An idea...

How many times have you found yourself thinking 'if only I knew someone who did that' or 'if only I knew someone I could ask about that' or even 'if only I knew someone I could borrow that from'

Well, that was the idea behind my new attempt at spreading a little worldwide joy - the creation of groups on facebook , vkontakte and (hopefully soon) myspace where people can ask for - and grant- favours for other people.

I think there are always times when we need help; whether it's finding a great restaurant to propose in or borrowing a two metre banana (if you need one, let me know!). And if there was a huge group of people in one place able to ask and return favours, wouldn't that be a cool thing?

Maybe it's a crazy idea - but I kind of hope it might work...

How Facebook suggests friends

A brief aside...

Today, after years of total neglect, I blew the dust and cobwebs off my facebook account and peered inside. Not a whole lot it had to be said; although there were a couple of images to the right hand side of the screen labelled as 'suggestions'.

These are, apparently, people that Facebook has decided that you might know - based (I assumed) upon mutual friends. So far, so good. But, in amongst the list of suggestions was a name that I recognised from a long, long time ago - Aleks Krotoski. She's (and I quote from her website) "an academic and journalist who writes about and studies technology and interactivity". But I don't know Aleks from this; I know Aleks because - at one point in a long distant past - I shared an office with her then boyfriend and bumped into her in a shop that sold cheap (but strangely tasty) Yorkshire pudding based edibles.

And that's it. That's how we know each other. How on Earth did Facebook know about this??? And she's not the only person from my time before blogging that peered at me from the murky waters of the 'suggested friends' page - people I've not even thought about, but who are somehow linked to me...

I'm slightly scared. Facebook appears to know more about me than I do myself...

Sorry

Updates have been a bit thin on the ground recently, haven't they?

This is, contrary to what I would like to believe, all my fault. So I feel an urgent need to bring you up to date with things:

1) My epic blues trip. Sadly, due to fiscal constraints, this is very much on the back burner...

2) Running is going a little better - it has declined a little with the recent inclement weather but I am still getting out once or twice a week. And, at the beginning of October, I even managed to (bravely) slog through a 10km race (52 mins 14 seconds if you're wondering).

So, with discovering the blues off the menu, I decided I needed something else to doodle around with in the background and hit upon an idea for something in a similar area to my earlier 'applying for unsuitable jobs' which will, at the least, provide me with some degree of amusement. Can't say too much about it yet - all hush-hush, etc. - all to be revealed soon...

A minor setback to one set of plans...

Well, I didn't quite manage the 'run on two consecutive days' thing *blushes* - you see, I forgot I would be going out to watch the Champions League final on the night. And I forget that when watching football at the pub, I always seem to drink too much beer. Not only that but, having drunk far too much beer already, I accidentally called into another bar on the way home (I didn't plan it!) and met up with a couple of people - which of course required that I consume more beer. And, since I'd already drank FAR too much beer by this point, it seemed just about the best idea in the world ever.

The consequence was that the only way you'd have got me out of bed at 6am the following morning was if the house had been on fire. And I'm pretty certain I'd have stayed in bed as long as possible in the hope they could put it out before it reached where I slept.

I did go running again today though. Same route, same result (three laps). I am certain my legs will complain loudly about it tomorrow.

New Guitar Techniques magazine arrived - will peruse it at my leisure later - but it looks to be jam packed with cool stuff as per usual. I just keeping hoping that is possible to improve my guitar playing skills just by reading it enough (perhaps through some kind of osmosis).

New Guitar Recording and Other Stuff

Well, I've been working on my blues a little bit - to the point that I actually went as far as trying to record something last night. It's a blues in C, using a backing track from Guitar Techniques magazine. 

Upon relistening to it; I quite like it. It starts a little bit awkwardly but gets better as it goes on. Possibly.

One frustration I have with my playing is that, while I love the fast playing of people like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani (and a host of others) it's just not something that seems to come naturally to my playing. It's not that I can't play fast - in isolation I can pick reasonably quickly - it's just when I come to improvise it seems that my mind tells me to play slowly. I'm not sure whether it's simply I'm not good enough or whether I should accept that playing slowly is my bag. After all, BB King seems to get by without too many blazing runs or sweep picking...

Have a listen to my latest effort HERE

On an entirely different note, I've decided I really need to get back to being in shape. Too much sedentary work, not enough exercise, etc. So this morning I went for a jog in the local park. Managed three laps (which I guess is about 2 miles) and felt pretty good that I'd actually got up at 6am and gone running. Whether I can make it two mornings in a row, we'll have to see...