Month: September 2003

R Kelly’s career compared to dodo.

Sweden rejects euro. I think I may bring forward my plans for moving to Portugal, as I see no prospect of the UK joining the euro any time before 2015.

I went for a stroll around the city this afternoon, and stumbled upon the annual opening of Ede’s House. Ede’s House is an imposing building in West Street. Until 1936, it was the seat of West Sussex County Council. It was then used as the public library until 1967, when it became the County Record Office. When the Record Office moved to a purpose built building at the far end of my street in the early nineties, Ede’s House was restored so that it could be used as committee rooms for the council, and also by local organisations for meetings. It was the first time I’ve ever been inside. It’s an impressive building, but it seems somehow to have the air of an office, and not quite the impressive town house that the exterior promises. Also, I note that only one of the rooms is really large enough for any sort of meeting to take place, and even then I only think it could seat 50 or 60 people.
One of the most notable features of the building is a pair of large stone pineapples that flank the West Street facade. And, luckily for you, I took a picture of one earlier this year.

OK kiddies. A few people have been muttering about a lack of interactivity here lately. Furthermore, the current header graphic has been almost universally unpopular. There’s no pleasing some people. Or is there?…
Yes, folks, it’s time for a poll! Woo! Yay! To celebrate this site’s third birthday on Tuesday, I’m going to let you vote on a choice of candidate header graphics that I’ve spent the morning designing when I should have been doing work. In true Scaryduck style, I expect that I’ll ignore your vote and choose the one I like best. But that’s not the point.
Here are the candidates:

Capitol Balustrade. Looking through the balustrade around the State Capitol in Sacramento, as a couple of people look back at me.

Capitol Ceiling. Looking up at the ceiling of the dome of the same building in Sacramento.

City Café. In Sacramento again.

Palm House Door. The southern end of the Palm House at Kew.

Railings. On top of the city walls, very near my flat.

Warning. A sign on a wall near my flat.

So, six choices. And you decide. Or something.
Votes in by 5pm Friday 19th September. The new graphic will be in place next weekend.
Go on! Vote…!

Slang – Dirtwater Telegraph. Worth watching.

Beer tonight with Lord Percy, Lady Bren, Arron and Terry, with sightings of several of the usual suspects. Much food for thought for all, I think it is fair to say.

Sticking with media news, this report is worrying. When will the global community act against Mugabe?

Do you know who might be the next Democrat candidate for the US presidency? Didn’t think so….

• Justin Webb’s From Our Own Correspondent article is worth reading.
• The BBC also, helpfully, profiles each of the contenders, and links to their own websites, thereby saving me the bother.
• New York Times: worried Democrats see daunting hurdles.
• As you might expect, the Washington Post has a whole section devoted to the 2004 election, including background, candidate profiles, a timetable and just about everything a complete novice or expert could need to understand what is going on. Recommended.
• And don’t forget that, in the meantime, we still have the Californian gubernatorial recall vote. The Sacramento Bee continues to have the best coverage that I’ve seen. Worth reading too is Daniel Weintraub’s California Insider weblog, which is currently concentrating on the recall vote.

Lunch today in the Slug with Sarah and Paul, with a sighting of Gill, who I’ve not seen for ages, and, later, of Paul and Alison F.
No mention of sport today, thank you. Not a good day on that front.

Saturday morning therapy: garage door tennis. My highscore is 15, not bad when using a laptop touchpad rather than a proper mouse. And worth playing for the soundtrack, which suggests that the game is set in a neighbourhood that is home to a sychronised lawnmower display team.