Archives for October 2001
Just in case you didn't (October 31, 2001) Just in case you didn't know. It's my weblogging second birthday today. I said it earlier in the day, but you might have missed that. First Barbelith and then plasticbag.org. Woo....
More accounts of the Big (October 31, 2001) More accounts of the Big Gay Pop-Quiz: Davo, Scally, Ian....
I've got paid. Oh my (October 31, 2001) I've got paid. Oh my god. Oh. My. God. I haven't seen any income for over a month - nothing. I've been living past my overdraft facility - paying fees left, right and centre. I don't actually have a lot...
Last night was Big Gay (October 31, 2001) Last night was Big Gay Pub Pop Quiz Halloween Special night at the Retro Bar. 13 1/2 out of 20 due in large part to my epic knowledge of crap music and passing familiarity with goth and David Bowie. We...
Wil likes him now - (October 31, 2001) Wil likes him now - so buy them while you still can! T-shirts, shirts and cups emblazoned with the legend: "Hello, my name is WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER"....
While we're at it, I (October 31, 2001) While we're at it, I should probably say happy birthday to Katy whose meat was twenty years old yesterday, and to my weblog twin - born mere hours before myself......
Happy second birthday to me, (October 31, 2001) Happy second birthday to me, Happy second birthday to me, Happy birthday plasticbag.org (neé Barbelith), Happy second birthday to us...... And many more.........
Since when did Wired News (October 31, 2001) Since when did Wired News become part of the Lycos network? That bar across the top is - at best - offensive....
Press preview. Harry Potter. Woo. (October 30, 2001) Guess who may have four tickets to a press preview of Harry Potter......
Microdiary: Friday - slightly tense (October 30, 2001) Microdiary: Friday - slightly tense about buying my mother the right birthday present, I begin to wonder whether I'll have time to get anything other than the clip-on book light that I picked up in Borders. Arriving at the train...
Kind of entertaining: A reporter (October 30, 2001) Kind of entertaining: A reporter shows the iPod to Bill Gates: "He spun the wheel, checked out the menus on the display screen and seemed to get it immediately. "It looks like a great product," he said. And then he...
The Otter... (October 30, 2001) Sometimes I just don't know. You struggle, you fight, you make choices, you find lovers, you leave lovers, you regret it or you don't, you battle for money - respect - success, then one day you wake up and -...
Could whoever it was who (October 30, 2001) Could whoever it was who was godlike enough to buy me the Hedwig soundtrack from my wishlist please stand forward and make themselves known, so I can jump up and down next the them and make excited squeaks. Thank you....
What would you do if (October 29, 2001) What would you do if you owned the URL filmsoho.com?...
Almost my second birthday... (October 29, 2001) On Wednesday I will have been blogging for two years. That's not a thing that a lot of people can say. My first entry wasn't particularly gripping, but if you want to read it you can do so here. In...
I'm very keen to people (October 29, 2001) I'm very keen to people who run Greymatter or Movable Type on accounts running at pair.com. If anyone does these things then please e-mail me....
Question: What is now the (October 28, 2001) Question: What is now the point of the new Weblogs.com?...
Occasionally Cal and I get (October 26, 2001) Occasionally Cal and I get bored at work and we come up with a stupid idea and then he builds it cos he's better at that stuff. Introducing How Old Do I Look?...
Very important! It may be (October 26, 2001) Very important! It may be a 700k download, but Electric Dreams performed by MC Hawking, guest-starring Davros is possibly one of the sweetest and funniest pieces of flash animation you will ever see.......
So I'm kind of obsessed (October 26, 2001) So I'm kind of obsessed at the moment by the TV show Action which is played just after midnight on Thursday evenings on Channel 4. Now I've no doubt that my American weblogging colleagues will find such a fascination ridiculous,...
New Testament Apocamon is here. (October 25, 2001) New Testament Apocamon is here. And the many eyed Lamb will get you. Be warned. Via Haddock....
The world is a factory. (October 25, 2001) The world is a factory. The world is a death camp. The world is a machine. The world has been a machine for a long time now. The world will remain a machine for a long time to come. But...
So it may not be (October 23, 2001) So it may not be revolutionary, but it is stunningly beautiful and I want one. Revealing The iPod (and buying the iPod). Should I ever get paid for any work ever again, this may be second on my list of...
Now I want to relax... (October 23, 2001) What a strange few days I've had. I've seen Jeepers Creepers, I've gone drinking in a bar next to the Ritz for a friend's birthday, I've looked quizzically at the beautifully cut suits of young and attractive young men, I've...
Since The Grapevine seems to (October 23, 2001) Since The Grapevine seems to have suddenly appeared on Blogger's "Blog's of Note" page, and since I seem to be the featured lampoon victim of the day, I suppose I'd better comment. Yes, it's all true. I am a glittering...
The new Apple device is (October 23, 2001) The new Apple device is announced today in the US, and I'm surprised by how interested I am. Perhaps foolishly I thought I was past getting excited by press releases. If you're a journalist for any period of time you...
The pop question of the (October 23, 2001) The pop question of the day is Which Spice Girl would you most like to smack in the face? Think about it carefully before you go - it's a difficult question. They are all so very objectionable in all their...
A fairly accurate portrait of (October 23, 2001) A fairly accurate portrait of my personality....
And in a blinding flash, (October 22, 2001) And in a blinding flash, I'm suddenly convinced I know who The Grapevine is....
Micro-snippet two: T-shirt of choice. (October 22, 2001) Micro-snippet two: T-shirt of choice....
Because it's genius: The Wheels (October 22, 2001) Because it's genius: The Wheels of Madonna......
I'm feeling kinda lonely over (October 22, 2001) I'm feeling kinda lonely over at the TCN boards today. Come and join me - let's talk about trashy celebrity stuff....
Last night I dreamt that (October 22, 2001) Last night I dreamt that I was at some kind of large function and that people were milling all around me, and that everyone was hectic and busy and professional. There was a large banqueting hall and a vast area...
Writing the gay section of the London Guide... (October 21, 2001) Sunday night - trying to polish off the gay section of the London guide for the new Time Out London book. I'm currently thrilled with myself for the final three words in the following sentence: "A stylish and affordable brasserie...
What makes great web design? (October 21, 2001) What makes great web design?...
Speaking of which - if (October 20, 2001) Speaking of which - if you get bored of your current job - why don't you apply to be an Astronaut?...
Beta Challenge: Colour in this (October 20, 2001) Beta Challenge: Colour in this lizard... My entry:...
This has got to be (October 20, 2001) This has got to be my fetish of the moment - ever more pseudo-Apple product designs - some weird, some awful, some truly beautiful. The mistake that is made a lot - particularly in the renditions of the potential new...
Will the iPod be impressive? (October 20, 2001) Wired is reporting that the new device from Apple is a portable music device called the iPod. This doesn't sound that impressive - but we shall have to wait and see....
On pseudo-Apple designs... (October 19, 2001) Lots of weird pseudo-Apple product designs, entertaining to look at... here....
In the midst of calamity... (October 18, 2001) Five links illustrating that even in the midst of calamity, the net remains full of variety, news and weirdness - in almost equal measure: The Smoking Gun has images of the envelopes that contained anthrax. Apple is to announce a...
Saving Harry from fizzy sugar water... (October 18, 2001) Despite my vast daily consumption of Coca-Cola, I have to say that I'm weirdly drawn to the Save Harry campaign to keep Mr Potter off cans of fizzy sugar water......
On workaholics, sexaholics, alcholics and etymology... (October 18, 2001) I have a bone to pick with you. You've all had a drink in your lives, I assume. You've all gone out and bought some alcohol? Some of you may have got rather too keen on alcohol. You might even...
Damn you, Simon, I don't (October 18, 2001) Damn you, Simon, I don't have time to play worm games all day. You wait til I get my hands on you, young man......
I love Gina Snowdoll. (October 18, 2001) I love Gina Snowdoll....
I was on the tube (October 17, 2001) I was on the tube this morning from Maida Vale to Farringdon, on my way to work. I normally change at Baker Street, so when I arrived at 9.15am I disembarked and started walking across to the Metropolitan line. Very...
Matt Jones on "Rulespace"... (October 17, 2001) Anyone involved in website creation and the structuring of information and informational spaces should probably go and read Matt Jones piece on Rulespace....
Jennifer Aniston is Wonder Woman! (October 17, 2001) One of the things I did at work yesterday:...
On Unspeakable Fucking Gall... (October 17, 2001) Now this is funny: "if I see one more would-be guru tagging along on a rickety late-period goldrush line up unsupportable declarations (lookit me) to pique the five or six remaining executives (lookit me, sir!) to be convinced however temporarily...
The Emptiest Place in Britain... (October 17, 2001) I grew up in a village in Norfolk which contained eighty people and fifty houses. We had no pub, we had no shop. We had a boat-hire place, a church and a phone box. The odd pylon. And for several...
Barbelith regular in Anthrax Alert! (October 16, 2001) If you are scared about the circulation of Anthrax in the US, then go and visit this thread on Barbelith. One of our regulars works in the offices where the scare started and has been filling us all in as...
Electronic Miracles... (October 15, 2001) Quick link: A stunningly realised site with some startling bits of imaginative genius within: Electronic Miracles....
A Sleepless Night's Dreaming... (October 15, 2001) t's not always hard to analyse one's dreams. So for some reason in my dream last night I didn't have anywhere to live, so I moved everything I owned out of my flat and into the middle of a park....
On Humming... (October 15, 2001) Friends have heard me humming this particular little ditty for days now. Find out why......
Chicks are for fags? (October 15, 2001) There is possibly no one in the world who could understand my complete lust for this item. I think it's genius. I want one....
Our heroine, who rots in earth... (October 15, 2001) Ok, by now there aren't that many regular readers of plasticbag.org who don't know that I've got a bit of a fetish for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And of course, being English I have to deal with the horror that...
The Barbelith Server Fund Needs You... (October 15, 2001) Reminder The BARBELITH SERVER FUND needs you. [Full Story] If you would like to help pay for the cost of maintaining Barbelith and the Barbelith Underground then you can do so here: You can: Donate $2.50 (around £1.75) a month...
Kylie trumps Jackson... (October 15, 2001) In bleeding edge news, Kylie Minogue keeps Michael Jackson from the No #1 spot in the UK. I never thought I'd be saying that. Nor did I think I'd be saying that when she'd been number one for three weeks...
Writing the Gay Section of the Time Out London Guide... (October 15, 2001) Yesterday and last night I was mostly writing the gay section for Time Out's London Guide. And I was also mostly not getting enough done. Despite Davo's help. I'm a bad man....
AIM Bloggerbot... (October 15, 2001) Now this could be seriously cool - an AIM BloggerBot....
More Time Out Stuff... (October 14, 2001) Today I am mostly writing the gay section for Time Out's London Guide....
The Barbelith Server Fund... (October 13, 2001) Yet again, Barbelith is creaking under the strain of bandwidth that I can't afford to maintain. This month looks likely to be running at the 600Mb a day mark. And, remaining sporadically employed as I do, I can't afford the...
Being a collection of nameless stuff... (October 13, 2001) Recent Questions asked about Movable Type: 1) Is a search facility worthwhile?, Like in Greymatter? 2) Being able to delete multiple posts (and scroll through entries by page) would be really nice... 3) A limit to Blogger exports? Footprints: 1)...
I might as well be The Grapevine... (October 12, 2001) Ok. I give up. If everyone insists that I am the TheGrapevine, then I might as well admit to it....
A return to mud-brown design... (October 12, 2001) Phew. A return to the mud-brown background of yesteryear after a month of stolen background. It was kind of supposed to be a joke, but I kept forgetting to turn it back....
Pingzilla in Paris... (October 11, 2001) Because I can't resist a challenge, I present Pingzilla in Paris:...
I have a Movable Type error... (October 11, 2001) Anyone have a solution for my Movable Type Error?...
Amazon's new book information pages... (October 11, 2001) Amazon have redesigned their book information pages - so that they now include actual excerpts from the book themselves - scanned in for you to read and flick through. Not such a relelation, you might think - except that it...
Collecting Parody / Combo MP3s... (October 11, 2001) Ok, so we all remember Eminenya (warning - big mp3 file from Megnut.com) - but I'm looking for about ten really good parody / combo mp3 files out there. Don't send me the files, but send me links to them...
Pointless telephone number factoids... (October 11, 2001) Pointless fact of the day: telephone numbers assigned for use in television and film drama....
Been playing with Movable Type. (October 11, 2001) Been playing with Movable Type. I'm very impressed. Seriously. Expect to see some changes around here sometime soon......
As I descend into my (October 10, 2001) As I descend into my second adolescence, I find myself strangely delighted by The Celebrity Fart Archive......
Help archive the web's response (October 10, 2001) Help archive the web's response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In some ways this was a media event in which television proved its current primacy, but in other ways, the net provided personal stories,...
Who is The Grapevine? (October 10, 2001) Who is The Grapevine?...
It's kind of hard to (October 9, 2001) It's kind of hard to post at the moment to Plasticbag.org - I mean - I am spending all day writing short bits of content, sometimes including links, for a site which is updated constantly throughout the day and which...
Thanks to Duncan Brattel (October 9, 2001) Thanks to Duncan Brattel...
Can someone please explain hairdressers (October 8, 2001) Can someone please explain hairdressers to me. I mean, I don't really understand why anyone would do the job. But if you are going to do the job, why is it so difficult to listen to what your client is...
The horror of Britney's transparent (October 8, 2001) The horror of Britney's transparent top - found via TCN....
Davo will pay for the (October 8, 2001) Davo will pay for the short-lived front page to his site. Oh yes. Still. It's a good message, which you should obey. Actually, come to think of it, short-lived is a pretty good description of Davo himself. Nyah hahahaha....
Ok, I'm only going to (October 8, 2001) Ok, I'm only going to ask you once: TCN is open for business again, and I'd love it if people would come and keep me company on the boards. Just - you know - to see how cool it is.......
My position on Would Atheism (October 7, 2001) My position on Would Atheism be a better solution to the problems of the world? [at Linklust]...
Be there when the (October 6, 2001) Be there when the board opens to the world - Monday morning at 10am (UK time). In the meantime, if you go to the News section, you can see a highly embarrassing photo of your host (me). The buzz...
Via The LinkMachine: "I mean, (October 6, 2001) Via The LinkMachine: "I mean, perform fellatio once and you're a poet, twice and you're a homosexual. I remember once I was being fisted by Sebastian Cabot- but here's where the story gets interesting. He was lactose-intolerant. I once sat...
Diary of a movie-goer: (2) (October 6, 2001) Diary of a movie-goer: (2) Last night was Amelie night - and what a film. It's strange, quirky, brilliantly put together, surprisingly quiet (the main characters don't seem to talk much at all), occasionally manipulative, often ludicrous, and at heart...
Diary of a movie-goer: As (October 6, 2001) Diary of a movie-goer: As Davo has reported, he and I went to see The Others on Thursday night, and I have to say that I was singularly impressed. The evening was a bit of a farce really. The director...
Will the Weblogger User Group (October 6, 2001) Will the Weblogger User Group have the same triumphs, friendship-creation and back-biting components of UK weblogging? I can only hope so....
Movable Type launches on Monday, (October 5, 2001) Movable Type launches on Monday, and I'll be one of the first inline to download it and try out an installation of it. I'm really quite excited about this - partially because I'm interested in any system that allows me...
I'm going to a press (October 4, 2001) I'm going to a press preview of The Others with Davo. I will, of course, let you know what it's like....
Review time: In which Tom (October 4, 2001) Review time: In which Tom reviews The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. My favourite part of this review is my taster for it: "Lo-fi, terrifying, remorseless horror with its tongue firmly not in cheek, but instead cut off with a power tool....
Of course we all love (October 4, 2001) Of course we all love Cal. He's all clever and ... technical. And his work is in the Guardian today - the astonishing Web Trumps has been mentioned once more. And I'm delighted to say that I appear on one...
So the project that I'm (October 3, 2001) So the project that I'm doing editorial work for is beginning to look quite exciting. It's very much in a beta-phase - final design and functionality is still being resolved, and I'm still scouting around to find the best tone...
Two of the cutest and (October 3, 2001) Two of the cutest and coolest things you'll ever see in your life, courtesy of Denise Wilton: Rabbit and Monkey. There are more but they're too good for you and you'd blow up if you had them all together. Be...
What's going on? Have I (October 3, 2001) What's going on? Have I missed something? When did everyone start taking all this stuff so seriously?...
I'm not sure that the (October 3, 2001) I'm not sure that the design for The Hermit's Tower is supposed to look like it does on a Mac - but it's an enjoyable read, so I'll forgive it quite a lot....
Weird stats from Metafilter... (October 1, 2001) Weird stats from Metafilter. I joined the site in July of 2000 - over a year ago - and knew about it for a good four or five months before then. I first posted about the site in March 2000...
Could LinkLust be the European Metafilter? (October 1, 2001) Could LinkLust be the European answer to Metafilter? Only time will tell......
