I’m sure you’ve seen all these news articles flying around saying that reading your email lots lowers your IQ. Please, please, please don’t believe everything you read. Read the opposing argument and make your mind up for yourself.
This is one of my favourite things in our garden. It produces magnificent great big deep red flowers. I was on my daily meander through the garden today when I spotted that it’s poised and ready to erupt in all its glory. Oh joy.
The first of the wee chappies has flown the roost, into the loving bosom of Pix. Pictured here is the little fella on his journey via Oxford Circus station (because the Circle line was closed this weekend).
Note also the fabulous Lomo-esque effect granted to the photo by the leather wrapper in which my phone lives. I think it’s teh orsome.
Never forget your roots, little guy.
Part One · Part Two · Part Three · Part Four · Part Five
Book #19
I have just re-read 1984, by George Orwell. It must be about 15 years since the last time I read it, and of course my view and my understanding of the world has changed a lot since then. Pete and I were discussing it in bed last night* and I asserted that every genereration that reads it is probably astonished at how true it is.
I was particularly struck by this passage:
For long periods the High [classes] seem to be securely in power, but… They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High.
I think this would be a good party political broadcast for the dreadful Mr Howard.
4/5
*I know, it used to be all squeaky bedposts, these days it’s literary discussion. Such is love.
“JGuitar is a set of useful tools for players of stringed instruments.”
I found this site whilst looking for a program that could parse a collection of notes and return an appropriate chord name for them. I once wrote a program to do this, and named it ChordRoy, which I thought was a hilarious sartorial play on words. Anyway, their Chord Namer is an excellent example of such software, and can detect a far greater range of chord types than my effort.
What’s the one thing we should do/see in New York?
Gregg Easterbrook quoted today on why shopping might go out of fashion – not quite such an airy-fairy idea as it at first might seem; it strikes me as odd that we care more about the living conditions of chickens (and occasionally opt to become vegetarian as a result), than we do about the working conditions of factory workers in the Far East.
Big businesses are anticipating a shift in consumer priorities now, by starting to take corporate social responsiblity seriously; but I think we have a long way to go before shoppers demand the social equivalent of organic chicken.
[Anyone who cares to point out the hypocrisy of this post next to the last one should be reassured that I have emailed Faith to ask about their corporate social responsibility policy]
