Martyn Glanville: August 2008

Another hair-raising drive to work

Image via Wikipedia TORRENTIAL RAIN this morning made my zip up the E55 like something out of Wages of Fear.

The road out of the city transforms from urban street to motorway pretty quick, and in heavy traffic you often find yourself forced to take one lane instead of another.

This happened this morning, and as we drifted into motorway, I was stuck in the fast lane in a downpour that had the wipers working overtime. Behind me, a goon in a BMW was practically kissing my exhaust pipe, while to my right, a tattooed thug (sorry tattooed friends) was bunching me in.

Matey behind wanted me out of the way, while blokey to the right wouldn't budge. And the wipers couldn't keep up.

So you are left with little choice but to speed ahead and get clear of the box. My car has a gizmo in it that will record my speed in the event of a crash. For every kilometre over the limit, I pay a certain amount towards repairs. The pay-off for this is cheap insurance, and I'm no speed freak so the deal is sweet for me.

But by now I was pushing 120km in a 90km zone, in rain you couldn't see beyond, ploughing through near flooded roads, just to get clear of these maniacs all around me.

It was a bit of a nuisance, I can tell you.

Eventually, the chap on the right who'd kept pace with my accelerations, hemming me in, floored it a bit more and sprayed his way past me, giving me room to move over for the impatient Beamer behind.

It was my birthday not long ago. Am I really such an old man already that I tsk-tsk and disapprove of these crazy drivers?

Danes take a theory and practical driving test. They even have to take a first-aid course so they know what to do in the event of a road accident.

Good job too.

'Bigfoot' is monkey suit

Frame 352 from the film, allegedly capturing a...

Image via Wikipedia 'Bigfoot' is monkey suit

Who'd have thought?

Eastern Promises

Zulu Sommerbio 2008 | Alt om København kbh - AOK: "Mandag 18. august - Eastern Promises"

This is starting in 13 minutes in the park across from where I live, if you are into outdoor cinema.
Be quick, you can still make it. Bring a jumper.

Apple is not the only fruit

BUT BLACKBERRIES are not that much better either.

That's as clever as I get. The other night I was in the pub with a mate, counting and reminding him of each occasion he saw fit to produce his new iPhone to make a point. I understand this, I would be the same with a new gadget.

I liked the iPhone, I liked how you could be a Jedi to use it, barely scraping the screen with one's fingers to execute a command, the way the view tilted depending on which way up the screen was, and even the Wii-like motion control of a game he had.

Tucked in my pocket, and feeling a little inadequate was my work-suppplied Blackberry Curve 8310. It was my Anna Karen to his Penelope Cruz, let's not be mistaken. The iPhone's big screen was lovely, and the smooth and fast delivery of Google Maps looked especially good. My Blackberry has a smallish screen and chunky GPS (though it did navigate me home the other day when I got lost on my bike in Frederiksberg). Pete, the iPhone's owner charitably entertained my Blackberry when I finally produced it for the purposes of comparison.

For all its delights, I found myself wondering if I would buy an iPhone. I've read quite a bit about how it's a great personal device but lacking as, er, a mobile phone. I would be the same about a Blackberry, however. It is great as a work tool, and is already saving me time. But its usability leaves a lot, and I have found how to do most things I want to do on it by searching the web rather than getting any joy from the manual.

I'm not sure I'd buy it either.

I have such an on-off relationship with Apple. I started on Macs and switched to PCs because they could do the things I wanted to do. Recently, I found myself in need of a reliable podcast manager. I tried Juice (kept crashing), Creative's whadjamacallit (not compatible with my Creative Zen Stone Plus! What?!), and Winamp (banned by my corporate IT). In frustration, I turned to iTunes and have found it by the far the best tool for my job. So much so, I am thinking of - shock, horror - buying an iPod.

But let me drag you back from Apple again. See, I think I rather like the slightly botched, Heath-Robinson extremes being a PC user sometimes sends me too. I unpacked my PC from storage a while back, from a time when wireless networks at home were just being thought of. With no wireless card in the desktop, I bought a Belkin wireless adaptor. Didn't work, they said because it was not very compatible with my work-supplied wireless modem (it's all about channels and what wireless signals are sent on them). I was about to give up the ghost when I remembered I had a Belkin wireless router. Long story short, I whacked it into the wireless modem and bingo! The wireless adaptor in my desktop locked on to it straight away. What nonsense. Would a Mac user ever put up with such cobbled together contraptions. Doubt it.

Question is, why do I?

Castr0 Heights - MyMiniCity

Not sure what this is going to do, but let's see...

Castr0 Heights - MyMiniCity

Croc Shock

Image via WikipediaRETURNING FROM holiday is always a mixed experience. Sometimes, it is a relief to be back in one's surroundings where the grim reality that is about 49 weeks of your year is momentarily new again. And on the other hand, one can miss the elements of a holiday that make it so enjoyable.

I returned from a week in Ireland and a dozen days in Ibiza glad to be back. I'd had a fine old time but was tiring of living out of a rucksack. One item that did not make the trip home was an army green, imitation pair of popular plastic shoes, Crocs.

The preferred footwear of surgeons and chefs, these rotten looking things never held much appeal for me - not unless someone would let me loose with a scalpel or knife and spare me the consequences. Indeed, I am not the only one who has no time for the shoes. However, after yomping across the stony beach and sea bed at Cala Salada, Ibiza, son in tow, I needed some protection if I was going to avoid coral, sea urchins, and tangles of weed.

Mrs CG nipped into a cheapo shop and bought a few pairs for a few yo-yos and off we trotted, or should I say bounced. Whatever cheap, polluting rubbish they make these things from, it certainly puts a spring in your step. No wonder hospital and restaurant workers favour them, being on their feet all day.

I was surprised they were so comfortable. Course, a few days later after numerous dunkings in salt water, they gave up the ghost. Maybe the real ones are more durable, I don't know, but I have had my secret experiment and them clogs were a pleasant surprise. But, like the fact, I am genuinely moved by Krusty singing "Send in the Clowns" and Sideshow Mel finishing the song off, I am not about to admit it to anyone.

Hence this blog.