Blog archive December 2006

<< November 2006 / January 2007 >>

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22.12.06 / 01 / stealth boat

now here's a cool boat.

clearly based on the f117a stealth fighter but i suspect that being observed is the point.

this came up via a conversation in the office about whether one could get a black toilet. and this photo shows one in the master bathroom of the boat. although i'm disappointed that the toilet is a conventional shape and not stealth-styled.

it's just a pity that the [italian] firm is called 'wally'. which in england means 'idiot', but the nuance is best seen by the company it keeps in this list of english synonyms for idiot:

eejit, prick, wally, dimbo, prat, dippy, twerp, twit, nitwit, mug, nit, git, div, pranny, prannet, thicko, dappy, twunt, berk, nutter, melon, flid, spaz, mophead, dippo, drip, nesh, headcase, nelly, nutcase, pillock, spasmo, gooseberry, dimwit, bender, clot, wankipants

[source: a british-american english translating dictionary which has a great collection of truly british words]

cool boats though.

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17.12.06 / 02 / mum's mobile

my mother [aged 71] has just got her first mobile phone. she's talking about getting a laptop and internet access.

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17.12.06 / 01 / DJ Shadow movies

some dj shadow movies from friday night at brixton academy:

Download walkietalkie.3GP
Download circleline.3GP
Download thistime.3GP
Download mashing.3GP
Download midnight.3GP

i've got a new phone so these are small but decent and you can hear the music - can anyone identify the track on the movie i've called circleline [because it's shot on the circle line]? mashing features lateef rapping on the stage and great audience participation. midnight is shadow closing the show over 'midnight in a perfect world'.

shadow still has an endearing slight lack of cool on stage - i like him better for it because it feels like we get the man not a distancing persona. gareth was surprised by the talking, but shadow talked to the crowd far less than in 2003. still we mocked: "stand away from the mic!" and spoke of sermons in the church of dj shadow. but he left it to lateef to address us at length.

it was great to hear the unkle tracks given a proper run - a soundtrack to better times. some people are surprised by the rap-heavy turn on 'the outsider', but if you've got the quannum/solesides stuff it's always been there, just not on the albums under his own name. with all its guests and styles the outsider feels like shadow's own attempt at an unkle album. musically he's got quite a range.

visuals all fantastic but the thing that sticks in my mind is the cctv cameras clip for 'triplicate' which fortunately is on the dvd with the outsider special edition. one for grace sometime.

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10.12.06 / 01 / cheeky!

those cheeky sods at the spider house are using my photos on their site uncredited! it's a good job i love them. of course it's flattering really. i note there's no contact email.

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08.12.06 / 01 / "if you jump off the cliff, you just have to make your wings on the way down"

this post by david hieatt on the howies blog is a pretty good summation of the emerging church 'democracy of ideas/embrace failure' ethos.

we have to make more mistakes. we have to understand failure is going to happen.

we can learn from failure. but 'not doing' will teach us nothing and give us nothing in return.

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there will be people here who will say ' I don't have ideas' and in my experience the best ideas usually come from them.

if grace were a clothing company...

btw i emailed david with some concerns about the timberland deal - oh the cheek, but with what other clothing company would i feel able to do that ["yo phil, i'm not sure about nike's new direction..."]? had to get it off my chest. he assures me that they are staying in control and in cardigan bay, and that timberland want them to stay the same only better at what they do. and that it's his job to make sure that doesn't change. i just hope he has the leverage, and never has to use it.