Like any other teenager I liked my sleep. One of my favourite places was the passenger seat of my Dad’s van as he drove to market in the early hours of the morning. It was a 2hr drive from the South Coast of England to the Fruit and Vegetable Market Dad preferred in the East [...]
7:51AM – In a little under three hours Leftantler and I will be standing in front of a judge, swearing the oath and becoming Canadian citizens. It’s something I’m very excited about but at this moment, it feels more of a time for reflection. It was approximately seven and half years ago we returned from [...]
I am just over half way through reading a book on my iPod. I use the Kindle application for this, an application I believe will dominate the ebook space. There are two reasons for this. selection and price.
Currently in Canada the selection available on Apple’s iBooks is very poor. When I do find what I want the pricing is far too high. This is also true for other alternative readers like Stanza. I always end up returning to Amazon’s Kindle application.
Actually, this is just fine. The application works well on the iPod and despite the small screen is very effective. However, there is one thing it does not do well. Something not limited to the Kindle but true for all e-readers.
In years gone by I’ve ordered countless books from Amazon. One of the biggest joys has always been getting a parcel in the mail. I would always enjoy a childish delight in the expectation and then the unwrapping of the parcel! This would be followed by the close examination of a pristine new book! I would sniff it, touch and then gently turn the pages of the object like I had never seen one before.
Where is the electronic version of this experience? Logically I can deal with it of course: no delay; better for the environment etc. There are also some new benefits like no loss of shelf space, no shipping cost and now, thanks to the iPod, easier portability. Finding a book smaller than my iPod is possible but, finding two or three or a hundred combined …
I miss getting parcels in the mail. What concerns me is the absence of emotion when I buy an e-book. That emotional connection with a book is very important as any book lover will tell you. If Kindle or Apple had something that replicated this then that would be the single most powerful force in the market!
Another story with me travelling Dad in the van. This time I’m a lot younger, awake and joining my father in song. The song in question beingTwo Little Boys. Quite why my Dad and I would be singing an American Civil War song as we bumbled through the English countryside is due to an Australian. This particular Australian was, at least at that time, known more for his songs about Kangaroos and men with wooden legs!
What he wasn’t known for was time he spent in Vancouver, Canada of all places, right at the start of his career. I am of course talking about Rolf Harris. It turns out that after his first big hit song (about the kangaroo) he ended up spending a year in Vancouver around the same time as a new Cruise Line called P&O was launched back in 1961.
I heard this part of Rolf’s story in the same way he originally came to the city, by accident. Rolf was back in town to give a free concert at the PNE, something I learned by a serendipitous listen to CBC. Sadly I wasn’t able to catch the concert or hear Rolf’s new verses of his Vancouver song, but then he hasn’t heard my the version of Two Little Boys my Dad and I used to sing!
Rolf is one of the few ‘famous’ people I always have time for. His career is far to extensive to go into here but I will say I was clued to the TV set watching him painting those huge canvases which only became clear right at the end! Skies, clouds, maybe some water, a beach … which reminds me: the beach was the last place I ‘saw’ my Dad.
We’d gone there with his ashes. It seemed the right place and we thought it would be quiet. It wasn’t. Turns out a new cruise liner was coming by and people had come en masse to see it. We even commented that maybe it would take my Dad to Vancouver before I got there! It wasn’t P&O or Australian, but …
Like any other teenager I liked my sleep. One of my favourite places was the passenger seat of my Dad’s van as he drove to market in the early hours of the morning. It was a 2hr drive from the South Coast of England to the Fruit and Vegetable Market Dad preferred in the East [...]
I have started carrying around one of those very small moleskine notebooks. The ones that are a little bigger than a business card. I’ve had a Fisher Space Pen for years and love the fact that it always fits nicely in a pocket. The little moleskines are really effective, especially with their perforated pages – [...]
When I think of television I think of the 24″ set made by Hitachi that I grew up with in the 1970s and ultimately inherited in the early 1990s. It has a wooden case, no remote control and a picture that once was stunning, ultimately died. It was fairly heavy and bulky. Televisions are still [...]
7:51AM – In a little under three hours Leftantler and I will be standing in front of a judge, swearing the oath and becoming Canadian citizens. It’s something I’m very excited about but at this moment, it feels more of a time for reflection. It was approximately seven and half years ago we returned from [...]
Yesterday I watched a movie called Good Night and Good Luck. It documents the struggle between CBS reporter Edward Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin back in the 1950s. The film starts with Murrow giving a speech in 1958 and a particular section stood out: … This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, [...]
Back In the days of flying toasters and talking moose I remember hearing about a new piece of software. Aldus Pagemaker. Tucked away in the Marketing department this was said to be revolutionary. If only we could find someone who knew how to use it! Desktop Publishing, which gave us he acronym DTP evolved fast. [...]
What do you think about when you see a piece of art? Do you decide if you like the piece? Or do you have a gut feeling of what you believe your taste is? Do you consider whether you would buy a specific piece or want it in your home? I’m no expert, by which [...]
I walk up the steps and along the path to the back gate. It’s locked. At least the bolt is across. Walking back along the path I see the landlord’s dog laying in the yard watching me. Up to it’s nose in uncut grass it seemed unbothered by me. Our eyes meet. Looking around the [...]
