An unhappy Hobbit…boo hoo

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Guthlac

So Amazon have dispatched the Blue-ray but the Royal Mail have have failed to deliver, no surprise there, on time. So I’m an unhappy hobbit..

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Black Tie Update

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Guthlac

One of the most amazing things you get when some one famous dies, especially if that person is a politician, is a mountain of utter…. understandable…nonsense. There is a great scene in Yes Prime Minister when a former Prime Minister dies and Jim Hacker comes out with the same nonsense before cracking open the whiskey a celebrating the death of a political enemy…I somehow guess that this is what will be happening in and around Westminster just now. For the record, the best prepared and totally over the top homily I have heard so far was from Lord Archer. Only he would have a prepared Shakespeare quote on hand.

One a far more important point. Sky has now brock out a more sombre tie for Andrew Boulton. The fact that it looks like it has just come from around the neck of an intern only underlies the fact that when it comes to such state occasions the BBC does these things so much better. With minutes of the news breaking the official black ties were out and the one o clock news reader seemed to be wearing the one size fits all black top and dress with white blouse. It is just a shame it didn’t fit her. However by 1:30pm the news readers from News 24 had been decked out in the correct sombre attire. All those years of meetings and drills finally paid off….proving that the BBC is the voice of the nation in a crisis. However, Andrew Boulton took the award for the crass comment when within 30 minutes of the news being broken he basically said that Mrs Thatcher was gaga towards the end. Priceless.

One final thing…following Twitter explode was one thing…following it on Trendmap was much better. You really get the feel for a truly global event. On this measure the death of Mrs Thatcher is a truly global event. Perhaps the best epitaph she will ever get.

Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s a full black tie moment

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Guthlac

RIP Margaret Thatcher…love her hate her she’ll never be forgotten. It is clear that there is a official BBC black tie…shame the Sky News had got the memo…Andrew Boulton not quite up to such somber news

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Death of Actaeon

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Guthlac

I am truly knackered. I have spent the day pounding the streets of the cultural heart of London and I am knackered both physically and emotionally. However I had a great time and it was worth my current state.

This is a sketch I made at the National Gallery of Diana as she releases her bow at Actaeon…I’m too tired to write any more other than to say congratulation to my good friend David Manley on becoming a grandfather again. I understand mother and new baby grand son are doing fine.

I’m off to bed for a well earned sleep.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Leave a comment

Red Tulip

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Guthlac

Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finally – a nice spring day

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Guthlac

One of the things about having such lousy weather is that when you get a nice day you appreciate it so much more. All these were taken in my garden – including the frog who had been disturbed by the head gardener working hard tending her plants. One of the joys of being married is enjoying someone else working hard to make the garden look so good…

There are many good things about the iphone as a camera…macro photography isn’t one of them. I really do need to get my new camera.

Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Limp Biscuit

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Guthlac

In honour of the runners and riders in this afternoon I made this sketch based on the best painting of a horse I know – Whistlejacket by George Stubbs. I don’t know quite why but I got satisfaction out of making this drawing, even though I paid little regarded for the anatomical details and it is little more than a doodle. Lets just hope that all the runners and riders make it around the Aintree course in one piece…history doesn’t bode well.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rock of Ages

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Guthlac

Well I’ve just sat through the truly dreadful Rock of Ages this afternoon….I’m really glad I didn’t pay to go and see the movie at the cinema – it really is a turkey. However, forever trying to see the bright side of things it did inspire me to make this drawing…so not a complete waste of couple of hours this afternoon.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Using Chrome

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Guthlac

Here is another example of ‘free’ services being anything but that. I use Google Chrome as my browser of choice on my iMac. When I set my new iMac up I installed Chrome and logged in. Instantly the browser was set up just the way I liked it and that is really useful. However, the price you pay is that Google knows exactly what you are looking at.

I’ve been researching the Canon G1x over the past few days and searching for products relating to that. Google now configures the adverts that appear along side the blog pages I read accordingly. The two screen captures are of the same tech blog – Mashable (http://mashable.com/2012/08/28/most-expensive-gadgets/) – the same page viewed in Chrome, with an advert tailored to my recent search history, and viewed in Safari where the adverts are much more general. I would guess that Google is paid more for adverts aimed at the user than not.

This is hardly a startling revelation but it is just a small example of what information we are giving to Google and one of the reasons why Google was kicked off the iPhone. However, this was not an altruistic move on the part of Apple but rather that they wanted to collect this data for themselves and then sell it on. May the Force be with you.

PS

This email was written in the Google Chrome browser so I guess there will be more harvesting of info by Google somewhere along the way.

Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walk around the city No 3

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Guthlac

Here is a reduced version of one of the Panorama to show what I meant in the last blog. For those of your who might be interested it is about 150 metres away from where the remains of Richard 3rd was dug up.

Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment