cheezy cheeky

it was a very merry christmas. at home.

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:46:00 +0000

the sun always shines on me

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:01:00 +0000

trapped, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

It is not the first year when I had to more or less postpone my birthday due to what goes on at the office. Rather silly on the birthday side to arrive during the week and, no less, a week before we wrap up a number of projects before Christmas.

It is, however, the first year when I wake up every morning listening to cute birds quarreling over food outside my window. The first year I set foot in the BBC building and won the pitch. And the first year when I wore jeans with holes without making a fashion statement.

All good things, believe me. Here's looking at 33! Or some such. I've lost count long ago.

everywhere you go, always take the weather with you...

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:37:00 +0000

on our way to Scotland, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

...was a great song, but not for Londoners. The moment you leave this bloomin' city, the weather gets good. Behind you! It is with great joy, thus, that we discovered the sun shining in the Lake District, too, as we're closing in on Carlisle, where our Virgin train journey ends and Stuart becomes our host and guide. Some mountains (I believe that's what English people call the hills above) are even glistening in their powdery snow coat, so this is a great start of the second weekend—yet—away from work. Ta ta for now!

good things come to those who are angry

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:26:00 +0000

The anger has been building inside me for months, if not years. Today might as well be the tipping point. Good will breeds monsters. You may call them incompetence, fuck-all, procrastination. Monsters they are. And while I work on mines, it's not too much to ask that you do the same. Or is it? The only good part, and proof of adulthood (if not inherent softness) is that anger leads to some of the best changes. And I can feel them coming, on my side. You may call them ruthlessness, assertiveness, silence. Regardless, they will be delivered. You have been warned.

how is everything in heaven?

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:23:00 +0000

bob bob ricard breakfast, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Pure milk and honey, even if I don't get to tell the story often enough. I've seen the queen! She's seen me, too. I waved, she didn't. Then, my attention to cheeky squirrels, a cannon fired at Whitehall knocked my shoes off. Turns out it was Poppy Day. I have videos and all, and still think I'm gonna get round to publishing them before Christmas. Hope dies last. In the meantime, gardening went to hell. My plants outside are dying from too much water. The proto-garden inside—from too little. I cook now and then, more for survival than pleasure. But, hey, I'm a project manager again, and that, just like stabbing needles in my eyes, is a great cause for excitement. More so since the skills are there, and employing them is successful. Less successful at wishing my dad happy name day—though less than a week late on that front, with a little help from friends. I'm out of cigarettes more often than not, and nearly out of lighters. But we've been to Bob Bob Ricard four times in a month—does it matter it was only at the oddest hours? The breakfast above was taken as a brunch when others came in for lunch, in a day otherwise void of breakfast and lunch. And I'm just jumping in some clothes of sort to catch a glimpse of the London Jazz Festival. A star, that's what I am. A big glowing star with no time no pluck her eyebrows or pay her bills. Hang in there, the best is yet to come.

bt tower about to fire an early christmas

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:20:00 +0000

bt tower's new clothes, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We're going for a beer in a few hours to admire the new light show of the Telecom Tower from a perfect distance, sitting on the heated outdoor terrace of Mortimer (on Mortimer Street). We followed the upgrade of BT Tower's light features with much excitement in the past months, and were stopped in our tracks more than once last night gazing at the rehearsal show. Not only that the previous rainbow band at the top is replaced by a swanky LED display, but the tower itself will be illuminated at night much in the style of the cute, old rainbow and visible in all its alien spaceship splendor.

I am doubly excited. The tower will be more of a landmark at night than before, and the new LED display will showcast the official 1000 days countdown until the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a new Olympics-related message going up every single day. It is the best yet exposure of a sponsor, and hopefully of the Olympic spirit, too. On a different note, Chris likes to point out that after three years of constant, shiny use, no one will mind that the display takes on the same function as the infamous Piccadilly Circus screens. I like to believe it will still look a bit better by comparison :)

But first things first. Let me celebrate its new life with a beer in one hand and a camera in the other. Though that makes me think I need a third to hold my cigarette and a fourth to light it.

ready for transmission, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

chevron: my first flickr gallery

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:59:00 +0000

my first flickr gallery, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Prompted by a good idea from the lovely freelance designer who's giving the simple MetaBroadcast website a much needed makeover, I looked at chevron photos on Flickr to spot some we'd ask permission to use as alternate backgrounds. And then I realized that rather than bookmarking my finds, I could put a gallery together—what better tool for a budding curator? Eventually, adding photos to the chevron gallery I started writing down ideas for chevron photos to take myself, so all in all the exercise proved quick and more inspiring than expected. Except, for someone with hundreds of Flickr sets, what is going to stop me from assembling hundreds of galleries in a blink? My camera, hopefully, in all its Canon G9 sexiness :)

u2 live worldwide (sorta) on youtube from rose bowl

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:58:00 +0000

U2 live on YouTube, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Not holding our breaths here anymore, though only ten minutes separate us from U2 going live on Rose Bowl, and in 16 countries, via YouTube. The image quality is terrible, one cannot tell the hand of a good live broadcast director, and instead of a MC we had Rocko (or something like that) from the stage building team (!) tell us that Antartica will get U2 tonight. Not what I heard, but an original messenger nevertheless, and the world might feel better knowing that penguins will hear Bono (no, they won't, unless they're good at manipulating IP addresses).

In the image you see U2 arriving at the stadium. That is, if you can tell their faces. The Edge went on at some point (live? recorded? hard to spot the difference in the half hour leading to the act) and told us that millions of eyeballs, or billions (same thing, I agree) were going to be on them tonight. Exciting! Historical! And a level of amateurism on both the side of YouTube and that of U2 that I haven't seen in ages. But, wait till we go live in three minutes. The world will come to a stop, right?

It reminds me of seeing Bono and The Edge on the couch of Jonathan Ross months back, promoting the new tour as it had 1) a 360 degrees stage and 2) a cheap ticket (35 EUR). They looked uncomfortable, if not fearful, had little to say and hardly any humor. And now we're live, with the same bad direction, and random changes in sound level. It is extremely underwhelming, far from the future of broadcast, and not able to make us feel as engaged as normal live events do on TV. Bad execution may explain why.

Either way, it looks like there's no U2 party going on worldwide. I'm off to bed.

when your computer slows down...

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:13:00 +0000

...panic! I didn't. In twenty years I've seen so many computers slow down over time that upgrade (memory, and then machine altogether) has been my only mantra. So when this machine started slowing down, even if too early in its life span, I shrugged, ground my teeth, and prepared to suffer until the upgrade. Even when it gets down to a crawl, I keep my cool. But since cool as a cucumber isn't my middle name otherwise, and my sysadmin knows it too well, he's been working at destroying this fake state of cool with a plethora of logical arguments that don't even move a hair of mine out of the cool. I've worked at this cool for twenty years, are you kidding me?! And then tonight he instinctively (mischievously?) said it breaks his heart to see how much time I waste. Implication being, I frequently complain about the lack of hours in the day and night to contain all my interests. And that emotional punch under the belt did it. One hour has been spent changing settings, monitoring CPU activity, opening and closing apps, and finding smart fixes for my Firefox. Though the obsession with opening a million tabs and keeping them so hasn't been cured or addressed directly, and neither has that unruly behavior in combination with processing large numbers of large photos, a few other tweaks should breathe just enough life into this laptop's veins to make it to the upgrade (to a new machine altogether) line. Since you can't count on your sysadmin to be so drastic, if Firefox is naughty (though never as much as Safari or Internet Explorer), start with Lifehacker's must have extensions. And I'll restart Firefox to see what's coming out of the past hour's work.

morning has broken... successfully

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:56:00 +0000

good morning, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

It's very rare that I should wake up before Chris, and need alone put me in that position. The need for a new batch of pills. The house was pleasantly quiet as I ground and brew our coffee, and a great tit sang crisply, perched on an antenna across the street, as I sipped my drink and gathered the patience to deal with NHS (if you're British, spare me the whole 'we love NHS' ode—some things are good about it, but most need serious improvement, and I, a poor Romanian, have seen better).

I don't know whether it was walking in the sun and its unusual warmth, recently reading and thinking about Nilofer's The Story, or both, but the same employees that managed to bully, humiliate, and anger me more than once in the past were not a problem today—their stupidity, when not contained, only amused me. I was processed so swiftly, in the end, that I got home with enough morning left to enjoy the proto-garden in its new, sunny location and feel as if I had just woken up.

proto garden has moved, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

lunchtime in trafalgar square

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:49:00 +0000

not safe for public use, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

It was so brilliantly sunny today that we took lunch away and stopped in Trafalgar Square. Some may argue that the fountains have ruined the previous simple and straightforward agora, while other may welcome the water feature (as an Indian restaurateur from Birmingham called his waterfall wall, no doubt, only to annoy the hell out of Gordon Ramsey). But wait, the fountains are not for public use. And what public use might that be? Looking? Photographing? Bathing? Drinking? All of the above?! Or is that sign rather saying that fountains are for private use?

london moves me, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The place was littered with myriad banners announcing BFI's outdoor screening tonight, part of the 53rd edition of the London Film Festival. I guess we'll skip.

st martin in the fields, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

But when I looked away, there was plenty of proper eye candy around, so yay for me :)

do not feed the pigeons, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I loved the sweet English employed by the anti-pigeon sign: Do not feed the pigeons. They cause nuisance and damage the square. I respectfully suggest: Do not feed the pigeons. Shoot them.

two technologies, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Not everyone was there for lunch. Some lost themselves in a newly acquired book.

trafalgar square nap, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Some had a rest. Why cover one's eyes, though, and not close them? Fear of sleep?

chatting with one's model, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And some were doing their homework and chatting with the occasional curious model. The girls in the back, momentarily still, were living dangerously by making public use of that fountain.

starling on the hunt, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And yet again, an Asian man behind me decided to feed the rare starling, while shooing pigeons.

feeding the damn pigeons, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And then, getting off the bus and heading home, all my anti-(city)-pigeon smugness crumbled when the meager DON'T FEED THE FUCKING PIGEONS sign in Fitzroy Square failed to stop this kind woman from unloading most of her pushchair's worth onto the bloody rats. Just beyond those railings, in the shrubs, live glorious birds like robins and finches and thrushes and starlings. But who's got eyes for them?!

taking it easy for one day

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:05:00 +0000

late bloom, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

It's been a wild roller coaster of putting offers together, keeping the businesses on track, and living life at its full. The last proved the hardest but we kept our teeth in the goddamn sneaky fabric of it because that's why we moved away from corporate jobs three years ago: to live. And lived we have, though at the oddest moments: late at night, just before lunchtime, in between meetings—and, boy, are there plenty of meetings still to come! The autumn flew by in a blink, days are short and nights are freezing, and stopping to smell the flowers has become difficult, if only because very few are still standing :) But change has missed a couple of areas where we'd been doing great for a while now. On October 14th I littered the kitchen counter with notes leading to one of Chris's birthday presents, which was, in fact, an early Christmas present. He loved the silliness so much that the post-its stuck around until tonight, when he started placing them around the house, in fitting spots. Tired? Perhaps. Silent? Maybe. Up to date on juvenile behavior? Most def. And that, my darlings, keeps all the rest ticking.

merry christmas, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

this way, please

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:31:00 +0000

You don't feel like washing the dishes today. You'll do them tomorrow. No biggie. Until you wake up to a pile that's anything but quick, and so it somehow spills into tomorrow again. It is like that. Sitting on a pile of photos and stories for over three months is like that. The larger it gets, the more daunting it proves, and the more distant its coming to life. But stubborn is my middle name, and piece it together I will, slowly. The invite in the title is self-addressed. I caught myself slipping: forget that old stuff, start here, start now. Really? As if this wasn't MY written journal for ME. As if I stopped breathing that long. As if this was more of a start than anything I've ever known. And then again: if only I could smoke WHILE writing. Tobacco, or its inadequate sufficiency thereof was all that kept me away, indeed. If only I were as comfortable with eating from paper plates as I am with poor excuses. I guess I'm saying it's a fine day for washing dishes, its air so crisp that ears can pick the Morse code of flickering stars while eyes can track the crickets of the dawn. Now then, anyone for coffee?

augmented reality is spilling from sci-fi into real life

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Augmented reality has popped up in conversations three times in the past week. As Wikipedia educated me a while back, it's about adding a digital information layer to real things around us so that our environment is expanded and, possibly, becomes interactive. In this sense, reality is augmented by computer generated imagery that one can generate or capture with special devices. For example, the virtual reality gloves and glasses, loaded with sensors, that sci-fi books imagined for long now, or this handy, potentially cheap device for making sense of your surroundings, presented by Patti Maes at TED as a sixth sense for accessing relevant meta information.

All nice, but why now and what can it do for us? Why would one need more information in a world drowning in information excess? Ironically, because it helps one make better sense of existing, if incomplete information, and benefits range from, hmm, more information, to more informed decisions. It has come to our attention now due to no longer being confined to the world of games and VR/AR gadgets—visors, headsets, gloves. No, augmented reality is now on some of our tiniest computers, the mobile phones: Monocle from Yelp (iPhone), Wikitude (Android, iPhone), and Layar (Android). Exciting, no? I will be coming back to this subject once I got to play with Wikitude, which only works with the iPhone 3GS not available in this household, or even Layar if I one get an Android (a tempting thought for months now).

The video below is an exercise in imagination to how augmented reality might work beyond our mobile phones. Is the world at large going to turn into our display? Is it going to become browsable? Will we escape to Second Life and the likes more often, or much less? We will, for sure, hear about AR more frequently, as it's one of those developments to split society into love and hate groups. Tune your ears :)

Map/Territory from timo on Vimeo. Here's a related article.

Update, November 13th 2009: And another sign that things are looking up for AR (a buzz word that will come to mean as many unconnected things as web 2.0 and such): the first augmented reality development camp to take place on December 5th in San Francisco (where else?).

google docs forms. fail

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:23:00 +0000

I've just completed a questionnaire built with Google Docs Forms to only receive the customary error: Something bad happened. Don't worry, though. The Spreadsheets Team has been notified and we'll get right on it. This is the second time I answer a survey made with this tool, resulting in this error, which is why I called it customary above. And both times my first thought, right before the error showing up, had been: Cool stuff, why should I bother paying Survey Monkey next time? No errors and no wasting anyone's time, that's why. What's even more ironic is that I was filling in a survey from Wikipedia about their mobile app, specifically potential improvements. Turns out current mobile Wikipedia works better than current web-based Google Docs Forms, mobile or not.

st. james's park in december

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:31:00 +0000

st. james's park, originally uploaded by gorgeouxness.

It was a windy, freezing day at the start of December, and we were roaming St. James's Park with my family, trying endlessly to warm up by walking around determinedly, as if with more purpose than feeding the cheeky starving squirrels. We were swearing to no longer get out of the house without my love's pocket flask brimming with brandy, and convincing ourselves that the public loo was bearable. And then I froze some more, trying to stop my hands from shaking in catching the right pigeon in flight, the right water bokeh, the precise picture I had in my mind. Though not the first time, it was a painful, consuming attempt to frame what I envisioned rather than what presented itself to the passing-by snapper, and my diligence in moving one step further from point-and-shoot moments paid handsomely. I was amazed that one couldn't tell how terrible the weather was, that one could believably place this scene on a perfect summer evening, and I was going to freeze in order to show others.

This is the 200th image in my better photos Flickr stream, now rising to 215 instances. Rock on!

nokia announces acquiring dopplr. without going weee

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:51:00 +0000

First, there were rumors on blogs, then an article on TechCrunch, and then a second, more solid TC article four days ago. It sounded to me like the news leaked. It also sounded like a Finnish company bought another Finnish company. After all, co-founder and current CEO Marko Ahtisaari had been Director of Design Strategy for Nokia. So, when no confirmation followed from either company, I figured the deal was still under negotiation, needing further/ higher approvals, or, even simpler, got stuck in Nokia's slow press release machine which was not, even if speedy, going to send it out on Friday, anyway.

No surprise then, this Monday morning: Dopplr confirmed the deal on their blog, and I was amused to note that Marko's brief post does not link to Nokia, or Nokia's announcement on the matter. Also, not making public a deal value would suggest, once again, that negotiations are still underway for parts of it, at least. Twittered minutes later by Matt Biddulph, Nokia's press release calls Dopplr a privately-held mobile service provider for international travelers. It omits the words Flickr and Twitter (competition issues? Marko used them), and especially iPhone, while stating the acquisition does not change the current Dopplr service.

As everyone is passing congratulations around and Dopplr's London office pops a champagne, I can't help noticing that neither announcement expresses excitement, while knowing that each company has done so in previous occasions. Is it a matter of Nokia not making a big buzz around potentially strengthening their iPhone-like, social media devices offer? Or is it about not touching on why a hyped start-up already made an exit? Looking at Nokia's X6 and X3, I think about their previous segmentation of gadgets into music, imaging, etc., now obsolete, but even more, I think about a prototype I saw in one of their Espoo labs some 7-8 years ago: a fascinating paper sheet thin device with a few side buttons embracing a large screen—R&D is a wonderful thing, but time and tide wait for no company.

My current phone is a Nokia and I wish I knew, before choosing it as part of a binding 18-months contract that the company had lost its edge in good design, particularly intuitive navigation. The initial handset couldn't do voice and was replaced within days of delivery. The substitute is bugged, freezing now and then, and generally feeling slow, confusing, and limiting—if only for its terrible web browsing experience, little evolved from that of earlier enabled devices, and being stuck on the clogged 3G network of O2. On the other hand, I've enjoyed using Dopplr for years now, and bought their early ideas around serendipity (coincidences), thinking that newer additions like venues visited by friends have a great potential, when combined with geo-location, in delivering real-time serendipity.

I hope that Dopplr comes stronger out of the deal, and that Nokia recovers some of its lost glory.

a good day for a picnic

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Warm, though not continuously sunny, lacking wind, and simply perfect for two harassed souls much needing to chill. We grabbed a couple of dishes and a couple of drinks and sat on the grass in our remote peaceful spot, watching squirrels, magpies, and crows quarrel and rush about in search of food. Above all, we rested our eyes on fall foliage, finally enjoying the season that crept in quietly a couple weeks back.

fall signs 1, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

fall signs 2, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

fall signs 3, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

fall signs 4, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I also go to the famers' market

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:28:00 +0000

I used to wake up on a Sunday to find a note from my love explaining in few words and clear drawings that he was off to the market and I was, well, sleeping. Both good things. Now I generally wake up at him popping into the bedroom with the finds, and only afterward get to the note. Except for the odd Sunday, once a couple of months perhaps, when I want to go along and go through the trouble of waking up... slightly earlier than lunchtime. It was one of them Sundays today, and here are a few things I spotted, a few of which also came home in our heavy rich bags.

sunflowers, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

pumpkins, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

red plums, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

sugary sweet tomatoes, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

hazelnut cobs, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

a box of plums, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

if one could choose their dreams, what would they be?

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:19:00 +0000

I was embracing a rather large and very friendly bird. It was warm and quiet and smelling inviting, like a young chicken. The most amazing thing happened then: a bird no larger than a butterfly, and just as fluttering as one, landed on my arm, then hopped next to the large bird and took cover under its right wing. I felt bliss holding the two of them together, and showing him my treasure without moving much.

I was in an open plan room, watching the chief thief give his pack an encouraging speech. Then he proceeded to chopping off small bits of their bodies, as chosen by their owners: half a toe here, half an earlobe there. No one seemed sedated, no one cried. The silence was only spiced by his butcher knife cracking their bones open. Then I was in the street, at a crossroads, in the sun. Watching them again, bandaged delicately, drinking their minds over a very becoming picnic blanket. They were young, beautiful, and well dressed. Nothing like I had imagined thieves. And I was reporting on their rituals.

I was standing on a barge moving slowly, as they do, through the most spectacular landscape, at dusk. As always, slightly pained on how to hold my camera steady enough while smoking, and slightly troubled by some mosquitoes while not having the time to put on insect repellent because the light was fading and I had to snap all those wonders. My family was on board, and we were heading towards the hill house of some aunt or uncle. On which side of the family? Where they on board, as well? I was too focused on the views to recall. The water was covered in tall thin stems of huge light pink and light green flowers that seemed fluorescent in the sunset rays. On both sides the forest was all in bloom with buoying fragrances and heavy inflorescence of all manner of color. I kept pointing and shooting hungry for proofs of heaven.

And each time I woke up with a vibrant image that faded only a little to this day.

spotted, and tried: solera d tapa, 42 sydney street, brighton

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:35:00 +0000

We noticed Solera d Tapa in passing, on our second attempt to locate a Mexican restaurant that would provide someone's sweet tooth with churros. No luck in finding churros, or dinner at Nia (not serving before six, and not striving to get our custom), and no interest in checking out an Italian place, a pub, or a veg restaurant. What to do, what to do? I know, said the churros aficionado, how about that place with Spanish ham in the window? Minutes later we were offered a table inside OR on the patio. Simple like many Spanish places would have it, it hosted three tables with more breathing space than its indoors venue, which became over-crowded during dinner hours.

patio, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The patio had a view to the kitchen, which brought about much amusement later, watching the proceedings. It also made us salivate at the sight of many capers in one place, only seen in Stromboli.

a lot of capers, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

With the sherry came this tasty bite on the house. It looked like we were gonna be there for a while.

cheese bite, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

As dry as it comes, the fino sherry proved more pleasing to my palate than usual. Good thing, too, as I wasn't going to switch drinks easily, and I had an appetite to match that bottle. The bread arrived with two tasty, simple dips: yummy olive oil and garlic mayo.

garlic mayo, olive oil, fino sherry, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

It was simple bread, with enough crust and taste to compliment but not cover the flavor of tapas.

bread, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Of course main dishes weren't available here before six either, but a tapas place is always happy to have customers and ready to throw something on the table, even if microwaved. Not a bad chorizo in sherry, considering. However, the Canela (London) version in red wine wins in my book.

chorizo in sherry, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The lentils were awfully tasty, as confirmed by the regulars who ordered them later, even before sitting down :) I almost wish we asked for a bis number. All this tastiness called for more sherry, and, you would never ever guess... more tapas!

lentils, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Patatas bravas are a must for me, though many times as disappointing as chips, regardless of country. We probably ordered them before the oil got hot enough, because the first iteration was not fully cooked and went back to the kitchen quickly. A second try reached our table later, and, while edible, it still did not manage to excite us. Sure, the sauce was perfectly palatable, but the potatoes did not get crispier. We ate them alright, my thoughts running back to Jaica in Barcelona, though—a place so basic, yet with a few rather outstanding items on the menu.

patatas bravas, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We gave in, soon after, and ordered Jamon Iberico. Tasty, again, as expected, but a bit dry for our taste, suggesting perhaps that it wasn't well sheltered from air by a serious cushion of fat, or not requested often. The mains weren't all savory, to our surprise, so we ended our tapas evening with dates rolled in bacon. Ayy, the pleasure of discovery! A caramel drizzle caressed them, and apart from the odd one that actually had a core, we loved discovering almonds in the middle. All in all, a lovely experience on the patio, with nice service, inexpensive treats and a final taste, on the house: liquid chocolate sorbet in a shot glass. Will stop by next time we're in Brighton :) And go straight for the BIG fino bottle ;)

dates & bacon, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

roaming brighton yet again

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:21:00 +0000

the tin drum light breakfast, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We woke up decided to have brunch at Here, since the menu promised baked eggs with peppers, and we had a good time (and good food) there previously. They had stopped doing breakfast at 12, however, and were anything but sympathetic, with a full place to fill for lunch (was not going to happen, I guarantee). Considering that we couldn't have breakfast there on Friday either, as they only open at 10, I think we crossed it off our list. In theory, it's marvelously closed to New Steine Hotel. In practice, it's useless. So. A stroll down St. James Street later, we found ourselves eating a light English breakfast at The Tin Drum, sitting at a table in the sun, by the open window—which meant I could sit on the windowsill for a smoke at any point, and still reach my coffee on the nearby table. Everything tasty though the toast could have been tastier and the mushrooms—grilled, rather than dip fried in the oil used for chips. Coffee not bad, service sweet, and music selection brilliant.

silver, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Continuing down St. James Street, we had to stop at Silver to check out crazy furniture and glass that called for owning a house. Or a garden, at least. The owner greeted us: Are you photographing my table? I was. Both of them, actually. We also admired a Z shaped wooden chair inside, by his desk, and learned that it was a steel fortified copy of an Italian original he loves. On a wall nearby, mirrors framed in wood contorted as hearts reflected our fleeting visit.

charity shop finds, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

For some reason, St. James Street hosts some 4-5 charity shops, and I've visited a good number on our walk. Chris picked up a book, and I spotted two large bangles, a purple top, and matching sunglasses (left mine at home), all well under a tenner.

tiny brown flowers bush, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We amused ourselves for a while in the Royal Pavilion Shop, full of cheaply produced and overly priced nonsense. Then we entered the gardens once more, and I paid my respects to a cute chubby bush of tinsy flowers.

funny cars, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We guessed that someone was having a wedding inside the Royal Pavilion, and then, at the other end of the gardens, spotted a similar funny vehicle unloading visitors. We warmed up to whomever owns this little business, because it's not there for the riches, but it sure adds a lot of funky color to this quirky town.

food for chefs shop, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We browsed the tins and jars of Food for Chefs with glee. Some items are just hilarious (bottled Mediterranean fish soup, anyone?) while others prove handy treasures—we bought the hazelnut oil and the red peppercorns on the right hand side.

fragrance & colours, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Moving up towards the fun streets (Sydney & Co.) we spotted a pricey rainbow rug (899 pounds or so) in a sexy shop (Ligne Roset) and for once took away a yummy catalog. Then the customary graffiti on Kensington Street (I think), an owl cushion, and the Abanna fragrance oils I had received years ago from my love. Though he paid less, in London!

bonsai shop, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

On Sydney Street, I think, there's the cutest bonsai shop yet, Bonsai KO, with old trees and interesting species, like ginkgo biloba and the English ivy experiment you can see on the right hand side (not for sale). Encouraging for my secret garden and my bonsai obsession.

man stuff, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I roamed a bit on my own, while he ordered two beers and enjoyed his book in The White Rabbit. I spotted a leather bag he might like, but it wasn't that smooth, it was that expensive, and the shop smelled strongly of sheepskin, so it wasn't a match.

pink & red, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I saved some girly finds for the final photo. Didn't buy any, but sure loved collecting them on camera.Tacky, vintage, Momiji and retro seem like a good end to our roaming to me. In the next episode, tapas and sherry galore :)

dconstruct 2009 in selected detail

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:29:00 +0000

I've been blogging dConstruct live on the MetaBroadcast blog, that is, as lively as the wifi network traffic allowed for. I'm amazed that so many years after the first events with wifi, there's still little effort to get it right. ANYWAY. The morning started well, continued badly, and luckily the afternoon perked up. It really had NOTHING to do with having two beers over lunch. The speakers were that much better. So, here we go, bottoms up! Enjoy :)

Adam Greenfield - Elements of a Networked Urbanism

Michael Migurski & Ben Cerveny - Let’s See What We Can See (Everybody Online and Looking Good)

Brian Fling - What’s Next? How mobile is changing design

Nathan Shedroff & Chris Noessel - Make It So: Learning From Sci-Fi Interfaces

Robin Hunicke - Loving Your Player with Juicy Feedback

August de los Reyes - Experience and the Emotion Commotion

Russell Davies - Dematerialising a Web of Data. (Or What We’ve Learned From Printing The Internet Out)

Brighton Dome, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

and the rest of the day

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:49:00 +0000

rainbow, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Just before stepping out, a stunning rainbow arch across the street. Location, location, location! Rather than marveling at the mythical pot of gold (presumably, of value directly proportional to the size of the rainbow), I can't believe that the arch is wider than my lens... THAT is what I've become!

sunset, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Around the corner, a striking sunset. Good things come in twos? Also, wind. Not so good. Dear me, I HAD a haircut... Thank God I didn't have a hat! Though the furry one from Brighton would have been perfect.

Brighton Pier, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

A look at the pier with its flags high in the wind. And tears flooding my eyes. A sucker for arcades! And losing money! The truth? My eyes can't take these relentless gusts. Why, they're big! Both of them.

seagull over lamppost, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

A closer look at the Brighton Pier, somewhat more successful in seeing at what I point the camera, and not shaking in the muscular wind. At the same time, eyeing an escape with the tearful corners of my cornea. Crying seems the theme du jour. That hat would have helped my eyes ZILCH. But I would have looked glamorous while crying.

stopped for a pint, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

A quick stop at the sea front chippie to get some chish'n'fips, and then a roam on less windy streets to find a welcoming doorstep. It happened to be across this pub, so we washed down the cod with a pint of influencing drink. His, a cider, was there thanks to a cider & cheese festival. However, inviting us to join the live music crowd upstairs fell upon closing eyelids. Obviously, we missed the dConstruct pre-party, in order to catch up with weeks of poor sleep and strengthen ourselves for the real thing: the AFTER party. Yeah, we're getting old. Just like you. Ain't I a dolly?

P.S. I have a host of posts to throw about retroactively, whenever that happens. Too busy shooting the sea in the moonlight with the wrong camera (can't set exposure over ten seconds). Can you blame me?

on our way to dconstruct

noreply@blogger.com (gorgeoux) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:23:00 +0000

fall signs, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

London weather was a bit undecided today, like a woman crying then laughing then crying after hearing I love you the first time in twenty years. That left us rather confused about Brighton weather to be during our extended dConstruct stay. Generally, sunny London makes for rainy Brighton, and viceversa, say locals. By the time we reached Croydon (or was it Clapham?) we lost all hope about roaming Brighton tonight.

Purley, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And sunny it stayed, though odd with this construction that Feng Shui would call a fire building.

Brighton, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

At this point my companion offered to check the weather forecast for Brighton. I told him I can see perfectly well what's in store for us. The same old woman waiting to hear I love you.

waiting for sun, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

At least we have a true sea view at the old friend from years back, New Steine Hotel. No sun yet.

useless cuteness, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

No, pause that thought. There's hope. That I love you must have arrived in the right place.

a spot of sun, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Oh, look at that! A similar photo, though more hazy, might be blamed for my Panasonic camera :)

kitchen, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Time to go out before that lady starts crying again. A spot of sun, and a spot of dinner, thank you!