I kept this quiet, but the mission for 2007 is to have a fight, probably only amateur, but I’m definitely going to do it. I’ve always put it off, saying things like “next year we’ll really make the effort”, “I need time to get in shape” and other even less sensible excuses. In reality I think I’m just scared of losing, but frankly it is getting time to put up or admit that, In the words of BLAF, “I don’t really want to be a fucking fighter”. So 2007 will see me in an at the very least an amateur MMA fight, you heard it here first…

As a result being injured is really really annoying, I went by the gym tonight and was incredibly frustrated that I couldn’t join in. I’m hopeful though that after the weekends trip to the doctors he will confirm that I only have a meniscus tear and that I can do light training. I just hope it doesn’t need surgury though I am pretty resigned to the fact that it will.

Oh well, it could be much worse…

Back to work later today, yay!

The RSS feeds seem to have died a death, I’m not sure why yet though I will try to get them back up ASAP…

Everything is back to normal, this is what happens when your website is held together by bits of sticky tape and string…

I was once upon a time the owner of an Iriver H340, we agreed to run rockbox and not talk about the official firmware, and everyone was happy. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, or in my case be lost….Obvious Iriver in their infintie wisdom discontinued the H340 leaving me unable to replace it, and no obvious substitute was apparent, so all was silent in my world…

The long days with no tunes finally reached breaking point and a new player was required. In the meantime, much of the funky geeky stuff that was required of the IRiver has been taken by other devices leaving me needing a pure music device. I felt now was the time to switch from HDD based player to a flash based one, with an ideal capacity of 2Gig. There ensued a thorough interview process, narrowing down the field, leaving the Sensa 200, the ipod nano (euch) and the creative Zen neeon 2, as the final three. The Ipod was culled due to a lack of microphone, the Sensa lost out due to the proprietry connector and horrible controls leaving the neeon 2 as the final winner. Initial impressions are good, with the lack of gapless playback and queing of tracks the only major annoyances so far…

Today’s artistic escapade took me to Harajuku to try and see the new “Design Festa” exhibition. This collective project has opened a gallery space in a converted low rise apartment building. Here they are hosting a rolling programme of artists as well as providing low cost hanging space for up and coming artists, distribution for musicians and food all at reasonable prices.

Having taken my usual scenic tour around the neighbourhood, I finally found the gallery, hidden in one of the myriad of small alleyways in the shopping district. I was running a little late by this point, the gallery was due to open at 11, I did not arrive until closer to 1:30pm. My heart sank however as I saw several exhibitors running around each brandishing, an item synonymous with hanging day, the legendary white roller. As a result I was only able to see a fraction of the work which will be on display later in the week as it would appear Japanese artists are even more allergic to mornings than their European counterparts. (more…)

Today I went to visit the new exhibition by Akira Tomii. The exhibit was being held in a gallery which I had never visited before and obviously I got quite lost, yet eventually I found it, with a tiny unmarked door with curious paper shapes stuck to the glass of the window. I climbed the narrow wooden stairs and gently opened the sliding wooden door. I was met by a very compact and simple space, with the art hanging on simple two tone walls. An unremarkable kitchen chair sat in the middle of the room, the bottle of red wine providing the most obvious colour.

The card and traditional sweet I received

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