Lindsay Marshall's Weblog

Bifurcated Rivets

22 January 2001

16:39:54
Single-minded - an independent journal of fact and opinion. ANother one that feels familiar - I am always slightly suspicious of places that bill themselves as "independent" as it often means "right-wing nutter", though this guy says he "thinks liberal and lives conservative" which makes sense to me, sort of. Mind you I try to think anarchist and live liberal.....

16:11:18
GMTplus9 has had many great links over the last few days - go there and look at them.

16:04:25
I found I had another weird Japanese art house porn movie on tape - The Dream of Garuda . This was even more perplexing and obscure than the other one I watched. Mind You, I watched most of it on fast forward so perhaps that may explain the problem!

15:35:29
Hmm, my web server access log as 226M. Time to start a new one I think.

15:11:21
The constants and equations page - I may have linked this one before, but it follows on from the other one. The build your own chemical thing sounds lije a fun idea, except the link is broken.

12:57:54
We're supposed to have a new, faster net connection now, but everything is so slow today! I blame George Bush myself.

12:44:17
I really must remember to start a fresh log one of these days. The sooner I move over to a database driven system the better I think.

12:28:09
Ah, a picture of the royal mausoleum. The Victorians really knew how to do this kind of thing well.

12:27:30
Bizarre story in the paper today about how some places in the USA have a special exchange rate for the Scottish pound!

12:22:31
100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria today. I hadn't realised quite what a shambles the organisation for her funeral had been - basically they didn't think she would ever die so hadn't planned ahead. Today's Guardian has a picture of her and Albert's mausoleum at Frogmore - they are opening it for one day and I really wish I could get to go and see it as it looks amazing. Pity it's too far away. (Can't find a picture of the inside yet though)

12:14:46
Hmm, sporadica (which name checks this page at the moment - a central node of peculiarity no less!) leads me to Jocke's Homepage. He's finnish but appears to live in the UK (well, he's order ADSL from freeserve...) which is probably why he has a link to this site about Finland.

11:51:40
I watched the start of the new (to the UK) series of Friends last week. It really is time they chopped the show - lots of lovey dovey stuff and weak (done to death) sex jokes. It was very noticeable in that in the couple of hourse between Chandler and Monica getting engaged 1) Everyone had lost weight, 2) had new hairstyles, 3) in Monica's case, got a suntan, and 4) cleared up all the hundreds of candles that had been lying around. Or am I not suspending disbelieve willingly enough here?

19 January 2001

15:01:17
Enlightenment! - Undokai is a school sport's festival. Thanks Andrew.

13:48:46
MySweetHomePage - I was following a link to something called wako-park. This is a picture of wako-park (I guess). I really like the Tudor Swiss cottage style architecture!

13:06:52
"Human life is a lot like stone carving. No one knows the ultimate shape until the very end" - quote on Japan Today's book pages.

10:14:36
Malaysian PM blaims Japan's apeing of the west for Asian problems. I can't make up my mind if I agree with him or not - it sounds a little bit too much like demanding that nothing ever changes.

18 January 2001

16:36:42
I hadn't realised that MCSE fro Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert!

13:02:42
A dictionary in a meishi (business card) ! Sounds fun. I bet it the price is inversely proportional to the size though!

11:46:54
Wetn to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon last night - yes, it's a bit hackneyed ot say it's a great film, but it is. The cinematography is superb - the shot over Beijing is just breathtaking (though of course, totally unreal as there would have been hundreds of wood fires burning and a pall of smoke over the whole place, and the city was way too clean!). My only misgiving was that I would have much preferred a conventional Western happy ending rather than a Chinesse ending where honour and destiny are satisfied. Sad films make me sad, and it is not a favourite European emotion I don't think.

11:43:11
RIP Auberon Waugh - not a particular favourite of mine, but an important member of UK cultural life.

11:42:46
Go postal with Postal Life - essential reading methinks. (Thanks Ole)

17 January 2001

16:49:16
This probably old stuff to you net sophisticates out there, but I hadn't seen this map of the Intenet as Antartica before.

16 January 2001

13:47:26
Our local SF Book shop has a whole collection of "Where the WIld Things Are" models. I find thids strange. Here are some WTWTA magnets.

13:43:22
The Munster Express online. The Village Views are sweet. (and not in the Cartman sense)

13:36:04
The Christ Centred Mall - "Interractive Christian Shopping and Teaching Ministry Megasite" Oh dear, oh deary, deary, dear. I couldn;t find a sex shop any where. They claim to be a real Mall not just an online store, though their logic escapes me.

11:59:19
After much reinstalling of operating systems I finally got my C-Pen to work properly (sort of). It's been a major hassle though and it is still not quite right, but it does what it does very well - the barcode reading software is especially neat.

11:56:31
How come I have to read Japan Today to find out about nuclear fuel at sea less than a hundred miles away from me? Machine guns to stop piracy? Pretty wimpy pirates if you ask me.

09:57:51
Oops. Why do they even think about letting people do things like that? (Great Sumo photo on the page as well)

09:49:55
Grove dictionary of musicians online. Not a particularly usable interface though. They have an article on Africa Bambaataa but not Bill Monroe, so I can't rate it that highly.

15 January 2001

14:00:09
Lego Porn. (There several other series of it too) I am not even goin gto think about saying anything about this site.

13:45:38
A collection of photos of burned out vehicles in North Ayrshire., sadly not updated very recently - get out there and burn some cars in Ayrshire :-) (Thanks Patrick)

13:28:22
Hmm, I can't seem to find an Epson Stylus 640 Paintshop colour management profile anywhere on the web. How frustrating - the coloure reproduction is terrible at the moment.

13:12:38
Brrr, cold and I just spent 4 hours invigilating exams (10 different papers in one room)

12 January 2001

10:26:52
I watched a Channel 4 program about "Beat" Takeshi which was fascinating - an amazing character who seems ot be able to do anything he turns his hand to. He is omnipresent in Japanese media so there are dozens of pages about him.

10:16:59
I watched a film called Tandem by Toshiki Sato (Warning- rude pictures) the other day and was completely mystified by it - especialy the ending. Anyhow, it seems that it is part of a whole art house porno genre which explains why I didn't understand it. Check out the Japanese Call Girl Cards for some more entertaiment - why would anyone be attracted by a cartoon character? The whole site is worth checking out if you are interested in odd videos and music.

10 January 2001

13:13:06
Deb and Bob clearly could do with some visitors. Nice house though. I like the idea of an "in-law" unit. That sounds a bit like what is called a "huffy house" round here! Oh, and they cycled across the USA so all praise to them!

12:25:02
Get a football strip for your pet.....Newcastle will be filled with these shortly I expect. *sigh*

12:07:51
I just installed the latest Mozilla build and it works very well - I main even consider going with it as my full time browser, which none of the other releases i tried got close to.

09:42:50
I know the Baen Free library was mentioned on Slashdot, but I think that the introductory speil is worth reading as it gives a good and sensible summary of the issues. Pity I have never heard of any of the authors though.

9 January 2001

16:16:40
Crowley's Equinox (or at least most of it). Some of it is very odd indeed. I suspect Crowley of being someone who was absolutely fascinating and detestable at the same time.

14:56:09
Would you let these people teach you about design? (Thanks paola) Same people, same mess. More of the same. Why does "design" always seem to imply "pseudo-arty unreadable rubbish"???

12:55:52
Some recent jinglish finds (been here lots of times before of course) I especially like the Danger notice.

12:35:19
Sigs: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced" and "You're just jealous because the voices in my head don't talk to you"

11:22:58
Really, really, really tacky website for Peter Stringfellow's girlfriend.

10:29:47
We got some new channels on our digital television box at the start of January and I watched Becker which I had never seen before. I haven't laughed as much for ages. I don't even know if they still make the program.

5 January 2001

14:58:15
I read about this Hindu festival that is coming up where they expect 70 million people to turn up. That is scary.

11:39:31
Now I have the digital I really must try and do some images for the degree confluence project (which I have mentioned before). I'd need to borrow my friends GPS of course but it might make some nice days out.

4 January 2001

13:17:23
I really want to get some of these "rhythm games" like Dance Dance Revolution, but they don't seem to be available in the UK yet.

3 January 2001

12:36:35
Checkout the bizarre products available from this company. Electronic dustbin? Footcart Warmer? Eyesight health pen?

2 January 2001

13:22:12
Happy new year - and I hope you all had a good time. I got a Canon Digital Ixus for christmas so expect to be inundated with my crappy digital photographs.....

13:17:29
RIP Jimmy Shand - a true virtuoso of the button accordion and a composer of great tunes.

Also I should mention Victor Borge and Martin Minow.

21 December 2000

12:12:03
Well, seasons greetings to you all, and there probably won't be any updates until we are in the 21st century.

08:12:01
I crewed up the link to the Sydney Hobart race the other day and just went looking for it again. Google gives two hits on the mis-typed string "Snydney Hobart race" and one of them is wearcondoms.com.

20 December 2000

13:39:48
I have been listening to a couple of things that I can highly recommend : Celia Cruz's Ma Vida Es Cantar

- great latin music, and Sharon Shannon's Each Little Thing

(with Kirsty McColl on one track) and Out The Gap

Isn't it stupid how things are unavailable in one country and not others!!

08:36:09
The Sydney to Hobart boat race - another example of things in Australia that you never hear about. (Thanks Ole)

08:35:01
RIP Kirsty McColl - a huge talent, who for some reason I seemed to have heard a lot in the last few days.

19 December 2000

12:39:56
Find out about Harold Holt - an Australian Prime Minister who vanished while swimming. Doesn't mention it here, but apparently there was a rumour that he was picked up by a submarine. In fact he was swimming in a place with some of the most dangerous currents in the whole world and where he had nearly been drowned six months before his death! The only memorial to him in Australia is a swimming pool....

18 December 2000

15:47:25
I was surprised by how few birthday greetings came this year - usually there are a dozen or so as people pick look at the birthday server. Must be the Saturday effect - nobody at work with nothing better to do :-) But thanks to those who did send me greetings.

13:51:47
Got a really nice mini-tripod for my birthday - I've been wanting one for ages too.

15 December 2000

14 December 2000

11:45:49
This Vaio is so gorgeuous! Definitely to die for, sadly the processor is underpowered and it runs Windows Me. So if they want to give me one for an extended test...

09:13:28
I had 20 minutes outside watching for Geminids last night and I even managed to see some! Unfortunately the moon was right in the middle of them so only the brightests were visible. Two things I'd really like to see are an amazing meteor shower and a really good Aurora.

09:10:37
I suppose the only good thing of having Bush as US president might be that the Amercian people might become rather more politicised as a result of all the cokc ups. They could satart CRAP - the Campaign for Real American Politics.

13 December 2000

13:17:44
A memorial page for Dawn Crosby. I suspect she is someone I ought to have heard of, but haven't.

12 December 2000

09:06:46
Ugh, a ton of stupid spam in my mail box thsi morning. Even more inane than usual!

11 December 2000

12:57:59
Cult Drinks - if you go to the site via https rather than http it turns out the certificate is registered to someone in South Africa. Amazing what you can find out if you make a typo. Lots of very strong drink here - I have no idea what some of them are! I mean, what are "yachting liqueurs"? (The page loads empty for me) An absinthe spoon might be a nice thing to have though. Wow, 89.95 squid for a solid silver one. Ouch.

12:51:50
Sneezing is astonishingly painful with whatever I have done to my back. Ow.

8 December 2000

15:33:11
m-o-o-t sounds like a good idea. RIP is a bad idea and the more people do to get round it and bring it down the better. Trouble is it takes a long time to get rid of bad law.

7 December 2000

14:17:35
Be honest, are you really surprised by the fact that Aconite reads alot of SF/Fantasy novels?

11:13:37
Opera browser has gone free with V5.0, well, free if you don't mind ads and also if you are running Windows. I downloaded it the other day and was not impressed with the Linux version at all. Vile MDI style interface.

10:33:18
Indian Marriages and Jeevansathi - Indian marriage arrangement services. Culture is a strange thing.

4 December 2000

14:14:43
Argante sounds interesting. Well, if you are interested in operating systems and stuff.

14:05:44
I've done my back in some how and keep getting agonising twinges...ouch.

13:44:00
It was my parent's golden wedding anniversary this weekend, so we were all away at the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel which was good. There was a big wedding on at the same time - all the men were from planet kilt and the women from planet hat. Astonishing! The river Tweed was in spate and very high - big salmon jumping too. The borders are fantastic.

1 December 2000

14:52:33
Just been to my neighbour's daughters funeral. It was a tad too evangelical for my taste, but lots and lots of people came which was good for the family.

08:47:35
I was very taken on Penn and Teller's comment on David Blane's ice escapades that the hardest part was looking good with his shirt off!

29 November 2000

11:54:57
I've been trying to find the chords for Singin' in the Rain but they don't seem to be on the net anywhere. Oh well.

11:36:09
I don't think I even begin to comprehend what it means to be a tetrachromat!

28 November 2000

16:07:40
I was browsing through a glossaryof 17th century theives' cant and I found this entry: "wap - to have sex".

12:51:38
Gloom in our street this weekend as one of our neighbour's daughter was killed by a car.

24 November 2000

11:53:35
Aaargh so busy! So much stuff to do. I haven't looked at another weblog for weeks!

21 November 2000

16:35:38
(Warning sad people ahead!!) A page of pictures with images of Mickey Mouse hidden in them. (Spurred by a mnetion by karl of hiddenmickeys.org which I think I have mentioned before)

09:41:13
I quote from a Freshmeat posting :

XXXXX is a rich, component-based object model for developing dynamic, highly interactive Web applications

Do you have any idea what that is supposed to mean?

09:37:04
Oh, I forgot to mention a peeve from last week - Bill gates gets up at Comdex and demonstrates an Apple Newton and says this is the future, but it wont be here for a couple of years. Everyone instantly goes into ecstacy. Sheesh!

09:22:10
Leonard Peltier is a good cause, so sign the petition to get him released Thanksgiving (whatever that is :-) ) Pity that the site has an extremely annoying pop-up window.

20 November 2000

13:11:53
Interior decorators look at the furnishings you can see in amateur pron photos. (Safe for the prudish too!)

11:34:33
I really should be down by the river watching the Millenium bridge go in, but I dont have time to get there and back before my next lecture now. *sigh* The view on the webcams is pretty good though. It is going to look amazing when it is in place.

11:32:27
RIP Willie Taylor - one of the finest Northumbrain/Border fiddlers and a great composer of tunes. His playing was wonderfully rhythmic and was not overburdened with excessive ornamentation as Irish fiddle often is. He was missing one of the fingers on his left hand as well.

Russ Conway - also missing part of a finger. Another great musician - not particularly to my taste, but a great influence on many people.

Dunston Hide and Skin Works. One of the world's oldest reinforced concrete buildings. it has been lying abandoned for many years and decaying slowly, wating for someone to take it on and restore it, but alas the demolition men have got to it first. You may think that a reinforced concrete building sounds nothing special, but this was a beuatiful building - built in concrete with the aesthetics of stone.