Changing The Pump

 

Samsung P1253 Drain Pump

On Wednesday the washing machine made some ominous noises and full of water stopped. After I bailed out the dirty water, it was obvious that the drain pump had failed. A quick Google revealed that it would cost me £45 – £60 for a replacement. I was wondering if it would be better to buy a new machine when I thought I’d try eBay. Sure enough I found the part for £12.90 incl. P&P. It arrived today and took 20 minutes to fit. I’ve earned a lot of the brownie points.

The part was from appliancehelp . I raise a glass to them.

Your Mother Will Be Very Proud Of You

My son asked me to scan a pile of Polaroid photos from his trip to Belgium (he’s not very good with technology). They were the usual student type pictures of inebriated kids doing silly things. One photo was of his mate sitting on the toilet. My son said his friend was going to have the photo made into a fridge magnet for his mother. I’m sure that it is going to make his mum very proud of him!

Art In The Age Of Steam

Yesterday I went to the Art In The Age Of Steam exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. During the so called age of Railway Mania in the mid nineteenth century some 2,000 railway themed prints were produced, the exhibition had examples covering this period and up o the 1960’s.

First impressions was the gallery was poorly lit, perhaps this is deliberate to prevent pictures fading, though my eyes did adjust somewhat to the dim light.

Strangely the celebrity painters: Manet and Monet did not impress me, I found their examples to muddy and poorly composed. My favourites from the exhibition were:

Gentleman in a Railway Carriage by James Tissot.
This painting is said to depict the nineteenth century man; he has a railway timetable open on his lap and is looking at his watch, depicting the railways influence in making time and punctuality important. This may have been the root of the modern day obsession with schedules and doing everything in a rush.

 

 

 

 

 

Railway Landscape by Eric Ravilous.
Though not a surrealist Ravilous has combined many elements from this movement into the composition – bring apparently unrelated items onto the canvas to tell a story.

 I also very much liked Train Leaving Newcastle by Bill Brandt. A photograph with superb composition and a graphic feel. I was impressed by the Soviet era railway posters

I thoroughly recommend this exhibition to you. It is open until Sunday, August 10, 2008. And it’s free entry.

Carbon Offsetting – It’s Just Hot Air

Like going to confession carbon offsetting is just a salve to the conscience, it doesn’t put wrongs right it just makes you feel better. 

A whole industry has been built around carbon offsetting and generally speaking it is the people involved in these operations and not climate change that have benefitted from CO2 offsetting. Even the British government, that had previously put a big effort into promoting it, has removed the link from its website to CO2 offsetting companies, whilst it reviews the efficacy of the companies it will accredit.

Here is what Friends of the Earth have to say on this topic – “Friends of the Earth, along with a number of other organisations, is becoming increasingly concerned that carbon offsetting is being used as a smoke-screen to ward off legislation and delay the urgent action needed to cut emissions and develop alternative low-carbon solutions. Offsets can even encourage businesses and people to continue with (or even increase) unnecessary polluting activities, promoting the mindset “I’ve offset so it’s OK to fly”, “I’ve offset so it’s alright to drive to work”, etc.”

The bottom line folks is that it is down to us as private individuals or as employees to do what we can, as we go about our daily lives, to ensure that we produce as little CO2 as possible.

The CD Single is Dead

Woolworths in the UK have announced that they are to stop selling CD singles.

They cited the impact on single sales of internet downloads as the reason for the decision.

Last year this blog reported the retail demise of the floppy disk  and the blank audio cassette.

What is next for the technology graveyard?

Cool Building

I really like this new Health Centre building for the College Surgery Cullompton, Devon UK.

Excellent design incorporating wood, stone, glass and conventional materials in a beautiful setting.

 

Dandelion Clock

 

What time is it Mr Wolf?

One o’clock,

Two o’clock,

Three o’clock …

Do children still blow on the Dandelion head to tell the time?

The Wisdom of Whores

Today I watched a thought provoking interview with the epidemiologist and journalist Elizabeth Pisani on the BBC’s HardTalk programme (follow link to watch the interview.
Ms Pisani has worked with AIDS charities and NGOs for many years and has written, for some, a controversial book on the subject, The Wisdom of Whores.
During the interview and in her book she draws some thought provoking conclusions:
There are two major AIDS epidemics in the World: Africa (mostly East Africa) and the rest of the World.
The two epidemics are differentiated by the way they are spread; in Africa mostly by unprotected sex in the general population and in the rest of the World, by drug users sharing dirty needles, unprotected sex amongst gay men, and unprotected sex between sex workers and their clients.
AIDS is more infectious during its early stages, this attribute explains (according to Ms Pisani) the widespread incidence of AIDS in Africa That is to say, because Africans tend to be more sexually active and have more partners, they are therefore more likely to spread AIDS during unprotected intercourse.
Pisani’s main point, I understand is that getting infected with AIDS is mostly a matter of personal choice: use a condom during sex or clean needle for injecting drugs and you won’t get infected.
She questions the use of the high spending of governments and charities on AIDS prevention, when the at risk groups already know the dangers and how to avoid contracting AIDS.

Good weather! What’s gone wrong?

Eats shoots and leaves

(c) Heather Angel – from the Times 21 April 2008
Fantastic image of a Panda from Heather Angel’s new book Panda: : Intimate Portrait of One of the World’s Most Elusive Creatures. Buy at Amazon