Monthly archive: February 2006

To celebrate three years since I quit smoking, last night I treated Dr B. and myself to top-price second row tickets for Glorious! (half price from lastminute.com).

Starring Maureen Lipman, it is a very light comedy on Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944), an American soprano who became famous for her complete lack of singing ability and whose career culminated by filling the Carniege Hall with screaming fans.

It is not known whether Jenkins, a wealthy heiress who could afford the extravagance to book venues and recording studios, was truly convinced of her artistic gifts or if she was playing a perverse and expensive trick on her audience. Glorious! does not say, and rightly prefers to let the viewers decide.

Lipman does a brilliant job at capturing this ambiguity, albeit slipping into a heavy-handed vaudeville caricature during the side-splitting hilarious musical numbers. It is obvious she is an accomplished singer, for she feels she has to overdo the badly hit notes, compared do Foster's original recordings.

'People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing.'
Florence Foster Jenkins

Currently runs at the Duchess Theatre, Covent Garden, until 29 April 2006.

• Florence Foster Jenkins | Wikipedia
• Florence Foster Jenkins The Diva of Din, by Daniel Dixon
• Half price tickets to Glorious! | lastminute.com
• Maureen Lipman | imdb.com
• Duchess Theatre
• Florence Foster Jenkins recordings on amazon.co.uk

• The Incredible Ice Cream Diet
  'The key, of course,is staying within your calorie budget [of] 1,500 calories a day for women and 2,000 calories for men'
  (tags: icecream diet nutrition calories health fitness weight)

• How Would You Rule China? (or, the 'Which Emperor of China are you?' test)
  I turn out to be Emperor Tang Xuanzong, Sixth emperor of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 712 to A.D. 756): 'Hardworking and diligent, reformist, employed capable ministers, internationalist, patron of the arts, obsessed with pleasure-seeking, delegated too much power to underlings'
  (tags: china test emperor)

I thought I was never going to be able to say this: three years today I smoked my last cigarette.

If you are a smoker and you are willing to stop, please do everything you can
– now – to quit. The benefits start the minute you stop.

While there is no universal way of stopping, here is my 10 tips, based on what
has worked for me:

1. set a date to stop;
2. do not lose faith if at first you fail: I only managed not to smoke for a few hours on the date I'd set, but tried again the following day and it's been three years now;
3. minimise temptation around you: I planned to stop the day my flatmate (a smoker) left on a three-week holiday;
4. get rid of smoking paraphernalia around your house;
5. wash all your clothes and soft furnishings; you probably do not notice it yet, but they stink;
6. choose a relatively stress-free period – best not a holiday though (withdrawal symptoms might spoil it, and the stress of going back to work might prove too hard afterwards);
7. your metabolism is going to slow down and you are likely to put on weight, so join a gym (or go swimming, or take long brisk daily walks, whatever suits you and your lifestyle) a few months before you plan to stop, so that when you quit it already is an ingrained habit;
8. keep track of how much you are not spending after you stop. If you are able to afford it, put the money in a jar daily: if you are a twenty-a-day smoker you will have 35 pounds in it at the end of the week. Treat yourself to to some pricey pampering extravagance. No, that does not include Cuban cigars;
9. for the first few weeks, try as much as you possibly can to avoid situations where you will be tempted to smoke; a few drinks in a smoky pub/club, and the strongest of resolves can falter;
10. meet a non-smoker about three weeks before your stopping date, and fall
    in love. I am sure the support I received from a just-met Dr B. (a strongly
    anti-smoking non-smoker) helped me enormously. This is why I am treating him
    to dinner and a play tomorrow night with part of the, ahem, 7,500 pounds I
    have not blown off in my former thirty-a-day habit.

Come on, if I managed to stop, anyone can.

• The IT Crowd >– The complete first season! | Encomium > Blog Archive
  Also available to watch on the official IT Crowd website, but only from the UK. Highly recommended.
  (tags: theitcrowd channel4 tv television sitcom streaming)
• SafariTest | Mac Screenshot Compatibility Test | Snugtech.com
  'How does your website look on Apple Safari ? Enter your URL in the box above and click View. SafariTest will return a screenshot of your page as viewed with Safari.'
  (tags: webdesign safari mac apple)

• BBC – Be On A Show – Foreign Exchange
  The BBC is looking for couples to join presenter Alistair Appleton on a weekend away to an American or European city to go shopping for a fraction of the price back home. Oh, Alistair. And shopping… :-)
  (tags: bbc tv alistairappleton shopping television)
• The Way Out-> tube map
  The Way Out-> map shows you which London Underground carriage to board to arrive right opposite the platform exit at your destination. 1 pound 95 from Stanfords (travel bookshop in Covent Garden) et al.
  (tags: design maps tube uk underground subway graphics london)
• 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body
  Among which 1. If your throat tickles, scratch your ear! – 8. Make burns disappear! and 17. Breathe underwater!
  (tags: body health howto reference useful)

The Sex ID test on the BBC website is 'a series of visual challenges and questions used by psychologists'.

The test warns that the overall performance can be affected by other factors, like age and intelligence. And most likely, in my case at least, being a non-native English speaker.

The results indicate that I fall exactly half-way in the male-female brain continuum, and so far, well, d'oh – it makes sense because I am gay.

What surprised me is the breakdown of some of the results:

• Spatial tasks: average, typical female
• I empathise a lot, and systemise very little: very woman
• Finger length ratio: closer to woman
• Attractiveness of faces: like a woman at her most fertile
• 3D shapes: more male than most males, with a typical engineer- or science background-score
• Verbal fluency: poor, like a strong, silent type with a male brain (or, might I add, a non-English native speaker)
• Ultimatum: more demanding, taking risks, closer to male

Thank goodness the test did not include orienteering, the area in which I seem to concentrate the worst of both sexes (I read maps as badly as a female, and refuse to ask/listen for directions like the most stubborn of males).

I went to see Song Dong's biscuit-built Edible city at Selfridges yesterday – sadly one day too early: it is going to be dismantled and eaten today.

From certain angles, it just looked from random piles of biscuits. Every now and then though, you felt like you had died and gone to cookie heaven.

People of all ages gazing at biscuits and smiling – not something you see every day in London.

• Artist Song Dong's biscuit-built "Edible City" – a photoset on Flickr

• Artist Song Dong's biscuit-built "Edible City" on display at Selfridges, London
  On display at Selfridges on Oxford Street February 15th to the 22nd. At the end, the public will be invited to eat the edible city. Song Dong has built 5 previous biscuit cities as part of his art instillations.
  (tags: art selfridges biscuits edible songdong)
• Web Developer Extension
  Menu and toolbar with tools such as disable (css, javascript, images, cache, cookies), ruler, window size/resize, zoom, one-button html and css validation…
  (tags: firefox free webdesign accessibility development)
• UK: New low-cal low-carb potato developed : Food industry news
  'Potatoes may be back on the diet menu, as scientists have developed Vivaldi potatoes that have on average 33% fewer calories and 26% fewer carbohydrates than regular potatoes.'
  (tags: potato diet food calories carbohydrates nutrition health)
• Scientists produce the diet apple | Times Online
  'A team at the University of California in Davis has used apples to show that it is possible to tweak the level of the natural sweetener sorbitol.' [...] 'Although fruit is healthy, its high sugar content can be a problem for people on diets.'
  (tags: diet nutrition fruit sugar calories sorbitol)
• How to Improve Your Posture – WikiHow
  'Are you worried about looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame? Here's a painfree and effective method for safely correcting posture and improving muscle tone.'
  (tags: howto wiki back posture tutorial health fitness)
• Eurovision Song Contest: Silvía Nótt is Off to Athens
  'Actress Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, who plays the role of Silvía, won the Icelandic national final yesterday polling an impressive 70% of the votes.'
  (tags: eurovision esc silvianott iceland)
• iOWEYOU – Expenses sharing calculator
  Log all the items you buy that you share with your group and who you share them with. iOWEYOU then tells you how much you all owe each other. Ideal for houseshares or clubs.
  (tags: sharing social money software web2.0)

• Blind patrons sue Target for site inaccessibility | CNET News.com
  '…the retail giant's Web site is inaccessible to the blind and thus violates a California law that incorporates the Americans with Disabilities Act'
  (tags: accessibility blind disability website target)

• Til Hamingju Island (Icelandic lyrics) | Lí­f Mitt í Hnotskurn
  Ond of the finalists in the Icelandic national Eurovision Song Contest selection. Damn this is growing on me – Töff töff töff!
  (tags: silvianott eurovision iceland icelandic)
• Silvia Nott – Til hamingju Island – Google Video
  Watch Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir's perfomance at the Eurovision Song Contest Icelandic national selection semifinals. And 2 minutes 50 seconds into the songs the male dancers remove their trousers :-P
  (tags: silvianott eurovision iceland video)

• Icelandic – Mentalcode.com
  'This site contains an ever-growing set of study guides and tutorials for both serious students and casual enthusiasts of the language of the sagas.' Tests on words (1600 nouns) and numerals.
  (tags: icelandic language tests tutorial)
• Mímir – Icelandic Grammar Notebook
  'Mí­mir is a Hypertext-based tool which allows the user quickly to search through and to reference the grammar of the Icelandic language.'
  (tags: icelandic language reference)
• Icelandic Online
  Free-access, fully-automated, Web-based interactive course in Modern Icelandic language and culture, from the University of Iceland
  (tags: icelandic language learning course)
• Category:Icelandic nouns – Wiktionary
  Wiki-based open content dictionary with about 1000 common Icelandic words with English translations and sometimes their origin.
  (tags: icelandic wiki language dictionary)
• Learn Icelandic Online – Write or Speak in Icelandic Language Exchange
  'Learn Icelandic online by practicing with a native speaker who is learning your language.' Via email, text or voice chat. Requires (free) registration
  (tags: icelandic language learning)

I finally went to see Brokeback Mountain last night. After going along to see so many (erm, a couple in the past year, I think) sci-fi movies to please Dr B., I was thrilled to take him to see a movie with feelings! And drama! And breathtaking Wyoming scenery! (Which turned out to be filmed in Alberta). After all, I had burst into tears on the train to work a few weeks ago while reading the last few pages of the short story upon which the movie is based.

Instead, I spent more time trying to tell the digitally-multiplied sheep from the real ones, than being carried away by the story. Annie Proulx's writing is so engaging and gut-wrenching, her images so dense in their conciseness, that any movie, no matter how talented the cast and director, was bound to disappoint me. Let me stress the facts that it is a good movie, yet it failed to blow me away like the short story did.

Dr B. had no expectations but was not impressed either. And then requested a movie with lasers for our next cinema outing.

Update (Wed 15 Feb): it turns out that Dr B. felt miserable all day yesterday and could not stop thinking about Jack and Ennis. So I guess it worked.

• BBC NEWS | Technology | Warning over Valentine's e-cards
  'Fake Valentine's e-cards and dodgy dating websites are among the tactics being used by fraudsters to relieve internet users of their money.'
  (tags: web scam virus internet valentine fraud)
• anti-valentine e-cards from meish dot org
  'celebrate or commiserate by sending an anti-valentine. [...] This year, don't say it with flowers: say it with bile.'
  (tags: funny humour internet valentine web free card)
• Jan. 2006 – Top-selling Valentine Card in 2005
  Marcia Meulengracht's 'Ooh, Baby-Baby' Hallmark card was the most popular Valentine's Day card in virtually every city in the Untied States last year.
  (tags: valentine card hallmark usa)
• BBC NEWS | UK | Asda launches 8p Valentine's card
  'Romance is not dead – it is being done on a shoestring," a spokeswoman said. '
  (tags: valentine card asda cheap)

Valentines Card, originally uploaded by sburn01.

Yes I'm cheap.

But our love is priceless.

Happy valentine's day Dr B.!

 xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 xxxxxxxxxxx
    xxxxx
      x

• towleroad: Brokeback Parody Roundup
  Broke Mac Mountain, Brokeback Top Gun, Brokeback to the Future, Brokeback Goldmine, Bareback Mountain (as in bareback horseriding – what were you thinking?)
  (tags: brokebackmountain cinema parody)
• BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Berlusconi says 'I am like Jesus'
  'The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has caused a political storm by comparing himself to Jesus Christ. [...] '"No, I was just joking," Mr Berlusconi told his supporters'
  (tags: italy politics berlusconi jesus religion)
• Blizzard apologizes for GLBT guild warning | News.blog | CNET News.com
  'Blizzard Entertainment has officially apologized to a "World of Warcraft" player who it warned could be kicked out of the game because she had been recruiting for a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-friendly guild using the in-world chat system.'
  (tags: games game gaming worldofwarcraft gay glbt)

• BBC NEWS | Entertainment | US to emulate Eurovision contest
  'An online competition will be held to find singers from each US state to go forward to the grand final, with the winner landing a recording contract.'
  (tags: tv usa eurovision esc music)

• Current style in web design
  An overview of the current state-of-the-art in graphic design for web pages and of the distinctive features that make a web page look fresh, appealing and easy to use.
  (tags: webdesign graphic)
• Lightbox JS
  'Lightbox JS is a simple, unobtrusive script used to to overlay images on the current page. It's a snap to setup and works on all modern browsers.'
  (tags: javascript coding dhtml image webdesign)
• Indian Food Calorie Content
  From Cucumber Raita (20Kcal) to Chicken Korma (870 kcal)
  (tags: food calories weight indian health)

• Peanut Butter: A Super Sports Food | Bodybuilding.com
  I have recently started having a mid-afternoon peanut butter and jelly sandwich at work. Best energy bar ever.
  (tags: food nutrition peanutbutter weights gym sports fitness)
• Strength Training – Workouts For Size & Strength | Shapefit.com
  Exercise guides, workout routines and a body muscle map matching exercises to body parts
  (tags: fitness workout weights training muscle)

Playlist:

1. (Cerrone's 'Supernature' is played while the four musicians take their places on stage carrying flashlights)
2. Utopia (Felt Mountain)
3. Tiptoe (Black Cherry)
4. Train (Black Cherry)
5. Koko (Supernature)
6. Slide In (Black Cherry)
7. U Never Know (Black Cherry)
8. Lovely Head (Felt Mountain)
9. (Slow unrecognised song, aborted after less than one minutes on grounds of Alison 'not hearing a f**king thing' – also, it did not help that you could hear the whole Brixton Academy chatting and scrambling for a toilet break)
10. Fly Me Away (Black Cherry)
11. Satin Chic (Black Cherry)
12. (Slow-er unrecognised song that I decided to go to the toilet to)
13. Ride A White Horse (Black Cherry)
14. Ooh La La (Supernature)

Encores:

1. Black Cherry (Black Cherry)
2. No. 1 (Supernature)
3. Strick Machine (Black Cherry)

• Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds – New York Times
  However, a calorie-controlled balanced diet that is low in saturated and trans fats, and high in grains, fruits and vegetables, does. It's not just what you eat, it's how much you eat!
  (tags: food eating diet fat fitness health)
• Data Wales : A note on Welsh surnames.
  Turns out the 'ap' in Tom ap Rhys Price means 'son of' (like the Scottish 'Mac'). The old Welsh naming tradition was taken over by the fixed surname by the 17th century.
  (tags: language welsh surnames)
• BBC NEWS | England | Essex | Ryanair changes policy on blind
  'Vision-impaired passengers travelling with sighted companions will no longer have to advise the airline in advance. These travellers will also not be included in the airline's safety limit of four disabled passengers per flight.'
  (tags: travel airline ryanair disability blind)
• EU ruling on Ryanair row – Markets – Times Online
  'Ryanair customers could face fare increases following the European parliament's decision to give airports sole responsibility for the transfer of disabled passengers but to make airlines pay for the service.'
  (tags: airline travel ryanair disability wheelchair)
• Cricket test – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Also called Tebbit test; a questionable way to test Englishness by asking immigrants which side of a cricket match they cheer for, the 'correct' answer obviously being 'England' rather than the country of origin.
  (tags: britishness englishness cricket tebbit test)

Just in via email from Dr B.:

Subject: Essential Homework for wannabe Brits

I'm not kidding, these films are indelibly etched into my generations consciousness;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4689364.stm

Watch and enjoy (and learn)

Dr B.

More public information films from the past sixty years (via the 'Stop Look Listen' dropdown menu in the top right hand column).

• Microsoft flooded with IE7 bug reports – vnunet.com
  I think that for the time being I'll just stick with Firefox rather than playing catch-up, thanks.
  (tags: microsoft explorer firefox browser bug ie ie7)
• Lavender and Lemon Panna Cotta | Sky One
  I was too busy concentrating on cream-whisking Danny Boome's biceps to write down the recipe – thank you internet. Sounds interesting. I must have a linen scenting sachet somewhere that would do the job.
  (tags: recipe lavender lemon pannacotta dannyboome)

So I finally got round to uploading pictures of Dr B. and myself on MyHeritage, the face recognition software that can recognise people in your pictures or tell you what celebrity you look like.

The image above shows the best matches: that's supposed to be him on the left, and me on the right. Absolutely nothing like us. Other (possibly closer to reality) matches are Jeff Goldblum (me, must be the big lips) and Andre Agassi (Dr B., probably the beefy calves).

MyHeritage' s 2,000+ celebrity database definitely needs some expanding.

I'm on the top of the world
lookin' down on creation
and the only explanation I can find
is the love that I found
ever since you've been around
your love's put me
at the top of the world.

Happy third anniversary, Dr B.

• IT Crowd | Channel4.com
  First two episodes (premiere on 3 Feb) now online. Have not had time to watch them yet. Short preview on C4 not rolling-on-the-floor funny. Will see
  (tags: tv it channel4 sitcom streaming online)
• OSCAR.com – 78th Annual Academy Awards – Nominee List
  I saw two and a half movies (Wallace and Gromit, Harry Potter and fell asleep through Charlie and choco factory) out of all the nominees across all categories. Must go to the cinema more.
  (tags: movies cinema oscar academyawards)
• BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Actor Baker becomes voice of text
  'Tom Baker is to be the voice of a talking text message' [...] 'It took him 11 days to record 11,593 phrases and sounds'.
  (tags: text tombaker doctorwho sms)
• Gusto, The London Dining Club for Gay Men
  'The set-up is simple; on the first Wednesday each month we meet up for a meal in London.' [...] 'We are the only one that we know of in London run by gay men for gay men.'
  (tags: london gay dining food restaurant club eating)
• BBC NEWS | Technology | Countdown for nasty Windows virus
  This might be old news to most, but please scan your machine(s) for the Nyxem virus before it deletes your files on 3 Feb. And stop believing that strangers have sent you genuine porn videos via email!
  (tags: microsoft technology windows virus porn email attachment nyxem)

Copenhagen is truly wonderful. Evidence in my Copenhagen photoset on Flicker.

Excellent food, a much welcome holiday break from calorie-counting, and yet I have managed not to put on one single ounce.

I have also learnt how to say diarrhoea in Danish (easily enough, 'diaré' – it must have been some bug I carried from London, as we all ate the same food and nobody else spent the night having to go to the loo every half hour).

*'Help! Where is the toilet?'