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Traffic light failures are always a delight. Normally they fail completely or at least once they have failed they are turned off completely. Last night on the way I home I encountered a failure at a significant T-junction where they were stuck on green in one direction and red in another. Probably the deadliest circumstances. After a while people waiting (for a very long time) at the red light would realise they had failed and would tackle the junction, with cars speeding towards the green lights oblivious to the fact they had been on green for ages. Eventually a car got to the head of the red light queue and sat there, and sat there, and sat there. Clearly they had no intention of going through them. I found an alternative way home.

Loney, Dear - I Am John

I had never heard of Loney, Dear until I saw them supporting Andrew Bird in London earlier this year. They (or rather he, for Loney, Dear is in fact just him) blew me away. I love the range of his voice. This is one of my favourite current songs.

Personal blogs

I have mixed feelings about the value of blogs; specifically personal blogs.

I think blogs about specific subjects (e.g. music, technology, parenting) are an excellent way of creating useful information and delivering it efficiently to an audience. In many ways these sorts of blogs are just replacing other forms of media (print, audio, video) and are part of the technological evolution. The information being provided is much the same as has been provided before, just differently.

Personal blogs are something quite different. The information being published (often to the whole world) is a mixture of ‘what I did today’, ‘what I think about ‘x” and ‘how I am feeling’.

Some of it (the good stuff) is people giving themselves the opportunity to write (and be read) like columnists on a paper. That sort of ‘personal’ blogging I enjoy. It’s great to read the perspective of others and its a great way to have the sorts of discussions that used only to take place face-to-face over a pint; thus broadening the base for meaningful relationships.

It’s the ‘what I did today’ and ‘how I am feeling’ that I struggle more with. Clearly the writers of such blogs must get something positive out of airing this information so widely or else they wouldn’t spend the time authoring the posts. But is it always helpful to share information widely that previously (due to the lack of the current technology) would have been shared with only a few.

I won’t deny I read personal blogs. I do. They often promote quite a lot of debate within this house. They also inform (without any direct interaction with the author) much of what I think about some of the writers and creates perceptions that would not have existed had they not had a blog, if you see what I mean. It’s why I don’t blog like that. There are plenty of things I do and think that if written and read would lead to certain (not necessarily correct) perceptions of who I am. People would be creating a view of me based on my virtual persona and that I don’t think would be of benefit to me.

Thus, you won’t find many words on this blog about what I did today or how I am feeling.

We are off to the Latitude Festival. I am as giddy as a very giddy thing about seeing Sigur Rós for the second time this month. Planning to see them again in Lisbon in November. Also very excited about going to a festival again. Lots and lots to see and do.

Anyway I shall leave you with Ára bátur. I can’t see how anyone would not think this a truly wonderful piece of music. The entire thing was recorded in one take, orchestra, choir, the lot. Genius.