Globetrotter Obama
January 21st, 2010
I though this was an interesting visual from the Economist on presidency country visits in the first year of office.
WHEN Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency he promised to seek “a new era of international co-operation”. In his first year in office he has changed the tone of American foreign policy and helped to shift foreigners’ perception of America. Perhaps it is no surprise that he has spent much more time overseas than his predecessors. Mr Obama has been abroad twice as long as George Bush junior managed in his first 12 months as president. Mr Obama is the first president since Jimmy Carter to travel to the Middle East in his first year and the only one whose first-year foreign forays have taken him to Africa. Franklin Roosevelt made it to Canada in his first year, but only for a holiday.
Rob Brydon at Edinburgh Playhouse
December 8th, 2009
Kirsty and I went to see Rob Brydon at Edinburgh Playhouse. Apart from the £8.50 for lemonade and a bottle of cider the evening was good value with Rob on for a good 90 minutes, a warm up act who wasn’t too bad either (Hal Cruttenden) and appearance of uncle Bryn (Gavin & Stacey) at the end of the night.
Here is one of my favourite clips from the evening
Movember
November 17th, 2009
Decided to join in with Movember, to raise awareness of men’s prostate cancer.
Find out more…
Eddie Izzard sketches reacted using Lego
September 20th, 2009Brilliant set Eddie Izzard sketches reacted using Lego animation.
Late Night Petrol Station Shopping
Death Star Canteen
James Bond
Leuchars Airshow 2009
September 19th, 2009Photos from RAF Leuchars Airshow 2009
Telemarketing
August 21st, 2009
When I first started dealing with telemarketing calls, I was very soft. I would let them waste my time and often give them an excuse to ring back later in the week. Now, I always say yes to who every they ask for and tell them politely I’m not interest, thank them and put the phone down.
Although, next time I get a force full or rude call, I might consider this trick!
Eddie Izzard on Computers on Star Trek
July 1st, 2009On computers
and Star Trek
Learn something new today - TED
June 22nd, 2009
At some point over the last two years of Edinburgh Coffee Morning both John Mountjoy and Ewan McIntosh have mentioned a website called TED. Its a conference held every year in which a number of people speak about a wide range of subjects. These talks are then made free to watch via their website. Their tag line is "Ideas worth spreading" which probably sums up the quality of the presentations.
Now you know what its like you’re always being bombarded with websites you should check, books you should read, podcasts you should subscribe to and million other things. Now that I get a bus everyday to work I have 30 minutes in the morning to read those books and listening to those podcasts. So a couple of months ago I started watching TED videos and have been rather hooked on them since, downloading well over 7 GB worth.
Here are few of my favourite…
David Pogue on user interfaces
Shai Agassi’s bold plan for electric cars
Scottish Breathalyser
June 18th, 2009Some Scottish humour from the BBC.
Street talk and slang from The Wire
June 12th, 2009A selection of slang from The Wire, please feel free to leave comments.
- Corner / The corners - The streets where dealers hang out or sell
- Hi Risers / Towers - Tower blocks / High rise flats
- Hamsterdam - Is the name given to area that police allowed the drug dealers to deal in
- Po Po / 50 - Police
- Muscle - Having people to carry out handy work / tough guys
- The Pit - A grassy area with houses around the edges?
- Step off - Telling someone to move away / fuck off basically
- Burner - Pay as you go mobile that is thrown away after a couple of days
- Re-up or Package - Shipment of drug / Someone who has AIDS “they’ve got the package”
- hopper - Drug dealer at the bottom of the food chain
- Shorty - Female or a kid
- To have suction - To have pull with your higher-ups at the Police Department or in City Hall.
- The hall - The mayor’s office / City Hall.
- A redball - A high-profile case.
- A Corner boy - A young kid on the street who’s aware of the street (but not necessarily a dealer). A corner boy is one on a corner, working a package with a crew. A yo or yo boy is a derogative term for such, popularized by Baltimore cops. A corner boy would never refer to himself as a yo or yo boy.
- Police - Police officers are simply police, as in “he a police.” Emphasis on first syllable: “POH-leece.” Homicide detectives are murder police.
- Good Police - A police officer who cares more about work than the chain of command.
- Stand Tall - Not let the enemy have his way with you, maintain dignity. Common usage.
- Carrying Weight - Doing jail time (and not cooperating with the police).
- To Shove off - To get high.
- Testers - Free vials from a new street-ready package that go out to addicts to get them hooked/let them know there’s a new package….They are simply advertising the quality of a new package. Testers can be heroin, which is sold under brand names: Death Row, Tec-Nine, WMD, etc., and usually come in Ziploc bags, or inside capsules, or in glassine envelopes; or cocaine, which is usually in vials of the kind used for perfume samples, with different colored tops. Red-tops, blue-tops, yellow-tops, etc.
- Slinging - Selling drugs. Or twirling. Or clocking. Or working a package.
- The Jects - The projects.
- Cheese - Money but also a character
- Fiend - Addict.
- A humble - A cheap, misdemeanor charge. Either an unwarranted charge in some definitions, or a charge required in order to humble an arrogant corner boy.
- Crew up - To form a team and sling drugs on a corner.
- Walk-around money - Petty briberies and monetary grease on Election Day.
- G-Pack - One hundred vials of coke, prepackaged for sale.
http://ask.metafilter.com/91636/Help-me-understand-jargon-in-The-Wire
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119888101122256433.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.542822
