tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296932492012-01-18T16:43:46.483ZGlynn Bird's blog - about music, technology and British life.Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.comBlogger246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-4077582248460416312009-03-15T08:12:00.004Z2009-03-15T08:29:30.395Z2009-03-15T08:29:30.395Z

This photo has been disturbing me a for a week on the BBC News website:It is a load of musicians who are forming a sort of musicians' union called the The Featured Artists Coalition to protect their rights now that the mainstream music industry is fragmenting. I'm not sure what is so upsetting about it; I looks like the Band Aid photo from 1984, but this time the musicians are doing it for

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/03/featured-artists-coalition.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-86465265554742303202009-02-26T08:34:00.004Z2009-02-26T08:43:22.487Z2009-02-26T08:43:22.487Z

Yesterday saw the publication of a photo showing the moment when Peter Sutcliffe shook hands with Frank Bruno, after Jim had fixed it for them to meet. The picture has brought shock and outrage to the to the Sun readership who are presumably up in arms about the fact that Saville is smoking a cigar in a clearly marked no-smoking area. Disgusting.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com2http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/02/jimll-fix-it.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-57147172009852007502009-02-23T10:14:00.006Z2009-02-23T10:22:36.227Z2009-02-23T10:22:36.227Z

I went to Sedgefield Car Boot Sale yesterday and picked up this little beauty:It's at least 40 years old, mains powered organ - the proper type with wind blowing round in pipes.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com2http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-new-organ.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-90463621197067703812009-02-23T09:51:00.003Z2009-02-23T10:14:08.264Z2009-02-23T10:14:08.264Z

Last Sunday's Sunday Times pick of the week for music was Woodpigeon at Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough. An odd choice, but the Canadian band are playing a European tour and are appearing on all sorts of Radio sessions along the way. The new(ish) album, Treasury Library Canada, is getting good reviews.This is prime "I was into them first" territorty, but unfortunately, the band turned up

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/02/woodpigeon-3.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-92178604879802791412009-02-09T09:27:00.002Z2009-02-09T09:30:01.597Z2009-02-09T09:30:01.597Z

Watch this video:Level Crossing nutters

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/02/level-crossing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-8567196985385439442009-02-03T08:49:00.004Z2009-02-03T09:10:57.105Z2009-02-03T09:10:57.105Z

Yesterday's big story was the snow but the Conservative party were busy launching a fatuous taskforce to look into the teaching of maths in Britain. The team is to be led by non other than Carol Vorderman, Countdown's former maths spiff. The idea that a famous person who is good at maths is the best person to advise the Department of Education on how its teachers are to deliver lessons is

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com3http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/02/maths-it-doesnt-add-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-41057201082913257712009-01-30T10:13:00.006Z2009-01-30T14:08:35.122Z2009-01-30T14:08:35.122Z

As a citizen of the 21st Century, it is surprising how often one has to remind oneself that we are not living in the middle ages. Hospital managers in Derby have called in an exorcist to expunge a ghostly figure who is tormenting staff and patients. Even Radio 4's Today programme saw fit to interview an exorcism expert, who answered the questions without a flicker of embarrassment. Apparently, we

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com3http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/ghosts-on-ward.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-43222572624483022742009-01-27T16:30:00.003Z2009-01-27T16:46:36.659Z2009-01-27T16:46:36.659Z

The new version of Apple's iLife software is out today. The new iPhoto not only displays your photos on a map marking where they are taken, it has a face recognition feature which allows it to pick out photos from you library that all contain a certain faces. And it's pretty good at it too.It spots all sorts of faces:

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/ilife-09.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-78483823765690087632009-01-27T08:56:00.003Z2009-01-27T09:02:44.472Z2009-01-27T09:02:44.472Z

So now Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand are both Twitter contributors, ably abetted by the comely Jane Goldman. With Stephen Fry on board along with Barack Obama, all we need now is Morrissey, Vic Reeves and Alan Bennett.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/twitter-this.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-70520548999157893592009-01-26T16:27:00.003Z2009-01-26T16:43:23.917Z2009-01-26T16:43:23.917Z

As Barack Obama was sworn in as President, he brought with him a desire to drag the the Whitehouse into the 21st Century in terms of its IT and communications. He's only been office a week and already his adminstration has:opened up the Whitehouse website to indexing by search enginescreated a blog to allow interested parties to follow developmentskept his BlackberryHe was already on on Twitter.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/whitehouse.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-48779305148390227512009-01-25T15:27:00.002Z2009-01-25T15:41:25.419Z2009-01-25T15:41:25.419Z

I went to Great Ayton yesterday for a run out and was amazed to find Suggitt's to be virtually unchanged since 1975. They seem to have been forced to sell their sweets in metric quantities but it is otherwise identical. They even sell those boxes of Smarties you used to get at the Odeon. One look a the price list should give any former customer a frisson of déjà vu. I got 100g of Pontefract Cakes.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com3http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/suggits.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-45439035441015190332009-01-22T08:09:00.003Z2009-01-22T08:21:18.787Z2009-01-22T08:21:18.787Z

President Obama had to re-do his oath because the Chief Justice fluffed his lines first time round. Conspiracy theories were rife, claiming that he wasn't really the President because he'd put the "faithfully" at the end.So he did it again. But he didn't use a Bible. So that's not good enough either.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2009/01/oath.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-83746503260067536672008-12-17T12:20:00.004Z2008-12-17T12:42:19.597Z2008-12-17T12:42:19.597Z

A scholarly article on the BBC News site analyses the lyrics to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and finds that the X-Factor winner's cover version seems to rather incongruously apply a Christmas theme to the Christ-free old testament story.In fact, Cohen doesn't seem to have committed a decent version of this song to tape; as with a lot his later work, the recordings are crippled by cloth-eared

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com2http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/12/hallelujah.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-16705006739279119352008-12-16T07:23:00.004Z2008-12-16T07:45:29.390Z2008-12-16T07:45:29.390Z

As the BBC's Little Dorrit concludes, so real life mirrors fiction. In Dorrit, Mr Merdle (the man of the age) is an investment banker whose reputation is revered in society. He is patronised by the rich and famous, some of whom invest their entire wealth in his funds. He is ultimately ruined with the loss of all investments, forcing his followers into debtors' prison.In real-life, banks, pension

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/12/mr-merdle.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-73704730800286384642008-12-12T09:25:00.003Z2008-12-12T14:35:02.089Z2008-12-12T14:35:02.089Z

Woolworths is probably going to close. Will we miss it? Well when the news came across the ticker on BBC News 24 the other day, it caused childhood sobbing in our house.Woolworths has the three magic ingredients; sweets, toys and video games. It's like Zavvi with sweets, or a toy shop with CDs or a sweet shop with toys. You get the drift.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com2http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/12/woolworths.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-42107652249221228472008-12-11T12:09:00.007Z2008-12-11T13:08:39.276Z2008-12-11T13:08:39.276Z

I followed a Twitter and ended up browsing issues of "Popular Science" from the early 80s. This American publication is very much a man's magazine with tips on how to maintain your outboard motor, build a gazebo and strip down a car engine. Popular Science Man is supposed to spend as much time in the garage as possible, with a huge range of power tools and gadgets. He has a collection of guns, a

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/12/popular-science.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-60834189425812050792008-12-08T12:08:00.006Z2008-12-10T09:35:55.464Z2008-12-10T09:35:55.464Z

It would seem that Wikipedia has been censored in the UK because their page about the Scorpions 1976 album Virgin Killer reproduces the album artwork, which features underage nudity.The Internet Watch Foundation asked UK ISPs to block access to the whole "Virgin Killer" Wikipedia page in response to a complaint from the British Public. They looked long and hard at the picture and deemed that it

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/12/heavy-metal.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-52351384284068339682008-11-10T13:32:00.002Z2008-11-10T13:53:16.892Z2008-11-10T13:53:16.892Z

Bizarre scenes in Jerusalem yesterday as rival groups of monks battled it out, like football hooligans. Apparently, the Judean Peoples' Front met up with the Peoples' Front of Judea after a few beers, someone shouted "splitters!" and one thing lead to another.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com2http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/11/fighting-monks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-39609649375016009592008-11-05T08:19:00.006Z2008-11-05T08:25:42.475Z2008-11-05T08:25:42.475Z

At 5.a.m, I arose from my sleepless bed to see how the Americans were getting on and was stunned to find that Obama's victory was more emphatic than had been predicted. I watched his acceptance speech, with Jesse Jackson amongst the 250,000 spectators.It is a victory as epochal as if Martin Sheen himself had been voted as President.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-for-president.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-501788204365275622008-09-29T16:51:00.004+01:002008-09-29T17:02:30.929+01:002008-09-29T17:02:30.929+01:00

QR Codes are two-dimensional barcodes. You may see them on business cards, in printed adverts or on people's t-shirts. You can encode anything in a QR Code from a website address, a phone number to block of text. The image on the right contains the URL of this blog. Imagine this was on a poster in a bus shelter. The mobile phone user points his camera at it and it will direct him to the website

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/09/qr-code-generator.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-61670975754063467292008-09-19T09:42:00.004+01:002008-09-19T09:48:02.675+01:002008-09-19T09:48:02.675+01:00

I enjoyed Woodpigeon in York so much that I went to see them the next night at The Cumberland Arms in Newcastle. We got to pick a song for the set list and chose "home as a romanticized concept where everyone loves you always and forever" which was really well done.They have a blog which lists which songs they perform at which venue.

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/09/woodpigeon-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-54681315073038859432008-09-18T08:40:00.005+01:002008-09-18T09:41:37.801+01:002008-09-18T09:41:37.801+01:00

I went to see Woodpigeon last night at the The Junction in York. Woodpigeon are a nine-piece band of Canadian origins who make delicate, folky tunes with wispy vocals. They are fronted by a Bill Bryson look-a-like, who is accompanied by a mixed bag of keyboard players, violin, an Apple Mac, drums, electric guitar and five-string bass. They make a tremendous sound; less delicate than their

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/09/woodpigeon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-24797002929066276962008-08-31T15:41:00.003+01:002008-08-31T15:47:11.736+01:002008-08-31T15:47:11.736+01:00

I'm not much of a watcher of celebrity knockout competition TV, but BBC 2's Maestro is cracking TV.Every week, the celebs conduct a short piece of classical music and they are judged by a panel of experts. The poorest is voted off. It's better than it sounds. Earlier on in the series, Peter Snow had the orchestra in chaos, whereas Goldie seems to be have the Midas touch, despite being unable to

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/maestro.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-43439678477916642322008-08-25T10:42:00.004+01:002008-08-25T10:57:00.749+01:002008-08-25T10:57:00.749+01:00

I watched some of the closing ceremony of the Olympic games. It is extraordinary what you can do with a few thousand humans, some serious stage lighting and a few million pounds. Then came the British.A London bus appeared with the Brian Rogers dancers in tow. The dancers, representing the average Londoner, looked more like the zombies from Shaun of the Dead. The top of the bus opened as if by

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com0http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/london-olympics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693249.post-56917785062323571902008-08-25T10:34:00.002+01:002008-08-25T10:41:51.633+01:002008-08-25T10:41:51.633+01:00

If you walk the streets of your town and look at the pavement you will come across red rubber bands scattered at intervals. What is the source of this litter? Postmen. Our cheery Royal Mail delivery man thinks it is fine to discard the rubber bands that keep his bundles of letters together on the pavement whenever he is finished with them. What Postie hasn't considered is that a curious swan

Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16632705689688338777noreply@blogger.com1http://glynnbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/littering-postmen.html