xetera...

What you doing over here??

2008-11-19T21:56:00.002Z

You missing out on posts like these:

Recently Observed (11)

Celebrating Alistair Cooke

Facebook & Journalism

Moving!

2008-11-16T16:07:00.006Z

A few changes round here - I've decided to throw everything in a few boxes and move my blog to a new address and new platform.

The new address is:

www.xetera.net

Please update your bookmarks/RSS/ - you wouldn't want to miss out on a minute of this stuff!!
:)

Come visit - bring wine and flowers!

Saving snail mail

2008-11-14T17:52:00.004Z

I still stop what I'm doing when I hear the rattle of our letterbox. For some reason I'm compelled to have a look to see what Royal Mail have served up, even though I know it will be either a bill or something completely unnecessary. While there are a couple of magazine subs I look forward to and Lovefilm when they get their act together, much of what comes through our letterbox goes straight to the blue-box which is emptied into the big yellow recycling van every Thursday. Junk mail does not describe some of the rubbish we get - how many takeaway menus for the same Chinese restaurant could a house this size possibly require?

The wonderfully named Perry Bible Fellowship cartoon strip by Nicholas Gurewitch captures it perfectly. Sadly PBF is no longer published in the Gurdian, but the PBF website has a huge back-catalogue for your amusement.

Thankfully I have recently witnessed some encouraging moments in the fight to save snail-mail. Down with digital sent us a wonderful postcard from west (or is it east?) of the Bann, of course I can't overlook birthday my cards (hundreds!) from late October and best of all this week edunny.com sent me some Obama souvenirs! So it's not all bad.

Happy Friday - send someone a postcard this weekend!

Must be qualified and squeaky clean?

2008-11-13T21:40:00.008Z

The NYT is describing it as possibly the most invasive application form ever. Along with questions seeking to dig out any conflicts of interests, team Obama want to know it all! Those applying for senior Obamajobs face a questionnaire that includes "63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps."

Question 63 asks: “Please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the president-elect.”

What's on your Wall?

Hopefully people applying for senior posts with team Obama won't have posted pictures of them drunk and disorderly in DC on their wall, but according to the NYT "they must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their facebook pages. The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.” I wonder what happens if you threw a zombie at John McCain during the campaign?

Alaska is bigger than Palin

2008-11-13T15:27:00.007Z

Sarah Palin was bad enough - but we also had to put up with the UK media and their ill informed and lazy depictions of Alaska. I'm not sure if this was an international phenomenon, but according to our press Alaska is populated by moose-burger eating, gun carrying and snow blowin Palin fans. Stereotypes and caricatures galore. I've only had one brief visit to Alaska, but it was an incredible place of wild beauty and wide open spaces populated by generous and friendly people. I had a friend at St Andrews from Fairbanks and he was wihtout doubt one of the most interesting and intelligent people I've ever met. I'm sure Alaska has its quota of crazies, but don't we all? I should know, I live in Belfast!

Good to see some fightback in today's Guardian. Clare Chesher, a Brit living in Alaska responds to an earlier piece by the Guardian's Ed Pilkington.

Alaska is bigger than Palin. I'm sure, like me, many people in Northern Ireland would strongly object to being understood with reference to some of our politicians! Oh dear just thinking about that makes me cringe!

The image above is my favourite souvenir from the trip to Alaska always paddle and myself enjoyed a few years back. It currently has pride of place in our living room. Oh and before you ask, it was purchased in a General Store somewhere along the Alaska highway and not purloined with a screwdriver in the dead of night!!

macs ruling the world?

2008-11-13T08:43:00.001Z

Barack's got one

So does Dimitry Medvedev

Via: Boing Boing & cultofmac

night shots

2008-11-13T07:50:00.003Z

Always paddle was out last night so I hit the streets and skulked around Belfast in the dark...taking pictures of course! I'm new to night photography so it was fun to experiment - here are a few of last nights shots:

Taxis

The Spinning Wheel

Footbridge

It sounds a bit like Gladiators

2008-11-12T07:54:00.003Z

Here's a little advance help for your next pub quiz or perhaps Trivial Pursuit's 2010 version. Here are some highlights from a list of code names the US Secret Service gives to those they protect. Don't you think it sounds like a roll call for Gladiators?

The Obamas:

President-elect Barack Obama: Renegade

Michelle Obama: Renaissance

Malia Obama: Radiance

Sasha Obama: Rosebud

The Bidens

Vice President-elect Joe Biden: Celtic

Jill Biden: Capri

The Bushs

President George W. Bush: Tumbler

First Lady Laura Bush: Tempo

See the full list here

Oh and since we are on the theme...the Daily Telegraph publishes '50 facts you might not know about Barack Obama.'

Here's a taster:

He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics.

He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father.

He can bench press an impressive 200lbs.

He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name.

He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol.

He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits.

Read more Obamafacts here

Big Wheel reflection at night

2008-11-11T21:50:00.001Z

Big Wheel reflection at night 2
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

I was in Belfast tonight and snapped a few shots of the big wheel on the way home.

Click here for the large version

Recently Observed (10)

2008-11-11T09:20:00.003Z

...This just in. I'm in the money! "You have just been awarded of the sum of £1,000,000.00GBP Pounds which was won by your E-MAIL Address in our Monthly Promo.You are to contact Mr Pinkett Griffin For More Details."

...the pros of working from home include all day slipper wearing, the cons: one-sided conversations at coffee break.

...churches with doors on the end of pews scare me. Why?

...right now I feel our window cleaner has the worst job in NI. His hands must be freezing.

...amazing shots (as usual) from the Big picture. Enjoy

Review: The Brass Verdict, Michael Connelly

2008-11-10T14:59:00.015Z

A new book from Michael Connelly is an event for the crime fiction world. With a reputation built on a stack of bestsellers Connelly is without question one of the big dogs of the genre. Continuing to take a break from LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch, The Brass Verdict is the second in the series about cynical and troubled LA lawyer Mickey Haller who first appeared in Connelly's 2006 The Lincoln Lawyer.

I've mentioned previously that I was eagerly awaiting Connelly's Brass Verdict and James Lee Burke's Swan Peak. I'm still anticipating the delights of Swan Peak, but I'm sad to report that, for the first time ever, I'm a little disappointed in Michael Connelly's latest offering.

The Brass Verdict follows Mickey Haller as he inherits the caseload of a fellow lawyer who is gunned down in a parking garage. The inherited caseload fast-tracks Haller's recovery from a spell in rehab and re-entry to legal practice. The 'Lincoln lawyer' is back! Amongst the cases the murder trial of a powerful LA film mogul has the potential to make or break Haller. The breakage may be professional or it could be that Haller ends up outlined in chalk like his dead benefactor. As usual with Connelly there are a number of clever twists in the long tail of this case. Also present is Connelly's distaste for the usual suspects. That unholy trinity of crooked cops, slippery lawyers and wealthy rogues are all targets for Connelly's admirable ability to find dirt, corruption and hypocrisy under the nails of even the most carefully of manicured hands.

With an eye on fans of Bosch the blurb for The Brass Verdict hints at a Haller and Bosch double-act and for me this is part of the problem. Readers of Connelly will know Bosch as a powerful and dominant character. It's true, in Harry Bosch the cliches of crime fiction are writ large. A lonely, rebellious, complex, brooding and violent man stalking LA working out his demons and breaking rules in the name of justice. But I have no problem with cliche in crime fiction as long as the writing is strong and Connelly's is first class. There are few writers who can capture movement, speed and intensity in a narrative like Connelly. Reading a British 'police procedural' after an outing with Bosch is like swapping a Porsche for a bike with a flat tire. However, in giving Bosch a supporting role in The Brass Verdict Connelly makes, I believe, an unfortunate error. Bosch is a ghost in this novel - he's here and there, but has little substance, dropping in and out of the narrative, but never fully part of the story. Aside from a suspiciously 'tidy' denouement one wonders why Connelly decided to include Bosch in The Brass Verdict at all.

Typically Connelly produces a book that will keep you up in the small hours, thoughts of sleep and an exhausted tomorrow not intruding on what is usually an exhilarating experience. The Brass Verdict was just not up to the usual Connelly standard. Perhaps it was just me, but it just didn't have the same power and felt a little tired. The surprises weren't too shocking and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the main protagonist of Mickey Haller.

So the xetera verdict on The Brass Verdict is that, sadly, this is a below par offering from Mr Connelly. Don't get me wrong, it's still a decent read, but just not quite as good as some of his previous work. Here's hoping his next offering will be a return to form.

It's time for some warming winter fuel

2008-11-09T12:20:00.010Z

If winter is not upon us, it's certainly pretty close. It won't be long before sunsets at 3pm will join the blasts of cold winds and hats and gloves that have suddenly become part of life in the past couple of weeks. Winter brings its own particular miseries, but many delights. Cosy nights in with candles and hot chocolate, Christmas lights rather than bedraggled flags decorating the streets near our house, winter cooking and the strange pleasure of a bracing run on a crisp and clear winter's morning.

But let's not forget one of winter's Princes: Whisky. Yes, that's right, Scotch Whisky, not it's Irish cousin Whiskey. When it comes to malted barley and water my heart remains in Scotland.

I'm sure distilleries across Scotland would want to challenge my winter/whiskey correlation and yes, whiskey is good irrespective of the month. But a wee dram on a cold winter's night is an absolute delight. Improved only by a roaring open fire and the company of friends.

In years past I've switched between three choices for my warming winter fuel: Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and the Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr old. Now I reach the point of decision. Break with tradition and select something new, or make a choice from one of three tried and tested faithful winter companions? Decisions, decisions!

Another addition to the 'things I miss about Scotland' is the paucity of a good bottle shop. Tescos & Sainsbury's may offer an attractive price, but there is just something wrong about buying single malt scotch three aisles up from the toilet paper. Luvians in St Andrews or Edinburgh's specialty Whiskey shops are sorely missed.

Recommendations, opinions and tasting notes welcomed.

Sláinte!

Hug it out...!

2008-11-08T01:24:00.004Z

My sources bring me exciting Obamaish news. We all know by now that Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was the inspiration for the West Wing's Josh Lyman. Today the net is a flutter with the discovery that his brother was the basis for Entourage's Ari Gold.

What a family! Inspiration for two of the greatest characters from two of the greatest TV shows of the past decade!!

If you are interested in the fascinating Mr Raham Emanuel - Comment Central has collected a huge list of articles about him.

I want my MTV

2008-11-07T12:37:00.004Z

This morning I was briefly excited to discover that MTV have launched a portal called I want my MTV where you can watch almost all the videos they have ever played. Sweet!

What should I try first? Hmmm. Well I have a vivid memory of being in someone's house in New Jersey back in the mid 90s and watching the Gus Van Sant directed vid for Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers - so I went for that.

Sadly a chili peppered memory lane was not to be. Instead of Anthony, Flea and co I got this message:

Oh well over to Youtube... errr not quite. You see Warner Bros have pulled the same trick over there:

Oh dear. This is all very old school music business if you ask me. If I didn't already own it, perhaps my trip down a chili peppered memory lane would have prompted a walk over to itunes where I would have bought the track (79p) or perhaps a Greatest Hits album (£7.99).

Instead I found this absolutely hilarious "literal video" version of Under the Bridge. Very, very funny! Enjoy!

US election in red, blue and purple

2008-11-06T19:13:00.004Z

Some post-election mappery of the US

The standard red/blue

A cartogram showing results with states scaled according to their population

Cartogram showing percentages of votes in blue, red and purple. This helps to see whether counties went strongly for one candidate or the other or a relatively even split.

Fuller explanation and more maps here

A little over the top?

2008-11-06T09:57:00.000Z

Thankfully Obamamania saved those of us in UK from the really big story of the year. Yes Jonathan and Russell's lewd phone calls to Andrew 'Manuel' Sachs. Apparently the good people of Edenbrige, Kent don't feel enough has been done and will burn this huge effigy of Ross and Brand at a fireworks display on Saturday night.

The likeness is pretty good, but perhaps a little over the top? They behaved badly, no doubt about it, but it's not quite the same as trying to blow up Parliament?

Those nasty bloggers

2008-11-05T18:14:00.001Z

This is not a political blog, but seeing as it's wall to wall politics at the moment here's another political post, this time non-obama!

Reports are circulating about Hazel Blears MP's speech to the Hansard Society on the subject of political disengagement. As well as getting the boot into politicians who have CV's that read: "party activist, policy wonk, MP" (like a lot of her cabinet colleagues??) she has some thoughts to share on political blogs.

The PA advance Press Release includes the following: "Ms Blears, who had a career as a local government solicitor before becoming an elected politician, will also complain about a "spreading corrosive cynicism" in political discussion. She will point the figure at political "bloggers" - accusing them of seeing their role as "unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy".

She goes on to say: "Until political blogging 'adds value' to our political culture, by allowing new voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair."

I read a lot of political blogs and find Blears' comments baffling. One theory is that she is trying to pick a fight with right-wing bloggers who so far have managed to create the most successful blogs on the UK political blogosphere. However, this doesn't explain anything and only prompts one to ask why she would pick this particular fight? Other recent reports about senior Labour figures eying up the UK blogosphere clearly demonstrate that the lack of a strong Labour voice out there is a source of some concern.

But for Blears to get the boot in and accuse UK political bloggers of somehow contributing to political disengagement demonstrates a breathtaking lack of understanding and worse a unbelivable absence of imagination or curiosity about the meaning of the internet. In the US the Huffington Post and Drudge make their mainstream rivals look like pretenders. Andrew Sullivan is doing his daily dish, daily kos is massive for democrats. In Canada I've recently discovered Warren Kinsella a rare combination of political insider and born blogger. In the UK Iain Dale and Guido rack up as many page views as main stream newspaper sites. Setting aside the fact that many of these are pretty basic operations, surely their success points to a high degree of engagement in the political process. People are hardly disengaged from politics if they are reading these blogs in their millions.

There are lots of people blogging about politics out there, but some of them are attracting huge numbers of people on a daily basis. What Hazel Blears and her advisers should be asking is Why? Rather than complain about content or accuse bloggers of feeding a culture of cynicism and despair our political leaders should be asking why it appears there is a culture of cynicism and despair? Does this have anything to do with a new form of communication? Surely the heart of the matter is more worrying than the anarchy of political blogging? Perhaps it's the memory of a year of revelations about financial impropriety and downright criminal behaviour by MPs? Perhaps people haven't forgotten the story of major figures in British politics cavorting on the yacht of a Russian business man who has been denied entry to the USA? People are clearly frustrated and pretty fed up with UK political culture, but I would suggest this has more to do with our politicians and the current political culture than anything written by a blogger. Don't shoot the messenger Hazel!

Political blogs, youtube, twitter, facebook - people are on the web having a big debate about politics and a million other issues. New media reflects old media, especially when blogs become successful enough to make money for advertising, so like some of the rubbish we print on paper there's a lot of nasty rubbish out there that should be ignored. But don't we do that everyday whether it's on TV, in a newspaper or on a blog?

I'm worried that Blears sees a problem rather than a massive opportunity. Concerned that she somehow thinks it's worth having a crack at a few bloggers rather than realising that every sordid tale of corruption or story that doesn't sit well with 'ordinary people' is the drip, drip that is corrisive to political engagement.

Hold the front page

2008-11-05T15:47:00.001Z

There's only one story on the front pages today - although in Belfast, this morning's Newsletter ran with:

"Linfield Player struck by Firework" - somebody please tell them!

Thank goodness for great rhetoric

2008-11-05T10:27:00.002Z

Well - what a night! I gave in to sleep after listening to McCain's gracious concession speech. Woke up a few hours later, surprisingly fresh, to the sound of Obama's acceptance speech on Radio 4. It's interesting to listen to this morning's analysis and see how Obama's victory becomes a launch pad for a discussion for...well...just about everything.

One of the most astonishing criticisms of Obama during the campaign was the 'mere rhetoric' line that even last night, as the electoral map of America changed before our eyes, was still in the mouths of his critics. Both speeches last night demonstrated the importance of political rhetoric. McCain showed true character and grace in defeat. Obama, once again, delivered a stunning speech that found words that not only celebrated the moment, but mined its significance. The climax of the speech weaves together the life story of one individual woman, 106 year old Ann Nixon Cooper, with the story of modern America. A moment of rhetorical beauty. Rhetoric matters because ideas matter. Most politicians would happily settle for a mere dusting of Obama's ability to tell a political story and use words to inspire and create change. Here's hoping he continues to raise the bar for political discource.

Here are some extracts from Obama's acceptance speech: (see below for video of complete speech)

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference."

"It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states."

"It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America. It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day."

"But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy…… who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth. This is your victory."

"This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America."

Result

2008-11-05T04:09:00.002Z

BBC coverage - the best bits

2008-11-05T04:03:00.000Z

Fun moments from the BBC coverage:

...John Bolton calling for a BBC reporter to be sacked immediately.

...Simon Schama giving Bolton a run for his money.

...Eddie Izzard and Ricky Gervais sharing their thoughts on US politics.

...Nick Robinson, clearly having had a few jars, doing a 3am live link from Downing Street.

...John Bolton refusing to concede...anything!

...Christopher Hitchens doing what he does best.

...Jeremy Vine with his fancy map in London.

it ain't over till it's over, but it seems like it's over already...

2008-11-05T01:37:00.001Z

it's 133am. Lots of cautious talk on TV - too close to call etc. But the numbers are starting to come in and it appears that it's in the bag for Barack Obama. The conversation is slowly switching to talk of Obama as a leader - McCain is slipping away, at least in the minds of the talking heads.

waiting

2008-11-04T23:37:00.000Z

Like any big sporting event - the election coverage starts with commentary on commentary. BBC2's Newsnight had Paxman in Washington with Mark Penn (trying to imply he always knew it would be Obama), John Zogby and a McCainiac who is still a true believer.

Google has a great 'real-time' election results map

For now I'm sipping a Corona and waiting.

leadership

2008-11-04T14:26:00.005Z

coffee & tribes = good times

So we've reached the big day. Right now the American people are deciding who will be the 44th President of the United States of America. I can't wait for the BBC coverage to begin.

Has there ever been a more talked about, analysed, debated and reported electoral contest? How do you top this? Now it's down to the people: ordinary voters, activists getting out the vote and those people who claim to be 'undecided'.

As much as any election is about a set of policies and party affiliation it is also surely about leadership. Who do I want to lead me? I'm currently reading Seth Godin's new book Tribes and this morning came across this passage on page 126:

The Elements of Leadership

Leaders challenge the status quo.

Leaders create a culture around their goal and involve others in that culture.

Leaders have an extraordinary amount of curiosity about the word they're trying to change.

Leaders use charisma (in a variety of forms) to attract and motivate followers.

Leaders communicate their vision of the future.

Leaders commit to a vision and make decisions based on that commitment.

Leaders connect their followers to one another.

latest photos

2008-11-03T19:41:00.009Z

coffee cup, the yard gallery, holywood

kinnegar, holywood

bottle floating in belfast lough

golden leaves

graffiti, college court, belfast

I know you're busy...

2008-11-02T08:51:00.003Z

I know you're busy running a campaign, but you'd think someone might have tried to make sure that the guy who claims to be President Nicholas Sarkozy is indeed President Nicholas Sarkozy!

A National Treasure - no doubt about it

2008-11-01T19:30:00.003Z

Ok. So old Russ and Jonathan were seriously out of line. I think we get the point. But more offensive than their lewd behaviour was the way the BBC haters got their knives out, barely concealed under a gossamer cloak of hypocritical moral concern. These nasty people want to see an end to a national treasure, not for one second considering the cultural significance of this incredible organisation. The BBC is not perfect, but it is probably the greatest media outlet in the world.

Say no to mediocre TV & Radio; love your BBC!!

Nostalgia's not what it used to be...

2008-10-31T12:22:00.008Z

I absolutely loved Ladybird Books when I was a kid. I remember having a big stack of them under my desk in P5 at Holywood Primary School. My all time favourite was The Farmer. Written by I&J Havenhand and beautifully illustrated by John Berry it was first published in 1963.

I'm not sure if it was this book or our family roots in Fermanagh, but for a time I seriously wanted to be a farmer when I 'grew up.'

In a stroke a marketing genius Ladybird have now made all the artwork from their Ladybird books available on an online gallery called Ladybird Prints. Here you can browse your way down memory lane or if you want, purchase a variety of print sizes of your favourites pages from childhood.

More classics:

The Policeman

'Train' - from: The Story of Newspapers

On the job advice

2008-10-30T11:40:00.008Z

It must be because I recently celebrated a birthday, but for some reason I was rummaging through the old memory box and thinking about a few of the crap jobs I've had. I don't like to boast, but whether it was delivering the Herald & Post around Holywood or being a petrol pump attendant for 50p an hour I've got a fairly distinguished crap jobs CV. Crap jobs are crap in many ways. Sometimes it's in the nuts and bolts of what you are doing, sometimes it's the nuts and bolts you have to work with or worse still, work for! But crap jobs are important. They are a rite of passage, can sometimes be fun and certainly teach you a few lessons about the world of work. Although let's be honest most of those lessons are lessons you'd rather not learn.

"I'm getting cauliflower mixed with old socks; what about you Vera?"

After my early apprenticeship as a petrol pump attendant I was, of course, well placed to successfully compete for a job behind the till at a petrol station. No more freezing days on the forecourt for me! Despite my obvious qualifications I actually got the job via a family friend, let's call it early networking. I started part-time, but then because the prospects were oh so good I went full time during what I like to describe as my "break from formal education." But that's a whole other story.

Anyway this particular crap job is noteworthy because of the fantastic advice I was given during the first 5 mins of my first shift. Still trying coming to terms with the garish aqua blue sweatshirt I had to wear as the uniform I was introduced to the shift manager by my mustachioed Boss. Let's call her Lynn, for that, dear reader, was her name. This is going back to...circa 1993 and here's the conversation as I recall it:

Mustachioed Boss Man: "Lynn, this is Stuart, he's a new part timer. He'll be working with you tonight. Can you show him the ropes?"

Lynn (ignoring mustachioed boss man): "Hi Stuart, pleased to meet you."

Me (sensing tension between Lynn and mustachioed boss man): "Hi Lynn"

Lynn (completely straight-faced and serious): "There's just one thing you need to know before we get started Stuart."

Me (anticipating petrol station wisdom of a higher order): "Ok"

Lynn:"You don't know Sh*t....Ok"

Me: Err ok....

And there you have it. I've had a lot of jobs in the intervening years, some crap, some good. But no one has managed to top the on the job advice from Lynn. I wonder what ever became of her?

If you've got your own stories from this particular genre I'd love to hear them...

A good reason to stop washing your car

2008-10-30T10:05:00.005Z

I love this! Inspiration for anyone who has written "wash me" (or worse) on the back of an unwashed motor vehicle.

Dust art! Who knew?

From: supertouch

Keep calm and carry on

2008-10-29T19:52:00.005Z

Always Paddle took me out for a birthday dinner last night. We dined in Made in Belfast a newish Belfast eaterie which is imaginatively decorated and serves good food. On one of the walls they had a framed version of this poster which was issued by the Ministry of Information in 1939 at the outbreak of the second world war. Perhaps the current government should issue a version of this poster!

Hope, Dope, Pope & Nope

2008-10-28T16:48:00.001Z

The story of artist Shephard Fairey's iconic 'Hope' image of Obama. Confirmation that imitation continues to be the sincerest and possibly funniest form of flattery.

(From: Rene Wanner's Poster page )

The Background

In 1989, Shepard Fairey (b. 1970) began to paste stickers all over town with a face and the mysterious message "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" or "Obey Giant" . Since then, his palette, geographic range and activities have increased enormously, and when he offered to support Barack Obama's campaign with some posters in January 2008, he readily got permission from Obama to do so. Within a day, he had finished a design, one with the text "PROGRESS", and another with "HOPE".

A first print run of 350 was sold out within minutes for $ 45 a piece, and, much to Fairey's annoyance, resold on ebay for a lot more. The Wall Street Journal began to track the ebay prices, they quickly shot up to $ 3'000, and reached $ 10'000 in June. In July, a mixed media painting done by Fairey in the same style as his "Hope" poster, sold for $ 108'000. By July 31, about 200'000 sticker versions of the original Obama poster had been printed.

Meanwhile, Fairey and his fans continued to wild post their Obamas all over the United States, and Fairey was promptly arrested, like many times before, and spent a night in jail. Ironically, this happened in Denver during the Democratic National Convention than won Obama the nomination of his party.

The strong, simple poster hit the nerve of many graphic designers. Fairey, who had been accused of copying style and content of communist propaganda posters, found himself suddenly imitated with numerous versions of his original design. Tutorials begann to appear in the web on how to make your own Fairey/Obama poster, even ready made solutions where you can just enter your own text instead of HOPE.

The Parodies

More here

32 but still not quite grown up?

2008-10-28T08:48:00.002Z

cartoon from ASBO Jesus

129

2008-10-27T10:40:00.005Z

One hundred and twenty nine days. 129. Conall over on O'Conall Street points out that this is how long it has been since the executive of the Northern Ireland Assembly met. Apparently major floods, a crisis in our educational system and the worst economic crisis for decades have thus far failed to encourage a meeting of the executive. Just how bad does it have to get?

Some of the blogging blogs I read (yes, I know, very sad) warn about making sure to avoid the 'echo chamber' - i.e. never emerging from the cave of your blog and ignoring the perspective of others. Seems like our political leaders are lost in something of a political echo chamber whereby narrow party-political posturing is trumping the real challenges that are dominating the hearts and minds of people in NI.

Tomorrow it will be 130 days and every day thereafter that the absence of our Pimpernel Executive continues a significant contribution is made to the undermining of the entire project of devolution.

Perpetual October

2008-10-26T20:13:00.002Z

Today the weather was typical of October. Driving rain, wind, a sudden burst of sunshine and a flash of colour in a rainbow. Yesterday I read an interview with Belfast singer-songwriter Brian Houston and he described Northern Ireland as the land of "perpetual october." A reminder, as if we needed one, that we've had a depressingly poor summer. At least now we have a bit of correlation between the date and the weather. So what does a person, or two persons do on a wet and windy sunday afternoon in Belfast?

Well with Julie behind the wheel we did some driving in the rain, much needed experience for any aspiring Belfast driver. After almost giving up twice we finally found a parking spot and walked to Waterstones for an afternoon coffee in Ground.

After a little reading of the papers and browsing the stacks at Waterstones always paddle decided to take the new Jamie Oliver cook book for a test drive. FYI - The Mitsubishi Pencil Co's uni-ball is apparently the perfect writing tool for copying down a recipe on the back of a napkin.

As I type the tempting smell of vegetable jalfrezi permeates our house. Hopefully our intrepid chef will blog about this and perhaps even share the recipe. Here's a taster:

some photos for friday

2008-10-24T21:45:00.006+01:00

recently observed (9)

2008-10-23T16:03:00.003+01:00

...man in a coffee shop in Saskatoon reading Napoleon Hill's classic Think and Grow Rich. This is very comforting optimism. In the current climate I was expecting massively increased sales of my self-published volume: "Building a Bunker and Living off the Land for Dummies."

...what can be more fun than meeting up with old friends at a wedding and dancing?

...you haven't fully experienced the beauty of the sky until you've spent some time on the prairies.

...it's hard to know how to react when someone tells you that you have a 'cute' accent. It's a double edged sword. You want to be more than a voice and cute is not what you're aiming for in life. But secretly, deep down, you kind of like it.

...is it just me or do a shocking number of men flush and walk without washing their hands?I wonder is this true of the female of the species?

...the great Obama art just keeps coming

Obama's shoes

2008-10-22T17:46:00.007+01:00

Photographer Callie Shell has had incredible access to Obama during his campaign for both his party's nomination and now the Presidency. She has an amazing eye and with the access she's been granted has manged to capture some incredible images from Obama's campaign.

I've seen the image above on a number of occasions and so far it's my favourite of Obama. It reminds me of one of my all time least favourite aphorisms "You can tell a lot about a man by his shoes."

Commenting on the image above Shell writes:

"Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008."

See the full collection of Shell's Obama images here.

Gig Art

2008-10-22T16:22:00.005+01:00

See lots more here

Blog? Why?

2008-10-21T15:16:00.002+01:00

Blogging legend Andrew Sullivan has a really interesting piece called "Why I blog" in the latest edition of The Atlantic online.

Couple of great quotes:

"Blogging is therefore to writing what extreme sports are to athletics; more free-form, more accident prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many way, writing out loud."

"The key to understanding a blog is to realise that it's a broadcast, not a publication. It it stops moving, it dies. If it stops paddling, it sinks."

U Haul trailers

2008-10-18T04:53:00.001+01:00

U Haul trailers
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

U-Haul trailers at a Gas Station 1 hour north of Saskatoon.

W.

2008-10-17T16:35:00.004+01:00

Earlier this week we got free tickets to see Saskatoon's first showing of Oliver Stone's W. The much anticipated premier was sponsored by a local free-sheet called Planet S and before the movie started there was a hilarious give-away contest which involved three men in a balloon blowing-up contest. The reason I mention this is that the random pre-show shenanigans were far more entertaining than this movie. I was really looking forward to W. but it was extremely disappointing!

I'm still trying to work out what the problem is with the movie W. There are millions of people out there who hate Bush and his cronies and they will probably enjoy this movie, but making fun of George Bush is about as entertaining as those books of Bushisms that were funny for about 10 seconds in 2002. I'm not sure what Oliver Stone was trying to achieve in this movie. The story is badly told, the 'message' about as subtle as a 10-gallon hat and a Texan belt buckle. The pace is sluggish with no tension and no character or storyline that could be described as emotionally compelling. Perhaps it's simply too early, that we are too close to Bush to achieve any substantive exploration of the man and his presidency? Whatever the problem this is a seriously flawed movie that feels like a made-for TV biopic that you just might watch on a Sunday night if there is nothing else on and your broadband internet is not working.

W. attempts the same sense of realism that Stephen Frears achieved in The Queen, but fails miserably. Josh Brolin's Bush and Elizabeth Banks' sexy librarian Laura are the only bright spots in a sea of weird faces, strange mannerisms and awful accents. One reviewer aptly described Thandie Newton's Condi Rice as speaking as if she had sucked a balloon full of helium. W's close, but not quite close enough result, leaves you in this weird twilight zone where you're expecting a comedy moment at any second and you just can't get past the one dimensional look-a-likes. Watching W on the big screen I felt like I'd stumbled into a slightly convincing wax-work recreation of the Bush White House after a few minutes I wanted to move on to the exhibit of David Beckham and Posh Spice.

With little finesse or subtly Stone builds his story of Bush on a foundation of Daddy issues, failure, fraternal jealousy, alcohol and religion. No matter what portion of W's life we see portrayed on screen one of these will appear like a teenager standing behind a TV reporter with a huge "Hi Mum" sign. I'm no fan of George Bush and some of Stone's W may be completely accurate, but I'm a fan of good films and I don't need to spend over 2 hours in a movie theatre being treated to a large screen rehash of every Bushism under the sun.

People are complex, even George W Bush. To truly do justice to someone, even a hate-figure like Bush, you've got to allow for complexity and show empathy and imagination. This is not to say the film-maker is suddenly sympathetic and uncritical, but you've got to get under their skin and give their character room to breathe. Sadly Stone's W is suffocated under a blanket of unimaginative hate and a strange sense of shame that this man has been President. W might be good therapy for frustrated democrats, but it's definitely not good cinema.

A beautiful day

2008-10-14T16:00:00.007+01:00

The Bride was stunning, the weather perfect, the ceremony beautiful, the food delicious, the dancing fun, the laughs plenty, the canoe hilarious: all in all it was a perfect day!

More photos from Nancy and Matt's wedding on flickr

Tomorrow

2008-10-11T15:55:00.008+01:00

For my Canadian family tomorrow's date has been circled, marked, underlined and starred for months. Now it's almost here. The big day, the start of a new chapter: the wedding of Nancy and Matt. There are still lists, but they've got a little shorter. Today there are final preparations and time to take a breath before tomorrow.

Hot Sauce

2008-10-10T03:05:00.002+01:00

Hot Sauce for sale in EE Burritos

We got our Burrito fix today courtesy of EE Burritos on 8th Street - delicious!

More Obama art

2008-10-09T18:13:00.000+01:00

My favourite is the Magic Tree!

The Twitterverse

2008-10-09T18:06:00.003+01:00

Do you Twitter? How do you use it? Do you find it just one web step too far or are you addicted to updating the world in 140 character episodes?

Explaining Twitter to your Mum

I did once try to explain Twitter to my Mum, but I don't think she got it. The problem was not technical, but more of a Why would you want to do that? query, which is entirely valid. Why Twitter at all? Here's a quick answer and some reports from the twitterverse.

Twitter asks: What are you doing? and gives you 140 characters to explain. I've been using Twitter regularly for a couple of months now and I like it a lot. It's fair to say that it can easily become an easy way of updating your facebook status update or advertising a new blog post, both of which I do regularly. However, it's also an interesting way of micro-blogging and I really like the idea of trying to communicate within the strict confines of 140 characters.

New Friends and Customers?

Much to always paddle's concern I have been twittering with some people I have never met. She thinks this is a bit weird. Twitter allows replies so I've enjoyed a few 140 character conversations with these folks. I've also seen some of the Belfast and NI based twitterati meet up and use twitter for social networking. As twitter grows in popularity more and more businesses seem to be getting in on the act. As usual the key will be creative usage of a medium rather than seeing twitter as just another way to megaphone your product or message.

Random Followers

One of the funnier things about twitter is that you get more random followers (friends) than you do on Facebook. I'll admit that I have randomly started following a few people. For the uninitiated this is the same as asking someone to be a friend on Facebook, except you don't have to give permission for someone to follow you. Mostly I follow on a "they seem like an interesting person" basis. This provides a hugely gratifying moment when you get an email telling you that someone else is following you. However, it can sometimes be a crushing disappointment when you discover that your latest follower is (a) trying to sell you something, (b) a little weird 0r (c) just plain crazy. Recently I got two notifications of new followers, both to be filed under R for random. One was from Josiah Bartlett. Someone out there twittering a la Jed. For example:

Long day ahead. I believe I'll be dropping in on Toby and C. J. to see how well they're prepping Biden. about 1 hour ago from web

Charlie is going to be in here to wake me up any minute. I should at least try to pretend I'm sleeping. about 1 hour ago from web

Now this is kind of funny in a "are you completely crazy or is this just a hobby?" kind of way. Don't get me wrong I am a HUGE West Wing fan, but even I think this is going too far. Unless of course it is actually Martin Sheen who simply cannot cope in a post-West Wing universe? And who could blame him!

My other recent follow was from a guy called Jack who describes himself as a 'serial entrepreneur'. In his bio he mentions that a business card he found in a phone box promising "more money in a month than a doctor earns in a year" was an important light bulb moment. Here's Jack:

It's all about the writing

Can Twitter be boring or useless? Of course it can. But I suppose this can be said of any form of communcation. What makes it interesting is those moments when people, by accident or design, craft their 140 characters in a creative and interesting way. It's all about the writing. There is an incredible variety in the way people choose to answer that simple question: What are you doing? Reading over someone's updates over a few days can be a fascinating way of keeping up to date, learning about their life or just participating in the random moments from their day. Perhaps there is no definitive answer to the question of why people want to do this. The internet shows that people love to communicate and not just with other people they know. It appears people like to communicate themselves to anyone who happens to be out there.

So are you on Twitter? Find me at twitter.com/stunoble and learn the minutiae of my life! You know you want to.

recently observed (8)

2008-10-08T16:35:00.006+01:00

water damage, saskatoon

....a fellow passenger on one of our flights who spent the full hour counting and recounting a big pile of money...thought he was crazy, but perhaps he knew what was ahead.

...the woman beside Julie on our flight across the Atlantic spent most of the 7 hours reading the Daily Telegraph. Value for money.

...there is a fine line between too much and not enough time in an airport between flights. I'm used to having too much, this trip it was not enough.

...prophetic financials? Story of a couple in England who sold their house in Poole 4 years ago and bought gold bullion.

...is this the best named Merlot you've ever seen?

I always thought that was weird...

2008-10-07T18:31:00.004+01:00

As many of you know there was a time when I worked for the world's largest legal drug dealer, the mighty Starbucks. There were many bloggable moments from those days on Belfast's Lisburn Road, but one aspect of the daily grind that always puzzled me was the "Dipper well." Like most people I've been brought up to turn off the tap after use and, even though I live in "are you sure we shouldn't build an Ark?" Ireland, I try to avoid wasting water. I think this has something to do with a cartoon I once saw on Sesame Street which showed a little girl brushing her teeth and while she ran the tap the level of the cartoon lake outside her house dropped, making life increasingly difficult for the cartoon fish. For some reason this made a long lasting impression on me. But I digress...

Perhaps you've been in Starbucks and noticed the tiny tap beside the machine that makes your coffee a tiny tap that runs constantly and drains into a little round well which is called the "dipper well."

I could never get my head round this. I mean how could this not be a tremendous waste of water? There are hundreds of Starbucks in the UK and approx 10,000 worldwide, that's a lot of dipper wells and a lot of water.

The UK's Sun newspaper, not previously known for its environmental concern, ran the dipper-gate story last week and other news outlets picked it up. This forced Starbucks to make a response. One of the things I found so interesting from their statement was the following explantion:

"Dipper wells use a stream of continuous cold fresh-running water to rinse away food residue, help keep utensils clean and prevent bacterial growth, the dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards."

An award worthy example of dealing with an issue by completely ignoring the main point and enlisting a passion for public health to get back on top of the story. The whole dipper well thing is one of those funny things that happens when a company, government or organisation do something that is so obviously wrong-headed, so wonderfully idiotic, but because it is the done thing no one really questions it or thinks that perhaps there's a better way of doing things. I mean have you noticed hundreds of people being poisoned by bacteria in all those coffee shops who play fast and loose with your bacterial health by not using a dipper well? No, nor have I.

Confession: Whenever it was quiet in our store I always turned that little tap off.

Empty Benches

2008-10-07T05:39:00.002+01:00

Empty benches
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

Lots of lovely photo ops in Saskatoon today. There was no one in the park and I managed to get a shot of 5 empty benches.

More from Saskatoon on my flickr

The Monday Review: Dark of the Moon

2008-10-06T14:11:00.005+01:00

Dark of the Moon, John Sanford

Flying books

If I'm on a long flight I really need to have something to read that will keep me glued to the page and generally distracted for the hours I spend in the world of flights and airports. Twice this year John Sandford has kindly provided the necessary textual narcotic. This time, thanks to the unbelievably bad movies on our flight across the Atlantic, I was able to read Dark of the Moon in one sitting.

Sanford has written 18 books in his well known Prey series and while using the word prey in every title might encourage you to think bad things about him as a writer - it shouldn't. Lucas Davenport, the main protagonist is a great character and its a series driven by good writing and clever plot lines.

Dark of the Moon is the first of a new Sandford series with Virgil Flowers as the central figure. Flowers has previously appeared alongside Davenport in the Prey series, but in Dark of the Moon it is Flowers who is front and centre with Davenport making a couple of fleeting appearances as the boss on the end of the phone. Flowers is distinct enough from Davenport to be interesting and you can sense Sandford is enjoying the opportunity to create a completely different personality who is idiosyncratic and humorous.

Keep 'em guessing John

The basic plot of Dark of the Moon revolves around a series of violent deaths in a small town. A wealthy man with more enemies than friends is killed in a house fire and the question is who wouldn't want to kill him, but then subsequent victims are remarkable for the lack of obvious motive and Flowers is drawn into the life of a town with lots of secrets and much to hide. One of the the things I really enjoyed about Dark of the Moon was the way that Sandford keeps you guessing. A range of suspects are identified pretty early in the story, but it's a complex case and there's a strong sense of forward motion and actions that continue to reveal motives and secrets that are all highly plausible. Sandford maintains a sense of tension until almost the last pages.

A journalist turned author, Sandford possesses a keen eye for detail and place. In Dark of the Moon the classic idea of small town life in America with its claustrophobic sense that everyone knows all about you is wonderfully rendered. While there seems to be no hiding from the ever present eyes of the townsfolk a sense that the corrosive and brooding secrets of the past can come to life in a storm of violence and revenge is always just beneath the surface.

Killing Corruption

Throughout his books Sandford reveals a passion for pulling at the loose threads of corruption and exposing the dark consequences of a love of money or the way the abuse of power destroys people and relationships. Of course the books are fast-paced crime fiction and there's not much time for analysis, but acts of violence are always framed within a wider story and the why question of motive is given attention in a way that adds to rather than clouds the narrative.

Dark of the Moon employs a lot of the standard types and figures from the genre of crime fiction, the outsider loner cop with a complex personal life, the rules are made to be broken attitude, even the idea of small time life that Sandford uses as part of the plot. But the writing is good and the pages are very 'turnable' and when travelling that's what I'm after.

Obama art

2008-10-03T07:19:00.008+01:00

Obama clearly has quite a following in the creative/artistic community

Things to be done

2008-10-02T09:54:00.003+01:00

Creative use of Post-its from The Serif

Why when I have almost 6 months notice do I put things off to the very last minute?

Hyperbole Bites

2008-10-01T22:14:00.004+01:00

It was 1994 and the summer was coming to an end. I was standing in the kitchen of our house in Holywood and putting off doing the dishes. A local radio music show was playing in the background and I was completely blown away by a song, enjoying it so much that while I wanted it to continue, I was desperately hoping the DJ would name the band. This was B.B. (Before Broadband). The song was Live Forever by Oasis. Since 1994 Oasis have gone on to make 6 studio albums and are on the brink of releasing their seventh. They have been an ever present feature of the British music scene for the past 14 years, creating havoc, taunting rivals, intimidating new bands and generally living the pantomime that is Oasis. I think there are some good moments on What's the Story Morning Glory, but for me they have not really produced anything of significance since that barnstorming first album in 1994.

Alan McGee, Oasis cheer-leader in chief, wrote a blog for yesterday's Guardian entitled "Why the music world needs Oasis," according to Alan:

"The music world needs Oasis at this moment, a band with more personality and more amusing quips than any British band for at least 10 years. Throughout their history Oasis have captured the pop zeitgeist (and my personal zeitgeist) as a band that combine the best elements of the Beatles and Sex Pistols to emerge as this generation's Rolling Stones."

Come on Alan, calm down. I certainly don't listen to music for amusing quips. As for capturing the zeitgeist well I think in '94 they managed to reflect something of the zeitgeist, but capture; I think not. Does anyone ever capture the zeitgeist? Some artists manage to tap into it, reflect it or express it more powerfully than others, but capture?

Don't believe the Hype

I think one of the main problems with Oasis is that the Gallaghers have made the sonically fatal mistake of believing their own publicity. I don't really care if you say you are the biggest band in the world, let me hear it. Liam's pantomime anger has left a catalogue of photographers bruised and lense-less, but why is he so angry? I get the impression that Oasis' passion is singular and it begins with O and ends in S. I know, it's fun to mock musicians, artists, and actors who get angry about an issue or commit to a cause. There are pitfalls galore and hypocrisy a plenty. But it at least demonstrates that these individuals are vaguely aware that there is a world out there, beyond the horizon of celebrity.

This is not meant to be an anti-Oasis rant, the only reason I'm writing this post is found in McGee's astonishing final paragraph:

"It's only Glasvegas and Oasis for competition in this country. If you are in a band and are not artistically competing with the creative rock'n'roll genius of Oasis or Glasvegas, it's time to just stop and get off the treadmill. This is how rock'n'roll should be done in the United Kingdom today."

I recently bought Glasvegas' debut album and I know Alan McGee has been a champion of the band for quite some time, but to compare the creative and emotionally compelling music of James Allan to Oasis' fairly mundane back catalogue is unbelievable. I know it's hype and McGee is just helping the Gallagher pension fund in these hard-pressed economic times, but he just went too far. This is probably personal preference but I think it's important for music to be innovative and occasionally surprising. Thus far Oasis have not managed that and after 14 years I don't think they will. Although I would be happy to be proved wrong with this next album. Glasvegas on the other hand have produced an incredible debut, the inclusion of the song Stabbed shows that they are in different universe creatively than the one inhabited by Oasis. I mean who would think of putting the words of a stab victim to the music of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata? The result is truly haunting.

Don't get me wrong this is not an "I hate Oasis" rant, well not completely! I'm more than happy to admit that Oasis have produced a few gems over the years. Here's the one that caught my attention in the first place.

The Monday Review - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2008-09-29T13:10:00.007+01:00

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

How do you react when you see: "More than 5 million Copies Sold Worldwide" emblazoned in large font across the top of a book? Grab it thinking 5 million people can't be wrong or keep moving hoping to number yourself with the a more select group of readers? Hype is clearly good for sales, but it can often be bad for literature. However, not only does The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo come with that 5 million banner, but inside there are two full pages of generous praise from a Who's Who of reviewers. So whether it's sales or the review pages of newspapers, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a much talked about book. I couldn't resist.

Crime Fiction or just Good Fiction?

Crime Fiction is a funny old genre. You'll find all sorts in those shelves, but sadly much great fiction gets overlooked when it is consigned to the crime fiction stacks in a bookstore. Larsson falls into the later category. This is an incredible achievement. There is certainly crime, corruption and quite a bit of violence in this book, but it is also a fantastic story with vividly drawn characters, a multilayered plot with great pace that keeps going for the 500+ pages that it takes Larrsson to resolve the complex mystery.

The story essentially revolves around the disappearance of Harriet Vanger in 1966, a member of a rich and powerful family of Swedish industrialists. For forty years her Uncle has been tormented by her disappearance and his belief that she was murdered by a member of his dysfunctional family. Each year on his birthday a mysterious tormentor sends him a dried flower, a painful reminder of the dried flowers once given to him by Harriet.

Rather than focus on a detective Larsson's central character is Mikael Blomkvist a recently disgraced Journalist with a talent for unearthing corruption and some time on his hands. The tattooed girl of the title is Lisbeth Salander a mysterious security specialist whose lifestyle and personal problems make her an outcast from society. In Blomkvist and Salander, Larsson has created two highly original characters who draw you into the world of the story and the darkness at the heart of the Vanger family. Larsson's sense of place and his emotional intelligence allow him to craft locations and people who are multi-dimensional and full of colour.

Passion & Anger

The plot is developed at an almost leisurely pace, one of the many factors that distinguishes it from other books that sell in their millions. In his journalistic career Larsson was expert on right-wing extremism and neo-nazi organisations and his passion and anger are clear in his novel. Corrupt companies, politicians and men who commit domestic violence are all targets, but not in a superficial or forced way. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo explores the darker recesses of Swedish life and Larsson's passion is deployed with skill and never gets in the way of the larger story he is trying to tell.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is definitely one of my books of 2008. If we're going to have a genre called Crime Fiction then the more Crime Fiction like this the better. At over 500 dense pages be prepared to give up a few days of your life, once hooked this is not a book you will want to put down.

Sadly Stieg Larsson did not live to see the success of this first volume of his Millennium Trilogy. In 2004 Larsson had just handed in the manuscripts for his trilogy to his Swedish publisher when he died suddenly of a heart attack. For his fans there are two more in the series to look forward to, however, his passing is a loss to Swedish crime fiction and literature in general.

Here's a link to an interesting piece about Larsson and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from the Times Book section, August 2008.

Oh and I'm going to have some additional reading time in the not so distant future. Recommendations in the comments box for books to be read in the twilight zone of airports and airplanes greatly received!

recently observed (7)

2008-09-28T19:28:00.003+01:00

...3 twelve year old girls hanging out the window of a limo driving through Belfast shouting "Yooh, Yooh" at bemused Saturday shoppers. Let me know when the credit crunch hits.

...street party with balloons and ear-splitting karaoke to celebrate the refurbishment of College Street. It all seemed slightly over the top, as far as I could tell the refurb consisted of new paving.

...even a minor airport delay seems to encourage regrettable food choices. "Overpriced and fairly tasteless steak sandwich and fries? Oh go ahead I'm delayed for 2 hours."

...I judged the Guardian too soon - Tim Dowling's column this week was as funny as anything by Jon Ronson and there was a fantastic supplement featuring great photos of Belfast from Magnum photographer Martin Parr.

...video posted on BBC news site about two Swedish women who 'dice with death' on the M6. It's a truly bizarre video clip, made even stranger by the only explanation offered by the reporter is that they were "Swedish twin sisters". Are all Swedish twins crazy?

An M&S shirt don't mean I can't rock

2008-09-25T20:54:00.016+01:00

So first things first. There is nothing wrong with an M&S shirt. I've got quite a few and I wear them with M&S pride. However, there are rare occasions when an M&S shirt just isn't the required look.

I was in London for work this week and my good friend el dunc took me to a gig near Kings Cross. Dressed for a day at the office, hence the M&S shirt, I soon discovered I wasn't exactly dress coded for the Monto Water Rats - one of London's top indie venues - or so they say. Dunc was keen to see The Colour Code who were third on the bill, but unfortunately we only got to see less than 10 minutes of their set. What I hadn't realised was that the other two acts on the bill were both up and coming bands from Northern Ireland, General Fiasco and Fighting with Wire. I've heard both of these bands on radio ulster and it was great to see them doing the business in front of a London crowd. The Rats is one of those shoebox venues that when the temperature gets up the roof will start perspiring and it was reasonably full of skinny indie kids recording shaky mobile phone videos soon to be uploaded to youtube. The guy to my left had an impressive mohawk and he definitely gave me a couple of sideways glances. Understandable, me and my nice M&S striped shirt and recently polished slip-on Loakes.

Terrible shot from my camera-phone

Despite the sartorial error I did enjoy the show. Fighting with Wire were heavy and intense, but also had a good rapport going with the crowd. I think on par I actually preferred General Fiasco and I'll be keeping an eye out for them in Belfast. Next time I'll be appropriately dressed.

Camera envy and Rats

2008-09-24T07:45:00.003+01:00

I'll admit it, I often suffer from camera envy. In Belfast yesterday afternoon I saw two guys with very nice, expensive cameras in the space of 10 minutes. The strange thing was they were taking shots from exactly the same location and I couldn't for the life of me work out what they were shooting. It seemed to be a rather boring shot of the entrance to Queens Arcade, the one, as we say in Belfast, at the 'back of Boots'. The shot would have been something like this:

picture from happylobster

So I'll happily admit that it is kind of funny that this bakery appears to be called "Ann's Panty" and not "Ann's Pantry." However, our photographers weren't hoping for a tenner from Private Eye, they were actually taking the shot because the panty, sorry Pantry, has been closed down by the local council because of a rat infestation. The BBC report that an inspector found rats "both dead and alive" and despite being closed down the pantry was open again the next day. I really hope you didn't stop off here for a sausage roll last Saturday.

The bakery is at the start of an arcade of shops which includes one of Belfast's most expensive and exclusive jewellers who I am sure are none too pleased about the close proximity of rats.

The Monday Review - This American Life

2008-09-22T21:54:00.003+01:00

This American Life - Podcast

This week I'm changing it up and giving new media the xetera spotlight rather than those things with pages you can hold in your hands.

Running with podcasts

I've gotten into a bit of a routine recently. I try to run most days, but on Tuesday mornings I run 6 miles. The 6 mile route is based solely on the length of time it takes me to listen to the weekly podcast of This American Life - possibly one of the best radio shows in the world.

Everything is Interesting

This American Life is broadcast weekly by Chicago Public Radio and while there are a range of contributors they all orbit the sun that is Mr Ira Glass. Ira Glass is funny and intelligent and has an incredibly quirky voice that is perfect for radio. Each weekly show has a theme and the 58 min show usually has a series of stories or 'acts' that illuminate the theme. The writing is brilliant and the true stories are fascinating vignettes of life. One of the truly great things about This American Life is the way it treats the stuff of life. It's like the show has an unwritten rule that states: 'Everything is Interesting' - and each week the show shines light on stories of the everyday. This is both entertaining, but also serves to remind the listener that everything is interesting and this somehow serves to enlarge one's sense of life. Surely a good thing?

This [.......] Life

Running the streets of East Belfast on Tuesday mornings I listen to the voices of a gaggle of Americans telling their stories and asking interesting questions about their experience of the world. Since starting this weekly ritual I have laughed, nodded in agreement and cried (a little) while running my miles. It's an American show, but the appeal is universal and you will enjoy the show whether you live in the US or not. My other runs are sound-tracked by music which works, but the non-This American Life runs are qualitatively different.

I listen to a lot of radio and in the UK. Currently it seems there is no shortage of DJs who are rude, and either full of themselves or full of shit or both. There are some wonderful exceptions, but mostly it seems that they talk so much, but have nothing to say. One of the things that is truly great about This American Life is the way that the stories take centre stage for each and every minute of the show. There are a million podcasts out there, but if you are looking for one that will make you think differently about the world and the quotidian stuff of life you should listen to This American Life.

Anyone already listening?

Barack meets Jed

2008-09-22T10:54:00.003+01:00

We've been working our way through the West Wing again. We reached series 6 and it's not difficult to see why some commentators have drawn parallels between the fictional presidential candidate Matt Santos and the real life presidential candidate Barack Obama. Like any true West Wing believer there is that strange sensation of briefly forgetting that this is TV, that Jed Bartlett is not the President of the United States of America etc.

But fans of the West Wing will be delighted to hear that Aaron Sorkin has further contributed to this blurring of fact and fiction by coming up with a script of what might happen if Barack visited Jed for some advice. Here's a taster:

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

Full text on NY Times website

Belfast takes a bite of the apple

2008-09-20T15:59:00.008+01:00

9am Belfast, Saturday 20th September and the doors to Ireland's first apple store open. High fives and cheers from the staff and free t-shirts for the first 1000 people through the door. Even the weather was perfect today - that Steve Jobs is quite the guy! Arriving a bit after the doors were opened Julie and I are total impostors compared to the apple devotees who spent half the night in Vic Sq, but we still managed to snag free t-shirts.

We stood in line for a while waiting to get in and eavesdropped on the conversation of 2 very excited 13 year old boys. One claimed he had come all the way from England for the auspicious day. Suspicious of Julie's mac credentials (which are in fact impeccable) they cheekily asked her if she had been 'dragged along'. A slightly affronted Julie assured them that she was as big a fan of apple as the next man or boy! Such was their devotion to apple that, while waving a fiver in our general direction, they asked if they could buy our T-shirts if we got the last 2! But everyone left happy - our two friends got shirts and disappeared into the crowd.

Belfast apple store super-sleuth and local blogging legend Alan in Belfast has a comprehensive post on the big day.

recently observed (6)

2008-09-20T08:24:00.006+01:00

...spaghetti is not worth fighting over - trust me

...the opening of an apple store inspires near religious devotion in Belfastards - including Julie and me!

...air rifles bring out the little boy in grown men - including me and the Rev

...a mysterious note posted through our letterbox in the dead of night - unfortunately (for the sender) it was not for anyone who lives in our house

Here it is:

Nikki,

This is Darren's number XXXXXXXXXX

Darren - Johnny's friend.

Me and Sarah broke up and I'm back living in Belfast. When Johnny gets in touch would you give him my number please. Tell him don't go to Sarah, she got bitter and nasty.

Thanks,

Darren

Dance with me

2008-09-18T09:07:00.003+01:00

Matt Harding of "Where the Hell is Matt" fame explains how he got people to dance with him in his world travel videos.

This is the 2008 version in HD

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

As seen on Presentation Zen

The Monday Review: The War of Art

2008-09-15T20:08:00.004+01:00

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield

Surely the height of procrastination is reading a book about procrastination?

How do you procrastinate? Playing endless solitaire or reorganising your stationary drawer for the twelfth time, meticulous pre-work planning or watching reruns of Frasier? Yes, it’s true, you may be on your way to solitaire greatness and can find those tiny pink post-its in seconds, but you haven’t written a word of that article, your pottery mugs are still in the clay and the songs for your first album have yet to be composed.

Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art, is a gift to anyone who has ever struggled to achieve anything significant. It is the field book for those who feel they have to complete an obstacle course before making any real progress on projects. I can write a quick blog post with little trouble, a 10 min run around the block won’t bother me too much and snapping a couple of pictures to post on flickr is pretty straightforward. But what about writing an article that someone other than me will publish? What about running a marathon or taking a picture that someone will 'post' on their living room wall? Achieving these goals is something qualitatively different. Pressfield has been there, struggling for years to become a writer and along the way learned how to overcome the blocks and come to an understanding of what creative work actually is.

Resistance

Do you have half-written short stories hidden away on your hard drive, notebooks full of poetry stacked in shoe boxes under the bed or a pair of gleaming running shoes that seem to shine like buried treasure every time you open the cupboard? Why do we struggle to do what we want to do? It seems like it's harder to start something challenging than actually doing it. Pressfield identifies the enemy that places obstacles in our path as "Resistance", and explores the variety of ways that it thwarts our highest ambitions and fences off the creative destination we want to reach. The tactics of Resistance are numerous; procrastination, fear, laziness, self-doubt, outlandish dreams and meticulous planning. Pressfield explores the various disguises and explains how he has learned to overcome it.

Turning Pro

The War of Art is made up of lots of short and pithy chapters. It's a book to read regularly and should join Strunk and White in your book bag. Summarising its central piece of advice is pretty straightforward. You want to beat resistance? Turn Pro. For Pressfield the Pro turns up every day and gets going. Waiting for inspiration? The Pro, as Somerset Maughan once observed, knows that inspiration “strikes every morning at 9 o’clock sharp.” Resistance tells us that we must do X, Y or Z before we start or that we could never write or create or sing because we aren’t qualified, competent, rich, poor, smart or artistic. The Pro combats these frequently convincing arguments by simply getting on with it. Please note I'm doing Pressfield a serious disservice here. He is not like some sort of insensitive English teacher who snaps one day and shouts, "Just get on with it." Pressfield is much more interesting and helpful.

De-bunking the myth of creativity

The War of Art also represents an attack on the mystique of creative work. I remember with vivid clarity the day I discovered that poets don’t sit down, pen in hand and compose 6 perfect stanzas in one sitting. Of course these creative geniuses also looked the part. They wore berets, smoked cigarettes and draped a scarf around an elegant neck. In my mind that's what artists did and that's what creative people looked like. But this is not how art is formed, written or produced. The myth of the creative genius is exciting and adds a layer of mystique, but the average poet or writer will denude a forest the size of a football pitch as they craft, form and wrestle words into sentences that work and poems that unlock new worlds of sound and meaning. In The War of Art, Pressfield, the author of numerous books and screenplays, de-bunks the myth of creativity not by demystifying creativity or stripping art of all magic, but by pointing out that the Pro’s job is to labour, to work on technique, anticipating inspiration and knowing that the magic of any creative act is strangely connected to the hard graft, the sweat and the completely unexciting routine.

A Work in Progress

Pressfield's honesty about his own personal and professional failures is both refreshing and hugely encouraging. We rarely see writers or artists actually doing what they do. It’s like the part in a film where a year of blood, sweat and tears is boiled down to 30 seconds of evocative 'hard-work imagery" and backed by a stirring score. We rarely glimpse the labour of authors, artists, musicians and film makers. The hours in the studio, the months in the editing suite, the waste basket overflowing with crumpled up balls of paper. In The War of Art Pressfield opens up the scrapbook of his life and transports us back to the years when he struggled and laboured as a writer. It's hard to read a sentence like: "When I lived in the back of my Chevy van" and not appreciate that this is a success story that one can relate to, although in reality I have never lived in the back of a Chevy Van. Pressfield did not graduate from Harvard with a diploma in one hand and an award for his first novel in the other. Instead he tried for seventeen years before he got a writing job on a movie called King Kong Lives. Heard of it? Probably not. Pressfield and his writing partner were convinced it was a huge hit, warning friends to get in line for tickets early for a sell-out opening night. The film bombed. Pressfield was forty-two, broke, divorced and gutted. But he was not broken, in his own words he had become a pro, no success as yet, but he was in the arena. His work was still in progress.

I'm not sure what creative or challenging goals you live with. The sort of thing that keeps you awake at night, that you don't share with people for fear that you might actually have to do something. Or perhaps it's the day-dream that helps you survive the 9-5, but it won't seem to make the leap from inhabiting your dreams to the place where you can get your hands around it and make something. Steven Pressfield has written the book for everyone who has been defeated before they began. Reading this book will not make it easier, but it's a bit like having a conversation with someone who has made it and genuinely wants to help you accomplish your creative goals and dreams.

The Big Picture

2008-09-15T17:29:00.003+01:00

Incredible collection of photos on The Big Picture of the devastation left by Hurrican Ike.

The Big Picture is one of the best photo sites on the weird and wonderful web- check it out!

Gates and Seinfeld

2008-09-15T15:09:00.002+01:00

Apple has definitely been winning the ads war, but a Seinfeld and Gates partnership surely has Steve Jobs worried? If not worried at least amused - this is great.

Having a puff

2008-09-14T17:19:00.002+01:00

man 2
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

This man was standing outside Belfast City Hall having a few drags on a cigarette in the sunshine.

(Forgive me. There's a bit of soft focus going on here!)

Click image for large version in flickr

See more recent shots on my flickr

Punk busker in Belfast

2008-09-14T16:54:00.002+01:00

busker
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

This punk was playing the banjo in Fountain Street in Belfast City Centre.

Click image for large version in flickr

See more recent shots on my flickr

This is taking Neighbourhood Watch to a whole new level

2008-09-12T19:07:00.008+01:00

Some recent graffiti on a wall round the corner from our house:

And for good measure a few streets away. You've got to admire the consistency of the message!

I'm a bit concerned. My Dad has white hair and glasses. He 'claims' to have been in Spain in recent days. Must check on his alibi.

Update

PSNI = Police Service of Northern Ireland
Verison 2 (on red brick) has been washed off - it is the outside wall of a fancy hairdressers.
My Dad has confirmed he was in Spain on 10th Sept so he's in the clear!

There is no Why!

2008-09-11T21:02:00.005+01:00

On 7th August 1974 Philippe Petit gave a gift to New York City. A gift so beautiful and improbable that seeing footage of it over thirty years later still sends a shiver down your spine. Petit's 'gift' was to walk on a high wire between the World Trade Centre Towers. After watching the film Man on Wire and listening to Petit talk about his 'walk' in the sky you can't describe what he did as a stunt, it was his gift to New York and the world.

Petit's dream of walking between the towers began in a Dentist's waiting room in France in 1968. Seeing an artist's impression of the 'Twin Towers' in a newspaper Petit became obsessed with the idea of walking between them on a tight rope. Man on Wire tells the story of that obsession.

It's a fantastic documentary which is beautifully shot, includes great archive footage and an atmospheric score. Some of the recreations of the events are put together like a heist movie - which is a particularly nice touch. However, it's the interviews with Petit and his co-conspirators that make this film so interesting. Philippe Petit is a fascinating man. One moment he strings together a stream of profound observations about life, the next he makes a joke or pulls a hilarious facial expression. His gang of friends and helpers reveal the dynamics and conflicting motivations and emotions that held the group together or in some cases pushed them apart.

Ultimately Man on Wire is about more than his indescribable walk between the towers, it's about friendship, dreams and the power of one man's passion. After his walk in the clouds, about to be driven away in a police car, a journalist asks Petit why he had walked between the Towers . Petit looks confused and says simply: "There is no Why!"

By accident rather than design we watched Man on Wire on the night of 11th September. As other reviewers have pointed out, there is no mention of the events of 9/11 in the film, but the absence of the towers and the tragedy of that day is ever present. I was particularly moved by the archive footage of the construction of the towers. Sections of the inner shell, so familiar from pictures of the ruined towers, being hoisted skywards by cranes, photos of workmen pouring cement and posing shirtless on the unfinished roof. I found these images deeply moving.

Go and see Man on Wire if you can - it's one of the best films I have seen in a long time.

Elbow's triumph

2008-09-10T18:00:00.003+01:00

Great to see Elbow win the mercury music prize last night. I blogged about the wonders of Elbow's beautiful album Seldom Seen Kid back in June and it continues to be one of my favourites from the past year. Mercury is a wonderfully eclectic prize so as usual the contenders came from all quarters of the UK music scene. Despite thinking that Radiohead's In Rainbows is one of the best albums ever made, it was good to see the lads from Bury getting some much deserved recognition. If anyone is willing to share success I feel like it's Radiohead.

Elbow's Guy Garvey raises a glass to the Mercury crowd

Someone with good taste and excellent foresight booked Elbow to play the Belfast Festival on 26th October. No doubt it will sell out soon. Elbow in Belfast's Grand Opera House, now that sounds like a great show.

The Monday Review: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

2008-09-08T17:58:00.004+01:00

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Daniel H. Pink

Career anyone? How did careers guidance go for you? Perhaps it didn't exist and you simply followed a family member down the mine. Or perhaps as a precocious five year old you lisped that you wanted to be a "Tweacher" when you grew up to a room full of delighted Grandparents and jealous cousins. My own experience of careers advice was, like most of my childhood education, drowned out by the voice inside my head that whispered seductively: "look out the window," what's on TV tonight?", or "who invented maths anyway?" My only formal meeting with a careers adviser dramatically changed direction when the adviser, visiting my school from a government dept, discovered that my Dad was her boss. Cue widening of eyes and a decommissioning of the verbal slap round the chops that this adviser should have given the boss' feckless son. But enough about me.

Multiple jobs, plural careers

Thirty years ago many of my parent's generation started jobs after school or university that they stayed in for the rest of their working lives. Careers so long you got gifts to mark years of service like notches on a belt. Things have certainly changed. Does anyone think they'll still be in the same job in 10 years? There are exceptions of course, but by in large we live in a world that no longer thinks in terms of one job or even one career. We accept a future of multiple employers and alternative careers. The downside of this is a distinct lack of job security, but the upside is that you have choices, many, many more choices than previous generations. But then the downside of choice is potentially being suffocated by the dilemma of which choice to make. The generations who worked their fingers to the bone in the shipyards not far from my house may have seen this as a slightly self-indulgent preoccupation, but many people, credit crunch notwithstanding, are deeply troubled by the question of which job not what job.

In Johnny Bunko Daniel H. Pink speaks to the multiple job and plural careered generation. Pink is a talented man. Not only does he understand the career zeitgeist he offers brilliant and timeless advice in the format of a cartoon. Trendspotters take note! This is an approach to communication that has recently been given the approval of the mighty google when they told the story of their new browser, chrome, via a cartoon.

I admire Pink's bravery. There's no wordy introduction that tries to explain the book without the pictures. He doesn't offer an apologia for writing a manga career guide. He just starts telling a story. The pictures, courtesy of artist Rob Ten Pas, create a compelling narrative. Pink is the careers adviser you never had. Probably because he would have been fired.

A career genie and six pieces of advice

It's possible that Johnny Bunko is a lot like you. He did what his parents, teachers and careers advisers told him to do. But now, stuck in a dead-end job, he's begun to suspect that what he thought he knew is just plain wrong. One bizarre night, Johnny meets Diana, a career...well she's a career genie. Diana shares six essential lessons for thriving in the world of work and Johnny learns a bit about himself and a lot about the world of work. Reading that summary I wonder what would happen in the real world of career advice if an adviser pitched this as an idea? She would probably be seeking a new job tout suite. But Pink has cracked it. When I was a teenager I didn't want to listen to some bore drone on about careers. However, I would have read a comic book about careers and I think the ideas in Daniel Pink's book would have burrowed their way into my mind and forced me to ask questions about life and jobs and all that jazz. Most importantly these questions would have stuck with me.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko is built around six pieces of advice:

1. There is no plan

2. Think about strengths, not weaknesses

3. It's not about you

4. Persistence trumps talent

5. Make excellent mistakes

6. Leave an imprint

Those of you who are familiar with the whole personal development/business/building your career genre will immediately recognize that Pink's advice is not plucked airy fairy out of a cartoon sky. It's actually built upon a wagon load of serious research and analysis of how people think, learn and work. For example number 2 on thinking about strengths, not weaknesses. This is the twitter * version of Marcus Buckingham's bestselling Now Discover your Strengths.

Career advice? Moi?

Some of you are well established in your career and hope and pray it lasts for 30 years. Some of you are still thinking, looking and searching and trying to balance the upsides with the downsides. Don't be afraid to take advice from a fictional cartoon character. Finally, perhaps some day, somewhere, a teenager will ask you for some advice about their career. As this post attests I'm not exactly qualified to give career advice, but for what's its worth: I suggest you grab a copy of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko and give advice that grows good questions and good people (point 6) who can negotiate the world of multiple jobs and plural careers.

*Twitter - micro blog service, limits you to 140 character communication, encourages brevity.

This is the first time I've come across a book with a movie-trailer as promotion. Here it is:

Aging Guitar player pushed over by Toronto Teen

2008-09-08T16:02:00.002+01:00

The BBC is carrying an edited clip of Noel Gallagher being pushed over ('assaulted'?) by a fan at a gig in Toronto.

Thank goodness for phones with video or else we would have missed this gem!

Full video from youtube:

The Wire and the Guardian

2008-09-06T17:34:00.012+01:00

I've been buying The Guardian on Saturdays for years. I don't always share the Guardian view of the world, but it's typically got great arts coverage, interesting features and generally makes for a decent read. Perhaps it's just the summer, but recently it's been really disappointing. Poor content, predictable editorials and just a bit light. Worse still, the legend that is Jon Ronson no longer writes about the hilarious escapdes of his life in the saturday mag! It got so bad I was contemplating switching my saturday paper, one of those minor decisions that raises deep existential questions: if I don't read the Guardian on a saturday will saturday change forever. Will I still be me?

Anyway, someone at the Gurdian loves The Wire and one article in saturday's magazine pulled me back from a post-Guardian brink.

David Simon is the creator of The Wire - one of the best TV shows made in recent years. In terms of pure quality of writing The Wire, like the West Wing, makes other TV seem shallow and somehow lesser. Simon's article in today's Guardian weekend magazine reminded me why the Wire is so good. Reflecting on crime and justice in Baltimore, Simon digs deep and is unrelenting in asking the Why? question. While the answers are both depressing and disturbing he's determined not to shink from the reality of life in a city he clearly loves. Reflecting on the strangeness of using a TV show to explore serious issues of policy, politics, crime and justice Simon notes:

Yet there is also something appalling in the suggestion that a television drama - a presumed entertainment - might be a focal point for a discussion of what has gone wrong in urban America, for why we have become a society that no longer even recognises the depth of our problems, much less works to solve any of them.

But where else is the why even being argued any more? Not in the stunted political discourse of an American election cycle, not in an eviscerated, self-absorbed press, not in any construct to which the empowered America, the comfortable and comforted America, gives its limited attention.

Fans of the Wire in the UK will be glad to hear that Simon's book Homicide was publsihed by Cannongate last week. A massive 600+ pages of Simon's writing - I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Flags

2008-09-06T09:23:00.003+01:00

The flags of a Belfast summer still decorate the streets around our house. The constant rain means that most of them are looking washed out, bedraggled and less than patriotic. This morning a package arrived from my father-in-law in Canada which included this wonderful Canada/Saskatchewan flag set; with a stand! So we decided to lend some Canadian colour to a gray Belfast morning.

(Thanks Chris.)

most played on itunes

2008-09-06T09:09:00.003+01:00

Inspired by Santosh over at Dreamsunlocked to find out my most played on itunes. Here's the top ten.

I knew I liked In Rainbows, just didn't realise how much.

recently observed (5)

2008-09-05T18:41:00.005+01:00

...a real live bearded lady in a Belfast restaurant - yep, this is not a joke.

...rolled pork tongue, half price in Tesco - who eats this?

...french hip hop makes a great early morning run soundtrack.

...they are a bunch of middle-aged thrashers, but for some reason Metallica bring out the best in documentary makers and music journalists.

...a shockingly large number of British political journalists know next to nothing about American politics and even less about America, but this doesn't stop them.

...I was taught about the difference between a hockey mom and soccer mom today. My wife is smart.

...gingers are cool and I'm a fan!

When blogging takes over...

2008-09-04T22:24:00.003+01:00

Brian Houston Oranges

2008-09-04T07:51:00.003+01:00

Great video for Brian Houston's song Oranges

The new album, Three Feet from Gold, available for pre-order now.

Hat tip - Alan in Belfast

If you live in Ireland...

2008-09-03T09:09:00.004+01:00

Josh Ritter is to play Dublin's Vicar Street on 11th December - along with a 24 piece orchestra!

Tickets available Monday 8th Sept

rain stops play

2008-09-02T22:18:00.002+01:00

Birdie Steps

The weather recently has not been great for taking photos - but I managed to shoot a few on Saturday in between showers.

In need of repair

The Monday Review: Firewall

2008-09-01T12:10:00.004+01:00

A couple of years ago the mighty Starbucks ran a marketing campaign called "Geography is a flavour." The idea being that your earthy Sumatra is markedly different from the bright notes of an Ethiopian Sidamo. Coffee is not just Coffee. My dedication to crime fiction is not quite as deep as my passion for coffee, but I've discovered that "geography is a flavour" also works with crime fiction. So if you'll forgive the stereotypes: The standard American offering is a bit like a bowl of chili from a street vendor, sharp, spicy and flavoured by the mean streets. Whereas the British equivalent is substantive but much more restrained and the flavours understated, we're talking a Sunday roast. Not bland, but if your taste buds have been accustomed to the spice and speed of the American chili you will find the average Brit crime fiction a bit plodding.

But what about the Scandinavians - specifically the Swedes. What flavours does, Henning Mankell, the master of Scandinavian crime fiction serve up?

Crimes: new and old

Mankell's central creation is Inspector Kurt Wallander and Firewall is the eighth in the Wallander series. Wallander exudes ordinariness and there is little flamboyance or flashes of colour in his personality. However, this is not a criticism. In Firewall, Wallander wrestles with a complex crime that has global implications. A classic loner, divorced and with no close relationships, Firewall sees Wallander further cut off from colleagues and friends as he tries to understand the link between three seemingly random and separate crimes. The brutal murder of a taxi driver by two teenage girls, the sudden death of a man who has just used a cash machine and a power failure that affects all of Ystad. The investigation leads to crimes beyond Wallander's understanding of the world, both in terms of violence and the new era of cyber-crime. While the pace of Mankell's work is occasionally slow and steady there are many moments of tension played out, as always, in Mankell's carefully understated style.

Fog and Firewalls

There's a moment towards the end of the book when Wallander is chasing a man in heavy fog and this is as good an image as any for the way this book explores Wallander's personal and working life. Suspicious of colleagues and adrift from all the substantive relationships in his life, Wallander is fire-walled in both his policing and his private life. While firewalls and fog might have the potential to be a bit blunt as metaphors this doesn't happen. Mankell's exacting and precise prose add depth and texture to descriptions of inner struggles, police politics and crime.

Technology and Vulnerability

In Firewall Henning Mankell has written an insightful exploration of the vulnerability of modern society. It's not hysterical or conspiratorial in a Dan Brown fashion, but by writing in his careful, matter of fact style, Mankell conveys the complexity of computer crime and the way we take modern technology, whether it's an ATM or electricity, for granted never really seeing the potential for chaos that is hardwired into the modern world.

As usual Mankell offers an insightful exploration of violence and it's consequences. I also liked the way Firewall delves into the ambiguity of crime and justice. Central to the story is the character of Robert Modin a convicted hacker who is one of the few people capable of penetrating the firewall and decoding the intentions of a shadowy group of virtual criminals. It is only his earlier crimes that qualify Modin to help in this case.

I've never sampled Swedish food, but in Firewall Mankell serves up a substantive, yet well paced novel that manages to explore important aspects of modern life while also telling a good story. But the high point is always the character of Kurt Wallander, flawed and complex, Mankell's depiction of his inner life is both entertaining and illuminating.

(Fans of Mankell will be delighted to hear that the BBC are currently filming three of his novels with Kenneth Branagh in the role of Inpector Kurt Wallander. Three of the Wallander stories have been commissioned for single 90-minute episodes – One Step Behind, Firewall and Sidetracked.)

Yonge-Dundas pedestrian scramble

2008-08-29T20:28:00.002+01:00

Great video from Toronto's Sam Javanrouh - he is the incredibly talented photographer behind Daily Dose of Imagery - probably the best daily photo site on the web!

Scramble from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.

The Obama speech 2 wordle versions

2008-08-29T18:38:00.004+01:00

recently observed (4)

2008-08-28T19:15:00.006+01:00

...in a car park in central Belfast. 2 women in a red bull mini pay for parking with 2 cases of red bull.

...my hairdresser insisting (twice) that I start to use straighteners...apparently "lots of men use them" and it is "no threat to manliness!" (FYI - I smiled, but will not be taking her advice.)

...(in France) middle age woman (topless) taking a picture of her husband and teenage sons - don't tell me that's not weird.

...genuine tears from always paddle - even though she knows Zoe Bartlett returns safely (we've seen them all before), it's still edge of the seat TV (West Wing, series 5)

...out running and spotted a single black stiletto by the side of the road. My crime fiction soaked mind starts plotting scenarios.

two fingers

2008-08-26T19:52:00.001+01:00

Since he left office you rarely hear much from/about our erstwhile First Minster Ian Paisley. An exhibition of photos gives the BBC an excuse to reproduce this gem of a picture taken by Niall Carson.

The Monday Review: The Tiger That Isn't

2008-08-25T11:09:00.008+01:00

I have never had a good relationship with numbers. I think it all goes back to primary school when Mr Ross, instead of shouting: "Stop day-dreaming, " or "Concentrate, Noble," kept me on 5 a-day as the rest of the class moved gloriously forward to 7 a-day. I think I got the impression that numbers did not like me. I tell you this, not to ask for help as I try to understand my numerically challenged childhood, but rather to point out that despite my issues with numbers I have recently read and enjoyed a book about...numbers! The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing Through a World of Numbers by the delightfully named Michael Blastand and Andrew Dinot is a spin off from a BBC Radio 4 show called More or Less and it's clever and readable in the way that so many BBC Radio 4 shows are clever and a pleasure to listen to.

At the heart of this book is an attempt to bridge the yawning gap between our ability to process numbers and the big public numbers that dominate politics, news and life in general.

Numbers rule

If you doubt the power of numbers try this. Next time you are having a conversation with someone drop in a fictional statistic. For example you're a big fan of organic veg so you say to your less organic conversation partner: "studies show that organic veg are 70% better for you than non-organic." Most people will hesitate and back off a little, perhaps they'll come back with a cautiously defensive, "which studies?" But the point is made when you note the impact of your fictional statistic. Numbers rule, even numbers of questionable origins. Governments know this, politicians know this and we know this to be true, but we forget in a world that is awash with numbers.

The Tiger That Isn't pulls back the curtain on these all powerful numbers and teaches you how to understand them for what they are.

Precision not Cynicism

One of the things I really liked about this book was the way it avoids becoming utterly cynical about the use and abuse of numbers. There is no shortage of cynical reportage of politics in the UK and it was quite refreshing to read a book that while amassing an ocean of evidence of heinous number crime remains positive about both the importance of numbers and their value in public life. As the authors point out:

"There are lies and damn lies in statistics for sure, but scorning numbers is no answer. For that is to give up the game on every political, economic or social argument you follow, every cause you love or hate."

Politicians and governments like numbers that seem to like them and newspapers and media outlets like the numbers that cause the most important number (sales) to rise. So we shouldn't be surprised that the good numbers that politicians trumpet at every available opportunity should be crunched just a little and the scary numbers we read and hear should be treated with caution. Here's a great example:

In 1997 the Labour government promised £300 million over 5 years to create a million new childcare places. Sounds good. But wait: £300 million divided by 1 million is £300, divided by 5 years and you have £60 per year, per place, divided by 52 weeks and you have £1.15 per week, per place. Childcare anyone? Seems obvious, but when this figure was reported no one covering the story crunched the numbers in the simple way suggested by Blastland and Dilnot. We heard "create a million new childcare places" and thought it meant create in the normal sense, doing the crunching reveals that create, for the future government, meant something decidedly different. The Tiger That Isn't applies this sort of simple logic to a range of number scenarios we face in everyday life - the authors, like most of their readers are amazed that the people who get paid to deal with these numbers don't always apply the same sort of logic!

Read your paper tomorrow or listen to a news bulletin and you'll encounter a stream of reports with numbers at their heart. The Tiger That Isn't alerts you to dodgy comparisons and cunning correlations, reminds you that counting is harder than it seems and that averages flatten out the texture of life, making it easy to handle, but less illuminating in the process.

Here's one final quote that I found interesting:

"Millions, billions...if they all sound like the same thing, a big blurred thing on the evening news, it is perhaps because they lack a sense of relative size that works on a human scale. So one useful trick is to imagine those numbers instead as seconds. A million seconds is about 11.5 days. A billion seconds is nearly 32 years."

Read this book if...

...you liked books like The Undercover Economist or Freakonomics

...you are a news or political junkie

...you've ever read or heard a number announced with loudly or in 30pt font but just didn't sound right

Across the river to Big Ben

2008-08-24T15:18:00.002+01:00

Big Ben
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

From March earlier this year. I was on a trip for work and had taken our compact digital camera with me. I love this view and like the movement in the water and the way you can just make out the fluttering of the flag on top of Victoria Tower.

Click image for large version in flickr

See more recent shots on my flickr

In praise of postcards

2008-08-22T15:58:00.008+01:00

We sent a bunch of postcards from France and I've been able to track their safe arrival by the texts and e-mails from people who got them. It struck me that everyone has been so grateful to receive a simple postcard. I guess it's the little things.

I know the feeling. Postcards are great! Here's why

1. we get so little meaningful mail - even my bank e-mails me.

2. It's just great to find out that a friend or family member was thinking about you when they were away from it all.

3. Postcards are wonderfully individual. Letters are great and all, but it's only your artistic friends who will do anything interesting with a envelope. Postcards on the other hand come with interesting or funny pictures, delightful stamps and an overseas postmark and best of all handwriting!

4. That little white box of writing space. You're restricted so you've got to think carefully about what to say, postcards encourage brief but meaningful communication.

5. Postcards remind us think of travel, adventure and holidays. You can pin a postcard on your fridge or stick it up in your office and dream about the beach!

**NB. If we did not send you a postcard from France don't be offended, we:

a) didn't have your address,
b) had a limited stamp budget,
c) don't know you,
d) did in fact send you a postcard which was lost by the French postal service.

Trumpets are for blowing!

2008-08-22T13:52:00.006+01:00

stu - created at faceyourmanga

Forgive me if I quickly blow the noble trumpet just a little. My good friend edunny has been kind enough to feature some of my latest photos on a web journal called Culture Voic e.

They are now available for all to see in a rather snazzy slide show. Just 5 photos with a bit of text - check them out by clicking here! This is the first time that anyone other than me has posted my pictures so I'm very happy!

As evidenced by recent blog and flickr activity I have been taking a lot of photos recently and really enjoying it. Yesterday I signed up for a digital imaging night class at Belfast Metropolitan college so expect more of the same.

photo: Dad's hands

2008-08-20T17:54:00.002+01:00

dad's hands 2
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

This was taken on the Luas (tram) in Dublin. I just happened to look down and noticed the way my Dad had crossed his hands and thought it might make a good picture. I worked on the original just slightly and love the final result.

Click image for large version in flickr

See more recent shots on my flickr

recently observed (3)

2008-08-19T19:12:00.003+01:00

...freak weather can cause moral outrage. We are mad at the government and the council, but most of all we cannot quite believe that something as simple as rain can get one over on us.

...The good samaritan sweats! Out for a run and stopped to help some Spanish tourists find their hotel. I was trying so hard to be a welcoming citizen, drawing a map and smiling lots - then I noticed I was sweating into their car.

...a sudden burst of sunshine and blue sky made me feel like I was emerging from a cave.

...clothes dry in about 1 hour on holiday in France. Three days on the drying rack in our inside/outside back-yard and I eventually gave up and took the still damp items to the laundromat.

...feeling like you need to turn the central heating on in august is just wrong.

rain damage 1

2008-08-19T02:55:00.002+01:00

rain damage 1
Originally uploaded by stuart.noble

People outside of Northern Ireland are probably very tired of hearing about our rainfall so apologies for a rain related shot! I was out for a run this evening and saw this rather sad looking umbrella discarded on a bridge. The picture didn't quite come out how I wanted, but here's version 1.

The Monday Review: Peace like a River

2008-08-18T09:21:00.008+01:00

What is a holiday read? A page-turning thriller? A stirring romance? Or perhaps something that fits nicely with the sunshine and warm sand between the toes? Peace like a River by Leif Enger is none of these things, but it is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

Set in rural Minnesota and the North Dakota Badlands of the early 1960s, Peace like a River tells the story of the Land family’s quest for redemption and restoration after the life they know is shattered by violence. The family’s world is turned upside down when eldest son Davy is arrested for a double manslaughter, only to break out of jail and flee into the unforgiving badlands of North Dakota. His father Jeremiah, sister Swede and younger brother Reuben set out in search of an outlaw, son and brother and the life they once knew. Their journey is the story and in the quest for Davy the family is transformed forever.

The story of the Land family is beautifully narrated by Reuben, an asthmatic boy who struggles for every breath and whose very life is a miracle. Enger writes with an incredible eye for detail whether he’s describing a family meal or snow ploughs cutting a path through deep drifts. But he doesn’t kill with details and the story moves along at the pace you would expect of a narrative that centres on the hunt for a fugitive. But along with the richness of the setting, the voices of his characters are so authentic and compelling. Swede in particular is a delight!

I loved this book and feel that it sets a high standard for the non-fiction that I’ll read in the months ahead. Emotionally intelligent, thought provoking and funny, it’s a great story as well as a piece of literature that makes you think larger thoughts about life.

While many authors explore spiritual themes in their work, Enger takes this to a whole new level. Good and evil, the consequences of human actions, the difficulty of forgiveness and the complexity of redemption are deep in the heart of this novel. Enger’s exploration of redemption can teach people of faith a great deal, reminding us that the Christian gospel is not a glossing over of real life or a ‘spiritual’ skating over of the consequences of human actions, but instead a vision of redemption that doesn’t shrink from the messy stuff of life.

Published in 2001 this is obviously not a new book and it was probably somewhat unfairly overshadowed by the big sensation of 2001 which was Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections. But I’m delighted to discover that my timing is great; Enger published his second novel early this year, So Brave, Young and Handsome is definitely on my list.

Holidays and a revamped blog

2008-08-17T13:38:00.005+01:00

So we're back after a truly wonderful week in France. Stunning weather, great food and lots of time relaxing on the beach. What more could you ask for? If you're interested check out the Cote D'Azur set on my flickr.

Since coming home I've been working on the promised revamp of the blog and after a very late night of watching the marathon and playing with html I'm delighted to present the new look. I'm also going to change my approach to content.

Starting tomorrow I'll be posting a book review every Monday, a weekly photo on Fridays and recent observations approximately twice a week - enjoy!

on holiday

2008-08-07T10:36:00.002+01:00

xetera is taking a little break. Will be back with a redesigned blog and all new content in about 10 days. Stay happy.

recently observed (2)

2008-08-06T19:52:00.006+01:00

(2) 06.08.08

...a bedraggled flag - surely the opposite of its intended purpose.

...a woman with a tight blond perm and lots of make-up power-walking in the park. You go girl!

...a map showing just how close our holiday apt is to the beach! (very close)

...footballers pre-season training. So where did June and July go?

...two girls wearing matching rain jackets riding mountain bikes. I was running. They were definitely racing me. They won.

mindmeister

2008-08-05T18:06:00.004+01:00

It was May of 1996 and I was studying for my A-levels in Holywood library. During a break I was wandering around looking at books and generally killing time when I stumbled across a book by Tony Buzan called Master your Memory. Obviously that is the sort of title that will have an almost magnetic effect on a first class waster in the midst of the memory melt of A-levels. Already imagining an effortless triumph in my exams and in the mood for procrastination I spent a while reading the book and tried to learn some of Tony's techniques to maximise my brain power. I'm pretty sure it didn't really help with the A-levels, but weirdly I can still remember one of the illustrations he used to teach you how to memorize a shopping list. Now I know it's not exactly where I would start using my newly found brain power, but hey you've got to start somewhere.

Tony Buzan: He never forgets the shopping

Anyway, central to el Tone's brain power system is the mind map. The examples in his book looked amazing...like this one:

Sadly I was always a bit disappointed with my own mind maps and kind of gave up on mind mapping - sorry Tony. But I recently rediscovered the joys of a good mind map when I started using an amazing online mind mapping site called mindmeister. It makes the creation of mind maps really easy and allows you to add all sorts of additional content and even create collaborative mind maps. I've created about six recently for both work and personal stuff. Thankfully I'm no longer cramming for exams so I'm basically using mindmeister to think and also plan out a couple of projects I'm working on. Try it out - but be warned, it's slightly addictive!

recently observed (1)

2008-08-04T17:08:00.003+01:00

(1) 04.08.08

...someone else doing a fartlek training session in Vicky Park at exactly the same time as me

...elderly tourists embracing outside Stormont

...eastern europeans have Northern Ireland's seamstress market totally cornered

...not all Dentists are the same

...a recently opened estate agent round the corner – the height of optimism or perhaps he knows something we don’t

Priceless

2008-07-31T19:25:00.002+01:00

A trip to the QFT in Belfast is always a treat. We tried to see Priceless last week, but arrived too late to get seats together - not much of date if you have to sit 7 rows away from the wonderful Julie. Instead we went to see BabyMama which was also pretty good. But we wanted to see Priceless, so we tried again and we were not disappointed. Julie loves to watch french movies because of her French skills which are magnifique, I like them because I'm probably a little pretentious!

If, like me, you are soon to be sunning yourself in the south of France you will really enjoy this film. Watching it you will feel the warm sand between your toes, you'll smell the rich aromas of fine French food and wish you could quadruple your holiday budget and stay in a fancy French hotel. But even if you're not off to the south of france this is a great film - perfect for summer. It's a beautiful film whether it's the hotels, the food and fine clothing or Audrey Tautou. But beneath the riches, excess and comedy there is an interesting exploration of love and relationships, money and romance. Go see it and enjoy that experience of no longer noticing the sub-titles after about 5 mins.