Matt Hobbs

A disturbance in the force

Yesterday we went on a company trip to see psychic celeb Sylvia Brown at a taping of the Montel show. Wooo!

Now for those Brits who read my ramblings, Montel is a pretty major daytime talk show host out here in the US of A. He’s more intellectual and less fight orientated than Jerry Springer – more like Vanessa back home. The reason for our visit? Well we’re currently running a text messaging promotion for them based around Sylvia’s inspirational message of the day. All good fun.

What was a bit unnerving about this was that we went down to see the taping on the basis that we would be backstage and out of the melee.. Of course we got there and found we’d been reserved seats in the front row. Funny. So of course there’s me and Stephen, too more reserved Brits, in the midst of a crowd of Sylvia’s fans who’d waited ages to get tickets and ask her a question such as ‘Is my dead husband OK on the other side?’, or ‘How many angels are around me?’ (surprisingly the answer seems to be four most of the time – no idea why).

Texan hats in New York City

Another beautiful weekend in New York – the sun was shining, the sushi was flowing freely and lots of jollity was to be had by all. Lovely. In fact only downside was that my usual yoga teacher Jason was away on Saturday and his replacement fell strongly into the ‘now embrace mother earth’ camp which for some reason winds me up something chronic – ie, not as relaxing as I needed it to be that day. Guess I’ll have to go out dancing more this week to compensate {:)

Pure Genius

Richard Feynmann has long been one of my heroes. Famous for his work on the atomic bomb, I first came across him as ‘must-read’ material on my physics degree. Over time I’ve read more and more about him and he keeps getting increasingly fascinating. This was a guy who could explain some of the most complex physics theory in a manner that anyone could understand, who played the bongoes passionately and recounts stories with a natural flair – the ultimate communicator who was fascinated by everything life had to offer. This recent article I read contains letters he wrote throughout his life. The last letter, a letter he wrote to his dead wife, is especially moving.

Residential 1

Just listening to the residency, a new session on Radio 1 that showcases new DJ talent in the wee hours of Saturday night. Frikkin’ awesome. Nice and bouncey at a time when I’m nicely exhausted from a hectic day of shopping but trying to get my energy together for a friend’s party. Yep, finally bought some new jeans for the first time in a year… decided that one pair wasn’t really enough any more.

Room please!

Another great innovation spawned as the b*stard child of Google Maps & Craigslist (two of my favourite sites).. Drum roll please! HousingMaps.com. Totally awesome being able to surf around locations at different price ranges. Thanks to Roland for that link.

Unrelatedly, saw Once Were Warriors last night – amazing and powerful movie. It tells the story of a Maori family in a broken down urban area of New Zealand, filled with gangs, drunkeness & tribalism. The emotional flow of the movie is breath-taking and slams into you like a runaway train without hype, the emotions are just there. Go see it.

iFlame the DJ

So engadget drew my attention to a new iPod mix setup. All looks very cool. What’s really interesting though is the total DJ flame war going on beneath the entry. Apparently anyone who DJs with an iPod isn’t a DJ…

Yes they are!

No they’re not!

Etc…

Stairwell to heaven

Kent Stairs
Originally uploaded by ultrahi.

Sunday, and after an awesome brunch with Paula & Sheila we headed over to a rooftop party at Jeffrey’s place. And what a roof it is! The view stretched from Williamsburg bridge to Manhattan bridge from 10 floors up – stunning.

What was even better than the roof though was the stairwell. Beautiful.

Advertastic

Just went over to look at an article on Salon and noticed they had a new mechanism for supporting their site. You can now either buy a subscription or, and this is the neat part, watch an advert to get a daypass. Neat-o.

Oh say can you see

Google have updated their Maps feature to include satellite imagery. So here’s a quick look at the Statue of Liberty for your delight and delectation.

What’s interesting are the sections around New York where they’ve used two different satellite sources. The perspective on the buildings around the World Trade is pretty weird, and for some reason Brooklyn around Prospect Park is having a bad hair day. Starting somewhere like San Francisco, zooming out and panning around the mountains is amazing, especially with the really simple drag interface they’ve built.

So what’s next for Google? Well I reckon they’ll combine their realtime TV capture with this satellite feed to give you live satellite views anywhere in the US. Imagine watching the latest game and zooming in from above. Or maybe they’ll just stick to the new drinks line.

Sloping off

Thanks to Chris for this interesting article [NY Times signup needed] on the British invasion of Park Slope. The encroaching hoarde of Brits definately makes it easier for getting those daily essentials like Heinz baked beans, good jams and Marmite. Even my local Billyburg cheese shop stocks them now, alongside a great selection of (mostly British) cheese.