I was so intrigued by a video that I saw on Youtube that it got my mind thinking about sampling… I’ve never given “video sampling” a go and put this together very quickly as an experiment. That’s all….
St Valentine’s Day, sustainability, confusion.
I love this nation’s obsession with sustainability. It’s a great aspiration – the newest of the status symbols – one for the clever people.
I jump on the bandwagon too from time to time. I can’t help a nagging smugness about reducing my carbon footprint by cycling into work, owning ‘only’ one family car, etc., but I know, in my heart of hearts, that I’m just as bad as anyone else.
However, I didn’t really want to talk about me (let’s just assume that I’m a fairly responsible person who could do better, could do worse). I was really enamoured by the story of MP Hilary Benn, who (honourably) challenged the product-miles mantra and suggested that we (in the UK) should buy our loved ones’ Valentine’s Day roses from Africa. The minister told a sustainable food conference that emissions produced by growing flowers in Kenya and flying them to the UK can be less than a fifth of those grown in heated and lighted greenhouses in Holland.
This is ground breaking stuff. Sort of. The nice middle class sustainable people (no offence, I’m including me) were all getting settled into the routine that local is good. Then this type of thinking comes along…. Grrrrrrr….
So – we’ve adjusted our thinking – and come round to the notion that we should woo our loved ones with the lower carbon roses from Africa. That’s the right thing to do.
BUT – hang on – as this article in the BBC site illustrates, sustainability is about three (usually conflicting) areas – economic, social and environmental. We’re so often drawn into the environmental (particularly by the mainstream media), that we tend to give a lot less thought to the other two.
I. this case, this means thinking about the implications (by European Federation of Professional Florist Associations general secretary Toine Zwitserlood) that child labour is a big thing in the African floral industry (we’re on to the social bit of the Venn diagram now). This thought sends us liberal do-gooders scurrying into our holes. Where the hell do we get our flowers from now???
Luckily, I just gave Katie a card this year. Probably not even recycled. Am I good or bad?
Cyclo Cross nationals – Ray Pugh’s video
Great video sent to me by Ray Pugh of Liverpool Mercury. Gets the atmosphere of the race so well. Leave the DVD menu bit running for a few seconds at the beginning…!
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Stop Motion Drums and Piano
Bloomin’ fantastic – if you’ve never really thought about what sampling is, allow this to do the job for you.
The darndest things
Any parent could list loads of funny things their little ones say. Here’s some of ours.
Feb 2013
Gem from Elsie this morning. Chatting about how milk gets to the bottle. “They put these things on the cow’s udders, them they ud them…”
Feb 2007:
Lily made me giggle this morning with this bit of simple dialogue. D: “Would you like some toast” L: “Yes please” D: “With some jam on?” L: “Yes please. And butter in the middle ”
A welcome run on a winter’s morning
I went for alovely run this morning with Elvis and my camera. It’s been a while since I did my back in and I gave it long enough to recouperate, but it wouldn’t play ball – so I just started to run again anyway. After a brief venture up Ingleborough last weekend, I had a 40 minute run this morning up Bull Hill – in the most spectacular anticyclonic weather. Bleeding gorgeous. The back still aches, but running’s designed to hurt anyway, so I intend to carry on, weather permitting.
Amy Winehouse – Rehab
Katie and I love this tune – something very natural but powerful about her voice. Just had to download the mp3 of Rehab
A weekend at Ingleton
The last weekend of January and a chance to catch up with Katie’s mum and dad at their home. We had a great time; Lily had things planned out from the start and trips to the swings and the sweetie shop were scheduled in. I managed to switch off on Saturday despite the odd twinge moment – suggesting trips to the caves or the waterfalls. We had a really satisfying Burns night supper on Saturday, though the gloss was taken off a bit with Bill suffering from a rotten cold. On SUnday, I managed to unleash myself and Elvis with a run up the quick side of Ingleborough (from the Hill Inn), in appalling wind and light rain, then a trip to (my) mum’s for lunch in Kirkby Lonsdale. Mum and I went to Wheelbase in the afternoon and had a little walk on the Helm. Great switch off time.
The Human Slingshot
Something very worrying about this. Something that makes you think that there’s an accident waiting to happen.
3D Pavement Drawings
Amazing perception of depth here on these. Simple ideas in a way but just so well executed.
See the lot by clicking on the Coke bottle
A text book Sunday
A lovely walk, a pint, a great roast, what more could a man ask for to mark the end of the cyclocross season than a great weekend at home?
New track: Underflow
A bit of soundtrack work I’ve done for my old school friend Hamish. I like this piece – doing things to a spec (albeit a not very tight one) sometimes makes you do things differently than you may. It’s not as indulgent as I’m used to and that in itself is good discipline.