Category: Blog

Monday, August 09, 2004

On Friday it was pointed out to me that New Mexico licence plates not only have the state written on them, they also have “USA” beside it (there’s also space at the top for the county name, and the motto at the bottom: ‘Land of Enchantment’).

Exhibit A:

Licence plates from other states don’t include the country description.

Exhibit B:

The reason for this (and I’m not making this up) is that many of our fellow Americans outside the Southwest don’t know that New Mexico actually is a state in the union, and tend to lump us in with the real Mexicans over the border.

So, just to clarify, the New Mexico licence plate has USA on it so that other Americans don’t think we’re from another country.

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Monday, August 09, 2004

From the earliest days of Crowded House (and then some archaeology to unearth the Split Enz stuff I was too young to have listened to at the time), I’ve been impressed and moved by Neil Finn’s music.

He’s just about to release a new album with his brother Tim (no mean musician and songwriter himself), and you can listen to the new single here.

It’s tender and uplifting, and getting news of it in my mailbox has made Monday morning a lot better than it might have been.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Richard Ford reading at the Lensic last night was just brilliant – warm and urbane but with a clarity and precision to his prose that made me very jealous.

He read a couple of extended passages from his forthcoming novel – the third in the Frank Bascombe trilogy that started with The Sportswriter and continued with Independence Day.

As well as his spare and beautiful prose (I think only Martin Amis can match him for this), he manages to be funny and wise while absolutely nailing his characters and their world. Ford’s soft Mississippi accent was great to hear – and that’ll be the voice in my head now when I’m reading his stuff.

It’s enough to make me think about writing fiction, but also enough to scare me horribly.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Seems I’m not the only who likes the challenge of riding up to the ski basin – this Sunday they’re holding the annual Hill Climb Race.

The fastest time to the top (3,300 vertical feet in 14.7 miles – that makes it over 4% gradient) is 53 minutes and 55 seconds, or an average of 16.3 miles per hour.

Don’t think I’ll be doing it this year – but I’ll definitely keep riding it in my own time, getting nearer the top each time (I hope).

Get the full story from our local paper, the Santa Fe New Mexican (free registration might be required).

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

OK, so every blogger who’s gone wireless has posted one of these posts: ‘Oh wow – I’m surfing from the garden – it’s great.’

Now it’s my turn. The Airport’s still on its way, but the wireless card arrived today (Linksys 11g Cardbus card because my old TiBook only supports 11b with the original Airport Card slot), and it was ridiculously simple – slot the card in, head down to Sun Mountain Bikeshop (and its partner store, the Back Door cafe next door), and Bob’s your digital uncle.

The biggest problem was that the optical mouse got confused on the glass table. I hope setting up the base station tomorrow will be as easy.