The few of you who are reading this, and i am aware that it is only a few, may have noticed that i missed a day, nearly two days in fact...What is the deal here, are we, as "bloggers", really expected to perform on a daily basis, much like a proper journalist would be? Is it blogging etiquette? And does anyone care?
Do i care? No...
My computer, basically broke yesterday. It froze, and started shouting at me, screaming in a high pitched, monotonous but depressingly rapid tone. I couldn't quite work out what he was saying, but it was something like "why didn't you back up the files on me you idiot", to which i could only respond, "please turn on like normal after i take the power away!", to which he didn't, and laptop has not been working since...this is potentially the second time in as many years that i have lost all the work on a laptop. Why do we never (hoping I'm not the only one!) back up our files??? There are so many instances of "oh, I'll do it tomorrow", or "I'll wait a little longer for external hard-drives to come down in price"...Moron...do it now...."It'll be fine, nothing will go wrong". And then bang, it dies for no reason... Fir me though, making a back up of all my files, sends me into the laziest frenzy. I don't think any activity is treated with such a laissez faire attitude, as the act of backing up your hard disk, but this could just be me. Maybe its the gauge of true laziness, when you cant even back up your files, e.g. your LIFE, it is probably a definite indicator, for the lazy person. Definitely probably.
So yesterday I was mourning my laptops death, as well as cursing my own stupidity for what seems like the infinite time, and finding a solution. Well a temporary one is now being utilized, in that one of my housemates left for the weekend, and so I am using this for the time being...A more permanent solution needs to be found, a new job has presented itself, and i will certainly need a computer and an Internet connection...hmmm
There is more to discuss, The new series of Peep show, for example. But first, some more writing from my travels. This follows the end of the second "blog entry", and will come tomorrow, along with a very interesting new venture.
Good morning..
This is the end of the tracks Where the fountains Climb into your eye
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Background Info
The bus, aptly named, "puma bus" ,was to play a vital role in our quest..and shook the brain into action. And the sunset? may look warm...make no mistake....it was definitely cold!
Blogs from around the world
A quick look, onto the surface of the blogging "world", just a mere glance, reveals some interesting, (but only very rarely are they spectacular) things.
A quick google of the word blog, a gander at some of the featured blogs from the first few results, and a skim read through the most viewed, the following facts make themselves known.
Anyway, a blog is to writing, what a fish is to water...its just in there somehow.
Today I have decided to try and "publish" a piece of writing i did, whilst i was in South America earlier in the year. Just to put it out there. I guess its just entitled:-
"I started this collection of, shall we say, “scribblings” on a bus, somewhere near Buenos Aires, Argentina. I think it was Rosario, but such was the nature of my mind at these times, I cannot be entirely certain. It was certainly on a Bus, and it was, most certainly, an extremely interesting time, a necessary one. The start was inspired no more by my own fleeting aspiration, but as much by that mildly ethereal bus terminal, in the cultural capital city of Bolivia, La Paz. In said terminal, it is like wandering through a Bangkok market, just more spaced out, and people aren’t selling knock off jeans and “Fragrance of the moment” perfume (what a pretentious load of crap!), no no, they’re flogging telephone calls, and bus tickets out of there, to Uyuni(the salt plains), Kusco, and Santa Cruz . This is not to say that it is conducted in what anyone could possibly perceive as a conventionally “efficient” manner, but it works somehow. Amongst the hyped up jumble salesmen (and women with what sounds like a megaphone, attatched to a ducks, Spanish speaking beak), are little “kiosks” of such cube shaped lovability, that a visit to each of them is like going to Amsterdam and turning down..... . Once “contact” is initiated at one of these kiosks, it is for the traveller who travels with a heathrow suitcase and an ever declining , but stubborn red plastic bag as hand luggage, a constant barrage of questions, designed at getting information about a product (in this case it is almost always strange looking sweets that I just haven’t seen before). The most pointless thing about this whole exercise, is that I point and say my “Que estas?’” at everything, knowing that I wouldn’t understand a single thing, said in the response. It is something which I can safely say, I fell in love with. I became the god of the understanding nod, accompanied with a muffled, seen it all before “Si, si”, which also makes no sense because then I should know what the sweets are!? Possibly. Anyhow, once you have just about established what you want and he has bundled it into a smallish plastic bag (no money back for saving bags here), is ask “Cuando?”. At this point, said kiosk “runner”, will have already weighed up where abouts in the world you are from; if not English, he knows I’m at least European. In every case, it feels like they are picking numbers from thin air knowing that you have the money, its great though, because if you become aware of this, you can haggle, just like a market, but this is actually a conventional shop in a way! They sell cigarettes, lighters, cold drinks, hot drinks, water, biscuits, crisps, stationary, every type of sweet, even the highly rated “Gatorade”, sometimes lurks upon these shores. "
So there we have it, the first "real" entry, there is more, but a blog shouldnt be overbearingly large...until tomorrow
A quick google of the word blog, a gander at some of the featured blogs from the first few results, and a skim read through the most viewed, the following facts make themselves known.
- There is a blog by written by a man who is in prison for convicted murder. This blog throws up inevitable controversy, but due to its nature (the author, for example) it manages to gain some real, media recognition.
- There are blogs solely devoted to providing cooking recipes, 21st century named like, of course, Phoo-d, (actually born out of the fact that the desired domain names were taken, food, for example)
- There are crap blogs
- There are self indulgent blogs, with self made portraits, that simply shout "I LOVE MYSELF FAR TOO MUCH"
- There are funny, informative, un-funny and ill informed blogs.
- There are a lot of blogs! (Figure not known, but somewhere over 100 million!There are over 72 million blogs in China!)
Anyway, a blog is to writing, what a fish is to water...its just in there somehow.
Today I have decided to try and "publish" a piece of writing i did, whilst i was in South America earlier in the year. Just to put it out there. I guess its just entitled:-
Bolivia, Geoff and other trains of thought...Confused Social dynamics
"I started this collection of, shall we say, “scribblings” on a bus, somewhere near Buenos Aires, Argentina. I think it was Rosario, but such was the nature of my mind at these times, I cannot be entirely certain. It was certainly on a Bus, and it was, most certainly, an extremely interesting time, a necessary one. The start was inspired no more by my own fleeting aspiration, but as much by that mildly ethereal bus terminal, in the cultural capital city of Bolivia, La Paz. In said terminal, it is like wandering through a Bangkok market, just more spaced out, and people aren’t selling knock off jeans and “Fragrance of the moment” perfume (what a pretentious load of crap!), no no, they’re flogging telephone calls, and bus tickets out of there, to Uyuni(the salt plains), Kusco, and Santa Cruz . This is not to say that it is conducted in what anyone could possibly perceive as a conventionally “efficient” manner, but it works somehow. Amongst the hyped up jumble salesmen (and women with what sounds like a megaphone, attatched to a ducks, Spanish speaking beak), are little “kiosks” of such cube shaped lovability, that a visit to each of them is like going to Amsterdam and turning down..... . Once “contact” is initiated at one of these kiosks, it is for the traveller who travels with a heathrow suitcase and an ever declining , but stubborn red plastic bag as hand luggage, a constant barrage of questions, designed at getting information about a product (in this case it is almost always strange looking sweets that I just haven’t seen before). The most pointless thing about this whole exercise, is that I point and say my “Que estas?’” at everything, knowing that I wouldn’t understand a single thing, said in the response. It is something which I can safely say, I fell in love with. I became the god of the understanding nod, accompanied with a muffled, seen it all before “Si, si”, which also makes no sense because then I should know what the sweets are!? Possibly. Anyhow, once you have just about established what you want and he has bundled it into a smallish plastic bag (no money back for saving bags here), is ask “Cuando?”. At this point, said kiosk “runner”, will have already weighed up where abouts in the world you are from; if not English, he knows I’m at least European. In every case, it feels like they are picking numbers from thin air knowing that you have the money, its great though, because if you become aware of this, you can haggle, just like a market, but this is actually a conventional shop in a way! They sell cigarettes, lighters, cold drinks, hot drinks, water, biscuits, crisps, stationary, every type of sweet, even the highly rated “Gatorade”, sometimes lurks upon these shores. "
So there we have it, the first "real" entry, there is more, but a blog shouldnt be overbearingly large...until tomorrow
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The start of something inexplicable
cThis is not, in fact, my first ever blog entry...not that i am expecting anyone, anywhere, to care about this menial and far from trivial fact. My first, was an attempted "mock" at the blogging community, and having looked back, I feel as though i was naive. I have re-evaluated the whole thing..No really I have...
"you can make money out of it you know.." "
What?",
"Yeah, ad clicks n that".
"Oh yeah, i had heard that"
I need to be told twice usually, for something to sink. The first mention is merely a rumour.The first stage in a double barelled process, much like the saftey catch on a shotgun. The second mention, is the confirmation of the first, and thus...maybe it MIGHT, be worth trying to make a bit of money from it, (literally though, only a bit)You you can do it in your free time (of which i have too much) and its not like im going to get a book published any time soon. So this is a happy medium in which we can truly see, if blogging can help an "aspiring" writer get anywhere, like an interview process perhaps, in an industry where it is not necessary to have an interview, the book is the interview. Blogging is a more convoluted world, a completely hectic mix built up from a multitude of different people, from all over the globe, at all times of day, from any type of connection (I'm not a hippie!!). But it IS an important point, and its a pretty amazing thing really, that anyone with an internet connection can basically publish themselves on this completely revolutionary, "behemoth" that is Google. And if half good, some really fascinating insight can be gained from the goings on in the minds of "people" around the globe. Devoid of company agendas, political policy attatchments , and "walk the line" journalism, we get a kind of Jack Kerouac, "On the Road" arrangement. There are millions, (surely that is now a literal figure?) of thoughts and scrambled tangents going off everywhere, from what feels like, everyone. Blogs in French, Italian, American(?), Russian (i would love the ability read some of the russian ones), portugese (i havent strayed very far out of europe here have I!). I am certain that this pool of internet "literature", will one day be seen as the birthpool of a handful of future, famous writers. On the earlier point, about there not being blogs with political attatchments... I am reminded of part of Armando Ianuccis Tv series, "The thick of it", in which the opposition leader, releases a blog...he doesnt however, write it...well of course!
Enough of the semi nostalgic crap...The blog. So at first i was sceptical, now I'm prepared to see what happens, something else to cram into my sometimes hectic days; mostly they are not, at the moment anyway, as i may or may not make clear. I am not entirely sure where to start, so i thought i would simply publish some of my "travel writing". This is used in the loosest possible way, i would not call myself a "travel writer", but i have written whilst travelling, (often whilst literally travelling, on the move). There is a certain type of arrogance in writing. Why should anyone care about what I'm writing about? To undertake this task, i have to ASSUME that anyone reading would be interested in what I'm writing about, (and this should not be assumed, ever) but it has to be done to start the writing. So, the "travel writing" will play some part, and a little thing called "confused social dynamics", may drift in there aswell. But for the moment, lets treat it like "driftwood, driftwood floating on the water, hollow and of no use" (some observant readers will notice that these, are in fact, the lyrics from a song, and not, an inaccurate assumption about my OWN blog)
So, as i try to tackle this blogging world, i will endeavour to spill whatever tangents i can find, and if not everyone will read it, i know that at least somewhere, someone will be. There is something quite self indulgent in that i think, but hey, honesty is the best (in most cases) policy!!!
Tomorrow, the purpose of this blog should be more clear....Goodnight and Hello...
"you can make money out of it you know.." "
What?",
"Yeah, ad clicks n that".
"Oh yeah, i had heard that"
I need to be told twice usually, for something to sink. The first mention is merely a rumour.The first stage in a double barelled process, much like the saftey catch on a shotgun. The second mention, is the confirmation of the first, and thus...maybe it MIGHT, be worth trying to make a bit of money from it, (literally though, only a bit)You you can do it in your free time (of which i have too much) and its not like im going to get a book published any time soon. So this is a happy medium in which we can truly see, if blogging can help an "aspiring" writer get anywhere, like an interview process perhaps, in an industry where it is not necessary to have an interview, the book is the interview. Blogging is a more convoluted world, a completely hectic mix built up from a multitude of different people, from all over the globe, at all times of day, from any type of connection (I'm not a hippie!!). But it IS an important point, and its a pretty amazing thing really, that anyone with an internet connection can basically publish themselves on this completely revolutionary, "behemoth" that is Google. And if half good, some really fascinating insight can be gained from the goings on in the minds of "people" around the globe. Devoid of company agendas, political policy attatchments , and "walk the line" journalism, we get a kind of Jack Kerouac, "On the Road" arrangement. There are millions, (surely that is now a literal figure?) of thoughts and scrambled tangents going off everywhere, from what feels like, everyone. Blogs in French, Italian, American(?), Russian (i would love the ability read some of the russian ones), portugese (i havent strayed very far out of europe here have I!). I am certain that this pool of internet "literature", will one day be seen as the birthpool of a handful of future, famous writers. On the earlier point, about there not being blogs with political attatchments... I am reminded of part of Armando Ianuccis Tv series, "The thick of it", in which the opposition leader, releases a blog...he doesnt however, write it...well of course!
Enough of the semi nostalgic crap...The blog. So at first i was sceptical, now I'm prepared to see what happens, something else to cram into my sometimes hectic days; mostly they are not, at the moment anyway, as i may or may not make clear. I am not entirely sure where to start, so i thought i would simply publish some of my "travel writing". This is used in the loosest possible way, i would not call myself a "travel writer", but i have written whilst travelling, (often whilst literally travelling, on the move). There is a certain type of arrogance in writing. Why should anyone care about what I'm writing about? To undertake this task, i have to ASSUME that anyone reading would be interested in what I'm writing about, (and this should not be assumed, ever) but it has to be done to start the writing. So, the "travel writing" will play some part, and a little thing called "confused social dynamics", may drift in there aswell. But for the moment, lets treat it like "driftwood, driftwood floating on the water, hollow and of no use" (some observant readers will notice that these, are in fact, the lyrics from a song, and not, an inaccurate assumption about my OWN blog)
So, as i try to tackle this blogging world, i will endeavour to spill whatever tangents i can find, and if not everyone will read it, i know that at least somewhere, someone will be. There is something quite self indulgent in that i think, but hey, honesty is the best (in most cases) policy!!!
Tomorrow, the purpose of this blog should be more clear....Goodnight and Hello...
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