Right of Navigation...

Nice article here from Griff Rhys Jones about the rights (or lack therefore) for canoeists to navigate English and Welsh rivers. It is also interesting in that he isn't the gung ho white water type; he just enjoys a gentle flat water paddle.

Also, a really poor reply to the article here, from someone who claims to be a canoeist, but given he thinks improving access will lead to 'anarchy', I'm not convinced by his credentials...

DAB is the answer...?

Interesting article here about why the switchover to digital radio is a bad idea. And a pretty well reasoned one at that: I've never quite figured why the government thinks analogue FM transmission is a bad idea when analogue radios are so ubiquitous, and DAB ones so rare.

You can only guess that the government of the day will say its a great idea right up until the point they cancel the switchover and common sense once more prevails...

Where The Wild Things Are...

This trailer is fantastic! I don't remember ever reading the book as a kid, but I'm looking forward to the film...

Connected Again...

After a month away, we now once more have broadband. And we've missed it! It has meant that we have done more useful things with our time, like so stuff in the garden. But it has meant difficulty with email, TV listings, consumer reviews, shopping, and other trivial stuff.

We had nothing for three weeks, then we got a telephone line and 56k dial-up. I'd forgotten how slow it was, and now all websites are content rich, assuming you all have fast broadband, making it (effectively) even slower to use.

But now, thanks to Virgin, we have a fast broadband connection of approximately 100 times the speed of the dial up. And I shall promise to try and use it less and do more worthwhile things, but I'm very glad to have it back....

To The Manor...

Just spent a very smashing night at Charingworth Manor, sandwiched between spending time in and around the really lovely and quite charming Chipping Campden. My wife really is fantastic (she made the booking), and with all that is going on at the moment, it was great to just be away from home.  It made for a very Happy Easter!

Wedding Photography...

...is really quite hard. M&E's wedding last weekend was superb. And I enjoyed taking photos, of which some of them even turned out to be quite reasonable.

But I think to be the wedding photographer would be far too stressful. It is difficult being in the right place at the right time to capture the casual moments, and often I'd see what would make a great photograph, but by the time I'd raised my camera, the moment had gone.  Added to that, quite naturally at weddings you want to talk to people and they want to talk to you. So you keep getting distracted from taking pitures, which I guess is why getting a stranger in to do the job isn't a bad thing.

Still, I enjoyed it, and really like my new flash for taking photos indoors. Wish I knew how to use it properly though....

Tempting...

Just received this email:

Greetings,

With due respect, I am Mr. Wang Kuang Hsiang, Director of Operations and Head Wealth Management Division of Taiwan Business Bank (TBB) Taipei, Taiwan. I have  a  business proposal of about $21.5M USD for you. Should you be  interested in working with me on this, do indicate your interest by sending me your full names, phone number and current residential  address. I would prefer you reach me via my personal email address:

Email: wangkuang888@yahoo.com.hk

Once I hear from you, I immediately will provide you with further information on logistics of having these funds moved.

Sincerely,
Mr. Wang Kuang Hsiang

Not sure what exactly the proposal is, or what I would need to do, but it sounds like there is a lot of money involved...

A Familial Way...

Just spoke to my Dad about his recent hospital tests. "It's okay" he said, "it's sorted"... Move along, nothing to see here... so like me...

Getting There...

It has been 1 month and 5 days since our offer was accepted on the new house. It appears that everything is nearly complete, and we now need to start looking at dates, assuming our buyer has everything in order: the solicitor is just checking that. It is Easter next weekend: could we really have packed, sorted everything and moved by then? It would be good...

Polar Bears....

Snow Patrol last Wednesday (11th March) ... spent too much of the show thinking about work. But the songs that stood out where the last few: the last of the main set was superb (Open Your Eyes?), with the band playing in front of a projection of the tops of buildings as someone travelled through an indeterminate city...

And the first three of the encore were fantastic: the last songs on the "A Hundred Million Suns" album collectively named The Lightning Strike. The first the band played behind a massive sheet with a psychedelic display which continued behind the band after the sheet had dropped and the music continued...

I love seeing live music, but throw in some excellent visuals, and I'm really happy...