iMac

Well its been a week or so now and what are my comments? Mainly that its absolutely dead simple. The learning curve is extremely shallow, everything works, its all extremely elegant, intuitive and straightforwards. The GUI is dead sexy, fun and very useful. Software and periferals install in moments, I've added a USB hub ( one pence from Amazon) and a Hitachi 1 TB external drive which I'm using with Time Machine.
The 21.5 inch screen, from two to three feet away appears simply huge so no real regrets about buying the smaller screen.  For me, the most amazing thing is the shear power of the beast however. Opening programs, performing processor heavy tasks, just take a second or so. Making HDRs with Photomatix Pro takes, what? five seconds? My old PC used to take over a minute. Enough said I think.... Now to persuade work that I need a MacBook!

iMac

Still learning. And let me say that, thus far there's been no real head scratchers, its all been plain sailing. There's a huge amount of depth to OSX but the average user doesnt need half of it. Stuff like Expose and Spaces is useful if you are going to have twenty windows open at once but I don't see myself being in that situation. Nevertheless, the power of the machine and its ability to run loads of open applications at once could eventually lead to me needing to investigate these options. Whatever, its all fun and interesting.

Unboxed and set up.

One of my sons remarked to me how easy he found setting up his iMac and its true! An unbelievably smooth and easy experience. As soon as up and running I downloaded Firefox 3.6.2, Lightroom 3 beta and Skype. A bit puzzled about the final stages of the download but it all worked out in the end.
The first impressions? WOW is probably number one. Its like a computer from the future or from some parallel universe where things are really nicely designed and all work well. Its absolutely amazingly fast and runs lightroom 3 like lightening. All in all a very positive experience thus far, No negatives. OSX is pretty damn intuitive but I'll clearly have to read my Rough Guide to Mac and OSX very carefully to ensure I'm in the groove. Was agonising over 21.5 vs 27 inch. Sitting here looking at the 21.5 inch screen it seems VAST to me and so I am more than happy with the decision I made.

The Big Switch!

Hi, my new iMac arrives today according to UPS packaging tracking and I have been reading all I can about making the switch from Windows to OSX or Windows XP to OSX Snow Leopard to be precise. Unfortunately I find virtually all of the resources on the net ( and there are many) assume a level of geekiness or intelligence that I dont have and am therefore viewing the fast approaching learning curve with a a small degree of trepidation ameliorated only by the exitement of having a shiny new and hopefully fast machine to play with. I have to say I love the look of the GUI on Macs and am assuming that over the next days and weeks I will come to love it. I have to say that I, seemingly alone, find iTunes very un-intuitive, it must be my age. Whatever, I'm going to post my feelings and impressions on converting to OSX over the next days and weeks, heres to it being a positive experience!

My name is Chris and I come from England

I’m attempting to learn Marathi, the language of Mahrasthra and I have to say that over the last few weeks I have actually enjoyed some small degree of success! The principle reason for this is that , outside of work, pretty much everybody I interact with are Marathis and I can thus get instant feedback on the quality of my attempts.
Hindi defeated me because of its many versions and subtleties, it’s a ‘poetic’ language – and full of ‘silent’ n’s and h’s and these guttural sounds that frankly all sound the same to me although slight changes change the meaning of a word or sentence completely, enough said I think.
So Marathi is the way to go and let me tell you it seems to gain me instant kudos (something I’m in desperate need of, let me freely admit). Of course |I’m only learning the spoken language, the script? Ha! Forget it, it aint gonna happen! My first words were Maza now Chris, me England la ratau (see the title of this piece). No sooner had I learned it than I was presented with an opportunity to use it. I was in a small seaside town South of Mumbai and was taking a photograph of a restaurant, as I pressed the shutter a large family group came out and the man immediately came towards me, I thought ‘shit’ and decided to try and disarm him with my command of his language so I said ‘Maza now Chris, me England la ratau’ and the effect was electric! He smiled and grasped my hand, called his family over and introduced me, asked me to pose for a photograph with them! Ashok, my driver told me that I have been lucky as he was a Senna guy, a right wing firebrand type and I had managed to reverse a potently difficult situation with a few words of his native tongue. Let me say that there are relatively few European Marathi speakers! Great, so I was off to a good start. I try and learn a couple of useful words a day on the way to work and Ashok is diligent in making me practice. Yesterday I was able to completely rid myself of hawkers on the beach by explaining that I lived in New Mumbai and was not a tourist, that I did not want to buy there wares, what was their name?, mine was Chris. I’d surely see them again soon! Again a few sentences worked wonders, they smile and say OK, fair enough! See you! Bye! This is really first class confidence building feedback, and the feeling that I can make myself understood is really thrilling and satisfying, unlike my attempts at Hindi which have always been met by stares of blank incomprehension! The major issue now is being able to recognize Marathis. Out in the countryside it’s easy – it’s everybody! In town the issue is more complex as I can’t tell from looking what language they will speak, whereas ‘the locals’ can. Anyway, I’m currently enjoying the experience, not that it will be of much use in the UK! Whatever – ‘ Chal y a tomi!

The Internet huh?

Interested to see comments that I made in this blog earlier about the new architects material being reproduced on the 'fuckyeaharchitects' tumblr site. I mean? How the hell? Its fascinating.. I wonder who, of the handful of people who ctually read my ramblings would 'leak' the comments, or, has somebody got some super sensitive search software that can sniff out comments on Architects even buried in some inconsequential blog?
Therefore I thought I'd make some more comments and see how quickly they are spotted and used!

So, here goes..........

Its absolutely wonderful being an Architects(uk) Dad! One of the many things I have to thank Tom and Dan for is keeping me up to date with all the latest sounds, theres so much amazing stuff out there that I'd never be able to on my own and most of my old mates, no matter how into music, seem to have got stuck somewhere in the 80's, 90's or 00's; dont get me wrong, i love dance and electronica, I love indie , but without Tom and Dans influence I would never have got into metalcore etc. My favorite band is currently Dillinger Escape Plan and I search in vain for friends of my age who also dig that sound. Why should this be? DEP are utterly awesome, they rock, they're inventive as hell, they're original, whats not to like?! One comment that I have heard from several people is 'its the shouting/screaming that I can't take' . Get over it! Give it a chance, any half decent music takes a while to get into but once you suss it theres a shitload to enjoy...
So anyway, Architects and thier progression: The new album will be very distinctly Architects, that is, my friends won't like it! However, Tom's songwriting is definitely maturing. The thing that really exites me about the new stuff is that it has a distinctly euphoric edge, there's builds and breaks like good euphoric trance but it's still heavy as fuck, fast, tight and experimental.....
Of course the final sound will be vastly different from the demos on my ipod, I'm hoping that some of the wonderful, delicate and tasteful drum and guitar work will not be lost but with the new album being producted by *************** ( not sure if this is public domain info yet) I can guarantee that it will be unbefuckinlievable.

Magic weekend

Friday evening and off to Phansad. This time of year is soo nice in Maharasthra, hot sun in the day, cool evenings, low humidity and light breezes make for what, to me, is a near ideal climate. As the end of winter approaches many of the forest trees are flowering and this makes, not only for delicious scents and wonderful sights but also a magnet for wildlife. We arrive late and find the forest lodge full and Sadha the caretaker nowhere to be found, I end up sleeping under canvas on a concrete floor. Not a fantastic night I have to say! As soon as the sun was up we were off for a walk down to the local village to check out the birding. Good but not fantastic, all the usual suspects but nothing else. Whilst walking I learned that there was another ‘foreigner’ staying along with a guide from the BNHS, this man, an Australian apparently, has written The field guide to the birds of East Africa. Wow, an uber birder, staying at Phansad! I was extremely interested to meet him and, arriving back at base there is indeed a ‘foreigner’ eating a bowl of breakfast Poha. I say hello and he replies in an extremely unOzzie voice. Turns out he’s from London although now lives in Canberra, and yes he’s written the aforementioned field guide but - it’s a novel! It's title is ‘A guide to the birds of East Africa – A Novel’ . His name is Nick Drayson and he’s a naturalist/novelist and it turns out an extremely agreeable fellow.
After breakfast we jump in my car and head down to a favorite water hole, Nick is wandering about turning stones and, (beginners luck?) finds a beautiful but unbelievably aggressive little Wolf Snake. Then we drive down to Murud for the usual beery lunch where Nick and I discuss the wonder that is 'A good pint of English wallop'and swap increasing outrageous birding stories before heading back up the mountain and more birding. We visit an area of jungle that we have never been to before and, barely out of the car, we see a Blue Faced Malcoa, a lifer for me! High fives all around but within half an hour we have also clocked up Humes and Large billed Leaf Warblers, two more lifers ending a looong dry spell for me. Excellent!
After a short siesta we’re back to the water hole, we’ve been hearing about this ‘ere Sri Lankan Frogmouth for months now but never seen or heard beak nor feather of it and so we sit in silence and watch the dusk fade to night, its a wonderful experience with certain caveats...the birds settle down and the bats and moths come out. We’re smothered in deet but the mossies seem to take no notice and we are surrounded by a hungry and persistent swarm of them. Twice we heard, indeed I recorded, the screeching cry of the Frogmouth but in the end we are forced out of the jungle by the shear number of bitey things.
The next morning the extent of the damage is clear, not only a zillion mossie bites but I have at least a dozen bites from the Argasid soft tick which I know are going to drive me crazy with itching over the next three to four weeks, they are already swollen and weeping. It seems that nothing can keep these little horrors at bay and all my compatriots are suffering equally. Nick tells us that he has suffered equally in Australia with Argasid bites and recommends a scrubbing brush to relieve the itching! We try to forget about the long list of nasty tick borne diseases.....
Sunday morning say our goodbyes and head down to the local beaches but apart from Turnsones and Sand Plovers there is little about and so we decide to tackle Kankeshwar.
I have often been birding around the bottom of this large and forbidding hill and once started the climb up the x hundred steps to the temple complex at the top but on that occasion was driven back by the sun and fear of sunstroke. This time I have a hat and some water and we decide to ‘go for the summit’ as the top is an excellent spot for raptor watching. It’s a hard and hot plod up the steps and for the most part there is no shade, our hearts are soon pounding and the sweat gushing. This is one of those climbs with many false summits which you make an effort for only to find yet another steep section ahead. At one point we see a Cobra hastily retreating into the bushes. Eventually , exhausted and dehydrated and sun scorched we reach the top and are able to admire the temples of Hanuman, Shiva and Ganesh and settle down on the edge of a cliff with a view across twenty kilometers or so to the coast. Spotted eagles, Common buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard glide past at intervals concluding a fab weekends birding. Walking back down ( in flip flops) turns out to be more painful than the walk up and my leg muscles are still hurting as I write this, four days later……