The redesign of the National Library may not be going ahead as planned, so hopefully we get to enjoy that ballsy and unapologetic sixties/seventies architecture for a bit longer.
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New design for the old site
At last a new design. I disliked the last redesign but am a little happier with this one. It remains a work in progress. It works in IE6 and the usual Firefox, Opera, Safari, but at the time of writing it is untested in Chrome, IE7 and IE8. Tomorrow is another day though. Then I really must upgrade!
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Highlights from 2008
2008 went fast. Highlights included:
- Cigars. From the first proper smoke I had on Mauricio’s porch in Habana (a Cohiba no less), to the aged Davidoff on Christmas Eve, cigars have become a great addition to the enjoyment of life.
- Getting engaged. Tash agrees to marry me just before Christmas. w00t! (BTW, these are in no particular order)
- Helicopters. Well only one. The flight to the floor of the Grand Canyon followed by a dusk flight over Las Vegas was extremely memorable.
- Mexico. We only visited Mexico City and Teotihuacan, but I can’t wait to return. Our friends Rulo and Pia gave me a wonderful tour of Mexico City, complete with traffic thrills, grilled grasshoppers, and mariachi!
- The US trip in March was incredible. I would love to return to New York, Washington DC and San Diego. Tash organised the whole thing and did a marvelous job. The Saturn V in Houston was extremely cool.
- Webstock was brilliant, and I’m looking forward to the 2009 event in February. The quiz was a lot of fun, we really must organise another one of those!
- Importantly for me the vast majority of projects I worked on this year were successful. The new year poses many challenges and opportunities, and I see no dull moments ahead.
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Eyes on the Prize II
Wow, just finished watching episode 14 (the final) of Eyes on the Prize. When I tell people it’s a 14 part doco they think it must be long and tedious. However is it has flown past too quickly, and I’ll be re-watching a few episodes. This series is incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in human rights or the civil rights movement, or social movements in general.
Notable personalities and stories in the series include:
- The amazing Fannie Lou Hamer
- Medgar Evers, helped the prosecution pursue the murderers of Emmett Till. He also helped desegregate the University of Mississippi, and was murdered by a KKK member outside his house
- Huey Newton, charismatic co-founder of the Black Panther Party
- Fred Hampton, the young Chicago Black Panther who was murdered by the police
- and of course, Dr King
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Keep your eyes on the prize
I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of PBS’s incredible Eyes on the Prize documentary series. I remember seeing a couple of episodes as a youngster, and it really helped me get to know what the civil rights movement had been all about. Watching it again 20 years later, it is still just as gut wrenching and powerful. The commitment of the members of the non-violence movement completely astounds me; it makes me feel proud that some people are capable of such great feats. The positive message of the series doesn’t emphasise the hatred of the whites (although for obvious reasons this is inescapable). The level of this hatred equally astounds me and terrifies me. If I had been raised in rural Mississippi and lived there in the mid 1960s, what would my world view have been? I’m prone to denial, so it’s especially hard to accept that I probably would have been the same as the racists that I now find it so easy to judge. It begs the question, how easy is it to know right from wrong?
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Waste = Food
This doco is about William McDonough’s and Michael Braungart’s ‘Cradle to Cradle’ design approach. I hadn’t come across this before and it gives me hope.
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Evolution to Thunderbird
I’ve used the Evolution mail client for many years now, but always disliked its bland similarity to Microsoft Outlook. I originally settled on it because of its decent calendar and all important task list. The other day I decided to look at Thunderbird again, especially since Lightning/Sunbird is now reasonably mature. I like. I’m also using the Display Mail User Agent add-on which is really just candy, but fun.
Thunderbird with my 2 fav extentions, Lightning and DisplayMUA
