Frizz

Frizz has moved!

2007-01-08T11:16:00.000Z

A redirect should take you straight to the new site - if not it's over here.

Code and confusion

2007-01-02T22:35:00.000Z

My head is full of code and confusion, but I'm slowly getting there; I keep having little light bulbs of understanding going off in my rusty brain. This is me trying to get my head around Wordpress and HTML and PHP and CSS and MySQL... My holiday project has rather taken over my head space... so I think I'm going to move Frizz over sooner rather than later, not least because it's distracting me from doing any 'proper' work, then I'll tinker with it as I get to know the system. The moving bit is a little worrying... I'd welcome any advice from any readers who have done it before.

A happy slappy New Year, I reckon it can't be said too often...

2007

2007-01-01T17:25:00.000Z

A rambunctious and stupendous 2007 to you all.

Magical ice

2006-12-30T11:50:00.000Z

Yesterday a group of us went skating, luckily missing the rain. There were a few left over puddles on the ice and we had a couple of wet bottoms, but I won't name names! Little John was a star. And as always it was magical, there is something very special about skating and especially about skating outside.

Raising my geekiness

2006-12-30T11:42:00.000Z

What I have been doing instead, is checking out WordPress and I'm considering moving Frizz. I was thinking about it this time last year, but then I thought it would be too big a technical leap and I wasn't sure I could justify buying some hosting space (would I keep blogging?), but now it seems a good project for the New Year. It's still going to be a huge technical leap, but I've actually been enjoying raising my geekiness level over the last few days. So just to say, there might be some rather dramatic changes to Frizz in the coming weeks.

Rather too much food

2006-12-30T11:24:00.001Z

Well, I thought I could use a blogging break, hence the silence. During this time I've eaten too much and felt sick quite a bit, the word gluttony has come to mind quite a lot, we are talking cake, chocolate, fudge, mince pies (gluten free thanks to Anna), Big R's amazing raspberry, lots of cold Salmon, an assortment of fine cheeses... the list goes on. Sandy and I went for a lovely Christmas morning walk, Sandy kited out for the occasion. Clapping hands, I got a genealogy programme from Big R and S, so I have somewhere to write down all the family info I've been finding out. And I haven't watched any TV, which I think is a first. I have been 'going' to watch Barefoot in the Park for about three days now, but it never seems to happen.

Xmas dog

2006-12-24T23:20:00.000Z

All that wrapping is exhausting...

Festive spirit

2006-12-24T11:37:00.000Z

I'm about to go off for my traditional last minute wander around the shops. Happy holidays!

Russian Tea

2006-12-24T11:25:00.001Z

Red and gold and twinkling lights. A big table with friends sitting around chatting, laughing. Divine hot chocolate and good conversation. And a little one. Thanks everyone for coming it was lovely to see you all.

Id cards

2006-12-21T16:22:00.000Z

Keeping on the privacy theme, I've just discovered NO2ID.net

Well wishes

2006-12-21T11:09:00.000Z

I'm lazily listening to Woman's Hour when Jenni Murray says she has some news of her own... I hold my breath, because she says it in a way you know it's something serious... she has breast cancer. Murray is Woman's Hour, it's never the same without her. So I'm wishing her a very speedy recovery, she says her "prognosis is excellent", I hope it's not long before she's back where she belongs and that she knows she has the well wishes of so many of us.

Who knew?

2006-12-20T18:16:00.000Z

For the second time this week, someone who I would never have imaged to have any Jewish ancestry, has just told me that they think one of their grandfather's might have been Jewish.

Proactive

2006-12-20T18:12:00.000Z

Gosh, Virgin.net seem to have had a customer service policy change. So I had a call this afternoon responding to my email problem... and now it's working again. I'm impressed...

The Spine

2006-12-20T12:13:00.000Z

Are you thinking about opting out of the NHS database? I have serious doubts about the idea that if I go for any medical service my records would be openly available. The only benefit would be if it would mean that the NHS would start taking a more holistic view, but I doubt that would genuinely happen and then the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. What do you think?

Email gone

2006-12-20T11:46:00.000Z

My email is down: "550 mail not accepted from blacklisted IP address..." Honestly, I haven't been sending out spam...

Hi, Welcome to Virgin.Net Chat and Remote Assistance. My name is Gavin. How may I help you?
11:33 Hi, I just tried to send an email and it says 550 mail not accepted from blacklisted IP address
11:34 Ok, we do know of this issue and we are working to resolve it
11:36 can I do anything to change the IP address I'm on? [shows how much I know]
11:37 No, this is a Virgin issue and we are working to resolve it as we speak
11:46 how long do you think it will take?
Info: NTRsupport session ended

Well I guess that means they don't know how long it's going to take...

Tube day

2006-12-19T23:00:00.000Z

Love those "minor delays".

Art

2006-12-19T22:41:00.000Z

London culture... Velazquez at the National Gallery.

Power up

2006-12-18T23:00:00.000Z

Time magazine has chosen YOU as their person of the year.

Historical ties

2006-12-17T23:00:00.000Z

I've just found out that I have an ancestor who in 1609 was burnt at the stake by the Portuguese Inquisition. I think that might be more information than I wanted or needed to know.

Infinite reach

2006-12-17T22:00:00.000Z

Just had a Skype conversation where I was able to have control of the other persons desktop using WebDialogs Unyte - I feel like I just jumped into a new age...

Five years old, already

2006-12-17T20:55:00.001Z

Last week I was mortified because John remembered that I'd been late to his birthday party last year... So yesterday I managed to only be a little late, arriving at the same time as a set of grandparents, so I think that's acceptable. It was a fun day. I bought him some walkie talkies - which we tested. Then after everyone had gone we had a go at Operation, which was a lot smaller than I remember, but just as hard. John; "this is really hard isn't it". Me; "yes it is".

Action

2006-12-17T20:41:00.000Z

OK, so I've written to the company to ask why they are recommending/selling such a toxic product. I feel a bit better...

Guilty

2006-12-17T20:26:00.000Z

I've been feeling so guilty about the new thing with a strap that it's stayed in the bag all week. I finally took it out to spray it with some lethal smelling stuff that actually says on the can that it's "dangerous to the environment". These days you have to read the label for everything.

Hollywood holidays

2006-12-15T22:55:00.000Z

Saw half of The Holiday at a screening with V here... very plush. Bumped into K which was nice, except he was rather amused (we are talking big grin) when I admitted to being a Nancy Meyers fan, my sentimental streak. V dragged me out mid way through; it was awful, but I would have been happy to stay.

Wired kinks

2006-12-14T22:30:00.000Z

Yes, I still have the bite turbos - there is no consolation on this occasion in being right. I had a glimmer of hope when I persuaded the Ortho to test whether my teeth were actually touching them and of course one tooth was touching, I could even feel it before he put the blue paper between my teeth, which was enough for him to say they had to stay. Same wire with different kinks in it. Same elastics at the front. At the moment I have various sore bits, especially the front teeth, which need bringing forward. But all looking good. He asked me if I was enjoying it and I wouldn't say enjoying is the right word, but it's definitely interesting to see how things are changing and not having jaw ache and having better looking teeth is of course something to smile about, (sorry couldn't resist).

Teleuncommunication

2006-12-14T21:57:00.000Z

An update on the Orange story; I tried again yesterday to get through and about three times today... if I hear the phrase "we are experiencing a high volume of calls" one more time... So a tip, if a bit of an obvious one, forget about trying to get through to the billing department, just go straight to the I'm really fed up, I want to leave department and get them to put you through to the billing department - works wonders. I got my £30 credit on my £120 bill.

Then I tried to do the I'm leaving bit for real, what's the best deal you can offer me. I pretty much failed; a mixture of speaking to the wrong person, in the end I was telling him what phones they had (how sad is that) and my heart not really being in it, so the best they could do was offer me forty minutes less for £10 a month more... How is that a deal? So I guess I'm going to have stop pretending to leave.

Brace face

2006-12-13T23:34:00.000Z

Wire change tomorrow, I think everything has moved quite a lot, except for the deep bite, which doesn't seem to change, so I think I'll be keeping the bite turbos.

Head in a spin

2006-12-13T23:10:00.000Z

I've been telling friends about all the relations popping up all over the place and how I felt about being in Germany - comfortable but... and well it all got a bit too much today - lots of emotions and thoughts flying around in my head. Especially there is this thought, what if things had been different, would we all have known each other? Of course that's silly, because I wouldn't be me, but still. Then I've been reading a little about Portugal and the Inquisition, now I've got actual names, it's not just some line in a history book, it's putting a different light on recent history, like it's all happened before... so many times.

Another part of the story is that there are past Chief Rabbi's popping up all over the place and coming from what I thought was such a secular family that's thrown me a bit.

Not getting through

2006-12-12T18:19:00.000Z

Trying to get through to Orange to sort out my bill and tariff (16 mins 46 secs). I have such a gripe about this; my tariff ended hence the £120 bill. According to Orange they don't have the ability to send out information warning about tariffs ending - except that they are a telephone company - perhaps they forgot?! Even my bank manages to send me text messages these days. A says she had the same thing happen to her, they must be making a fortune (22 mins 51 secs).

So, I'm not sure I've got it in me to do the whole "I'm leaving unless you give me a really good deal" act. Last time I did this I spoke to a lovely woman who was incredibly helpful and gave me a really good deal, but I think it did take a few calls to find her. Also, there's the question of which phone to go for? Thinking environmentally I was going to just hold on to the one I've got, but I've been a bit careless with it lately, my subconscious falling into that whole it's a year or so old about time for a change, don't have to be so careful attitude and the sound has gone a bit fuzzy. So I have been looking and the only one that's caught my eye is the Blackberry Pearl, but then I'd have to go for the push email, because that's the whole point and that's going to cost more (26 mins 01 secs). To continue holding or to hang up? 35 mins 04 secs - hanging up.

2006-12-11T00:24:00.000Z

Pinochet dies at 91

Action now!

2006-12-10T23:00:00.000Z

Well, I sort of went on the march today. I missed the actual march and joined them outside Downing Street. I wish I could do marches, but I have a really hard time being one of the pack… Even the little bit of chanting I caught at the end started to freak me out. I just get very uncomfortable; I'm no good at black and white – even when it's right. The turnout was shamefully small, which I don't understand, so I'm glad I went. As a bonus I met some really interesting people and afterwards a bunch of us went for some slow fast food with lots of chat. What was unsaid was at one point we were descendents whose parents had escaped one genocide in conversation with someone whose country is being ravaged by another.

Naughty but yummy

2006-12-10T22:50:00.000Z

Yesterday Anna and I went down to Bicester Village for some Christmas shopping. Mostly things were far too expensive; they hadn't quite got the factory outlet spirit. Despite that we both managed to find ourselves presents, I'm in a bit of denial about mine - a little bit expensive, but one of those never to be repeated opportunities.... lets just say it has a strap.

Then I rushed into town for Silvia's birthday dinner, at a really friendly South American restaurant in Fulham, for a lovely meal and yummy chocolate cake.

Last week

2006-12-10T22:39:00.001Z

Back in the park.

Chain mail

2006-12-08T13:46:00.001Z

A friend just sent me a chain mail and unless it's a charity thing I don't tend to send them on. This one was of the daily mail variety about car jacking, so I thought I'd check it out and Google led me to BreakTheChain.org.

Odd search returns

2006-12-08T08:50:00.000Z

I'm number two on Google for "fixing frizz in photoshop", that's got to be disappointing.

Darfur

2006-12-07T23:16:00.000Z

This Sunday is Human Rights Day. There are various events taking place for Darfur including in London, Jerusalem, Washington DC, Paris, Melbourne, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam. For more info see the Globe for Darfur site. For some background info on the situation.

Oh, the choice

2006-12-06T15:04:00.000Z

So I want to contact someone. Do I phone their landline? Skype them? Instant message them? Email them? Call their mobile? Text them?

Popping up

2006-12-05T23:38:00.000Z

OK, at the risk of this sounding a bit unbelievable, I arrived home to discover another email from another 'new' cousin...

Good day: lovely lunch with a friend, had sweet conversation with a stranger on the street who said he could help my wrist - his sweatshirt matched my jacket (the green one). Shop replaced my broken umbrella for free, had nice Skype conversation with a friend - I am loving Skype - great for displacement. And of course email from new new new cousin.

Bad day: mobile phone bill for £120 - how? Got very wet, was late for meeting, almost got run over; twice.

Test yourself

2006-12-05T00:46:00.000Z

Try this out - World Map game. I had a go and it's quite depressing how bad my knowledge of geography is, the only thing I can say is that I think I got the right continents, but really that's not saying much. [via]

Answers and questions

2006-12-04T19:39:00.000Z

Well, we spoke for ages and the new, 'new cousin' seems very nice and really she didn't know anything about us. I admit it, I have an odd family. It was one of those conversations where an answer would lead to another question. Not only didn't she know about us, but she didn't know about various ansestors who at the very least, because for one reason or another they are quite interesting, I thought she would have known about. Her story regarding the black sheep being sent to America is completly the other way around - that he saved his pocket money and ran away.... first to London, where he worked to save the passage for America. It's all very intriguing, although my aunt is adamant that my grandfather put him on the boat! I couldn't understand as we had all had contact with the genealogist, how we hadn't known about each other, but the genealogist hadn't thought to give us the further generations - I guess he thought we already knew of each other, a fair assumption to have made. A said if it was her she'd be tempted to get on a plane and I am.

Format-less

2006-12-03T13:48:00.000Z

There is something odd going on with Blogger Beta and it's not giving me the option to add any formatting automatically. I'm too lazy to write in the codes - when it's working I'll add the missing links from the previous posts.

Pandora doing her thing

2006-12-03T12:23:00.000Z

So the story continues, there was a black sheep in the family; one of my grandfather's siblings was packed off to America as a young boy in the 1920's. I didn't consciously know about this side until a few years ago and no one that I know has had contact with them since perhaps the 1950's. So the 'new cousin' was asking me what I knew and I had to say nothing, but there were children and grandchildren and great grandchildren leading from this branch on his family tree, but genealogists seem to 'swap' information so he didn't know them either. By the time L and I had arrived back in Berlin he had done a search, found an email for someone whose name matched a person on his tree and sent a message. Me of little faith, I thought there's no way it's going to be right, but low and behold an email arrives back, the 'new cousin' had indeed found the relation and they in turn didn't know anything about us. This is all very surreal and rather amazing. His daughter is going to call me this evening.

Yesterday, I finally joined Skype and let the programme do an automatic search for contacts and the first call I had, within minutes of joining, was from another person who is a very distant relative, actually I've no idea how, but also another genealogist (something in the genes?). The sad thing is that I've had contact with him, as has the new cousin and the branch in America in the past, but he seemed unaware that none of us knew each other and from what I can gather we are all more closely related to each other than he is to us. During the conversation he mentioned another person, this time in England and when I commented that I'd never heard of him, he said "but he's your relation". The mind boggles. He's promised to send me some details – I feel like I've opened a Pandora's box or am playing parce the parcel and the music's got stuck and I'm unwrapping all the layers.

Berlin Selection

2006-12-03T09:47:00.000Z

Berlin Selection, .

Finally The Jewish Museum

2006-12-02T15:20:00.000Z

I've wanted to see Daniel Libeskind's building for the Jewish Museum since it opened in 1998, but even so I didn't rush to get there, I dragged my feet. I got a little lost, must have walked past the signpost and unexpectedly ended up at checkpoint Charlie instead. We'd gone through on the school trip and a friend had had film confiscated after she'd taken a picture at the crossing, so I was struck by how something so serious and scary then, was now just a tourist attraction. Grim Eastern block buildings and cars, a cliché I know, marked the contrast between East and West then. I walked through and looked up at the shiny new buildings. Then I headed back the way I came, but still couldn't work out where the Museum was. A man on a bike stopped and shouted something in German to me; I proudly managed a German response.

So there it was across the road.

In the basement of Libeskind's building are three intersecting axes, one leading to the Garden of Exile and Emigration, whilst another leads to the Holocaust Tower and a third to a long steep staircase up to where the exhibition starts and represents the difficult road to a reemergence of Jewish life in Germany. In the Garden there are tall concrete posts, which I walked between on uneven ground, finding it hard to keep my balance, but it is outside, there is air and light and olive trees shade it. In the Tower there is a never ending darkness broken only by a single split window so high it is completely out of reach, but giving just enough light to see and feel the awful isolation, fear, and complete desolation. Libeskind is brilliant; his building says everything, without words, or exhibits, speaking directly to my emotions.

I walk up the steep staircase to the permanent exhibition, I know from friends that this might well disappointment me, but I hope to be surprised. When I finish the exhibition what I'm left with is a dawning reality that a history really was destroyed. There are just not enough exhibits to tell the story properly, either the museum did not understand what was needed or that all the artifacts really were destroyed and perhaps there was a resistance from exiles to send family possessions back. I don't know, just that again I left with an incomplete picture of Jewish history in Germany and a growing frustration.

Links abound; the last book I ever gave my father was Amos Elon's The Pity of It All a history of German Jewry. I was reminded of it a couple of weeks ago, because Another Road Home was by his daughter and she films her father at a book reading. So now I will dig it out in the hope that it can fill in some of the blank spaces.

A wide sweep

2006-12-02T11:58:00.000Z

With the idea that I wanted to know more, the next day I finally headed off to the German History Museum, where I wondered around for almost five hours soaking up the information. I only found a little of what I was looking for, titbits of explanation. In many ways it felt more like a history of Europe, taking a wide sweep, understandably; it reminded me of just how related to each other European countries are, with a connected and interlocking history, but I wanted details – how did people live in this part of Germany, at that time and then in another part, at another time. I left with back ache and only a little more clarity, thinking well OK, the Jewish Museum will give me the answers, even though I'm not sure I want it to be a separate history from the greater population.

The 'new' cousin

2006-12-02T11:33:00.000Z

I dragged L along with me to meet the 'Cousin'. We took the train out of Berlin's impressive new central station, a double-decker train (how come we don't have those?) and arrived in the town with the 'Cousin' (P). L saw him first, a very tall man holding a large sheet of paper – the family tree. P had moved back to the town where many of my ancestors lived after the reunification of Germany. I was expecting a small village, but it was a large town, surrounded by water and absolutely beautiful; hardly any war damage. P took us on a driving tour, an old house where the family had lived, the place where the synagogue had been; a plaque marking the spot, a street (kinda outside the town) named after a great great uncle. A lovely lunch at the Schloss, an almost Disney affair, a better Apfelstrudel, lots of talking, trying to work out who was who. Names that previously were just anonymous words on paper and dates that I hadn't thought much about were brought to life, I want to know more, who were these people and what were their lives really like? And P's side of the family only partly Jewish, had stayed throughout the war, lost jobs and university places, kept their heads down and been 'OK'. It was a lovely day, a bit of a whirlwind, in my head a constant background of questions and emotions.

Excuses excuses

2006-12-01T23:00:00.000Z

I have been a bit slack, to say the least, at updating. What with the cold and rushing around. I will play catch up tomorrow.

Berlin days

2006-11-25T19:45:00.000Z

Getting used to using a German keyboard.

I got very wet on the first day and am now fighting a cold. L is giving me drugs. Yesterday, we spent the morning talking, so I rushed off late to see the German History Museum and ended up at the Rebecca Horn exhibition, a spontaneous change of plans on the train as it closed later. I loved and hated it, understood it and didn't have a clue. The building though, it was in the Martin Gropius Bau, was stunning. I tried to get to the German History Museum again today and ended up at the Jewish quarter instead. The Neue Synagogue is beautiful - from the outside - of course I would choose Saturday to go there. At least I knew it would be closed and I have a good excuse to go back. I got emotional at Der verlassene Raum [I'll add the photo's when I get back]. And at what was Berlin's first Jewish old people's home, which was where deportations to the camps started from and next door to it the Alter Jüdischer Friedhof (Old Jewish Cemetery) which was completely desecrated. Then I went to an opening of a modern art exhibition - sort of by chance - it was a bit extreme self-harm, filming shooting yourself kind of art - I didn't stay for long. I finished the day with Pumkin suppe, which was reviving and the worst Apfelstrudel I've ever had, or at least I remember having... Oh and somewhere in the middle I saw how hard sweets are made... which was fun.

We are off to see the newly found 'cousin' tomorrow...

Berlin - First day

2006-11-24T11:13:00.000Z

Faces that look oddly familiar walking down the street, dark hair, half sentenses understood, a smile on my face, chickening out of trying to use my rusty German. So far I feel comfortable, even a New York kind of comfortable, I'm thinking about that. I walked through the Brandenburg gate, which I remember stopping in front of in a bus the last time I was here, when the wall was still up and Unter den Linden was in the East. I had the most divine hot chocolate at cafe Einstein and people watched. Friedrichstrasse, Alexanderplatz, Oranienburg names which seem to roll off my tough with ease. I went to visit the Pergamon Museum (like the British Museum) which my aunt had recommended, the last time she had visited was in 1937. I got a little emotional.

Windfalls

2006-11-20T15:32:00.000Z

Just in case you are wondering... I didn't win the lottery, but finding out about my ancestors and discovering a whole new part of my family does feel like another kind of windfall.

(Dis)connections

2006-11-20T12:24:00.000Z

I've had a serious family contact / finding out my ancestors sort of weekend. I met someone who knew my grandfather last week, brief conversation, which covered concerts and being chased by a colleagues husband sometime back in the 1950's, the latter I assure you nothing to do with my grandfather. Later in the week I was thinking about this grandfather again and catching up on some emails to family, which were so overdue many apologies were needed. I did a quick Google search and came up with a site, which rather amazingly had loads of my family tree on it. I'm in two minds about this, obviously it's exciting, there are many generations I didn't know about, but then it's my family tree and it's out there in the ether. I sent more emails out and received one back, which began Dear Cousin; so on the eve of going to Germany, I have found a cousin there, quite surreal. I then forwarded the email to a cousin in Israel who also wrote to him, so I think we made his weekend... I'm still not sure how we are cousins, have no idea who he is, but he knows exactly who I am, which has to be said is a little unnerving.

The family tree covers one branch of my family and goes down one particular line and this line goes very far back, quite excitingly along the way to Portugal, seemingly those listed having fled westward at the time of the Portuguese Inquisition (I have been reading up!) So suddenly I am partly Sephardic, having never been interested in the whole Sephardic/Ashkenazi thing, now I want to know more. The family tree continues going back and back - we are talking biblical names here and I don't really know if that's really possible to go back that far, but it's a nice idea and very intriguing.

A first

2006-11-17T19:03:00.000Z

I did it, I braved the torrential rain to buy my first ever lottery ticket. I've already set up a Foundation and allocated the money. It's an odd sensation to be part of something like this, I along with millions of other people across Europe, all of us believing there is a small chance, actually one in 76 million, of having our lives changed for the better by the numbers written on a single piece of paper. We and I can now officially include myself, believe that this would be a good thing, buying into the myth, despite the fact that often such a windfall results in tragedy.

Of course that won't happen when I win.

Golden ticket?

2006-11-17T16:18:00.000Z

I'm thinking of rushing out and buying a lottery ticket - it would be a first.

A trip

2006-11-17T16:14:00.000Z

I'm going to the land of my forefathers next week; I'm nervous and excited and a little worried, because everyone keeps saying how cold it's going to be and my bones get cold. I need to make a trip to M & S, I hope they still do thermals.

Art and understanding

2006-11-17T14:05:00.000Z

At the last minute I got to a couple of films at the Jewish Film Festival, both really interesting; Another Road Home and Knowledge is the Beginning - I'd recommend both. The latter is about Daniel Barenboim's and Edward Said's [this only seems to be in Spanish?] wonderful Middle Eastern Youth Orchestra project , a really heartwarming endeavour. [This is the official site.]

Small, but powerful

2006-11-15T17:59:00.001Z

I took this a while ago, but kept forgetting to ask permission to post it. It's an anti-slavery purse, it would have been carried by women as a protest against the slave trade, before they had the vote. Quite amazing.

Hits

2006-11-15T14:56:00.000Z

Hey, the counter for Frizz went over the 10,000 point when I wasn't looking. I had to double check it was 10,000 and not 1,000.

Reassurances

2006-11-15T14:29:00.000Z

Can I just say that I was late for something today that I really really really shouldn't have been late for. Why did this happen to be the day that I could not find a parking space?

Playing catch up; the Jacket arrived at the weekend it's very bright and had a strange chemical smell, which the seller has reassured me is fine and smell apart, I love it, so I've washed it and it's drying.

The moo cards are going back, but they are hoping to get some colour management system running in the next fews weeks, so I'll try again then.

Suddenly everyone wants a flickr account, all I can say is, it's about time to.

Plus A says my teeth are looking good, I don't think I can tell anymore.

Disappointment

2006-11-14T17:18:00.001Z

My Moo mini cards came, but they are very disappointing. I love the cards, but my photos came out really dark and dull. So I wrote to tell them:

"Our cards have a matte laminate on both sides which knocks down the brightness a bit, but protects the cards and gives them a good feel. In the future, we plan to implement some form of color management to compensate for this, but for now, we can only recommend that users choose bright images for the best results."

Well, my photo's looked fairly bright to me - it all depends on the screen you are looking at... A real shame, but I've just asked if I can return them - I can't face giving out cards that look like I take really crap photos.

All change

2006-11-13T17:18:00.000Z

My weekend plans changed so many times I couldn't keep track. So I had needles stuck into me and set alight, nice warm feeling (pictures from M to follow). C and I went for a walk on Primrose Hill (as opposed to Hampstead Heath) and had hot chocolate at the Russian (as opposed to the Polish) cafe. A and S and I went for dinner in West London (as opposed to North London). Sunday, I ended up with A and the kids in Richmond Park (I have the parks covered) and then Surrey, tasting wine (as opposed to Surrey drinking wine); we went to Denbies and I was pleasantly surprised by the wine, who knew?

2006-11-10T08:20:00.000Z

Sanity is a cozy lie.
Susan Sontag

Loving Flickr

2006-11-09T11:09:00.000Z

I have been busy reorganizing my photos - I mostly just had this long list and it was getting a bit cumbersome - I can't seem to get on with iPhoto, I really have tried. So now they are cataloged by month/location and I'm using Photoshop's browser to look at them.

I'm continually being inspired by flickr, I've finally discovered how to use the groups. Check out Utata, the discussion pages are really helpful and the photo's are incredible. I love the open nature of the groups, I can add a photo alongside a professional photographer, that's just so inspiring. When the internet works it really is transforming. I so want a digital SLR.

A ticking off

2006-11-08T17:10:00.000Z

I went overdrawn by £36 for one day, not even sure it was a whole day and they slapped on a £30 fee. I know this is 'normal' for banks these days, but I have good news, we are fighting back. The banks ombudsman has had more than 100% increase in the number of complaints from frustrated customers. I went to the bank in my pj's (a first for me, not feeling so good), to rectify the situation. They still wanted to charge me £15, but I persisted, I got a little hot under the collar (I had a temperature) and they begrudgingly refunded the total amount, but told me that I would be charged next time. I hate the way they do that, like I've been a naughty school child and if it happens again I'll get detention.

Ads uncovered

2006-11-08T17:05:00.000Z

Have you seen the Dove film yet? Technology is not always a good thing.

School things

2006-11-07T14:23:00.001Z

Did you have one of these at school? I did, brings back lots of memories of wooden desks, scratchy fountain pens and inky hands. Lets not mention the maths though, wasn't my favorite subject. Although, when I was clearing out my room after I'd finished school I found old maths books from junior school and I'd been doing the same math at 12 that I had at 18 and the telling thing was that I'd obviously understood it at 12, but I hadn't a clue at 18...

Large foxes

2006-11-07T10:02:00.000Z

I thought it was foxes outside last night, but it turned out to be a bunch of guys with reflector jackets and flashlights routinely checking the water mains for leaks, at 3 am! So I'm tired, not really their fault though, I couldn't sleep, but it was a bit unsettling. Also, I'd spent ages choosing the photo's for my moo cards.

Internet trail

2006-11-07T08:52:00.000Z

I love how things sometimes happen. I went to catch up on petite anglaise and she'd listed some bloggers in a post, so I discovered anxious, who'd just posted on moo mini cards.

I finally did some business cards of my own a few weeks ago, but there only seems to be horrible card available to use on a home printer. I did a page of them and gave the last one away during the festival. So I've ordered some mini cards using my photos on flickr - such a great idea and whilst looking for photos, I found this old one of Sandy.

Air miles

2006-11-06T19:59:00.000Z

The jacket is on it's way:

International Dispatch, November 03, 2006, 10:44 am, LOS ANGELES AMC
Acceptance, November 02, 2006, 4:30 pm, PLAYA DEL REY, CA 90293

If it left LA on Friday at 11am it means it should have arrived here early Saturday morning. I'm not sure how customs works, is it optimistic to think it might arrive in the next couple of days? Although, rereading it, it's not clear what dispatch actually means, perhaps it's just hanging around at the airport.

I am feeling bad about it coming all the way from California, I'm thinking my carbon footprint just got considerably larger.

Mininanosecond

2006-11-05T20:06:00.000Z

Anna and I took John and Sarah to the Science Museum today and I can't believe how disappointing it was. OK we only covered the basement and the ground floor, but there was simply no information that I could explain to John, he asked questions and there were no answers around. The ground floor just seemed a mess, a bit of this and a bit of that, no idea of any kind of chronology in sight. There's one room on space travel with a hodge-podge of stuff; weapons and travel mixed together, and unless I really missed something no actual straightforward history of space travel, which I'm sure John would have loved. Downstairs there is an area called The Garden for 3 - 6 year olds. On the one hand this is great, he seemed to enjoy it for a while, on the other it was really just a playground, no different from any other. There's a water thing where the kids can press buttons and pull levers to make bubbles, or pump water, but no room for any explanation as to the whys and how's. On our way out there were various engines and pumps, what accompanying writing there was, was either too sparse or too complicated. I actually feel quite angry, this is our main science museum in the country, what's going on? I had been looking forward to explaining some simple science ideas to him, but in the end he went home none the wiser and his frustration was palatable. Perhaps they should go next door to see how it's done.

Are we there yet? Yes, in a mini-nano-second.

London Film Festival photo's 1

2006-11-04T21:28:00.001Z

Unfortunately none of my photo's from the Festival came out very well. This is producer Christine Vachon in conversation with Festival director Sandra Hebron.

London Film Festival photo's 2

2006-11-04T21:24:00.000Z

Peter Gantzler talking after a screening of Lars von Trier's new film The Boss of It All, a very funny comedy along the lines of the Office, but not. They used a computer (automatic randomised camera), instead of a director of photography to work out where to put the camera, so there are some pretty odd shots, but it works.

The other Danish film I saw was Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, I was really hoping it was going to be as amazing as Open Hearts, but sadly it's not.

Yuck

2006-11-04T19:31:00.000Z

Another thing that I need to fix and my email server said they couldn't do anything about is I'm getting obscene spam; it's horrible and boring.

Mobile again

2006-11-04T18:06:00.000Z

Just fixed my settings on my phone so I can send email again. I contacted my email service provider and they said it wouldn't work, even though it used to. So I went to the Orange site and they have a great wizard that sends a push text with all the correct settings straight to your phone.

Stern Report

2006-11-04T13:14:00.000Z

One of the most depressing things I saw was not a film in itself, but a clip within the film Bobby, of Robert Kennedy sitting in 1968 talking to a group of school children about the environmental problems facing the world, that's almost 40 years ago and it could easily have been a politician speaking today.

Thin

2006-11-04T12:23:00.000Z

It really seemed to be a good year for documentaries, one of the most powerful films I saw was Thin by photographer Lauren Greenfield. It follows a group of girls and women in an eating disorder programme, it's beautifully made, very powerful and ought to be compulsory viewing for American insurance companies, who consistently and heartbreakingly cut funding before the women can have any real chance of recovery. Greenfield has also done an accompanying book of her photographs covering further stories with journal entries and artwork by the women and some essays by those working in the field. It's been bought by Channel Four, so watch out for it next year.

Noise reduction

2006-11-04T11:38:00.000Z

I'm feeling very geeky and quite chuffed. Last night I'm doing overtime on my computer, having been without it for two days and it gets to the point where the noise is so annoying and I'm thinking this really can't be right. A simple search led me to discover that I wasn't imagining the noise at all, but that it's 'an issue'. The suggestions say that if you take the mains adapter out the noise will go away and lo and behold it does, no wonder the techies in the Apple store looked at me sympathetically; they were running it on the battery. Although the techies behind the scenes supposedly checked it twice over two days, so they must have had it plugged in. I then check the settings, it's not running on 'highest performance', but it's not on Automatic either, I change it and again even with the mains plugged in the noise goes away, I go backwards and forwards with the setting and the noise comes and goes instantly. So I'm still not exactly sure what's going on, but extremely grateful that I have a quiet-ish computer again.

Back in the loop

2006-11-03T22:30:00.000Z

I'm out of the loop for a bit and there are software updates everywhere. I've just updated Firefox, Eudora, and NetNewsWire Lite. Firefox 2 has a spell checker, great stuff. [Actually, it's a great idea, but it doesn't seem to work very well].

In store

2006-11-03T15:45:00.000Z

I'm being one of those people who sit in the Apple store using their computers; it's like being in a cafe with lots of coolish geeks - no drinks though. So on the repair front I pleaded, I did my best, but the noise is within 'spec', that great Apple response, which to tell the truth I was expecting. At least I tried.

Bright jacket No. 2

2006-11-02T23:01:00.000Z

A few nights ago I spotted this on ebay. When I was in the States last year I tried on the vest version and really liked it, but it was too expensive. So as it was late and my head was full of films I bid for it and woke up this morning to find that I had won it... I think I'm starting a collection of very bright jackets...

Warranty running out

2006-10-30T23:00:00.000Z

Have an appointment at the Mac store first thing tomorrow - getting annoyed with the crackling noise my 'new' hard drive is making and also cos since I got it back there seems to be a problem connecting to the internet; no QuickTime, iTunes, Messenger or Ecto... My extended warranty runs out any day now, so want to get it sorted before. Computers love them and hate them. No, of course love them really.

Too much

2006-10-30T22:45:00.000Z

I saw two really good films today Catch a Fire and Day Night Day Night. But really I'm all filmed out. Please let it end soon.

Bending wires

2006-10-30T08:02:00.000Z

A Festival free post. A belated update on the braces and my last Ortho appointment. So I'm still lisping cos he almost took out the bite turbos, but then decided not too, such a tease. I have new wires which are made of different material which he can manipulate, so they both have bends in them at different places; on the top wire to bring my front teeth forward and on the bottom one to lift my back teeth up. Apparently my whole jaw is going to lift up which sounds dramatic. As usual though hardly any pain and I'm already back to eating most things. I did have one stopper (a separate piece of metal on the archwire) that was really rough and after a few hours had destroyed my gum, I resorted to drastic measures and got out a nail file, which actually worked. I've still got the elastic band to close the gap on my bottom front teeth, thankfully a nice new one, so absolutely no curries, well at least until just before my next appointment, the last one did get a bit yucky. He said it was all going well, he even showed me the photos he took before I started and there is quite a difference already. I'm now thinking the braces have become so much a part of me it will be strange not to have them, not that they are coming off anytime soon, but it's just strange to be thinking that.

Moments

2006-10-29T23:34:00.000Z

I'm going to do a round up of films at the end of the Festival, although I think I might be a bit embarrassed to count up the number I've seen.

Other than seeing films I've bumped into a colleague from years ago, I've met a guy who looked extremely familiar, but who ignored me when I asked where I might have known him from, twice. I've had an odd conversation where I semi lied about my work and didn't defend blogs and I don't know why. I've repeatedly sat next to a well-known director to the point where it's becoming a bit farcical. I've discovered a great place for sushi and eaten tons of it (I'm a little worried about the Mercury count). I've drunk lots of hot chocolate and I've only walked out of one film.

Explosions

2006-10-29T23:10:00.000Z

I saw a beautifully restored version of Dr. Strangelove this afternoon as part of the Festival. I don't think I have ever seen it before; it was very funny, but ultimately very depressing. This was the first screening of the restored print, which has taken over a year to complete, three of the people who worked on it were at the screening and it's a real shame that the cinema wasn't full.

On the way home it felt like I was in a movie... I slouched in first class on the train to Clapham Junction and then there was a replacement bus service the rest of the way home. Of course there was the mandatory drunk on the bus who unfortunately got abusive and then got into a fight with two of the people I was sitting with, luckily I managed to get out of the way just in time. We were at a stop, but the South West Train's guy was completely useless, just standing watching, even when he got on the bus he didn't do anything whilst the drunk guy was attacking a passenger, it took another passenger to get the drunk off the bus. You would think that South West Train's, train their employees to deal with this kind of situation, it's not like it's rare in London on a weekend.

Movie mania

2006-10-26T22:19:00.000+01:00

I've lost count of the films; I'm a zombie with a spinning head. Too tired to write more – need to sleep.

Where I've been

2006-10-21T18:00:00.000+01:00

It's been an 'I'm living in a channel five afternoon film' week and I have to thank A who’s been wonderful. In between the melodrama I've been doing the festival. So far I've been surprised by the films I've seen. Stranger than Fiction was great, in that feel good sort of way - don't read anything about it - just go and see it. The US Vs. Lennon, I saw by mistake and it turned out to be fascinating; I have a whole new respect for Lennon and Ono. I left the cinema thinking; where’s our Lennon? The Dixie Chicks certainly didn’t take up the baton. I didn't get The Wedding Director, but I was very tired at that point. The Boss of it All is a laugh....

Link Express

2006-10-18T08:47:00.000+01:00

These are some that I'm thinking look interesting*: The Wedding Director, A Comedy of Power, The Boss of It All, The Ground Truth, Black Book, No. 2, Longing, Container, Wild Tigers I Have Known, The Caiman, Shortbus, Little Children, Half Nelson, After the Wedding, Dans Paris, Falling, Thin, Meanwhile, Beyond Hatred, The Year After, Bebel, Bobby, Breaking and Entering, Fast Food Nation, Stranger than Fiction, Catch a Fire, Close to Home.

* There is no order to this madness.

Freedom of speech

2006-10-18T00:02:00.000+01:00

I've just finished going through the London Film Festival brochure... I'm not sure there is anything amazing that stands out... yet; my list of requested films is a lot shorter than usual. I saw Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing, my first film - a little bit confusingly edited, but quite fun - S is going to pick up the album for me from the Library... it's amazing the effect that one sentence could have had - it's slightly unbelievable, but true.

Opening the box

2006-10-17T17:58:00.000+01:00

Maybe this was a sort of D-day.

Fun Home

2006-10-17T08:11:00.000+01:00

And this looks interesting too: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel.

Photography

2006-10-17T08:04:00.000+01:00

Looks like it might be interesting: Emmy Andriesse at the Barbican.

Legalise

2006-10-16T23:45:00.000+01:00

Hey, I had a highly regarded barrister ask if I am a lawyer, I'm not, but I think I'm chuffed at being asked.

Shiver me timbers

2006-10-16T23:30:00.000+01:00

Hey did you know there were Jewish pirates! [via]

A debate

2006-10-13T08:47:00.000+01:00

Considering the veil issue, Fareena Alam's Radio 4 programme Unveiled, just touches on the issue, but is worth listening to.

A teeth thing

2006-10-12T10:34:00.000+01:00

I went to bed too late, so I'm feeling a little spaced out today. It's an Ortho day. Wire change and I really hope something with the bite turbos. Talking about teeth, Sandy has to have three teeth out under a general anesthetic - poor thing.

Booker 06

2006-10-11T14:03:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Kiran Desai for winning the Man Booker yesterday. I love the title of her book The Inheritance of Loss.

Friends and food

2006-10-11T13:45:00.000+01:00

From A:

Hi am VERY excited have just ordered lots of special products and a bread machine online with a special gluten free programme.

We have been trying out different recipes, A cooks and I eat! We are thinking of doing a cookbook.

Hackers

2006-10-11T11:36:00.000+01:00

I'm getting spam overload. I thought it was just me, but talking to colleagues yesterday it seems it's a thing.

Empire building

2006-10-10T00:36:00.000+01:00

Google buys YouTube for $1.65bn

They did it...

2006-10-10T00:31:00.000+01:00

"The field of scientific research in the DPRK (North Korea) successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, Juche 95 (2006) at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.

"It has been confirmed that there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test as it was carried out under a scientific consideration and careful calculation.

"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100%. It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA (Korean People's Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defence capability.

"It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the area around it." [via]