... in which I do rather go on
I said quite some time ago that I might write a chatty entry at some point. Well this is it!
Work's been a bit more stressful than usual lately. Things don't seem to be coming together as quickly or as well as they should. There's nothing new in me feeling this way, but this is one of those times when I'm not alone in perceiving a problem, and I'm afraid I'm making rather a bad impression, on one person in particular, if not more.
I saw a doctor last Thursday for the first time in what must be almost 27 years: I went to a walk-in clinic. What an interesting experience that was; it felt rather like dealing with front-line tech support: wait-wait-wait then rush-rush-rush before being sent on one's way feeling less than entirely satisfied.
Since just before Easter I've been experiencing chills, fever, fatigue, etc; very mild during the day, mild enough that I've had no qualms about going to work, but becoming unpleasant in the evenings (sometimes very distressingly so) when I've not been fortunate enough to have been able to spend the day at home. The doctor guessed bronchitis and prescribed a 5-day course of antibiotics. I took last Thursday and Friday off thinking if the antibiotics didn't work then maybe four days of rest would.
I'm certainly feeling better today than last Thursday but won't be entirely convinced until I see how the next couple of nights go. To be honest I've been feeling badly run-down all winter, but it seems spring is here now and things are starting to turn green so maybe I'll be back to my old self soon.
I'm probably very late in discovering this, but I learnt Friday that Portishead has a new album coming out within the next few weeks. It's going to be called Third, and it's going to be released on, among other formats, a USB memory stick. First time I've heard of that being done.
The first single, "Machine Gun", is already available (video here). It's different from their older material but I like it quite a bit. Not sure yet though if it'll stay with me the way a song like "Wandering Star" has.
I had a look at their website and was quite surprised by their blog: either it had been hacked, or Geoff Barrow's barely literate. Somehow that's not something I would have guessed from their music.
Staying with the musical theme for a bit: I recently, finally, got around to buying CD's of the two albums Lori Carson did with the Golden Palominos: This Is How It Feels and Pure.
I ordered them from Amazon.com. I've had it in mind to buy them for years, but one never sees them in stores and, in the past, Canadian online sources have either not had them in stock or had them at ridiculously high prices (like C$29 vs. US$12).
This Is How It Feels is absolutely brilliant! I couldn't be more pleased with it. In a lot of places it reminds me of Perfume Tree, but with Lori Carson vocals and lyrics, and if you know how I feel about Perfume Tree and about Lori Carson you'll understand why I'm so happy with it.
Pure is also good, but to me it sounds rather like it could have been put together from the tracks that didn't make the cut from the earlier release. Very glad I have it, but not the one I'd buy if I were to buy only one.
I've been intrigued by the government of China's communications with western media on the subject of Tibet.
For some time I couldn't imagine what they thought they were doing. I mean, blaming the violence on a 'Dalai Clique' (If ever there was a phrase redolent of propaganda...) may work inside China, but to a western audience it's as good as standing up and saying "Hey everybody, guess what. We've been naughty and we have something to hide." The thing is, the Chinese government isn't made up of idiots so they know this. Why then, when given the opportunity to present their side of the story to western media, would they not present it in a way that would make a positive impression in the west?
I believe the things they're saying to the western media aren't intended for the average westerner at all; apparently they don't care that much what we think. They're meant, rather, for those among the overseas Chinese who live in the west and still have close family ties within China, people for whom the Dalai Lama is not necessarily a saintly figure, and for whom the Chinese government is a reasonably reliable source of information on internal Chinese affairs, and more importantly, people who, through the wonders of modern telecommunication, speak regularly with the people whose opinion the Chinese government does care about: Chinese citizens living within China.
It's an interesting calculation they've made. The tack they've taken is giving their image in the west a serious drubbing, from which I doubt it will recover for years. Or maybe I'm misreading things.
Off on another tangent now (a personal, genealogical one, so not sure how interesting anyone else might find it):
My father's mother was from a Cornish family (her father was originally from Redruth), although her mother was actually from Plymouth in Devon.
My mother's mother was from a Welsh family and she had a decidedly Welsh-sounding name. Up until recently though I haven't known much about where that side of the family came from or how long they'd been in England (as opposed to Wales). I was given to understand that my grandmother was really only one quarter Welsh, despite her name, and also that her mother had been born in Cheshire (in Birkenhead, as it turns out, which is now essentially part of Liverpool).
I've recently found out some interesting things: my grandmother's father was born in Pembrokeshire in Wales, so the family hadn't been in England long at all, and, as both his parents were also born there, it appears possible he considered himself half English simply because his mother was from the English-speaking south of the county whereas his father's family was from the Welsh-speaking north.
What I found even more interesting was that, even though my grandmother's mother was born up north in Birkenhead, her mother's parents were both from Plymouth in Devon, and her mother's mother's family was from Redruth in Cornwall, making me Cornish (and Devon) on both sides instead of just one.
I haven't seen many people linking A Softer World, which is one of my regular web-comic reads, so I thought I'd link it here.
These are a few of my fav's: #291, #267, #210, and the last 'Overqualified', #67.
Work's been a bit more stressful than usual lately. Things don't seem to be coming together as quickly or as well as they should. There's nothing new in me feeling this way, but this is one of those times when I'm not alone in perceiving a problem, and I'm afraid I'm making rather a bad impression, on one person in particular, if not more.
I saw a doctor last Thursday for the first time in what must be almost 27 years: I went to a walk-in clinic. What an interesting experience that was; it felt rather like dealing with front-line tech support: wait-wait-wait then rush-rush-rush before being sent on one's way feeling less than entirely satisfied.
Since just before Easter I've been experiencing chills, fever, fatigue, etc; very mild during the day, mild enough that I've had no qualms about going to work, but becoming unpleasant in the evenings (sometimes very distressingly so) when I've not been fortunate enough to have been able to spend the day at home. The doctor guessed bronchitis and prescribed a 5-day course of antibiotics. I took last Thursday and Friday off thinking if the antibiotics didn't work then maybe four days of rest would.
I'm certainly feeling better today than last Thursday but won't be entirely convinced until I see how the next couple of nights go. To be honest I've been feeling badly run-down all winter, but it seems spring is here now and things are starting to turn green so maybe I'll be back to my old self soon.
I'm probably very late in discovering this, but I learnt Friday that Portishead has a new album coming out within the next few weeks. It's going to be called Third, and it's going to be released on, among other formats, a USB memory stick. First time I've heard of that being done.
The first single, "Machine Gun", is already available (video here). It's different from their older material but I like it quite a bit. Not sure yet though if it'll stay with me the way a song like "Wandering Star" has.
I had a look at their website and was quite surprised by their blog: either it had been hacked, or Geoff Barrow's barely literate. Somehow that's not something I would have guessed from their music.
Staying with the musical theme for a bit: I recently, finally, got around to buying CD's of the two albums Lori Carson did with the Golden Palominos: This Is How It Feels and Pure.
I ordered them from Amazon.com. I've had it in mind to buy them for years, but one never sees them in stores and, in the past, Canadian online sources have either not had them in stock or had them at ridiculously high prices (like C$29 vs. US$12).
This Is How It Feels is absolutely brilliant! I couldn't be more pleased with it. In a lot of places it reminds me of Perfume Tree, but with Lori Carson vocals and lyrics, and if you know how I feel about Perfume Tree and about Lori Carson you'll understand why I'm so happy with it.
Pure is also good, but to me it sounds rather like it could have been put together from the tracks that didn't make the cut from the earlier release. Very glad I have it, but not the one I'd buy if I were to buy only one.
I've been intrigued by the government of China's communications with western media on the subject of Tibet.
For some time I couldn't imagine what they thought they were doing. I mean, blaming the violence on a 'Dalai Clique' (If ever there was a phrase redolent of propaganda...) may work inside China, but to a western audience it's as good as standing up and saying "Hey everybody, guess what. We've been naughty and we have something to hide." The thing is, the Chinese government isn't made up of idiots so they know this. Why then, when given the opportunity to present their side of the story to western media, would they not present it in a way that would make a positive impression in the west?
I believe the things they're saying to the western media aren't intended for the average westerner at all; apparently they don't care that much what we think. They're meant, rather, for those among the overseas Chinese who live in the west and still have close family ties within China, people for whom the Dalai Lama is not necessarily a saintly figure, and for whom the Chinese government is a reasonably reliable source of information on internal Chinese affairs, and more importantly, people who, through the wonders of modern telecommunication, speak regularly with the people whose opinion the Chinese government does care about: Chinese citizens living within China.
It's an interesting calculation they've made. The tack they've taken is giving their image in the west a serious drubbing, from which I doubt it will recover for years. Or maybe I'm misreading things.
Off on another tangent now (a personal, genealogical one, so not sure how interesting anyone else might find it):
My father's mother was from a Cornish family (her father was originally from Redruth), although her mother was actually from Plymouth in Devon.
My mother's mother was from a Welsh family and she had a decidedly Welsh-sounding name. Up until recently though I haven't known much about where that side of the family came from or how long they'd been in England (as opposed to Wales). I was given to understand that my grandmother was really only one quarter Welsh, despite her name, and also that her mother had been born in Cheshire (in Birkenhead, as it turns out, which is now essentially part of Liverpool).
I've recently found out some interesting things: my grandmother's father was born in Pembrokeshire in Wales, so the family hadn't been in England long at all, and, as both his parents were also born there, it appears possible he considered himself half English simply because his mother was from the English-speaking south of the county whereas his father's family was from the Welsh-speaking north.
What I found even more interesting was that, even though my grandmother's mother was born up north in Birkenhead, her mother's parents were both from Plymouth in Devon, and her mother's mother's family was from Redruth in Cornwall, making me Cornish (and Devon) on both sides instead of just one.
I haven't seen many people linking A Softer World, which is one of my regular web-comic reads, so I thought I'd link it here.
These are a few of my fav's: #291, #267, #210, and the last 'Overqualified', #67.