Peter Gilliver

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March 28, 2004

spring forward ...

... fall back.

March 25, 2004

voting

elections seem quite topical at the moment...

i just read this in the online guardian, which makes me think about how voting is compulsory for those on the australian electoral roles.

i've told this to europeans and americans before, and the most common reaction is that it's an infringement on one's right to choose not to vote. but to me that's similar to saying "one's right to choose not to care." with compulsory voting you do not need to choose a side, but you must do it actively. you are obliged to care enough about the society in which you live to go to the polling booths once in a while and have your name ticked off.

with that off my chest, i should also add that i don't think the australian system is flawless, nor do i think that australians would fare much better than the british on the survey mentioned in the guardian article.

March 19, 2004

natural designs

this guy makes me wish i'd studied architecture.

March 08, 2004

google vs yahoo

found this via elegant hack.

March 03, 2004

green 'puters

i found this after following mau's latest entry.

in the "what to look out for" part of the solutions section they note that some some manufacturers have "thermal recycling" programmes, which amounts to incinerating what they're meant to be recycling.

February 26, 2004

waste not, want not

this article makes me wonder if soon we will need to waste more to be able to power our homes.

February 20, 2004

motto

my sister recently suggested that my motto's "don't count your chickens before they've hatched." i don't know if that's true--i'm not that pessimistic--but it's got me wondering what my motto is, or if i have one at all. mum used to say "do what you can with what you've got" and dad said "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well." i suppose these have shaped my life motto, but neither really describes my outlook.

do you have a motto?

February 03, 2004

ghan

the ghan now connects adelaide and darwin. my sister really wants to take this train, but maybe she should check who's driving first.

la fabulosa guitarra

today i'm listening to a new cd: la fabulosa guitarra de paco de lucia. it was his first solo album, recorded when he was 19 or so, and i recommend unreservedly.

hat's off

it looks like australian farmers will be trading their akubras for crash helmets.

it'll probably save lives, but it makes me sad to see an icon undermined. like bicycle helmets (the wearing of which is compulsory in australia--but only when riding a bike, of course), wearing a hard hat rather than a battered old hat will probably take some of the pleasure out of riding a horse for a living.

Peter Caestecker

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March 26, 2004

More tough guys on the Ramblas

Demonstration of Basque sports on the Ramblas, this one is: saw the log a fast as possible. It took this man only 20 seconds!

March 25, 2004

UEFA

Today the short sleeved Celtic Glasgow fans make the Ramblas look like it's already summer. And they are also as thirsty as on a hot summer day...

March 15, 2004

Adios Aznar, hola Bambi

After having ruled during 4 years over Spain with an absolute majority in parliament José María Aznar's party is forced to say adios to power. The man did many good things and is a hard working politician, but too much power turned him into a manipulator convinced that his view on the world and Spain is the only correct one.

Spain's future new prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, aka Bambi for the insiders, said in his first speech after yesterdays victory that power will not change him. I hope so for him, otherwise he'll be voted out too.

I love democracy, really.

March 13, 2004

11 642 000

Yesterday 1 out of 4 Spaniards was on the street because of Thursdays train attacks, 11 642 000 persons in total.

While RTVE, the national public TV, transmitted an image of unity, the news on the Catalan public TV showed the reality of -at least- the 1 500 000 prostesters in Barcelona: people carrying "Bush, Blair, Aznar = terrorists" slogans and asking the Spanish government not to hide details on the perpretators of the attack until after tomorrows elections.

After 5 years in Spain, the biased reporting from he state television still surprises me. It's uncomprehensible when one grew up with the impartial, north european TV news.

March 12, 2004

Shame on you too, Aznar

On fridays Spanish trains are usually very lively, today nobody says a word. If the attack is Al Qaeda's work, than Aznar is guilty too: he should have acted as a bridge between the arab world and the west, i.e. Spain's historic role, instead of supporting four whitehouse fundamentalists in their -greedy- black and white view of the world. Shame on you and all of your kind.

March 11, 2004

Commuters slaughter

Like in your countries, trains that go in direction of the capital at 7:30 AM on a weekday are filled with workers, clerks and students on their way to work to build up their life and to be able to pay their childrens education, their mortgage and their holidays.

March 07, 2004

Noisy oldtimers

This morning a helicopter escorting the annual Sitges-Barcelona oldtimer rallye woke me up. Here you see the rallye driving up the Ramblas. I actually always perceived this event as the start of spring.

March 04, 2004

Casa Batllo

A moblog on BCN without Gaudi would be a blasphemy.

February 28, 2004

Hello Baghdad

Follow here the 'adventures' of a Westerner trying to set up an Internet Service Provider in Baghdad.

Or how blogs are actually a very good instrument to obtain first hand info.

February 25, 2004

Shoe bag

On 100 m from my door you can find this 'shoe-bag' and zillions of other excellent stuff designed by the inspired Hospital del Arte collective.

Jez Smith

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Jezblog

March 23, 2004

Homeland Insecurity

Fun for all the family!

Play Homeland Insecurity!

March 16, 2004

The question you know you'll have to ask one day

What will I do if the Internet goes down?

March 05, 2004

The Truth About Men

Honestly - men!

February 27, 2004

Whitewash, what whitewash?

www.butlerreview.org.uk vs. www.butlerreview.org

(more on the Weapons of Mass Distraction)

via Bloggerheads

February 05, 2004

Paris 2009

Some interesting future news from Timothy Garton Ash in today's Guardian:

Who was to blame for the Paris bombing of 2009 ?

January 28, 2004

Mr. Picassohead

This did the rounds a while ago. Don't know if anybody already knows about it:

Mr. Picassohead - Create your own masterpiece.

Here's my masterpiece.

January 08, 2004

Ooops

Crikey - that was a bit of a hiatus there - sorry. I don't mean to let the side down or anything. I've lapsed a bit on my own blog, too.

My new translation enterprise is getting up and running, albeit in fits and starts: in December, I had almost too much work, but so far in January, I've only done one small piece.

Which, when I'm not busy writing letters to send to prospective clients around the world, leaves me with plenty of time to watch the telly.

Since returning to the UK, I've noticed that the BBC main evening news has dumbed down quite a bit, so now the only intelligent peak-time current affairs programme is Channel 4 news.

This week, still on Channel 4 (but considerably more low-brow), we have a new, quite awful Big Brother spion-off: Shattered. This is a "reality show" with around eight contestants living together in a house (just like in Big Brother), but they are not permitted to sleep. They are permitted one-hour naps every 24 hours or so, but other than that, they are attempting to stay awake for 7 days. A member of the group is ejected from the house every day, after failing to get through tests set them. This is perfectly dreadful TV, based on a ridiculous premise. I would tell you more, but I fell asleep halfway through the first programme.

For the first time in perhaps 15 years, I stayed in on New Year's Eve, watching the gogglebox. Jools Holland's New Year Hootenanny was fantastic - wonderful live music (and Shane McGowen slurring his way through some dirges).

Happy New Year!

November 20, 2003

Skyhigh Airlines

Global Baggage Tracker

At SkyHigh, we don't like to think of your missing luggage as being "lost." Rather, that it has embarked on an exciting journey all its own.

November 08, 2003

McJobs

Tthe 2003 Merriam-Webster dictionary is causing quite a stir with its introduction of the word: McJob

McJob (mek jäb') n. a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement.

From CNN:

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- McDonald's says it deserves a break from the unflattering way the latest Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary depicts its job opportunities.
Among some 10,000 new additions to an updated version released in June was the term "McJob," defined as "low paying and dead-end work."

In an open letter to Merriam-Webster, McDonald's CEO Jim Cantalupo said the term is "an inaccurate description of restaurant employment" and "a slap in the face to the 12 million men and women" who work in the restaurant industry.

The company e-mailed the letter to media organizations Friday, and it also was published in the Nov. 3 edition of an industry trade publication.

Cantalupo also wrote that "more than 1,000 of the men and women who own and operate McDonald's restaurants today got their start by serving customers behind the counter."

McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, has more than 30,000 restaurants and more than 400,000 employees.

Walt Riker, a spokesman for McDonald's, said the Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast-food giant also is concerned that "McJob" closely resembles McJOBS, the company's training program for mentally and physically challenged people.

"McJOBS is trademarked and we've notified them that legally that's an issue for us as well," Riker said.

A message left at Merriam-Webster's headquarters in Springfield, Massachussetts, was not immediately returned Friday evening.

November 05, 2003

UNESCO

I found this site a while back, probably in somebody's blog. It's a UNESCO site, offering a set of very impressive user-controlled panoramic views of various UNESCO world heritage sites worldwide. These are high-resolution pictures , and by moving your mouse you can have a 360 degree view.

Some of the press releases are worth looking at too, and have more links to other awe-inspiring photography sites.

Mauricio Gaia

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A Mauricéia Desvairada

March 25, 2004

have you ever orkut before?

have you ever orkut before?

March 02, 2004

At the office - part 2

Useful things to see when your boss is not at the office...

and no, I did not forget that I got one or two things to tell you about the Carnival at Rio.

February 15, 2004

At the office

Corporate life can be dangerous..

February 13, 2004

Wild Wild Life

I'm going to Rio at the Carnival. I'm going to Rio at the Carnival. I'm going to Rio at the Carnival.

February 05, 2004

Summertime Blues

Avenida Aricanduva, São Paulo, yesterday.

January 10, 2004

Verão

The word for this summer is "yes". Think about it.

January 05, 2004

Wanted

Has anybody seen my neighbour Jez?

December 24, 2003

Feliz Natal

Aí, rapaziada!!

Feliz Natal a todos e um 2004 cheio de saúde, alegria, paz e sucesso!!

December 08, 2003

Rio!!

I went to Rio last weekend. Believe it, it's a nice place - at least, during the day!! But I have no complaints about it. On Saturday, I've had a good time and drank some beer with a good company and her lovely friend. At night, I went to a gig, and had my piece of fun..

But there are some things that only happens there. Just like a billboard with this saying "I want to talk with you. God". Or a huge doll in a front of a gas station. Yeah, Rio!!! hohohoho

Quem te 'caguetou'?

"Quando você atira, eu já não estou na mira, eu sou a sua sombra, eu sou a sombra" or "Pode, pode dar!! Tô de colete!! Eu vou pegar, eu vou matar o caguete!!!".

Yes, it's not kind, but what you read above are some excerpts from a rap that talks about killing people, carrying weapons like AR-15. Typical gangsta.

Probably you've already heard it here.

In time: besides these violent lyrics, I like it.