New Poem - Lifetagging

Many of my more recent writings have been produced during the writing course I attended at the National Media Museum in Bradford at the beginning of 2009. The course has finished now although another is due to begin in June. Meanwhile, a number of us have decided to continue meeting and trying to write.
A week or so ago we visited Cartwright Hall in Bradford, to view a retrospective exhibition by German artist Jockel Reisner. While we all enjoyed this show, there was nothing I saw there that particularly inspired anything to write.
However, at the other end of the corridor was a photographic exhibition: Z Polski Do Anglii: Polish Communities in Britain. There I found an image by Bradford photographer Tim Smith particularly powerful. I knew I wanted to write something in response but it was incredibly difficult to come up with words that conveyed anything like the force of the original image.
After several drafts and much crossing-out, my poem Lifetagging emerged.

Hamilton Loomis at the Bronte Blues Club

Hamilton Loomis. Native of Galveston, Texas. Fine musician and friend of the late Bo Diddley. On Friday, April 24, 2009, he and his band came to play and give their all in the little Pennine village of Laycock. It was yet another of those nights when one needed to pinch oneself every now and again just to make sure it was really happening. Such a tight band playing a stratospheric standard of music in our own back yard, so to speak.
There was something for everyone. The purists got their share while other tracks reached those who prefer a rockier style. There were even songs (such as the funky Best Worst Day) which, it could be argued, were not really blues at all.
Drummer Jamie Little must really like the Bronte Blues Club. It was his second visit of the season, his first being with the excellent Sherman Robertson back in November. He was on great form, as was saxophonist and keyboards man Stratton Doyle. Bassist Kent Beatty completed a line-up that sounded as if it had been together throughout each of its member’s careers.
Hamilton Loomis is a true showman who recognises that fine musicianship is not quite enough for a performance to be memorable. The show included much leaping around, forays into the audience, solos standing on chairs (the village hall tables were not quite up to it) and other antics and asides, none of which compromised the music.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was also a guest appearance by guitarist Alex McKown who is very good and probably becoming increasingly fed up of people being amazed by his age. I’m sure he’s not by ours.
A wonderful evening. Thanks to Hamilton and all concerned.
Here to see more pics.

Successful Big Swim

As tweeted throughout the event, I completed my sponsored swim on Friday April 17th. I swam 100 lengths of the pool at Green’s Gym in Shipley - 70 in the morning and the remaining 30 after lunch. It took about three and a half hours in all, so the challenge was as much mental as physical, thinking of each length at a time rather than the tens of lengths ahead. So far I have raised just over £500 (About £200 worth of sponsors were in person rather than online) - a very pleasing total - many thanks to all my sponsors. Thanks also to the staff at Green’s for being so encouraging (and for giving me a mention on their website), and all members who chipped in with a contribution. There is still time to sponsor me on my page at the Swimathon website.

More Mitchell & Kenyon

I remember this sequence from the BBC programmes two or three years ago. Fascinating and quite sad to think that many of the youngsters featured here would meet their end in the trenches of the Somme or Passchendaele.

My Swimming Challenge

As the last few posts indicate (see March archive), I have recently changed the look of my site and was rather pleased with the result. As I mentioned on the Rapidweaver forum, most of the credit goes to Adam at seyDesign. I just added the colour scheme and a few other tweaks. Anyway, my visit rate has shot up as a result of that entry and so I’ve decided to be a bit cheeky and take advantage of the increased audience while it lasts.
Here in the UK the Swimathon (not too late to have a go yourself) has caught on quite a bit in recent years. It’s a charity event which raises money for care for the terminally ill. I have opted to go in for the SimplySwim section which allows one to swim in a pool of one’s choice and also to do the distance over several sessions. My challenge is to swim 100 lengths in a day (it’s a 25 metre pool, so that’s 2.5 km). It might take more than one session. As I mention elsewhere on this site, I am a bit of an old git although I have been swimming regularly for a while now. I would be most grateful if you could sponsor me, even for the tiniest of amounts. You can do this online by going to my page on the Swimathon website. Thanks in anticipation.

Notes from a Small Café - new bit of writing

Just uploaded my last bit of writing from the current run of the Creative Writing Course at the Media Museum. I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed this course, mainly because it has forced me out of my lethargy and made me actually put fingers to keyboard.
This latest short piece, Notes from a Small Café is about such a place in the early morning. I took a few notes from a visit last Saturday and then dramatised the scene somewhat.

Go Gotem

The more I’ve worked on this Rapidweaver theme called Gotem from seydesign the more I like it. In addition to changing the look, it has also encouraged me to put more of my writing onto the site. As mentioned before, I used Weebly to make another site called icklestories so I could put writing there. Strikes me now that this is a bit stupid seeing as I have established a perfectly good site, subtitled ‘graphics and writings’ right here. As yet there is only a story, The Curious Case of Terry Perry and the Flat-Screen Telly, a couple of other short bits of writing and a poem. I aim to add more in the near future.

A New Look

As you can see, the look of the site has changed. A bit more subtle, I hope you’ll agree. Using the Rapidweaver Gotem theme from the excellent SeyDesign, I am currently adding writing to the graphics so the title of the site is something nearer the truth.

Tweeting the Today Programme

Lying abed yesterday (Friday morning), listening to the first hour of the Today programme on Radio 4, I happened to hear the excellent Ed Stourton interviewing the Foreign Secretary, David Milliband, via some communication system. Unfortunately, as often happens, the link broke down mid-interview, at which point, Ed asked Mr Milliband, ‘Can you hear me?’ and Milliband replied, ‘No?’
By no means the funniest thing ever heard on Today, but mildly amusing nonetheless. Today now Twitters and so, thinking that some listeners might not have heard the early interview, I fired off a quick tweet, asking if it could be played again. Within the hour, I received a reply to the tweet containing a link to the interview, including its interruption.
For me, not only another example of the growing wonders of the internet but also perhaps testament to the immediacy and usefulness of Twitter.

Safari 4 Beta

Much excitement this week regarding the beta release of the latest version of Safari, Apple’s web browser. Along with many others, I excitedly downloaded and installed, and first impressions were something of the Wow variety.
Perhaps most impressive, along with the increased browsing speed, was the Top Sites feature. This allows one to see the home pages of one’s most visited sites arranged on the screen at once.
Unfortunately, on opening my Mail app I discovered something was causing it to crash repeatedly. Also, the RapidBlog plug-in I use with Rapidweaver had ceased to work. The Mail app blamed Growl but the superb Rapidweaver support forums attributed the problem to Safari having changed some protocol or other.
No prolonged worries as RapidBlog was rapidly updated and I was able to use the Safari 4 uninstall app which Apple had been kind enough to include in the original download folder. So, having got a sneak preview of what it is going to be like, I think I’ll just wait for the full release.

Welcome to Chi.mp!

I first heard about chi.mp on the excellent FruitBytes blog. Chi.mp is an online service which enables you to access all your networking stuff in one place and let others know where you can be found on the web. It also allows you to have different profiles for each aspect of your life: public, work and friends. You control exactly who sees what information about you.
Chi.mp is still in beta at the moment and therefore can only be joined by invitation. Originally FruitBytes had some invites on offer but when they ran out I signed up on the waiting list. Didn’t need to wait too long as I was invited to join a week or so ago. Now I have 5 invites to give away - so if you want one, get in touch.

Various Bits of News

Been a while since the last blog so this one is to do a bit of catching up.
Firstly, I’ve decided to put this blog back as the Home page. It makes sense that people see my most recent bits of information on first entering the site.

I’ve also been developing some Twitter content with icklestories and icklememories. The former I’ve mentioned before - a place where I can put fictional thoughts without causing confusion on my main ickledot twitter. This has led me to starting a new website using Weebly. I really like the simple format of this online web tool - and I’m a sucker for a site that looks friendly and … well … cuddly. Weebly is still in its developmental stages and its creators say they have many more ideas to improve functionality. I’ve also put a page of icklestories on this site, mainly to take advantage of the Stacks plug-in for Rapidweaver described previously.

icklememories is just something created on a whim. Might work, might not. Every so so often a jingle or lyric or bit of information comes into my head, or is heard and I thought it might be quite good to place these nuggets of pure nostalgia online. Might just kick-start a series of recollections for someone out there. We’ll see.
Also enrolled on a writing course at the Media Museum in Bradford. Bit unfortunate that the first session clashes with another meeting but I hope to get there in time to discover what it’s all about. It’s fantastic to have the national museum of media so close but as is human nature, when something is so convenient the tendency is not to take advantage.

Stacks: A Thing of Beauty

Stacks, this most major of Rapidweaver plug-ins, has now been released as Stacks 1.0. Put simply, it provides for a wide variety of layouts using a simple drag and drop procedure. It removes the need for additional code or complex snippets to create layouts more complex than those offered by RW themes.
Stacks’ developer, Isaiah, has provided a number of screencasts which explain its use far better than any written description. In addition, there’s a Stacks Reference Manual for those who prefer words.
Elixir Graphics have already released a (free) nifty little Twitter Stack Plug-in. Others are bound to follow I’m sure.
Many congratulations to Isaiah for providing this wonderful addition which greatly enhances Rapidweaver’s functionality. Takes it to another level, as the football managers say.

Mac 20 Questions Update

David has now edited and published ickledot’s interview with him. Hope you enjoy it!

icklestories is Born

Frightened myself with spontaneity yesterday. For a while I’ve been thinking there’s potential for writing fiction in Twitter. Didn’t want to include it in my main Twitter account. Might just lead to confusion. So I decided to launch icklestories.
I’m well aware that others have done this already, most notably arjunbasu. Another is tweettales. I’m sure there are many more.
Anyway, having set the thing up, designed a little logo and stared at the screen for a while, I came to the frightening realisation I had not a clue what to write!
Thankfully something came this morning and so the project has left the ground. I’ve decided to be easy on myself. Doesn’t have to be a collection of mini-masterpieces. Just an array of random scenes and situations from my imagination.

A First Podcast Interview

Yet again the internet has provided a new experience for ickledot. A comment left on the blog of David Allen’s Mac 20 Questions podcast quickly led to an invitation for an interview. On replying that I was little more than an ordinary Mac user and certainly no expert, David explained that he was looking to speak to people at all levels of expertise.
David’s podcast is based on a very simple but clever idea. It’s all in its title really. Each interviewee is asked the following 20 questions:
1 What is your name and where are you from?
2 Name rank and serial number please - what hardware are you using?
3 What was your first Mac?
4 Are you a recent switcher or have you always used a Mac? Still using other systems?
5 Geek in training, Card carrying Geek or Uber Geek?
6 Do you have a halo? An ipod or iPhone came first?
7 Just a tool to use or are you a fan boy?
8 Which browser do you prefer? Do you use more than one?
9 Bootcamp or virtual machine?
10 Are you a creative individual and do you create content anyway with the Mac Apps?
11 Tell me about how you have created something using iLife: something you did in Garageband or iPhoto or iMovie - tools used and any things which either went well or were a challenge.
12 What is your strategy for making back ups?
13 Your favourite application and some of the best things about it?
14 Do you buy stuff from iTunes and how do you feel about us not getting the full package in Europe TV show, movies etc?
15 Do you switch it off at night or leave it running always?
16 If you spend a whole day working with your Mac how does that go generally? A bit of this a bit of that, project based focus or a complete mish mash?
When you work on your computer do you have lots of apps open or just you concentrate on one or two?
17 Do you organise your life with the Mac? Do you have MobileMe, address book, to do lists and contacts?
18 Wish list for a next machine or what are you lusting after now?
19 Do you consume podcasts?
20 Do you have a web site that you would like to tell us about of your own or one that you just recommend to Mac users?
Of course, each question is designed to stimulate discussion and, from ickledot’s point of view, it certainly worked. The time flew by and when the Skype connection was finally cut I was astonished to see we had been in conversation for over an hour.
The topics we covered were wide ranging: iPods, cloud storage, Twitter, Rapidweaver and many more. It’s all in the editing process now and David has told me it will be available in a few day’s time. Many thanks to David for giving me the opportunity to speak with him.

Such a Thing As World Sport?

If I don’t do this very carefully, it’s going to sound parochial, nationalistic, protectionist and generally negative. Which I honestly do not intend. For I think the second year, the BBC is broadcasting the Superbowl live on Sunday evening from 11 p.m. onwards. I’m sure a minority of Brits and a huge number of American expats will be very pleased at this, and those individuals who are not are likely to be on their way to bed at that time anyway.
I enjoy sport myself, although not obsessively so. I may even watch a little of the opening quarter of the game as I have in previous years.
The only objection I have to the BBC’s (and previously Channel 4’s) coverage of the event is when they try to put forward the idea that it’s a World Game and that we should all suddenly become American Football fans.
I’m not particularly blaming American Football. In previous years various sports have attempted to impose themselves on us, either from another country or, as in the case of Rugby League, by elevating what is essentially a regional game to a national level. One cannot help feeling that money is the motivating factor, rather than a desire to spread interest in the sport itself.
In 2003 I was lucky enough to spend a month as driver for a friend who did the famous Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain. Just beyond Pamplona we passed through a number of villages that each boasted large handball courts, sometimes in the centre or town square. In one I noticed a statue dedicated to one of their most revered handball players. Just as we began to expect a sight of one of these little sporting arenas, they stopped appearing. All the undoubted passion and tradition end enthusiasm given to that game was limited to a particular corner of Northern Spain.
So, while allowing the sports which can engender a genuine national or international interest to do so, let’s also celebrate diversity in sporting activity. Let us be pleased that as we move around our beautiful planet we can still see a huge range of athletic endeavour that can be admired while not necessarily being televised.

Happy Birthday, Mac!

Credit where it’s due. I’ve been spurred into writing this memoirette after reading Sam’s account of her mac experiences on her excellent FruitBytes blog.
I think I can honestly say that the Macintosh has helped to change my life in a moderately significant way over the last fifteen years or so. I was not there right at the beginning, not by any means. In fact, back in the late eighties I was something of a computer Luddite. I’d had a few negative experiences with them in the day job, teaching, particularly with the BBC micros which were prevalent at the time. So much was promised about the future of computing but for me the reality at that time was not good.
At home I was seduced by the ads for the Oric Atmos, which boasted a memory of 48k! Again, the inconveniences of having to connect it to TV and cassette player in order to get it to do little more than play tennis amounted to a hugely disappointing experience. Time passed and computers continued to play a minimal part in my life.
And then I discovered the Mac, firstly through using a friend’s machine and then by purchasing my own, a secondhand Classic (I think). It was an all-in-one unit with a tiny monochrome screen. At that time the £300 I paid was not an inconsiderable amount but right from the off I was hooked. It could do stuff! Most amazing was that often there were several ways of achieving desired results so that one could develop an individual ‘workflow’. While each computing experience at work was still a tale of frustration and disappointment, at home I was finding the Mac ‘teaching’ me each time I used it. I added an Apple printer and was producing great worksheets and reports in no time. The application of choice for me then was the robust and flexible ClarisWorks.
In 1994 I moved house, had a bit of spare money, and bought my first new Mac, a Performa, for around £1200. I loved it. Looking back it now seems quite limited with its floppy disk slot and lack of PC compatibility. Apple’s beautiful design specs had not yet arrived. Amazingly though, it did allow one to watch TV and by then I was beginning to dip my toe in the exciting world of the internet. I was also buying all the Mac publications I could lay my hands on: The Mac magazine, MacFormat and, of course, MacUser. My ‘toy shop’ of choice was (and still is) Hi Tec of Bradford (they too have an interesting Mac story - starting out in a parent’s bedroom and becoming a successful local company).
As we all know, things progress rapidly and soon the Performa was not doing what its successors could do. Apple had moved from the 6800 to the Power PC processor and so I needed to update.
I felt Apple’s pain in the mid to late 1990’s. Friends were either not aware of them at all or went on about how expensive they were. At that time they were probably right and in order to save money I was sucked into buying a UMAX Mac clone.
And then Steve returned! What followed was the well-documented second Mac revolution. I read that Jonathan Ive’s first iMac design came in 1998 so I must have bought my Graphite iMac around the turn of the Millennium. Since then I’ve probably followed the same buying pattern as many others as the Mac and iPod have grown in popularity.
In Autumn 2000 I was burned out and left teaching. In the years that followed I used my Mac to take courses in web design, desktop publishing and now I find I can actually earn money from it. Not a fortune by any means and I certainly would not claim to be a great designer but I don’t think I would have achieved any of this without the Mac.
I know we have to remind ourselves from time to time that Apple is just another corporation out to get our money and seduce us into buying their latest product. However, these ‘products’ have always been reliable, a joy to use and, throughout this decade, great to look at. So it is right and proper that they and the company that produced them should be celebrated on this their 25th anniversary.
Happy Birthday, Mac! Here’s to the next 25 years and beyond.

Kitty Collars

It’s not everyone who buys a cat collar. The market is generally limited to those who possess a cat. This currently includes me, sort of. For several weeks, it (her) has spent most of its time either with me or my neighbour. We are convinced, however, that it has an owner as it’s healthy, well fed and often turns up with a faint aroma of tobacco. In order to try and discover who this might be I resolved to buy a collar with some kind of tag that would request the owner to get in touch. Then at least we might know what it should be called (at the moment its working title is ‘FC’ - ‘farting cat’ - due to the disagreeable smells it regularly produces).
After a brief search on the net I came across Kitty Collars. Their attractive, simple website describes a wide range of collars on offer. As my requirement was a little unusual, I decided to phone for help. After hearing my explanation, Marla was most helpful and suggested what type and colour would be best. She was clearly concerned about the cat and had a good deal of practical advice to offer. We agreed that it be printed with ‘Do I Have A Home?’ followed by my telephone number.
Ordering online was very easy and shortly after an email arrived, not only confirming the purchase but also having detailed advice as to how the collar should be fitted for each size of cat. Marla also wrote again to clarify one or two points and to tell me that the order would be processed immediately. The collar arrived the very next day and very smart it looks too. As yet there have been no phone calls but at least my conscience has been eased.

The great thing about the internet is that as well as having giants such as Google, Microsoft and Apple, there’s also a myriad of smaller businesses which have been given access to a global market through the power of the web. And the service can be every bit as personal as your long remembered corner shop. Thank you Kitty Colours, for a happy shopping experience!

A Great Day

Millions of words will be written, pictures taken and tears of joy shed. Whatever happens over the next four or eight years, tomorrow’s inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America will be marked forever as a truly historic day.
My small contribution is this image taken at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama in 1995.
Designed by Maya Lin, the memorial consists of a circular ‘table’ which shows a timeline of events in the civil rights movement. This, together with the black granite wall behind, has a film of water constantly running across it.
The wall itself displays these words from Martin Luther King: ‘Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness and righteousness like a mighty stream.’ Tomorrow they will have a particular poignancy.