With all the other exciting events that have been taking place and that I've been reporting, I actually have a backlog of events from the past week to report.
The first of these should be a note on Sunday - Chrissi and I went to Teddington to see the recording of this week's show Comedy World Cup. I hadn't seen the show before - it's essentially a quiz show but about comedy - and it wasn't too bad. One of the main draws is that it was presented by David Tennant, and for Carisa's benefit, I will point out this meant that we were within 100m of him for well over two hours.
The show was quite entertaining - while I will avoid any spoilers as to who wins (oh no, the tension!) - I was surprised that Alan Carr was much funnier than I expected; Kevin Bridges was much quieter than expected, and Micky Flanagan has a superb laugh and seems to laugh at everything. Clive Anderson was also amusing - and his knowledge of Monty Python was impressive!
What was curious was the token older comedian (maybe this isn't how it works, but they had Nicholas Parsons on last week) - this week it was Stan Baldwin - and so much of his comedy seemed very dated. He was funny in parts, but made several jokes not just for shock value, but ones that just wouldn't be acceptable nowadays - or at least not funny.
Overall though it was entertaining. Will have to watch the show this Friday and see if we can see ourselves in any of the crowd shots!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Ahoy Me Hearties!
Arrrrr! Today, landlubbers, be International talk like a pirate day. I shared this information with my colleagues and much pirate banter was exchanged, including asking whether projects were shipshape and noting that someone working from home was working in their rowboat. I also returned home this evening to a pirate day card from Mark, possibly the best card anyone can receive.
Also Today: Award for blissfully unaware irony goes to the person who on the train this evening had Blink 182's What's My Age Again? as their ringtone. Now, while they can still be entertaining - and I will admit that the the turn of the century's premier purveyers of puerile pop-punk are one of my guilty pleasures to listen to occasionally - having it as your ringtone is going to far in 2012.
In Other News: On my walk home from the station I was amused to see a flash sports car - it looked like a Lambourghini but I didn't quite catch it - driven twice at speed round a mini-roundabout. The driver - stereotypically wearing shades and staring at his reflection in the mirror - was, I am sure, imagining he was in a scene straight out of an advert, spinning in dramatic circles across the desert, speeding towards distant horizons as onlookers gasped in awe at his magnificent machine. In reality he was repeatedly circling a mini-roundabout in Surbiton looking like a tool.
Also Today: Award for blissfully unaware irony goes to the person who on the train this evening had Blink 182's What's My Age Again? as their ringtone. Now, while they can still be entertaining - and I will admit that the the turn of the century's premier purveyers of puerile pop-punk are one of my guilty pleasures to listen to occasionally - having it as your ringtone is going to far in 2012.
In Other News: On my walk home from the station I was amused to see a flash sports car - it looked like a Lambourghini but I didn't quite catch it - driven twice at speed round a mini-roundabout. The driver - stereotypically wearing shades and staring at his reflection in the mirror - was, I am sure, imagining he was in a scene straight out of an advert, spinning in dramatic circles across the desert, speeding towards distant horizons as onlookers gasped in awe at his magnificent machine. In reality he was repeatedly circling a mini-roundabout in Surbiton looking like a tool.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Something Random You Don't Know About Me I
A conversation at work recently - about a meeting icebreaker about random facts that people don't know about you, or tell something interesting about yourself - inspired me to appropriate this idea for my blog.
So, a random insight into my life - I have set music that I listen to in the shower on a daily basis.
In fact, not only do I have a song that I will listen to and sing along to (Tom Petty's Free Falling, since you ask) in the shower, but a separate song that I will follow on from this with a second song that I will play while towelling myself and getting dressed (Tom Petty's Learning to Fly, as you persist in being so curious). I have no idea precisely why these two songs ended up here, but they have both become part of my daily routine for the last few months.
I don't know if I'll have enough amusing facts to keep this going, but I'll try to return to it occasionally.
So, a random insight into my life - I have set music that I listen to in the shower on a daily basis.
In fact, not only do I have a song that I will listen to and sing along to (Tom Petty's Free Falling, since you ask) in the shower, but a separate song that I will follow on from this with a second song that I will play while towelling myself and getting dressed (Tom Petty's Learning to Fly, as you persist in being so curious). I have no idea precisely why these two songs ended up here, but they have both become part of my daily routine for the last few months.
I don't know if I'll have enough amusing facts to keep this going, but I'll try to return to it occasionally.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Handwritten
On Monday I did get around to listening to one of my new albums, Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem - and have listened to it a couple more times since for good measure.
As a genre it's hard to correctly categorise, but after much thought I decided to term it wistful rock. It lacks the cutting edge of much of indie music nowadays, while also resisting the opposite indie pole, the tendancy to sink into mournful whining. The album is a confident echo of their most recent two offerings, The '59 Sound and American Slang, and many songs sound as if they could be direct continuations picked up from their predecessors.
Their sound is a comfortable, subtler ensemble - the nostalgic guitar parts in Keepsake, Mae (added to the long list of tracks named after a girl) and the title track Handwritten are particularly striking, while the lyrics are strong throughout, channelling simple, down-to-earth themes, and conjuring up an easy-to-relate-to mid-century small town America. It's this as much as the music that makes you feel their roots in Dylan, Springsteen and a nod to the blues tradition.
The only complaints are the length - at 11 tracks it feels shorter than the 41 minutes that it runs for, and that it mostly stays in its comfort zone - a solid basis, but it doesn't stretch much further than their previous albums and could almost be packaged as an expansion pack for them.
Well worth a listen.
As a genre it's hard to correctly categorise, but after much thought I decided to term it wistful rock. It lacks the cutting edge of much of indie music nowadays, while also resisting the opposite indie pole, the tendancy to sink into mournful whining. The album is a confident echo of their most recent two offerings, The '59 Sound and American Slang, and many songs sound as if they could be direct continuations picked up from their predecessors.
Their sound is a comfortable, subtler ensemble - the nostalgic guitar parts in Keepsake, Mae (added to the long list of tracks named after a girl) and the title track Handwritten are particularly striking, while the lyrics are strong throughout, channelling simple, down-to-earth themes, and conjuring up an easy-to-relate-to mid-century small town America. It's this as much as the music that makes you feel their roots in Dylan, Springsteen and a nod to the blues tradition.
The only complaints are the length - at 11 tracks it feels shorter than the 41 minutes that it runs for, and that it mostly stays in its comfort zone - a solid basis, but it doesn't stretch much further than their previous albums and could almost be packaged as an expansion pack for them.
Well worth a listen.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Weekend In Review
Despite the suspicious time, this is actually a blog posted at precisely this time - by an urge to get this done before midnight, and nearly succeeding.
Yesterday saw Rachel come over for the evening for dinner, a chat and theoretically a movie. We'd originally planned to go out to see something at the cinema, but as there was nothing actually worth seeing, we decided that an evening in would be better. As it turned out, it definitely was - we had a long conversation veering from serious to trivial matters, from holidays to the past, and was good company, a pleasant time and not the least bit therapeutic. The fact that we had been talking for two hours before we remembered to put the food on is probably a good sign!
Having done that, we thought it was too late for a film but did decide to watch the evening's Doctor Who episode, A Town Called Mercy. As a proposition - frontier town besieged by a lone gunman - it was both a nice nod to the Western genre, and almost a token reference for the American audience. It was also a nice set of sci-fi homeages - Doctor Who! Cyborgs! Ben Browder from Farscape!
While the plot seemed moderate, and the riff on the alien doctor being someone different was nicely laid out, for me I struggled to take it seriously from the halfway point - the reason being that Adrian Scarborough playing Kahler-Jex looked remarkably like Edward Hibbert, better known as the actor who plays radio restaurant critic Gil Chesterton in Frasier. This took the edge off his menace - but on reflection it was a much grittier episode full of a lot more moral puzzles than an initial glance.
We also see a much darker side of the Doctor this season, with two consecutive episodes now where he has been seemingly dismissive of his foes and tires of mercy. This seems a build-up to the mid-season point, likely around the departure of the Ponds.
A final aside though, for which I cannot take credit but instead borrowed from the Guardian series blog, is a comment on caps lock which I will now remorselessly appropriate: "WHEN YOU WRITE IN CAPS! I READ IT LIKE A DALEK! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Yesterday saw Rachel come over for the evening for dinner, a chat and theoretically a movie. We'd originally planned to go out to see something at the cinema, but as there was nothing actually worth seeing, we decided that an evening in would be better. As it turned out, it definitely was - we had a long conversation veering from serious to trivial matters, from holidays to the past, and was good company, a pleasant time and not the least bit therapeutic. The fact that we had been talking for two hours before we remembered to put the food on is probably a good sign!
Having done that, we thought it was too late for a film but did decide to watch the evening's Doctor Who episode, A Town Called Mercy. As a proposition - frontier town besieged by a lone gunman - it was both a nice nod to the Western genre, and almost a token reference for the American audience. It was also a nice set of sci-fi homeages - Doctor Who! Cyborgs! Ben Browder from Farscape!
While the plot seemed moderate, and the riff on the alien doctor being someone different was nicely laid out, for me I struggled to take it seriously from the halfway point - the reason being that Adrian Scarborough playing Kahler-Jex looked remarkably like Edward Hibbert, better known as the actor who plays radio restaurant critic Gil Chesterton in Frasier. This took the edge off his menace - but on reflection it was a much grittier episode full of a lot more moral puzzles than an initial glance.
We also see a much darker side of the Doctor this season, with two consecutive episodes now where he has been seemingly dismissive of his foes and tires of mercy. This seems a build-up to the mid-season point, likely around the departure of the Ponds.
A final aside though, for which I cannot take credit but instead borrowed from the Guardian series blog, is a comment on caps lock which I will now remorselessly appropriate: "WHEN YOU WRITE IN CAPS! I READ IT LIKE A DALEK! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Friday, September 14, 2012
Still Voting Bartlett
As the American election season rolls around again, it's interesting to watch bits of the coverage on TV and in the papers - and I find myself following more than I should do, as it is somewhat transfixing.
The first thing that this made me want to do was pick up some of my West Wing DVDs and watch them. I've watched a couple of episodes from the beginning of the 4th season, which is not by particular coincidence the run-up to the election at the end of the first term. Comparing the politics and characters you see in the TV show, it's a disappointment to come back to real life afterwards and see the same shallow, self-serving characters. Even the ones I approve of are rather feeble by comparison.
So, if I could vote - which I can't - my vote would still be for Bartlett.
The first thing that this made me want to do was pick up some of my West Wing DVDs and watch them. I've watched a couple of episodes from the beginning of the 4th season, which is not by particular coincidence the run-up to the election at the end of the first term. Comparing the politics and characters you see in the TV show, it's a disappointment to come back to real life afterwards and see the same shallow, self-serving characters. Even the ones I approve of are rather feeble by comparison.
So, if I could vote - which I can't - my vote would still be for Bartlett.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Don't Overdo The Content
Yesterday's blog was a bit meatier, so time to redress the balance with a fluff blog instead.
The odd thing about working now where I used to go to college is that there are so many strange realisations that happen occasionally. Earlier in the week was one that came to mind, as I found myself listening to music while at work (this is useful to isolate myself from background noise and focus on my actual work) - I typically pick random albums on my phone. I picked an old album, and had the thought that I'd probably picked it up at the local record shop, Record Corner, while I was in college here - the odds are good as the majority of my CDs were purchased that way.
It's odd to think that when I was buying that, that I wouldn't have imagined that within ten years I'd be sitting within 100m, busy at work listening to the same CD.
This also reminds me that I had two new CDs come through this week from an Amazon order - Handwritten by the Gaslight Anthem and Valtari by Sigur Ros - and have yet to listen to either of them. I should try and correct this tomorrow!
The odd thing about working now where I used to go to college is that there are so many strange realisations that happen occasionally. Earlier in the week was one that came to mind, as I found myself listening to music while at work (this is useful to isolate myself from background noise and focus on my actual work) - I typically pick random albums on my phone. I picked an old album, and had the thought that I'd probably picked it up at the local record shop, Record Corner, while I was in college here - the odds are good as the majority of my CDs were purchased that way.
It's odd to think that when I was buying that, that I wouldn't have imagined that within ten years I'd be sitting within 100m, busy at work listening to the same CD.
This also reminds me that I had two new CDs come through this week from an Amazon order - Handwritten by the Gaslight Anthem and Valtari by Sigur Ros - and have yet to listen to either of them. I should try and correct this tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Flashback: Job Hunt
When I resumed the blog last month, I was determined to start to fill in some of the gaps that had been left between October 2011 and August 2012, with my patented 'Flashbacks' approach to blogging. The 'Flashbacks' approach means that I leave a gap, then spend time writing what happened in the gap, and need a further set of flashback blogs to cover what happened when I was writing flashbacks. A mention of work on Monday's blog makes this a logical starting point.
The main thing that happened over this period was probably that I changed jobs - although this is something that was going on while I was still blogging, but I hadn't wanted to mention until I had something secured. I'd actually started my job search in August, although it properly began in September - and started my new job on return from holiday at the beginning of December.
The reason for my search was an increasing frustration at my old job - my role had changed somewhat, I had reduced input and all my potential paths for development or promotion had been blocked earlier in the year and were unlikely to be reopened. However, this had been the case all year - it took a couple of frustrating review meetings to kick me into action.
The scenario was 'you are doing the job of someone more senior as well as yours on this project and it's not being done as well as it should be' - yet this was phrased to me as 'why are you not doing as well as it should be' as opposed to 'hang on, why are you even doing this at all?'. Clear that my performance was going to be reviewed on the basis that while dragging the project forward myself with no involvement from those who should have been doing the dragging, and immensely frustrated with the complete lack of support for this scenario - this inspired me to put my CV up that evening, and it went from there.
I received a few calls the first week, about various positions. I attended a couple of interviews as discreetly as possible - including a couple of impromptu doctors' appointments, one involving a change from dress down to dress up back to dress down for an interview in the middle of the day. I also managed to arrange two telephone interviews into a single lunch break - and took so many calls throughout the day at work that it was surely obvious to eveyone around me. A colleague who I knew was also looking around seemed to be playing tag with me, as one of us would return from a more private place in the office to have a phone conversation, and meet the other heading in the opposite direction on the phone with the same purpose!
One of these that I had applied to led me into an interview, and then a second interview, at the place where I now work - and I was able to hand in my notice at the beginning of November, a little more than six weeks after I'd started my search.
The main thing that happened over this period was probably that I changed jobs - although this is something that was going on while I was still blogging, but I hadn't wanted to mention until I had something secured. I'd actually started my job search in August, although it properly began in September - and started my new job on return from holiday at the beginning of December.
The reason for my search was an increasing frustration at my old job - my role had changed somewhat, I had reduced input and all my potential paths for development or promotion had been blocked earlier in the year and were unlikely to be reopened. However, this had been the case all year - it took a couple of frustrating review meetings to kick me into action.
The scenario was 'you are doing the job of someone more senior as well as yours on this project and it's not being done as well as it should be' - yet this was phrased to me as 'why are you not doing as well as it should be' as opposed to 'hang on, why are you even doing this at all?'. Clear that my performance was going to be reviewed on the basis that while dragging the project forward myself with no involvement from those who should have been doing the dragging, and immensely frustrated with the complete lack of support for this scenario - this inspired me to put my CV up that evening, and it went from there.
I received a few calls the first week, about various positions. I attended a couple of interviews as discreetly as possible - including a couple of impromptu doctors' appointments, one involving a change from dress down to dress up back to dress down for an interview in the middle of the day. I also managed to arrange two telephone interviews into a single lunch break - and took so many calls throughout the day at work that it was surely obvious to eveyone around me. A colleague who I knew was also looking around seemed to be playing tag with me, as one of us would return from a more private place in the office to have a phone conversation, and meet the other heading in the opposite direction on the phone with the same purpose!
One of these that I had applied to led me into an interview, and then a second interview, at the place where I now work - and I was able to hand in my notice at the beginning of November, a little more than six weeks after I'd started my search.
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