Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Cosmopolit... ahh.

We're not quite there yet. Every now and then my beloved city can still embarrass me. Last night everything seemed to be closing early, just as I was trying to impress Rob F. and Ian A. with the urban delights of a Cardiffian night.

We did finally manage to get a bottle of wine and some nice tapas down before everything went pumpkin, but it was close. Come on, 24-hour society - get your act together, eh?

Friday, July 27, 2007

Spirit of '68... (1568)

Red Mosque disturbances - Reuters

In days of yore, it was a pretty fair bet that if students were being tear-gassed, it was for protesting that the regime under which they lived was too restrictive. Not any more, not in the New World Order. Now we can have students rioting because their country's government is not oppressive enough.

File that one under "Fear for the Future".

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Driven to Distraction

Debora zu sexy f�r den Bus - Bild.T-Online.de

No, I can't read German either. But the jist of it is this; Lady with impressive rack sits down on bus, directly in driver's line-of-sight in his mirror. Driver asks lady to move as her attributes are distracting him and causing a safety hazard. Lady complies, but of course has a nice moan about being "humiliated" - though not humiliated enough to withold her name from the press, or to refuse to have a glamour shot taken for the website, of course.

Kudos to the driver for his honesty and presence of mind, sez I. Even more Ks to his employer, who supported his actions. It couldn't happen here, I fear.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

And how are Wii feeling today...?

Like many before me, I surrendered my Wii virginity with little or no thought to the consequences. I didn't need to take precautions; bad things happen to other folks...

Well that was Saturday night, and I've only just regained the ability to walk properly. It's not just the gameplay of Nintendo's little monster that's counter-intuitive - you'd be simply amazed how punishing a few rounds of virtual bowling can be. I mean, I've bowled for real enough times, and the real balls are way heavier than one of those little nunchuck thingies. So I'll admit I didn't think a few ends of 10-pin required much in the way of preparation or caution, even for a spud like me.

Limping around like a lemon for a few days has disabused me of my naivety. Poking around online to find such gems as "Wii Have A Problem" and "Wii Injury Dot Com" shows me I am not alone, or even unusual. You have made me feel OLD, Nintendo. BAD Iconic Gaming Brand! NO cookie!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

The 80-yr-old fanzine

A Handwritten Daily Paper in India Faces the Digital Future

I must admit, halfway through I was thinking; good riddance to another retrograde religious rag. But read on and you learn about its fascinating history and, more importantly, its enlightened attitudes. You learn something new every day, but it isn't always this much worth learning.