nick: I've got Easter pencilled in as a lads weekend and just checked with Lesley to confirm I'm free, so I reckon you should come to Hampshire.

nick
 

 Steve: How disappointing, you got in first then :) Deborah, hero that she is, didn't mind either way but knew I'd have a preference.
 

 Tim: We're off to Salzburg for Easter. But you can pretend I was supposed to turn up, then ditched out at the last minute. Any help?
 

 nick: OK I'm going to do my best to get out on the bike so I'll be ready at Easter. Who's coming Steve, just you or lads as well?

Did Paul get to Sigur Ros OK? Did he like it?

Really enjoying the Carl Hiaasen, and have ordered another from the library -good one Steve.

Just called the NI people to see if I'm contracted in or out of SERPS or not. The guy who came to our office to discuss pensions said that because I'd been in a company pension scheme at HP, I would be contracted out until I change it. And I read somewhere that you can change your status at the start of the tax year.

The NI people said no, I'm not contracted out - I am in and contributing to SERPS. So that's OK then. If you want to check your own status the number to call is 0845-3021479
 

 Tim: BTW, Nick, I got some blank MDs from Amazon. Seemed decent value.
 

 nick: Hmm.. still seems a bit expensive when the last 80minute ones I picked up were 50p each. Mind you they are getting harder to find...

Anyone free on 14th May? Maybe we should be doing this sponsored ride
 

 Steve: A few things:

I'm definitely back in SERPS as of this finacial year. I couldn't see how you were contracted out when not working for HP!

All of us at Easter.

Paul said Sigur Ros was brilliant - we should've gone, talented musicians playing an array of stuff with real brass backup. Seemed to affect him as much as Kraftwerk.

Hmm Sarah Green is tempting but not as tempting as she was. The first one we'll be doing will be the good old London-Dartford run again, I'll let you know.

Just re-read The Magician by Somerset Maugham. That book Just One Look was very good although the plot was a bit unbelievable.

Samsung printer price went down while I waited for the cheap delivery option so cancelled and re-ordered.

We've been at our house 8 years today and it's still not flipping finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

 Tim: Sigur Ros does sound like music to hear live. Why didn't Paul get us tickets??

14th May would be great but I haven't got a bike.

Today's ambiguous headline: BBC used to entice cyber victims.
...But they don't any more?
 

 nick: re: london bridge ride - I hadn't noticed the Sarah Green connection until you mentioned it, just thought a ride with a load of other cyclists on relatively flat ground sounded nice. And Tim, I've got a spare bike!

Just finished "Strip Tease". Really enjoyed it. Started another Harlen Coben (third one I've read) and it's looks like another gripping read although I think maybe he's a bit of a one-trick pony: the stories are very similar.

Saw this on the guardian website, useful material for my essay maybe.
 

 Steve: This made us laugh in the office. On a leaflet from a food outlet entitled 'One Planet - Don't Waste' to promote what they are doing about it, they ask people not to take plastic cutlery if they don't need it. Oh, and they are making the plastic bags thinner. Great, that's it sorted then.
 

 Tim: Krom, yes, I thought you'd had a lend.

I just wondered who Krom consists of, and it turns out to be none other than Andrew Lord and Úlfar Thordarson from Iceland. Never heard of them.

But I put Ulfar Thordarson into Google and amongst the hits are a load of ÚLFAR ÞÓRÐARSON. Smartarse bloody system.
 

 Steve: The Susumu Yokota arrived yesterday. Pretty well mint condition. On first listen it's definitely the right sort of thing. Tracks are a bit short but sound good - more real samples than other stuff we listen to with electronics and occasional drum machines. Not heard it all yet but it's definitely promising. I think I was expecting it to be more ambient/experimental like Inoue, just because he's Japanese?!?
 

 nick: Hi Steve

Hope you like "Just One Look". I started the Carl Hiasen (sp?) last night and I'll let you know how I get on.

I think we were talking about cycling helmets? Some discussion of pros and cons in today's paper
 

 nick: I know you said you didn't get on with computer games Steve but did you get into Defender? I just got a copy of "Williams Arcade classics" 2nd hand off amazon, which is a PS1 edition containing Defender and a couple of other games. They've done it by writing a 6809 emulator, and so the game looks exactly like it was in the arcade.

And it's quite good! Haven't got used to the controls yet but the sound effects take you back...
 

 Tim: We were looking for concerts to go to, right?

How about Fourtet?

http://www.fourtet.net/site/site.php

OK, so it's not like our favourite act exactly, BUT Steve and I did hear several minutes of a CD in a shop last week and it didn't sound bad.

And if *that*s not enough to go on, there are some mp3s on the page (haven't heard them yet).

Convinced?
 

 Steve: The thing that puts me off about this is that when we went to see Murcof it went on far too late to actually enjoy or see all of the main act. I have a feeling that this will happen in this case as well.
 

 Tim: Yes, I was wondering about that. I see it starts at 7:30, but it could go on forever. Is it worth me trying to find out?
 

 nick: I'm interested in going, if it means meeting up and seeing you guys.

Saw this today...mmm, shiny...

.
 

 Tim: According to minidisc.org, will be available in black or silver, and capable of uploading all formats at last.

I'm going to buy one. I can't think of a decent excuse, but there you are.
 

 Steve: Nice peak-level indicators! I'm keen on the concert for the same reason as Nick but I know it'll end late.

Yokota is a hit having heard it all through twice now. Better get some more.

Ordered a Samsung ML-2251N laser printer yesterday for £114 all-in. Fed up with changing expensive inkjet consumables and not getting very good output. With increased homework levels this is the ideal solution, it has a network interface so we can all print without having a specific PC on. We have one in the office here and it's done 1500 copieson the first (small) toner cartridge. Full one should last 18,000!
 

 Tim: Yes, good meters, and a good idea to have them on the side.

I'll get on to ...somebody... about the gig then, just in case.

And, there's plenty more where Grinning Cat came from - five other CDs during those two years he was with Leaf, for starters. That's a bit of luck, then.
 

 Steve: Looking back no I didn't play Defender after the Beeb years. I'm still not much good at that one.
Yes plenty more Yokota to be going on with.
Nick, HMV sale online includes postage and has Peep Show 2 for 7.49. I could be tempted. Maybe you can find an online voucher to reduce even further?
 

 nick: No... I don't have any HMV vouchers. I'd like to see Peep Show 1 & 2 again but I reckon it'll be repeated on E4 or More4 or even channel 4 sooner or later. Or maybe I'll get to see it at your house...

From today's paper:

A major BBC series claimed to show new evidence of the power of alternative medicine. Now scientists who worked on it say it was flawed and hyped.


Also found an online version of Defender, which also looks like it might be the original code run through an emulator
 

 nick: Something else from the weekend's paper

Kazuo Ishiguro on how a radio discussion helped fill in the missing pieces of Never Let Me Go
 

 Tim: Got to say I'm glad I didn't read that before reading the book.

But now, it was interesting.
 

 Steve: Well done Tim, I was about to ask Nick to sort something but you got in first. I also have Friday off - I gues just PM is enough if you fancy a CD trip which I do.

So how about me CD shopping with Tim on Friday, back to Luton, Nick turns up when he likes and you both go home when you like by train or car? We will arrange a weekend at Tim's during the weekend to keep things moving.
 

 Steve: Tim - What do you know about Susumu Yokota as his albums keep cropping up in Amazon lists with decent (electronic/ambient albums)? Samples sound like the right sort of thing.
 

 Tim: Don't know really, I've often wondered myself. Seems to have quite a lot of releases and some of them are on heard-of labels such as leaf, but I've never invest(igat)ed.
 

 Steve: Okay, I'll see what I can do, maybe we'll see some on Friday. My cousin Jonathan has bought a few albums from the Amazon marketplace without problems - Caiman I think is one of the big ones he's used. Prices do look pretty good for new stuff.
 

 Tim: Neil's quite keen on Amazon marketplace, he's always on the lookout for stuff dirt cheap (like, £2 plus shipping) and is pretty successful as he's got a long shopping-list of potential targets.
 

 Tim: Nick, how's things on the plans front?

Does the current scheme fit in with you? Or do we need a rethink?
 

 nick: Hi

OK Well I don't think I'll make Friday, Lesley is in Scotland and doesn't get back until the evening. So that gets me out of the CD bonanza - phew. But I can be up on Saturday morning pretty early I should think, and don't have to be back until Sunday, but can play that by ear.

Jethro Tull last night was pretty good: most impressive was the sound quality. The first half was folk-y, the second half rock-y. He opened the set with just him playing a little guitar thing (looked like a toy but sounded fantastic, really sparkly) and singing, and then slowly the rest of the band joined in. Very impressive - they must have spent a while doing sound checks and stuff to be able to come on and sound so good right from the start.

They played most of Aqualung, in one or other half, so I recognised most of that. Also Living in the Past, "our hit!" and they closed with "Cheerio" off "Broadsword and the Beast".

They had a young woman violinist playing with them a fair amount of the time - she was good but was a bit indulged I think: they all left the stage while she played a bit of Sibelius violin concerto, and when they opened the second set they did a medley (which I think she'd arranged?) including Bohemian Rhapsody and Kashmir. There was also a bit of Bach and Mozart. Maybe a bit more classical than I'd have liked, but it all sounded pretty stonking.

Ian Anderson is pretty good on the flute and guitar, and pretty agile for a 58 year old. He did a fair bit of chatting, but his singing style was a bit odd - kept moving his head in and out of range of the mike, so it was very hard to hear what he was singing, presumably he likes that effect.

All in all a good night. Loads better than Think Floyd.
 

 Tim: I expect we could bundle down yours on Friday instead? No invitation necessary of course. I've still got that Naqoyqaatsi that I haven't watched yet, we could see that.

Just a suggestion. You may be banking on a quiet night in and/or Steve might not be able to fit it in.
 

 Tim: Damn, too many a's in qatsi.

"Loads better than Think Floyd", is that a veiled criticism? Only "loads"?
 

 nick: Bring the DVD, we've also got the Kraftwerk concert if we want to watch that, so we'll have a choice.

I'm not sure if Steve is free to travel to Basingstoke? At any rate I think best to keep plans that we go to Luton - means we get to see his lads and he doesn't have to see ours..
 

 Steve: I have to say I'd be happier with the current Luton plan as I'm mentally geared up for it. We can still watch the DVD as the boys will be out Saturday afternoon. They are not much bother lately as Matthew lives on the PC when he's in, Paul will be out and Deborah will be in the kitchen!
 

 Tim: OK, I was just imagining that we could coordinate things so that we were all in the same place a bit longer.

I'll be in London early Friday pm then, Steve. Not sure which train yet, I'll post that here later. Don't mind where we meet up, so just let me know?
 

 Steve: I've bought a Susumu Yokota (Grinning Cat) on eBay for a fiver so we shall see. I'll think of a time/place for Friday, I guess Berwick St. D is getting the food in!
 

 Tim: My train gets in to Waterloo at 12:20 so I can arrange to meet up any suitable time after that.
 

 Steve: 1pm Reckless Records
 

 Tim: Gotcha.
 

 Steve: Good, as I'm onsite tomorrow in Warwick so this is THE arrangement!
 

 nick: Well that was fun, I spent the last couple of evenings learning PHP and have got my book reviews to be automatically indexed now, see
Book Titles and Authors.

Nice to muck about with something that's fairly achievable. I need to think of something else to do now...
 

 Tim: The mention of Rubycon sends a little shiver up my spine. SACD, hmm?

The Phaedra thing is a bit scary, though. Froese has rerecorded a few of his solo albums too, strange.

Anyway, there's some useful info about all of these releases at groove.nl
 

 Steve: Good idea to look at the groove.nl site.

I've started that DNA book you lent me Tim - The Art of Genes. It's brilliantly written in that he keeps doing little recaps. Interesting how they have recently found genes in all animals that match those that map the body segments of insects. But what I really want to know is how does each cell know what it is and how it must function, i.e. which bit of DNA applies to it as every cell has the same DNA. Either I've missed something or it comes later!
 

 Tim: Well, inevitably I can't remember much detail about that book but cell differentiation is pretty key (well spotted) so it's not going to be long before he's on the case.

Just finished "Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón which Tina got out of the library and Nick also has read. Not bad but I didn't find it interesting enough to keep a grip on properly, and lost track of who some of the myriad characters were here and there (and what era they were in, present or flashback).

Also got a bit annoyed by the way the main bods, during their investigations, kept going to ask questions of new characters, who would then always (after a moment's hesitation) spill the beans in the form of a speech like they'd spent weeks preparing it.

Still, I've got a couple of Saramagos and a Maalouf in the queue so that should keep me novelled up for a while.
 

 nick: I am getting behind on my listening - haven't listened to "Aqualung" yet and the concert's this weekend. I remember liking Rubycon etc., but would guess they sound a bit weedy on steve's hifi - have you tried Tangram recenly Steve? I listened to that not long ago and was surprised at how thin it sounded.

Shadow of the Wind - I liked it and think Steve would, see my review.
 

 Steve: I went to try Tangram and got distracted, bit worried about tape hiss to be honest.

One of the guys here has been speaking to Sage's tech support line. In a phone-menus-gone-mad scenario they have a menu to choose the type of hold music!!! Jazz etc.
 

 Tim: No no no, don't read the review - too many spoilers!! Oh, too late.

Nick, speaking of imminent weekends, what's the outlook for the 18th, do you know yet?
 

 nick: sorry if you thought there were spoilers, I do try and write my reviews so as not to give too much away in case I want to re-read the books, but maybe I wasn't careful enough.

Re: 18th, go for it, I'm available.

nick
 

 Tim: Don't forget I'm the bloke who doesn't read the blurb on the back cover so that I can read the book without knowing what it's about.

18th then... wot we gonna do?
 

 Steve: Re: 18th - I'm easy with whatever you'd like to timetable in. As I said even if that involves Friday afternoon CD shopping :) Tempting eh Nick?

BTW I intend to see Luton Symphony this Saturday do Schubert's 8th, Vaughan Williams Tuba(!) concerto and Mendelssohn's 3rd.
 

 Tim: Well if it's Tuba Concertos you're after, that's probably as good as any.
 

 Steve: Well Tangram wasn't thin but on the whole didn't sound vastly better. It is better with some of the sounds having markedly better pulsing. Where it does improve is in the background ambience in the drifty bits. I tried Node and predictably the improvement was amazing.