11.15.07

I continue to marvel at London’s short days

Posted in Ranting at 8:30 am by DMZ

It’s 4:25 and when I looked outside a couple minutes ago, it was dark.

Sunrise: 7:18 AM
Sunset: 4:12 PM

That’s a 8h 54m day. At its highest, the sun got 20′ off the horizon (making walking south really hard).

A few weeks from now you’ll be able to work an eight hour shift and not see the sun unless you go outside for lunch. For all my complaints about Seattle, that’s a full half hour worse than we get.

Of course, we get overcast skies and rain, and it’s been cold, clear, and sunny here.

11.10.07

And another cultural conditioning post

Posted in Ranting at 10:09 am by DMZ

I happened across the Lord Mayor parade today, where a ton of (to my American eyes) random groups drove/marched/etc through the streets of London: scouts, unions, trade groups, charities, and so on, and so forth… and a lot of the UK military. Marching around in camo with assault rifles behind the British equivalents of the Girl Scouts. Some of the UK military groups were, say, the fueling group, or the medics, but there were a lot of them like the arctic commandos who went through the parade in a Zodiac, guns pointing out…

And here’s the thing: I saw Children of Men not that long ago. It made it being in that close proximity quite unnerving. When I mentioned this, the lovely and talented Mrs. Zumsteg said “Maybe you shouldn’t watch movies like Children of Men…”

She might have a point. But I don’t think I can.

11.09.07

Welcome to City 17

Posted in Ranting at 3:50 am by DMZ

You have chosen — or been chosen… — Breen

Following up on yesterday’s gaming post — I don’t want to live in a country where you can’t take pictures of things on trains.

And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through to parts unknown, welcome, to City 17. It’s safer here.

11.08.07

I have been well-conditioned

Posted in Gaming at 8:56 am by DMZ

I wondered, today, how much of the unease London’s nearly-oppressive surveillance camera presence comes from being brought up on games like System Shock, where you’re being watched by the opposition and systematically eliminating their eyes is part of the game.

I thought of this today as I noticed one over a door and thought “I could probably nail that if I had a large wrench…”