A few days ago I complained to the BBC about the lack of live coverage of the Curiosity landing. The automatic response promised a reply within ten working days. Impressively, it arrived just now. Less impressively, it didn’t really say anything useful. Thanks for contacting us regarding the BBC’s Olympic Breakfast on 6 August. I… Continue reading BBC on Curiosity
Author: Dave Cross
Gullible
Did you know that the word “gullible” doesn’t actually appear in the OED? A lot of people I know spend a lot of time poking holes in tabloid stories. It’s fun hobby for all the family. The tabloids are so bad at checking facts that it’s usually easy to find the basic flaws in things… Continue reading Gullible
The Chances of Anything Going to Mars
At just after 6:30 this morning, history was made. NASA landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. That was undoubtedly the biggest news that was happening live at 6:30 this morning. I don’t think any reasonable person could question that. The people scheduling the stories that would be covered on the BBC News Channel are obviously… Continue reading The Chances of Anything Going to Mars
The Harder They Come
This week’s “classic album” is Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come – which is actually the soundtrack of a film and therefore contains some songs that aren’t by Jimmy Cliff. Some Historical Context This will be short. I’ve never heard this album before. Oh, I know who Jimmy Cliff is and I recognise a few… Continue reading The Harder They Come
Week Notes 31
Blogging Only one blog post last week, and that was my self-enforced “classic albums” post. I have a few ideas for posts this week though – and I might well have a bit more time to get them written. Health The fitness regime is going well. I’ve been running five times since this time last… Continue reading Week Notes 31
Highway 61 Revisited
Week two in the “listening to classic albums” music club. This week it’s Bob Dylan‘s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. Some Historical Context This album was released just before my third birthday so, unlike last week’s album, I have no memory of the album coming out. In fact, I can’t really remember when I first… Continue reading Highway 61 Revisited
Week Notes 29 and 30
Blogging Two blog posts in two weeks. I’m still not doing very well here. Health I’m still losing weight slowly and surely. A week or so ago I reached the lightest weight I’ve been since I’ve really been concerned about it. And that was in 2005 after several months of quite debilitating illness. Yesterday’s blog… Continue reading Week Notes 29 and 30
Fitbit and Friends
Recently I’ve been using technology to help me lose weight. Actually, I have a bit of history of being most successful at losing weight when helped by technology – my last reasonably successful period was when the Wii Fit was launched. This time my technological friend is the Fitbit. It’s really just a supercharged pedometer.… Continue reading Fitbit and Friends
A Night at the Opera
I’ve joined a music club on Facebook. It’s a bit like a book club but instead of reading a book you listen to an album. This week we’re supposed to listen to Queen’s A Night at the Opera. Here are my thoughts. Some Historical Context I had this album soon after it came out in… Continue reading A Night at the Opera
Week Notes 28
Blogging Two blog posts in one week! One celebrating the tenth anniversary of this blog and one about how Bose keep giving me free stuff. Health My running shoes arrived during the week and after a few days of prevarication I went on my first run this morning. I’m following a pretty conservative program aimed… Continue reading Week Notes 28