I've made a podcast with a few little clips from our recent time in the UK, including our family get together to celebrate Si and Jo's engagement
Video Podcasts
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Photos from Italy
Check out my bumper gallery of pictures from Viv and Giorgio's wedding, with extra pictures of Padova and Lazise.
Click here for Photo Albums
Click here for Photo Albums
Monday, June 12, 2006
Nikka Costa
Can't remember if I mentioned this artist before but, having accidentally stumbled across Nikka Costa last year, I'm still listening to her album. She did a live set at Dream one time that we went there and I walked away thinking that actually the music sounded pretty good, not to mention the pleasant surprise of seeing someone on stage with an actual live band. Nikka Costa seems to have travelled through a time warp from the 70s and met Lenny Kravitz and Prince on the way, which is to say that she's funky, rocking and soulful with a great and somewhat crazy live act. Apparently she does count Prince as a mentor, and bizarrely enough her manager is Randy Jackson, the judge on American Idol. Well, I highly recommend her latest album if you want to try some new music...
Thursday, June 01, 2006
washington weather - wee!
Summer has arrived in a big way now, with 90+ F temperatures daily. The warm evenings are so fantastic, and it feels to me like being on holiday. We're determined to get used to the high temperature this year, so Air Con is off except for occasional emergencies and we're actually doing pretty well at handling it. That said, it's definitely only for the leisure hours as the air con broke at work for one day this week and it was unbearable.
On a totally unrelated note, Diana was disappointed that I don't have a picture of my super-cool BMW on the blog (it'll come, eventually...) but what about our Infinit FX?! According to official tests, it out-performs the (also more ugly) Porsche Cayenne!
On a totally unrelated note, Diana was disappointed that I don't have a picture of my super-cool BMW on the blog (it'll come, eventually...) but what about our Infinit FX?! According to official tests, it out-performs the (also more ugly) Porsche Cayenne!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
iPod update
Now that I'm driving to work you're probably wondering what happened to my video iPod, which gave me so much pleasure on the metro to my old job. I'm still watching the odd video show (it's mostly G4 video clips that are still worth a look for video game previews), but the good news is that the handy audio-in connection to my car's stereo means I can listen to podcasts on the way to and from work. I used to have quite a bit of spare time at my old job, which gave me a chance to read sites like Slashdot, The Register and Engadget. Now I'm keeping up on the same news through audio versions like Slashdot Review (read by someone who sounds like a cowboy) and the Engadget review. Add to that the CNN news update, NewsHour (never seen it on TV, but it's a good Rep v Dem discussion on the big issue of the week) and the BBC 'news pod'... and I'm probably more aware of current events here and at home than ever!
On a related note, one of my designers (joys of the new job - managing a team of designers) came back from London recently and was bursting with enthusiasm for the design of everyday British things like newspapers. She brought back a copy of the Guardian to show everyone, with it's new format and modern graphic design. In contrast, US papers are designed like British papers from several years ago and really lack when it comes to design flair (I won't even start on the quality of journalism...). After my last visit home (for Mum's birhday) I realised that although it's good to catch up on UK news through websites, I was really missing the overall experience you get when you pick up a British newspaper, so I'm now subscribed to The Observer digital edition, which comes as a facsimile of the print edition. So much better than time spent with the tedious Washington Post...
On a related note, one of my designers (joys of the new job - managing a team of designers) came back from London recently and was bursting with enthusiasm for the design of everyday British things like newspapers. She brought back a copy of the Guardian to show everyone, with it's new format and modern graphic design. In contrast, US papers are designed like British papers from several years ago and really lack when it comes to design flair (I won't even start on the quality of journalism...). After my last visit home (for Mum's birhday) I realised that although it's good to catch up on UK news through websites, I was really missing the overall experience you get when you pick up a British newspaper, so I'm now subscribed to The Observer digital edition, which comes as a facsimile of the print edition. So much better than time spent with the tedious Washington Post...
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Plane shadow
Here's an odd thing I saw the other day. I was flying from DC to a place a little north of NYC in a small US airways jet for work. Looking out the window as we started our landing, I noticed the shadow of the plane against the clouds. Then I realised that through some trick of the light there appeared to be a (dare I say it) halo around the plane. The time was around sunset so probably something to do with that... take a look at this pic I took:
Friday, April 21, 2006
Job moves and my new car
Yup, Diana and I have changed jobs. Coincidentally, we're changing over within a week of each other. Diana's now working at BET.com which sounds like betting, but is actually the website for a TV channel here in the US (a sister company to MTV). I'm starting next week at Marriott.com and yes there is a friends and family rate that I'll be able to get for you...
As you can see from the .com on the end of both, we're staying firmly in our familiar territory of interactive and online. And my job is out in Bethesda (on the way to Rockville - remember that place?) so I'll be driving to work now. We were looking at Mini Coopers, but just couldn't stomach the plasticky interior (I'm not being picky here - the interior really is a big disappointment - shame because the rest of the car is fantastic) and ended up getting a BMW 325. Funnily enough Minis share the same base as the BMW 325, so the ride has a lot in common. The BM is way better built inside though, and the sat nav is very well done (v. important for me - I'm lost in DC without one). Probably a bit of an extravagence, but I followed Adam's sage advice to get the car I really want because when we have kids the choice won't be the same. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see which turns out to be our fave - the Infiniti (which we still love - a pure joy to drive) or the BM.
As you can see from the .com on the end of both, we're staying firmly in our familiar territory of interactive and online. And my job is out in Bethesda (on the way to Rockville - remember that place?) so I'll be driving to work now. We were looking at Mini Coopers, but just couldn't stomach the plasticky interior (I'm not being picky here - the interior really is a big disappointment - shame because the rest of the car is fantastic) and ended up getting a BMW 325. Funnily enough Minis share the same base as the BMW 325, so the ride has a lot in common. The BM is way better built inside though, and the sat nav is very well done (v. important for me - I'm lost in DC without one). Probably a bit of an extravagence, but I followed Adam's sage advice to get the car I really want because when we have kids the choice won't be the same. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see which turns out to be our fave - the Infiniti (which we still love - a pure joy to drive) or the BM.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kati's birthday pics
Hooray, I finally downloaded Kati's birthday pics, and you can see a selection on this page:
Kati's 5th Birthday Tea Party pics
Kati's 5th Birthday Tea Party pics
V for Vendetta and Guy Fawkes
I've dragged Diana to two very good movies these last two weeks, and the evidence is that she's not complaining :-)
Last week it was Inside Man, which was an intelligent heist movie done through the style of Spike Lee - which means great characters from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, and classic film storytelling without the MTV-style trappings that most Hollywood thrillers have these days. Some of the plot twists aren't that twisty but I reckon the real pleasure of this movie is in the characters.
This week it was V for Vendetta, which I also had pegged as an MTV-esque Hollywood action movie, but actually turned out to be a very though provoking and satisfying take on the fight against a totalitarian dystopia. I gather the plot was changed to make parallels with the current state of US politics (and very satisfying that was too!) but the action takes place in London and the character V styles himself on Guy Fawkes.
Diana learnt all about Guy Fawkes when she came to London so that she could understand the stuff we do on November 5th, but I've never known that much about him and always found it a bit odd that he's celebrated as a historic Briton (made the BBC's list of 100 greatest Britons, for example) when tried to blow up parliament (surely not a good thing?!). Wikipedia has helped me out a little - now I know that he was one of a bunch of Catholic terrorists (!) and when you read the rest of the 'Remember remember the 5th of November' poem it's all about giving the Pope a horrible death! Shades of Sept 11th...? Nowadays there's some kind of rosey-tinted view that he was actually a crusader against oppressive government, although it seems a confused notion to me. Can anyone help me understand??
Last week it was Inside Man, which was an intelligent heist movie done through the style of Spike Lee - which means great characters from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, and classic film storytelling without the MTV-style trappings that most Hollywood thrillers have these days. Some of the plot twists aren't that twisty but I reckon the real pleasure of this movie is in the characters.
This week it was V for Vendetta, which I also had pegged as an MTV-esque Hollywood action movie, but actually turned out to be a very though provoking and satisfying take on the fight against a totalitarian dystopia. I gather the plot was changed to make parallels with the current state of US politics (and very satisfying that was too!) but the action takes place in London and the character V styles himself on Guy Fawkes.
Diana learnt all about Guy Fawkes when she came to London so that she could understand the stuff we do on November 5th, but I've never known that much about him and always found it a bit odd that he's celebrated as a historic Briton (made the BBC's list of 100 greatest Britons, for example) when tried to blow up parliament (surely not a good thing?!). Wikipedia has helped me out a little - now I know that he was one of a bunch of Catholic terrorists (!) and when you read the rest of the 'Remember remember the 5th of November' poem it's all about giving the Pope a horrible death! Shades of Sept 11th...? Nowadays there's some kind of rosey-tinted view that he was actually a crusader against oppressive government, although it seems a confused notion to me. Can anyone help me understand??
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
New pics
Just a few - from the weekend and recently. Since the photocast doesn't seem to be getting to everyone I've gone back to the old way of webpages.
March 2006 - a few pics
March 2006 - a few pics
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
How to get good service
Another good Guy Kawasaki blog, which touches on stuff that actually Diana taught me. I think reflects more of an American than a British viewpoint because US companies are more customer-centric. Even so, I've seen Diana put it to good effect in London, and the karmic scoreboard is a great attitude to have in general...
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/03/the_art_of_suck.html
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/03/the_art_of_suck.html
Friday, March 17, 2006
On a positive note
I feel that I'm whingeing a lot about US culture at the moment, so here's a positive to try and balance things a tad:
Even with Tivo it's sometimes hard to find the good programming hidden away amongst the hundreds of TV channels that we get. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when I flipped channels this morning looking for some wake-up TV. I didn't have my contacts on, so really it was a foolishly impossible task as I couldn't see the channel names or numbers! After flicking through some sport and hispanic channels I caught a snatch of a favourite classical song (sorry - can't name it - I have some classical compilations on my iPod). I turned back and it turned out to be a kind of MTV for classic music, with accompanying arty music! A total breath of fresh air, and even more enjoyable once I stuck in my contacts! Unfortunately Tivo didn't seem to have listings info for that particular channel... will I ever find it again?!!!
Even with Tivo it's sometimes hard to find the good programming hidden away amongst the hundreds of TV channels that we get. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when I flipped channels this morning looking for some wake-up TV. I didn't have my contacts on, so really it was a foolishly impossible task as I couldn't see the channel names or numbers! After flicking through some sport and hispanic channels I caught a snatch of a favourite classical song (sorry - can't name it - I have some classical compilations on my iPod). I turned back and it turned out to be a kind of MTV for classic music, with accompanying arty music! A total breath of fresh air, and even more enjoyable once I stuck in my contacts! Unfortunately Tivo didn't seem to have listings info for that particular channel... will I ever find it again?!!!
St Patrick's Day
I'm quite bemused by the American celebrations of St. Patrick's Day. One of my colleagues congratulated me on wearing green (I just happen to be wearing a green shirt) and told me that he's Irish, even though he patently isn't. When I probed further he pointed out that his family from the 17th century was Irish. Ok...
All kinds of people have been asking me if I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day, as if it's a national holiday (although it isn't). As far as I remember from England, St. P's is just an opportunity for people to head down the nearest pub and get smashed. Here, it seems to have taken the tone of just about every other public holiday I can think of. Is this a result of over-commercialisation or something?
I suppose that I just find it strange because I couldn't feel more distant from Ireland, yet they're making more of a deal out of it here... and in a strange PC way that seems to have lost the spirit of it. On the other hand, I guess it's more family friendly and kids can take part. Anything that means kids gain an appreciation of other countries and cultures - I'm all for.
Anyway...
I'll be making a lightning fast trip to England to wish Mum happy birthday and catch up with Viv. Diana's already there hanging out with work friends. Wish I had a job with limitless amounts of time-off to be taken...
All kinds of people have been asking me if I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day, as if it's a national holiday (although it isn't). As far as I remember from England, St. P's is just an opportunity for people to head down the nearest pub and get smashed. Here, it seems to have taken the tone of just about every other public holiday I can think of. Is this a result of over-commercialisation or something?
I suppose that I just find it strange because I couldn't feel more distant from Ireland, yet they're making more of a deal out of it here... and in a strange PC way that seems to have lost the spirit of it. On the other hand, I guess it's more family friendly and kids can take part. Anything that means kids gain an appreciation of other countries and cultures - I'm all for.
Anyway...
I'll be making a lightning fast trip to England to wish Mum happy birthday and catch up with Viv. Diana's already there hanging out with work friends. Wish I had a job with limitless amounts of time-off to be taken...
Friday, March 10, 2006
Podcasts
Is anyone watching my podcasts? Seen the new one about snow in DC and Kati's tea party?
Now that I've had my video iPod a couple of months I can tell you (and I know you've been *dying* to find out) what my chosen (video) podcasts are. Drum roll...
Ricky Gervais - haven't subscribed to the pay version but probably will. This is one of a couple of audio-only podcasts that I listen to.
ABC World News Now - great update on news developments, and less parochial than the typical crappy TV news here (car accident on I-66, man shot in DC, etc.)
G4 shows - Attack of the Show, Cinematech and X-Play, for witty video game reviews
Gametrailers.com - this is a new one, and looking good so far, includes reviews too (surprisingly, Gamespot's podcast is terrible)
InDigital - out of work TV presenters doing a good gadget news podcast
Rocketboom - the original podcast show - interesting and sometimes cerebral content but patchy
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - this is just audio: a good slice of political debate (and more like 10 minutes than an hour)
Sky News Seven Days - total junk, but it says that if the podcasts prove popular they'll put more news on the web!
KQED Gallery Crawl - monthly review of (mostly San Fran) art galleries, which makes for a nice arty break form the news and videogames
Cho Bo Ji - OK, this is a bit random and I doubt I'll keep listening, but this is a Buddhist monk here in the US who records his teachings. I was looking for an insight into Buddhism but a lot of it is gobbledigook...
Plus of course, I'm subscribed to my own fabulous video podcast in case I want to show peeps!
Speaking of Peeps, Easter is almost upon us. Diana's given up latte's for Lent and I gave up chocolate. It's a tough time but I'm sure we'll make it through...
Now that I've had my video iPod a couple of months I can tell you (and I know you've been *dying* to find out) what my chosen (video) podcasts are. Drum roll...
Ricky Gervais - haven't subscribed to the pay version but probably will. This is one of a couple of audio-only podcasts that I listen to.
ABC World News Now - great update on news developments, and less parochial than the typical crappy TV news here (car accident on I-66, man shot in DC, etc.)
G4 shows - Attack of the Show, Cinematech and X-Play, for witty video game reviews
Gametrailers.com - this is a new one, and looking good so far, includes reviews too (surprisingly, Gamespot's podcast is terrible)
InDigital - out of work TV presenters doing a good gadget news podcast
Rocketboom - the original podcast show - interesting and sometimes cerebral content but patchy
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - this is just audio: a good slice of political debate (and more like 10 minutes than an hour)
Sky News Seven Days - total junk, but it says that if the podcasts prove popular they'll put more news on the web!
KQED Gallery Crawl - monthly review of (mostly San Fran) art galleries, which makes for a nice arty break form the news and videogames
Cho Bo Ji - OK, this is a bit random and I doubt I'll keep listening, but this is a Buddhist monk here in the US who records his teachings. I was looking for an insight into Buddhism but a lot of it is gobbledigook...
Plus of course, I'm subscribed to my own fabulous video podcast in case I want to show peeps!
Speaking of Peeps, Easter is almost upon us. Diana's given up latte's for Lent and I gave up chocolate. It's a tough time but I'm sure we'll make it through...
Friday, February 24, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
'casting update
In case you're watching my photocast, I've had to change the address. I've also downloaded the bug fix to iPhoto that just came out, so there's a chance it will have better compatibility than before... can't promise though
http://web.mac.com/gordonbaty/iPhoto/photocast/index.rss
http://web.mac.com/gordonbaty/iPhoto/photocast/index.rss
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Boondocks
Let me introduce you to the best cartoon strip in America. I actually discovered it through the new TV series that's been developed from it, but I know Adam's had a feed for it on his website for a long time but the name sort of put me off. Boondocks means out in the country (as far as I understand it) so it doesn't really sum up the awesome cultural and political commentary that you get in the show. You may have to live in America to appreciate some of it, but I still recommend it.
Boondocks
You probably noticed that it's also written from a Black American point of view, which IMHO is something not heard enough around these parts. Considering how certain aspects of recent history are glossed over as 'civil rights history' and swept under the rug in the US, the more Boondocks the better.
Incidentally, the TV version is extra cool because it borrows its styling from Anime, and even has some really cool fighting scenes that are up there with what you'd see in Ghost in the Shell or Samurai Champloo (couldn't resist name-dropping those)!
Boondocks
You probably noticed that it's also written from a Black American point of view, which IMHO is something not heard enough around these parts. Considering how certain aspects of recent history are glossed over as 'civil rights history' and swept under the rug in the US, the more Boondocks the better.
Incidentally, the TV version is extra cool because it borrows its styling from Anime, and even has some really cool fighting scenes that are up there with what you'd see in Ghost in the Shell or Samurai Champloo (couldn't resist name-dropping those)!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
First video cast!
OK, the photocasting was a bit of a disappointment, but hopefully my videocast will be more of a success! Take a look (and sign up to the feed) on this page:
Gordon's podcasts
There's a bonus test video on there too from Christmas...
Gordon's podcasts
There's a bonus test video on there too from Christmas...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Wonders of the internet
A quick musing on a wonderful thing about the internet:
I'm learning how to do some 3D stuff using Macromedia Director (it's multimedia programming software) at the moment, and yes it's a very esoteric subject. There's 2 books have been written about it, but they're old and don't address the issues I'm tackling. There's no school that could teach this stuff, it's too complex to get answers from a helpline, there's no training video that covers it... I can't think of any 'traditional' recourse that could help me.
So how am I getting by? I found a couple of discussion forums that are specific to 3D in this piece of software. I posted up my questions and got responses from people in Scandanavia and the other side of the US. The answers solved the problem and gave me solutions to ones I haven't even go to yet. These people are probably the most experienced and knowledgeable in this field.
When you think about it... wow.
I'm learning how to do some 3D stuff using Macromedia Director (it's multimedia programming software) at the moment, and yes it's a very esoteric subject. There's 2 books have been written about it, but they're old and don't address the issues I'm tackling. There's no school that could teach this stuff, it's too complex to get answers from a helpline, there's no training video that covers it... I can't think of any 'traditional' recourse that could help me.
So how am I getting by? I found a couple of discussion forums that are specific to 3D in this piece of software. I posted up my questions and got responses from people in Scandanavia and the other side of the US. The answers solved the problem and gave me solutions to ones I haven't even go to yet. These people are probably the most experienced and knowledgeable in this field.
When you think about it... wow.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Grinning idiot
A short note to anyone that sees me walking to work in the morning and wonders why I seem to be a giggling imbecile... You would be too if you were listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast. Recommended, if you like that sort of thing.
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