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PC vs Mac (Not Really)

In my latest flurry of gadget-buying, yesterday came the Canon mini-DVD camcorder. It wasn’t rashness on my part, but something I’d intended to get for quite a while. There are always things you wish you’d been able to film, and as Paul and I have one or two interviews planned (first one coming up early next month, no names mentioned just yet), it was a good time to grab it.

It’s a very nice piece of equipment. It has a widescreen option, which is pretty cool. My only (minor) disappointment is that there is no input for an external mike, which isn’t totally necessary but would’ve been a useful option to have. Great value for money overall, though.
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Bidding Frenzy

I said I shouldn’t make a habit of ebay! I’ve found myself bidding on a number of items and I’m trying to not get carried away…

Items won: Joseph Cotten’s autobiography for mom (though I want to read it too); Bowie’s Buddha of Suburbia (a Russian import w/his Labyrinth stuff on the same CD) and Tin Machine II—thus completing my Bowie studio album collection, finally—plus a bootleg of his 1.Outside outtakes. Fortunately, they were all reasonably priced; this could get seriously expensive if you’re not careful!
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When’s the Baby Due?

I was outbid on the Orson book! Losing one’s virginity isn’t a guarantee of reaching orgasm, etc. 🙂 I’m bidding on something else at the moment, but I’d better not get smug about it.

E-mail news: being a bit flabby is one thing, but being told you look pregnant is another! I don’t tend to fish for compliments I don’t deserve, but this is ridiculous! My name is not Fern Britton and I don’t have my own personal ozone layer. Yet.
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Local Culture

Went to Merryhill today, as I hadn’t been for a few months. This requires me to get a bus into Dudley first, as no nearby buses go straight to Merryhill itself. So, what the hell, I thought this snap of a major ‘landmark’ at the back of Dudley’s small shopping plaza, facing the bus station, might interest those who’ve never been:

Dudley April 2004
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Expensive Trip!

It was nice to get down to London and catch up with Paul again, but there’s always a reluctance to come home! Let’s face it, this is a pretty dismal area. Birmingham, the city, is okay enough, but the rest? Pah!

Paul and I went into the British Museum for a while and looked at a lot of old Egyptian thingies. He tried to take a couple of snaps, but neither came out very well. The last time I went in the place was a school trip back in 1981; it brought back a lot of memories, even though it’s changed a lot since then. The main memory, alas, is of me dying of thirst and not being allowed to go to the canteen for a drink until we’d looked at everything we were supposed to see. School trips simply aren’t designed to be enjoyed.

British Museum London March 15 2004
Horrible, weird, blurry pic in the British Museum. Better luck next time, Paul!
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The Office

I did buy some office-friendly clothes today, including a shirt. The venue was H&M. I usually buy stuff from M&S, since we have food from there, but they’re pricey. H&M are cheaper, although their displays are appallingly untidy and disordered. And the clothes are quite dirty in some cases; they had a pale blue shirt I might have bought had they not all been mingingly filthy and creased… okay, they can be washed and ironed, but that’s not the point.

If this sounds like I’m planning to get an office job, well, I’m not. Not really. It would entirely upset my long-term image as an arty-farty anarchist. I’m merely being… pragmatic.
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