways to enhance it, but I also respect its purity and simplicity.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-4) →
Metallica (4)
Jimi Hendrix Experience (2)
Lily Allen (2)
Oi Va Voi (2)
The Beach Boys (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
June 2010
6 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-6-20) →
Primus (3)
The Wonder Stuff (3)
Pearl Jam (3)
Foo Fighters (3)
R.E.M. (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
3 tags
San Francisco crime rates mapped as elevations →
I’m a sucker for fun ways to present data at the best of times, but this is presented particularly beautifully: Doug McCune has taken Crime rates in San Francisco and used them as elevations on a map of the city (via laughingsquid).
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-6-6) →
Led Zeppelin (9)
AC/DC (9)
The Beatles (8)
Jethro Tull (5)
Weezer (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
2 tags
Adidas, meet Star Wars →
A really nicely made clip putting David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk and others into the Star Wars cantina.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-30) →
Alice in Chains (9)
Led Zeppelin (9)
The Black Crowes (3)
David Gilmour (3)
AC/DC (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
2 tags
A neat video from MIT Tech TV on the often misunderstood Coriolis effect (via @mirtos)
May 2010
6 posts
3 tags
Thank you, Douglas Adams
It’s Towel Day so I feel compelled to write about the effect Douglas Adams had on my world view and my life. I’m certainly not alone in recognising his impact on the world and it delights me to be one of many who felt touched by his writing.
I received my first copy of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (a trilogy in four parts) in 1984 when I was the ripe age of 7. I think I...
3 tags
2 tags
Space suit of the week →
I love this space suit. And no, I never thought that I’d write those words. It’s just so retro-futuristic and screams Kubrick to me.
Also, I will now be subscribing to this site’s space suit of the week feature.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-9) →
Led Zeppelin (9)
Alice in Chains (3)
David Bowie (2)
Incubus (2)
Pantera (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-2) →
Led Zeppelin (13)
Alice in Chains (7)
Amy Winehouse (5)
Faith No More (3)
The Clash (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
4 tags
April 2010
14 posts
2 tags
Monsterpiece Theatre →
“It don’t get classier than this!” (via mentalfloss)
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-25) →
Led Zeppelin (12)
Faith No More (6)
David Bowie (5)
Foo Fighters (5)
The Clash (4)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
2 tags
Exterminate your way to victory →
The latest Doctor Who episode revolved around the Daleks being used as weapons in WWII. The BBC have released this wonderful poster spoofing WWII propaganda posters. (via boingboing)
2 tags
1 tag
2 tags
So you need a typeface →
One of those things you didn’t know you needed until you see it: A flowchart to guide you to the typeface you need.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-18) →
Foo Fighters (6)
Jamiroquai (5)
Incubus (4)
David Bowie (4)
The Dead Weather (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
2 tags
3 tags
The dog police, part 3
Part 1 here, and 2 here.
It was during the recent hearing that I realised how important it is to me that the system works. I had to trust that the process would result in a positive outcome for my family and show the complainant up for what he is: A bombastic thug. It wasn’t easy to do this, to put so much trust in a system that is often reported as broken. There are so many...
4 tags
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-11) →
Infectious Grooves (5)
Foo Fighters (4)
Guns N’ Roses (3)
Jack Johnson (3)
Incubus (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
3 tags
2 tags
Surreal Dialogue Replacement →
This is just sublime: The Day Job Orchestra do a perfect job of overdubbing Star Trek: The Next Generation with surreal dialogue. (via mental_floss)
1 tag
March 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Magical mystery tour
This past week, @mirtos told me to book Friday off as we were going away. She refused, however, to tell me where. I was to be packed by Thursday evening and to pack for rain. Excitement!
As the week went on, she started getting frustrated that I didn’t know where we were going and, further, that I couldn’t help organise anything without knowing. Obviously I refused to be told our...
February 2010
4 posts
3 tags
The dog police, part 2
Part 1 here.
And as I said at the end of that, it’s not over yet.
After the last incident, I sent a friendly letter to our neighbourhood git suggesting politely that we might be adult about things and have a conversation about his issues with living next to Oliver. Failing that, perhaps we could reach an agreement regarding our mutual behaviour and avoid each other at all times.
I...
2 tags
3 tags
Jamie Oliver’s talk in acceptance of the TED prize 2010. A brilliant talk reminding us why knowledge is such an important thing to share with the next generation.
3 tags
The dog police
It’s been a while since I’ve had any juicy stories to post, and this is a doozy. First, as always, a little background.
In the first week in this new apartment, I had an interaction with my new neighbour. He was halfway down the corridor outside my apartment, I was at the door. We were a good four metres apart. Oliver, being Oliver, strained at his leash to say ‘Hi’ to...
January 2010
1 post
2 tags
December 2009
1 post
2 tags
Just Khan't Get Enough
This may or may not be a surprise, given where I work, but sometimes geeky questions are asked, and geeky responses are necessary. After one such conversation regarding how many ‘a’s are canon for the imperative “Khaaan!”, I decided further investigation was necessary:
It is clear that a strong power law relation is present for low eigenkhans after the initial spike at...
November 2009
3 posts
1 tag
Voices of Babylon
I have Google Voice set up for my phone, which is great as it makes me far more reachable wherever I am. It also provides a service that transcribes my voicemail.
Mirto has an accent that floats between Sweden, Greece and London. Google Voice is apparently confused by this which leaves me with wonderfully surreal messages that I like to imagine make sense to some parallel version of me. That or...
Science meets food meets eggs →
Combining cooking with science fascinates me, and this article starts from the basics: The perfect egg.
1 tag
October 2009
1 post
1 tag
November rain
First, the great news: My better half has a permanent job! She’s been working on contract for a while and they finally realised, as I did some time ago, that they couldn’t possibly live without her and have insisted she stay on.
Now, the less good news: As part of her new permanent contract, our mutual friend must fly to Shanghai next week and stay there for ten days. This is very...
July 2009
1 post
May 2009
1 post
Alive
Yes, I am still alive. Between work, other bloggery, twitter and other projects (coming soon), this blog has fallen by the wayside I’m afraid.
Still, I’m posting this! Which is a really lame way of keeping it ticking over. Sorry.
Hopefully, the Other Half will post some news soon that she’s been waiting to talk about.
March 2009
5 posts
1 tag
A fantastic reinterpretation of Little Red Riding Hood.
Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
2 tags
Let's get physical
Burpees.
The other day, I saw this followed shortly after by this. I felt inspired: here is an exercise routine that I can do without gadgets, without a gym, without memorising weights and rep counts.
So I started two days ago to just do a few every day and see what happens.
Day 1: Two burpees in I realised just how hard they are to do (insert caveat about my fitness level here). I made it to...