A brief message about the recent 5 day outage.
My hosting provider “had no choice but to suspend my web site due to extreme Apache overloading”. I was notified of the few offending CGI scripts and a single static jpg that were causing the havoc.
It was mainly the Movable Type track back script that was being hammered by various spammers and caused the overload.
To protect the web site from future high loads I have disabled some functionality just to be on the safe side:
Movable Type track-backs (only spammers used them anyway)
Movable Type search (use Google search instead)
Mowecam post image (you can deploy the PHP file on your own server to continue using it)
ImdbRatings4Vue
Welcome back!
Category: Journal
Christening
Friends and family, we thank you for attending the christening of our son.
The event was wonderful and emotional and will forever be remembered.
The Godparents outperformed themselves but we did not expect anything less from them. The highlight was the Godfather getting his speech just seconds before holding it in front of the congregation.
As always a grand reception had been planned by my wife. This time it was in the Winter Garden of the Landmark Hotel.
It had been a hot day and the non-stop serving of well chilled Taittinger champagne was appreciated by all.
Don’t be looking for me the next 7 days as the whole family is away in Scotland visiting grand castles and small distilleries.
Golden boys reunion
It was 1 year birthday of our dog’s 6 puppies and a reunion was arranged.
Five of the puppies are with new owners around London and all but one managed to navigate to Richmond Park and our favourite pond.
The picnic started with a bang with 3 golden retrievers running across a couple’s picnic.
I suspect that the gentlemen was expecting an apology but none was given by our fearless picnic organiser. Instead the upset gentlemen was notified that 4 more dogs were on the way.
Due to his apparent US accent he was taunted to “sue us when back in the states” upon which he sulkily proclaimed “I am bloody Canadian”.
Despite the false start, things took of in a more positive spirit.
The majority of visitors to Richmond Park are dog lovers and everyone was commenting on how gorgeous our pack of 6 Golden Retrievers was.
A few children were almost run over, a few more picnics were terrorised, all white clothes in the vicinity had been jumped up on but the general response was a happy one.
The parting words of everyone was “see you again next year!”.
[YouTube video, GoogleVideo]
Moving Traffic Contraventions and Enforcement
You may or may not have noticed that local councils have a new weapon in their money collecting arsenal: Moving Traffic Enforcement.
Under the scheme, local councils can fine motorists that obey certain basic road signs if they catch the motorists on camera.
Disobeying road signs like banned right turns, one-way streets, no-entry, no u-turn and box junctions are some of the contraventions that can result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
The main reason behind the new scheme is said to be to lower traffic accidents.
Call me cynical but it seems to be yet another way of extracting money from the already tax paying population and I see parallels with congestion charging and parking fines.
The purpose of the Congestion Charge is said to be to reduce congestion in the capital. Why is it then not implemented in the most congested areas but instead in central areas often crippling local business?
A large percentage of the income is due to penalty fees. When a private company introduced a way to minimise on forgotten Congestion Charge payments they were swiftly stamped out.
Parking fines are said to reduce illegal parking and improve the flow of traffic… but in the media there are frequent stories about corrupt parking attendants, performance bonuses based on tickets issued and jokingly easy job application tests.
It is with these bitter experiences that I view the latest Moving Traffic Enforcement. I notice that the appeal process has been altered, greatly reducing the alternatives for a driver to have his say.
I was recently fined for a right turn. The turn is on my daily way to work and I have been doing it for a long time.
Due to a delay between being caught on CCTV and receiving a penalty charge notice in the mail, I incurred the same fine 5 times.
I had previously successfully appealed a parking ticket but it was a very long process and I did not have the strength to go through all the paper work again.
A search for “moving traffic enforcement” and file types of pdf, doc and xls brings up several internal documents. They discuss the expected moving traffic enforcement monetary performance and on how to lower the amount of appeals because they are consuming resources.
Central London has a very large amount of CCTVs installed. You can literally see one or two cameras on every street corner.
Camden council is up front about the location of CCTVs used to monitor the population but other councils are conveniently quite about it. Does the Human Rights Act say anything about right to privacy?
As long as the CCTV cameras help to increase security and reduce crime I have been willing to accept the price of being monitored. Now the cameras are being used to police the population and dish out traffic fines.
So next time you are about to fart in public, think twice. You are being watched, recorded and registered. Everywhere and always.
5 out of 9 courses
It was my birthday and I was to be wined and dined at the exclusive Rasoi Vineet Bhatia restaurant in London.
Our 2 month old son had just been properly dined (no wine here) and we were confident that he would be safe in the hands of my wife’s cousin.
A short drive to the restaurant and finding a parking spot right outside it gave hints of a very successful evening out; oh what a luxury.
The restaurant is renowned for it’s Indian cuisine prepared by a Michelin star chef.
Knowing that this was a once in a lifetime experience I went straight for the 9 courses Gourmand menu. The staff assured me that the sizes of the dishes were small enough to be manageable.
An explosion of flavours and colours was just a few moments away.
The restaurant offers a menu of 4 or 6 glasses of (fine) wine to go with the food and this seemed to be a worthy match.
A state of comfortable and comforting tipsiness was just a few moments away.
My wife wasn’t as brave (or hungry) as me and went for a measly starter/main/desert combo.
Just as the starters had arrived the phone rang and alarm bells went of. False alarm however, it was just a friend wishing happy birthday.
Two mouthfuls later and the phone was ringing again.
This time it was our impromptu baby sitter informing us that the baby was crying uncontrollably and he was not able to calm him down.
Cue my wife sprinting out of the restaurant and leaving me behind explaining to the staff that everything was fine and asking if possibly we could delay the dishes for a while.
I, or was it my tummy, had made the decision that once the storm was over my wife would be able to return, her appetite preserved, and continue were we left of. Little did I know that mothers with newborn babies do not work nor think like that.
One hour later she was back. Her hair just little bit out of control and no puke on her shoulder either so I assumed things were fine.
I managed to get to course 5 out of 9 when the phone rang again.
Our impromptu baby sitter was informing us that waiting in the car outside the restaurant has made the baby unsettled yet again and that he was forced to drive in circles around the block to calm him down.
This was the final straw on my wife’s back and the bill was asked for.
On the way out the person at the door mentioned jokingly that he had seen our car passing by a few times.
Forza azzurra!
I must confess, with all “my teams” out of the cup, it was hard to root for any of the finalists.
I thought I had hedged my chances by favouring all of Czech Republic, Sweden, Brazil, England and Poland. Unfortunately fate would not have it like that.
Instead it was France versus Italy in the 2006 World Cup final.
France started the cup in an unimpressive way but got a little better witch each game. Then they went on to beat Brazil in the quarter finals and it was ’98 all over again.
Italy were a strong team all through the cup and played a very good last game. They even managed to score 5 out of 5 penalties (something they did not do against Brazil in 1994 🙂
What will be talked about for years however, is Zinedine Zidane’s spectacular head butt and the following red card.
A football player that has been described as “God” by his country men, at the top of his career, last game of his career, last minutes of a World Cup final and he looses his marbles.
What an ironic last shot of Zinedine Zidane. Him leaving the stadium and the much aspired trophy behind.
Watching the Italian players running around with flags on their shoulders, silly hats on their heads and kissing the trophy… priceless.
WELL DONE ITALIA!
[via Kottke]
Hyde Park Calling with Roger Waters and Texas
I thought I would be telling you about how I was enjoying the Dark Side of the Moon being performed by Roger Waters but instead I will be telling you about how I didn’t. The story is just as good I believe.
My wife had purchased 4 tickets for Hyde Park Calling, 1st of July, long long time ago. We were under the impression that a) 2 friends would be joining us and b) we would find a baby sitter. Well a) the 2 friends freaked off on a belated honey moon and b) no baby sitter was to be found.
In addition Ticketmaster had failed to deliver the tickets (despite a £5 charge per ticket) so I had to head my butt over to the box office to pick them up.
Scalpers were buying up tickets for £5-10 and selling them for £40 so it was a pretty cut throat environment trying to sell the tickets off.
Due to having so much more class than any scalper, I managed to unload one ticket for £40 and one at £20.
The third ticket was almost sold but the girl was hesitant because she thought I was selling fake tickets.
After persuading her about the authenticity of my wares, she jokingly mentioned that if I only had a friend that would join her because going to rock concerts was no fun alone.
I was about to say sorry but when I realised that a friend was on the rebound and that this could possibly turn out to be a great story to tell the grand children.
A phone call and 10 minutes later the friend was on his way super excited about Dark Side of the Moon and fairly excited about the blind date.
Sometimes life is all about those spontaneous moments that make it diverge from the seemingly fixed path of faith.
I am very much looking forward to hearing about the outcome; no details spared!
BBQ Boy
7 BBQs in 10 days; I am becoming quite the master of the fork and the sauce.
The mix of World Cup 2006, scorching hot weather and several visiting friends created a high pressure BBQ climate.
Make sure to have a decently sized BBQ to avoid disappointment among the hungry guests. A disposable BBQ will not do it. The Dual Deck Grill from Direct Design on the other hand is sized to deliver.
Meat is possibly the most important part of a successful BBQ and if you are in London I would recommend visiting the South American Beef website.
Good quality beef, amazing variety of cuts and decent prices. They even deliver to your front door.
Try the famous Picanha Brasileira cut or the Ponta de Contra File Argentino.
If you like to get your meat closer from home, then Waitrose has some very juicy Dovecote Park 6 rump steaks.
Add some portobello mushrooms, onions and wash it down with a well, well chilled rose wine.
Rinse and repeat!
[Pig BBQ from Pappa’s Grills]
Father’s day
Yesterday was the best Father’s Day ever.
Laying in bed and reading an I love you daddy card brought tears to my eyes. Once again it made me realise that I am a father and all the joy and responsibilities that come with it.
As always I was showered with presents but none delivered the message as strongly as that I love you daddy card.
A picknick was arranged with a few couples from our antenatal class. Everyone was comparing battle stories from the labour room and the progress of their babies.
Baby acne, organic nappies, colic, sleeping patterns and all kinds of wondrous details were touched upon. I think everyone was relived to find out that they were not the only people in the world with their specific issues.
So you see, the big person on the cup on the left is me and the little fellow going Weeeeeeeeeeeee is my son.
Wedding congratulations
Isadora and Albert, thank you for inviting us to this special moment of your life. We wish that your wedded life will be as sweet as the desert that was served during the fabulous lunch.
Oscar and Asa, sorry we could not join you in person but be sure that we were with you in our minds.
To all of you, have a wonderful honeymoon and make sure to love and respect each other for the next 100 years.
On the topic of weddings, thank you Amor for the last 5 years.