Month: January 2006

Teapot Reminiscence

Long term fans will fondly remember this gem:

I see a lot of pipes these days. Pipes and my fair share of teapots. The teapots are always random, but the pipes are not necessarily so. While some pipes lead somewhere, others just twist around each other, and then break up into squares and disappear.

And the noise. Always a rattling noise. I would put my earplugs in, but they're tied to my hard-hat, so I'd have to wear the hat indoors, which would look silly. I suppose I could leave the hard-hat on the desk, with the string from the earplugs stretching up to my ears, but that would be worse.
I get up from the desk to escape the rattle and the randomised pipes on the monitor to go outside where the other pipes of the gold-plant can afflict me. I have to wear my hard-hat now in any case. At least the rattle of the faulty PC fan is no more – replaced by the drone of heavy machinery.

Still pipes and noise, but no teapots. I long for the surprise of the teapot amongst the pipes, but surprises are not so fantastical on a gold-plant. Perhaps the security officers have some teapots. They do have metal detectors – so why not teapots?
I make my way along the path to the security check-point. No teapots yet, but i keep my spirits up

I press the buzzer and look balefully up at the security camera. I imagine the security guards looking down at me from their CCTV monitors, my body elongated out of proportion. A curious side-effect of the corner mounted camera lens. But perhaps they don't see me. Perhaps they are also hoping for a teapot to appear on the screen.

400 ZAR for Obsolete Technology

I bought a new crappy external 56k modem because the old one lost the will to live. Or, at the very least, it lost the will to modulate and demodulate.
I imagine I will be bashing it with a hammer and posting pictures of its demise in the near future.

On an unrelated note: Why have the tenders for Satan’s Poodle web design not been pouring in? That site is going to be famous, and then you’ll be sorry you didn’t help me out.

Satan’s Poodle is Go

Good news! The long awaited Satan’s Poodle Blog has its first post.
You are invited to visit there now. I will attempt to regularly update my account of the trials and tribulations of Mumphred the Yellow Plush Toy.

The current colour scheme is not ideal (although the minimalist aspect feels right). You make me a better template and I’ll give you a thank you (and a mention on the page).
If you are keen to design the look and feel of satans-poodle.blogspot.com then drop me a line and I can supply you with high resolution images of the satanic poodle so that you may design a suitable logo or whatever. Oh, and also discuss your ideas with me.

I must sleep now.

That’s Just Not Cricket

Today’s ODI between Sri Lanka and South Africa was blessed with radio commentators. I listened to these guys while I worked and I’m pretty sure they were stoned. They laughed a lot at mundane things. That’s as sure a sign as ever.
Somehow the topic of music came up, which obviously just isn’t cricket, and is an indication that these guys were not focusing. Yet more evidence to support my hypothesis.
The South African commentator mentioned Johnny Clegg, and explained how he was one of the first white men to perform traditional African music. In an effort to understand fully, the Australian commentator asked, “Kind of like Eminem?”

Um. No. Not like that at all.

Ubuntu Upgrade: 5.04 –> 5.10

Being possessed of a masochistic streak, I decided that since a new
version of Ubuntu Linux was available, I would upgrade.
In a country where broadband internet access is taken for granted, this
would be a simple task of using the smart upgrade feature of Synaptic,
waiting a few moments for everything to download and install, and smiles
all round. Of course, even in that telecoms utopia, something would
probably go wrong, thus breaking one’s entire system and forcing a
complete re-installation (a.k.a. very bad things).

Telecoms Utopia is not a term with which sane people would describe
South Africa. Fortunately the fine people running the Ubuntu show know
that the world is not confined to Europe and North America. Gloriously
they sent me installation discs, free of charge. Hell, they sent me as
many as I’d like, so that I could distribute them, free of charge.

I am growing weary with this post as it is growing longer than intended.
The rest of the tale will be related using short sentences and where
ever possible, monosyllablic words.

I put disc in Pee See. I show Syn Ap Tic disc. I change all old re pos
it or ree to new ver shun. I smart up grade. It down load some pack age.
It take two days. It up grade. It no break Pee See.
I much glad! Vi va Ooh Boon Too! Vi va ANC!