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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Norwegian Music

Sitting in the hotel (right next to Herr Nielsen's Jazz Club) last night in Oslo I realised that the music I was listening to on my laptop was just track after track of Norwegian music. There was Beady Belle, then Thomas Dybdahl (try Damn Heart or Half Of Me, both free B-sides, and my absolute favourite single Love Story), then Ane Brun - and that's ignoring nearby Scandinavians like Teitur and Tina Dico (try this. Wonder how I'd missed the connection for so long?

Update: As Walter points out, I forgot the most obvious musician (and the one who features largest in my collection), Jan Garbarek.

Labels: Music, travel

posted at 1:12 AM (UK) | Comment? (2 so far) | links to this post | |

Moncef Genoud on Amazon

I'm sitting in my splendid room at Keystone listening to Moncef Genoud's brilliant Aqua and idly web surfing. I notice that Amazon MP3 (US only for now sadly) happens to have the album available for DRM-free MP3 download. I have a blazing log fire going, the view out over the mountains is tremendous, and I've been able to take more great animal photos. Another excellent visit to Colorado Software Summit!

Labels: Amazon, Music, travel

posted at 2:27 AM (UK) | Comment? (1 so far) | links to this post | |

Avoid Heathrow

Heathrow is in a state of "increased alert" this morning, according to the yellow-jackets just before security in Terminal One. What this means is that they offer the following Kafkaesque service as a "convenience for my safety" (yes, they said that too).

1. I arrive at the entrance to the checkpoint with my single wheelie bag of approved UK dimensions.
2. The yellow-jackets ask if I have any liquids. I decide to avoid the tempting discussion of body fluids and say no. Crestfallen, they wave me through.
3. I join the long line for the X-Ray machine.
4. After a while I start to get ready for the invasion of my privacy. Among the preparations, I open my wheelie bag and remove the laptop, as requested by the security checkpoint signage.
5. The aforementioned yellow-jackets yell at me from afar that "only one carry-on is allowed", pull me from the line and insist I pack the laptop again.
6. After altercation, they agree that I may carry the laptop under my arm if I remove the protective cover from it so that it will smash to pieces if I drop it while obeying the rest of their instructions.
7. Satisfied they have made my life a little more miserable with an inexplicable set of instructions, they reluctantly allow me to rejoin the line for the X-Ray.

Why are these people there and why do they have these instructions? Are we all getting so used to intrusive security theatre that BAA feels it has to spend a little extra to cow its customers' customers into further submission?

Labels: travel

posted at 8:00 AM (UK) | Comment? (3 so far) | links to this post | |

Antipodean Longings

Totality (crop)
Originally uploaded by webmink

I remember back in 2000 sitting in a hot tub in California watching a lunar eclipse that happened just after sunset. It was a magical and memorable experience. So tonight I'm wishing I was in Australia so that I could find a hot tub at sunset and repeat the experience.

The lunar eclipse is due at 09:52 UTC so it will be invisible here in the UK, but that timing is perfect for somewhere like Sydney. Here's my picture from March - I'm envious of my antipodean friends tonight though.

Labels: Astronomy, travel

posted at 12:55 AM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

So Cool It's Hot

Probably a sign of geekdom, but the Kilauea volcano on Hawai'i fascinates me and I have visited it several times (there's a B&B I like). There was an earthquake swarm there a while back and all lava production shut down, but at the start of the week a new set of activity started and now there is a lava pond (complete with a lava-fall sometimes as the pond drains and refills) in Pu'u O'o vent. USGS has a webcam scanning it and at night there is an awesome view of the lava pond glowing. Check for night-time in Hawai'i and take a look.

Labels: travel

posted at 3:43 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

FlyBE Bait and Switch

We just flew up to Edinburgh on FlyBE, which calls itself "the UK's number one low fares airline". Not that you could tell from the prices we paid. Each ticket cost nearly £300 return. But the fact the tickets were more expensive than a BA flight to most European capital cities didn't stop FlyBE treating us like we had paid £9.99 for the tickets. They still tried to charge £5 each for selecting a seat, £7 to check a bag, and more money for snack, drinks and so on. There was even an in-flight survey form that turned out to be a lead capture form for a direct marketer.

Now, I can cope with that if I am actually paying low prices for the flight. But when they have a tariff that charges premium prices for most flights, only offering "low cost" on the ones for which there's no demand, it feels like bait and switch. Either charge a premium price and offer premium service, or have a low, fixed cost and then charge for every damned thing. But variable (read: demand-driven, high) pricing with no service is just dishonest.

Labels: travel

posted at 3:53 PM (UK) | Comment? (1 so far) | links to this post | |

Genoud in Honolulu

I've stopped in Honolulu on my way to JavaOne, pretty much because I could (I am using an air ticket where stops are free, and the hotel here is less than half the price the one in San Francisco is gouging out of me). I spent the day walking from Waikiki towards the town, and quickly came to the conclusion that Waikiki is not designed for a fat fortysomething married guy travelling alone. While I was walking though I did get the chance to listen to one of the new albums I've bought.

The album in question is 'Aqua' by Moncef Genoud. Yes, hardly a name that's rattling around the charts. This is another one where I got a free track from iTunes and went back for the album. It's great jazz, deliciously syncopated and melodic, with the sort of rhythms and melodies that remind me of Brubeck and Take Five. Putting it on repeat, it was all I could go not to hum along with it as I was wandering around Ala Moana shopping centre, realising that almost all the stores sell designer clothing for people other than me.

It was the title track that first hooked me, with its descending minor-key melody that runs as a motif through the whole album. Genoud improvises beautifully on piano, and he has sax and drums supporting effectively (I miss having sleeve notes). All ten tracks are long, around 8 minutes, and the confection lasted easily with only one track skipped (10) until after sunset for me in a walk on the beach watching the waves lit by the lights on the promenade. Just as bouncy Venus Hum was a good soundtrack for a Saturday morning walking towards Bondi from Sydney CBD, so Genoud provided a great soundtrack for a day even more alone in dense crowds in Honolulu.

Labels: iTunes, Music, travel

posted at 11:05 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

BT OpenZone Mystery

I just got a bill from BT for my UK WiFi account on BT OpenZone. Uh, expensive, yup, and I keep finding extra charges on it from when I use it at some hotel that charges extra without asking me (last example: some Hilton in London). And while I'm in Europe there's never a way to find out how much it's costing (so I take the greatest care to positively disconnect each time). One of these days there will be enough competition to sort this stuff out (maybe from Fon) - there's a great musing in the NYT this week about that.

Anyway, the puzzler is from the bill BT have sent me. Despite it being printed on paper that carries their VAT number, and despite it being very obviously an invoice, it says at the top of it in bold 24 point Ariel "This is not a tax invoice", presumably so I can't go reclaiming the VAT as a business expense. Since I gave them no indication why I was opening the (rather expensive) account when I did so in a hotspot somewhere, I wondered why they would print this. So I called their call-centre to ask.

James was very helpful, and offered to both send me a fresh copy without the offending words and to set my account to make sure it didn't appear next time, but I wondered why exactly the words were there at all. James told me he didn't know, but that lots of people had complained and that the ability to issue invoices that don't pretend they aren't invoices has been recently added in response.

I wondered why anyone would even bother to print those words - exactly who are they helping, and how? James didn't know so he referred me to Emma. Emma didn't know either but promised she would find out for me. So, Emma, over to you!

Labels: travel, WiFi

posted at 3:13 PM (UK) | Comment? (1 so far) | links to this post | |