blarcheology

They were asking for it...

2008-04-11T00:11:00.003+01:00

While shopping at Sainsbury's the other day took quite possibly the most ironic photo ever... look at the name of the snack and the state of the boxes ..

Informa-shun

2008-04-07T14:17:00.003+01:00

You've got mail!
(And blogs.)
(And social networks.)
(And RSS feeds.)

By the way, you also have a pile of work and some real life obligations to attend to.
We've all read articles that refer to the "Information Overload" present in our modern daily lives. Humans are naturally curious about the goings on around us, and the Internet feeds this hunger to an extent previously impossible.

We have a fascination with information, likely a product of our evolution. Simple reasoning was key to our ascent to the dominant species on Earth. This information hunger is difficult to turn off, as the information gatherers have probably been favored by nature.

Modern information exchange is very different, even compared to a couple of decades ago. Mass media was previously synonymous with truth. Over time the ability to reach a large audience has become more and more accessible, culminating in the Internet, which is truly a many-to-many medium. While it is debatable whether this fosters incestuous thinking or greater detail, you can't deny that no single person can aggregate all of the daily information updates available online. That doesn't stop some of us from trying.

The more information we can absorb the more we take on, until efficiency begins a downward trend and we step back to assess what is important and weed out the noise. We are naturally good at this filtering (unless your television is stuck on Fox News)

Google Reader haunts daily. Its repetition through aggregation of multiple news sources is maddening. Today 8 feeds have been removed. Digg may bring you up-to-the-minutes on the latest collegehumor videos, but does anyone really need that? Wired news stays, because it may be slower, but It is fairly concise.

I propose a feature addition to the Reader devs, something that marks articles as read after sitting unread for X amount of time. Personally, about 12 hours would be ideal. I feel like I am missing something if I simply 'Mark all as Read', but if someone does it for me it is more akin to not buying the newspaper the previous day. News has a short shelf life, but it can be hard to quantify.

If you find yourself stuck with a pile of unread articles, don't fear the reaper -- just mark them as read and start fresh. If it is important it will resurface countless times within a week.

They All Fall Down..

2008-03-16T18:16:00.003Z

A tragic day here as the Wall of Guinness Cans has finally toppled. The details of how are unimportant. What do I do with a floor full of cans? I get back on track with my reason for collecting them in the first place: Stop motion animation of course! .. Stay tuned

(yes, the ones standing landed that way)

Bill Fife

2008-02-21T23:34:00.004Z

I admit what I did was wrong.

Usually that isn't enough, but this time it seemed to work.

I had just stopped at a coffee shop and was riding my bike home on a route different from my norm. I was turning toward home when I came to a sign that I believed showed cycling was allowed on the pavement (sidewalk) in this area. The area itself having a very narrow road and being extremely quiet, this all fit together in my mind. The round symbol with a cycle in the middle didn't look ominous, didn't have an X through it or anything.... And everyone knows you aren't normally allowed to cycle on the pavement anyway, so what could this sign mean other than 'please cycle here good sir'?

It meant 'no cycling'. Luck of all luck a uniformed member of the London Metropolitan Police force was there to greet me (he was on foot). He looked none too happy. He asked me to stop for a chat. He quoted the exact paragraph/section/etc of the law stating that cycling on the pavement is not allowed. I explained that I must have misunderstood the sign, at which point we walk over to take a look. The sign has a bicycle in the middle and a red circle around it .. ok, makes sense, I'm an idiot.

He says "So by your own admission you were cycling on the pavement next to (insert road name here)?"

Me says "I was, you saw me and stopped me."

He says "Do you believe I should give you the £30 ticket associated with your actions?"

Me says "Well as far as I know ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating it, however in this case I would hope that it might lead to you being a bit lenient. The fine itself is unnecessary, and I will not be doing this again."

He says "Good day." (and walks off)

I'd love to be proven wrong, but it seems cops universally have no sense of humor.. :-/

American Idle

2008-02-13T13:38:00.005Z

The bad: (what better place to start?)

There are plenty of pretentious asshats "don't watch tv". Consider me one if you'd like, but I truly hate most tv. I would blame those poor writers, but they're victims of repetitive storylines as much as us. Their goal is to keep us watching, dangling the carrot just far enough out of reach. I've fallen for this plenty of times. Where are you left when a show reaches the end of its run? You remember a few amusing one liners and experience short term feeling of withdrawl.

In recent years I've developed TV-ADD. I challenge you to the following:

1. Buy or download the first season of a popular show (I recommend 24 or Prison Break).
2. Watch the full season beginning to end in under two weeks.
3. Realize that the end of every episode is a cliffhanger that makes you feel like a resolution is just around the corner.
4. Try not to destroy your TV when you realize that the whole thing was a farce or just the beginning, because season two is also just around the corner.

I remember wasting hours of my childhood watching various sitcoms. They left us with the moral solution to most of life's common problems (solutions that would most likely just lead you to getting your ass kicked in reality).

Overuse of special effects to replace a "plot" can also get f#$ked. Seriously when I was a kid I had 100X the creativity/imagination of these masters of blowing sh!t up, but they stole it. Thanks to these guys I wonder what percentage of people on the planet don't realize humans have never been past the moon? Why? Because in real life going into space on our fastest rocket is boring. There probably isn't much to do out there, you are stuck with the same boring people, and your Internet connection is going to suck.

The good:

Movies are great. They are made to be a set amount of your time. I don't feel like I'm being conned by a good movie. I hate superhero movies (except noted below). They all end annoyingly predictably.

Jon Stewart and Dave Letterman are entertaining. I think Stewart is sort of a comedic sensationalist, like a bizarro Bill O'Reilly with a grin, but he makes me laugh. Letterman has been the smartest guy on TV for nearly as long as I've been alive. He purposefully dumbs it down a bit, but you can see that he is a diabolical genius. He manages to get bits of political commentary in without some folks noticing. Good job Dave.

I like Batman. Batman isn't a superhero. He's a bad guy who happens to be the enemy of other bad guys. Batman is angsty about doing the right thing, cause doing the right thing is f!@#king hard sometimes.

FOOTball

2008-02-10T13:20:00.001Z

Attended a match of the type the rest of the world loves.

Yesterday was perfect by London standards, 60 and sunny. Great day for a game. We saw West Ham play against a team in blue shirts. (yea yea, I don't remember) To me soccer is akin to hockey. I can't stand to watch either on TV, but I find the games riveting in person. I think even some skeptical Americans would agree. The game doesn't stop, save for once at halftime. I love that. (surprising considering my favorite sport, baseball, is all about suspense and waiting)

I still refuse to choose 'my team' in the Premiership. I don't have a history with any team, which means when I get punched for supporting the wrong team in the wrong place I'll just feel stupid as opposed to justified.

The match was a draw, which apparently means they hold a three-legged race to determine a winner. We didn't stay for the race.

Superbowl-o-rama

2008-02-04T13:01:00.002Z

I've been doing a lot, but I forgot it all (per usual) .. But yesterday was interesting....

I had been considering having a Superbowl party at my flat on Sunday, but being the worst organizer on the planet I forgot until Saturday. (It didn't help that I was in training out in Reading from Wed-Fri.) I did round up a couple of interested folks (one is even a Brit) and we made our way to a pub down in Chelsea.

We arrived way early, but my oversized Canadian amigo and I were hungry, so it worked out well. We were able to secure one of the few tables that hadn't been reserved and had a decent view of the TV.

What a game.

Too often it tends to be one sided, but this was a low-scoring battle all the way. It was amazing to see the Patriots unable to protect Brady from any advance. I was rooting for the Giants, because I hate every Boston sports franchise .. (thank the Redsox) The bar was probably 60/40 Giants to Pats. Probably 98% American. (Though our waitress was a Canadian sporting a Chicago Tribune smock ..)

By halftime the Canadian needed to head out (This was about 2am local time, so hard to blame him). Luckily by the 4th quarter we had traded for an interesting character called Scout. She was rooting for the Patriots, which meant a wager was made nearly immediately. (yes, I won the £1). It was amazing how many people stayed for the entire game, which didn't end until approx 4am!

Btw, I think it is quite a misconception that Brits don't like football. Last year I was here to watch my Bears play in the big game, and there were hordes of Limeys wearing Urlacher Jerseys.

Oaklandishly San Frantastic

2008-01-09T13:36:00.000Z

I lied.

This post sat in the queue for a couple of weeks.

Out west is where the sun goes to set, and I did my fair share of the same. I arrived late on a Friday and was promptly whisked away to the nearest pub, and then another, and then I have no f'ing clue -- but I did wake up with a pocket full of lemons. I hear I had a great time. The next day was, ahem, slow. In fairness I was somewhat sick before I arrived in Cali, apparently alcohol was unable to kill all the germs in my system. After my full recovery (read: 26ish hours) I had my first complete meal, which was AWESOME. Go to Skates in Berkeley and order the King Crab stuffed Mahi-Mahi. So Good. (note: their brunch goes way late).

Saturday night was a lot of fun. I was (and at the time of this writing remain) fairly timid about drinking after my episode on the first night. Saturday I got a brief tour of SFO followed by some excellent comida and a trip to hear some funky musica. Bit of dance, limited bit of drink, bit of toes (it just wouldn't make sense out of context, trust me).

I got from the trip exactly what I wanted, chillin with some cool folks and getting the hell out of the 17 degree weather in Illinois. Thanks to Liz, Lara, Kirsten and (slightly insane) Amanda for the entertainment, and I look forward to next time!

Obrigado Lisboa!

2007-12-16T20:39:00.001Z

Easily is one of my favorite trips. The city of Lisbon is full of spectacular architecture, history, and most importantly people.

On Saturday, the only full day I was there, the alarm managed to wake me at just after 9am. By 10 I was out the door exploring. Stop one, the Castle of São Jorge. This hill has been home to various forms of fortification since the 2nd century B.C. It is one of the highest points in the city, and has a view of almost all of the surrounding landscape. I was definitely glad to be here during a non-tourism season, as it was very easy to wander around the grounds. The current castle is the product of a massive renovation of the original layout. Unlike many historic places, where you are blocked from ropes or gates from seeing the coolest areas, you can literally go to any corner of this castle you choose. There are staircases that go three stories up with no handrail, just the hope that you'll hit the softest part of the stone below -- insane! However, this level of disregard for safety really draws you in. It suspends your reality in the way a good movie can. There are a few information posts scattered around, but mostly you are free to see the castle as what it was.

Next it was off to Belém Tower. This fort was built to protect Lisbon from invaders in the 16th century. It stretches out into the river and has cannons pointed in 17 different directions, allowing it to fire at any intruder without interruption. If there is one place in the city not to miss, this is it. (wikipedia link)

On to the nightlife...

Realizing blond hair and blue eyes would make it a dead giveaway that I wasn't a local I really didn't know what to expect. It turns out the assumption that I'd stand out was correct, however the reaction was completely positive. There was never a dull moment, as everyone was interested to talk about a range of subjects I can't even hope to remember.

The Barrio Alto area is quite possibly the most fun you can have in a single night out. This maze of cobblestone walkways and steep hills is relatively quiet by day, but at night there are so many people that the entire neighborhood becomes an enormous gathering place. You can barely make your way through the crowds, but it doesn't matter, as there always seemed to be interesting people to talk to within arm's reach. Met some cool people, and was even offered a place to stay for my next visit.

Then on to Lux. This club has to be up there with any in the world. The music was amazing (massive rooms with different styles) the people were just as friendly as in the "real world" (i.e. anywhere outside a club), and the service was unbeatable. This place simply wants you to have a great time. (Apparently it is co-owned by John Malkovich, and we all know he loves to party).

I've posted some of the pics to picasa .. Check em out

Eastern Europe? Czech!

2007-12-09T21:03:00.000Z

Can you see a city in 25 hours? Unfortunately, no, but you can see a lot of cool stuff (especially if you don't sleep). Praga is an absolutely beautiful city. It has old European architecture that is varied and interesting and feels very .. welcoming? (have to think on this a bit - calling a former member of the Soviet Union "welcoming") They seem to cater to tourism these days, but it doesn't feel like the type of place that is overrun with western influences.

The day itself was Sunny, if a bit cold. Charles Bridge is really an awesome sight. A pedestrian bridge connecting Praga 1 to the area near Prague Castle. The views from this bridge have to be some of the finest in the world. Prage Castle is an impressive structure, but alas I only viewed it from a distance.

Once the troops were rallied (i.e. woke up) we all headed out to experience the Prague nightlife. It definitely lives up to its reputation.

Lack of sleep nearly caused a missed flight on the return. I had been awake for 32 hours straight when I arrived at the airport this morning. I was in the BA lounge for approx 5 minutes before I started to pass out while sitting up. Luckily this lounge had nearly full size couches, so I curled up and passed out with my alarm set for 15 mins before departure. Problem was I never changed the timezone of my phone, so this alarm would wake me up 45 minutes after the plane departed. By some strange miracle I woke up exactly 5 minutes before departure. I ran to gate B12 during the final boarding call. Better to be lucky than good they say..

(p.s. you may have noticed a couple of posts appearing today that are dated in the past. I have been writing stuff here and not posting it lately, as I always believe I'll go back and clean it up. Since this never happens I just posted the 'drafts')

Holiday Party

2007-12-08T07:23:00.000Z

The company party was a lot of fun this year.

The next day wasn't.

(no photos this time, I hope)

Thanksawesomegiving

2007-11-27T16:45:00.000Z

Just back from a (relatively) short 5 day visit to the parents for Thanksgiving. Dad prepared an awesome feast (yes, after 20-some years I finally agree that homemade stuffing is pretty tasty).

Had a great time hangin with some of the coolest folks in peoria as well. Had a short visit with K, J, and OKBall which is always a good time. JBall even had mac-n-cheese when I got there, kaboom! The other characters were around for the entire time I was home -- Saturday was a lot of fun (pictures hopefully attached soon). Ohh, and I chilled with Schmitzer and Malchow on Sunday/Monday before flying back.

Amazing how many people you can see in 5 days. Do you think people back home find it odd that I've been home more in the past year than any previous year, when I lived only 2.5 hours away.....

2007-11-19T23:17:00.000Z

I remember when $100 was a lot of money. Now it is an average night out. I must be getting old...

-GHS

Weekend Excursion

2007-11-19T00:34:00.001Z

How was this visit to Amsterdam?

Not a clue, ask duckman, or the (literally) insane (yet hilarious) laughing dutchman, they can tell it much better than I..

Oh and J, if we ever run into itchy guy again, you get to sit next to him.

It is really funny what being demasiado colocado on a Sunday morning will end up causing you to do.

But I'm still grinning ......

Weather or not?

2007-11-15T10:05:00.000Z

66 degrees. London is supposed to be 66 degrees today.

But I step outside and it is one step below freezing.

How is this possible, and why has my weather widget been so horribly wrong lately?

Because I was tracking to weather for London, Arkansas. (where our readers can expect rain today)

Oops, I'm goin' home

2007-11-13T11:38:00.000Z

Alas, only for five days.

I put in a pricing request with our corporate travel dept, and they ended up booking the flight without confirmation. As such I will be home for the Thanksgiving holiday in two weeks. This will be the first time I don't haul an enormous bag across the Atlantic. How refreshing it will be to carry on my bag and walk right past baggage claim when I arrive....

See (some of) you soon....

Google Life

2007-11-05T13:26:00.000Z

I use a large percentage of the free services Google offers, but the latest will undoubtedly be my undoing. I blame Kball for this.

Google Reader aggregates RSS feeds into one easy to refresh, up to the second news source. I have somewhere on the order of 20 feeds piping in - it is already impossible to keep up with. I find myself compulsively checking to see if anything new has happened in the last 8 minutes. This thing is worse than email.

I think this service has potential as a stop-smoking aid. By my calculations it is 230% more addictive than nicotine. I implore you, please stay away from Google Reader at all costs.

Greener != Cheaper

2007-11-04T16:54:00.000Z

(For the non-nerds in the audience, != means NOT EQUAL)

Loving the new neighborhood. The west end is a cool, albeit expensive, part of town. I am sure over the course of the next 6 months I will learn why the rest of the Londoners I know make fun of the folks living here..

So back to the subject.

Monday of last week was my first work day ride from my new home to the office. It was -- eventful. I was reintroduced to a couple of the cons to daily cycling. 3.5 miles were perfect; The new commute is very scenic with Hyde Park, The Mall, Trafalgar Sq, etc. Then came the first flat (notice I said "first flat" .. I believe writers call that foreshadowing).

I have experienced the occasional flat, generally not a big deal. I mosey down a side street and get to business. When putting the back wheel back on I notice something odd. The locknut is missing. I find it on the ground, split in half. (The locknut is the part of the wheel that touches the inside of the frame.) What to do?

I put the two pieces of the locknut together and hold it in place while tightening the wheel. I'm 42.22% sure it will hold long enough for me to get a replacement. Until I learn that no one in London has a replacement. F!@#.

Flat #2 happens on the way to a used bike shop. This time I notice my hub is somehow cracked. I still have no idea how this is even possible.

I buy a £30 used wheel from my friends at the used bike shop, which should get me by until a suitable replacement is found.

After the things I purchased on Monday (tire, spare tubes, wheel) I spent somewhere on the order of £65. That is roughly the cost of riding the tube to work every day for an entire month.

Viva Cycling! (yea, even after all that it's still my favorite way to travel)

Ze flat

2007-10-30T22:40:00.000Z

I have a home.

It feels weird.

Moved in Friday night via taxi. The capacity of a black cab in London is simply amazing. This is by far the easiest move I've ever experienced (obviously). The neighbo(u)rhood is new, strange, happenin, posh, etc .. Angel had run its course, once you explore Upper Street you pretty much have it covered. Pictures coming when I'm less exhausted -- ciao!

No rugby para mi, prefiero Wii

2007-10-21T11:51:00.000+01:00

Let me preface this by noting that I have not enjoyed a video game system since my original 8-bit Nintendo. Modern video games have never appealed to me with their 46 different buttons allowing you to execute 1.2 billion different moves in a split second. Two buttons and a direction pad, that's my speed.

Not wanting to contend with the English rugby fans Saturday night, a friend and I ended up playing Tiger Woods Golf for the Nintendo Wii. And it is awesome. Seriously awesome.

I woke up the next day feeling rather exhausted. We played well over 100 holes in the course of a multi-hour golf marathon. We also consumed some beer and a few bottles of vino .. perhaps that could have something to do with aforementioned fatigue..

To my original point, the Wii really does make playing games fun. You feel much more connected when you swing your controller as a baseball bat, golf club, etc.... a projector allowing you to play on a ridiculously large screen also helps...

Theater(re)

2007-10-17T11:04:00.000+01:00

Interesting take on that Scottish play.

The witches were my favorite characters. They were entertaining in their delivery, and their mannerisms were untrustworthy and unsettling. The uniforms were generic 40s military. There were both swords and guns. The television was (a bit confusingly) from the 80s. Overall it all seemed to work quite well. Obviously the lines remained Shakespeare, which seem to work very well in nearly any time period.

The setting seemed more Russia more than Scotland. A fictional play, with Stalin as lead character. Fitting choice, as he was a paranoid man who saw most as threats to his leadership.

Overall a great way to spend an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night..

Middle of everywhere

2007-10-15T23:01:00.000+01:00

Spending time virtually homeless seems to put the rest of your life on pause. It turns out having a place to store your worldly possessions can be quite handy. I have enjoyed the life of a vagabond for somewhere in the neighborhood of four months now.

There are definite advantages to not having a home. It is cheap. It is very very cheap. It is cheap in ways you don't consider at first glance; You tend to buy less of everything. (Granted this is likely because you can't be bothered to actually haul around more junk than you already own.)

There are obvious disadvantages as well.. No bed is as comfortable as your own. Period. You tend to eat out a lot more than you might otherwise. You respond with a glazed-over stare when people ask for your 'home address?'

Tomorrow begins my hunt for a flat here in London. Wish me luck..

Near nor there

2007-10-13T18:14:00.000+01:00

A friend and I decided to wander the embankment today. We went to a motorcycle dealer, as he is interested in taking the plunge. Seems he has his mind made on one of the new Triumph Bonnevilles...

Embankment on the south side of the river was a nice walk today. Perfect weather by any standard. It was warm enough to go tshirt alone. London seems to be redeeming itself with a bit of an Indian summer...

The buskers were out in full force, crowds massive. I snapped a few iPhotos for general consumption.

Side note: I still miss cycling, and cannot wait to move further from work so I have a good reason for a daily ride!

Sunny Britain

2007-10-13T12:22:00.000+01:00

Blue(ishgrey) skies? I've accidentally wandered out of England again, haven't I?

No, in fact to the casual observer London appears to be sunny today. Time to go explore, by foot methinks. (photos to follow, surely)

Obligatory first post

2007-10-11T15:56:00.000+01:00

A good friend of mine claims I may have the worst memory of any person living or dead. I can remember random facts, read and understand almost anything technical, and yet I cannot remember the name of someone I've just met for more than 8 seconds. 8 Bob, 8. Memories of things experienced in life fade from my mind at an incredible rate.

The brain is a funny instrument. Aware of itself, its limitations, and yet somehow incapable of truly altering itself. We can change our mannerisms, become interested in various things throughout life, aspire to improve ourselves in general, but we cannot alter the wiring that makes us who we are.

We shouldn't change who we are, but this little online experiment is (for me) a way to not only document and remember, but to give myself a chance to look at my life from an outside perspective. I can only hope I forget it is mine someday, and enjoy laughing at the guy that wrote it..