Wednesday, 22 October 2008
RIP Jane Dale
The best of us in the Calder Valley set. I'm completely floored. Tragic accident, no fault, no sense.
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Conference Dinner #1
Conference dinners are a subtle art. The attendees typically only have their work in common, but are too tired from a day of lectures to engage on that level in any detail. So, it's a requirement for speed and distraction; smoke and mirrors. With this in mind, last night we were treated to: A Morris dancing troupe (some shocked faces among the international contingent to the dancers in blackface); an eco-industrial museum; and a rhubarb crumble served with such ballistic gusto as to resemble a bird strike. Suffice it to say that by popular request the coaches left two hours early.
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
mLearn 2008 - before their time?
Picture a mobile technology conference where the organisers cannot provide any form of connectivity to the delegates; cannot run a powerpoint show on a projector without crashing it; place RFID trackers in delegates bags withhout consent, and then can't make the attendance system they are supposed to enable work... Place all this in a hotel with hot and cold running cockroaches, and we're off! Maybe I'll feel more sanguine with time, but today the content is masked by the administrative shortcomings.
Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Gmail trickle
More confused Americans:
- Sorry, Phil Israel: I can't make your 9am meeting, even though you now discover it was scheduled for 10am anyway.
- Kristina Chu: I'm still nothing to do with student law clubs at your august organisation, so I have no need of the student budget questionnaire, thanks...
Friday, 12 September 2008
Song stuck in my head
America for Beginners by Latin Quarter
What's keeping the White House white?
Is it chalk, is it fog, is it fear?
Are they staying up most of the night,
Sending somebody out for a beer?
Is it bedtime for Bonzo, is it time for a change?
Is it flavour-free TV dinners?
It's a hard thing to take, when they make a mistake:
America for beginners...
The sound of a bell with a crack,
Even the swingers are swinging right.
The vigilantes are on their way back,
With prime time 'fight the good fight'.
What a start to the day, starts three times with a K,
There's no 'sponsored hour' for sinners.
They'll bring back the hot seat, turn up the heat...
America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for beginners
You wear designer jeans after dark,
Your shirts are short cut, in satin.
But watch out for Central Park,
The apartments in uptown Manhattan.
It's a sign of the times,
You'd better stay out in front:
They've only got time for winners.
Just keep living for fun, you son of a gun,
In America for beginners.
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for
Beginners
Everywhere
Stripes and stars
Men in dark suits in unmarked cars
Sipping Jack Daniels in Third World bars
We're close to the edge,
as close as we can get...
We're as close as we can get.
What's keeping the White House white?
Is it chalk, is it fog, is it fear?
Are they staying up most of the night,
Sending somebody out for a beer?
Is it bedtime for Bonzo, is it time for a change?
Is it flavour-free TV dinners?
It's a hard thing to take, when they make a mistake:
America for beginners...
The sound of a bell with a crack,
Even the swingers are swinging right.
The vigilantes are on their way back,
With prime time 'fight the good fight'.
What a start to the day, starts three times with a K,
There's no 'sponsored hour' for sinners.
They'll bring back the hot seat, turn up the heat...
America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for beginners
You wear designer jeans after dark,
Your shirts are short cut, in satin.
But watch out for Central Park,
The apartments in uptown Manhattan.
It's a sign of the times,
You'd better stay out in front:
They've only got time for winners.
Just keep living for fun, you son of a gun,
In America for beginners.
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for, America for beginners
That's America for
Beginners
Everywhere
Stripes and stars
Men in dark suits in unmarked cars
Sipping Jack Daniels in Third World bars
We're close to the edge,
as close as we can get...
We're as close as we can get.
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Lyrics of the Day
Orpheus by David Sylvian
Standing firm on this stony ground,
The wind blows hard, pulls these clothes around.
I harbour all the same worries as most -
The temptations to leave or to give up the ghost.
I wrestle with an outlook on life
That shifts between darkness and shadowy light.
I struggle with words
For fear that they’ll hear,
But Orpheus sleeps on his back
Still dead to the world.
Sunlight falls,
My wings open wide...
There’s a beauty here I cannot deny.
And bottles that tumble and crash on the stairs
Are just so many people I knew never cared.
Down below on the wreck on the ship
Are a stronghold of pleasures I couldn’t regret...
But the baggage is swallowed up by the tide
As Orpheus keeps to his promise and stays by my side.
Tell me,
I’ve still a lot to learn.
Understand,
These fires never stop.
Believe me,
When this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear
The promise of my Orpheus sing.
Sleepers sleep as we row the boat,
Just you, the weather, and I gave up hope.
But all of the hurdles that fell in our laps
Were fuel for the fire and straw for our backs.
Still the voices have stories to tell
Of the power struggles in heaven and hell.
But we feel secure against such mighty dreams
As Orpheus sings of the promise tomorrow may bring.
Tell me,
I’ve still a lot to learn.
Understand,
These fires never stop.
Please believe,
When this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear
The promise of my Orpheus sing
Standing firm on this stony ground,
The wind blows hard, pulls these clothes around.
I harbour all the same worries as most -
The temptations to leave or to give up the ghost.
I wrestle with an outlook on life
That shifts between darkness and shadowy light.
I struggle with words
For fear that they’ll hear,
But Orpheus sleeps on his back
Still dead to the world.
Sunlight falls,
My wings open wide...
There’s a beauty here I cannot deny.
And bottles that tumble and crash on the stairs
Are just so many people I knew never cared.
Down below on the wreck on the ship
Are a stronghold of pleasures I couldn’t regret...
But the baggage is swallowed up by the tide
As Orpheus keeps to his promise and stays by my side.
Tell me,
I’ve still a lot to learn.
Understand,
These fires never stop.
Believe me,
When this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear
The promise of my Orpheus sing.
Sleepers sleep as we row the boat,
Just you, the weather, and I gave up hope.
But all of the hurdles that fell in our laps
Were fuel for the fire and straw for our backs.
Still the voices have stories to tell
Of the power struggles in heaven and hell.
But we feel secure against such mighty dreams
As Orpheus sings of the promise tomorrow may bring.
Tell me,
I’ve still a lot to learn.
Understand,
These fires never stop.
Please believe,
When this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear
The promise of my Orpheus sing
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