My team and I are going to create an online advent calendar for the holiday season using numbers from random snaps. Ideally, some of our audience will be inspired by the idea and contribute some of their shots as well. Will post a link once we get it live.
I shot a few of my own today while shopping around the big smoke on a cold, wet November day. Most of them come from Oxford St, Bond St and Regent St, all of which are down in central London.
Results were mixed (still getting used to my camera phone), but it was fun to hunt them out. The 21 above is my favorite. With the black (white) cab and red bus, it has a bit of a London feel. Check out the rest of the numbers on flickr.
Tags: London · Photography
Found this one at the office canteen:
Introducing self help salad! At just 1.70 for 12 oz, it’s cheaper than any course, seminar or psychologist’s couch you’re likely to find.
Tags: London · funny
A few things I’ve heard in meetings recently that kill me everytime:
- Supposably: The word is “supposedly”. It has a D, not a B. It makes you sound like an idiot if you say it that way.
- Irregardless: It’s just “regardless”. You don’t need to dress it up with an irr
- Soo…: When did “so” become the only word people start sentences with? It’s getting so common in my industry that I’ve started to do it myself.
It should be noted that all these people are well educated, highly paid, native English speakers. Get it right!
Tags: soapbox
Back in the hotel after a long day launching a new site. More on that later. The odd thing is, the whole user interface on blogger is now in Swedish. Makes sense, being in Sweden, but not the easiest thing to use for a new post.
On the upside, finally got a chance to upload my recent photos. Check out flickr for the vacation pics from Florence, Cannon Beach and Oregon. Also, the wedding venue pics still there if you missed them. Can’t wait.
Tags: travel
L’amour a la francaise from pyc on Vimeo.
Check out this video from some of my recently laidoff colleagues at AOL France. It’s password protected, but just enter “aollover” (aol lover) at the prompt and let it rip.
Here’s the summary, according to the folks at silicon alley:
Reader synopsis: “AOL office in Paris. starts with “to a lost love”. people show their affection for AOL. but in the end, it shows a sign “2000 square meters to let”…
Gotta love the camera work on this one. It’s all one long shot.
Tags: funny · video
After 2 months of radio silence, today is the first day I’ve had a chance to sit down, collect my thoughts and put pen to paper (or words to screen). And by the way, whenever I see the words “back in the saddle” I hear Steven Tyler at high volume in my head screaming “I’m baaack!”. (Surely, it’s not just me…)
With so many things happening over the last 8 weeks it seems a lot longer. Big change number one is: I’m engaged. Yep! I asked Anna to marry me on our trip to Sardinia in July. We took a sailboat around Alghero and I dropped to one knee and popped the question. She said yes and we’re going to get married (probably) next year. No date set yet and we’re leaning toward Italy as a location. I’m a happy camper.
Not quite 3 weeks later, I was off to Columbus, Ohio for work. I brought my team there for a training and to meet some US colleagues. As it happens, I have a lot of family there as well, most of whom I haven’t seen in about 17 years. Luckily, they were willing to converge on Columbus and we went out for a lovely meal at a Chinese restaurant. Despite the lag, the hours flew by and we had a great time. I’ve got a great family.
Finally, I’ve been doing a lot of running lately. The weekend I got back to London, I ran a local 5k in Wimbledon in 22.25. I was (and am) very happy with the time and I’m sure I can get faster yet. Next up is a 10k in September and a Half Marathon in October. I signed up for next year’s London Marathon, but it’s notoriously hard to get into, so I’m not holding my breath (my fingers are crossed, though, which makes it hard to type).
And that, as they say, is all the news that’s fit to print.
Tags: travel
Actually, they aren’t. And judging by the reception they got at the O2 Wireless Festival this weekend, it’s probably a good thing.
That video gives a small hint of the madness that was their performance, but can’t really cut it. The duo were in a giant triangular spaceship that was the center of their amazing light show. They were, of course, in their spacesuits, which lit up in red for the encore as the sun went down.
What really impressed me was the absolute control they had over their presentation. They played a “coming soon” commercial on the big screens while the previous band cleared up to keep people’s energy and interest up in an otherwise boring wait. The sound system was clear, the lights were amazing and the crowd was loving it. Fantastic.
Tags: London
We had the most amazing full moon this weekend, which was so bright it looked like the sun. I took a couple shots using my new Gorilla pod to capture the moment. This is the view from our balcony:
And another:
Beautiful!
Tags: London · Photography
Last night, while watching the UEFA cup final on TV here in Amsterdam, it occurred to me how similar Dutch is to German. I speak German and could therefore understand much of the game’s voiceover and commentating. Familiarity with the German language also helped me land a job in Germany when I moved there after University. This in turn, got me thinking about why I chose that language in the first place and how that one decision, taken fairly lightly at the time, influenced everything after.
These are the things you think about when the game’s not very entertaining. [Cue flashback.]
When I was a kid, it was my dream to go to Europe. My mom was born in the UK and spent much of her childhood there. We had a lot of relatives in the country, who sent letters, pictures and books, etc, which made it seem familiar yet at the same time, beyond reach. It was too expensive for my parents to take a family of 5 when we were young, so our trips remained stateside (and once or twice to Mexico or Canada).
It wasn’t until my 3rd year of University that I finally had my chance. At this point, I had taken 5 years of Spanish (2 in high school & 3 at UO) and applied for an exchange program in Seville. I was denied. I needed another year before I could qualify for the minimum language requirements. Unfortunately, this would mean pushing back graduation and there was no way that was going to happen. I was gutted. The whole reason for taking a language was to make the trip to Europe.
[Cue much moping and soul-searching, accompanied by angst at the injustice of it all]
But there was light at the end of the tunnel. A friend of mine had taken the German exchange program the year before and after a bit of questioning revealed that it only required 6 months of the language. Hmm…6 months versus 1 year. A bit of quick math in my head revealed that if I started this term, I could be in Germany by spring. Eureka! The danger was the message that a change of direction at this stage of my college education would send to my parents. It was this point, while shopping for broccoli at the local grocery store, that my dad half-seriously suggested I should take German. I signed up and was on a plane in March.
It’s weird how you can trace things back to a single point and how some decisions have such huge impacts. Had I not started German, I wouldn’t have been able to move there after university. I’d never have started my company in Amsterdam, lived in Luxembourg or moved to London. Which meant that I wouldn’t be sitting there in that Hotel watching the final in Dutch.
Then again, this was Amsterdam and maybe it was just something in the air.
Tags: Amsterdam · philosophy
Sometimes, a commercial gets the music so right that I’m willing to watch it just for that. The latest of these is the current Saab commercial. It gives me chills everytime I hear it. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here:
The song is “release me” by Swedish band Oh Laura. Full version is available on YouTube here.
Tags: Music
