Smoked Applewood

Pizza

2012-01-26T15:18:00.000Z

The Union?

2012-01-10T10:57:00.000Z

Hotel bar

2011-08-19T21:49:00.001+01:00

UHT

2011-08-19T10:59:00.001+01:00

Paella (V)

2011-08-07T15:18:00.000+01:00

Not exactly paella. But you know what I mean.

Paella (IV)

2011-08-07T15:16:00.001+01:00

Paella (III)

2011-08-07T15:14:00.001+01:00

Paella (II)

2011-08-07T15:10:00.000+01:00

Paella

2011-08-07T15:07:00.001+01:00

My summer hat

2011-07-02T15:29:00.001+01:00

Easter egg

2011-04-29T16:44:00.000+01:00

Coffee-time

2011-04-16T12:11:00.000+01:00

Camembert

2010-11-27T17:24:00.001Z

Machine art

2010-07-14T14:52:00.000+01:00

Box on left, tent on right

2010-07-01T20:21:00.001+01:00

Car people

2010-06-12T15:27:00.001+01:00

Instructions (II)

2010-05-21T19:48:00.000+01:00

Instructions

2010-05-21T19:41:00.000+01:00

The Bridle Path

2010-05-21T19:38:00.001+01:00

Up through the Zoo

2010-05-21T19:36:00.000+01:00

At the canal

2010-05-21T19:35:00.001+01:00

Walking down to the canal

2010-05-21T19:21:00.001+01:00

Scaffolding

2010-05-18T13:36:00.000+01:00

Private Moorings

2010-05-18T13:29:00.000+01:00

People at the River Dee

2010-05-18T13:26:00.001+01:00

A view of the Weir

2010-05-18T13:18:00.000+01:00

View from the Costa in WHSmiths

2010-04-25T13:24:00.001+01:00

Had lunch in town. Now a quiet americano. With pouring cream.

Car boot sale purchase

2010-04-25T10:27:00.001+01:00

Trees at the Countess

2010-04-25T09:56:00.001+01:00

We've just been to the car boot sale at the Countess of Chester. On the way back, this beautiful sight meets us.

Frog Fish Pie

2010-04-24T17:05:00.000+01:00

Plenty of fish - no frog.

See what I mean?

2010-04-11T15:20:00.000+01:00

Love this clock

2010-04-11T15:18:00.001+01:00

Ye Olde King's Head

2010-04-11T14:43:00.001+01:00

The Cross Keys

2010-04-11T14:40:00.000+01:00

Across the River Dee to Handbridge

2010-04-11T14:38:00.001+01:00

Walking along the Walls (II)

2010-04-11T14:36:00.000+01:00

Walking along the Walls

2010-04-11T14:33:00.000+01:00

Post-prandial Roman ruins

2010-04-11T14:27:00.000+01:00

Mickey Mouse bank?

2010-04-11T13:12:00.000+01:00

Mobbler

2010-04-11T09:49:00.000+01:00

I'm now taking Last.fm with me wherever I go. Mobbler for Nokia Symbian phones is a brilliant piece of software engineering - and, to my delight, is also a perfect example of open source software at its best. More here.

I mean who needs an MP3 player when you can expand your musical horizons with Last.fm's scrobbling feature? I really do love the way it combines the music you know with the music you might want. I do so wish we could do this for thought. Maybe Poblish.org and PeoplesPosters.com can work together in some way to achieve this latter goal.

I really do hope so.

Chester at 2pm

2010-04-10T14:00:00.001+01:00

Carrot cake and coffee at the Watergate Deli

2010-04-10T13:35:00.000+01:00

Beautiful bank of daffodils

2010-04-10T12:32:00.001+01:00

Are these wild daffodils?

2010-03-23T08:41:00.000Z

Looking up St Werburgh's Street towards the Cathedral

2010-03-16T13:34:00.001Z

Thinking about dessert

2010-03-13T16:18:00.000Z

View over the river

2010-03-11T13:40:00.001Z

Spring appears to be coming. Lovely time of year.

Horses in the City

2010-03-08T08:44:00.000Z

Sun over frosty grass

2010-03-08T08:31:00.001Z

This takes me back

2010-03-07T16:09:00.000Z

Snow on shed roof

2010-02-21T11:58:00.000Z

Another snow view which catches my cabin-fevered eye.

Snow on branches

2010-02-21T09:39:00.000Z

Not feeling well. Can't go out. But this beautiful scene met my eye this morning.

Good for you ...

2009-07-02T16:10:00.000+01:00

Late lunch.

Cathedral coffee

2009-07-02T13:40:00.001+01:00

Lunchtime in the refectory.

Lunchtime in rainy Britain

2009-06-30T13:02:00.000+01:00

True blue cooking. Bangers, ice-cream and flag.

Some years ago

2009-06-20T16:07:00.001+01:00

I remember little but one thing I will never forget is the day this happened.

An almost summer

2009-06-20T15:53:00.003+01:00

A video of an almost summer.

A photo of a photo

2009-06-20T15:45:00.002+01:00

A photo of a photo. A close-up of a distance,

Banning Music

2007-03-17T12:26:00.000Z

Yes, I know, I've got to start to banning certain records or bands. That way I can take back control of my profile. But I just don't like the idea. It's almost like burning books. No one should ban anything that doesn't hurt. Especially if it's a piece of artistic endeavour.

Can music hurt?

CCR

2007-03-17T12:05:00.000Z

Mind you, Creedence Clearwater Revival are worth every penny of the diversion that's led me away from indie. In this, "I Put A Spell On You".

Going Belly-Up

2007-03-17T12:02:00.000Z

I seemed to have gone belly-up - I started by saying I loved a couple of songs by Iron Maiden and Deep Purple and suddenly all I get is heavy rock. I don't mind some of it, but I far preferred the indie bands the server was providing me with a week or so back.

How do I redress the balance?

Networks

2007-02-11T20:55:00.000Z

I had an interesting conversation about networks yesterday. Cities built around a grid are generally impractical for moving about diagonally. Blood vessels aren't built around grids. When we network, we should take note of how nature has already done it.

If I wanted to find out more about music, I'd build a bloodstream, not a grid. If I wanted to be political, I'd be a grid, not a bloodstream. Music is movement, politics is immobility - a hard rock facing a brick wall.

If I wanted to learn more about political thought, and expand my horizons, I wouldn't go into politics.

I need to redraw my horizons. I'm more interested in the music of thought than the thought of power.

More on Recommendation Radio

2007-01-25T21:03:00.000Z

My Recommendations seems supercharged today. It's taking me off in all sorts of unexpected directions. Recently played include the following bands I know very little about, but to my surprise am finding it easy to love all the same:

The Shins
Bloc Party
Interpol
Mark Ronson
Death Cab for Cutie
The Ventures

It's strange, because upto now the system has been quite predictable, easing me gently away from my standard fare. Today's plays however take me far further. Not sure why. Did I tilt the database with one particular choice the last time I was listening? Is there a threshold of knowledge without which the database can do very little for you? Is it like learning Japanese?

Or indeed any language?

Insatiable

2007-01-21T11:44:00.000Z

This software is quite insatiable, in the sense that it only works if you use it quite heavily. If you don't, it seems to run out of recommendations, and you have to move over from the My Recommendations station to Neighbourhood Radio.

I'm now back on Recommendations and for the moment receiving quite a varied diet.

Ah!

As I write, the program tells me there is not enough content to continue, so I've clicked back on to Neighbourhood Radio. Do the gods listen to Last.fm?

I'd still love to do the same thing for political thought.

:-(

Creating a Musical Profile, Breaking Down the Walls of Prejudice

2007-01-08T20:43:00.000Z

I'm beginning to build up a musical profile on Last.fm - about 40 tracks listened to, quite a few where I've expressed my love for them. I thought I had quite narrow tastes in music, yet the music Last.fm brings to my attention seems little by little to be breaking down my prejudices, expanding my horizons quite substantially.

I recognise the names and begin to associate them with real sounds. There is just so much good music out there - I never really appreciated how much.

In fact, creating a musical profile like this is, in a way, like playing a musical instrument. Touching here, edging there, creating a landscape of meaning, exploring meaning. Its interactivity and revelatory qualities mimic the artistic process. There is a curious artistry in profiling.

How Deaf I've Been All These Years

2007-01-05T22:19:00.000Z

I've been playing with the Last.fm tools these past couple of days. I like a number of things about them. Firstly, much of them are free. Some buttons on the software make a message pop up which says the service is available only to subscribers, though I still haven't worked out how to become one.

It's strange how important "monetising" free services has become - and how difficult becoming a Last.fm "monetisee" seems to be!

Secondly, it encourages you not only to listen but also read around your comfort zones. This technology could surely be applied to many other areas of knowledge. Political thought comes to mind, but any other subject of burning interest could come under its umbrella.

Thirdly, I'm not only listening to and reading about others but also learning about myself as I do so. Self-revelation is very gratifying. This software gratifies.

These are the main reasons I'm finding Last.fm fascinating. I'd love to take its database and apply it to other fields. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying the music and realising how deaf I've been all these years.

Last.fm

2007-01-03T22:35:00.000Z

This article and audio interview are interesting as they explain the technologies and thinking behind the Last.fm site.