Drupal : an open source CMS

DSNet | Building Communities

Blogger is great but doesn't have all the features I want, so I've been looking at open source content management systems (CMS). In the end , I chose Drupal, as it is extensible (there are hundreds of add-on modules) and powerful (it's fast!) and has a big active community of developers.

Check out my site, DSNet, by clicking the link above, and let me know what you think.

moby reflects on 9/11

Moby's birthday just happens to be on 11th September. In his journal on 9/11/2006 (or 11/9/2006 if you're in the UK) he bemoans the way that this day has been hijacked by the media.


i, for one, as a human being, an american, and a new yorker, am not in any way served by once again seeing the footage of the planes flying into the twin towers. i lived through it once, i don't need to be gratuitously reminded of what happened, as every time i look at the sky from my roof i see a giant hole where the world trade center used to be.
to be blunt, i'm tired of the media and the administration milking tragedy for their own transparent purposes.
we know what happened. we remember what happened. leave us alone to mourn and remember in peace.


You can read the whole journal entry here.

"Breaking news" is a photo he took of Bush on TV with the unintended truism of the Sky newsflash "Bush: One of the worst disasters to hit the U.S."

Happy Birthday, Moby.

Olympus E-500

After much deliberation I've finally bought an Olympus E-500 as my first SLR digital camera. It came with 2 Zuiko lenses; a 14-45mm f/3.5-5.7 and a 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5
It's a little overwhelming after my very compact Fujifilm 4700! An immediate benefit is the increase in storage. I have installed a 1Gb Olympus XD card and a Sandisk 1Gb Compactflash which now allows for over 300 shots at SHQ size.

Small Faces - I Can't Make it

How cool is this? From photo to videoblogging.

I've started a new site this week. It's just bare bones at the moment but it should eventually have more functionality than we can get here, so watch this space.

CIWF long distance transport campaign - Send a card, not a calf

CIWF long distance transport campaign - Send a card, not a calf

Whether carnivore or vegetarian, I'm sure you'll agree that inflicting stress and real physical suffering on any living being is cruel. Most thinking meat eaters would feel more comfortable knowing that the the animal that they are about to eat at least had a good life before being quickly dispatched with the minimum of pain.
Transporting live animals long distances is bad for them, bad for the environment and bad for business.
The drive for cheaper food has cheapened our lives.
If you've got to eat them, at least treat them well for their short lives.
Please use the link above to send a message to Margaret Beckett asking her to look for humane alternatives.
Thank You.

Snakeshead Fritillary

Fritillaria meleagris, for the Gothic gardener.
Solitary, with a preference for shade, you have to get close before it reveals it's unique character.
Photo taken this evening with the Fujifilm FinePix 4700 using manual focus.
Cropped a little but otherwise unaltered.
Checkout the wikipedia entry which seems to think it was originally called the Snakes's Head. A little dubious methinks.

Daffodils in Dyrham Park

Pandora - Create your own radio station

Pandora , from the Music Genome Project, is an interesting concept; type in a an artist or song you like and up comes an assortment of tunes that are mysteriously related. I put in Holy Modal Rounders , a favourite of mine, and I got some Woody Guthrie, Camper Van Beethoven (an excellent version of Pictures of Matchstick Men), a great acoustic guitar instrumental by Norman Blake (Jerusalem Ridge) and also the Rounders themselves (Cinch Mountain Backstep).
I think this element of surprise, introducing tracks I'd not heard before but somehow in the vein of my original request, is quite captivating. There seems to be a method of 'fine tuning' what comes next by flagging those that I particularly liked. There's certainly some good music out there that I may never have heard otherwise. Has anyone heard of Norman & Nancy Blake? Me neither but I'm glad I did. And now Train Tune from the wonderful John Renbourn.

R.I.P. Ivor Cutler (1923-2006)

Please go and visit The Works of Ivor Cutler , a fine little site dedicated to this unique individual.

Listening to John Peel in the late sixties brought me into intermittent contact with Ivor's unusual take on life. I always found him funny, entertaining and somehow meaningful (without knowing what it meant). He fitted in so naturally with the other inhabitents of John Peel Land eg Capt Beefheart, Pentangle, the Bonzos, Pink Floyd etc
There should be a statue raised in Glasgow in his honour.

Dub on a Dark Side

Dub Side Of The Moon
by The Easy Star All-Stars

How did I miss this? Released February 18th 2003, on the 30th Anniversary of the original, this is a fabulous reworking of the Pink Floyd classic

Track Listing
1a. Speak to me
1b. Breathe (in the Air) / Sluggy Ranks
2. On the Run
3. Time / Corey Harris & Ranking Joe
4. The Great Gig in the Sky / Kirsty Rock
5. Money / Gary 'Nesta' Pine & Dollarman
6. Us and Them / Frankie paul
7. Any Colour You Like
8. Brain Damage / Dr Israel
9. Eclipse / The Meditations

Bonus Tracks:
10. Time Version
11. Great Dub in the Sky
12. Step it Pon the Rastaman Scene
13. Any Dub You Like