I don't know how you get yourself stuck in a gorse bush for two days, but apparently it requires a helicopter to get you out.

The irony of this story from back home is that the church - which I always thought was a way fugly building - had just got permission to demolish and rebuild the front porch. Not sure if having it taken out by a big lorry is going to end up being cheaper or not, but maybe god was thinking that they taking just a little bit too much time putting up something less hideous.

If only religion came hand-in-hand with a good taste in architecture so us atheists didn't have to put up with nasty redbrick monstrosities littering the countryside. Give me a nice Norman church any day of the week (so I can point out all the pagan symbolism in the stonework).

...relatively recently, that I would date no one but another geek. Weirdly, it seems I'm not alone. There's even a book, ffs.

Well, you know what they say. The geeks shall inherit the earth. (...the live, and the neutral.)

Some excellent T-shirts on sale for an excellent cause. I just wish there was room on the roundel for 'London is deeply unimpressed', or 'London would like to tell the terrorists to fuck off', or even 'London goes for a pint'. It'd be nice to capture the chirpily bolshie nature of real Londoners more accurately. (Thanks Tim.)

More like "London Will Fucking Twat You In A Minute, Son". (Thanks Tom.)

Woke up at 2am, as per my usual jetlag schedule. Expected to turn over and go to sleep again soon, but then sirens started. Didn't think much of the first couple, because I was trying to be unconscious and ergo wasn't really thinking all that hard about anything. But they didn't stop. Just kept on coming. Still are. Right now it's gone 3am.

Eventually, I got so freaked out by the sirens that I got up to look out the window and see what was going on - couldn't see much. Maciej's place has a back stairway, and from the next landing up I could see what the problem was: large fire quite a few blocks away from here. I don't know SF geography well enough to figure out which street it's on (I think it might be Market Just spoke to Maciej, and it's 16th Street, opposite the church, which is about six long blocks away from here), but a whole building has gone up.



I doubt it's related to what happened yesterday, but it has freaked me out. This post is by way of an attempt to calm myself down.

UPDATE: It's 3.30am, and the sirens have calmed down a lot. Going to try to get back to sleep now.

UPDATE 2: Luckily, no one was hurt.

My heart goes out to all those caught up in the bombs in London. I can only imagine how terrifying and awful it must have been, and must still be for some. My condolences to all those affected, to those who have lost family or friends, to those injured. I wish all those wounded a speedy recovery, especially those whose wounds are not physical.

I remember when the IRA were bombing London, in the mid-90s. At work we had our windows rattled by a couple of explosions, although the IRA never managed to pull off anything like this. The atmosphere in London at that time was a sort of resigned vigilance. Bomb scares became an accepted fact of life and everyone's mental map of the transport system included alternative ways to get home when stations were closed (as they invariably were). We all kept an eye out - half an eye, perhaps, but still - for suspicious packages, vehicles and people, but we usually didn't spot anything. When we did, it usually turned out to be nothing. But no one really let it affect their lives. You couldn't sit around worrying that the IRA might bomb you, because the chances were still dramatically higher than you'd be taken out by a bicycle courier or taxi before the terrorists got anywhere near you.

Then the IRA stopped bombing London and we all got used to stations being closed because of signal failures instead of bomb scares.

The bombings in London today are dreadful acts of cowardice and evil. But we must not let the terrorists change us, or change the way we live. As soon as we start living in fear, they have won. Instead we must hold our heads up high, and stick up a finger in their general direction. Be vigilant, but don't be fearful. Be aware, but don't let them cramp our style.

Above all, we must resist the threats to our civil liberties and freedoms that have been coming ever since 9/11. These most recent terrorist acts must not be used by our government to push through ill-concieved 'security' plans, and we must not let anyone use them as an excuse to erode our rights.

The terrorists will lose. They will lose because we - you and I - will make sure that they lose. We will be the ones who stand up to the terrorists and say 'You don't scare me, and you're not going to stop me living my life in freedom'; we will be the ones who stand up to the government and say 'You don't scare me, and you're not going to take away my civil liberties in the name of "security"'. We will be the ones who fight for what is good and right and proper, and we will be the ones who defend our country and compatriots against the scourge of any and all extremism by always being honourable, fair and true. We will win, because we will live every day by the principles these barbarians want us to sacrifice through fear.

My deepest compassion and sympathy remains with the victims of these, and all atrocities, and my thanks and admiration to the men and women of the emergency services who have worked so hard to help rescue and treat everyone. I may be in San Francisco right now, but I'm very aware that it is only luck that has me here at this time. It could so easily have been me on that bus or on the Underground.

london explosion

This is something that came up a lot when I was in the US last month, so I figure it must be worth clarifying. My name is pronounced:

Soo TCHAR-m'n

That's 'soo' to rhyme with 'boo' or 'goo' or even 'gnu' (but absolutely not 'view').
'TCHAR-m'n' to rhyme with, er, well, um... 'charman' (and bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the well-known brand of toilet paper).

Two really important points about my surname:
1. It's a hard CH, as in chocolate or chalk or chuffin 'eck.
2. The last syllable is a schwa, so you don't emphasis the 'man', but make it more of a 'mun'.

This may sound to some as if I am stating the obvious and being a bit precious about it, but I heard 'Sharmin' so often last month that it started to get on my wick a bit. Seven letters, two syllables, really very easy, please try harder.

Also, whilst I am clearing up misconceptions, I'd like to make the point that as much as I love the Welsh, and as much as I adore being able to speak Welsh, I'm still English. Very, very English. So if you meet me and wonder why I have an English accent instead of a Welsh one, then that would be why.

There. That makes me feel better.

I've been predominantly offline for the last week and a half and my inbox now has a mammoth number of unread, and unreplied-to emails. I am currently sitting in a wifi cafe with no damn wifi (although, of course, when I post this I will obviously have relocated), which very effectively slows down the replying process.

Anyone fancy a nice job as my PA? I can offer you biscuits as recompense... Anyone? No?

More likely is that I will vanish from IRC and IM for the next week or two. If you want me, phone me, or hunt me down and see me in person.

Dan's unintentionally funny IRC quit message today (or was it yesterday?).

Given inflation and the state of the exchange rate, isn't a $64,000 question now worth about £2.50?

Blair. Again. For another five years.

I'm sorry.

If I weren't so broke and busy, I'd start sorryeverybody-again.com.

Still, at least we don't have the Creature of the Night in charge, which is one thing to be grateful for.

Actually, can't we just shoot all this lot and start afresh?

Not an event. Not a product. But an entire city: Adidas Ababa.

Can't go wrong, really.

Real 'out of office' reply received today:

I will be out of the office starting 27/04/2005 and will not return until 01/01/2010.

Wow, that's some holiday. I am way jealous.

Trying this with Fflwff could result in broken bones, nerve damage and severe blood loss. Mine, not hers. I may give it a shot, though.

Note to readers: Never play Cat Buckaroo with any potentially cat damaging objects, such as bricks, television sets or Collected Works of Shakespeare.

(Thanks John!)