A Man In The Desert

2010-12-14T22:46:00.000+03:00

Well i thought it would be time to update you with a state of the union address on all my recent goings on.

i quit Al Jazeera English 5 months ago, and moved back to the uk. i had spent nearly 4 years out in the state of qatar (of the 2022 world cup hosting fame) it was fun whilst it lasted but my time had come to move on, and what a move on it has been.

upon my immediate return i had an important engagement - i had been asked to speak at TED global in oxford! that is a set of storys for another day but needless to say it is one of the highlights of my already highlight packed life.

i spent most of the summer in what can only be described as culture shock (no the ability to walk into a pub on a street corner and have a beer that costs less than $10 at lunchtime hasnt worn off, neither has the selection of fine porcine products) i put the culture shock to good use and renovated my flat on the south bank (yes the 1950's bathroom is gone, it is now white subway tiled, painted and carpeted the place and i put the shower in too!) the tenants wanted the furniture gone too, so the dreaded green sofa was cut into pieces and unceremoniously dumped.

in the interim i purchased a rather silly car (a dropped chipped and tuned dark blue Volvo C70 T5 GT, thats pulling about 330bhp) that i now commute in with much glee

Not all the summer was lost tho fun and frolics were had at a couple of music festivals, and a week long trip out to manhattan was had.

then for the rest of the year, i was awarded an MBA scholarship place (thanks to Dominic Morroco for that.) and have been pretty much head down since the end of september, at school everyday from 9-5 countless presentations, 4 heavyweight essays on everything from employment law to the application of Modern portfolio theory (after proving Markowitz's efficient portfolio theory by longhand) through corporate governance and a dash of economic theory. im on to revising for my accountancy exams in jan, as well as a few exams in Employment Law, intellectual property law and Information management theory.

i stay in a hotel when im in bournemouth during the week (yes the howard hughes prophesy is starting to come true) for those of you looking for accommodation i can heartily recommend it (http://www.leahursthotel.co.uk/ the proprietors are lovely), and am staying at the family summer house nr glastonbury in somerset for the 4nights im not at college.

in the last few days as i run up to christmas you will find me sweating over exam revision and a HR essay next to a log fire looking out over a field full of brown cows,

Peace out!

2010-06-09T13:51:00.000+03:00

"His body plodded on mechanically, while his reasonable mind left him, and from without, looked down critically on him, wondering what that futile lumber did and why. Sometimes these selves would converse in the void; and then the madness was very near, as I believe it would be near the man who could see things through the veils at once of two customs, two educations, two environments."

-T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"

2010-06-06T07:54:00.000+03:00

this person feels my pain

http://qatarvisitor.blogspot.com/2006/10/ramadan-boom.html

a 2 page set of instructions on quitting doha, short compared to the al jazeera 4 page folksonomic guide

2010-05-19T09:57:00.004+03:00

2010-05-09T09:37:00.001+03:00

In attempt to compartmentalise the doha experience i will be blogging from here in the future http://2011bumba.blogspot.com

2010-05-09T09:23:00.002+03:00

Well, My time is up here in Doha/AJE its coming up on 4 years, i have submitted my resignation and am T - 7weeks until i depart, a summer in Europe and an MBA to start all before october.

Paperwork prior to extraction is Epic, i have several reems of documentation to get signed before i depart, a bank account to close, a car to sell, a household to ship.

For my peeps, I will be at TED Global in oxford, part time Somerset & Southbank, Secret Garden & festinho.

2010-02-15T13:22:00.000+03:00

Well its that time of year again the annual WEB TED bashing fest, The its so ‘Eletist’, Its so ‘Expensive’, Its so ‘……’.

Ive been inspired by Robert Scoble’s blog post (http://scobleizer.com/2010/02/14/the-elephants-in-the-room-at-ted/) to post my own responses to the general bashing and supposed value questions generally raised at the same time as TED.

People generally ascribe different cost value relationships to things, some people are into expensive holidays, some have to have the latest gadgets I-phones are de-rigure, some have to have the best car my colleague drives a lexus for example, some people spend their money on an expensive wine collection/or hang out at the bar, some people go to sporting events. I do/have very few of the above.

I drive a 5 year old car, I drink boxed wine, my phone is 3 years old, my last holiday I spend with a combination of my mother & father, and sister at their homes. I can’t remember the last sporting event I paid to go to. I did however go to TED Global last year.

What I got from TED last year,

1 the speeches – are inspirational.
2 the event – the setting and surroundings are great.
3 the people – the general networking is fantastic
4 the people – Friendships built

And I’m going again this year.

2009-12-07T10:20:00.000+03:00

AJE Twitter command (My desk)

2009-10-08T14:25:00.001+03:00

I got asked toda what apps i recomend for a mac switcher

I will attemept to compile a list of killer apps for the Apple OSX platform

Mac

Itunes

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/

http://www.polluxapp.com/

http://www.eternalstorms.at/gimmesometune/

Productivity/mods

http://quicksilver.en.softonic.com/mac

http://growl.info/

http://secrets.blacktree.com/

Writing

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

http://celtx.com/

Media

http://handbrake.fr/

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

http://www.perian.org

AppleTV

ATVpatchstick - http://www.appletvhacks.net/2007/07/28/usb-patch-released-hallelujah/

Boxee - http://www.boxee.tv/

Codecs - http://www.perian.org

Drobo - Extra space - http://drobo.com/

Un-Modded Hardware

Ipod
Airport Extreme with Assorted External HDDs via usb.

2009-06-10T09:37:00.001+03:00

Messin with the minds of the BNP

This may or may not last here.
Even if it doesn't, then if you read it before it goes, please yank it and distribute.
I'm possibly not the only person it'll occur to, due to ideaspace, and I hope it goes far and wide anyway.
Right.
Here goes:

1. The BNP winning European parliament seats means they have a budget to employ staff and various sub-contractors.

2. These budgets and staff positions are subject to anti-discrimination laws, as they come from public funds.

3. Watch out for when these positions are advertised. If anyone sees them advertised, chuck the ads about on as many social networks, blogs etc as possible.

4. Man the Harpoons - If you fall outside of the BNP's discriminatory membership criteria, due to being black, Jewish, whatever, apply. If you are white British and want to help out this plan anyway, just spread the idea about.

5. When you/they don't get the job, take it to an employment tribunal.

6. ????

7. Profit.

Even if you're not especially bothered about taking the BNP to an employment tribunal, spreading this idea about, and forcing them to consider it and raaage over how unfair to the poor ickle racialists it is,

it's still funny.

2009-06-04T13:47:00.001+03:00

Libertarian direct civil disobedience
By Bruce Sterling
June 3, 2009
2:26 pm
Categories: Uncategorized
*Okay, imagine the geekiest hacker you know, and he’s in New Hampshireraising holy hell about parking meters…
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo  
The Free State Project: http://www.freestateproject.org/  *****  http://tinyurl.com/mv5dnm 
http://tinyurl.com/m3h8ek 
The appeal of ‘Live free or die’ Antigovernment activists putting down roots in N.H.
 By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff 
May 29, 2009
  KEENE, N.H. - From a jail cell in this rural corner of New Hampshire,  Sam A. Miller waged a philosophical battle, one milk carton at a time.   (((Nice narrative hook, Sarah.)))
The soft-spoken electrical engineer (((geek))) declined food for nearly a month,  save for swigs of milk. To eat, he said, would be caving to the  tyrannical government powers that placed him here for illegally filming  in a courthouse and refusing to reveal his legal name to jail officials.  (He says it’s private; jail officials obtained it from a fingerprint trace.)   (((That’s right: his name is private. EAT THAT, FASCIST OPPRESSORS!)))
His resistance has made him a folk hero among antigovernment types who  have been making their way to New Hampshire from points across the  country since their leaders put out a clarion call six years ago.  The Free Staters, as they are known, hope to lure thousands of  like-minded souls to the state, with the goal of paring government to a  bare minimum by eliminating things like taxes, speed limits, and zoning  laws.  
Thus far, just 427 Free Staters have relocated. Yet, here in Keene and  in pockets across New Hampshire, Free Staters are making their case in  increasingly provocative ways.  
“Like Gandhi, like Martin Luther King, we need to educate and enlighten  the public,” said Miller, who joined the Free State movement after  breaking up with his fiancée.  (((You may think this is an odd reason to go to jail for extremist political reasons, but, no, it isn’t.)))
  The actions have ranged from the odd, such as when Free Staters filed  another person’s fingernails without a manicurist’s license on a public  sidewalk or held an unlicensed puppet show, to the irksome, as when they  tried to dig a garden in a downtown Keene park, to the instigative, such  as the day they stood on a street corner with a marijuana bud held  aloft. Sometimes, they simply veer toward obstinate, wearing hats in a  courtroom after being asked to take them off or refusing to remove a  couch from a lawn. (((I’m having a little fun at the FreeStaters’ expense here, but Henry David Thoreau would be shoulder to shoulder with these boys.)))
When arrests have followed, Free Staters have sought to film the  criminal proceedings from beginning to end, including scenes from  courthouse lobbies, where filming is not allowed in some cases, such as  in Keene District Court. The lobby filming has yielded more arrests  (often, with Free Staters going limp as officers approach) and more  footage that Free Staters post on websites such as http://FreeKeene.com  , which has proved an effective recruiting tool.   (((I bet. Go have a look. If you join up, don’t blame me.)))
The so-called liberty actions have been met with some bemusement by  residents of this gently tolerant city, population 22,800, home to Keene  State College, near the border of Vermont. But some say the tactics have  taken on a menacing hue, such as when Free Staters have gathered on the  streets of downtown Keene with holstered guns on their waists, visible  on their waists.
  ”When they first came to town, there was a welcoming spirit. A lot of  people were like, ‘OK,’” said Richard Van Wickler, a Keene resident and  superintendent of the Cheshire County Department of Corrections. “But  unfortunately what happens is that when [Free Staters] take the radical  approach, that invites people to get angry.” (((Rather the point, I’d be thinking. This behavior is trolling made physically manifest.)))
  More fundamentally unnerving, some say, is the Free Staters’ efforts to  secure government positions, with the goal of whittling down or  eliminating them. The Free State Project’s president, Varrin Swearingen,  said in a telephone interview there are four state representatives with  ties to the project and a “double-digit number” on local boards and  commissions. He declined to release their names, saying to do so would  violate their privacy, though he said some have “outed” themselves.  
The officials already are wielding influence, he said. For example, a  Free Stater elected to a planning board in a town near Keene, which he  would not identify, swayed the board to vote against a zoning ordinance  restricting new big box stores, a measure the Free State member said  unfairly restricted property rights.   (((Yay Wal-Mart! Liberty forever!)))
The Free State Project is the brainchild of Jason Sorens, a State  University of New York-Buffalo political science professor who published  an article in 2001 in the online magazine Libertarian Enterprise  outlining the idea. “Government should be there to protect people’s  rights but otherwise allow for the maximum amount of freedom,” Sorens  said in a telephone interview. “It goes back to John Locke and Thomas  Jefferson.”
  The article made a splash in libertarian circles, and in 2003, some  2,500 followers of Sorens voted to make New Hampshire their laboratory,  believing that the state’s flinty individualism would jibe with its view  of small government, limited to “protecting life, liberty, and  property.” Then former governor Craig Benson endorsed the group’s plan,  and would-be revolutionaries began trickling into the state.  
Unlike militia groups in the West, (((sorta))) Free Staters are not loners who seek  to live solitary existences undisturbed by government intrusion. “You  tend to find people [in the Free State Project] who are happy to live in  cities and towns and who want to persuade people that freedom is better  than tyranny,” Swearingen said in an interview.  
There was no concerted plan to make Keene a focal point. But when  high-profile activists, such as Ian “Freeman” Bernard, host of “Free  Talk Live,” (((he must be a lively guy))) a nationally syndicated radio program, and Lauren Canario, a  veteran civil disobedience activist, (((her too))) found their way here, others  followed. Today, Keene counts several dozen outspoken Free Staters and  more who operate less flamboyantly. The Keene Free Staters tend toward  the far end of the Free State Project spectrum, believing that  government should not just be limited, but eradicated.
  On a recent day, six Free Staters gathered at a Panera’s in Keene to  talk about the Project. The members hailed from across the country —  Oklahoma, Florida, California, Nevada. Many are single men; the majority  are computer programmers. (((Does this revelation surprise you? Me neither.))) They tend to speak in precise diction and with  overarching politeness. (((Well put, Sarah.))) But at the mention of government, they betray a  brimming anger and declare zealous dedication to the Free State Project.  
“Short of death — no limits,” said Canario, the lone woman at the  gathering, who spent over a month in jail when she refused to provide  identification or speak to a police officer who pulled her over for  speeding. (((Okay, when you see one lone woman at a meeting of programmers and she’s all like “short of death no limits,” we’re looking at a Joan of Arc scene. I hope somebody has the movie rights to this.)))
  The Free Staters said they have no plans to temper their acts of civil  disobedience, and if anything, will ramp up their attacks on the court  system for not permitting them to film in the lobby. (Court officials  say the ban is necessary to prevent the filming of children or domestic  violence victims who may be present in the lobby.) (((Oooooo.)))
  But Free Staters, keenly aware of their image, have undertaken a public  relations campaign. Hoping to end the use of parking meters, Free  Staters have fanned out across Keene on recent afternoons to place  nickels in expired meters, leaving notes on windshields signed “Robin of  Keene.”
  For inspiration, they say they need look no further than to Miller’s  jailing and hunger strike, which he ended Sunday. The 30-something son  of a Dallas police officer faces one misdemeanor count of resisting  arrest, said Miller and Ivy Walker, his acting legal counsel.  
During an interview in the airless visitors room of Cheshire County  Jail, Miller said he has scratched “FreeKeene” into a wall with his  thumb (((with his thumb. Nice one.))) and befriended other inmates, who gave him their milk. Still, he  said, jail has only reinforced his abiding conviction that government,  as constituted, is an enslaver.
  ”I see Free Staters as the modern-day abolitionists,” he said.   (((Okay, ADBUSTERS goes for nihilist revolution while Libertarians are feeding nickels to parking meters — I think it’s time to ratchet the BEYOND THE BEYOND “Political Instability Meter” to “Condition Orange.”)))

2009-05-11T08:52:00.001+03:00

Wire of the week

from Reuters "California fire claims 77 homes, tools suspected"

2009-05-04T09:02:00.001+03:00

Britain's secret spy-on-every-call-and-email plan already well underway

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6211101.ece

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/03/britains-secret-spy-.htm

More on UK wire/Internet tapping - im saddened again - where is the law in this case-

What with Riot Police at all protests, Police killing inocent people, the secret service now monitoring every machine in the uk - 1984 is looking pretty chilled in comparison.

:(

2009-04-29T13:45:00.001+03:00

from a recent Interview with Paul Graham

"Maybe I could be characterised as an ageing eccentric in a city gone feral and abandoned to coastal climate change, who lends from his collection of tattered novels to the other residents who've stayed behind, and who occasionally gets a bit drunk and maudlin before climbing on to his roof and playing electric guitar at a moon distorted by heat shimmer... or maybe that's how I'll write myself into one of my own stories!

That said, British writer and editor Ian Whates recently told me that he plans to use me as a character in a book he's writing; apparently I will be portrayed as a scruffy know-it-all who holds forth on bizarre subjects in a particular drinking establishment. I suspect this is what Hollywood refers to as 'type-casting'..."

I dont know but i think this pretty much describes me to a T

2009-04-05T13:53:00.000+03:00

Police 'assaulted' bystander who died during G20 protests

this saddens me a lot.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/05/g20-protest-ian-tomlinson

2009-03-17T19:03:00.002+03:00

Police using recently implemented powers to criminalise members of the public

summer of discontent here we come :(

this saddens me a lot

2009-03-12T07:26:00.000+03:00

Vanishing movies

With every new shift in media technology, from 16mm to VHS, from traditional broadcast to cable TV, from VHS to DVD, huge numbers of films are lost, says Facets Multi-Media executive director Milos Stehlik, who includes such titles as Robert Downey's Chafed Elbows, Abbas Kiarostami's Where Is the Friend’s House?, Glauber Rocha's Antonio Das Mortes, and Leslie Harris’s Just Another Girl on the IRT among the films he fears will disappear in a post-VHS culture.

http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/the-vanishing-20090226

2009-03-10T07:27:00.003+03:00

Im saddened and depressed by this news : UK police monitor protests and journalists who cover the protests and then compile secret a database on them .

Survelance state in the UK now disturbs me to such an extent that i ask the question do i want to return home?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/police-surveillance-protesters-journalists-climate-kingsnorth

Image306

2009-03-03T11:37:00.001+03:00

2009-03-03T09:26:00.000+03:00

facinating history of the genres of dance music

2009-02-23T12:53:00.001+03:00

Longtime no post, all quiet in doha at the moment, not much to report, trying to work out a holiday plan, if there is one to be had, April.... hmm.

July is looking like im taking most of the month off, with croatia, wales, london, and oxford.

Newsroom continues apace, changes seem to happen daily, out with the old, in with the new. chaos rules as normal.

2009-02-12T09:00:00.002+03:00

Boo YA! Ive just been invited to TEDglobal in oxford!

http://www.ted.com

Keeble College Oxford.

Topics for discussion this year.

What makes big cities function?
What is an accomplished life?
Which universe do we live in?
Is life a mathematical equation?
Where does motivation come from?
Who's defining the new geopolitical map?
Can robots think?
Can we design the air we breathe?
What's the economic impact of terrorism?
Is modern art relevant?
Should we fear faith?
What do top-secret places look like?
What's the true nature of modern crime?
Can a solar-powered plane fly?

2009-02-05T09:03:00.003+03:00

Todays post is brought to you by the letter G

Interesting linguistic problem has intreegued me since i returned from HK to find that the chineese call the 'white man' gualo

why do several very distinct cultures call the whiteman names beginning with the letter G

Gringo - Hispanic
Gora - Indian
Gualo - Chineese
Gaijin - Japanese

anyone else have names for the whiteman beginning with G?

2008-12-24T11:26:00.001+03:00

State of the Union 2008

October saw me complete my second year at AJE here in Doha, time passes slowly in some respects (it sometimes feels like ive lived here a lifetime) and quickly in others.

My original game plan was to spend 2 years out here, but that time has passd

AJE as a channel continues at a break neck pace to where im not sure, HR & finance continue to continue at a pace that im not sure is measurable.

I got a big promotion this year, I now head up the Media Management Unit along with the many other jobs I do on a daily basis.

I discovered the joys of tailored clothes, thanks to my tailor here in Doha.

I returned to the garden festival, I traveled a lot.

The most significant person in my life moved to Doha, initially on a 3 month contract but fingers crossed on a full time basis into 2009.

Ru moved out of the Southbank flat, Kathrin moved in.

Sister bought a flat in Bermondsey, parental units left Romania and planning on heading to Abhu Dhabi in early 2009.

The future….

I head out on holiday to Hong Kong for a short trip in Jan 09. I’ve booked tickets for garden 09, have weddings in the UK other than that I think im going to be in doha for a while.

2008-12-04T09:38:00.000+03:00

A quick personal update as I havnt done one for a while

Im still in Doha, still swamped with work, things here have gone from surreal to Dadaistic

– I veer on a daily basis from Elation to thoughts of packing it all in and heading home it been 2 years and 2 months here in this sandy town,

– Doha is expanding at what seems to be a exponential rate with the good things and bad that go with it

Good

There are things to do – Concerts, Jazz, Galleries & Museums have opened – this is infinitely better.

I have moved up in the company – I have a team (my old team infact) im involved with a number of exciting company projects, and I relish the challenge.

Bad

With the increase in population comes an epic increase in traffic – what was a 20 min commute now takes over an hour

Corporate bureaucracy is now at an all time high, Overtime from august still not paid, Qatarisation is now in full flow, I believe things are now traveling backwards. God bless western HR & Finance departments – you are gods people do not understand how good they have it.

Personally im getting back into creativity, im going to start printing again, I bought a screen, photo masque chemicals, inks & a squeegee. First project Christmas cards. Then personal calling cards the question of where to buy lazer printable OHP paper in Doha rears its ugly head :/

2008-12-02T11:56:00.000+03:00

Here Here Neil Gaiman, i agree whole heartedly - always defend free speech, no matter how offensive i think something is i will always defend someones right to say what they want to say.

I am increacingly concerned about the turning tide of freedom in britan, having re-read V for Vendetta its getting awfully precient. the increacing big brotherification of the place i call home is now scaring me. I work for an organisation that gives voices to the voiceless in a country with a terible human rights record, i find it hard to reconsile the two on a daily basis. i by virtue of my skin colour and the nationality of my passports i am garaunteed rights but i see headlines that make my skin crawl. maybe i should get used to dichotomy.

i echo Neils sentiments as well "
(And let it be understood that I think that child pornography, and the exploitation of actual children for porn or for sex is utterly wrong and bad, because actual children are being directly harmed. And also that I think that prosecuting as child pornographers a 16 and 17 year old who were legally able to have sex, because they took a sexual photograph of themselves and emailed it to themselves is utterly, insanely wrong, and a nice example of the law as blunt instrument.) "

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/12/why-defend-freedom-of-icky-speech.html

2008-11-08T13:01:00.001+03:00

well this week was the week of weeks, America has a new president elect, i have emerged from the election process in one piece (just) - and i remember why i dont do overnights -

well i took some photos of the crews in action over the night and most turned out great. first time i saw so many people smiling as obama gave his acceptance speech it was amazing.

on other notes ive been here for over 2 years now - on one front it went very fast in others it seems to have been a lifetime i will write a proper summary soon but its been a turbulent time.

hugs to one and all who still read this very occasional missive

.M.

2008-09-29T11:06:00.000+03:00

Its the year of weddings for me, quite a few, and im having to turn some down,

So far plans to travel to the following

Ghistlain & Armands in london

Lou & Olly's in wales - tho this is tricky as its the same as the

2nd weekend of the garden festival.

Ive had to turn Alice & Max down in berlin.

the Perth one may get turned down too

2008-09-29T11:01:00.000+03:00

My new favourite news page/agregator

Polymeme.com - decribed as the Polymaths guide to news and ideas - its like a grownup web based A&L daily - based on buzz tracking

always facinating articles

2008-09-29T10:57:00.000+03:00

Facinating article on Quality Vs Quantity Vs Timleyness of video in breaking news

http://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/video-quality-vs-quantity-debate-rages-on/

2008-09-18T14:19:00.000+03:00

End of the summer

Was this summer the last summer of my youth, my friends report aches and pains,Reporting being tired, flatend defeated waking up in the morning is difficult, longterm heath issues no longer just niggles, now serious, in a word exhausted.

Its always been the end of summer that has been indicitave of change to me, the end of the long heady days playing in the garden as a child, late warm nights drinking in the park then pub gardens as a teen ager, late night playing & dancing the nights away at festivals as a young man.

is this generaly symptomatic of the uk, are we feeling the chill of the last days of cool britania, i know the heady days of 1999-2004 are long gone, but were we enjoying an indian summer through 06&07 ?

What now as a man, no longer a boy, what now the world is ending, what we took as normal, as given with the easy credit, easy lifestyle we all took for granted, as the world slides into an ever increacing mess, the collapse of the capatalist world - is this the end of rome, is the us government playing nero as rome burns?

this strikes me as i come to the end of my 20s, i am more serious, i dont feel like playing anymore, those things i took as granted are gone, i no longer play, i am harder and faster and now the best i have ever been, professionaly and personaly those days that were summer are gone, that which was for play are gone, the end of autum approach and the winter which is for work and settleing in for quiet days in front of the fire with those i care about.

2008-09-15T13:58:00.000+03:00

"The true fetishist has become he or she who abstains from consummation while the rest of society gets its kicks in a post-modern pornutopia in which all manner of experiences can be had with all comers and myriad things. The celibate are stigmatised as freakish, thwarted. And yet the great surveyed platitude among consenting adults is that most would rather sleep than screw; a kink at which uncontracepted generations would surely have gawked. "

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/consummation/consummation-a-very-peculiar-practice-928429.html

2008-09-04T11:16:00.001+03:00

well im back in doha after a wonderful couple of days in london, some good times were had with the people that mean the most to me in the whole world.

its strange after having lost contact (well not really having lost contact whilst here in doha, but not having properly caught up with some old friends) how easily you slip back into that old comfort zone.

how do you deal with the innevitable loss that after your breif meeting, parting brings.
on another note im still a shameless cad, but after the last few lonley months what is a boy to do?

2008-08-21T09:31:00.001+03:00

im becoming obsessed with the obey graph print line - im loving the latest ones

http://obeygiant.com

2008-08-18T13:43:00.001+03:00

another momentous day in news, musharraf has resigned.

2008-08-10T12:01:00.000+03:00

There is something quite strange and morbid about watching all this footage coming out of georgia & south osettia, a town i knew, a people i had the honour of meeting ever so breifly last time round.

my heart goes out to you as you prepare for a war you can not win,

there is something deeply bizarre looking at the quad split of the feeds and seeing beijing and olympics footage above watching russian and georgian troops, receiving breaking news wires about olympic golds, next to talk of humanitarian corridors.

2008-08-07T14:07:00.001+03:00

Well have just booked my flights im in london from the 22nd until the 1st.

give me an email if you want to hook up, tho the schedule is filling up.

.M.

2008-07-30T09:56:00.000+03:00

"But just because they read about our ways on Boing Boing doesn't mean they can rock a true neo-Victorian lifestyle. It takes a lot of time and a lot of welding."

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/25steampunk.html

2008-07-28T10:57:00.000+03:00

Well ive been offline for a while, a long trip back top the garden, then a dead macbook pro hasnt helped

Im now ensconced in my new job in the newsroom, sat on superdesk, facilitating communications, solving problems and CSVing, as well as managing the media desk. upside is im now working a 8hr day on a regular sunday-thursday shift! woot!

2008-06-23T16:06:00.000+03:00

what ive been reading:

The 10cent plague: a romp through the history of the american comic industry and the faux morality thrown at it by the mothers & church groups of the mid-west.facinating read both on the history of comics and morality of the mid-west.

In Athena's Camp; preparing for warfare in the information age: origionaly prepared for the Rand Institute & the Secratary of defence; a dry but worthy tombe on the changes to military afairs when ever informational systems change, rangiong from genghis khan through napolian to the gulf war, a read for those interested in how information changes things - in this case warfare.

Video over IP, a practical guide: typical focal press textbook, its like fiber flakes, its dull dry and very chewey, but ultimatley good for you.

Strange Attractor Journal Three: Whimsical and facinating collection of journalistic articles from the fringes, everything from zootoxins & psychodelics, to recountings of travels to balanese transvestite festivals. - good stuff.

Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris: ecelent foodie book on paris, havnt been for a while but will be packing it when i get there.

The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novel); my obsession with the dark tower septet is known, good adaptation in graphic novel form. nuff said

DMZ Vol. 4: Friendly Fire - darker and moodier than previous versions. god its good.

2008-06-21T19:23:00.000+03:00

just a quick line to assure you im not dead, im still in qatar, been mad busy at work, and about to head off to croatia for a much needed break.

will be blogging hard on

http://gardenexit.blogspot.com/

as the shenanagens happen it will be there

.M.

2008-04-27T16:26:00.000+03:00

Gin, TV & Cognitave Surplus

A facinating transcript about the spare time and brain power people have in their lives and the social means people use to 'soak up' this spare time

"...Something that people in the media world don't understand. Media in the 20th century was run as a single race--consumption. How much can we produce? How much can you consume? Can we produce more and you'll consume more? And the answer to that question has generally been yes. But media is actually a triathlon, it 's three different events. People like to consume, but they also like to produce, and they like to share. "

http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html

2008-04-18T09:53:00.000+03:00

Finaly an action toy i can be prowd of

http://www.nickdewar.com/nick_dewar_illustration_pictures.php#nogo

2008-04-02T14:45:00.000+03:00

Well im heading back to london on friday - im avalible friday onward - email me if you want to meet up - im around in london till the 15th.

Probably going to the Belleruche Gig at the luminare, Daft pink at the BCB, and a few other things - give us a shout for details

2008-03-26T14:24:00.000+03:00

Two new jackets about to be deployed

2008-03-17T19:45:00.000+03:00

Just bought myself this little beauty of a print - turned up in great condition - not sure who its by but is up my street image wise, mid 20th centuary urban landscape in portrate in block colour

2008-03-17T14:29:00.000+03:00

more body armour lying around the office

2008-03-08T14:53:00.000+03:00

Nothing like the strangley dadaistic aspect of opening a newspaper in doha - this week the guardian weekly - Censorship of a picabia - shown in an article about the new tate modern show.

To add to the generally quite surreal aspect of censoring a major and well know artwork, the sticker is A) partialy transparent B) self adhesive - that would be quite easily removed without too much issue

I wonder what one of the Dadaists would think! perhaps a social comment on censorship itself

2008-03-08T12:48:00.001+03:00

An awesomly brutal breakbeat remix of portal type stuff: from ectomo

by some guys called victims of science

2008-03-07T17:40:00.000+03:00

free accident

2008-03-02T07:31:00.000+03:00

Aaagh! It's The Mr. Hell Show!

on youtube - yay - bizzaro late nightys cartoon with pointed satirical teeth.

this clip - Serge the millitant seal - he's funny, furry & a psychopath!

i love the fact his sidkick is a rabbit foot called lucky

2008-02-28T20:45:00.002+03:00

Belleruche new album

well some good news - heard from kathrin that the new album is nearly finished!! w00t!

2008-02-23T15:32:00.000+03:00

god bless google books: information from long out of prints on the shin & sosaku hanga movements (creative print movement) on both father and son Hide & Yuzaburo Kawanishi.

Their prints have long facinated me, I have a Yuzaburo of Kobe bay in the 1960s - that belonged to my grandfather - given to him by the artist himself. i have long wanted a Hide of Kobe bay to match it.

for those not not familliar with the pairs work they are charachterised by bold vibrant colours with a distinct lack of black outlines - typical of the classical Ukio-e movements that had come earlier (and distinctive to traditional japanese prints)

the distinction between shin hanga and sosaku hanga - is this the litteral differance that all the work was created by one artist - the blocks, the inking and the printing in the case of shin, in the case of sosaku all the processes were done by different artists/craftsmen.

what facinates me about the movement is the pure use of colour - whimsical yet serious

2008-02-22T19:45:00.000+03:00

AJE RESUPLY

anyone ever wondered what it looks like when the re-supply of equipment comes in for a tv-station?

here you go

2008-02-21T18:24:00.000+03:00

Spam poetry of the week:

"Admiral-I do admire you, I said, standing and turning to the intern the Meadows of Medicine, while just beyond is the Museum of Mankind."

ive said it before - i love this bayesian poison poetry

2008-02-17T17:03:00.003+03:00

another day another few announcements from the quiet newsroom at aljazeera,

firstly a sad one: Naveed Alvi a colleague, was killed a couple of days ago in a tragic road accident involving a boat coming off its trailer, he was a much loved person in the channel. he will be missed,

second: a very good friend (for now cant mention their name) possibly my best friend out here has resigned, im going to miss them deeply - but i have to say its the right decision for them, they have been struggling with the workplace and their boss for some time - i wish them the best of luck - and if your reading it - love you my friend - may the future bring you great happiness - as you certainly haven't had it here, and you deserve it.

and here a great discussion panel with josh at the USC Public Diplomacy center

2008-02-16T11:47:00.001+03:00

Its been about a month and a half since ive previously written, ive not dropped of the face of the earth, but nothing has happened in the interim. work carries on, any number of people resign, ive lost count, i think around 45 have resigned in the last 2 months.

for posterity i write the names i can rember and care about

Tracy Cork
Richard & Gil
Wozza
Tony Chapman
James Cambourne
Nadene Ghouri
Charlotte Sever
Clair O'Hagen
Sam Robertson
and others that i cant remember or cant include

Its a massive loss, weve gone from bleeding out,now were hemoraging hard, we now seriously need a trauma surgeon, a bandaid will not do.

Ive met some new people, become obsessed with Rescue Me, Season 5 of the wire has started and im dreaming of london & croatia.

For people reading this im planning to be in london at the start of april for 10days - get your bids in now.

2008-02-16T11:12:00.001+03:00

a few photos from work on a very quiet day

Al Jazeera English Doha 2008

2008-01-04T15:12:00.000+03:00

first killer quote from bruces rant

"My guess is that, among your list, Dubai has got the best chance to be
called "quaint" one of these years. It's built on oil and
autocracy.... its got a phantom-like, Fatehpur Sikri feeling to it,
like a Las Vegas desert dream. Maybe it can thrive as an offshore
colony for India. In much the way that, say, Vegas seems really sexy
and sophisticated to someone from Omaha.
"

2008-01-04T14:53:00.000+03:00

well its that time of year again, Chairman Bruce is hosting his anual state of the union address

http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/317/Bruce-Sterling-State-of-the-Worl-page01.html

2007-12-22T13:25:00.001+03:00

so ive been back in London for a week, and its all going well, maybe a little too well to be honest,

ive been out far too much, drunk far too much, not gone to bed twice, been to the theatre twice, been to house partys drunk ridiculous amounts of champagne, acted inappropriately on far too many occasions, to be honest im channelling a mix between sid james and terry thomas right now, i cant tell if im on a rampage or out of control or just simply letting my hair down.

i can tell you this for nothing London is a fantastic place to be, ive missed it, ive missed my friends here, ive missed the life i had here, and i dont know if i want to go back to doha, i dont know if i can afford to stay tho either financially or career wise.

im at one of those cross roads in my life that i am really questioning what im doing and why im doing it, do i want to work in the media business, do i want to work in news, what do i want in the long term?

some conclusions ive made, im not getting any younger, im not getting any happier in doha, i want to find someone and settle down with.

one thing these days have illustrated is how alone i am in doha, i have beautiful friends in doha but no one im going to change the world for, no one im going to change the world with.

whats a boy to do?

2007-12-18T11:48:00.000+03:00

back in London, 4 days on, 6 parties and a full day in the pub, theatre & a hang over the size of western Europe, a new sport invented and having fallen asleep on the circle line later, i think im back.

2007-12-05T10:50:00.000+03:00

a beautiful collection of late comunist era photos

I dont know what it is but there beautiful, so stark and yet so emotive of what must surley have been a troubled time

http://davidhlynsky.com/windowshoppages/pro_1IHaveBeenSupressed.html

2007-11-24T14:37:00.000+03:00

Just started my new occasional blog looking at the spooky world of clebrity grills

http://celebritygrill.blogspot.com/

2007-11-12T10:24:00.000+03:00

A Pair Of Jackets & Kevlar Helmets about to go to the programes dept

2007-11-11T15:58:00.000+03:00

office body armour watch

2007-11-03T14:04:00.001+03:00

i heard this quote just over a year ago, and i have to say im now a firm beleiver

'"People move through their lives sometimes without really thinking about where they're going. The days pile up, and they get sadder and lonelier, without really knowing how they got so sad, or why they're so lonely. Then something happens... they meet someone who looks a certain way, or has something in their smile. Maybe that's all that falling in love is. Finding someone who makes you feel a little less alone."
'

2007-11-02T16:13:00.001+03:00

Is it wrong that I live for the day I will leave this god forsaken country, this god forsaken channel, this god forsaken network, I nearly resigned today for the 3rd time, but got talked down for the third time by managers that I trust, with the same old line don’t worry it will get better.

It hasn’t but why do I always fall for the same old line?

2007-10-21T09:08:00.000+03:00

a great micro documentry about the history of the 'amen' break and the resulting subcultures of Hiphop & dance music

2007-10-14T16:00:00.000+03:00

a quick note - on my ongoing research on narrative betrayl as a literary concept - this story peaked my interest, one of those crazy as batshit only on the internet type stories -

that of Jenna St James - Internet Faker and fraudster - having duped a poor woman into a 2 year relationship

http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/the-life-and-death-of-jesse-james/17427/

http://pieceofcakey.blogspot.com/

Part 2 of the easter european opus is up

2007-10-11T20:53:00.001+03:00

on run-riot.com - go read it - its good, its by me!

belleruche news

2007-10-11T20:52:00.001+03:00

my very good friend got reviewed in the london metro today

"BELLERUCHE
Soul-infused funk with a smattering of hip hop from this ultra-cool trio..."

so frikkin cool!!!

2007-10-11T14:30:00.000+03:00

Part 2 of the opus is up:

Serbia, Novisad, the Exit Festival

http://www.run-riot.com/node/702

2007-10-08T15:32:00.000+03:00

Everything is hard to do including leaving permanatly - this comes from a dear friend of mine

When it’s time to go – here’s a brief overview of some of the things you’ll need to be aware of.

- BEFORE you resign

– if you have any credit cards you can do without, cancel them. (this affects the freezing of your bank account)
- IF you have a pet to take home, find out all the details of what you need to do to organize their stuff
- If you have a bank loan for your car, try and sell to clear the debt (bank will freeze your account to the value of all potential liabilities, including credit cards)
- You will need a letter from the bank for the Transfer of your car (to say you don’t owe any money on it)
- You will need a letter from yourself to give to the Insurance company saying you have no objection to selling the car (go figure!!)

Resignation
- Send your resignation to your line manager and the HR department
- Make sure you get confirmation of receipt from HR (they lost mine)
- Get a copy of the ‘Clearance’ form
- You will need a letter from the bank stating that you have no liabilities, so that AJE can make the final payment
- Do a rough calculation of what is owed to you including:

Pension – one month’s pay per year, pro rata
Leave – any unused leave, pro rata
Flights – value of any unused flights (pro rata, Jan-Dec)
Medicals – any reimbursements not yet paid

The clearance form - requires 7 signatures.

About a month before you are leaving, it’s good to chat with HR (Jad) and go through the form. He will tell you who needs to sign each section of the form, for each department. For example, in Finance, see Carol who will check all items and then Yasser will sign. He suggests that the form is completed a week before leaving the company, although some sections cannot be signed off. Your Residence permit needs to be cancelled by external affairs (Saeed) but cannot be done LESS than 7 days before you leave the country, otherwise a penalty is charged if it is cancelled too early.

The following is an exerpt from an email Debs sent me after she had gone, about a week before I was leaving:

Go to Al Saad branch of Qtel pay your last bill then go to Customer services and ask to have your account closed and a confirmation letter. (you will need copies of your id card, employee card and passport to order the letter which takes 24hours) They will take your money and have the letter ready the next day. AS for electricity - I couldn't even pay my last bill because it hadn't been issued - they don't have a system for taking meter readings - I printed the latest account off the internet - showing zero balance and gave them the bill. As long as you've closed your credit cards and internet banking card and have paid off your car loan then getting the clearance letter from your bank should only take one day.

You want to have HR and Admin sign off on your form so they can start processing your final payment. I guess from today you should; close Qtelpay water/elec and get zero bill

make Telal from IT sign your form and arrange for him to close your account from the date you leave

Get your bank account closed (take all of your cash out) and get your clearance letter.

Get Fareed to sign your Admin (need Qtel & Water bills for that)

Then Get HR to sign it off - you will need your bank clearance letter.
Get Carol Hinz in finance to sign off - she will be the one to query the school fees and agree final settlement.
Then Finance can start to process your final payment cheque. Try and get all of this done by the end of the week and then email Carol and Jad in saying that all of the paperwork is completed and you'd like to be able to pick up your final settlement cheque on Wednesday.

Speak to Nasser about your exit visas - they will probably take all of your passports to have the residency cancelled. By 1400 on Weds you should have your cheque and passports

2007-10-07T17:11:00.000+03:00

Claps hands in glee - rabbit sent me postcard! - looks like i may be falling a rabbit hole over the next few weeks

http://www.apostcardfromrabbit.wordpress.com/

2007-09-30T23:11:00.000+03:00

Back at work on my new 60hr working week - hmm less said the better

just finished part two of the eastern european opus - 3,500 words - up on run-riot in the next week or so

2007-09-25T19:28:00.001+03:00

part one of the opus is up on run riot http://www.run-riot.com/HeapInEasternEuropePartOne

2000 word part 1 of a 3 part epic monster

>As afternoon turned into night and we were enjoying far to many frosty cold Croatian beers, we made our way to the main stage to see Crazy P play, and in the middle of the dance floor we found a permanent paddling pool built into the dance floor itself. The main stage wound up at midnight, and we found ourselves dancing in the nightclub till dawn to the sounds of the Faith crew, with Stewart Patterson and Terry Farley representing.

2007-09-25T19:28:00.000+03:00

2007-09-23T15:56:00.000+03:00

"A human being should be able to change a diaper,
plan an invasion,
butcher a hog,
conn a ship,
design a building,
write a sonnet,
balance accounts,
build a wall,
set a bone,
comfort the dying,
take orders,
give orders,
cooperate,
act alone,
solve equations,
analyze a new problem,
pitch manure,
program a computer,
cook a tasty meal,
fight efficiently and die gallantly.

...
Specialization is for insects."

- Robert A Heinlein

2007-09-22T17:01:00.000+03:00

more bizarre music

J-Hop/J-tronic duo mashing it up fat beat stylee, i like the animation too~1!

2007-09-22T17:00:00.000+03:00

another hyper bizarre music taste from me - bollywood ragga in polish!

2007-09-22T13:36:00.000+03:00

Latest installment in office body armour: Kevlar with plates, and balistic helmet perched on chair

2007-09-22T11:40:00.000+03:00

the worlds first interactive film is back in prague: Kinoautomat

a hit as Czechoslovakia's entry at the 1967 Expo - before the country's communist authorities effectively killed it off. Now however, four decades later, it has been revived in Prague.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/92388

2007-09-21T18:18:00.001+03:00

Long-time no post - for this i must apologise dear reader - i have been hectic in the work arena for too long - boss & boss's boss have departed so the volume of bureaucracy has increased exponentially - notable things to happen recently

1) Ramadan has started - which makes many things impossible to do, all alcohol vending has stopped for a month - so that means my personal stash of alcohol has been built up to nearly siege type proportions - at the moment i have 22 litres of wine, 6 bottles of vodka 6 of scotch, a bottle of vermouth - i hope i should get through the next 3 weeks.

2) the weather has cooled down - its down to low forties at midday so normal life is re-occuring - without sprinting from AC'd place to the next.

3) Diet & fitness plans are progressing - have lost 3 stone and i think i have another 2 to go.

4) hosted a great leaving party for my boss last wed prior to ramadan

5) continuing to blog on run-riot

more soon

.M.

I have a feeling autum is in the air

2007-09-02T14:52:00.001+03:00

there was a slight nip in the air last night, i say nip i dont mean it was cold, its not so hot as soon as you walk out the door you break into an immediate sweat, your glasses steam up. it was a very pleasent 35 degrees at about 3.30am, the first time ive been in the pool for a number of months

2007-09-01T10:31:00.000+03:00

Ive been very moved recently by this blog, very very painful writing, Pended by a young anonamous sex worker.

on talking about working life - "Painful like being fat growing up and having people yell lardass at you out car windows and strangers approaching you on the street to tell you to lose weight. Painful like being a 13-year-old girl saving her virginity for marriage and being held down and robbed of that. I am embarrassed to talk about my pain, about the times I have been hurt. Especially when the road there was tricky and circuitous and partially of my own design. It’s hard for me to sift through the detritus, much easier to poke fun, to glam it up, to be some badass character."

2007-09-01T10:06:00.000+03:00

lHey Guys - sorry i havent written for a while - ive just been caught up in other things, two posts come to mind

Ive become nearly obsessed with a new internet video podcast, The midwest teen sex show - this thing is funny man - think chris morris of the internet generation, dry whitty good fun and always about my favourite topic - however posibly NSFW because of subject matter rather than content.

The episodes are parodies of those awfully hip school sex-ed videos, each one on a theem - Female masterbation, Dating older boys, Birthcontrol etc. etc.

none of it should be taken seriously

2007-08-24T10:38:00.000+03:00

Hmm - this is sounding familiar

NEW TP POOL REGULATIONS
I've been asked to distribute the new regulations regarding office pool displays. The enclosed memo is a new subchapter of the EBGOC Procedure Manual, replacing the old subchapter entitled PHYSICAL PLANT/CALIFORNIA/LOS ANGELES/BUILDINGS/OFFICE AREAS/PHYSICAL LAYOUT REGULATIONS/EMPLOYEE INPUT/GROUP ACTIVITIES.
The old subchapter was a flat prohibition on the use of office space or time for "pool" activities of any kind whether permanent (e.g., coffee pool) or one-time (e.g., birthday parties).

This prohibition still applies, but a single, one-time exception has now been made for any office that wishes to pursue a joint bathroom-tissue strategy.

By way of introduction, let me just make a few general comments on this subject. The problem of distributing bathroom tissue to workers presents inherent challenges for any office management system due to the inherent unpredictability of usage - not every facility usage transaction necessitates the use of bathroom tissue, and when it is used, the amount needed (number of squares) may vary quite widely from person to person and, for a given person, from one transaction to the next.

This does not even take into account the occasional use of bathroom tissue for unpredictable/creative purposes such as applying/removing cosmetics, beverage-spill management, etc. For this reason, rather than trying to package bathroom tissue in small one-transaction packets (as is done with premoistened towelettes, for example), which can be wasteful in some cases and limiting in other cases, it has been traditional to package this product in bulk distribution units whose size exceeds the maximum amount of squares that an individual could conceivably use in a single transaction (barring force majeure). This reduces to a minimum the number of transactions in which the distribution unit is depleted (the roll runs out) during the transaction, a situation that can lead to emotional stress for the affected employee. However, it does present the manager with some challenges in that the distribution unit is rather bulky and must be repeatedly used by a number of different individuals if it is not to be wasted.

Since the implementation of Phase XVII of the Austerity Program, employees have been allowed to bring their own bathroom tissue from home. This approach is somewhat bulky and redundant, as every worker usually brings their own roll.

Some offices have attempted to meet this challenge by instituting bathroom-tissue pools.
Without overgeneralizing, it may stated that and inherent and irreducible feature of any bathroom-tissue pool implemented at the office level, in an environment (i.e., building) in which comfort stations are distributed on a per-floor basis (i.e., in which several offices share a single facility) is that provision must be made within the confines of the individual office for temporary stationing of bathroom tissue distribution units (i.e., rolls). This follows the fact the if the BTDUs (rolls) are stationed, while inactive, outside the purview of the controlling office (i.e., the office that has collectively purchased the BTDU)

- that is, if the BTDUs are stored, for example, in a lobby area or within the facility in which they are actually utilized, they will be subject to pilferage and "shrinkage" as unauthorized persons consume them, either as part of a conscious effort to pilfer or out of an honest misunderstanding, i.e., a belief that the BTDUs are being provided free of charge by the operating agency (in this case the United States Government), or as the result of necessity, as in the case of a beverage spill that is encroaching on sensitive electronic equipment and whose management will thus brook no delay. This fact has led certain offices (which shall go unnamed - you know who you are, guys) to establish makeshift BTDU depots that also serve as pool-contribution collection points. Usually, these depts take the form of a table, near the door closest to the facility, on which the BTDUs are stacked or otherwise deployed, with a bowl or some other receptacle in which participants may place their contributions, and typically with a sign or other attention-getting device (such as a stuffed animal or cartoon) requesting donations. A quick glance at the current regulations will show that placement of such a display/depot violates the procedure manual. However, in the interests employee hygiene, morale, and group spirit-building, my higher-ups have agreed to make a one-time exception in the regulations for this purpose.

As with any part of the procedure manual, new or old, it is your responsibility to be thoroughly familiar with this material. Estimated reading time for this document is 15.62 minutes (and don't think we won't check). Please make note of the major points made in this document, as follows:

1) BTDU depot/displays are now allowed, on a trial basis, with the new policy to be reviewed in six months.

2) These must be operated on a voluntary, pool-type basis, as described in the subchapter on employee pools. (Note: This means keeping books and tallying all financial transactions.)

3) BTDUs must be brought in by the employees (not shipped through the mailroom) and are subject to all the usual search-and-seizure regulations.

4) Scented BTDUs are prohibited as they may cause allergic reactions, wheezing, etc. in some persons.

5) Cash pool donations, as with all monetary transactions within the U.S. Government, must use official U.S. currency

Naturally, this will lead to a bulk problem if people try to use the donation bucket as a dumping ground for bundles of old billion- and trillion-dollar bills. The Buildings and Grounds people are worried about waste-disposal problems and the potential fire hazard that may ensue if large piles of billions and trillions begin to mount up. Therefore, a key feature of the new regulation is that the donation bucket must be emptied every day - more often if an excessive build-up situation is seen to develop.

In this vein, the B & G people would also like me to point out that many of you who have excess U.S. currency to get rid of have been trying to kill two birds with one stone by using old billions as bathroom tissue. While creative, this approach has two drawbacks:

1) It clogs the plumbing, and

2) It constitues defacement of U.S. currency, which is a federal crime.

DON'T DO IT.

Join your local office bathroom-tissue pool instead. It's easy, it's hygienic, and it's legal.

Happy pooling!

2007-08-15T17:13:00.000+03:00

On Being Shot - by George Orwell

The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think it is worth describing in detail.

It was at the corner of the parapet, at five o'clock in the morning. This was always a dangerous time, because we had the dawn at our backs, and if you stuck your head above the parapet it was clearly outlined against the sky. I was talking to the sentries preparatory to changing the guard. Suddenly, in the very middle of saying something, I felt -- it is very hard to describe what I felt, though I remember it with the utmost vividness.

Roughly speaking it was the sensation of being at the center of an explosion. There seemed to be a loud bang and a blinding flash of light all around me, and I felt a tremendous shock - no pain, only a violent shock, such as you get from an electric terminal; with it a sense of utter weakness, a feeling of being stricken and shriveled up to nothing. The sandbags in front of me receded into immense distance. I fancy you would feel much the same if you were struck by lightning. I knew immediately that I was hit, but because of the seeming bang and flash I thought it was a rifle nearby that had gone off accidentally and shot me. All this happened in a space of time much less than a second. The next moment my knees crumpled up and I was falling, my head hitting the ground with a violent bang which, to my relief, did not hurt. I had a numb, dazed feeling, a consciousness of being very badly hurt, but no pain in the ordinary sense.
The American sentry I had been talking to had started forward. 'Gosh! Are you hit!' People gathered round. There was the usual fuss - 'Lift him up! Where's he hit? Get his shirt open!' etc., etc. The American called for a knife to cut my shirt open. I knew that there was one in my pocket and tried to get it open, but discovered that my right arm was paralyzed. Not being in pain, I felt a vague satisfaction. This ought to please my wife, I thought; she had always wanted me to be wounded, which would save me from being killed when the great battle came. It was only now that it occurred to me to wonder where I was hit, and how badly; I could feel nothing, but I was conscious that the bullet had struck me somewhere in the front of my body. When I tried to speak I found that I had no voice, only a faint squeak, but at the second attempt I managed to ask where I was hit. In the throat, they said, Harry Webb, our stretcher-bearer, had brought a bandage and one of the little bottles they gave us for field-dressings. As they lifted me up a lot of blood poured out of my mouth, and I heard a Spaniard behind me say that the bullet had gone clear through my neck. I felt the alcohol, which at ordinary times would sting like the devil, splash on the wound as a pleasant coolness.

They laid me down again while somebody fetched a stretcher. As soon as I knew that the bullet had gone clean through my neck I took it for granted I was done for. I had never heard of a man an animal getting a bullet through the middle of the neck and surviving it. The blood was dribbling out of the corner of my mouth. "The artery's gone," I thought. I wondered how long you last when your carotid artery is cut; not many minutes, presumably. Everything was very blurry. There must have been about two minutes during which I assumed I was killed. And that too was interesting -- I mean it is interesting to know what your thoughts would be at such a time. My first thought, conventionally enough, was for my wife. My second was violent resentment at having to leave this world which, when all is said and done, s me so well. I had time to feel this very vividly. The stupid mischance infuriated me. The meaninglessness of it! To be bumped off, not even in battle, but in this stale corner of the trenches, thanks to a moment's carelessness! I thought, too, of the man who had shot me -- wondered what he was like, whether he was a Spaniard or foreigner, whether he knew he had got me, and so forth. I could not feel any resentment against him. I reflected that as he was a Fascist I would have killed him if I could, but that if he had been taken prisioner and brought before me at this moment I would merely have congratulated him on his good shooting. It may be, though, that if you were really dying your thoughts would be quite different.

They had just got me on to the stretcher when my paralyzed right arm came to life and began hurting damnably. At the time I imagined that I must have broken it in falling; but the pain reassured me, for I knew that your sensations do not become more acute when you are dying. I began to feel more normal and to be sorry for the four poor devils who were sweating and slithering with the stretcher on their shoulders. It was a mile and a half to the ambulance, and vile going, over lumpy, slippery tracks. I knew what a sweat it was, having helped to carry a wounded man down a day or two earlier. The leaves of the silver poplars which, in places, finger our trenches brushed against my face; I thought what a good thing it was to be alive in a world where silver poplars grow. But all the while the pain in my arm was diabolical, making me swear and then try not to swear, because every time I breathed too hard the blood bubbled out of my mouth.

2007-08-10T17:06:00.000+03:00

Well ive been asked to become a contributing editor/blogger of the run-riot cultural web page

it describes itself as:

"free eclectic listing of counter culture events in London from the worlds of theatre, music, clubs, art and performance, Run-Riot takes you from the edge to the heart"

I intend to write extended peices about my life in doha and beyond, describing my so-called life, from the sublime to the redicioulous.

Run Riot blog

2007-08-10T13:45:00.000+03:00

A Typical Friday Moring

Im having a great morning this morning listening to the beta band and reading brian woods book demo - supping on a great single scource Rift Valley coffee

yesterday was great - think im 90% of the way to fixing my bricked wifi router - it did involve some scary parts including earthing out pin9 on the Eprom then rewriting the firmware with X-WRT

X-WRT is an open scource Graphical interface for OpenWRT - a fairly hardcore openscource instalation of unix for low level routers - which should give me access to a lot more of the routers functionality like Qos shaping in addition i can bump the strength of the radio signal to about 40mw from its measly 20mw which should make trying to get through the kryptonite walls a little easier.

Inshalla i can also get the router working as a Itunes server & reading an external unix USB Hdd (formatted as samba2)

Now i have the software running and functional with both the mac and the pony adsl router that qtel installed - i just have to work out how to write the final version to the Eprom.

anyway think its going to be a quiet techy day to day - may watch a film or two today - i have 300 & the lookout to lookforward to.

2007-08-06T17:54:00.000+03:00

an excellent essay on two films i recently had the up most pleasure in discovering - Before Sunrise & Before Sunset - i had the pleasure of watching them on 2 sequential nights.

1: in bed in a bad hotel in Novisad in Serbia,
2: in a 2nd class compartment crossing the border into Romania

Beautiful calm cinema, for silly romantics like me

for those who have seen the films, you know there some of the best works to be committed to celluloid

2007-08-05T12:21:00.000+03:00

a couple of videos of the garden party in zadar have popped up on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw_sSqhh3ms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HFR8-8B-zg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDcg_2BZrU0

2007-08-04T11:00:00.000+03:00

well im going to write a little bit now as i havnt updated the blog for a while, ive been back in doha a little longer than a week, and every thing is the same, its a little hotter – 55 today with 90% humidity the sand is still here, but a lot of people have left for the summer holidays, so the early morning commute isnt as bad and the driving on the road is a lot better.

Its an up hill struggle through to the end of October now – the heat of august, ramadan and eid are taking over September and October so things are going to be slow, with the imminent departure of my head of section and the departure of my boss things at work are going to become difficult at work for a while too until long term replacements are found.

Ive also decided to keep my head down for the time being and focus on 'me' stuff – im not going to be out and about as much as i was as i have a couple of personal projects that i need to get on top of. i also need to decide what i want to do with my future – as i have said to people before, i dont have much out here apart from my career and half a dozen great friends, also ive decided to continue the diet and try and take another 2 stone off – if i can get down to the weight i was at 17 i will be over the moon, i also need to try and get 'fit'.

2007-07-29T11:33:00.000+03:00

2007-07-29T11:30:00.000+03:00

Sorry I haven’t written sooner – yes im back – but I got hit with a dose of food poisoning on my return to Doha, so spent two days doubled up in pain, two nights of psychedelic dreams (the ones you get with bad) about trying to smuggle laser defense systems out of Russia via train.

Suffice to say the trip was fantastic, just what I needed – an escape from Doha – back to normality - well as normal as a 3 week trip to the ex-soviet block can be.

Croatia was stunning – thanks to eddie and gail for the party and the inspiration

Serbia and exit – were – well massive – I have never seen 50,000 people go off so hard as they did when prodigy played ‘out of space’

Mum and dad seem to be settling down without me again – I think there enjoying Romania – the transition of Romania into Europe seems to be fascinating – Romania is changing and changing fast.

2007-07-25T22:43:00.000+03:00

finaly home after a beautiful 3 weeks in the sun, will blog more after ive slept

2007-06-29T21:40:00.000+03:00

Well im loving this blog http://www.threadbared.com/

Razor sharp piss taking comentry on old sewing & knitting patterns

2007-06-29T20:10:00.000+03:00

Booo Ya! - "cautious" hope that a cure for AIDS could be found within 10 years. with new german ligase technique!

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2648728,00.html

2007-06-28T18:26:00.000+03:00

well im taking a much needed break from doha > persue my eastern european adventure here

http://gardenexit.blogspot.com/

i will mostly be taking photos like this

and like this