The Dust Of Time

Amputated...

2008-08-19T13:31:35Z

The Hands of Joe, that is.
Despite a remarkably successful début:
A scheduling issue due to one member having a life that needed attending to conflicting with the aspirations (i.e. need to show off) of another member led to an unbelievable outbreak of SpinalTapism. I did contemplate going along with the idea of a temporarily reconfigured lineup. When it became clear that no rehearsal would be possible, that there would be no certainty of an adequate fill-in drummer - and certainly not one familiar with the material, I backed out of the prospect of a 500+ mile round trip for a maximum half hour slot that promised to be a musical débacle.

The project is dead - so much for creative chemistry!

There's some doubt about which side of the schism holds the name - either we've been kicked out, or the ego has left the building *G*

No doubt more to come...

meliadus @ 2008-07-31T17:08:00

2008-07-31T16:09:32Z

The

Hands

Joe

It has been a long time coming, decades for some of us, but now it it is here! The Hands of Joe are performing their first ever gig:

Date: Saturday 2nd August 2008

Location: the Magdalene Arms, Ifley Road, Oxford

Start: be there at 8pm sharp of you will miss us!

The Hands of Joe will be performing all their own material; and eclectic mix of art house poetry jazz and rock n roll - not to be missed!

Bass	Chris ‘Bad Shoulder’ Warburton	The Hands Of Joe
Guitar	Jamie ‘Dead Fingers’ Fisher
Drums	Graham ‘Professor Long Beard’ Barlow
Vocals and Harmonica	Bill ‘The Jigsaw Man’ Dring
	© lyrics by Bill Dring

(It is the Legend, Pete fryer's, of the Pete fryer Band, birthday so it will be a good fun night)

A Brief Reading List

2008-07-28T14:59:52Z

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Not sure why I never got around to this one before. There's an odd "who influenced who" underlying this wonderful tale, it bears some similarities to Pratchett's "Small Gods", but since they are sometime collaborators... Either way, it's dark, thrilling, enthralling and superbly written.

Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
A refreshingly different take on the Ringworld/Orbitsville school of BDO stories - steampunk in tone and dfinitely a tale of aventure.

Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis
I think the "Dan Dare for the deranged" blurb sums this one up nicely. A visual treat and a splendid alternative take on the space race.

'Tis the season of ill-humour

2007-12-27T15:53:26Z

But the worst of it is over - was back to work today anyway, and got sent home at just after 3 anyway. Lots of nice new CDs and DVDs, but I don't get to play them because everybody else is just sponging up the endless reams of satellite broadcast tripe. I think my family worry that heir eyes will cease to function if not bathed incathode rays at all available moments. Unbelievable scenes in the supermarket this lunchtime too -you' have thought that they'd been closed fr a month rather than two days, with trolleys piled as high as they were at the weekend... Iwas kind of like Zombies _ Dawn of the dead without the cannibalism *sigh*

Writer's Block: Happy Halloween!

2007-11-03T12:02:45Z

By seeing and grooving to Black Stone Cherry at The Astoria in London

Writer's Block: Happy Halloween!

2007-11-03T12:01:11Z

Boo! How did you celebrate Halloween?

View 500 Answers

Watching & grooving to Black Stone Cherry at The Astoria in London

Tony Wilson R.I.P.

2007-08-11T15:18:17Z

Almost a cliche to do this, but a tragic loss. Urbane, witty and brighter than 90% of the musico-cultural pundits. Aman without whom there would have been no Factory Records, and possibly no Joy Division or Happy Mondays. The world is a poorer place.

Superhero or Supervillain?

2007-06-28T13:13:49Z

No surprizes on the first, not sure about the second

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern		90%
Iron Man		80%
Hulk		75%
Superman		65%
Robin		57%
Spider-Man		55%
The Flash		55%
Catwoman		50%
Supergirl		50%
Wonder Woman		40%
Batman		35%

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Your results:
You are Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze		86%
Venom		74%
The Joker		70%
Riddler		65%
Lex Luthor		64%
Dr. Doom		63%
Apocalypse		61%
Dark Phoenix		60%
Juggernaut		58%
Poison Ivy		52%
Magneto		50%
Catwoman		41%
Green Goblin		38%
Mystique		38%
Two-Face		38%
Kingpin		38%

You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Whoo-hoo!

2007-06-01T13:33:54Z

That's this year's big mountain done, with no injuries this time. Ben Cruachan is, however a mean mutha of a mountain compared to Cader Idris. About 700' higher, and the last 1000' up from the bealach is deceptive. It's basically a boulder field all the way to the top, and we got hailed on. Most of the day the weather was glorious, so I'm not going to complain. The four fit bunnies completed the horseshoe, and the other three of us just went directly back down, satisfied that we'd had a gentlmen's day out on the mountain. The serious errors were (a) leaving my daysack with cameras and knee & ankle supports on a chair in my kitchen, and (B) not taking a bottle to the top to celebrate. There was, however, much consumption of Islay malt in the evening.

Got up tooo early

2007-03-08T07:26:30Z

Not helped by being woken up in the middle of the night. Cohabiting with a TV junkie really has its downside sometimes *sigh*

Not born to blog...

2007-03-07T23:34:22Z

Obviously, given the time between entries...
With my son seemingly determined to leave the rails big time and completely torpedo his chances of finishing his BTEC...
With the company being taken over (at least they can meet the payroll now) and working like crazy just to keep things running...
It's a wonder I can even think about anything at all!
BUT...
I've restored contact with two old friends, and a heroic effort by various people means that we've got hold of 86 out of 92 people from our school year for a reunion, and only one has completely gone off the radar. So, apart from possibly that last one, no fatalities so far: extraordinary really since we've all now passed our 50th birthdays. Should be a good do, too - one of our fellows is a pub landlord, so no problem with a venue, and he's arranged for two local micro/boutique breweries to produce special ales for the event! Given that this is in Burton Upon Trent, birthplace of Draught Bass & Marstons Pedigree, this is delightful AND appropriate.

The abovementioned errant son did a disappearing act over the weekend, so I could indulge in some light retail therapy on Saturday morning before parking my brain at the door of the local cineplex to enjoy Ghost Rider. Loved it - great relaxation for the overstressed middle-aged comic fan!
Later, I took my best-beloved to see Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg's giggle-worthy spoof of buddy-cop movies set in a Dorset village. Worth seeing just for the supporting cast of grand old luvvies hamming it up as the deranged local residents.

TaTaForNoW

meliadus @ 2006-09-12T11:56:00

2006-09-12T10:53:36Z

A novel patent rejection (caution advised...)
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/11/uspto_encloses_10mb_.html

meliadus @ 2006-09-11T10:04:00

2006-09-11T09:01:20Z

meliadus @ 2006-09-11T10:04:00

2006-09-11T09:00:47Z

Old news now, but nice to see that my favourite former NME hack has still got his cultural chops!
http://www.newstatesman.com/200604240026

meliadus @ 2006-08-30T18:31:00

2006-08-30T17:28:45Z

Hah! Big Blue sending itself up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSqXKp-00hM
more stuff @ http://mainframe.typepad.com/blog/2006/08/mainframe_meets.html

meliadus @ 2006-08-13T08:18:00

2006-08-13T07:15:44Z

Up at 6:00 on a Sunday morning - for work! - feh!
Still, it's what we ubergeeks get paid for.

meliadus @ 2006-08-11T10:21:00

2006-08-11T09:18:46Z

For those of us of a certain age, this is a hoot!
http://www.alice.dryden.co.uk/ho_for_hoggwarts.htm#intro

meliadus @ 2006-08-10T10:15:00

2006-08-10T09:12:27Z

A good day to not have to drive to Luton Airport methinks...

meliadus @ 2006-08-09T14:21:00

2006-08-09T13:18:27Z

Not that I'm at all surprized:

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/08/08/israels-attack-was-premeditated/#more-1000

And bet that Dubya is loving it - none of his boys getting shot at: client-state foreign policy strikes again!

Been so long.

2003-07-24T16:07:51Z

Another web project that I started on with good intentions... and then got sidetracked; I can hardly blieve that this has lain dormant for nearly two years - and so much has happened in the mean time that I hardly know where to start.

Is everybody in?

2001-10-12T14:25:22Z

The ceremony is about to begin!
It's odd how those words have permeated my subconscious. Whatever Jim Morrison's faults, he's a shamanic presence from the second phase of my growing up. I think perhaps there was a subconscious nag there that was part of my pagan awakening that came so many years later.

Polly Toynbee - Limp liberals fail to protect their most profound values

2001-10-11T09:30:42Z

Polly Toynbee
Wednesday October 10, 2001
The Guardian
A 19th-century general in India confronted an angry delegation complaining that the suppression of suttee was an attack on their national culture and customs. He replied: "It is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and hang them. Build your funeral pyre and beside it my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your national custom - then we shall follow ours." No moral or cultural relativism there: a burning widow feels the same pain whatever her culture.
Swirling about in the sea of debate on this war there is a fuzzy idea on the soft left of an Islamic cultural otherness that supersedes basic human rights. There is a plea that in respecting certain customs, beliefs and punishments in some Muslim countries, we should somehow overlook the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Some on these pages protest about "intolerant liberalism", calling for greater understanding of other cultures and accusing secular liberals of neo-colonial, cultural supremacist attitudes towards some Muslim countries. But that risks something worse - a patronising anthropological view of interesting natives who are not people like us, quaint in their time-honoured habits that must remain undisturbed by outside influence. This soft tolerance permits faraway peoples to persecute women, gays, free-thinkers or unbelievers as part of a way of life to be respected and preserved. Apologetic about the brute force of the west, those who themselves enjoy freedoms of every kind excuse the inexcusable in other cultures, romanticising them as more spiritual, less materialist. It is a kind of limp liberalism that will not defend its own most profound values.

Hard-headed liberals have no problem in opposing the Taliban, Bin Laden and equivocators who start with a cursory side-of-the-cigarette-pack homily that says September 11 was atrocious before piling on the "buts" that imply the US had it coming. Hard liberals have always been very tough on the moral failings of the USA at home and abroad - without blurring distinctions between the Taliban and America. Hard liberals hold basic human rights to be non-negotiable and worth fighting for. They do not turn the other cheek, understand the other guy's point of view or respect his culture when it comes to universal rights. Promoting liberal values everywhere from Burma to Saudi Arabia, Iraq to Chechnya is not neo-colonialism, but respect for a universal right to freedom from oppression. That was what Tony Blair's conference speech implied.

On Afghanistan, limp liberals only distinguish themselves from the old left by adding rather more hand-wringing. Limp liberals are always on the side of peace because it is more morally comfortable. They claim a monopoly of pity, castigating the other side as heartless armchair warriors. They hesitate because the outcome is uncertain: no one can guarantee things will end well. But they will never be to blame for anything, because they never stood up for anything, always seeking third way escapes from hard choices. "If only people would just sit down and talk...", though conversation with Bin Laden is not on offer. All sane people worry that this war may not be proportionate, may not stop terror attacks or make life in Afghanistan better. But the pacifist position this time is exceptionally odd. What would they do? When G2 asked a string of people recently, the alternatives were hopeless to non-existent. On these pages, there has been much flailing about, lack of alternatives hiding in anti-US bluster. A Gandhian response is a possibility - until you listen to Bin Laden. Understanding racial and cultural diversity is essential, but this time understand what?

What is now alarming is the united opposition to the war from almost all British Muslims. The shocking fact is that barely a single leading Muslim is to be found who supports it. Thought for the Day speakers (always the moderate of every faith) are against it. One of them, Dr Zaki Badawi, president of the Muslim College, calls Bush a warmonger, says Bin Laden is a random target picked off a shelf and no good will come of it: he fears greatly for relations between Muslims and others when this is over. The head of the moderate Islamic Council brought into Downing Street with the archbishop and the Chief Rabbi came out declaring the war unjustified. The Muslim News, which features pictures of Tony Blair giving away their annual awards, is full of nothing but angry opposition to the war, (plus the suggestion that Israel attacked the World Trade Centre). So however often the prime minister declares this is not a war on Islam, to them it feels so. However much they detest the Taliban, they cannot support an attack even on these hated Muslims.

Despite sects and schisms, Islam is united in feeling threatened and it is not just extremists on the streets of Pakistan and Palestine, it is almost everyone. For Britain this has a lethal potential. It underlines how alienated most still feel from the mainstream, how threatened, how culturally uncertain. Unfortunately it unites the peaceful with the violent. On my screen emails full of casuistry attempt to explain away warlike parts of the Koran as allegory: "In classical Arabic idiom the 'cutting of hands and feet' is often synonymous with destroying one's power." That is not how the Taliban read it, hacking away at limbs. So while the peaceful fail to separate their faith utterly from this violence, Bin Laden gets perilously close to creating his Armageddon war of the cultures.

What went wrong? Why was the Downing Street/ White House tea and sympathy with Muslim leaders of no avail? The crucial missing ingredient was turning on Sharon and Israeli extremists at the same time as the onslaught on the Taliban. What is needed at once is this world coalition to press Israel back inside internationally agreed borders, to shut down the settlements and to establish a permanent UN force along the border with a free Palestine. Then it is for Palestinians to create a non-corrupt government that will not waste the generous aid they need. No doubt horrific suicide bombings of Israelis would try to destroy any peace, but reprisal by Israeli tanks would be forbidden and prevented. The world would again guarantee in blood and money the rights of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine. Like Northern Ireland, it wouldn't work any magic: fighting would continue, but little by little, despite recurring outbreaks, it would gradually subside over the decades.

What matters is that the Islamic world should for the first time see the west act even-handedly. It matters that the west admits its past errors and draws a line under much shameful history. This shaky global coalition offers a chance to do better in many places, through international joint action. It means demonstrating that human rights values are indeed universal and not western.

It starts here...

2001-06-06T16:40:32Z

I hit 45 on Monday; a bit of a non-event really, being "on call": the price of being a well paid computer tech.... Not that I had any particular activity in mind - the options in Leighton Buzzard for celebration being a tad limited. I'd had a couple of nice presents over the weekend though and got a lot of good wishes from friends in the online community.