tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65431692009-02-21T16:05:44.858Zwalking along the beach ~ bright thing, glinting there ~ washing of the waves ~ what is it, what is it for?Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-35608022302900205272008-12-13T17:13:00.002Z2008-12-13T17:17:03.378Z

The explosions at the end of Iain M. Banks' Matter are still ringing in my ears. He's getting really good at constructing very clever things. Scratch that, he has been really good for quite some time at telling clever stories, that are much easier to deal with at face value, than to properly think about what's inside. I'm sure it's deliberate.On the surface, it's a typical Culture space western

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-64937939778772082262008-10-04T17:48:00.004+01:002008-10-04T17:59:51.775+01:00

I love artists, but I think they are mad. Too symbolic, not real enough. They think I am mad. Too frakking rational. Most actual scientists think I'm off my head, too symbolic etc, but I digress.Originally uploaded by satellite investigatorI really love the idea of Artists-in-Residence (even MSSL's got one, but she - orbits seldom intersect - came and went in a week when I wasn't there), and

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-12709104223133083842008-06-03T20:02:00.003+01:002008-06-04T07:19:51.708+01:00

Pet Porte is a microchip-reading catflap. In other words, it detects and scans a cat's microchip (which your vet can easily insert), and will only let known cats in. Conversely, unknown cats (with unrecognised or no chips) won't get in. You could call it a biometric passport for cyborg cats. We were keen early adopters, since we have issues with neighbours' cats coming in and worrying the

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-57595208178723876892008-02-07T18:46:00.001Z2008-02-07T18:48:56.735Z

Felix remembered Originally uploaded by Drift Words

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-17928260205759522102008-02-07T10:46:00.000Z2008-02-07T10:57:49.407Z

Felix is not gaining great happiness, and indeed is accumulating unhappiness. Although he numbers only one, this equation bothers us highly. What would Jeremy say? He's dead of course, and so are we all eventually.Sorry to get legalistic and philosophical, but we need air support at times like these. Hand to hand moral battles are tough.As his carers on Earth, we have certain ultimate powers.

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-14394481002908348762007-12-09T16:48:00.001Z2008-02-07T10:46:43.916Z

Poor thing, he's got sore gums and can't eat properly, and looks inelegant.He's got squamous cell carcinoma, which means a sodding great lump in his mouth.We have been giving him squashy things to eat (yum yum) and regular flannel-baths (yuck).Here he is in happier times: Update (6 Feb). He's been getting increasingly alarming of appearance (pulling his own fur out because his tongue's not

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-11828248512926642452007-10-09T23:17:00.000+01:002007-10-09T23:22:57.138+01:00

Got approached by StockphotoPro through my Flickr Mail, (Dear Matt, your photos are classics, add them to our archive and make us lots of money, you vain person) on the basis of these images:Flattered, obviously, though not sure how much critical response was there. Suspect a bit of filtering has been done based on the number of Faves each image has already attracted. This wisdom of crowds

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-40086919876654375892007-07-09T21:15:00.001+01:002007-07-09T21:15:45.354+01:00

Grid Originally uploaded by Drift Words I saw something shining in my face, oddly. It was the Euston Road, which I was in the process of crossing, once again. Interrupted from my thought (how far away we are now from the beginning of the fresh day) I fumbled with the machine, and aimed and pressed the switch. Just before the light changed.Later, it provokes some unusual quotations from,

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-45024248951125420582007-05-28T18:05:00.000+01:002007-05-28T18:23:55.747+01:00

Rain stopped other play, so to Brighton to see a production of Mahabarata. Previously at Sadler's Wells.Baffling story that I'll read up later, and great walky/dancy movements. Strong, shining music and colourful swishy design. But where was the puppet/video stuff? Tall pokey bum-numbing theatre. Cheap seats you see, or rather you don't see because they are half a mile from the stage. Still, not

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-54150055631102310202007-04-28T07:44:00.000+01:002007-04-28T07:57:01.229+01:00

There in the crowded room, the guy I'd never met before pulls out photos that I had taken. Apparently top google for the term "Farnham Beerex", the official dead web-1.0 non-social site not cutting it at number 3. Last night I had a lot of the good natural stuff, a few too many burgers and no cigars. It's a remarkably peaceful night considering it's a vast room – the Maltings – crammed with

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1168288503868501372007-01-08T20:22:00.000Z2007-01-08T20:35:03.886Z

Rye is a geography lesson that you can live in. We chose not to, though stayed at this cobbly little Sussex town for a couple of days after Christmas. The geography part of it is that the sea keeps moving, and they have to keep moving the harbour. The present one is still a good distance from the high water mark, and a substantial channel has had to be built to keep it going. more picturesWe

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1165257214005075722006-12-04T18:33:00.000Z2006-12-04T18:37:45.420Z

Plain English? Naah, it's the details, innit.As the discontinuity concept is fundamental to understanding what the best of today's artists are up to, it's worth explaining again. Art detaches itself from the unsynthesised manifold by a number of strategies. It may take refuge in a dedicated space called a museum or a gallery, where it may not be touched or moved. It may be surrounded by a barrier

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1155073815643160262006-08-08T22:45:00.000+01:002006-08-09T08:26:03.160+01:00

Dir: Ingmar Bergman, 1952Not a thriller by any means, but a deeply charming film. Scenes of the Stockholm archipelago are marvellous, with the elements and seasons standing in as the Chorus as this quotidian drama/soap opera gracefully unfurls. Oh and a nude bathing scene during the lovers' sojurn by the shore, which we can all aspire to.6/7

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1154360403811387772006-07-31T16:33:00.000+01:002006-07-31T16:59:32.743+01:00

I think I've written before about science images as art. Sometimes I think that curators of certain of these collections get too involved in the gee-that's-nice reflex, rather than reflecting on whether the image communicates something to do with the research as a result of its visual qualities, or despite them. I've been dissapointed by some such UCL competitions before. Not because of the lack

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1153048513698911212006-07-16T12:11:00.000+01:002006-07-16T12:17:51.183+01:00

Originally uploaded by Drift Words. A chance to see Simply Red, very nearly. Which is to see it was more about the Pimms and picnic than the performance itself.Enjoyable enough, though we did feel like anthropologists. I thought to myself "these are really not my people somehow". If I ever did run into a field full of my people I might be terrified. I have a feeling that they tend not to

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1152904665665967202006-07-14T20:13:00.000+01:002006-07-14T20:17:45.756+01:00

Yes I know the tour is hollowed out crap, but bikes are still beautiful, and they inspire strange beauty like this, concerning a publicity-shy but influential frame-builder: This may explain the profound obscurity surrounding the life of Alvin Drysdale the man, about whom almost nothing may be found among the vast reaches of the Internet in 2006 — while photos and descriptions of his bikes pop up

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1152654631707537422006-07-11T22:48:00.000+01:002006-07-13T17:30:26.200+01:00

A big hello to both my readers. I just want to tell you about that I'm still alive, but I want to tell you about this. Take care everyone.Update: Doctor 1.

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1148412668013499232006-05-23T20:30:00.000+01:002006-05-23T20:31:08.040+01:00

Repulsive Monkey:Ni Hao: Running in Suffolk, Virtual Mandarin, Chinese with Ease, Manchurian CandidateZai Jian: Peter Bojanicdrift:::words+ : nothing– : all running blogs

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1146223045391017622006-04-28T12:11:00.000+01:002006-05-23T21:03:10.250+01:00

Press power dear. Behind the screen on the right.Press it again!Press it for a second or so!!!Oh for gawds sake let me do it!!!(Leaps out of bath).oh you're right, it doesn't seem to be working.Fortunately, my dead iMac might only be resting, as it may have succumbed to a common enough power supply fault. Having gone through the support wizard, and poked around inside in the approved manner, and

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1146069701884363212006-04-26T17:36:00.000+01:002006-04-26T17:41:41.906+01:00

This is just a courtesy post in case you are reading this for the running training journal.If I write any more running-related posts (and I might, since I'm getting back into it now), they shall be over on my other blog "Repulsive Monkey" (Taichi, learning Chinese, and Running). The common theme there is Getting Better at Doing Things, whereas here you have the beachcomber's art of Picking Things

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1145625288986022632006-04-21T14:12:00.000+01:002006-04-21T14:21:33.183+01:00

Interesting. Pandora is another music recommendation service (does music streaming for subscribers). They have a parameter-based approach – they call it the musical genome – in that they split apart the attributes of an artist along defined axes (The Cure, for example, is "electro, post-punk, melody-led etc"), unlike Last.fm, which seems to be more about plain old correlation coefficients. Also,

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1144398445969734512006-04-07T09:27:00.000+01:002006-04-07T09:27:26.626+01:00

Noah's Art Originally uploaded by askuds. I think Auntie M might like this one!

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1144155516561911792006-04-04T13:57:00.000+01:002006-04-05T08:51:15.850+01:00

Music, genre-ified, through a Katamari-like Flash mangleiser, with added Roobard and Custard. From Auntie!(via What not to think)

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1143831858318853212006-03-31T19:56:00.000+01:002006-03-31T20:04:18.330+01:00

... you know how having an ipod really bumps up your music-appreciation muscles. I reckon I've got to the end of that cycle now, having loaded pretty much all my CDs on to my now ancient 4G pod, and worked out why I wanted that music in the first place.Now, not only do I want a bunch of fresh music, but I'm always on the lookout for good recommendations. That's why I was so pleased with myself

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6543169.post-1142860267488882082006-03-20T13:11:00.000Z2006-03-20T21:25:52.350Z

DILOOriginally uploaded by Drift Words. The previous pic was probably my yearning for an irretreivable summer, surrounded by nothing but warm air. Dreadful dead lines of winter still overhead, though a few springing buds can be seen at ground level. Here I'm in the transporter module taking me to Planet Smoke for another push at the rockface.

Matt Whyndhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16111587855413517626noreply@blogger.com