You're too late for this Christmas but you parents out there have got to check out Apple's iPhoto books as presents for next year. A cute little book full of lovely pictures of your kids - they're like crack for grandparents.
holiday reading
If you're looking for holiday reading, want to get online and escape the bosom of your family at any time - it looks like Paul's going to be actively blogging. And I'm going to try and do the odd post too.
kinetica
Went to a new gallery place yesterday - Kinetica. In Spitalfields Market. All sorts of kinetic art. Mechanical. Electric. Magnetic. I'm not normally a person for art galleries, I don't have the patience, but I really liked this place. As did Arthur. A lot of the pieces were very appealingly ingenious but some of them were really actually beautiful. Especially this Bruce Shapiro thing (which was way to nuanced for me to photograph.) And the
Balint Bolygo's (one of which is badly photographed above.) Well worth a visit.
half the day in blurry photography
Started with breakfast at Farina's. That blur of whiteness hovering over the table is me reading the paper.
Then I recorded a podcast with Richard at the offices of United London. Shows you how odd the pinhole portrait is. This is the results of the camera pointing at him for about 45 minutes. And he's wearing a black t-shirt, it's completely removed him.
Then I had coffee with Dave who's camera you can see right there, with his triplicating coke can. And you can just make out where he was from the blur behind it.
Then lunch with Gary at Thanks For Frank's. I had chips.
united visual artists
Went to the V&A late this afternoon to see Volume by United Visual Artists. I really liked it. I was caught in an echoes dilemma for a while about the music, but it really won me round. Especially when I saw how much it delighted Arthur.
They've got better pictures of the opening night on their own blog and some great behind the scenes pictures here. It's hard to explain. You should just go.
decoration
Since this little corner of the blogosphere seems in sentimental mood today, I thought I'd share how much fun we had decorating our Christmas Tree yesterday. We're a typical agnostic/atheist/lapsed CofE/lapsed Methodist household. Christmas isn't particularly about religion for us. But it's still quite a special time.
I like the way that decorating the tree prompts you to think about previous Christmases and previous years. You remember the times you bought particular decorations. Where you lived. What was going on. Most of this stuff here reminds me of the rather splendid years we lived in Portland. I know it looks like a lot of dumb pop culture stuff but they're all rather evocative to us.
These always reminds me how lucky I am that Anne indulges many of my whims.
Arthur's a big fan of this plane.
It made me sad that we don't have more 'decorating festivals' in Britain. There's only one real occasion when we alter our houses a lot, haul some special decorations out of the cupboard, bring in a tree, hang up some lights, mark the moment with significant occasion. That's one of the things I liked about the US. They had the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, all that. They were all occasions when you'd put up some decorations of some sort, mark the occasion by adorning your space with some objects that had specific associations and memories. They were handy little moments of reflection during a busy year.
waiting-in day 2006
One of the things you discover when you start working from home is that delivery services are not your friend. When you've got a proper office there's always someone to sign for stuff. But when you work from home you're often out. And you normally return to find a card from some delivery service or other declaring that they attempted to deliver a package three times and that now you need to trek all the way across town in the next three minutes to collect it or they'll blow it up and charge your credit card for any damage that might ensue.
This, of course, gets worse at Christmas, except there's a tantilising possibility that the thing that's being delivered is something you actually want.
So, this year we've decided to have waiting-in-day. We've arranged for as many things as possible to be delivered on this very day. So I'm not allowed out for even five minutes, because if I do go out, however briefly, that's when everything will arrive. So if you're waiting for an email from me, today might be the day it'll finally arrive. And I apologise in advance if my twittering becomes a little repetitive.
Good thing though - I'll be able to watch Ben doing his Day In The Life Of A Graphic Designer.
UPDATE: 10:50am - nothing yet
UPDATE: 11:44am - Christmas Tree's just arrived. In a minicab. Ah, the metropolitan life.
UPDATE: 13:55pm - nothing else here. Just the Christmas Tree. Having a plate of bacon and eggs. Half way through the 'to do' folder on my email. Forwarding most of it to the future.
UPDATE: 14:15pm - Argos have arrived. I'm not supposed to look inside these packages but it's very tempting.
UPDATE: 14.27pm - Postie's just come. Not part of the waiting in scheme but it's always nice to be here when things thud on the mat. It included a splendid little package from covetable curiosities on etsy. Just a little Christmas thing for Anne (don't worry she never reads this). But it was the physicality of the thing I liked, assorted stamps and an Air Mail sticker and a nice smell and some random bits of ephemera. I love mail.
UPDATE: 14:54pm - the big one! The business credit card has arrived. Now I can run up a huge expenses bill and stick it to The Man. Oh, wait, I'm The Man. Never mind.
ghost map snow pub
It just somehow seemed the right thing to do.
I went to The John Snow this afternoon for a quick drink, a bowl of soup and to read The Ghost Map for a bit.
Does this get me extra credit?
game on
Arthur likes a challenge. Here's Paul's attempt to out shout him. Here are a couple of responses:
scream1.mov (224K)
scream2.mov (356K)
You decide. Paul or Arthur?