peteashtondotcom

Worcestershire, January 28th

Kinda pooped today thanks to spending Sunday in the fresh outdoors of the countryside taking photos at Witley Court for three hours. Some nice results (sideshow) though it did take a while to adjust. Funny how one gets used to the urban environment.

The trip was something the Birmingham Flickrmeets collective are doing this year - planned excursions out of the city every month or so. Nothing to do with me, I’m happy to say. The group has really taking off on its own and I’m pretty much in the back seat now, which is how I like it.

Most impressively we got 12 members along , two of whom bringing their families, with the usual diversity of people and equipment. It was a good thing.

But it did kinda write off today. Still, that’s probably no bad thing.

Here’s the post-meet thread and pool which has been a little slower than usual taking off. I guess the others were hit by all that oxygen too.

When you go to a Google Video page you often have the option to download the movie. The first option is for “Windows/Mac” while the other option (which isn’t always there) is for “iPod/Sony PSP”. Now, you’d think given that the first option is for operating systems while the latter is for devices that option one would be a nice useable file while option two would be tied to the device in question. Nope. Downloading for Windows/Mac gives you a file that will only play in the Google Video Player. Personally I’ve already got QuickTime and VLC and don’t need another player. However, the iPod/PSP file turns out to be a plain and simple MPEG-4 file that will pretty much play on anything anywhere. And, if you’re so inclined, can be edited, remixed, whatever.

Along with Podcasting (where simple mp3s are often used) this is an interesting and somewhat unexpected side effect of the iPod and other video devices. Rather that streaming or wrapping the file in some DRM, content providers are obliged to release their stuff in open formats to get to their audiences. That’s not to say they make it very clear. Which is why I’ve written this. When you see “iPod” think “a format I can actually use how I want” whether or not you have an iPod.

Bournville, January 24th

As part of my current routine, which I’m going to try and keep to for a few weeks, I’m getting up around 8-9ish, posting something to CiB (since that’s essentially my job now) and going for a walk. Usually I’ll go to Cotteridge to get some veg but if I’m okay for veg and if it’s a nice day I’ll take the camera to the park. Sometimes I do both. Whatever happens I try and get a good couple of miles done, the idea being I’m commuting, even if I’m starting and finishing in the same place.

Currently we’re in the frosty blue skies stage of winter and the morning light has been quite stunning. The above photo was taken at one of my favourite parks at the moment, though it’s more of a “grounds” really, off Heath Road. There’s a pond, a load of trees and this white pavilion that could pass for a stately home if you squint.

Actually, I took a shot of it TTV style in the autumn and it might be interesting to compare the two:

My plan, which I’m not making any promises about, is to photograph this scene from the same position over the next few months as Spring comes along.

– — –

Speaking of CiB I posted an interview with Rich Batsford of Project X today. These interviews are taking a lot longer to write than I’d expected but it’s all good.

Just had a nice thing happen. I’m listening to the stream of Mary Anne Hobbs‘ Friday night experimental music show because Dr. Ellis recommended it. It’s two hours of “beatless” records on a show that normally has a lot of beats. That’ll be good working music, I thought, and it is. The stream should be there ’til this Friday if you want to check it out.

So I’m taking a break and hitting some links in my feed reader, loading up a few pages in the browser to investigate. As I’m reading some article I notice one of the tracks appears to be mixed up with a talk I recognise. The phrase “the interface just disappears” keeps cropping up. It’s some demo of a new technology that I remember seeing a few months back and it works really well. Neat, I think to myself.

Closing a tab I realise that it’s not part of the mix but a streaming video linked to by Gordon that I didn’t realise I’d loaded up. And then I discover the track it fitted so well with (at around 1:25 in) is by an artist called Xela who co-runs a label called Type with my Flickr chum Stef.

And all this makes me smile.

That video clip is worth checking out, by the way. It appeared months before the iPhone and shows a much more advanced form of touch screen manipulation. And related to this, I once tried to put this Ruby of Rails demo to music but my skills were lacking. I’d love for someone with the requisite ability to have a go though.

It’s become something of an internet truth that the comments on popular YouTube videos represent the nadir of cesspit online dialogue but while scrolling down to escape this video of Celine Dion singing AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long (via) it occurred to me this is a real indicator of the reach YouTube has these days. It’s not that comments like “u shud all shut the fuck up its wikid i fink its a realy gud version if they wer all the same as the originals it wudnt b different x” are unique to YouTube but it’s quite rare for the likes of us to share a service not just with someone who writes like that but who actually likes Celine Dion. YouTube is the great bridge across the niche divide and while it’s not pretty maybe there’s something to celebrate there. Maybe.

Home, January 21st

Yesterday, seeking some much needed time away from the screen, I joined Dr Zoop in the garden where he was clearing the remains of autumn away and took a peek in the compost heap. We’ve been added kitchen stuff to it for about a year now and I wasn’t overly convinced much was happening. However, on digging down worms were revealed. Hundreds of them! And then under them the loveliest loamy compost you ever did see! There’s not a massive amount of it and I suspect it could just be all the tea bags we get through (at a rough guess about 100 a week) but even so. Progress!

In other news I haven’t been doing much other than hack away at the Created in Birmingham blog which is picking up steam nicely. I didn’t really think how much spinning my Birmingham stuff off to that and Brum Blog would leave this blog so empty. Maybe it’s time to re-integrate the linklog? What do you think?