The Wondering Mole

Ping

2009-08-09T15:03:00.001-07:00

I almost choked on my museli...

2008-11-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

... at what wikipedia had to say about The Gaurdian's readership:

"There are many stereotypes, but perhaps the most prominent is that of the Labour-voting middle-class Guardian reader with centre-left/left-wing politics rooted in the 1960s, working in the public sector or academia, sometimes eating lentils and muesli, living in north London (especially Camden and Islington), wearing sandals, sometimes believing in alternative medicine and natural medicine though more often atheistic or non-religious and rational."

Movember

2008-11-04T03:45:00.000-08:00

Life Hacking

2008-11-02T07:06:00.001-08:00

Geek out on Life Hacking Documentary

Memories of Britain

2008-10-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

View from Tantallon Castle, East Lothian, Scotland, by Graham McKenzie-Smith

Castle Cornet, St Peter Port, Guernsey, by Mike Bonsall

Dent Head Viaduct, Cumbria, by Peter Birch

Rannoch Moor, Scottish Highlands, by Jon Tainton

Trotternish from the Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland by Paul Holloway

Penguins and Finance

2008-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Somesh will be boycotting penguins until Iceland gives our money back. I'm also slightly perplexed at Gordon Brown's reversal in popularity. One week he wasn't fit to run the country; the next he's the saviour of the financial world. Here's hoping Labour can capitalise on this sorry state of affairs and claw their way back up the polls.

Not too happy with Angela Merkel right now. Was hoping that Germany would be a little bit more forthcoming. Another sign that the EU just isn't up to bringing together and servicing the differing political and economic inclinations of such a diverse set of countries. Not that we'd want Iceland in the EU in any case.

I recommend listening to This American Life's specials on the current financial crisis.

Big Pool of Money
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=355

Another Frightening Show About the Economy
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=365

Sarah Palin

2008-10-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Sarah Palin, do you tell them in Wasilla
That 4,000 years ago we roamed the planet with Godzilla
Is it true
I am so fucking scared of you
As number 2

Hey Sarah Palin, I think Alaska's very pretty
But just 100,000 people more than Oklahoma City
Yes it's true
Go look it up, Im telling you
Oh man, were through

Chorus
Oh, if you become VP, oh, its Canada for me (2x)
Its Canada for me

Hey Sarah Palin, did you really once inquire
Whether you could throw library books into a big bonfire
God, my eyes
This really might be our demise
This pack of lies

Hey Sarah Palin, just because you're good at shootin
Doesn't mean you have the ammo to negotiate with Putin
Are you on coke
This fucking countrys up in smoke
Oh what a joke

Bridge
Just because I can see the moon
Doesn't make me an astronaut, you loon
Your foreign policy expertise is pooh
Do you really think a woman commits
To a candidate just because she has tits
Please tell me that this ticket is not true
I thought that there could be no worse
Than Cheney, but here you are, I curse
The madman who would cast a vote for you
And McCain too

Hey Sarah Palin, is it media distortion
Or would you tell a girl whos raped that she could not have an abortion
Its a new low
Who knows just how far you would go
Id rather vote for Ross Perot
Hey Sarah Palin I dont know
Where can we go

No Winners

2008-10-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Programming Paradigm

2008-10-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

“Once upon a time, computers were very, very, very expensive. Only BIG companies could afford them. Relatively speaking, programmers were pretty cheap. So the programmers would write their code down on paper to “bench check” it for bugs, before wasting precious computer time letting the compiler find the errors.

“Later the balance shifted. Now computers are cheap and programmers are expensive. So the programmers just type any old shit into the computer and let the compiler point out the bleeding obvious.”

The Looming Tower

2008-09-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize, Lawrence Wright's astoundingly well researched book gives a humanizing glimpse into the rise of Al Qaeda and the struggle between the US intelligence agencies with the growing anti-Western sentiment in the Arabian peninsula.

I recommend everyone read this book.

Nara

2008-09-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

Divya's new puppy Nara conquers the Hobnob packet.

Vampire Weekend at Summer Sonic

2008-08-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

This trip to Tokyo's Summer Sonic 08 festival was made of pure awesome and fueled by gallons of Sake:

Highlight of the weekend for me was Vampire Weekend.

Other great acts we caught:

The Subways
The Sex Pistols
Death Cab for Cutie
The Fratellis
Pendulum
Cajun Dance Party
Crystal Castles
The Hoosiers
The Kooks
Radwimps
Alicia Keys
Coldplay

Bands I missed ... such an amazing line up this year:
The Verve, The Prodigy, Panic at the Disco, Zebraheads, The Kills, Paul Weller, Band of Horses, Hot Chip, The Wombats, Late of the Pier, The Ting Tings, Spiritualized, Super Fury Animals.

Coldplay at Summer Sonic

2008-08-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Watching Chris Martin cover Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana by SMAP.

The payoff for standing for six hours on end - being yards from the front of the stage, with 60,000 Japanese reveling in an energetic act. I don't feel bad about never having seen U2 live.

How Emo Are You?

2008-08-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

FlyKKiller

2008-07-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

FlyKKiller - old skool trip hop sounds, great samples and the intoxicating voice of the Pati Yang.

Number One Rat Fan!

2008-01-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

You know you've had a good night when...

2007-12-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

....the escalator is running downwards.

Lijang

2007-11-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

After just two days, Lijiang was added to my list of potential retirement spots. (Currently: Okinawa, the Loire Valley and Yangshou). In the NorthWestern Yunan province, Lijiang is already at an elevation of 2,300m. The air and skies are clear and refreshing. The canals and eateries of the old town reminded me of Amsterdam. The culture is vibrant and varied, with representation of 40+ of China's ethnic minorities. The food is hearty and warm: soups, vegeatables and wild mountain mushrooms. The journey up to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is breathtaking .... literally: at 4,300m the Oxygen levels are rock bottom.

I can't wait to go back and hang out by the old town canal's again, but we still have so much to see: Shangri La, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yak Meadow and 18 holes on the world's highest golf course.... the list goes on!

Macau Grand Prix

2007-11-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Macau Grand Prix was on this weekend. I could try and pretend to be a moto enthusiast, but apart from a few misspent years playing F1 Grand Prix on my Amiga 600, I'd fold under light interrogation on the subject.

It was spectacular to watch the cars and bikes whizzing around on the 3.8 mile street circuit. It was also worrying to observe the gaps in the fencing that an unsuspecting pedestrian might wander through.

After taking in the sights for a full five minutes, we continued on to Sands, where I proceeded to lose this months rent.

The Dark Knight

2007-10-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong has been buzzing with Batman fever. The Dark Knight has been filming all around Central and we've all been asked to leave our lights on, to illuminate the skyline. A grave injustice in the eyes of Hong Kong's environmentalists. Kind of like throwing a deck chair off the titanic, to me....

A few times we thought we heard low flying aircraft around Central / IFC. But the craziest disturbance had to be around my local 7-11 and Park 'n Shop, on the corner of Graham Street, Cochrane and Lyndhurst Terrace. The whole escalator area had been shut down and a HK fan mob worthy of Eason Chan were out in force. Alas, I was oblivious to all this as I was off on hiking along the Dragon's Back to Shek O beach...

A bizare clip of Morgan Freeman walking past my 7-11 down Graham Street.... Maybe I should ask him to pickup my dry cleaning?

25 Degrees. On a beach. In November.

2007-10-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Nuff said.....

British Politics

2007-09-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get the feeling that the British take politics less seriously than the rest of the world....

Ten Years On

2007-07-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is being splashed around the media these days, for the ten year handover anniversary to the Chinese. There's plenty read on every corner of the web, but Newsweek has a good article about Hong Kong's "Troubled Youth" since 1997.

Oddly many of my colleagues and friends are relatively apathetic about the events. Perhaps because some of the have been through so much in the last 10 years. Or perhaps because many of them spent most of Hong Kong's tumultuous years abroad.

Either way, Hong Kong is doing just fine, and Beijing is very far way.

Taken from Newsweek.

"Hong Kong, some would say, was born under a bad sign. Its gala handover celebration in 1997--when China re-established sovereignty over the longtime British colony--segued almost immediately to an Asia-wide financial crisis, which sent stock and housing prices tumbling. Amid the deep recession that followed, Hong Kong endured a killer-flu-like epidemic and saw mass demonstrations erupt over a botched government effort to pass tough security legislation its opponents feared would be used to target them. In 2005, Hong Kong's first leader quit two years early, and since then his successor has put the economy back on track."

Remedial Electronica 101

2007-07-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

YAL (yet another list) from blender.com. This one is recommending electronica artists by pseudo-association to different sub-genres. I like the splash for "Indie Rock", it seems oddly fitting... except from the bit on skinny pants. I also deny any accusations of "leg shaking".

If you like Indie Rock...

Diagnosis: Sure, you dig the downcast sensibilities and lovelorn musings of Conor Oberst and Arcade Fire, but that don't make you some shoe-gazing wallflower. You'll gladly shake a leg to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or the synthpop of Hot Chip any ol' day of the week. Skinny pants be damned.

Prescription: Matthew Dear, Leave Luck to Heaven

Hmmm... so that's what music I like.

Dopod 810

2007-06-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

I love my new Dopod 810; but I had to send the girl back.