31.03.06
Lemmings…
Thanks to Señor Dargue for this weeks Friday Fun link. I present to you Lemmings for your web browser, written entirely in Javascript!
29.03.06
No more roadworks
We finally moved into our new flat last night. Its been a long time coming. In fact, we started looking back in November but due to one place falling through, some indecisiveness and us being fussy its taken this long to find somewhere.
As it happens the new flat is lovely. Suitably large, very cosy and with a spare bedroom (so get your flights booked… this year might well be your last chance to visit). Best of all, are the owners, who asked us what furniture we wanted and what colour we wanted the flat painted. Makes such a refreshing change to most of the money grabbing landlords I’ve had experience with.
Due to the size of the bed and the amount of stuff we had to transport we hired a van. A bargain at 50 euros for the day, and a shed load of fun driving the beast around. There’s a certain amount of skill required to drive large vehicles around narrow back streets, a challenge I love rising to (although maybe that’s something that only Marc can relate to).
And the best part of it? NO MORE ROADWORKS, no more rumbling generators through the early hours of the morning, no more cement mixers bleeping in reverse at midnight, no more pile drivers shaking us off the sofa, no more pneumatic drills assulting the eardrums on a Saturday morning. As Depeche Mode once said, enjoy the silence!
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27.03.06
Pyrenees
I’m back from a weekend of Snowboarding in the Pyrenees. And what a weekend, heavily subsidised by Sun Microsystems, without a doubt the best days I’ve ever spent on the slopes. The combination of fantastic weather, the great Cerler resort and my gradual improvement on the snowboard made for a couple of quality days.
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As this was a work organised event there were a lot of familiar faces about, but this still made it difficult following conversations in Spanish. One to one no problem, but when three people are shouting at once I just can’t keep up. So as is often the case, the foreigners ended up together. French Stephane, Italian Jacobo and Pete and I as the English contingent, we finished off several bottles of wine with the Saturday evening meal, before heading into the village for a few beers. We happened to find a bar with table football and pool. Obviously the Europeans destroyed Pete and I, but the tables turned when we started with the pool. Pete is still very upset that I beat him three times though.
I spent most of the time on the slopes with Raul or Stephane, both top guys, giving me hints and tips helping me improve. To be honest I was actually finding the reds runs a lot easier than the blues. Probably as these were higher up and the snow was better, and they were less bumpy.
Even the 6 hour drive home was great. I’m not normally a passenger, so I was amazed at all the things I spotted that I would not normally see. On top of that I had a good old chin wag with Raul. Someone who is always extra friendly in the office, but not someone I’ve talked to at length before.
Pretty much a perfect weekend. The only downside was that Espe was unable to make it.
24.03.06
Friday Fun
Right, I’ve now created a separate category for these Friday afternoon links. I’ll endeavour to post something fun each week to keep you entertained… Lets start with B3ta.com. A fantastic site with people showing their nerdy photoshoptastic skills, and yes, as a viewer it can be hilarious. They set regular challenges for readers to respond to. This weeks was:
“Whatever you think of them, it seems like Google is slowly conquering the World. But what happens when they finally claim victory, when the company owns absolutely everything? Show us life under a Google regime…”
Oh, and while your there, check out the “The World According To America” section.
Thievin’ little ba….
Espe & I went to the car yesterday to go to see a friend perform in a concert (something we keep missing for various reasons). Exiting the lift we found the garage door had been forced open from the inside.
Once into the garage, I discovered that it wasn’t only the garage door that was forced, but the door on my car as well. Some little oiks had broken into the garage and then into my car. All they’d taken having ransacked the whole car was about 80 cents and a deformed 50 pence piece. They even left the stereo, presumably as they didn’t have the front panel for it.
So no big losses, but they well and truly buggered up the passenger door, leaving us unable to go out after all. Even more annoying as if they’d looked at the drivers door, they would have seen the screwdriver hole from the previous attempt… a much easier way in.
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Turns out it wasn’t the only car done over. One of the neighbors had a window smashed and the stereo stolen.
Obviously I was a little bit peeved at all this, but not as annoyed as I was at the thieves that call themselves Telefonica.
They charge 40 euros a month for a 1mb dsl connection (not a good deal in this day and age) and then when you have a problem with their line charge you per minute for technical support.
Our line went down yesterday. I didn’t want technical support, I wanted to report the line as down. On the tech support, I explained what I’d tried and tested and that the problem lay in the dsl connection. They then proceeded to run me through mundane tasks identifying what I’d just told them. Upon discovering that the problem was with the dsl line they told me that my problem was with the firewall and anti virus software I had installed and hung up!
Third attempt at speaking to the technical support (at my own expense), I spoke to someone remotely competent. He took it all on board and started running some tests from his end. Suddenly the line cut off… Further proof of the connectivity problems we were having.
All very infuriating, but today’s another day and by the end of it I should be in the Pyrenees ready for a weekends Snow Boarding.
Just had to add this. I was telling Philippe how my car had been broken into. He was shocked at how on earth someone had broken my car in two. Another one of those language gems.
23.03.06
It’s a beauty!
Anyone interested in a nice little 5 door Seat Ibiza. Economic diesel engine, colour coded err… everything, stereo, immaculate showroom condition. A bargain at €7500:
And just in case you were wondering, yes, I am taking the piss.
18.03.06
Coldcut in Madrid
Last night Madrid was blessed with a concert from break beat masters and founders of the legendary Ninja Tune record label, Coldcut.
In the excellent alternative music venue, Sala Arena (well actually it’s been renamed after a terrible Dutch beer, but I just can’t bring myself to write the name), we were treated to an excellent selection of Coldcut’s new and old erm… cuts. Accompanied by superb visuals (I particularly likes the Google Earth zoom sequence, zooming in from space to the very club we were in!), a decent MC and turntable wizard they put on an excellent show doing a good job at using the electrickery live (no mean feat as often this style of music doesn’t translate very well live).
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They involved the crowd in a very novel way by sending out bluetooth messages and invited people to record video footage and send it in as part of a competition. Cool.
The only disappointment was that we weren’t treated to live appearances from the featuring artist on the new Sound Mirrors album. Something the UK tour had.
An extra bonus was that, despite being pretty down at the moment, Espe loved the concert. First with the Icon club last week, and now this, she continues to amaze me in the way she is so open and receptive to new things close to my heart. Where as others dismiss my musical taste as noise, she loves it.
She later quizzed me on Coldcut’s discography and the merits of Ninja Tune. Thinking about it, I’m amazed at how many quality artists that Ninja Tune has churned out… Mr. Scruff, Roots Manuva, The Herbaliser, Cinematic Orchestra, Up Bustle & Out to name but a few.
We’ve decided we need to go out dancing more. An excellent way to relieve stress and get a bit of exercise. I just need to find more bars and clubs to my taste.
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Many of you probably haven’t heard of Coldcut, so I urge you to check out their website were you can get audio and video streams of the new album, Sound Mirrors. Be sure to check out “Tru Skool” featuring the cooler than cool Roots Manuva.
17.03.06
Friday Afternoon Link…
Maybe I should make this a weekly feature… Todays link to entertain you while waiting for the weekend to start is (drum roll):
The Institute of Adventure Research
Yes it’s Tom, organiser of The Mongol Rally and Rickshaw Run, letting his mind run free again. So, of his 6 potential adventures, which one appeals most to you? Comments please 
