Month: October 2008
Not a happy bunny
Bad mood.
Cheering myself up by shopping for guns online. I’d like the feel of a tidy little Smith & Wesson then again, a Glock would certainly make a statement…
What’s that? This post smacks of bad taste? Trust me, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Seriously pissed off today and as such will refrain from any further posts in case the men in white coats come and escort me from the building.
Europe’s teenage birth map
Crazy hectic day. Back to back meetings and fiddly bits of work like creating a Google Map to show how the UK compares to the rest of Europe in terms of teenage birth rates. The answer is badly.
Google and ITN join forces on geotagged news
File this post under g for “geek”
ITN and Google have paired up to provide users with geotagged news.
Quite a few months after the discusion was first had, Google has named ITN as it partner for its ‘Gears Geolocation API’ which enables you to find local news stories based on your current location.
The application ‘pinpoints the location of the mobile cell or Wi-Fi access point and highlights ITN news stories near that location on Google Maps or Google Earth’.
This is a pretty huge coup for ITN’s super-talented but underrated development team, congratulations guys!!
In a Techradar article, Google Project manager Charles Wiles says: ”
“ITN really is at the cutting edge of technology, delivering innovative news features on both mobile and desktop.
“The ability to see Google Earth in the browser – automatically centred on your current location and with stories relevant to your current location layered on top – is incredibly useful.”
Join the Atheist Bus Campaign
DISCLAIMER: I’m not urging you to sign up to this campaign because I’m an atheist. Being sent to church from the age of zero to 16 means that while I’d describe my self as areligious I could never deny the possibility that there is an exsistence of a God.
No, rather the reason that you all should get involved is that the lovely young lady who is spearheading the campaign is an old school chum of mine. Plus any campaign that urges you to “just enjoy life” definitely has my backing!
Video: Topshop supremo Phillip Green
Arcadia Boss Phillip Green, who signed Kate Moss to Topshop shares his views on the future of retail in the UK, the likelihood of a full-blown recession, and why he believes in a return to “old fashioned shop-keeping”.
Readers in the UK can see the ITV News report here.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Topshop supremo Phillip Green interview“, posted with vodpod
Mugged on Gray’s Inn Road
As I’ve alluded to in previous posts I have a few issues with budgeting.
While it’s cool to have so many Librans in my life, the months of September and October are always tight as I seem to have parties to attend every other night.
This has left me with £23 in cash (£20 of which was lent to me by my mother) plus £25 on my credit card to last me until the end of the week. Shameful!
Given that I have to do dinner in Soho tomorrow and drinks in the City on Thursday I’ve had to be pretty creative with my budgeting.
Which is why being charged £3.00 for a portion of scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms at Andrews, the greasy spoon (cafe) round the corner from my office, is so outrageous!
I mean guys, I know you’re being credit crunched but charging such extortionate prices is just taking the mick!
ADDENDUM: What’s worse is that it used to be one of my favourites, offering two hash browns and a cheese salad roll for £2.00. On hindsight, six hours later I do realise how churlish this posting seems, but it being ripped off really does get my goat.
Katy Perry DID kiss a girl
Stop the presses, forget the credit crunch, dismiss concerns about global warming!
The breaking news story of the day? Californian songstress Katy Perry has admitted in a candid interview with OK magazine that she, yes, really did kiss a girl and, yes, she did like it.
What on earth is the world coming to when that counts as news (or when I think it makes for a decent blog post)?
From PA:
Katy Perry has revealed she really did kiss a girl – and liked it.
The 23-year-old old Californian musician’s single I Kissed A Girl has celebrated more than five million worldwide sales.
In an interview with OK! magazine, Perry was asked if she really had kissed a girl.
She replied: “Of course. I think I was 19. I kissed a girl and it was great.”
She said it went no further and she did not write the song about that one experience or a particular person.
She said: “Growing up I had a friend who, looking back, I think I had an obsessive little crush on her.
“I never kissed her but she was very beautiful and she was like a ballerina and I wanted to copy everything she did. But I think that was kind of the extent of it.”
She said her boyfriend understood the “tongue-in-cheek” aspect of the song.
Network news – inside the dragon’s den
Back on the day shift and the joys of the morning editorial meeting beckon.
Each morning at an hour long meeting takes place in which the programme editors of the news bulletins thrash out what news you the viewer will consume.
It’s a bit like the Roman gods; they decide what stories the correspondents will cover, where they’ll be deployed, how they’ll cover the story.
The meeting is an epic battle of the wills. The evening news editor will want to make sure that he doesn’t get shafted over by the night time news, which’ll probably have more time and a bigger budget to play with.
The foreign editor aims ensure his correspondents are kept happy by pushing for their stories from around the globe make on to air despite the current obsession for economic navel gazing or the latest round in the spat between Madge and Guy.
And the editor in chief needs to ensure that the day’s offering attracts as many viewers as possible.
A bit of a giggle
I personally find them hilarious. At our channel much of the discussion has more to do with the logistics of deploying limited resources rather than journalism per se.
Yet the presence of wit, irony and sarcasm so early in the morning makes it difficult to keep a straight face.
I would divulge some of anecdotes here but maybe they’re of the ‘you had to be there’ kind. Also I might end up getting sacked for it… which on second thoughts is probably a great reason to start posting.
Jungle Jazz – blast from the past
On the train home from seeing the olds up in Hertfordshire when I notice the snare coming out of the headphones of the guy sitting behind me.
The bpm are around 160. Hmm sounds like jungle. In fact, it sounds strangely familiar…
Oh my gosh (it’s been a long weekend so it takes a while for the old synapeses to start firing on all cylinders), it’s Jungle Jazz!
Jungle Jazz is a compilation from Italian label Irma records that Francesco, my first love sent to me. This was back in 97, in the days before iTunes, Blip.fm or YouTube. It features legendary drum and bass tracks including It’s a Jazzy Thing by Ronnie Size.
That casette was always with me – and even now whenever I go over to Italy to see him when we’re driving around he always digs it out of his glove compartment.
When he pops it into the player we both lean back, not saying a word and with beatific smiles on our faces.
Some music encapsulates a time and a feeling. For me Jungle Jazz represents the best of those.
The Hip + The Square 