The househunt succeeded yesterday. I found a place in Leatherhead, I’ll be moving in a couple of weeks assuming all the paperwork goes through without trouble. Its a slightly unusual place. More details once everything is sorted.
Neil Hopcroft
A digital misfit
Love will tear us apart again…and again
I always thought that drum machine was up to no good
thoughts from honeysuckle bottom
Well, a bit north of there, but they are thoughts. I’ve just been to view a building site. Admittedly it is convenient for the station but i’m not sure that makes up for it. Then they tried a bait and switch by showing me a larger flat beyond my budget claiming they couldn’t find the keys for the one i was interested in. Ho hum.
Hello Kitty wedding…will it last?.
Doomed, I tell you – its the end of the world as we know it (warning, crackpot theories based on extraterrestrials communicating through crop circles)
Book review: Selling the Wheel, Jeff Cox & Howard Stevens
This book is a whirlwind tour through different sales techniques appropriate for different stages of a companies (or products) development. It is built around a tortured analogy of inventing wheels, developing them to be used in different ways, until finally they hit the FMCG end of spectrum.
Some of the ideas are nice, we follow a couple through from their initial invention of a new device through their first, failed, attempts to sell it, with advice coming from a guru and inspiration coming from actually attempting to do the things he suggests and understanding why he says some of the things he says.
Its just a shame theres so much ‘presentism’ invading the analogy, if you’re in a time when wheels are new I’m pretty sure that drills wouldn’t have been invented yet, and that travelling salesmen wouldn’t really have existed in the way they do now. They are, of course, devices to make the advice relevant to todays markets, as seen by the authors.
There is a value in this book, but I don’t think its appropriate to the part of the tech industry I’ve ended up in. Of course, looking at it the other way around, one of the agents yesterday tried a classic ‘closer’ style close attempt (get some interest going, then place a definite time limit on the offer, “theres someone else interested in this property, if you move quickly you can get it”….similar to the way that ‘sales’ work in shops), which I deflected without even thinking about it. I find that style disconcerting, and often get angry when I notice I’ve been sold something with it. Unless, of course its something that I actually wanted, but mostly its not.
Book review: Lucifers Dragon, Jon Courtenay Grimwood
This book is quite luminous – at least the edition I was reading, good job you can’t see that while you’re reading it, it’d be most distracting.
I was a little disappointed with this book, I’ve read Red Robe, another of his books. Lucifers Dragon seemed far more near-future, with a lot of fairly minor extrapolations from (what was, when it was written) current technology. Unfortunately a lot of those extrapolations are looking a little dated these days.
The story itself is quite good, though, and kinda makes up a bit for the writing style, although I found myself a little confused about how all the characters fitted together because they all seem to have two names and appear in different contexts at the same time. Only they’re not really the same time. It took me a while to unravel what was going on, and, even at the end, I’m not sure I really understood it. But then I think there were a few chunks missing, the bits that should have held the whole thing together.
A nice no-brain sci-fi read, not stunning but not a waste of time either.
Anyone out there on LinkedIn? Want to add me as connection? Leave your LI email in a comment here – comments screened….
ETA: or I think you might be able to find my profile.
Lace up boots and corduroys
Househunting – this entry made more for personal reference than the enjoyment of others, though if you have any suggestions for sensible places to live they would be appreciated.
Music to crash cars to…though perhaps not quite the music I would have chosen.
Saab opera (or maybe its a ballet?)
This passion is a plagiarism
Wednesday I went to the Dresden Dolls gig – I’m not sure I’ve got a great deal to say that hasn’t been said better by someone else. But thats not going to stop me writing a little more about them and their friends anyway.
Bang On, who were playing as we arrived, looked like they’d be more at home busking somewhere – they were a pair of great drummers using a kit made up of all sorts of weird and wonderful bits of noisy metal, they were a great show and would have been better placed somewhere where they could be better seen, but maybe that destroys the intimacy of their show.
Next up were Devotchka, who were great, bringing influences from most parts of Europe and at least two instruments each, some of which were bigger than they were. They’re the kind of band that make a lot of sense live, but I’m not sure how they’d come out recorded.
Then there was an arielist who performed various manouvres dangling from the ceiling. I was wondering how she practiced the show, but maybe she has a tree she can use, or something.
Finally the Dolls themselves came on stage. You either love them or hate them – I can understand both – I love them. Theres a tension in the air as they launch into their set, something about how they interact on stage, they know each other well, it makes for a slick show.
Fabulous evening out, not a normal gig for sure, and somehow reminiscent of some of the finer craziness I found in Tokyo, never quite knowing what would come next.