Mar 9, 2010 |
Photo by Sharky1974
I’ve become quite a fan of graffiti art in recent years. I was always sort of aware of the quality out there, and I’ve long been an admirer of Otis Frizzell (who I commissioned to design my tattoo). In my travels in recent years, I’ve been struck by the different art lining the streets in different places. Marseille and Berlin, in particular, have some incredible works, there’s some amazing stuff right here in Birmingham (see above) and my hometown of Auckland has some brilliant artists.
And sometimes, they get in trouble for what they do.
But the thing that really got me interested was when a friend of mine in Berlin started pointing out how to spot works by particular artists. What their style was, what they were particularly known for, and in which areas of the city they tended to showcase their skills. And that got me thinking about the city as a sort of inside-out art gallery: with the paintings on the outside of the wall.
The only thing missing was those little white cards that tell you about the paintings.
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Aug 15, 2009 |
This is a bit of a test.
Yesterday, after months of wanting one – arguably needing one – I finally managed to get myself an iPhone. And to be honest, now that I have one, I’m not entirely sure how I managed to go this long without.
I’ve only had it around 12 hours so far, and I’m not as fast or as accurate as I’d like to be typing on the touch screen, but I did manage to knock out this blog post on it in just a few minutes. Haven’t yet worked out how to link to anything – but the mere fact that I can put together and publish a blog post on my phone is impressive enough for me.
I can also take videos, find my way around on the map, listen to music, play games and all that other clever stuff that iPhones can do… But this is the thing that’s impressed me most so far.
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Jun 23, 2008 |
It’s kind of weird being without a mobile phone. It’s really inconvenient being without my wallet, and while it only took about 10 minutes to cancel my cards and order new ones, I’m not looking forward to having to reapply for the drivers licence and my one-year bus pass.
Not having any way to pay for things is awkward – but it’s the loss of the phone that has thrown me out the most. Weird how you come to rely on stuff like that.
I didn’t have a mobile phone till I got to the UK, and could not, at that time, imagine ever really needing one. There are no media lecturer emergencies in life. But I pretty much run on the handset now. It’s my watch, my portable calendar, contact directory and short messaging service.
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