How many times a day do you check the time? I am a clock watcher, always have been. I was wondering today how much time I spend checking the time. Probably hours every year.
This led me to wondering how much of my life has passed while I was doing nothing. For instance, being a tech geek I have spent many hours staring at a computer screen, counting the percentage bars as I installed the latest version of Windows or some other unnecessary piece of software. And as for Windows, how many more hours have I wasted sitting and waiting for Microsoft’s devil child to start up?
I take the train each day, around two hours round trip. That’s ten hours a week, or five hundred plus hours a year sitting on a train. I am on that very train as I type this. At least I am doing something semi constructive by writing this.
And if you are reading this, you have just wasted a few precious minutes that you will never get back. Depressing? Well no not really, we have limited time on Earth but even if we were busy all the time it would still be worthless in the end. As I always say, in a hundred years no one will care what any of us did. Now that’s depressing.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Boston, Wales
Cardiff is a wonderful city and there are many things I miss about not living there. Two of the most missed are good pubs and kebabs from Caroline Street. These cravings can both be satisfied now though in Boston. The pub issue is covered by JJ Foley’s in downtown, the kebab by Sultans Kitchen on State Street.
Foley’s reminds me somewhat of The Park Vaults in Cardiff, although not quite as smelly and dingy. You can get a decent pint, yes a real pint not measured in ounces as is the annoying norm here. They even have cider on tap, usually when cider is asked for here you get presented with a glass of cloudy apple juice. This is to be expected of course, it’s a tomay-toe tomahh-toe thing, rather like when a friend of mine from Rhode Island visited Wales with us and asked for a glass of lemonade. They also serve a decent pint of Guinness, something that you expect for a Boston pub but not always true.
Sultans Kitchen is run by a Turkish fellow and serve all manner of Turkish and eastern med food. The doner kebab is a little extravagant compared to the Caroline Street meat based delicacy, coming as it does with rice pilaf and having a description of what the meat actually is! You can’t wander in drunk at 2 AM of course, but hey, you can’t have everything right? Besides, I live thirty odd miles south of Boston so that wouldn’t be possible anyway.
So there you have it, the world is shrinking and is seems that nothing is out of reach anymore. It’s like going on vacation / holiday and taking the laptop, you’re never out of touch. As was mentioned on The Word podcast, there’s always somewhere with Wi-Fi.
Oh yeah, I do miss my family and friends too of course. Sorry!
Foley’s reminds me somewhat of The Park Vaults in Cardiff, although not quite as smelly and dingy. You can get a decent pint, yes a real pint not measured in ounces as is the annoying norm here. They even have cider on tap, usually when cider is asked for here you get presented with a glass of cloudy apple juice. This is to be expected of course, it’s a tomay-toe tomahh-toe thing, rather like when a friend of mine from Rhode Island visited Wales with us and asked for a glass of lemonade. They also serve a decent pint of Guinness, something that you expect for a Boston pub but not always true.
Sultans Kitchen is run by a Turkish fellow and serve all manner of Turkish and eastern med food. The doner kebab is a little extravagant compared to the Caroline Street meat based delicacy, coming as it does with rice pilaf and having a description of what the meat actually is! You can’t wander in drunk at 2 AM of course, but hey, you can’t have everything right? Besides, I live thirty odd miles south of Boston so that wouldn’t be possible anyway.
So there you have it, the world is shrinking and is seems that nothing is out of reach anymore. It’s like going on vacation / holiday and taking the laptop, you’re never out of touch. As was mentioned on The Word podcast, there’s always somewhere with Wi-Fi.
Oh yeah, I do miss my family and friends too of course. Sorry!
Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy died yesterday age 77. A giant in Massachusetts, US and world politics his shadow will be cast over us all for a long time to come.
He was the last of the legendary generation of the Kennedy family, outliving by many years the iconic John F. and Robert. His brothers shone brightly only to have their lives stolen away too soon by fanatics, Ted carried on their work however and has changed the US forever for the better.
RIP Teddy. The world is a better place because of you.
He was the last of the legendary generation of the Kennedy family, outliving by many years the iconic John F. and Robert. His brothers shone brightly only to have their lives stolen away too soon by fanatics, Ted carried on their work however and has changed the US forever for the better.
RIP Teddy. The world is a better place because of you.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Y-E-T
There are a number of commonly used words in the English (and I should imagine other) languages that when repeated or over analyzed begin to sound rather odd.
This struck me again when I used the word “yet” just the other day. Strange indeed that the continued use of the word “yet” only serves to make one wonder if it is being spelled (is that right or is it spelt? ahhhh) correctly.
Yet (see) I wonder why this should be. Such a basic common word as “yet” should cause little confusion surely. It is used many times during conversation, prose and reportage and yet (starting to see it yet?) messes with the brain.
For such a simple word it also has a number of distinct uses, i.e. “Are we there yet?”, “Yet another use of the word “yet””, “Yet I fail to see the purpose of this nonsense”.
Another example of this strange effect is “sew”. Surely this should be spelt (spelled again…ahhhh) “sow” if used in “I’ll just sew it up” or “Sewing needle”. But there it is again, “sow” is of course not pronounced “so”, “so” is. “Sow” is pronounced s-ow (I can’t think of a better way to spell s-ow phonetically.
Annoying isn’t it, yet strangely compelling.
There are of course thousands of these, although I am far too lazy to go into it any further at this time. I would however encourage all to be very careful to avoid over analysis of everyday language, for fear of driving oneself insane. Please take these things with a grain of salt (or a spelt of wheat).
In the words of Samuel Beckett “ ”.
This struck me again when I used the word “yet” just the other day. Strange indeed that the continued use of the word “yet” only serves to make one wonder if it is being spelled (is that right or is it spelt? ahhhh) correctly.
Yet (see) I wonder why this should be. Such a basic common word as “yet” should cause little confusion surely. It is used many times during conversation, prose and reportage and yet (starting to see it yet?) messes with the brain.
For such a simple word it also has a number of distinct uses, i.e. “Are we there yet?”, “Yet another use of the word “yet””, “Yet I fail to see the purpose of this nonsense”.
Another example of this strange effect is “sew”. Surely this should be spelt (spelled again…ahhhh) “sow” if used in “I’ll just sew it up” or “Sewing needle”. But there it is again, “sow” is of course not pronounced “so”, “so” is. “Sow” is pronounced s-ow (I can’t think of a better way to spell s-ow phonetically.
Annoying isn’t it, yet strangely compelling.
There are of course thousands of these, although I am far too lazy to go into it any further at this time. I would however encourage all to be very careful to avoid over analysis of everyday language, for fear of driving oneself insane. Please take these things with a grain of salt (or a spelt of wheat).
In the words of Samuel Beckett “ ”.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Equestrian Rock’n’Roll
The recent expansion of e-music is a wonderful thing. I have been a member for a couple of years now, and although the range of music available for my $12 a month was huge and fitted my needs to a tee, it is nice to be able to access more commercial music. It is also giving me an option to expand my collection of classics.
I recently downloaded and have been continually listen to Horses by Patti Smith. Although I am intensely aware of the influence of this record, and very familiar with its content, I hadn’t actually listened to it in what must be 25 years. It is of course a work of genius.
Gloria is probably one of the greatest opening tracks of all time, and still sends shivers down the spine, sounding as fresh as ever (this was recorded in 1975 remember, and could sound dated).
Redondo Beach is bloody marvelous, although I had become more familiar with Morrissey’s version in recent times.
Throughout the whole album Patti is inspirational and scary, loving and aloof. I haven’t followed her music, being so young at the time there was so much else to hold on to. Because The Night is still one of my all time favorites; but then I’m also a Bruce Springsteen fan so…
And yes, e-music does now have some Springsteen. I just downloaded Nebraska. Is there no end to the riches?
I recently downloaded and have been continually listen to Horses by Patti Smith. Although I am intensely aware of the influence of this record, and very familiar with its content, I hadn’t actually listened to it in what must be 25 years. It is of course a work of genius.
Gloria is probably one of the greatest opening tracks of all time, and still sends shivers down the spine, sounding as fresh as ever (this was recorded in 1975 remember, and could sound dated).
Redondo Beach is bloody marvelous, although I had become more familiar with Morrissey’s version in recent times.
Throughout the whole album Patti is inspirational and scary, loving and aloof. I haven’t followed her music, being so young at the time there was so much else to hold on to. Because The Night is still one of my all time favorites; but then I’m also a Bruce Springsteen fan so…
And yes, e-music does now have some Springsteen. I just downloaded Nebraska. Is there no end to the riches?
Back to Reality
Another long hiatus, this is not laziness though; I have been exceptionally busy this past month.
A had a three week vacation / family visit to Sao Miguel in the Azores, most enjoyable and only a little stressful (travelling with an over energetic three year old son is always interesting).
Sao Miguel is the largest of the Azores islands smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, not the usual sort of vacation spot, but being blessed with a wife who was born there has given me a reason to visit what is one of Earths more beautiful places. It reminds me a lot of Wales in that it’s very green and covered in farms. Unfortunately my Portuguese is not yet as advanced as I would like, which means that I still cannot communicate as well as I would like. Many of the younger population speak excellent English though, so I could have meaningful conversations either directly or by translation
My wife’s family was in good spirits and health throughout the whole trip, and as accommodating and kind as ever. It was difficult to spend money, something that is in theory a good thing, but after a couple of weeks being fed and provided with free beer I started to feel a little limpet (or Lapas) like. We therefore went out for a meal with various cousins and I paid for the meal which made me feel slightly less of a hanger on.
It was a hard transition back to normality after such a long break, but I dived right in to work the next day. All in all it was a wonderful time, even with the small stresses involved. Right, where to next then?
A had a three week vacation / family visit to Sao Miguel in the Azores, most enjoyable and only a little stressful (travelling with an over energetic three year old son is always interesting).
Sao Miguel is the largest of the Azores islands smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, not the usual sort of vacation spot, but being blessed with a wife who was born there has given me a reason to visit what is one of Earths more beautiful places. It reminds me a lot of Wales in that it’s very green and covered in farms. Unfortunately my Portuguese is not yet as advanced as I would like, which means that I still cannot communicate as well as I would like. Many of the younger population speak excellent English though, so I could have meaningful conversations either directly or by translation
My wife’s family was in good spirits and health throughout the whole trip, and as accommodating and kind as ever. It was difficult to spend money, something that is in theory a good thing, but after a couple of weeks being fed and provided with free beer I started to feel a little limpet (or Lapas) like. We therefore went out for a meal with various cousins and I paid for the meal which made me feel slightly less of a hanger on.
It was a hard transition back to normality after such a long break, but I dived right in to work the next day. All in all it was a wonderful time, even with the small stresses involved. Right, where to next then?
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