This is very hard to write. My friend, Sara Morgan, died on Thursday 5 April just before the Easter weekend. I found out yesterday.
It's very strange turning the radio and TV on and discovering that everything else is carrying on as normal because nothing is at all normal now. Sara was always there for me, a very important part of my life. All my love, warmth and sympathies go out to her family at this time and anyone else who knew and loved her. She was a powerhouse of wit and intelligence with great talent and passion.
You may have known her at Bridgend School, Chorley Wood or Worcester College (Now New College, Worcester). More recently you may have come across her professionally through Blazie though you may remember her as an irritant to the Braille Authority (BAUK) through her campaigning or as a regular on Radio 4's In Touch programme for visually impaired people.
there are more still who will know her as one of the voices on the BlindKiss talk show - my co-host. All the shows we ever did are still there to listen to. She was far more popular than me and received literally hundreds of emails during the lifetime of the show 2001-2004.
I first met Sara back in 1986. I was a pupil at Worcester College for the Blind and, in that year, the school merged with the girls school known as Chorley Wood School for girls with little or no sight (great name).
Sara was the girl who clip clopped round the school corridors in her heels and was known as the Welsh Dragon. She held forth with confidence and was very well known. She later became the head girl in 1989. It's at that time we became teenage sweethearts and were inseperable for the whole of that year before she went to Loughbrough University.
At school she proved her remarkable intelligence, was a life force and a bright spark. God knows why but she took Computer Studies, Maths and Further Maths (known by her as Furry Maths) at A-level. She had amazing logic and would probably have made a great diplomat too.
I remember feeling incredibly priveleged that she was my girlfriend and was completely in love with her.
Boarding school haunted her for the rest of her life. Not in a bad way, you understand, just that it was such an important experience in all our lives that she was still very much anchored in that community right up til the end. Almost every time we spoke we'd refer back to people or events at Worcester. Teenage memories. 80s memories. She was something of a superstar back then, a school celebrity and it's no wonder she held onto those memories so tightly. Even now in 2007 she loved nothing more than for a group of us ex-Worcester students to get together in London for a meal and drinks. In later years her passions were technology, music, food, travel, campaigning and she loved her little Niece Bronwyn.
Am trying to think of some specific events or happenings that would sum her up.
She had a great sense of humour. At school, she once replaced my tube of toothpaste with a tube of tomato puree for a larf. She didn't catch me out though because she'd been talking and laughing about doing it for weeks and was hanging around behind me to see what would happen. Too obvious Sara, not a natural practical joker, try harder ... I loved her for it though.
She had a great love for 80s music, like me. All the pop, all the rock. God knows why but one of her favourite bands was Rush - a canadian band who sang Spirit of radio. I remember her going to see them live and Marillion too. The albums that will most remind me of her are Misplaced Childhood (Marillion) and Wild (erasure). The song we share is probably 'Blue Silver' by Duran Duran, a dark and haunting 80s pop song - the last track on the Rio album. Thunder Only Happens When It's Raining by Fleetwood Mac will always remind me of her ... plus the out-and-out pop that we used to sing at the top of our voices when we got together to play old records.
There's so much to say but I can't sit here and write an opus to her ... I've barely gone beyond schooldays and there's so much more to tell ... though I might create this opus given a bit more time.
I can't believe I'm sitting here writing this.
I keep thinking about Warren, a mutual friend of ours. I introduced the two of them in my little flat in Neasden in 1998. I had just moved to London and was feeling dreadfully homesick and thinking I'd made the wrong move. The two of them came to stay on my living room floor to make me feel better and became firm friends. OK so I know I make crap bacon sandwiches! Wozza mate, I know I can't replace her but I'm always here. We'll work out a way of celebrating her life and keep her memory burning brightly.
I'm hurting. Very badly. I can only imagine what her family are feeling at the moment.
I don't want to talk about her medical history. It's a complicated one. She wouldn't want me to talk about that. But she had a way of rising above it, something I'm going to try and do better now with my own complicated medical stuff.
Sara I can't believe you've gone. I keep wanting to pick up the phone and speak to you. And you never came and sorted out my wireless internet problems ... who's going to do that now?
Love to her mum Denise, brothers Neil and Sean and her father Lynn. I'm looking forward to telling you about the Sara I knew.
And to everyone else ... go and listen to Sara on BlindKiss ... she was extremely proud and passionate about the shows we did together.
And please, everyone, look after the ones you love. Give them a call today. Let them know you love them.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
Friday's podcast party
Did I really get back at 2:30am Saturday morning? My head the next day seemed to suggest so.
WE've been doing the Ouch Podcast for a year now. Friday night we went out for a bit of a party to celebrate. It started in Notting Hill and ended, very late, in Shepherds Bush. But what can I remember?
Present were: Roving Rob Crossan, Mat Fraser, Liz Carr, Emma, Lisa, Jo Church and me. We were hoping Steve P would turn up and the other Jo but sadly they couldn't join us. Liz's PA was around but I'm not sure we're allowed to talk about her?
Great night! Very funny. Can't really remember what we all talked about ... maybe we just grinned and dribbled. I remember: beer, Gin and Tonic, champagne, bit of food, exploring Liz's powerchair and REALLY trying to empathise with her plight, talking to Rob about his radio project and possible new job, watching Jo effortlessly and accidentally pulling, Jo coming into the men's toilets with me, singing and talking about music in the Shepherds Bush place we ended up in, asking the DJ to play some Happy Mondays (god knows why). OH and I have memories of Liz being turned away by the bouncers in the second place we ended up in? She might mention it on the podcast I guess ... we're recording it tonight and it should be up on the site Thursday.
I'm sure I'm gonna learn of any dreadful things I said Friday night when I get into the office today. Ick. Don't think I was too embarrassing though.
WE've been doing the Ouch Podcast for a year now. Friday night we went out for a bit of a party to celebrate. It started in Notting Hill and ended, very late, in Shepherds Bush. But what can I remember?
Present were: Roving Rob Crossan, Mat Fraser, Liz Carr, Emma, Lisa, Jo Church and me. We were hoping Steve P would turn up and the other Jo but sadly they couldn't join us. Liz's PA was around but I'm not sure we're allowed to talk about her?
Great night! Very funny. Can't really remember what we all talked about ... maybe we just grinned and dribbled. I remember: beer, Gin and Tonic, champagne, bit of food, exploring Liz's powerchair and REALLY trying to empathise with her plight, talking to Rob about his radio project and possible new job, watching Jo effortlessly and accidentally pulling, Jo coming into the men's toilets with me, singing and talking about music in the Shepherds Bush place we ended up in, asking the DJ to play some Happy Mondays (god knows why). OH and I have memories of Liz being turned away by the bouncers in the second place we ended up in? She might mention it on the podcast I guess ... we're recording it tonight and it should be up on the site Thursday.
I'm sure I'm gonna learn of any dreadful things I said Friday night when I get into the office today. Ick. Don't think I was too embarrassing though.
Lost: Expose
Just a quick nod towards last night's episode of Lost on Sky One. Exposé. It was an episode featuring Nikki and Paolo. Spoiler alert: they were buried alive.
Bit of an annoying episode because it appeared to live almost totally outside of the wider Lost story arc: a self contained episode.
We caught a few new things though, or maybe just one. We saw Juliet and Ben in The Pearl station/hatch. It was a flashback from soon after the plane crash - J and B were plotting to get Jack to operate on Ben. Obviously Ben's spinal growth did exist but I still had a bit of a funny feeling about how or why he had the thing until I saw this episode. At least we see Juliet apparently on Ben's side ... I'm still not sure about those two, what their "history" is (we know they "have history" thanks to Mr Friendly in the episode where Jack operates). But Juliet does appear to be at odds with The Others: she wants out, she gave Jack a video message asking him to kill Ben during the operation, she killed Danny, she was about to be given a death sentence according to The Others "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" legal process but thanks to Jack ended up with just a branding instead.
Nikki and Paolo. I think they're gone for good now. Even the writers Carlton and Damon appear to want to write them off as a bit of a mistake according to their podcast last week.
Yes Damon, we understand you're obsessed with Lost. You're up at 6:35 on a Monday morning blogging about it ... when you should be in bed because you're working til 10pm tonight (new podcast recording tonight).
Bit of an annoying episode because it appeared to live almost totally outside of the wider Lost story arc: a self contained episode.
We caught a few new things though, or maybe just one. We saw Juliet and Ben in The Pearl station/hatch. It was a flashback from soon after the plane crash - J and B were plotting to get Jack to operate on Ben. Obviously Ben's spinal growth did exist but I still had a bit of a funny feeling about how or why he had the thing until I saw this episode. At least we see Juliet apparently on Ben's side ... I'm still not sure about those two, what their "history" is (we know they "have history" thanks to Mr Friendly in the episode where Jack operates). But Juliet does appear to be at odds with The Others: she wants out, she gave Jack a video message asking him to kill Ben during the operation, she killed Danny, she was about to be given a death sentence according to The Others "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" legal process but thanks to Jack ended up with just a branding instead.
Nikki and Paolo. I think they're gone for good now. Even the writers Carlton and Damon appear to want to write them off as a bit of a mistake according to their podcast last week.
Yes Damon, we understand you're obsessed with Lost. You're up at 6:35 on a Monday morning blogging about it ... when you should be in bed because you're working til 10pm tonight (new podcast recording tonight).
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Lost: The man from Tallahassee
I don't want to appear as if I'm some kind of Lost obsessive but I am. There's no escaping it (as the Beatnuts once sang).
What a fantastic episode. So many questions left in the mind:
Q: Was Ben ever going to let Jack and Juliet leave by submarine?
Q: Now that the submarine has been blown up by Locke, are there really no other ways off the island as Ben said? And no other ways of communicating with the outside world?
Q: Are Ben and Locke pleased that no one can leave the island now? Well, if that's true (see above question).
Q: Are The Others (AKA The Hostiles) some kind of pseudo scientific cult? Ben and his gang recruit people to join the islanders and he seems to hope they will learn to love their new life / not want to leave.
Q: Locke said that Ben's way of life on the island was 'cheating' - he was referring, we think, to the relative civilisation they have. What does this mean? Does he prefer a purist human-interacting-with-island approach where they commune with the environment without walls, a roof or refrigerators to put chicken in?
Q: Is Russoe an Other?
Q: If 'The Purge' was a fight between The Others and the Dharma Initiative ... what are their differences? Are The Others a breakaway group? Or maybe one stands for religion and the other for science? Which is which?
Q: GO Googling for Hanso Adoptions ... you'll see there is a lot of talk about family and belonging. Is this what the island experiment (if that's what it is) is all about?
Q: Parents. A constant theme growing ever stronger now that Locke's dad is on the island too. ALl of the Losties have wronged their parents ... except Locke. Mikhail referred to Kate and Sayid as 'flawed' in the Par avion episode. Is being 'flawed' about having wronged your parents? Certainly we know Sayid and Kate were not on Jacob's List. It's unclear but Mikhail said he rememebred Locke ... does this imply that Locke isn't flawed and may well be on Jacob's List? We also know for sure Jack isn't on Jacob's List from an earlier episode and Jack dobbed his Dad in to the hospital ethics board.
Q: Are all the parents on the island?
Q: Is Walt's Mum really dead? Is she on the island? Ditto Jack and Claire's Dad?
SO many questions!
What a fantastic episode. So many questions left in the mind:
Q: Was Ben ever going to let Jack and Juliet leave by submarine?
Q: Now that the submarine has been blown up by Locke, are there really no other ways off the island as Ben said? And no other ways of communicating with the outside world?
Q: Are Ben and Locke pleased that no one can leave the island now? Well, if that's true (see above question).
Q: Are The Others (AKA The Hostiles) some kind of pseudo scientific cult? Ben and his gang recruit people to join the islanders and he seems to hope they will learn to love their new life / not want to leave.
Q: Locke said that Ben's way of life on the island was 'cheating' - he was referring, we think, to the relative civilisation they have. What does this mean? Does he prefer a purist human-interacting-with-island approach where they commune with the environment without walls, a roof or refrigerators to put chicken in?
Q: Is Russoe an Other?
Q: If 'The Purge' was a fight between The Others and the Dharma Initiative ... what are their differences? Are The Others a breakaway group? Or maybe one stands for religion and the other for science? Which is which?
Q: GO Googling for Hanso Adoptions ... you'll see there is a lot of talk about family and belonging. Is this what the island experiment (if that's what it is) is all about?
Q: Parents. A constant theme growing ever stronger now that Locke's dad is on the island too. ALl of the Losties have wronged their parents ... except Locke. Mikhail referred to Kate and Sayid as 'flawed' in the Par avion episode. Is being 'flawed' about having wronged your parents? Certainly we know Sayid and Kate were not on Jacob's List. It's unclear but Mikhail said he rememebred Locke ... does this imply that Locke isn't flawed and may well be on Jacob's List? We also know for sure Jack isn't on Jacob's List from an earlier episode and Jack dobbed his Dad in to the hospital ethics board.
Q: Are all the parents on the island?
Q: Is Walt's Mum really dead? Is she on the island? Ditto Jack and Claire's Dad?
SO many questions!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sun Pat Peanut Butter
Do you remember the olde TV advert for Sun Pat?
The jingle sang: "Sun Pat Peanut Butter for your daily spread ..."
It kept running round my head while I was at the supermarket earlier. Damn annoying. What do they call them, 'ear worms'? Tunes you can't get off your brain.
Then I started thinking about the Ringo Starr one: "Our son Pat ... goes round in circles like a cat. Has a bat, etc etc" (I've not quite perfected the words here)
It feels quite cold this afternoon in London. Smashed a bottle of gin at the counter in the supermarket ... and whaddya know, the nice staff came and replaced it for us fre of charge!
I'm getting worryingly into my gin since New York.
I saw the Man from Tallahassee last night! Oh my God! Lost has turned a new corner. What an excellent episode. I'll talk about it more once it has been on Sky One tomorrow.
The jingle sang: "Sun Pat Peanut Butter for your daily spread ..."
It kept running round my head while I was at the supermarket earlier. Damn annoying. What do they call them, 'ear worms'? Tunes you can't get off your brain.
Then I started thinking about the Ringo Starr one: "Our son Pat ... goes round in circles like a cat. Has a bat, etc etc" (I've not quite perfected the words here)
It feels quite cold this afternoon in London. Smashed a bottle of gin at the counter in the supermarket ... and whaddya know, the nice staff came and replaced it for us fre of charge!
I'm getting worryingly into my gin since New York.
I saw the Man from Tallahassee last night! Oh my God! Lost has turned a new corner. What an excellent episode. I'll talk about it more once it has been on Sky One tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Lost: Man from Tallahassee
Big potential spoiler alert here
I am obsessed with Lost - that long-running tv drama showing on Sky One in the UK, originating on ABC in the states.
I'm aware that in two short hours, all US citizens will be able to tune their TV to ABC and watch the latest episode - season 3, episode 13 - entitled "The Man from Tallahassee".
Are you watching it? Honestly, there's not a day goes by when I don't think about it, look it up on a website or download a podcast / YouTube clip for the latest theories, gossip and general immersalness.
The UK gets to see tonight's episode on Sunday night, 10pm, Sky One.
OK, so where are we.
At the end of the last episode (Par Avion) we saw Locke, Sayid and Kate enter the Others village that they tracked down ... due to some hokey thing about Locke having seen it on Mr Eko's stick as he was burying him: "a sign, a sign".
Anyhoo, at the end of the show we saw Jack playing football with The Others! He was playing with Tom, Mr Friendly, specifically. He seemed to be having fun. So we're left with the question ... is he now in league with The Others?
Having YouTUbed around, I found a trailer for this week's Lost on ABC (and hence Sky One in the UK, too). We see Jack talking to Kate. Oooh darn it if there's not a lov thang goin' on. Looks as if the little fling with Sawyer on the Hydra little island was perhaps born of pity because Kate thought Sawyer was a gonner. Kate didn't admit to loving Sawyer ... he did ask her and rather admitted he loved her.
Moving on. We discover Ben Linus knows that Locke was a wheelchair user for 4 years. He knows how he ended up in the chair, too. We hear from the voiceover man that Ben is going to tell Locke some of the secrets of the island in this episode too! I'm sure this must be connected with his apparent recovery and ability to walk again, Rose's bout of cancer remission and possibly even the reason why Sun became pregnant though her husband Gin is infertile (it's possible that Sun had an affair with that Lee fella we saw in flashback though, I think Damon Lindlaugh and Carlton thingumbyjig may hav admitted to this in one of their podcasts in the last run, Autumn time).
Ya know, it's only when I come to writing this down that I realise how dull it must be for others who know nothing about Lost? I was trying to tell my parents - they were up this past weekend - about the intricacies and how much I like the show ... they were zoning out barely before I started.
Latest Lost theories
• Desmond is Jesus -- Well. I had thought for a while back there that, tapping into this whole religious thing, Desmond was some kind of Jesus figure: keeps saving people (well Charlie), beard, keeps calling people 'brother', saved the world so others might live - but not sure about that now. Well, not sure what it would achieve in the entire story arc at any rate. Might come back to that another time.
• The great man -- Ben has talked about him, Mickhail the Russian fella who got killed talked about him. We're talking about the leader of The Others or the Dharma Initiative - if they are one and the same thing which I'm not altogether sure about. "He's a great man ... but not a forgiving man" said Ben back in season two when he was captive in the Losties' hatch. If he's not forgiving, could this be why Mikhail and Miss Klough were happy to die? Is he ruthless? Or is he a cult leader? Is the Dharma initiative a pseudo-scientific cult? Who is the leader? I think it might be Jack! But Jack has somehow either forgotten temporarily or is playing an elaborate game. Jack's faith healing tattooist saw leadership qualities in him, all the Losties defer to him as leader (mostly) and his tattoos say he is a man who stands alone amongst others. Others? Hallo, suss the big clue? He's the leader! He's why everyone is on the island!
• Leader backtrack -- Or maybe Locke is the leader ... Mikhail said he remembered Locke ... suggesting he may have been on Jacob's list. Hmm, whereas Tom (Mr Friendly) said Jack wasn't on Jacob's list back in the episode where Ben was in the operating theatre. But maybe Jack wasn't on the list because he IS the leader?
More at another time.
I am obsessed with Lost - that long-running tv drama showing on Sky One in the UK, originating on ABC in the states.
I'm aware that in two short hours, all US citizens will be able to tune their TV to ABC and watch the latest episode - season 3, episode 13 - entitled "The Man from Tallahassee".
Are you watching it? Honestly, there's not a day goes by when I don't think about it, look it up on a website or download a podcast / YouTube clip for the latest theories, gossip and general immersalness.
The UK gets to see tonight's episode on Sunday night, 10pm, Sky One.
OK, so where are we.
At the end of the last episode (Par Avion) we saw Locke, Sayid and Kate enter the Others village that they tracked down ... due to some hokey thing about Locke having seen it on Mr Eko's stick as he was burying him: "a sign, a sign".
Anyhoo, at the end of the show we saw Jack playing football with The Others! He was playing with Tom, Mr Friendly, specifically. He seemed to be having fun. So we're left with the question ... is he now in league with The Others?
Having YouTUbed around, I found a trailer for this week's Lost on ABC (and hence Sky One in the UK, too). We see Jack talking to Kate. Oooh darn it if there's not a lov thang goin' on. Looks as if the little fling with Sawyer on the Hydra little island was perhaps born of pity because Kate thought Sawyer was a gonner. Kate didn't admit to loving Sawyer ... he did ask her and rather admitted he loved her.
Moving on. We discover Ben Linus knows that Locke was a wheelchair user for 4 years. He knows how he ended up in the chair, too. We hear from the voiceover man that Ben is going to tell Locke some of the secrets of the island in this episode too! I'm sure this must be connected with his apparent recovery and ability to walk again, Rose's bout of cancer remission and possibly even the reason why Sun became pregnant though her husband Gin is infertile (it's possible that Sun had an affair with that Lee fella we saw in flashback though, I think Damon Lindlaugh and Carlton thingumbyjig may hav admitted to this in one of their podcasts in the last run, Autumn time).
Ya know, it's only when I come to writing this down that I realise how dull it must be for others who know nothing about Lost? I was trying to tell my parents - they were up this past weekend - about the intricacies and how much I like the show ... they were zoning out barely before I started.
Latest Lost theories
• Desmond is Jesus -- Well. I had thought for a while back there that, tapping into this whole religious thing, Desmond was some kind of Jesus figure: keeps saving people (well Charlie), beard, keeps calling people 'brother', saved the world so others might live - but not sure about that now. Well, not sure what it would achieve in the entire story arc at any rate. Might come back to that another time.
• The great man -- Ben has talked about him, Mickhail the Russian fella who got killed talked about him. We're talking about the leader of The Others or the Dharma Initiative - if they are one and the same thing which I'm not altogether sure about. "He's a great man ... but not a forgiving man" said Ben back in season two when he was captive in the Losties' hatch. If he's not forgiving, could this be why Mikhail and Miss Klough were happy to die? Is he ruthless? Or is he a cult leader? Is the Dharma initiative a pseudo-scientific cult? Who is the leader? I think it might be Jack! But Jack has somehow either forgotten temporarily or is playing an elaborate game. Jack's faith healing tattooist saw leadership qualities in him, all the Losties defer to him as leader (mostly) and his tattoos say he is a man who stands alone amongst others. Others? Hallo, suss the big clue? He's the leader! He's why everyone is on the island!
• Leader backtrack -- Or maybe Locke is the leader ... Mikhail said he remembered Locke ... suggesting he may have been on Jacob's list. Hmm, whereas Tom (Mr Friendly) said Jack wasn't on Jacob's list back in the episode where Ben was in the operating theatre. But maybe Jack wasn't on the list because he IS the leader?
More at another time.
Not lifechanging
I've done it again. Got all silly boyish excited about an electronic gizmo / piece of software I've got.
Basically everyone, party over, seems as if JAWS 8 isn't life changing after all.
Fuck. I'm off to bed.
Basically everyone, party over, seems as if JAWS 8 isn't life changing after all.
Fuck. I'm off to bed.
If Dragon's Den were on when I were a kid ...
When I was a lad, I used to get all fired up by TV programmes I watched.
If Blue Peter taught you how to make something, I'd be up, out of my chair, at the table, making it.
When the film 'WarGames' came on TV, I got up, went to my computer and tried to hack into something important. Didn't have a modem but that didn't stop me programming something with a password that made me feel like a technical whizz / hacker! Oooh! Ingenuity.
Superman? I drew a big Superman S thing and cut it out, put it on my TV shirt and became a superhero.
So to the present. This evening I watched Dragon's Den, got all excited as usual about starting my own business and making millions ... but what have I done about it now that I hav the tools, freedom and adult brain to make it a reality? Answer: nothing. Well OK I did sell a few old DVDs on eBay a few months ago after a particularly good episode of the business show but ... well if only it had been on when I was younger I could be a millionaire, innit.
If Blue Peter taught you how to make something, I'd be up, out of my chair, at the table, making it.
When the film 'WarGames' came on TV, I got up, went to my computer and tried to hack into something important. Didn't have a modem but that didn't stop me programming something with a password that made me feel like a technical whizz / hacker! Oooh! Ingenuity.
Superman? I drew a big Superman S thing and cut it out, put it on my TV shirt and became a superhero.
So to the present. This evening I watched Dragon's Den, got all excited as usual about starting my own business and making millions ... but what have I done about it now that I hav the tools, freedom and adult brain to make it a reality? Answer: nothing. Well OK I did sell a few old DVDs on eBay a few months ago after a particularly good episode of the business show but ... well if only it had been on when I was younger I could be a millionaire, innit.
At last
For those of you keeping up with the fascinating yet fateful tale of why this blog hasn't been updated properly in a dog's age ... well we reach final stage tonight.
I have received the latest version of my screenreader, JAWS, and so Blogger is once again accessible - no thanks to the Blogger team who altered their site so that certain screenreaders were unable to use it. 290 pounds later, I can decorate the web with my meaningless blabber once again.
You must be relieved.
Tomorrow I get another disk with new voices for my screenreader which means I can evoke the lovely Karen - an aussie female voice - which I am taking a small amount of pleasure in for some reason. OK. I am in love with a speech synthesizer. I admit it.
I have received the latest version of my screenreader, JAWS, and so Blogger is once again accessible - no thanks to the Blogger team who altered their site so that certain screenreaders were unable to use it. 290 pounds later, I can decorate the web with my meaningless blabber once again.
You must be relieved.
Tomorrow I get another disk with new voices for my screenreader which means I can evoke the lovely Karen - an aussie female voice - which I am taking a small amount of pleasure in for some reason. OK. I am in love with a speech synthesizer. I admit it.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I posted. There.
OK so I'm posting to my blog for the first time in ages. did I tell you I've been to New York? Effing cold, minus 10, snow on streets, but had a great time. Shopped like a b*stard.
I'm writing this at work. It's 7:38pm and I should ahve gone home ages ago. I believe Americans have almost caught up with our superior method of mean timeage by doing daylight saving a few weeks early. That's nice.
OK. I've now forked out 290 quid (?) for the latest version screenreader so will be back blogging again very soon.
So, for those of you who missed me (and I can't imagine there are too many) then hurrah I'll be back. Screw blogger though and their sudden decision to make their site less accessible.
I've become meaner and more unpleasant since the last time I posted. I should warn you of this. I'm fired up at the moment and scattering my hell and hatred everywhere. Perhaps.
Oh god my mum is calling my moble.
I'm writing this at work. It's 7:38pm and I should ahve gone home ages ago. I believe Americans have almost caught up with our superior method of mean timeage by doing daylight saving a few weeks early. That's nice.
OK. I've now forked out 290 quid (?) for the latest version screenreader so will be back blogging again very soon.
So, for those of you who missed me (and I can't imagine there are too many) then hurrah I'll be back. Screw blogger though and their sudden decision to make their site less accessible.
I've become meaner and more unpleasant since the last time I posted. I should warn you of this. I'm fired up at the moment and scattering my hell and hatred everywhere. Perhaps.
Oh god my mum is calling my moble.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Testing jaws 8 with Blogger
hello. Is this working? I'm using a demo of JAWS 8 just to see if I can get it working at home. Sheesh. What a faff.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Still no effing books to read
I'm getting more and more pissed off about how I can't read books. There aren't any worth reading in accessible formats. Why why why do audio book publishers insist on churning out new and different versions of old stuff like Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes? How did we get into this state of being? It's ridiculous. Do they have no sense of zeitgeist? Who do they think their market is? And indeed, who the hell does make up the majority market for audio books anyway? I bet it isn't blind people. Also, lets note that you can put an entire audio book on one CD now that MP3 CDs are becoming more popular. And government, woohoo, hello, there are serious implications regarding education if there is no provision by which publishers are forced or obliged to make their books available: either electronic text or audio seem to be the most popular formats these days.
The idea that people want Braille books these days is a myth. Discuss. However I'm sure RNIB - whose campaigns haven't got very far despite some passion put in - have, I'm sure, cottoned on to the fact that government are more likely to approve a plan if they ask for electronic texts to be made available so that they can then turn them easily and quickly into Braille or large print. It may not be the medium of choice for many visually impaired people but it does buy into the whole literacy thing that the gov't are into.
Does reading audio books make you literate? discuss.
Does reading electronic texts with a speech synth or braille display make you literate? Discuss.
The idea that people want Braille books these days is a myth. Discuss. However I'm sure RNIB - whose campaigns haven't got very far despite some passion put in - have, I'm sure, cottoned on to the fact that government are more likely to approve a plan if they ask for electronic texts to be made available so that they can then turn them easily and quickly into Braille or large print. It may not be the medium of choice for many visually impaired people but it does buy into the whole literacy thing that the gov't are into.
Does reading audio books make you literate? discuss.
Does reading electronic texts with a speech synth or braille display make you literate? Discuss.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Jordan can't sing
Just in case you haven't seen this doing the rounds, you've got to click and experience it now! Peter Andre and Jordan singing their hit A Whole New World ... but not exactly in tune.
I think the story goes that Jordan can't really sing so they use an autotune device to make her sound good in the studio. But some naughty recording person recorded the two of them doing their duet before her voice was synthesized to sound good.
It's hilarious. And Jordan is extremely mad that it got onto YouTube ... claims it has been faked to make her look stupid. "Ahh but she's a good bizniss woman innit, gotta respeck her for that ain't ya?"
I think the story goes that Jordan can't really sing so they use an autotune device to make her sound good in the studio. But some naughty recording person recorded the two of them doing their duet before her voice was synthesized to sound good.
It's hilarious. And Jordan is extremely mad that it got onto YouTube ... claims it has been faked to make her look stupid. "Ahh but she's a good bizniss woman innit, gotta respeck her for that ain't ya?"
Friday, December 15, 2006
Austria
I've just got back from Austria as my below enthusiastic post about brass indicates. Rather fantastic. went to Vienna where it is cold and germanic and whirly.
I so completely badly want to learn to speak German! I bought some CDs by Michel Thomas (who I believe is dead now?) 5 years ago and really intended to go through all 8 disks and learn. I got up to disk 4 once butfor some reason didn't continue. Leave it a few months, come back to it, and you realise you have to start again. These quickie learning devices aren't nearly as good as continual practice of a language at school or living abroad.
So I'm on CD #1 again. I'm learning things like !"come with me, please" and "can I come with you this evening". I've forgotten what else because, to be honest, the last time I heard disk 1 was a week ago and it's all slipping from my mind.
TIP: never try to learn a language in bed at night. It's not quite the same as just flicking on LBC and falling asleep to it. It seems your brain needs to stay alert.
My girlfriend's family is half german. I'm sure there will come a time when it'll become useful. her grandmother was over in the UK last year and there were a few awkward silences when the rest of the family were out of the room leaving me and her. Ormy? Ormie? Not being able to see, I couldnt even just sit there and smile ... visual language is out the window too. So, apart from my personal wish to learn, it also has it's practical purposes. I'll be able to communicate with the in-laws ...
In Vienna we went to the Freud museum, the mozart museumhouse thing ... did a disappointing bus tour ... went to a restaurant that had an old man playing a Hungarian Gypsy instrument (we gave him a 10 euro tip and he played 'if I were a rich man' for us). We went to the Christmas market in front of the town hall ... shopped ... and lots of other stuff.
it was nice that Vienna was cold. London just isn't cold enough in winter any more.
And then all this stuff about the murderer in Ipswich broke! Kristina's little sister lives there; she's just moved there with her boyfriend. nasty to think of someone living in the thick of it ... she's sensible though.
talking about serial killers, though, I live very close to where that nice Denis Neilsen (SP?) bumped off and boiled his victims in the early 80s - known at the time as the Cricklewood Murders. Rather irrelevant now as he's out of harm's way. I don't remember whether he's in a secure hospital or a prison but I do remember him being interviewed on an ITV documentary in the mid 90s ... and it was chilling. He was goading the interviewer, "no it wasn't bloody. Have you never come across a dead body before?" as if he had the upperhand and was better because of it. Horrible. I can't put it into words but it was rather chilling.
So, there ya go, Vienna through to chilling murderers. I wish I hadn't tied the two subjects together like that. My holiday was great ... shame that I never seem to really relax until a day before it's time to go home. Sounds like a cliche but true in my case it seems.
• It's the Ouch Christmas Podcast party on Monday. Wahey yip yo. Really looking forward to it.
• Thanks to katie fraser for her marvellous Xmas gift to the Ouch team. We scoffed most of them today. mmmm shortbread with orangey chocolatey bits.
Where's my cab it's ten past seven for crissakes.
I so completely badly want to learn to speak German! I bought some CDs by Michel Thomas (who I believe is dead now?) 5 years ago and really intended to go through all 8 disks and learn. I got up to disk 4 once butfor some reason didn't continue. Leave it a few months, come back to it, and you realise you have to start again. These quickie learning devices aren't nearly as good as continual practice of a language at school or living abroad.
So I'm on CD #1 again. I'm learning things like !"come with me, please" and "can I come with you this evening". I've forgotten what else because, to be honest, the last time I heard disk 1 was a week ago and it's all slipping from my mind.
TIP: never try to learn a language in bed at night. It's not quite the same as just flicking on LBC and falling asleep to it. It seems your brain needs to stay alert.
My girlfriend's family is half german. I'm sure there will come a time when it'll become useful. her grandmother was over in the UK last year and there were a few awkward silences when the rest of the family were out of the room leaving me and her. Ormy? Ormie? Not being able to see, I couldnt even just sit there and smile ... visual language is out the window too. So, apart from my personal wish to learn, it also has it's practical purposes. I'll be able to communicate with the in-laws ...
In Vienna we went to the Freud museum, the mozart museumhouse thing ... did a disappointing bus tour ... went to a restaurant that had an old man playing a Hungarian Gypsy instrument (we gave him a 10 euro tip and he played 'if I were a rich man' for us). We went to the Christmas market in front of the town hall ... shopped ... and lots of other stuff.
it was nice that Vienna was cold. London just isn't cold enough in winter any more.
And then all this stuff about the murderer in Ipswich broke! Kristina's little sister lives there; she's just moved there with her boyfriend. nasty to think of someone living in the thick of it ... she's sensible though.
talking about serial killers, though, I live very close to where that nice Denis Neilsen (SP?) bumped off and boiled his victims in the early 80s - known at the time as the Cricklewood Murders. Rather irrelevant now as he's out of harm's way. I don't remember whether he's in a secure hospital or a prison but I do remember him being interviewed on an ITV documentary in the mid 90s ... and it was chilling. He was goading the interviewer, "no it wasn't bloody. Have you never come across a dead body before?" as if he had the upperhand and was better because of it. Horrible. I can't put it into words but it was rather chilling.
So, there ya go, Vienna through to chilling murderers. I wish I hadn't tied the two subjects together like that. My holiday was great ... shame that I never seem to really relax until a day before it's time to go home. Sounds like a cliche but true in my case it seems.
• It's the Ouch Christmas Podcast party on Monday. Wahey yip yo. Really looking forward to it.
• Thanks to katie fraser for her marvellous Xmas gift to the Ouch team. We scoffed most of them today. mmmm shortbread with orangey chocolatey bits.
Where's my cab it's ten past seven for crissakes.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Wow! Got to recommend this band to you. I heard them on Gilles Peterson Worldwide show on FM4 in Vienna while I was there this week. Specifically he played a track called Jupiter, I think. Wow.
The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are exactly what they say ... brass with a kind of hip hop beat. Talk about amazing! No synthesizers or electronic sounds but totally fresh and vibrant; classic and modern. An amazing fusion from the soul!
Check out Hypnotic Brass Ensemble on YouTube.
I've got to find their album somehow! My initial Googling tells me they're from Chicago. I need that music now ... I'm off to buy it no matter how.
Have downloaded one of Gilles Peterson's Podcasts too ... first time I've really taken a lot of notice of the DJ - who also has a show on Radio One - he certainly has an ear for quality ... an interesting kind of classicness.
[update] Here's a link to the track I like Jupiter. You need to hear it in its entirity really because, at length, it is hypnotic. This clip is from somewhere near the end when some vocals kick in though I prefer just the brassy music. Interested to hear what others think.
The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are exactly what they say ... brass with a kind of hip hop beat. Talk about amazing! No synthesizers or electronic sounds but totally fresh and vibrant; classic and modern. An amazing fusion from the soul!
Check out Hypnotic Brass Ensemble on YouTube.
I've got to find their album somehow! My initial Googling tells me they're from Chicago. I need that music now ... I'm off to buy it no matter how.
Have downloaded one of Gilles Peterson's Podcasts too ... first time I've really taken a lot of notice of the DJ - who also has a show on Radio One - he certainly has an ear for quality ... an interesting kind of classicness.
[update] Here's a link to the track I like Jupiter. You need to hear it in its entirity really because, at length, it is hypnotic. This clip is from somewhere near the end when some vocals kick in though I prefer just the brassy music. Interested to hear what others think.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
No Christmas yet
Can't think about Christmas or anything like that til we get our Xmas podcast out of the way and until I'm in Austria. Hurrah my holiday starts in Austria in just a few short days ... but so much to fit in before then. Will it all get done? I hope so.
I daren't go into the amount of effort, phonebashing and unforseen issues around making this podcast happen. It's put us back several days. Suffice to say, I'll be looking forward to meeting the 15-20 or so fire risks that we've invited along to the 'cast Thursday. Can't you just all learn to walk or something? How hard is it? Mik Scarlet is giving it his best shot after all on TV this Thursday at 7pm isn't he? What a role model!
Special guests at the podcast will be Mr Bennet the caretaker from Take Hart, Vicky Liquorice from Saturday Superstore and the man who wrote the Nationwide theme tune ... the early 80s one not the one everyone knows.
Great stuff!
I daren't go into the amount of effort, phonebashing and unforseen issues around making this podcast happen. It's put us back several days. Suffice to say, I'll be looking forward to meeting the 15-20 or so fire risks that we've invited along to the 'cast Thursday. Can't you just all learn to walk or something? How hard is it? Mik Scarlet is giving it his best shot after all on TV this Thursday at 7pm isn't he? What a role model!
Special guests at the podcast will be Mr Bennet the caretaker from Take Hart, Vicky Liquorice from Saturday Superstore and the man who wrote the Nationwide theme tune ... the early 80s one not the one everyone knows.
Great stuff!
Could blogger/google kill my blog?
So, every time I logon to this blog I keep seeing a message from Google saying "want to update to our new version blog?"
My anxiety is that if i upgrade it'll become inaccessible to screenreaders meaning I'll never be able to post again! Other Google products aren't very accessible so I don't hold out too much hope. I'm aware I can delay the switch for a while but not forever because the entire system is going to swap over.
When I'm eventually forced to switch, this blog may die forever. But maybe it won't? If you are a screenreader user and have made the switch, can you tell me how you got on?
If I go very quiet ... you know why ...
My anxiety is that if i upgrade it'll become inaccessible to screenreaders meaning I'll never be able to post again! Other Google products aren't very accessible so I don't hold out too much hope. I'm aware I can delay the switch for a while but not forever because the entire system is going to swap over.
When I'm eventually forced to switch, this blog may die forever. But maybe it won't? If you are a screenreader user and have made the switch, can you tell me how you got on?
If I go very quiet ... you know why ...
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Ha Ha meet
Gosh, well, interesting afternoon. Met loads of people who fell off the Ouch messageboard and into the real world setting of bar Ha Ha in Victoria. Hello everyone who was there ... great to meet you.
WE all congregated thanks to an invite from Lady Bracknell (whose blog is far too popular for me to bother linking to here). Lady B received her MBE last Friday. Congratulations. Now for the next spiffing wheeze, i.e. to make her an actual Lady, one of them wot can sit in the House of Lords and uphold our democracy. Can you do it online these days? I figure if you can get AA car insurance online then Lordships and Ladyships can't be far off.
Spoke to everyone quite a bit except for Ouch messageboard wag Turtle who buggered off quicker than I thought she was going to. Again I'd link to Turtle's blog but I think there's a link down the side here somewhere and I'm trying to write this quickly to get in front of my TV in time for the new series of Lost later.
I didn't leave the bar until gone 7pm. Thanks to, or no thanks to, the excellent/inexcellent taxicard scheme and ComCab who are a bunch of sheisters.
The missing were missed: Marmite Boy, Fang and Becca Viola. Hopefully I'll be able to meet you all another time.
All this jibber jabber will mean very little to those who've not clicked the links to other blogs from this blog ... and to those who've never been to the Ouch messageboard before.
All really lovely people ... and one hell of an effort was taken to get us all round the same table. For those who made the most extreme efforts I salute you. Be great to meet up again.
WE all congregated thanks to an invite from Lady Bracknell (whose blog is far too popular for me to bother linking to here). Lady B received her MBE last Friday. Congratulations. Now for the next spiffing wheeze, i.e. to make her an actual Lady, one of them wot can sit in the House of Lords and uphold our democracy. Can you do it online these days? I figure if you can get AA car insurance online then Lordships and Ladyships can't be far off.
Spoke to everyone quite a bit except for Ouch messageboard wag Turtle who buggered off quicker than I thought she was going to. Again I'd link to Turtle's blog but I think there's a link down the side here somewhere and I'm trying to write this quickly to get in front of my TV in time for the new series of Lost later.
I didn't leave the bar until gone 7pm. Thanks to, or no thanks to, the excellent/inexcellent taxicard scheme and ComCab who are a bunch of sheisters.
The missing were missed: Marmite Boy, Fang and Becca Viola. Hopefully I'll be able to meet you all another time.
All this jibber jabber will mean very little to those who've not clicked the links to other blogs from this blog ... and to those who've never been to the Ouch messageboard before.
All really lovely people ... and one hell of an effort was taken to get us all round the same table. For those who made the most extreme efforts I salute you. Be great to meet up again.
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