I’m turning into Victor Meldrew
Over the years, I’ve been called “grumpy”, “a curmudgeon” and “moody”, terms which I never think actually apply to me. I like to think I’m generally a happy person, I have friends, don’t I? But maybe they do apply. For those of you who don’t know, Victor Meldrew was a character in a situation comedy called One Foot in the Grave in the 90’s starring Richard Wilson. It’s based around the annoying events that happen to a retired older gentlemen (the aforesaid V Meldrew) who’s catchphrase became “I don’t belieeeeeve it!” and his long-suffering wife. Here’s a sample. It became...
Price vs Value – part 3 of ‘Value for Money’
One of the lessons I learned early on about the internet in my previous job – and the world, for that matter – is: users don’t value free stuff as much as things they pay for. I know my better half also actually PAYS for books, but doesn’t usually break the £4/$6 mark. It’s almost a psychological thing and goes back to what I was saying about value. But that value’s skewed. On the one hand you’ve got indies and self-publishers selling books for under £1/$1 and on the other, traditional publishers often charge MORE for an electronic copy of...
Do people read free books? – Value for Money, pt2
Yes. A lot of people do. I do. That said, I’ve got so many free books on my Kindle at the moment that I don’t know where to start. So I’m reading paperbacks just now. I do try to read the free books I get from various sources and, understanding the value of reviews, I do my best to review my freebies. DISCLAIMER: if you know I’ve read one of your books and are waiting for a review here’s four words to explain the situation – I have a backlog. I’m trying to address it, but it grows faster than...
Free ebooks – value for money? pt 1
A writer friend of mine, Russell Blake, has been posting about his experiences lately as an indie author, particularly about free books. Basically, he thinks it’s nearly game over for the freebie for your Kindle, and I think he’s probably right. Oh, it’ll probably carry on for a while as people continue to promote their books (and themselves) by giving stuff away. But the evidence in Russell’s posts seems to show that its effect on actual sales has been reduced – on Amazon, at least. And I won’t rule out another giveaway myself, but I think it’s worth having a...
What’s all the fuss about broccoli?
Seriously. I don’t know what the furore is about and I’ll admit to watching the debating about the future of the law labelled “Obamacare” with a mixture of disbelief and total confusion. What’s wrong with the idea those millions of people currently without access to medical care (not strictly true, but we’ll get to that later) would be able to go see a doctor or get hospital treatment? Twenty years ago, when I still lived in Washington, D.C., I had no medical insurance. I was a temp, living in a studio apartment just off 16th Street in North West D.C....
You lucky, lucky bastard
You lucky, lucky bastard. What? You must have slipped him a few sheckles, eh? Slipped him a few sheckles? You saw him spit in my face! Oh! What wouldn’t I give to be spat at in the face. I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face. Well it’s not exactly friendly, is it? They have me in manacles! Manacles?! Ooohaaawwww. My idea of heaven is to be allowed to be put in manacles… just for a few hours.* I often watch or read the news about some horrific accident, or about a new conflict...
“Stop thinking, start doing!”
Okay, I don’t normally quote sportswear ads – I’ve never been what you’d describe as ‘sporty’. But on this occasion I decided to make an exception. I was thinking about resolutions and saw the quote above at the nearby mega-mall on a poster and it struck me as a personal imperative – oi you: stop thinking, start doing! I’ve missed too many opportunities by saying things (to myself mostly) like “I’ll think about that…” instead of just getting off my backside and doing something about it. As many of you know, I’m in a transitional phase having left Fancyapint? in...
New Years resolutions
Yes, I know it’s February today – nothing gets by me. Still, in the spirit of new year, new yew, I thought I’d put a few of my resolutions for 2012 down on paper (so I can be beaten with them later of course). Get a haircut and get a real job* Clean out the crap Exercise on a regular basis Write more and Just do more in general The most critical one is the first one – can’t live off air and pixie dust forever. So I need to get off my proverbial and find that job. It’ll come,...
End of an era and new beginnings
I have to admit to still being in a bit of shock. After ten years of concentrating primarily on our pub review website fancyapint.com, my founding partner and I have left. We knew there was a possibility of this happening after three years – we had good contracts that got us through the worst of the recession and paid us very well. But I guess we always thought that wouldn’t happen to us. Well, it did. We built the site from the ground up in the mid-nineties, scrounging server space where we could when it was still ridiculously expensive, making...
Banned book week
Okay, I’m supposed to be writing. I guess I am, but… you know what I mean. If you didn’t know, it’s Banned Book Week in the U.S., sponsored by the American Library Association. And it’s a subject none of us can ignore. Okay, the situation’s slightly different in the U.S. from Great Britain (as freedom of speech is not a right protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution here, surprisingly*), but I think it’s an issue that affects all of us. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the issue’s much hotter in America and calls are being made every day there to ban...
Apple fanboys vs everyone else
We used to be called ‘fanboys’ because we like Apple’s computers and hey, that’s fine. I’ve had various incarnations of Macs over the year, starting with the second hand Apple+ my Dad picked up somewhere in our little town. Then I spent hundreds of hours on Mac Classics in the computer lab at Norlin Library on the University of Colorado, Boulder campus. I’m afraid I was smitten. Of course, I spent several years labouring away on PCs at various jobs and, okay, they do work for some things. I got pretty good at Word Perfect and Lotus 1-2-3. (What’s that?...
This isn’t my first riot, you know
My taste for nostalgia only goes so far. I was eating my wife’s homemade pulled pork last night (very nice it was, too) and trying to remember where I used to get pulled pork in the ghetto I lived in over 20 years ago in Washington D.C. Most of my friends lived in and around Adams Morgan, just north of Dupont Circle in NW (northwest, as all the Washington areas are quartered into NW, NE, SE, SW). But that’s not the point. In the course of reminiscing with some of those friends, one of them posted a link to an...
