Rob, Rambling RSS

My name is Rob. I live in London, and tend to spend far too much time either online or in places which serve alcohol. Either way I entertain myself. I'm pretty self-critical, very open, and prone to strong opinions. I post just about everything that comes to mind, good or bad.

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04.07.08
16:53:15
it keeps the news flowing at quiet times, like summer, with desk-chained hacks slightly re-writing the same old hackneyed shit written by people who are much less talented yet better paid than they are.

From a post on The enemies of reason about churnalism in the media and how the summer especially seems to be an endless flow of rewritten (if we’re lucky) press releases on inane subjects.

It’s true when it speaks of PR people being overpaid in comparison to the journalists who get their material out to a wider audience. I’m only 24, yet I already know of a few people who have left journalism behind in favour of a better salary in PR.

I’m sort of a hypocrite on that front, as I was a business journalist who got poached/saw the light and crossed over the fence to work in the industry that I used to write about.

But at least I’m not in PR.

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09:46:00

Happy Freedom From Those Damn Americans Day!

To all my fellow Brits.
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09:37:20

Today is my ex’s birthday, and I sent her a card the other day. It was one of those one with a quote on the front, this particular example apparently from a Japanese proverb:

No road is too long with a friend by your side

Or something like that. Pretty cheesy, right? She’s going through a hell of a lot at the moment, and I feel like I’m not giving her the support that she probably needs. I like to think that I’m available for her if she wants to talk to me, but the sheer distance between us (4 hours on the train) makes things a bit difficult.

My intention was to write her a letter too, but when I sat down the other night to actually put pen to paper, I wasn’t sure in which direction to go. I knew roughly what I wanted to say, but didn’t have any sentences in my head, or any real structure.

I just let the pen guide me and wrote in my usual rambling manner, but as I was coming to the end of the third (small) page, I realised that I was not saying what I wanted to say.

I’d been intending to reiterate my support for her, to tell her that I still cared, and that I was there for her if she needed me. I wanted to say that even though we were no longer together, she still meant a hell of a lot to me.

What in fact came out was a sense that I was telling her my life is going brilliantly, and has been since we finished. Not, I should point out, because we broke up, as there have been many other factors in the last 12 months which have had a positive effect on my life.

It wasn’t explicit, but I definitely felt that she would pick up on the undertone there. And that would be the last thing she needed right now: a slightly gloating letter from an ex-boyfriend.

I decided not to finish nor include the letter in the card, but instead to just put a couple of lines inside. I wrote something like this:

Yes, it’s a corny line [referring to the quote on the card], but I mean it. You ever need anything, you let me know.

Short, concise and to the point. Unlike most of my writing.

I hope she reads this in the way it was intended. As in that I still care, and want her to know that. It’s always difficult being friends with an ex, but we were close before we were together, and I think we still are now.

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03.07.08
19:36:42

Tomato rotting timelapse by Lobster Pictures (on Vimeo)

I love this kind of thing. I remember there being a video of a bowl of fruit decaying that was a big hit in the 90s that was pretty cool.

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15:40:14

Thankfully, the gym won over the pub. My first session for a few weeks, what with one thing and another, and it felt good to get back. Admittedly, I didn’t do as much as I was doing this time last month, but it was a (re-)start.

On the treadmill: 5.12km in 27 minutes. That’ll do pig, that’ll do.

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10:57:47

Dammit, my water bottle leaked all over my bag this morning, drenching my book. As I’d almost finished it, I ploughed on nonetheless while on the train, with each page nearly transparent and sticking to the next.

But, I got it finished, and I’m glad I did. I wrote last week that I was struggling to get into We Need To Talk About Kevin but I’m glad that I persevered. I got quite enveloped in the characters, and the ending is nigh-on perfect (if a little damp in my case).

The book has really, really put me off having kids though. I wasn’t exactly hugely enamoured with the thought of mini-mes anyway, but the horrors (and helplessness) this mother/narrator experiences are mind-blowing, and unfortunately all too believable.

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02.07.08
22:02:27
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Roisin Murphy - Cry Baby

Should I ever find myself in the position of having to do a DJ set, this is absolutely the song I would use as the opener. It’s got a great intro, and then gets straight into a pounding bassline with some typically Roisin-esque vocals. Brilliant.

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17:22:19

My Second Lipdub: Faithless - Insomnia (on Vimeo)

My second attempt at a lipdub, this time with some editing and a couple of takes.

It may seem a bit odd to do a dance track for a lipdub, but this is one of my favourite ever songs. It was very difficult to keep my head still and not nod along.

The clip’s a bit long, with some instrumental bits at the start and end, but I’m pleased with how it’s turned out. A touch arty, perhaps, but I like it.

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