24th September - The Key to Success in a Life or Death Situation..?

Have you ever, instead of unleashing that killer arrow, buffed yourself instead..? Cast a bolt instead of a heal.?? No..! How about this then you MMOG challenged fool, you forget all of those short-cut keys for Word or Photoshop??? A-ha, see! I knew, you have haven't you!? Just when you thought you had memorized all of those fiendishly easy to remember CTRL-Shift-ALT key strokes, and have dropped that pile of paper all over your office/study/bedrrom floor and can't find your flash card with all the key strokes on it, and because you haven't used a particular app for 3 days in succession, your brain turns into pancake batter...

Well, fear not, the Art Lebedev Studio has the answer. How about an image on every key..? Yup, icons/buttons can be uploaded. Looks like anyone wanting to buy one will have to wait until Summer of 2006, but I can't wait tbh... I'm sure it will make playing MMOGs and FPSs a lot simpler, and imagine, games and apps could even come with their own uploadable keyboard layouts! And no matter how many different games or apps you switch between you could possibly have the layout in front of your eyes, err.., fingers.

23rd September - FairTrade..?

Over the last few days, I have found myself listening to a lot of my old vinyl, finding some of the songs that had meaning back in the day when I bought and listened to them, hoping to rekindle that meaning and memory during a dark period of life. It's strange how certain things do that, music and smells do it mostly for me...

Any how, I stumbled across a box of my 45's and ultimately got to Billy Bragg's "Levi Stubbs' Tears" which seemed to fit my mood perfectly. Although I love my vinyl, I am a technophile so had to be able to play it digitally, so off to the handy Real Player search function and there I found a very nice free downloadable live version of Billy back in 1992 at the Barton Theatre in Eccles near Manchester. After listening to it for hours I realised I had no idea who Levi Stubbs is/was, so after a quick trip to my favourite friend, the Google Bar, no, not a drinking establishment, but the thing at the bottom of the page...

And some how I ended up on a Billy Bragg forum and someone asking about the hidden meaning in the song. So after a couple of hours reading from the forum and surfing in and around it, I noticed a post called 'FairTrade', with the question, other than Billy Bragg and Chris Martin could any mention any 'Fameos' (that's a word I use; fame-o's, not; fam-e-os) who support FairTrade. Someone said Sainsbury, who, somewhat missed the point and then someone else said that the Co-op seem to lead the way with FairTrade, and went on to say how much of a presence the Co-op had at Glasto this year, sponsoring Leftfield...

Now call me cynical, but hold on, the Co-op is a profit making organisation, and one of the only reasons they would champion FairTrade is if it was a profitable option for them. Also The Co-operative Group is exactly what it says on the tin, a co-operative, made up of it's members, unlike a PLC whose main drive is to keeps it's shareholders happy, a co-operative is dependant on it's members. Surprisingly the demographic of The Co-operative Group's membership age group is between 42 and 92, which peaks at 67. This is a big problem when you are running far behind the likes of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's etc. So think more of the presence at Glasto as merely a membership drive and 'Brand' promoting to the age demographic that they are going to need, so that they can survive once the older members shuffle off this mortal coil.

lol, oh yes, thx Liz, Levi Stubbs was a singer in the Four Tops, as refered to in the song; "she takes off the Four Tops tape, and puts it back in it's case", as well as other Motown references, such as "Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong", writers of Marvin Gaye's, Heard It Through The Grapevine, "Are here to make everything right that’s wrong", as well as "Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too", probably the most prolific writers for Motown in the early years, "Are here to make it all okay with you".

23rd September - Farewell. . .

A period of drought, although a lot of rain has fallen.

It's very strange how a simple incident can prove so devastating, and make you feel that everything we do is so very, very trivial.

I have said my private and personal farewells, but after losing two of my closest colleagues and friends it seemed only appropriate to say it publicly. John and Alison, you will be so greatly missed...

2nd September - My Life is Brilliant

James Blunt is as sharp as a pencil, but also examines the male psyche in his tune, "You're Beautiful". I've heard this song tons of times, but while stuck in traffic on the M1, heading back from Alfreton up to Durham I actually listened to the lyric and smiled to myself.

Other than practising the art of how to look insane sitting in a car, an art which I practice daily, either by talking, singing or laughing along to the radio. Of course the hands-free mobile phone has made this less of an art form, than a random nodding of heads and thinking 'on the phone', rather than the thought of 'nutter' running through their minds.

But do men really think that a pleasant smile can mean so much..? or even more, to write a song about.??

Then there's the religious side that men think Angels are female, a - I must admit - common popularisation and image, although most religious visitations, and maybe a fact of wiring of my female brain, have a male appearance, although lacking a vital 'tool' in the pants department.