MetaMuse

International Delight

Yesterday was a pretty long day -- up at 6:45am for a conference call, work straight through to 7-8pm, then back at it at 11pm, in bed after midnight. But as I went to sleep, the day still fresh in my mind, I realized that I'd interacted with people from all over the world that day -- 5 different countries. Three years ago my business interactions might have only occassionally reached the East Coast. I feel fortunate to now have my sphere of influence/experience be much more global.

Matisyahu

Been hearing of this artist and saw some news coverage of him in LA, so I brought up trusty ole' Napster and downloaded his latest last night. It's good stuff, and I fully expect he'll be responsible for breathing new life into the reggae scene -- he'll create a space in people's minds where reggae hasn't existed before.

In this world of endless consumer options and marketing "noise", it really takes something unique to get some stickiness. The unique thing about him is that he's a white dude who converted to Hasidic (sp?) Judaism, and so he's got the beard, black pants/trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat, but then jumps around stage pounding out deep reggae beats with religious lyrics.

Coldplay = Brilliant

New Coldplay album X&Y is really good. Can't stop listening to it, in fact -- and this from a guy that hasn't listened to them much before. It's just brilliant creative work. I'm glad it's not being hyped here in UK, but I doubt that'll last long.

Top 5 reasons to break a thumb

Below are the top 5 reasons why someone should break the thumb (or any digit really) in their prominent hand:

1. You learn how to wipe your bum all over again. It's harder than one thinks and the consequences are rather shitty.
2. For once you get to ask your wife to open jars.
3. With typing, writing and even using a PDA so awkward, you have a built-in excuse for your lack of productivity.
4. It's fun to eliminate the use of half your pockets.
5. You have a cool "owie" that beats all your kids' owies, as well as their friends.

Mountain Bored

I've decided I need to get a mountain board. It's got to be funner than longboarding because you can go off-road. Plus you can jump it and stay on because of the straps. Gotta hurt when you fall though -- but I've got armor for that.

There's a ton of interesting terrain around here to play on, plus I could use it to run errands and such -- like when I need to walk up to the corner store. I wonder how practical it is to use on fairly level ground, pushing with one foot like a normal skateboard.

Maybe this is just me thinking of something new I've gotta have because I broke my thumb and can't get my yucks on a bike.

Lego Remote Control

Bought Hunter a Lego remote control vehicle (car? buggy? who knows what the hell it is) for his birthday. Freakin' expensive here in UK, but a very cool product. Can be built to be alot of different things, but of course we built full suspension. Used it for a few minutes in the back yard then it started raining. Really fast. Then tried it again later and it wouldn't work! So returned it today -- can't wait for Hunter to get home so we can build it again and take it across the street to the Long Walk. It flies! The toys these days are just so cool.

Longboarding the Long Walk

Joined some gentlemen last Friday   called the BastardBombers in their pursuit of speed on a skateboard. Basically they are a bunch of 30 something longboarders who get together every week or two, intoxicate themselves (social drinking, really) and skateboard down hills. I'm officially "BB42".   Check out their web site. Yes, I wore full my full body armour (sans fullface helmet) -- if you saw what we went down, you would too! We rode down the Long Walk from the Copper Horse towards the castle (see first picture at this site), then again from the castle (via a narrow street of Windsor) and back down. Fun stuff. Jenny met these guys on the Long Walk last Fall and made the connection. I remember Chesney calling me right then while I was in a taxi between meetings with investment banks -- suit and all. What contrast.

Why "Kickstand"?

As much as I'd like to believe, Kickstand is not a phallic reference. After giving notice at 121Media, I wanted to change my display name when I logged onto MSN messenger -- the whole "out of sight, out of mind" objective. The fewer reminders of my existence, the less likely Kent would think of me. I was listening to Soundgarden on the way back from a great DH, freeride and dirtjump session at Chicksands (http://bedsfattrax.org) in Bedfordshire, when the tune "Kickstand" came on. Sounded like a good moniker for me, I thought. After working very hard buiding companies the last many years, I needed to simplify my purpose for a short bit -- until on to the next project. I then decided that my purpose (amongst others that can't be avoided) was to keep my bike up and not eat shit, whichever of my bikes I happened to be on.