Minimal

Last of the big spenders

Well, at long, long last I’ve bought myself a DVD player. Finally, Wilka will be able to force me to watch Fight Club and I’ll probably get to see Memento too. All I need now is a VCR so I can watch the last episode of Six Feet Under that Steve recorded for me a few weeks back. Don’t want to overdo it, mind. ;)

Oh... did I mention that this DVD player also comes with a dual-shock game controller and can play PSone and Playstation 2 games? Yes, kids, it’s my first ever games console. At the age of 27¾. And my first game? Gran Turismo Concept, complete with a MINI Cooper S in the line-up. I may be gone some time... :)

News story of the day

Johnny Vegas sells wedding pics to Viz for £1. One glorious poke in the eye for Hello and OK magazine. :)

Streets ahead

Emerging from a metro station in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, the government’s chief architectural adviser had to shake himself. “I looked up and thought, this is just magnificent, world class. I could be in Rome, or Paris.”

You better believe it, baby! Last week, Grey Street won the award for Britain’s Best Street. Capital of Culture, here we come. :)

Blatant plug for a mate

If you’re looking to recruit a creative multimedia designer in the Newcastle area, Chris Clark’s your man. He does freelance too. :)

Feyernoord

I always knew the Dutch had a generally excellent grasp on the English language, but the chanting at the Champions League game last night was superb. Here are my top five:

1. Sun-der-land, Sunderland, Sunderland (guaranteed to get a response!)
2. You're supposed to sing at home
3. Shall we sing a song for you?
4. You're shit and you know you are
5. You're so shit it's unbelievable

Hell, they were more eloquent than most fans of Premiership clubs. Good show (bad result).

Inside Out

Kudos to the Beeb for a surprisingly decent local interest programme, aired tonight on BBC1 — Inside Out. This edition (for the North East & Cumbria) featured two particularly good stories.

The first, centring on concrete buildings and the history and development of reinforced concrete on Tyneside, was presented by Prof. John Knapton of Newcastle University. I like to see people’s illusions shattered and prejudices challenged and this guy was a master. Even I, the Swan House sympathiser, didn’t realise the Malmaison (formerly the Coop Warehouse) on the quayside was concrete. Just goes to show how well it can be done.

The second story focussed on local graffiti around the Metro system. Again, the program refused to take the Daily Mail approach, instead preferring to question whether it could instead be considered art, much like that of renowned graffiti artist Banksy in the South. I’ve often wished that the authorities would just get together with some of the kids who do this stuff and work with them instead of wasting their time fighting them. Some of the pieces you see around Newcastle show a genuine talent that could be used to everyone’s benefit. When you consider the hundreds of thousands spent on something like the Blue Carpet (which I’m finally learning to like), wouldn’t it make sense to just offer a little direction and get some virtually cost-free public art?

Incidentally, it’s my birthday in January (you’ve got to get in early, you know), so if you’re stuck for something to get me, you could do a lot worse than one of these two books. ;)

Same old Shearer, always scoring

It wasn’t quite the thumping I was hoping for, but Newcastle’s comfortable victory over the mackems was sweet enough.

Tearing my hair out

Thanks to Phil for alerting me to the release of RSS v2.0 on Dave Winer’s site. However, this has just reminded me of why I gave up on my attempt to fumble through RSS in the first place.

For the benefit of a novice like myself, can someone explain how one man is able to ‘release’ his own XML format and call it a standard in the same breath as saying that the W3C currently has a separate recommendation for RSS v1.0? I just don’t get it. Surely the W3C rules and that’s that? And if they do have a spec for RSS v1.0, why doesn’t Mr Winer provide any samples for it? And where’s the stuff on the v0.94 format he mentions and who defines that?

I really want to use RSS, but everyone seems to have their own version (Dave Winer, W3C, Netscape, etc.) - what gives? I’m utterly confused. Normally, stuff like this is easy to pick up, but documentation on RSS always leaves me with many, many more questions than answers. :(

Hotcakes!

That tune from the VW Beetle ad is released this week and it’s selling fast. On my way past Virgin this morning, I figured I should probably buy a copy seeing as I’d been listening to the MP3 for weeks. Finding a copy on CD was harder than I'd expected — the shelves had been cleared of them by eager punters, although I finally spotted one at a listening post. And this was at 8:50am!

Growing old disgracefully

I love the idea of becoming a complete hooligan once you're of pensionable age. One particular chap in Fresno, California, seems to share my dream and general intolerance of dumbasses. ;)

Sickener!

Well, I’m off to the US early tomorrow morning, coming back on the 18th. I thought you might like to share in the experience with me, so here’s the Washington weather forecast. He he he. ;)

Bloody French!

Bloody French and their bloody strikes! I’ve just found out that Air France called a 4-day pilots’ strike today, resulting in my flights out to the States being cancelled. Wankers.

Update: British Airways to the rescue! :)

So funny, it hurts

Gamers face jail in Greece. Ok, you think, maybe they’re talking about people playing really, really sick videogames. But no — even if you dare to play Snake on your Nokia in a fit of holiday boredom, you could be looking at a stretch inside. It appears the Daily Mail has nothing on our Mediterranean cousins when it comes to over-reactions. Incredible.

Football Soccer, Washington style

I’m off over to the good ol’ US of A in a few days’ time to see the parents (again!). As well as going to my first baseball game (now that the players’ petty foot-stamping is over), I hope to keep up to date with Newcastle’s progress on cable at Summers Restaurant. Might take a bit of time to get used to the American commentary again, mind, so I figure it’s time for a bit of revision...

It’s about bloody time, too!

BBC News: House price rises cooling. I do rather fear I’ve missed my chance of a dream home, though. :(