Xmas Unfair ...

Well, the plan was to go out, get some fresh air and enjoy some relaxing Christmas shopping at what was billed as a Christmas Fair.

Things didn’t look good when we saw one of the stalls was offering tree surgery as the ideal Christmas gift. Then they ran out of feed….

Kristallnacht ...

Tonight marks not only Rememberance Day but the 70th annivesary of Kristallnacht.

“In one night, 1,350 Jewish synagogues were burnt to the ground or destroyed; over 91 Jews were killed; 30,000 Jews were thrown into concentration camps; 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed; and thousands of Jewish homes were ransacked.

Germany did not produce plate glass at the time, and it took Belgium’s total plate glass production about 6 months to replace all the windows that were broken. To top everything off, the Jews were charged 1 billion Deutsch Marks to pay for the damages.”

Kristallnacht Rabbi Eliahu Ellis & Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

To the day she died my mother had this date marked in her diary, like her we shouldn’t forget.

A Letter To Saul Leiter ...

Dear Mr Leiter,

I wish it was easier to get your books.

I’ve tried every bookshop in every town I have been to.

I’ve tried Boarders (who took my order and after a week said the book was out of stock).

I’ve tried Amazon Associates - who did the same.

I’ve even tried your publishers - who never replied.

For me Early Color may become too late colour and I may try once again with black and white….

8mm ...

Dangerous news from Japan.

Hot on the heels of their 8mm film projector kit Gakken have announced they will be manufacturing an 8mm film camera.

I’ve even found a stockist of 8mm film in London.

Retro home movies are at last possible !

Bees ...

“Oh what a glorious thing to be,
A healthy grown up busy busy bee,
Whiling away
The passing hours
Pinching all the pollen
From the cauliflow’rs.
I’d like to be a busy little bee,
Being just as busy as a bee can be,
Flying round the garden
Brightest ever seen,
Taking back the honey
To the dear old queen.”

The Bee Song Kenneth Blain, 1938

Sitting out tonight the one thing I haven’t seen are bees.

I guess if you sit down tonight and watch your garden you may notice the same thing.

All over the world colonoys of bees are disappearing.

CCD, or colony collapse disorder, is causing litterally thousands of bees to disappear.

No one fully understands why this is happening but some of the possible reasons include the select breaing of bees so that we only use a docile species that doesn’t sting us; the overworking of hives to ensure maximum returns and feeding bees hormones and stimulants to keep them active and start their honey collecting season as early as possible.

What is happening to bees is a small reflection of what is happening to the earth. Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum’s book “A World Without Bees” is a stark warning to us all.

If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.” Albert Einstein

Fast Food ...

So I have an evening in alone.

Do I go for Chinese and wonder what “Husband and wife’s lung slice” is, or if “Chicken without sexual life” is a comment on why I’m alone or do I call Dominos …

Perhaps a DVD and some planning for a summer Solstice party is what I need …

Laters.

HP Sauce ...

After waiting, wondering and speculating about “a momentous thing” happening all of a sudden, out of the blue “a gigantic thing” happens.

I’m sure the days ahead will have uncertainty but all we can do now is sit tight, hang on and try to ride it out.

Bloggers, Books and Betrothal ...

It’s always nice to see bloggers passion for writing resulting in them getting their words into print and I thought I’d mention a few just in case you want to read something a little different.

Francis Strand is featured in “Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web” a collection of writing from 27 blogs, chosen by Sarah Boxer, one time web critic of the New York Times.

Peach is putting together a Lulu-published book written by bloggers whose profits go to the charity War Child. There’s more details on her blog here.

Petite Anglaise’s first book is almost out of the door which is cause for celebration but the very happy news that she and The Boy are to get married means that the year ahead for both of them is looking très heureux. Congratulations to them both !

Rather Indian ...

A long leisurely lunch filled with last minute plans for the wedding, talk of wine making and comparing who has the best tan ….

In Praise of Paper ...

Being on holiday has meant I have left behind the world of Outlook.

Everyday I sign into Outlook at work to check on my mail and listen to the incessant chime of the to do bell. I decided to leave that all behind when I stopped work and considered for a while using Sunbird the cross platform, open calender and to-do application which fits on a USB key.

Sure it works well but it still means I need to be “at” a PC or laptop to use it and that’s exactly why I turned to a smart new Moleskin notebook and a pen.

It’s hardly in the same league as Mike Rohde’s customised planner but it’s serving me well so far and, like Quasimodo, it’s nice not to hear the bells every day ….

Music, pop art and places to work ....

It’s been a while, so here’s some life hacks :

• Free Classical music downloads
• Make your own pop art
• Cool places to work
• Free media convertor

Lifehacks

It’s been a while so here’s a few new hacks :

• Turn those attractive bottle caps into fridge magnets

• Solve those sticky CDs with a clean

• Chose the right web hoster for your business

• Fix lost pictures in Photoshop

Photo Hacks

Two hacks to help us all take better pictures :

• 10 Questions to Ask When Taking a Picture

• Adobe Lightbox download

Kung Fu T Shirt

If you have just finished the ironing and struggled folding the T shirts here’s a video which will show you how to do this like an origami master.

Wiki

Life Hacks

More ways to tune your day:

• How to use Post It Notes

• How to fold a fitted sheet

• 30 things to do on the Internet

• Get some tips for managing email

More Lifehacks

• How to keepup with a dozen blogs every day

• Make PDF file from any document for free

• Make your own marshmallows

• Put your life on a USB Key with these programs designed to run from one.

Life Hacks

I'm introducing a new category here to write about life hacks.

So what is "life hacks" all about ? The term came up at the O'Reilly conference last year, Life Hacks: Tech Secrets of Overprolific Alpha Geeks.

bq. "Technologists consume Big-Gulp-loads of information, and write, code, and edit reams of output. Author Charlie Stross notes that he reads and digests more in his morning bookmarks than most literate 18th-century readers would process in a year. Linus Torvalds and other open source leaders hold down day jobs, and still have time to create wonders in their spare time. Everyone at ETech juggles amounts of email that would stun an ox."

So, faced with all this information how did they manage? They sought new ways to process, store, manage information. This, in turn, broadened out to describe ways of doing things smarter.

So, here's a few to get us started :

* How to chill wine really fast

* How to look after your dishwasher

* Make your own gift wrap

Get more time, use some life hacks.