Friday, April 24, 2009

Dublin - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

My very own chauffeur in posh car on arrival in Dublin



Posh dinner at Bono's favourite restaurant in Temple Bar with the EU Screen Leaders folk (to whom I presented today on the subject of Networked Media and business directions)



Recognition of 2008 and Q1 09 factual cross-platform successes in weekly Programme Review gathering of C4 commissioners

Memories - Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Looking at my niece's sketch book, textiles and artwork



Jogging around St Stephen's Green, Dublin



Taking my photos for the Disposable Memories project including a fiddle shop with Meabh. Sent my London and Dublin pics off with a young bloke to Barcelona

Extra: got home from Dublin and left waiting for me on my pillow was my older son's first ever mixtape called P1AN BE

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Starspots #228

23/4/09 Peter Snow - St James's tube

21/4/09 Jaume Plensa - artist - at Dream, St Helens
15/4/09 Darkus Howe - Victoria Station

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Dream - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

Seeing Dream for the first time (delicate, subtle beauty) in St Helens and talking to the artist Jaume Plensa



Putting live the Britain's Forgotten Children site with the finished visuals from 4Creative



Volunteering for Antony Gormley's One & Other and letting him know about the Big Art Mob One & Other group.



An arty day to be sure

An extra one, just for today: D being chosen by his teachers as School Captain and greeting me on the walk home to tell me

Monday's Happiness Experiment entry

Seeing 'Good' with Ma - good performance from Jason Isaacs

Lunch chat with Oona King

Bumping into smiley Anne-Marie Hubert of JustGiving

Sunday, April 19, 2009

(Van the) Man on Fire


Van Morrison and big band (of 15)

At Albert Hall



(County Down)

?

And it Stoned me

Have I Told You Lately

Caravan **

All in the Game *

The Healing has begun *

The Common One *



[Astral Weeks]

Listen to the Light

Gloria

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Wednesday's Happiness Experiment entry

Chatting to Jason Isaacs about Good, Leslie Hardman, the holocaust and all manner of movie and history stuff of varying degrees of heaviosity at the BAFTA nominees party in Knightsbridge

Successful relaunch of Embarrassing Bodies website for series 3 - over 17 pageviews per session on average - nominated for a TV BAFTA

Playing with D around Brighton - Shakeaway milkshakes (farleys rusks and battenburg respectively), 20 Questions and the Electric. Railway

Brave New World - Thursday's Happiness Experiment entry

Sunset convo with D about talents in Brighton Marina

Walk in Nymans Woods decorated with bluebells

Run around eastern breakwater of the Marina listening to In Our Time on Brave New World

Father & Youngest Son - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

Drawing Sue Storm with D

Watching doc about the making of The Joshua Tree with D

Reading Traces by Malcolm Somebody with D

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Friday's Happiness Experiment entry


Spotting a couple of (Easter) rabbits and some partridges on a moist walk around Little Berkhamsted, Herts.

Contemplating a beautiful country church at 3pm on Good Friday

Watching The Pink Panther (with Steve Martin) en famille

Bedrock - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry


Reading 1602 on my bed - and snoozing (no reflection on 1602)



Watching The Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy on my little dvd player in bed (spotting a trend?)



Mooching with the Enfants Terribles in Crouch End and environs - including picking up a set of 3 pairs of dumbbells (one for the little one, one for the big one, one for me)

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Reflection on Christianity


Ah! what a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith.


Shelley

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Christmas Cracker

Cracker joke just found in watch-pocket of my jeans:

What do you get if you cross a centipede with a parrot?

A walkie-talkie

Friday, April 03, 2009

Jarring experience - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry


talking to N about David Lean - whilst watching a rather mediocre BBC1 documentary about him fronted by an unconvincing Jonathan Ross

the sense of big things (G20, Obama visit) happening in London

hitting 92.9


Sadly Maurice Jarre, the composer associated with David Lean and composer of the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Lawrence of Arabia, died last week (29.iii.09). Watched Lawrence of Arabia the day after first posting this with D & N - the music interacts with the desert in a marvelous way. I also love the quote from Noel Coward on Galway-born Peter O'Toole in LoA: "If he'd been any prettier, they'd have had to call it Florence of Arabia."

Today's Happiness Experiment entry


Coming up with Arts ideas with like-minded colleagues - around Lamb's Conduit Street

Working from home - listening to John Martyn

Accompanying D

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Money slang




funt = a pound
byce OR bottle = two pounds
carpet = three pounds
rofe = four pounds (backwards 4)
finnif OR jacks = five pounds
nevis = seven pounds (backwards 7)
cock = ten pounds (cock and hen)
score = twenty pounds
pony = twenty-five pounds
ton = one hundred pounds
monkey = five hundred pounds
G = a thousand pounds
gelt
bunce
sovs = pounds

Learnt on the job with Jackie Joseph in the Dutch auction (Stoke Newington, Putney, etc.) and Maurice Podro in The Lane (Wentworth Street) back in the days when Hoxton was a khazi