a cup of... Hot Tea, Hell & Some Havoc

Testing video blogging

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:56:32 +0200

This morning I put my camera in my pocket and then hauled it up on a couple of occasions through the day.

Not like at the table next to me

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:37:00 +0200

I was having a cup of tea, Earl Grey and two glasses of whisky. Not whiskey, whisky. Johnnie Walker, not Famous Grouse, because you don’t have that in this country.
I was conversating over the mobile with people from all over the world, I was reading about a possibly discovery regarding AI and I was reflecting on the one I read some time ago, about a possible break-through in solar energy.

I read a stranger’s blog post about how Kierkegaard may have found himself in today’s Copenhagen and trying to get around by bus. I read a highly entertaining (as almost always) blog post by Stephen Fry.

I didn’t bother reading about that Whoeverová, the thirty-something, sexy, trendy show hostess, and the possibility that she was shagging the young twenty-plus or so runner-up from last years reality show. Well, one of them, as they run by the dozens nowadays, don’t they?
Judging by the header and picture in a rag, it seems they were seen intimately talking at the release party of “Slovak Hits You Really, Really Heard Before #18”. (And in case you haven’t, be glad, be really glad).

I listened to Bowie and Mott The Hoople singing “The television man is crazy, Saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks, Man, I needed TV when I got T. Rex” (It’s from All The Young Dudes), Theatre of Hate’s Do You Believe In The West World? and a song by Soundtrack Of Our Lives, that I can’t remember the name of right now.
I didn’t bother thinking how great and improved my life probably would be if I bought a Shop Master XL 2008 that is on sale at Tesco’s right now.
I had a pretty good idea, and I wrote down this in that notebook I always carry with me. Writing, probably urged on a bit by the whisky, without, thankfully, really reflecting too much about the literary qualities of my scribblings, or lack of. (And as usual, using too many parenthesises, while doing it).

I responded to a few comments in a conversation that went on in my mobile, the participants hailing from München, Leeds, London, Chicago, somewhere in Australia, another one I think on the US East Coast, and the rest no real clue where they are from. Amsterdam, that’s another one.
I was sipping tea and watching people passing by and noticing that it was a nice sunny day, but best of all, not too hot. I think I heard someone speaking German, an elderly couple, probably the last of the tourists, otherwise, it’s only the Slovak language around me.
Because this is what I am. This is what I do.
At home in the world, a stranger at home.

Dan Kantor - Tumblr MP3 Player

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:38:10 +0200

Dan Kantor - Tumblr MP3 Player: A widget that plays through all of your Audio posts. Nifty! (I don’t really have any myself, but still…)

"I want a tattoo over my heart that reads TRY HARDER YOU LAZY PARAMEDIC SHITBAG OR I WILL HAUNT YOUR..."

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:34:16 +0200

“I want a tattoo over my heart that reads TRY HARDER YOU LAZY PARAMEDIC SHITBAG OR I WILL HAUNT YOUR BEDROOM FOREVER”

- Twitter/Warren Ellis

Dear Dr. Laura....

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:48:00 +0200

Long time ago, I read what is probably a classic today. I simply love it.
Here is the letter both in English as well as a Swedish translation.

Dr. Laura Schlesinger is a US radio personality who dispenses advice
to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as
an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according
to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The
following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a US resident,
which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as
informative………

The Internet Cloud (The Industry Standard)

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:08:49 +0200

The Internet Cloud (The Industry Standard):

This is actually an old article, really old.
But the term “The Cloud” has become more and more popular.
In Wikipedia, it states:

[The Cloud may refer to] a metaphor for Internet in cloud computing, based on how it is depicted in network diagrams and as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.

"Well I know karate, Voodoo too I’m gonna make myself available to you I don’t need no..."

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:13:00 +0200

“Well I know karate, Voodoo too
I’m gonna make myself available to you
I don’t need no make up
I got real scars
I got hair on my chest
I look good without a shirt”

- Tom Waits, Goin Out West

While pondering that Song of the week or something thing,...

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:41:58 +0200

While pondering that Song of the week or something thing, here’s another Tom Waits video for you lot.

I love Opus! Anyone happens to have a good link to a collection...

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:45:00 +0200

I love Opus! Anyone happens to have a good link to a collection of old strips? I miss the chap.

via www.berkeleybreathed.com

Tom Waits - I Don’t Want To Grow Up It’s Saturday,...

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:20:00 +0200

Tom Waits - I Don’t Want To Grow Up

It’s Saturday, it’s August and let us all kick back for a wee while.
I grew up, but what the heck. I haven’t forgotten what made me kick back then.. and I still kick.

Pondering doing some kind of Song of The Week thingie, sharing maybe less known stuff here.
Yeah, I know, I know… Tom Waits is hardly lesser known. But there are people that don’t know who he is. Really.

The Final Event

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:48:18 +0200

Forum poster: What will you wear to the Apocalypse? After all, whenever it happens, it's going to be The Event of the year.
Me: Hmmm.. My old duster, my sharp Gurkha knife and the seat ticket to a place near the fire exit?

Superiority

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:38:00 +0200

Czech and Slovakia used to be one nation. Theoretically, during the Communist era, they were “equal partners” in the post-WWII republic.

Though in practical life, I really doubt it was so, other than in artificial, state-controlled contexts.

Even today, I see it more or less daily, if a Slovak goes to Czech republic, he speaks Czech.
A Czech would never lower himself to speak Slovak, even if he has lived here for 20 years.
Slovak telly never dubs Czech movies (They show a lot of them, in fact all of them. At least twice annually).
Czechs would dub a Slovak movie, without exception (even at a progressive, cultsy artsy alternative film festival), if they’d actually show it at all.

I notice, being a foreigner, every time I encounter it. Which is quite often.
Czechs don’t even reflect about this, it’s about as natural as using the bog.
But what more is, most of my Slovak friends don’t reflect about it either.
Czechs are superior to Slovaks and that is how it always been, it seems.
And both parties agree on it being a fact.

The Geek Factor

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:58:00 +0200

Maybe it’s because of my earlier posts on notebooks, but I’ve been pondering off and on during quiet moments, about those gadgets that, well, if not excite me, at least give me the same kind of reaction as the stereotyped woman ~~does~~ is supposed to get when seeing those shoes.
Sure, I love my mobile phone, but that is for what I can do with it, keep in touch with friends, mail, twitter, read feeds, news, and so on.
But the things that flick my switch are a bit more analogue.

Notebooks - Well, we covered that, I think.
Pens - Same here, to some extent. While I love fountain pens, they’re not always that practical in your backpack. Hence, I settled for occasionally using a Parker rollerball as a compromise.
Knives - Afraid I’m a bit of a knife buff. But not those oversized, Rambo survival things. Functional, also knives from various cultures
Watches - Same goes as for knives. No oversized fashion or wallet bragging statements. Though I do have a soft spot for those Special Forces watches with no frills, that are supposed to endure everything and then some.
On a sidepoint, add those old portable sun dials to this category.
Wallets - To a certain extent, as long as they talk to my very fastidious taste.
Compasses - No, I promise I had this thing before Jack Sparrow. Old ones, brass ones, symbol of the navigator… and the traveller.

I could probably add a few more things here, like (wet) shaving utensils. (I’m still trying to find Crabtree & Evelyn’s sandalwood shaving soap in Slovakia. May try Austria next.).
But these things I er… have a thing for.

As I write this, I can’t help wondering if the combination of things that snap our poppies tell something about us?
Not really sure since 1.the interpretation is done by the reader (actually not a bad thing, but then again, I’m relativist) and/or 2. if it says “I like collecting Ukranian shovels” (Anorak!) or “I like cosmetics” (Average Bimbo!)

There’s a lot of good British humour and Smack the Pony...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:42:06 +0200

There’s a lot of good British humour and Smack the Pony belongs smack right in there. If you haven’t seen Sally Phillips, Fiona Allen and the others, I can truly recommend them.

Thanks Tommy for the reminder. :)

"Afhvart mikit er til ills vinar þótt á brautu búi en til góðs vinar liggja gagnvegir þótt hann sé..."

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:26:00 +0200

“Afhvart mikit
er til ills vinar
þótt á brautu búi
en til góðs vinar
liggja gagnvegir
þótt hann sé firr farinn”

- It is a great roundabout way to a bad friend, though he by the road dwells;
but to a good friend lay shortcuts, though he be gone farther away.

Havamál 34

Funny thing is I don’t really miss smoking. And remember, there is no ban in this country....

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:34:00 +0200

Funny thing is I don’t really miss smoking. And remember, there is no ban in this country.

What I do on occasion miss, however, is my Zippo…

Good Morning Love xkcd’s humuor. Can recommend checking...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:58:10 +0200

Good Morning

Love xkcd’s humuor. Can recommend checking them out.

Been playing w some really interesting tools. Need to get offline, but will test more tomorrow.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:38:00 +0200

Been playing w some really interesting tools. Need to get offline, but will test more tomorrow.

Still pondering “How to introduce usability to a culture where the concept of The Organisation...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:50:00 +0200

Still pondering “How to introduce usability to ~~a culture where the concept of The Organisation~~ Kafka’s birth country…

Work Thought II

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:11:00 +0200

The basic question is, having currently two different careers, one traditional and one not really existing here, in case of me focusing on the second…
Do I want to start again where I was in 1996? Only this time in a formal, still partially authoritan culture with a language I’m still not comfortable speaking?
The IT people may speak English and be less provincial. The customers, however, is a completely different pint.