British Seaside Holidays

Thursday saw a grand return from a family holiday in Cornwall.  We had wanted a place near Bude as I was informed they had great beaches there, and ended up booking a 4 star self catering cottage in Morwenstowe.  The cottage was comfortable, but not lavish.  Having stayed in a five star a couple of years ago, and a 3 star disaster in Redruth a year earlier, I think my ideas of great, comfortable, and downright shoddy are well seasoned.

While the cottage was homely enough, the primary reason for going to Cornwall, the weather, was atrocious.  We split the journey and travelled to Taunton on the first day, which weather-wise was the best day of the holiday.  We had a great meal at Pizza Express, and the staff were great in cleaning up after my messy children.  The second leg of the journey was from Taunton to Morwenstowe, which took about an hour and a half, and the weather kind of set the tone for the rest of the week.

We immediately headed for the beach, to be greeted with a retreating but high tide, and a stiff breeze.  The cloud broke for a few seconds each hour, but there was no getting away from the fact that we were cold.  The next couple of days were of a similar climate.  Grey clouds with a strong wind and occasional drizzle.

On Tuesday we’d had enough and decided to retreat inland to a National Trust venue called Lanhydrock.  Again the day started grey and gloomy, however the kids were excided to see a SeaKing rescue helicopter flying around Bude on display for a town event.  We drove to Lanhydrock which took about an hour, and the weather changed for the better.  There were longer breaks in the cloud, and the sun was hot when visible.  The house was magnificent, and a real eye opener into affluent life at the turn of the 20th century.  For a while we sat in the landscaped gardens soaking up the sun and mopping up ice cream from the chins of our children.  On driving back to Morwenstowe the clouds were grey once again and the rain persistent.

On Wednesday we decided that the weather wasn’t getting any better on the coast, and we were going home early on the Thursday.  We used the M5 M4 M25 M23 route to get home, rather than the A303 which has been a nightmare road every other time we’ve used it.

In essence, we did get a holiday, the weather was rubbish, the accommodation average, the company excellent.  I relish the family time we have together, and look forward to the next one.

4th Dimensional Living

For the past couple of years I’ve been working with a chap called Stuart, and he has very interesting views on the world at large.  We’ve spent hours talking about history, technology, politics and religion.  The thing we’re mostly talking about though is our own perception of the 4th dimension.

We both work in IT, and are avid Skype users.  In different organisations we’ve seen video conferencing move from a slow and cumbersome experience into one where everyone can be connected.

At the moment Stuart is out of the country, so we’re staying in touch via Skype video conferencing on a daily basis.  Not only has this reduced email correspondence between us to almost zero, it also means that the personable component of presence in a meeting can be made.

This is where the 4th dimension comes into play.  It’s generally accepted that the 4th dimension is a measure of time expressed in a 3 dimensional world.  For example, imagine two people living in two different cities 200 miles apart.  Throughout time, there have been various methods of meeting, but all have involved one or both parties physically moving to another location.  If you had to walk 200 miles to meet someone, you could estimate that at a walking pace of 4 miles an hour, it would take 50 hours to get there.  If both parties walked 100 miles, that would be 25 hours, at the same 4 miles per hour pace.  If we add in a horse the time shortens; if we move to today and add in a car, you can (legally) travel 200 miles in under 3 hours (without traffic jams )

Our current line of thinking is that Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and the myriad of other presence applications are enabling us to remove the constraint of travel, and particularly with video, enabling us to participate virtually, or through the 4th dimension.

We’ve discussed the possibility of the Internet being the 4th dimension, but with hindsight, recognise that it is just the medium, since it’s not exclusive to 4th dimensional working.  I’ve also been thinking about telephony and its implication in 4th dimensional living.  Due to it’s ubiquity, telephony is taken for granted as a communication tool, and with the massive uptake of mobile telephony in recent years, it’s exceptional in modern society to consider someone not having access to a telephone.

Yet, I can remember my grandparents getting their first telephone line installed by British Telecom in 1979.  It was interesting socially because they never wanted to use it to call any relatives in the same town, but were overjoyed when speaking to family in different parts of the world.  It’s this element of transcending time that I’m particularly interested in.

Another technology that I use frequently is logmein.  Once configured, this gives me remote access to a computer as if I was sitting in front of it.  It’s another example of the requirement to have the user and the device in the same physical location being removed.  Trancending time.

It could be that this is a form of time travel in that you save time by not travelling.  I’m going to coin the phrase ‘time stay‘ to cover this class of operations.

Thoughts and feedback welcome.

Yes – 90125

90125 was my first introduction to Yes.  I was at university and met an interesting chap called Gareth Long from Devon.  He had a very eclectic array of CD’s and this was one of them.

One of the first things I was aware of was the vocal harmonies – I recognised the voice behind the lead vocals and later tied that to  Jon Anderson who performed with Vangelis.  The harmonies were something that I hadn’t heard before or expected with early 80’s American rock music.  It was clear that this band had access to great production techniques, and the fact that it was influencing 20-somethings in the early 1990’s showed that Yes and 90125 in particular had made an album that hadn’t aged.

My personal favourites here are It Can Happen, Our Song, and Hearts.  Again, this isn’t an everyday album, but neither is it a reality-check album.  I suppose it’s uplifting, the changing pace, melodies, and varieties of layers in the music keep your mind interested in the songs and how they morph.  I like it.

Ray LaMontagne – Trouble

I bought this while on holiday in Cornwall last year.  I’d heard the trailer for ‘Trouble’ on TV and really liked Ray’s voice.  Although recorded in 2004, it’s still a refreshing alternative offering a more soulful experience than some of the other music I’ve listened to this year.  I think that the most powerful song on this album is the title track, ‘Trouble’, but I was pleasantly surprised by the power on ‘How Come’, and also the subtlety on ‘Jolene’.

I’d class this as a ‘reality-check’ album – it’s not an album that I’d listen to every day, but is the kind of thing that I’d go searching for when I need to redress the balance.

The Hours – Narcissus Road

I bought this CD last week after hearing Colin Murray on Radio 1 raving on about about the opening song ‘Ali in the Jungle’ towards the end of 2006.  I think I’ve played it about 100 times, and I still haven’t picked a favourite track yet.  The whole album is a rollercoster ride of emotions, a real journey of a CD.

To me it feels more like a mature album, it’s honest, with the artists confident and comfortable in their abilities to deliver.    Even down to the sleeve notes – it’s all about the music, there’s no misinformation about the influences, no soundbites, it’s a take it or leave it experience.

If you like your music, then I implore you to have a listen to any one of the songs on this album, and tell me that you weren’t moved.