Ro-bits

Trying to get a better idea of robot's imitating human movement vs actual human movement, I've been watching assorted clips of the Honda ASMIO and the Sony QRIO. While doing so I came across this suprisingly "Aww..." inducing clip.


Meanwhile, I also discoverd that a cluster of QRIO's performed in Beck's video for "Hell Yes". This gave me untold joy and perhaps it will do the same for you?

Macbeth at Regents Park Open Air Theatre

The temperature was perfect and a cool breeze played through the trees the whole time. I'd have taken picures of the show in progress but it was so good that I completely forgot to! What I saw of Regents park while we found our way to the theater was also rather impressive, I'll have to return with my camera during a sunny day and give it a do over.

Oh! The reason the set may look a bit odd is because they chose to make the play anachronistic, with the usual period dress during court scenes but a mixture of Scottish military get-ups from the 17th through 20th century during most every other scene. It was a bit of a surprise when, in the opening battle scene, the King came swinging in on a jeep!

This country is also doing bad things

America deserves a whole hell of a lot of critical attention but, as this article from the Ottawa Citizen which not all of you may have read points out, it realllly is far from the only country that does.

Shibbidy shabbita don't let the monsters grab at ya

Two weeks 'til Athens, two weeks 'til Athens!

Ahem.

Sorry it's been a bit quiet lately, mostly I'm finding myself consumed with job hunting this past little while. But tonight I'm going with someone to see an open air production of Macbeth, in Regents Park, and I'll be sure to bring my camera.

Meanwhile, I found a very good and easily digestible article put out by a UK based group of scientists with a long, distinguished history, The Royal Society - A Guide to Facts and Fictions about Climate Change. Give it a peek, I dares ya.

Misanthropists unite!

Although, by definition, I'm not sure if they could!

The new season of Big Brother is on the way and from the depth in which it has permeated all forms of media in London, you'd think God had announced A)That he actually exists and B)He's swinging by for the taping of the first episode, where he'll finally clear up which religion is right about him.

Naturally, I tripped over some of this while perusing the BBC this morning and the entry for the first two contestants was just too vomitous NOT to share.
****
NAME: Sam and Amanda
AGE: 18
OCCUPATION: Students
Sam and Amanda are the first set of twins to enter the house. They have their own "Twin Song" which they use to introduce themselves to boys.
-As well as studying social work in Manchester the twins also work as promotions girls in a nightclub.
-They "find politics confusing" and until recently had never been abroad.
-They both believe that "men should always buy women drinks".
****
I was once highly amused at the idea of someone singing a song which would end the Earth - but now I find it hard to laugh, having discovered what that song will be.

It will be: The "Twin Song".

Bonus Points: THIS
*ALSO*: A somewhat relevant Cat and Girl strip!

Bits and Bobs and Bikes

One thing to know if you ever plan to live in or do a bike tour through London is that regular sized bikes are not allowed on the tube - the just take up too much space. This, amongst other factors I'm sure, has helped fuel the rise of folding bikes. They are pretty fun little guys, mostly resembling BMX's, and generally cost as much as a new bike of comparable quality. On Sunday I was riding the escalator in Liverpool station when I saw someone standing in front of me with a folded up example. It stood on the step in front of him and was about the size of a modest trash bin - the like you'd find by a desk in someones study. I guess you could say that I stalked him in that I kept track of him from the station doors to the street so I could watch him unfold it. No special key seemed to be needed and it took him only about 30 seconds. Depending on where the winds of employment take me, I might look into one for myself.

Though I can't help being a little hesitant, foolishly, because of something else I've been seeing in regards to bikes and London. I'd say about every third bicyclist that I've seen on the street has been wearing a face mask air filter thing (rebreather?). When I see someone sitting directly behind an eighteen-wheeler I guess I can understand, but the implications - as well as the imagery - just creeps me out. It really reminds me of one of the old clean air advertisements from the early 1990's where a bunch of lawyers with personal air masks are strolling through a street where everything is a shade of brown or grey while a homeless begs for change so he can suck a few precious gasps of clean air from a kind of vending machine (Ten points if anyone can find a clip of it). At least there are plans for this, such as the Low Emissions Zone (which is the vast majority of London, but for a few communities which lay outside of the M25 highway that encircles the city), the Emissions Influenced Charges Proposal and the steady increase of congestion charges.

It's all well and good that we've made fun of them alot

As much as they may amuse us, popular humor shows making fun of Scientologists do not - at least directly - impede those lunatics.

Luckily, Tom has put something under my nose that can. All British citizens and expatriates are being called upon to sign this petition pleading that Scientology does not gain official status as a religion in the UK.

To those of you who read this and would be able to sign it, or could pass it along to someone who could, please do. If this seems like I am being unfair by singling them out, well, let's just say that they really have established themselves as fair game and leave it at that.

Rain, rain go away...

Though I shouldn't complain as A)I'm staying inside to write, anyways, and B)apparently I'm in England?

In other news, Giles Peterson's excellent weekly show has alerted me to the existence of a really enjoyable electronic soul group called The Elektrons (the Myspace tracks are decent but their segment on Giles' show was really something). They have a show on the 6th at a different Brick Lane venue which I will check out, provided the steaming entrails of my weekly sacrifice to the disembodied ghost of Carl Sagan tells me that it shall be so.

If this were a Mad Magazine article it would be called "The Assault On Raisins"

Those witty, witty guys..."M.A.S.H." becomes "M.U.S.H." in their crazy, mirror universe!

Ahem.

No outrageous adventures to report at the moment, though I suppose I can provide a small amount of local colour by letting you all know that Charing Cross is the place to go in central London for an incredibly dense grouping of book stores (both chain and independent). I went there today to hunt for Al Gore's new book, "The Assault On Reason". At the third store I found it and have devoured half the introduction on the way home.
It's so strange to see a man we used to know mostly as "Bill Clinton's VP" and "The exceptionally boring man" turn into a savvy, entertaining and intriguing speaker who more than stands out from his old bosses shadow - which is more than Mrs. Clinton can say. The article I linked to in the last paragraph gives a nice sample, but I think his interview on The Daily Show (Parts one and two) is quite useful as well. My apologies for not embedding it, but the code which Comedy Central provides is, basically, poop. To sum up what the book is about in a sentence: Al Gore finally applies the analytical and problem solving skills he demonstrated an abundance of with An Inconvenient Truth to the troubles with political and public discourse as it relates to democracy in America.

Though it is written with Americans in mind, even in just what I've read so far, you can easily apply it to Canada and Britain as well. My admiration for Mr. Gore is growing steadily - but of course I still had to find and use a picture of him where he looks like an absolute tit. Such are my fickle ways!

Addendum: BEARD. At the risk of getting stupid in that most internet of styles, may I suggest a Gore/Frakes 2008 ticket?

It is too hot in herre

So I have removed some or all of my clothes. Holy crap it's only about +22c or something and I feel like my head is wrapped in twelve towels soaked in boiling water. I....I hear Greece is hot? Particularly in the summer? Man I hope my body adapts soon!

Meanwhile, the neighborhood in which I work (Barking) is generally littered with litter and the chav's who like to loiter while they litter. But there is one park/bird reserve which serves as a refreshing island of green and blue amongst all the grey and porno-neon advertising. Today I had my camera on me and so this is what you get (to see today).

New Layout - ha cha cha cha

Ta-da!

Working with paw on the website for the webcomic, I've been thinking more about proper site presentation and how it relates to being easy on the eye. The old template I used was snazzy and stylish, but cramped and somewhat counter-intuitive. Let me know if you like this profile better, if you don't, if you don't give hoot or a holler...or if you think that maybe I should have , instead of Athens, booked a trip to the secret city of Laos.

As for the webcomic site, my two favorite designs have always been Chris Onstad's and Ryan's. The use of whitespace, centering and minmalism all come together for something visually pleasing. Neither site ever feels cluttered - which is impressive on the latter given how many features Ryan has packed in - and my eyes are automatically on the comic as soon as the page loads. I find with some of my other regular reads that if I'm a little tired or distracted, I have to re-center my vision slightly and this can be a little annoying (FIRST WORLD PROB-). Sounds like nitpicking in the extreme, I know, but I strongly believe that even the tinest annoyance - repeated consistantly over a long period of time - has the power to make people less inclined to come back. Plus, let's face it, Internet usage seems to drive a lot of people to Olympic levels of laziness.

It's the first proper sunny, summer day in London today. Looking out of the kitchen window I saw a long string of roses reaching from the neighbors lawn and stretching out along the clothes line. It's invigorating as all get out, which is grand as that's just what I need to help me finish pinning the second draft of Momentum to the mat.
Addendum: Speaking of content and opinions and all that...feel free to make suggestions requests or coments regarding what you liked seeing here and what you might like to see. Now that I've been in London almost six consecutive months and England for almost ten I find that some of the touristy-ness is wearing off, perhaps leading me to leaving out interesting details which I'm glossing over as I become more assimilated.

Someone who really is on the front lines of womens rights

I admit that over the past year or so I've gotten in the habit of burying my head in the sand as regards what goes on in Afghanistan and Iraq - particularly since Saddam's disgusting treatment.

But thanks to my growing addiction to the BBC, I found out about something - someone - in Afghanistan that just blew my mind. I knew that there had been improvements since the Taliban had been ousted from power, but had heard of several backslides which eventually lead to the "hear no evil" approach I'd been taking.

I had no idea there was a woman MP in the country - named Malalai_Joya - who, despite numerous death threats and the bombing of her home, says all the things that need to be said there. Like the surprisingly obvious yet not universally regarded "We probably shouldn't allow former Taliban leaders to take positions in the new government" (I'm paraphrasing). Here is the article which drew my attention and here you can see her personal website. What she faces and what she is trying to do just impresses the hell out of me, while putting the pundits who ponder the ways in which warrior womyn can further engorge their sense of entitlement into proper perspective.

ATHENS AHOY

I booked it!

I'll be leaving late June 16th and arriving back late June 20th.

This is berserk, after years of grouping anywhere but England, Canada and the U.S. in roughly the same sphere as Narnia and Atlantis (for all the odds of my ever going there).

I also splurged on a day tour for the middle of my trip. Originally I was going to shun tours since I figured I could get around the city on my own power just fine and that I'd have a more "natural" experience that way. But then I noticed a tour which would take me sailing around three surrounding islands (Hydra, Poros and Aegina). I do not have a yacht, so I thought this would be worth it!

I have also hear that Greece is "cheap" for British tourists so I won't have to get a pile of spending money (thank you, all-mighty pound sterling). It's not a shopping trip, so really I'll just need enough for food and perhaps the odd trinket (hopefully I'll be suave enough to weed out the ultra-touristy crap from genuinly interesting artifacts).

I'm not sure what else to say at this point, other than just A-WHEEEE!

A blobbidty bibbida

As someone who is sometimes cheeky enough to call himself "a writer", I feel I have to try and avoid cheap literary analysis or expression of my own experiences...lest I get caught in the fallacy of trying to fit everything I do into a grand structure.

But it's a very tricky thing to resist the implied parallel when, upon waking up this morning, not only was my head physically unblocked (hurrah, illness has at least receded) but I woke up to find myself already deeply into a writing fugue after three days of barely being able to review my script notes. A trance, a fugue, a vomiting out of ideas, call it what you will but in five minutes I'd filled several pages in my trusty green, hardback notebook with a detailed outline for an entirely new script and in the frenzied rush I'd also filled a page of my yellow "Momentum" notebook with frantic shorthand resolutions to problems I'd been trying to solve. This state continued through breakfast and the ride to work - though I'm normally up in a blink, today I still feel the sleep falling from my brain almost three hours since I awoke.

This is, I think, the kind of inspiration and rush that so many before and after me have clawed at madly, with excessive drink or drugs. I can't say either has ever brought it on for me, but if it works for others then I can certainly understand.

When I say that I woke up halfway in, this is because for the first time in a long while I vividly dreamed a story I could actually relate to people who do not have my exact memories. Usually my dreams are so tactile and rooted in memory that it would be a tremendous pain in the arse to convey them. This dream had those two qualities but had a third facet in that multiple threads and themes of childhood were present. A strange thing for me as I've been looking forward to and considering what is to come with such intensity for the past few years. I don't know yet, of course, if this story will develop into something that could be made - but I do know that I shall have to explore it further when I visit Uffington to retreat from London/Las Internet for a few days.

After Greece, that is! Yes, Old Man Money bounced me on his knee and said that I could get away with both a four day venture into Athens and a four day retreat in Uffington/Oxford. Exciting times! During my weekend stupor I was able to investigate a decent flight and hotel package that will put me along a main road which seems roughly equidistant from the Aegean sea and the core of Athens where such wonders as the Parthenon and the temple of Zeus can be found. The only decision left to make is if I should include one of the little tours in the package and how obnoxious a pair of swim shorts I should purchase.

Addendum: I was warned London would be dirty compared to Ottawa, and parts of it certainly are, but it could be worse.

And how are we today, Mr. Brackenbury?

I want to live...

....and yet, even more, I want to die! While what I have simply dubbed "Generic Illness" ravages me, body and mind, let me direct you all to the kind of website which could eventually lead to the death of television. It has dozens of handily organized shows, including my beloved Brass Eye (which I'll now shut up about), Harvey Birdman, Look Around You and other magnificence. Not that searching YouTube is SO hard, but this is much better.

Enjoy!

Another post pertaining to the general area of below the waist

But not poop! No, no no, this shall not become a PoopJournal. This I promise.

I've recently been asked in an email, "Why don't you talk much in your site about British accents or slang?". This is a fair question since British accents and slang are two of the most defining national qualities - particularly as seen by foreigners, but for Britons as well. It's not something everyone does, but there are native Britons who still take pride in being able to tell where someone is from (be it as vague as "up north" or as specific as what city) simply by hearing them talk. Meanwhile, I'd say that slang is certainly a more slippery beast here than I ever recall it being in the parts of Canada which I've experienced. Terms I heard in Reading had no bearing in London as terms I heard in Broadstairs had none in Reading. Not that England has a monopoly on this phenomena, but there is a notable volume of slang and accents for a country of such modest size.

The reason I've strayed from getting deeply into the subject - and my experiences with it - is twofold. 1) I don't want the Britons I speak with to feel that anything they say to me is up for linguistic study and dissection in front of an online audience. 2)That good old fashioned desire not to feel too much like a tourist, pointing and marvelling at "the funny way these people are".

But for the sake of anyone who plans to visit here, I shall warn you of something which I tripped up over the other day. Yes, "trousers" is still the word for what North Americans would call "pants" - but what is less widely known is that "pants" has, in somewhat recent years, become the term for "underwear".

This would explain the raised eyebrow I got when I was explaining to a co-worker that I didn't have my tube pass on me, thanks to having put on the wrong pants. "Which is a real pain in the arse, because that means I don't have a host of other things on me as well. I keep everything in my pants, pens, pencils, a small exacto knife..." I went on to explain "It's a bad habit I've inheirited from my father, he practically has half of Office Depot in his pants".

Well!

Meanwhile, did the "No gurlz a-loud" sign (written in messy crayon, of course) we posted over the internet fail us? Apparently! Also a baby, named Bubba no less, has proven that America's gun laws continue to be a shining example to us all. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cough my way through being sick for the first time in England. Wheeeee! Literally the day after I signed up with the National Health Service, no less.

Newz you cannot possibly Uze(z)

I just tried a new, more arduous form of sit-up and it made me have to poop. I like that I felt more of that marvelous "burn", I wasn't so keen on being made to feel like a human roll of toothpaste.

Just sayin'!

Travels and travails and PAEDOPHILLIA?

Well, I've had a long conference with Old Man Money and it looks like visiting Canada will have to be a December/Christmas thing. Though recent events have upgraded a June trip from implausible to plausible, it has not yet graduated to wise. In short, I'd be cleaning out my savings account and leaving myself in a precarious position for when I returned to London. Plus I've lately been having crazy thoughts about "planning for retirement" and "not living hand-to-mouth". Sorry, to those who were hoping to see me sooner rather than later. If I had the ability, I'd visit in both June and December - with smaller trips all over Europe as well.

So now I am presented with the truly First World Problem of deciding what I want to do for a little vacation to celebrate my birthday and cap off what I sincerely hope to be the end of my "career" in data entry (it almost goes without saying that even though it's a month until this Network Rail contract finally ends, I've started hunting for a new and more stimulating job). On the one hand it's tempting to spend a modest wad of cash visiting Rome (before it crumbles) or somewhere in Greece for four or five days - seeking thrills and sights then coming back to London to decompress and recover from making the most of a few days somewhere exotic.

Or do I retreat to stay with my friends in Uffington/Oxford, take a few days off from hustle and/or bustle as well as the Internet (gasp) in order to seriously relax while focusing on writing and drawing in-between long country walks? Cheaper and more productive by far, but not as exciting or exotic - I certainly would miss seeing the Coliseum or the Aegean sea.

Perhaps I could be cheeky enough to do both, back-to-back?

In other news, here's an interesting artifact from recent British history which could be filed under the What's Got Us Whipped Up Into Hysterics Now? column. In the late '90's and very early 2000s's, up until terrorism stole our hearts and minds, paedophiles where the boogey-men supreme in England. Chris Morris, a father of two children and the man behind Brass Eye, got fed up with how the British people were being whipped up into absolute brainless terror so as to further the agenda of several newspapers, TV stations and politicians. Thus, though Brass Eye had been off the air for a few years, he resurrected his old show to produce a special entitled "Paedogeddon". You can find it on Youtube, split into three parts (1 - 2 - 3).

This article, What happens when you satirize hysteria?, does a good job of chronicling that brief period and the various reactions to the show. Here is a rather telling quote from the three page article, the italics added by yours truly:

"...a moral panic of gargantuan proportions has swept the land. Last summer in the English coastal town of Portsmouth, egged on by English tabloids running a "name and shame" campaign, mobs of vigilantes roamed the streets like medieval peasants. But instead of pitchforks they carried knuckle dusters and baseball bats, and rather than hunchbacks they were seeking "kiddie fiddlers," who existed only in the minds of the mob.

Dozens of people were wrongly accused, and one man, a pediatrician, had to leave the area after some of the protesters were confused by the term and torched his house. The pediatrician managed to keep his name out of the press, for fear that more crime might follow him. Another pediatrician, 30-year-old Yvette Cloete, had to leave her home in Gwent, South Wales after it was vandalized: Cloete arrived home from work to see the word "paedo" daubed all over her walls. Police say "the astonishing ignorance" of local anti-pedophile protestors forced her out. "

Bahahahahwhahahawhahwwhaa......oh lord I've wet myself

I've had this marvelous, marvelous show put under my nose - Brass Eye, a fine satire of alarmist news programs if there ever was one! The second clip has Simon Pegg as a militant pedophile - a Milipede.