December 2008
48 posts
Domaine de Chaude Écuelle 2007 Petit Chablis →
1 tag
This Christmas, I...
Got some great presents: Data Flow; an awesome hard graft laptop sleeve; a new Soft Machine corkscrew from L’Atelier Du Vin (call me sad, but it may be my favourite present); a rather nice Polo shirt from Religion; Afternoon Tea at the Landmark hotel; and possibly my favourite… Red & Black Licorice Piglets all the way from New York.
Had some delicious Wild Boar ragu with...
spoor
Noun - The track, trail or droppings of an animal
Etymology - Afrikaans from Dutch spoor, akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor)
The woodcutters
There were two woodcutters working side-by-side in a forest.
The first woodcutter worked long-hours, tirelessly - never so much as taking a break. The second woodcutter worked fewer hours, and took a long break every lunchtime: yet somehow, each week, he felled twice as many trees as the first woodcutter.
When the first woodcutter asked what the second does in his leisurely lunch breaks, the...
“Luck is for the unlucky, for those who lack precision.”
– The Hunter - Julia Leigh
1 tag
Last weekend, I...
Headed to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to see Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker - how Christmassy.
Checked out the new (ish) All Star Lanes on Brick Lane - too late for bowling, but early enough for dessert and a few drinks. Very nice.
2am Brick Lane Beigel again.
Despaired at the state of refereeing in the Premiership, where Howard Webb - surely one of the most incompetent officials...
“The darker it gets, the faster we’re driving.”
– Mark Carwardine - Last Chance to See
Darren Aronofsky | The A.V. Club →
Interview with Darren Aronofsky about his new film The Wrestler and more. Good interview.
“Of course they remember that. It’s like asking Taliban summer-school students if...”
– The “Sex and the City” Tour
“I come with that ol’ loco / Style from my vocal / Couldn’t peep it...”
– Wu-Tang Clan - Shame on a Nigga
The Human Pedigree →
Fascinating stuff, lovely publication from SciAm, and I rather like issuu makes note.
Beware, Microsoft's Made Some Bad TV Ads →
Painful doesn’t come close.
“no ‘computer guy’ required”
– Highrise
“In bocca al lupo”
– ‘In the mouth of the wolf’ - an Italian aphorism similar to ‘Break a leg’, to which the reply should be ‘Crepi!’, meaning something like ‘May the wolf die’. Dark and brilliant. [In bocca al lupo - WordReference Forums]
Hinterland →
Great word. I love it. For reasons that remain a mystery to me I find it terribly evocative of vast, desolate plains; fog and dust-bowls, tundra … why I should find that lovable I don’t know.
1 tag
This weekend, I...
Had a (several) great cocktail(s) in Callooh Callay - Shoreditch’s latest cocktail bar, though refreshingly unpretentious compared to most. Recommended.
Wolfed down a delicious late-night Shish.
Attended not one, but two Christmas parties on Saturday night … one Swedish, one South African, both with more food, wine and Glogg that any reasonable person can muster in one night.
...
“Chillum out Maxson relax and all cool to shoot some people outside of the...”
– The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tune run through Microsoft’s speech recognition software - justin hook’s tumblr
Will a New Vatican Document Affect Science and... →
The Catholic Church submit their 2008 entry for ‘most archaic and out-of-touch religious institution’ award. And even though the competition is particularly strong this year, I think they’re in with a shout.
The Guv'nor
Angostura 1919 (large measure)
Mozart black (good sized dash)
Angostura bitters (couple of splashes)
Stir over ice. Serve straight up with a twist of Orange zest. (More on it’s origins on Monday.)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata #15 in D, Op. 28... →
Beautiful, just beautiful. (The recording on Wikipedia isn’t great, but Alfred Brendel’s recital on this CD is incredible.)
WatchHerzog & de Meuron’s amazing new apartment building in New York (56 Leonard Street) - their first high-rise. I’ve never been to New York, I’ve no idea if I want to live there, but I do want one of these apartments.
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
– Mark Twain
“Out of his own seemingly bottomless disquiet, Carrey writhes and reaches into...”
– The Existential Clown - The Atlantic
(December 2008) - I have a confession to make: I like Jim Carrey.
Livemocha: Learn Languages Online →
“There’s a house across the river, but alas I cannot swim / And a garden of...”
– Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim - my album of 2008.
1 tag
Last weekend, I...
Had a drink in my new favourite Friday-night, after-work bar, Trafik in Hoxton. Consistently quiet when every other place is heaving. Perfect.
Saw Arsenal scrape past Wigan at Ashburton Grove. Didn’t boo Eboue.
Has a rather enjoyable steak-frites at the Cat and Mutton, a pub more full of too-cool-for-school pricks than a pomegranate is of pips. Great food though.
Saw Clint...
“Great mobile sites focus mercilessly on their reason for being,
removing all...”
– Best and Worst Of The Mobile Web
20 signs you don’t want that web design project →
Terrifying in that at least two recent clients match more than three each.
Presentation Zen: Kinetic typography: more... →
A great collection of videos demonstrating ‘kinetic typography’, ie speeches/monologoues/conversations visually represented by moving type.
'Inside out' theatre opens →
A new theatre in Leicester that follows Punchdrunk’s lead and encourages audience/actor mixing and participation. A nice idea, with the right choice of performance.
Getting Real about Agile Design →
A really great summary of Agile process from a design point of view. Full of great advice and informative discussion.
Blimey! It’s like the old ALA is back.
Personalised light-cone →
Where, as you of course know, a light cone is simply the ever expanding ‘cone’ (in 4D space) of potential causality that expands from a given point in time and space. In this case, Wordsley, West Midlands, England, Earth, August 22 1980.
Right now, I’m excited because “HR6416 is 28.7 light years away and only 4 months from the outer surface of your light cone”.
“A man climbs a mountain because it’s there. A man makes a work of art...”
– Carl Andre
WatchMy favourite hotel in Paris - brought to you by Google Maps Street View, surely one of the most amazing things on the web. (View Larger Map)