Tue - November 8, 2005

T plus 3 days... 

We're back in Lexington now, after a lovely weekend away, although it was rather tiring. A recap of the wedding itself will go up on withever once we get the pictures from Heidi, the photographer.


Being able to watch the sunset over the Pacific again was fabulous, as was the meal that followed at Tapenade that night. If you're in San Diego and care about the food that you eat, you really must make the effort to try it out. We should have had lunch there after the wedding but they no longer open during the day on the weekends. Nine Ten was very good though. Other gastronomic highlights included a double meat at In-N-Out, The Shack's famous chcken tenders and post-surfing sandwiches at Board & Brew in Del Mar.



That was the view from the balcony on Sunday morning, a much greyer day than Saturday. The anaemic red mustang in the foreground was our steed for the weekend, and whilst it might look pretty on the outside, I can't imagine why people buy them. Expect a review in the coming days.

Jennifer managed to get me out of bed early on Sunday morning to get a little surfing in before we had to leave, and after 18 months out of the water it was such a treat. Despite it being November, the blue-grey water wasn't too cold, the waves were just right and I managed to ride one all the way to the beach.

All in all, a perfect weekend. 

Posted at 11:00 am    

Wed - November 2, 2005

T minus 3 days... 

Yes, I know, not been writing enough here. What can I say, things have been busy. If I do find time to write it's for Nobel Intent.

To make up for it, here's the last thing a Christmas ornament ever sees:


Finally, Elle and I are off to tie the knot at the end of the week .  

Posted at 11:15 am    

Tue - August 30, 2005

Thu - August 25, 2005

My cat has a drinking problem... 

Passed out asleep on the stairs, no less!

But seriously folks, it's been an interesting month. The brutal summer heat looks like it might finally be lifting. Yesterday was cool enough to leave the AC off and the windows open, which the cats appreciated, as it meant they could spend the day on the windowsills smelling the outside world and dreaming of freedom.

Yesterday also marked the start of a new year here at the University. As a result you can't park if you get to campus later than about 8.45, and the place is crawling with students, the bane of my life. Imagine if I actually had to teach the little bastards!

By the way, here's a nice little comparative review of GT4 and Forza I wrote for Ars. 

Posted at 09:01 am    

Fri - July 1, 2005

Thu - June 2, 2005

Sofa, so good

I apologise for the corny title, but hey, low hanging fruit and all that.

Trying to buy furniture in Lexington is a little hit and miss. My tastes are modernist, whereas local retailers tend to cater for those who like lots of carved wood, or overstuffed and swoopy leather items that would go well with sharkskin suits and dead snitches in the trunk. Whilst there are a few good antique places nearby, we've not found exactly what we were looking for.

Le Corbusier, the French architect who died in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, of all places, designed a few lovely bits of furniture as well as trying to change the way we live. Usually out of reach for mere mortals such as I at places like the inaccurately named Design Within Reach, Shangri La came to the rescue, and yesterday ,after several months of patiently waiting, Fedex Freight rang the doorbell. You can see the results below.





In other news, Saturday was a lovely day that saw us lower the top on the car and head off to the Woodford Reserve distillery to see how this marvellous tipple is crafted. Smelling a damn sight better than the Young's Brewery in Wandsworth, and far more picturesque (my inability to find the camera before we left means a lack of pictures), it's well worth the visit if you're in the area. Sadly, federal law prohibits them giving you more than half an ounce to taste.

Finally, I've been reading up on Pete and Lindsay's unconventional year long honeymoon. They're currently as far as Mongolia. You can follow their adventures too .

Posted at 11:16 am    

Sat - May 7, 2005

Bag to life

The constant talk of new bags in the house spurred something within. I had previously mentioned that I was considering a new shell for my trusty boblbee. Picked up almost 6 years ago from a shop in Cannes, it has withstood admirable abuse - safely carrying a bottle of champagne and four flutes into the middle of a packed Brighton on the eve of the millenium, carting assorted laptops to work and back in London, San Diego and Lexington, and being mistaken for a rocket pack or a sled wherever it goes. It's not survived without a scratch though, with cracks beginning to appear and most recently a triangle shaped piece of the ABS shell breaking off. It was time to act.

I never received any feedback from you, dear readers, on what colour to go for, so I decided on matte black. A phone call to the nice lady who runs the US operation out of Las Vegas and a new shell was winging it's way to me, tracked on it's journey by Dashboard and one of its widgets.

Last night, after going to the pub with Elle and Ben, I broke out the spanner and screwdriver to effect the transformation.

Voila!





The new stealth boblbee!

I'm not the only one who was busy with a spanner yesterday. Mr Car had open heart surgery, and I picked him up at the end of the day, complete with new water pump, radiator and timing belt. Between that and his new roof, I shall be keeping him for a while yet, I think.

Posted at 11:54 am    

Fri - April 22, 2005

Tue - January 11, 2005

Macworld delivers the goods

Apple today announced that they don't only make expensive computers that are great to use. The Mac Mini, a 3 inch high box with the footprint of a CD case, is now on sale for $499 or £339 in the UK for the base model.

If you're someone who probably needs a new computer at home, maybe to connect to a flat panel you might have in the bedroom or kitchen, then this could well be the computer for you. If you follow my drift.

With integrated bluetooth (meaning wireless keyboard and mouse) and 802.11g (wifi), the only wires you'd need would be to the plug and the screen. Now who do I know who'd appreciate that?

Posted at 03:59 pm    

Mon - November 22, 2004

Free Bus Passes

As some of you might have known, but knew to keep under wraps, for a surprise my mother decided to fly Elle and me back to the UK for my Dad's 60th birthday, last saturday. A lovely affair at Mossimans, the evening had a very 1920s feel, or at least I thought so.

What follows below is a copy of the speech Louise and I wrote for him. Matthew, if you're reading this, thanks for the contribution, it was excellent.


Wow. 60 years. Time for a free bus pass. Why someone who's proud of the fact that they'd only taken 3 buses since arriving in the UK would suddenly make use of this, I'm not entirely sure.

It's great to see so many people here tonight. Especially as he seems to have done his utmost to scare off as many people as possible. Indeed, I'm reminded of the story of Philippa and Brian's first party after they'd arrived from South Africa.

People were invited round for a drink, and, curious to know more about this young south african couple, they arrived. one drink led to two, and then three, and then more. All of this was great news to Philippa as she could see the prospects of an active and fun social life in this strange and cold country. Brian, however, was perturbed.

What are all these people still doing here? I invited them round for a drink! A light-bulb flashes on above his head. If I hide the drink, perhaps they'll leave? Soon afterwards the wine was hidden, and yet the guests remain. Another light-bulb goes off. As does the heating. Windows are opened. The temperature drops. And yet the crowds remain. Thinking that perhaps people in London can't take a hint, our cunning hero goes up stairs, returns in his pajamas and dressing gown, stands on a chair and begins to shout.

"what's wrong with you people?" I invited you for drinks. It's eleven o'clock, get out of my house!"

Philippa is mortified, not for the first time, and surely not for the last either. The work of the last few months making new friends is dashed, surely no one will speak to them again after this debacle.

And yet, a day or two later, word began to filter back. What a marvellous party, when are you having another?


And so went London's introduction to Brian Gitlin.

Well, who is this man we find ourselves here to celebrate with?

I sent off an email to many of you to get a better idea of who you all think Brian Gitlin is.

On checking my emails I had anticipated an inbox brimming with all of your crazy stories of run-ins with my lunatic father.

This’ll be easy, or so I thought.

I was shocked, or rather, pleasantly surprised that the lunatic I was expecting to hear of was not there at all. Instead a picture of a kind, thoughtful, complex character unfolded. Someone who fights for the underdog (and with the dog).

As I read all your thoughts, an image of a man, who, so very different from the one I was expecting, but who also happened to very accurately resemble the man we are all here to celebrate.

From behind his demur navy Armani outfits lies the razor sharp mind [and I’m taking a quote here] with a wit so dry it makes the Sahara desert look like an oasis. Brian never misses an opportunity for a joke, once commenting on a woman standing nearby that he could “see her lips moving but couldn’t hear a word she was saying”. But more noticeably than a great looking man with a brilliant mind (dad I’ll collect my cash sum later), I found myself reading about an amazingly passionate man who at times seems like a raging anarchist and who at times seems like a right wing thatcherite.


There were many words used to describe him, but I think the best was 'trenchant'. Others would be generous, compassionate, extrovert or idiosyncratic.


Eccentric. That would be another good word to describe Brian. As one of his children I could accept that sometimes my dad was just, well, odd. Quite how those who work with him or for him came to accept it, I'll never know. I hear that new arrivals to Burdale are taken to lunch and warned what not to do around the office, especially when it comes to umbrellas.

For those who haven’t heard, Brian is very superstitious, particularly about open umbrellas indoors,
On finding one at work he will literally proceed to jump up and down on it, for a good twenty minutes before throwing the offending item out the door,

And then as if nothing had happened, he will jauntily leave a £20 note on the owner’s desk

As my mother might attest, and you could ask him why, one should never leave a cameraphone alone in his presence either .

What do we know about him, his formative years. His first memory is that of being taken to a shebeen by his nannie. Evidently laying the groundwork for later years.

He left South Africa to avoid the army, choosing to go to Israel. Where he almost joined the army.

Or his love of the motorcar - changing them more often than some people change their socks, not always with the best of results. At around my age, his mother gave him a little Renault to run around in. Not being a car commensurate with his status as a young man about town in Durban, the little Renault had to go, being replaced by an infinitely sportier, although somewhat temperamental, triumph spitfire. He would have to hide it every time his mother was around, and after six weeks it had spent more time broken than on the road and was finally replaced. I don't think Isabel ever found out about that... As I child I remember times when he'd bring home a new car, but say nothing, waiting to see how long people would take to notice. Come to think of it, he did that when he shaved off his moustache too...

Now, being very happy with his own car, he's taken to changing others for them too.

Or his new-found love for cooking - I'm sure most people look forward to an invitation for dinner, either for the delectable food or large quantities of wine that tend to accompany it, although I've always wondered what other people thought of the dog having his own courses prepared too.

What can we say about his sense of humour? How about "sorry". What's worse, he seems to have given it to me. Come to think of it, Percy's was similar too. Not always readily apparent, always very dry, frequently scatological, and always followed by a wide grin and that distinctive laugh.


I often wonder if sometime in the 1970s, a Young Brian met a young Phil McNight of Nike, who appropriated one of his catch phrases, Just Do It.

I'll take note of his other catch phrase now, and shut the fuck up.

To Brian.

Posted at 07:28 am    

Thu - October 21, 2004

OhMyPod

Some of you may be aware of these referral websites that give you free stuff for trying out companies like Blockbuster Online and Stamps.com. Most of them want you to refer other people, all of whom have to sign up for things, and then you get a free ipod. Not wanting to pressure my friends into such a scheme, I didn't sign up, until Elle showed me ohmypod . No signing up other people, just complete 4 offers. Today I got this in my email inbox:



Yay! A replacement for my old one. I haven't decided if I want to keep the mini as it's only 4 GB, or if I should Ebay it and buy a 20GB 4G.

Unfortunately for my international readers, it's only open to US addresses, but if you live in the states and want a free ipod mini, give it a try.

Posted at 10:15 am    

Tue - October 5, 2004

Thu - September 9, 2004

Shhh. Be vewy vewy quiet...

What is it about me, car parks and rabbits? During my time at Scripps I often noticed a family of bunnies that lived in the bushes between the day care centre and the car park. It seems there are more car park loving bunnies here in Kentcky. This morning, whilst walking from the overflow lot to the College of Pharmacy I spotted this critter:



He wasn't even very nervous, sitting there happily munching on grass whilst I snapped his picture.

I'm yet to get any suggestions from you, dear readers, on possible colours for my replacement Boblbee shell . Answers on a postcard to the usual address please.

Posted at 09:26 am    

Tue - September 7, 2004

Watches

As Messrs Ettedgui and Lee know, I've been thinking about watches recently. Watches are cheaper than cars, and therefore a watch collection, unlike a car collection, is something one can reasonably expect to without a large trust fund and a big garage. Here are the potential entrants in my watch box. Obviously, there's a certain motorsport theme...

The Omega Speedmaster Legend:



Chopard Mille Miglia:



Rolex Cosmograph Daytona:



(obviously I'd like to win one of these by finishing first in class at the Daytona 24 hours,but beggars can't be choosers)

Tag Heuer Autavia:



Tag Heuer Carrera:



I think that'll do for the next 30 years...

Posted at 11:33 pm